Shelby

This unisex name has a Southern association—it was Julia Roberts’s character’s name in “Steel Magnolias,” which was set in Louisiana, and Oklahoma-born singer Reba McEntire chose it as the name for her son. Shelby was derived from an English surname by way of the Old Norse (“selja,” or “willow,” and “byr,” or “estate”). Willow trees are graceful and elegant, a description many parents wish for their daughters and sons.