When Darin and I were looking for a name for our first child, we finally decided upon Sophia, because it means “wisdom,” because it’s beautiful, and because it’s not that common.
Well, two out of three ain’t bad.
Uncommon names aren’t so very much so anymore. The name Sophia is part of a trend towards old-fashioned feminine names — just today in the park there was a Sophie (of course), a Gabriella, and an Arabella. My niece Madeline is unlikely to be the only Madeline in her class.
There are quite a few Sophias out there, and even more Sophies. Fia gets called “Soph” and “Sophie” all the time; she usually stares at whoever’s calling her that until they use “Sophia.” The nickname Fia suits her so much — to me it speaks of being “defiant” and “fiery,” and reminiscent of the French word for proud, “fier.”
Boys don’t seem to have as wide a range of name choices. In Sophia’s preschool class there are two Maxes, and there are only 12 kids in the class. Max is over, okay? Same thing with Jack. Go to a playground, yell out “Jack!” and count how many kids turn around.
So far we haven’t run across too many Simons. In fact, so far: none. Well, except in Britain. Everyone who works on Teletubbies is evidently named Simon.
Some friends of mine named their boy Atticus, which is wonderful and unusual. Surprisingly, I have discovered three or four other Attici.
Today in the park there was also a boy named Seneca. A few years ago I knew a woman whose son was named Demetrius.
Other unusual names: I’ve met one girl named Symphony, a boy named Neo (I didn’t ask his mother whether she took that name from The Matrix or not), and a girl named Brontë, as in Charlotte, Anne, and/or Emily.
I have a friend whose stepson was named Ocean (I have since run into a few other Oceans) and whose son is Horizon. I thought Horizon was an odd name at the time, but you know what? Now I think it’s kind of neat. Also, they live in Northern California, where he’s less likely to get teased for that sort of thing.
There are several girls named Emerson. Where that is coming from I have no idea.
I like really unusual names. I realize this may not be a popular position. And I guess if a kid has a really weird name, then they’re open to teasing. But who can judge what a really weird name is?
There seems to be this school of thought that kids need “normal” names, like Anne or Jim. Joanne Jacobs says that she chose her daughter’s name “to avoid teasing in first grade and make it easier for her to run for president of the United States.” My college roommate said she had to choose names not only for President of the US but for President of Ford or some other Fortune 500 company.
Maybe if there were a wider range of names available, we wouldn’t have to worry about the teasing aspect.
And you know, I doubt Condoleezza Rice has suffered from having an offbeat name. Although filling in those little circles on the name portion of the SATs probably sucked.
One of my friends had a baby on December 4. She and her husband had very specific requirements in their name search: (1)Boy’s name. (2)Must not end in an “n”. (3)Must be an English noun.
An English noun? Think about that a second. How many people do you know with names who are nouns? A lot more kids than adults, I bet. I submitted a list of Anglo-Saxon professional names: Wheeler, Fletcher, Parker, Cooper….
Then ended up with “Griffin,” a very fine noun indeed. (Yeah, it ends in an “n”. Whatever!)
Meaning of Rene’
De’Jon
Hardges
My husband and I went through this all three years ago with the birth of our first child (whom we named Ella). We were living in Northern Cali. and I soon ran into about 6 other newborns named Ella. We had the name Max if it was going to be a boy. We have a list on our frig. of about 10 names but guess what, we are back to Max. I can bet you this, there will be no other Max like our Max. On top of that, it’s still a cool-ass name.
I thought I was being very original giving my children unusual names. But, even when I made up a name I met someone who had made up the same name! My oldest daughter is Jillian which is becoming much more popular. My 2nd daughter is Lorien ( Lore-ee-un as in the forest Lothlorien in The Hobbit books). When she was born her pediatrician said that in 25 years of practice he had never had a Lorien. By the time we left his practice when she was 4 he had 2 Lorien’s. My son has an ordinary name….Craig! Of course, he is the only Craig in his school. Craig was a popular name in the 50’s and 60’s but not now. My fourth child is Avrielle (pronounced ohv-ree-elle/ short o sound). I made this name up after a character in a Bodie Thoene book named Avery. I met another lady who named her daughter Avrielle (ahv-ree-elle short a sound) after her husbands best friend Avery. Both girls have blonde hair and brown eyes…go figure. My 5th child is Kimbrell (Kim-brelle). I haven’t found any other Kimbrell’s. Kimbrell is an english surname. If anyone wants an unusual name maybe they should name their child Mary or Elizabeth. If I had been able to have another child I would have named them either Laragh (Lar-uh which is a town in Ireland) or Payton.
My wife named her daughter “Ocean” – I will have to admit, it’s a rare name out there…
Wow, I’ve never heard of half of these names. I live in Scotland and my daughter’s name (Jamie-Louise) is considered very unusual!!! I love it and if I have another girl I’d like to call her Glenn.
my husband and I are expecting are first child. we think its a boy.My husbands name is ben and we would love to call our son Benson/Bensen, although we have been getting negative feedback!!!! what do other people think!
Well, I gotta tell you, I associate the name Benson with a 70s sitcom starring Robert Guillaume as the butler to a governor (or something).
it appears that alot of people have that association – I have in fact never seen the sitcom or heard of it untill recently. Is that a bad association. We live in Ireland.
It’s not a great association, mostly because the phrase “70s sitcom” makes most people cringe.
But if the show isn’t the first thing you think of, and it’s a name you really love, why not use it? My friend Tamar named her son Damian, and she was amazed at how many people brought up the movie The Omen (1976). I told her to point out to them that the number one boy’s name of the 80s was…JASON.
Bensen is a cool name. I love rare names my name is Beatrix (the A is silent) but nobdy calls me that they all call me Trixie which is an awesome name. What do you think of the names Lilyella, Lilive, Joelle, Sorayah and Katalya (said Ki ta lee a)
Name your baby whatever you desire, and in my opinion the more unusual the better when ihave children I plan on naming them Jagger Lane, Devin Jade, Easton Rayder, and Walker Preston for my sons and My daughters will be Chlor rose quite common and savannah cole hope it helps but common names are so not cool Id rather date a guy named Taylor than Joe any day!
Hi,
This is a nice discussion that board you have created. I am interested in unusual names too. Don’t like mine too much – “Anusha”. Perhaps this is quite uncommon among the westerners. It is not common – yet almost so in India though. So I’d like to change it to Anoushka if I could!
I suggest you give a try at Indian names and see if you can make up an unusual name for your child.
Thank you for reading this comment.
My name is Kara Nicole (pronounced Karahhhh, not the hard “c” sound.) When I was little no one had my name and EVERYONE pronounced it wrong, which was so very annoying!! I was always having to correct everyone and hated it. Now that I’m older I appreciate my name and even though I know many other Karas or Caras, I still feel very unique. After reading some entries, I just want to remind people that if a name moves you, that’s all that matters. Sooner or later you’ll come across a similar if not the same “unique” name. What matters is your child’s individuality.
I think that in this age, there is no end to the Jacks and Noras, Maxes and Samanthas, Taylors and Emilys. However, there also appear to be a great many children running around with more “unusual” names, the current trends are W.A.S.P.y surnames for firstnames, boys’ names for girls (particularly, Charles and James), and girls’ names for boys (Sascha). Oh, I almost forgot the trend toward ridiculous names, like Rambo or Rocco, or Bambina. My baby sister Alexis attends school with more than a few Alexises, but there are also: America, Bronson (a girl), Jul (a boy) and even a little Freedom. Although my name is fairly common, I wasn’t named after a grandmother or great-aunt; my mother’s favourite song was “Angie” by the Rolling Stones. Name your children names you like, won’t be embarassed shouting out the door or spelling out on registration forms, and most of all, one that suits the child!
Hello me and my husband are in a mixed realtionship and we have a wonderful 3 year old named Damon but we spell it like this (Daimon)
Which the name is not diff but the spelling is so he is special.
When i was growing up everybody had my name. Now that i have children i wanted something a bit different. at the time that i was thinking of names for my four children, destiny tiger lilly and charity were all favourites so i went back to traditional names- even though my friends thought they were far too old fashioned for my new borns. When my first daughter, lilli-anna, was born my family and friends still thought of it as very old fashioned. However in her year at school there are 4 lillies! Mollie-Beth my second daughter also has 3 mollies in her class. My sons are Alfie and Archie! However i did want them to be called Arthur but people said it was on the verge of child abuse! i am expecting my fifth in a month!me and my husband love traditional names such as Maggie and Martha or Bertie but nowadays they are so common that we may pick something really simple like simon or jane!I don’t like these names such as Oralndo, Mortimer or Daytonana that i hear when i am out and about!
When I was a teen, I used to fantasize about marrying my boyfriend John and would constantly make lists of names I liked, some weird, some not so weird. Back then I liked: Rachele (pronounced ray-SHEL), Rae, Nicole, Alexandra for girls and Randall, Ryan, and Philip for boys. While in my 20s and 30s, I started to really love unusual names. Some unusual names I discovered by meeting people with those names: Women named Kendall, Corliss, Kaela, Lily, Niece, and men named Emery, Garrett, and Cash. My half-brothers were named Paris, Rome, Devon, and Trenton, and my half-sisters are Coquette and Shari. One interesting way to find a name for your child is to use genealogy. There were always unusual names in every generation, and you can peruse the message boards at rootsweb.com and genealogy.com to get ideas from the posts people write about ancestors from many different countries. They weren’t all Sarah or Wilhelmina. In my family, there was Emmeline, Rosaline, Mette (pronounced Metta), Helene. My MIL’s given name is Geronima (pronounced heh-ROW-nee-ma), and my aunt is Mieke (pronounced MEE-ka). I knew early on that I did not want to be a mother, but I still occasionally imagine what names I would have given my kids — especially now that I’m married with an unusual Italian surname, and my child-bearing years are coming to a close. Now I love the girls’ names Eve or Eva, Camille, Rowan, Juliette, Giuliana, Fae, Teresa (my middle name) and for boys I can’t think of one, except maybe Cary. Why is it so much harder to be creative with a boy’s name, unless you use an Anglo surname? One thing I think is important – don’t name your kid something that depends on spelling to get it pronounced right. Lots of people don’t spell very well, or listen very well for that matter. For example, the woman I knew named Niece told me that she was named after the city of Nice in France, because her parents had fond memories of being there. But they knew Americans would see it spelled that way and pronounce it “nice” with a long i like the adjective, and not the correct French pronunciation. So they spelled her name Niece to look more familiar and help people pronounce it the way they wanted to say her name. In other words, if you want your kid’s name to be pronounced “fa-MOLLY” don’t spell it FEMALE and then get mad when people get it wrong (there is a true story attached to that). Doing so will drive everybody and your kids crazy, too.
My daughter has two boys names, of course, Jack Vincent born in 1999. At that point it was just before the name Jack went haywire! Her second boy is Brady which I think is great. My Son has two boys and just had a girl in 2002. The oldest is named Nicholas, 2nd is Sean Patrick and my only grandaughter is Samantha Marie. They all fit their names after they are born. As a grandmother I have heard some unusual names but Michael is still my favorite!
Sharon from CT
Hey – my boy’s a Jack! We haven’t run into THAT many of them. But, it’s true that there was Jack in the other kindy class, and a Zack in his own class, so that got a little confusing for the teacher.
But that’s not as bad as his friends, Owen and Cowen and Rowen (all boys) plus little Rowan down the block who is a girl.
Mostly we get people asking what Jack is ‘short for’. “Are you Jack or John or James?” But he’s Jack – just plain Jack!
does anyone know somwhere online where i can find a list of names. interesting ones preferably…but anyones really. i think all the names mentioned are lovely. I’m 16 and pregnant, i’m keeping the child and would love it to have a very special name. Because it will be a very special baby.
I haven’t run into too many Marielle’s in my time. Although there are a lot of Mari’s and Elle’s. However, my husbands’s name is Adjective, and he is the only one either of us have ever met. We’ve been contemplating not too unsual names for our child, who we don’t yet know the sex off. Last week it was Annabella for a girl, and Gibson for a boy. This week we’re considering Japanese names, since his mother is from Kyoto. Midori (g) and Sanosuke (b)?
For a guy with my name – i know how hard it is growing up with the teasing and such. So when I had two kids, I knew I had to name them good names that they can grow up with without the constant aggravation an unusual one gets. Believe me – there will be a lot. There are a lot of good names out there you just have to find them.
One thing that has been mentioned in your site was the possibility of giving children combination names. I thought that was great. You can always give them two names – Which would be unusual, too. Either of which they’ll grow into and get accustomed with and of course use.
I settled with these for my first two kids – Marc Gabriel and Michael Gerard. I think these are great names. I’m looking forward to giving my third child a combination name,too. It’s boiling down to a (b) Mason Grant or a (g) Michelle Gwen. Beats me – I still have to wait 6 mos. 😛
This is a great site! I have an unusual name, which I hated as a child. Chevonne is a big name to carry when you’re young! My kind parents changed the spelling from the original Gaelic form, Siobhan. Siobhan means Joan in English, and my mother’s name is Joan, so indirectly she named me after herself! I am getting married soon, and am obsessed with kids names. I like wierd, and I’m not afraid to admit it!! For a girl I love Sorel, and Astrid. Boys are hard, aren’t they? An old family name of mine is Rutherford, and I think that a boy with the nickname ‘Ford’ is pretty cool! My brother, Austin (my mother’s maiden name, popular now but he’s 27 and there were NO Austins when we were young) he LOVES the name Koi for a boy. I think that if you have an unusual name you are more open to your child having one also. I have now heard of a few Chevonnes (spelled however one pleases) but they are all about 12 and under. I like to think that I am partially responsible for at least a few of them around, as I promote my name to any pregnant woman I happen to speak to!! As for the name calling and such with a different name, I was made fun of (Chevron your town pump- a gas station in Britsh Columbia, Canada) Heavy Chevy (ouch!) and Chevonne Selectives (like the hair product, Salon selectives) and it didn’t bug me too much. I think that having 4 other girls with the same name as myself in one classroom would bug me more!! (I had 4 Sarah Elizabeths in a class in elementary.) I’m always on the look out for interesting names, and if I find a great website, I’ll pop back over here and let you all know. PS- do you think that Astrid is too dorky?
My boyfriend and I have trouble finding names we both like. Recently we agreed on Jayden, however now disagree on the spelling! How would you spell something that is pernounced “Jay-den”? He says Jaden, but I think too many people would pernounce that “Jah-den”. So I think it should be Jayden or Jaiden. What do you think?
Hi, my name’s Cindel which seems to be pretty uncommon and my sister’s name is Sayard, also told to be uncommon. We’ve always loved our names because they’re unique and special to us. We love talking about our futire kids names (just for fun. A lot of names which were posted on this site I find to be really common where I’m from, so maybe these names are common to you also, but we like them; For girls (for me): Skylor/Skyla, Island (short: Isla), Kayden, and Dakota. Boys: Raine, Parker, Ayden, and Rylie. My sister for girls: Rhode, and McKella. Boys: Kylin and Leif. hope you like them!!
I love odd names.I knew a boy named Chance.They named him that because his mother took one more chance on getting a boy after two girls. A friend of mine had four girls and was trying for the fifth. When it turned out to be a girl she named her Bingo. Too cute. I didn’t go the route of unusual names for my kids, because of my husband. Eric Jordana, Robb and Evan. Jordana is an odd kind of name but I love it. So did my husband. I can’t stand the name Michael.
I love different names as well. My name is Angelica. I always hated it growing up but now i like it. I got married in august and hopefully having a baby soon. I love the name Dane for a boy and Sierra for a girl. I also love the name Schuyler…..(skyler) for a girl or a boy.
Myself and my husband are thinking of names for our first born. For a girl Charlie, Rogue (yes, taken from the x-men, but I just love it!!)Sky or Marley (yes my husband is a huge bob marley fan), for a boy Marley (AGAIN) or Reece and I do like the name Dane posted recently by Angie.
My only philosophy: Name a child out of love. Period. And always with concern for him or her… a.k.a., keep your ego in check. It’s not about you.
Why cant we stick to common names? Whats wrong with Thomas and Sarah? Maybe with unusual middle names???
I love Caitlin, Sophie and Megan, Matthew, Jamie, Joshua and Thomas
My name is Zoe, my brothers is Ashley, our cousins are Adrian, Stephanie and Sarah.
My mother is Lesley, my auntie is Eunice, my uncle is David. Eunice is about the most unusual but its still popular with the “oldies”
Just to throw another name out there, My name is Guy, which is not that common, and I named My son Dude. I have never ran into another person with his name.
im from england and over here the name benson is linked with a brand of cigerettes benson&hedges so don’t go there whoever sed it b4. i like the name charlize and eliza for girls also jamie lee,rogue is also good. for boys im not sure it’s hard to not let boy’s names get to girly anyone got any idea’s. my friend is having a baby soon and likes the names christian, cameron and codie for boys wot do people think?
I like the name Eden, like the garden of Eden in the Bible, for a girl, meanwhile I have a very hard time finding a name I can stick to for more than a day when it comes to a boy. I like unusual but not so unusual that my child could be made fun of. I’ve gone through Garbiel, Caden, Ezra, Levi, Benjamin, Noah and Ellis. Help!! hehe
I love unusual names, and I want more than anything for my kids to have an unusual name, or at least an interesting one. I’m not really concerned on how many other people have the same name, as long as the individual knows that they are unique. I myself don’t think my name is too unusual, but not many people have it around here, and it’s not Joanne, so I feel unique. My favorite name for a girl is Evangeline(Ev-aan-jel-een) (not related to Evangelical or, which everyone who I’ve told the name too immediately refer to!) I also like Clementine and Comedi. For boys, I like August (augie for short) and Ender. A lot of the names mentioned on this thread are very good and have given me a lot of new ideas, thanks!
**Hello everyone!** I think that you also have to remember the initials of the names that you choose…so that they don’t spell out other words unwittingly!! Also you have to take into consideration that if the name is shortened how it will go with the surname…I once knew someone who was thinking of Isabella but her surname was Clogg. (Isabella Clogg…no…its a bell!) ..she ended up called Isobel instead! They had also considered Sebastian Clogg for a boy…until I said it reminded me of industrial cleaning fluid…Seb Clogg. Mmm..didn’t go down too well that one! LOL…..My mum Beryl Christine was going to call me Storm, (I would have liked it, and it would have suited me too!) My late dad didn’t like it, so I am Michelle instead..which I love! ( I intensely dislike my second name of Lorraine but then my dad had wanted Helen instead of Michelle…Horrors!… so I am very happy really!) My sons are Liam Troy and Jake Ethan. Both of their first names were unusual until I put the birth notices in the newspaper and that was a big mistake!!…suddenly their names were in the top ten for the whole of the flipping UK! I could have turned the names around, as I love them too, but the boys suit their first names so much. My husband is Mark Edmund (which he hated until Edmund Black Adder was on the telly) my brother is Lee Curtis, (which I think is great!) my late grandad was Gerald Clement and my late grandmother was Frances Doreen but everyone called her Dorn, which for the era was unusual and I suppose most people thought it was Dawn!! Happy name hunting!!! Love Michelle x
Just as an after thought!!!…When my niece Sarah was very young she couldn’t pronounce my name properly…and called me Auntie Hell. (She didn’t realise how right she was really)…and thinking on it now..perhaps my late dad knew all along and thats why he wanted the name Helen!!! LOL….Love Michelle xx
Hi I’m Dawn! I think i have a pretty neet name because i’m a girl so a guys name is kind of cool? I always though naming a girl Charlie,Dawn,Andy or Joey would be cool huh? If your choosing names for a girl maybe go with Bailey or Bryce! NAmes like Emily, Mike and Erin are BORING! so spike it up
Love, Dawn
some of you people have chosen really ugly names im sorry! but somone had to say it. The lady who suggested evangeline im sorry really makes me think of flange sorry….. also clementine why don’t you just call your kid orange and comedi COME ON again call her laugh and ender is just horrible it sounds like a half name that can’t even be shortened. Please think about what you are saying
I agree with carly, i mean who’d call a child such an ugly name as evangeline im sorry but im not sure that even is a name its like calling you kid charlesagon i mean whats up with that???
I also agree with dawn guys names are really cool for girls but dont try turning a guys name like Charles in something like CHarletta to make it a girl’s name that just ruins it!
I only like my name when people say it right, it’s Emmeline (said Emma- leane) not Emmaline, as so many people say! My boyfriend and i(Tymon) have mixed ideas on names, i like lily, he likes tai! although one we both agree on is ethan!
it’s such a tough decision to make because firstly your child has to live with the name that you have chosen and also if you decide after you have named it that you dont like it then your screwed!
hey yall! my names Brett but i am FEMALE!
my middle name is Elise…i think Brett Elise sounds pretty together.
how do you pronounce the name Jordana?
thanks!
jordana is pronounced jor – dan – a. like the actress jordana brewster. i posted a comment earlier about my friend having a baby, she’s going to be a young mum so doesn’t want anything that sounds trashy for boys she like’s christian, cameron and codie what do people think? and thanks for claire’s comment agreeing with me ealier
hi, i have never come across anybody with my name or my son, my name is china’Jai (jay) and my boy is called ace , everybody who hears it always give me a funny look but i love it, its unusual. if i had any other children they too would have great names like ace, just cant think of any i like at the moment, 🙂 thanks.
I have always had a passion for names, early on in my life I hated my name. I always wished I was named something different and told my mom to call me various different names. Over time I grew to love my name because, unlike most of my friends, I’m the only Roxanne in my school. I love names and so far my future children will be called Logan, Flynn and River for boys and Baylee, Ella/Elyse or Shannon for a girl. Personally I think if you like the name then you should call them that name, not go by what other people like or don’t like, this is your child and at the end of the day you’re going to be the one writing their childs name on school forms, you’re going to be the one shouting the child in for dinner.
We named our Daughter Caitlin Harvey Smith . . ..
Caitlin because it was a cool (and, to us new parents, uncommon) name; Harvey because it was the surname of my wife’s very unorthodox, fav. grandmother.
Caitlin – ‘KATE-LYNN’ – was great until, she was eight months old we went to Ireland (C. is Irish for Kathleen) and learnt the correct pronounciation of her name is ‘CAT – LYNN’.
It was too late to get our head around that one, though we did try for a month or so to change.
Then a year or so later we were at a very small beach in West Wales and heard a mum calling her 3-yr-old daughter over: ‘Caitlin.’ Her twin brother came also, in reply to ‘Harvey’!!!!!!
I don’t know why people get so bothered about choosing ‘unusual’ names, whenever I encounter such children my first thought is ‘their parents think a lot of themselves’. Apple! Brooklyn! Mercedes! Gucci! Why not go the whole hog and call your kids ‘Nouveau Riche’ or ‘Whole Hog’ for that matter.
One golden rule should be don’t call your child anything that needs to be followed by the words “Pronounced …” or “Spelt …”.
Hello, I’d just like to say that I think the girl that posted the names Evangeline and Clementine are really unique. Clementine is a little unusual, and it may not have a girlish ring to it, but neither do some really old classic names like Beryl, Beatrice, etc. however they are still pretty in their own ways. I love the name Evangeline, it’s different; I’ve only heard it a few times. And it’s also in the name of a song by one of my favorite bands, so don’t listen to anyone who thinks those names are ugly, they just can’t handle creativity! 🙂
My name has pretty much made me yawn all my life. It is all too common where I’m from. I like the names Krislaysa and Piper for girls. I’ve always liked Athens for a girl too. I like the names Beau and Miles for boys. Friends of mine (brothers) have those names, and I’ve never met anyone else w/ those. I know Beau is more common, but not spelled that way. Those are just a few more options. Hope you enjoy. 🙂
My boyfriend and I (Laura) are getting pretty serious, and so ive been thinking of childrens names.
I’ve always loved my Gran’s names. She was christened Eliza (eeh-lie-zah), but her sister could’nt pronounce it, called her Lyla (lie-lah) which stuck, and now she goes by that name.
I’m Scottish, and would like to call my kids Scottish names, however in my family we have a Siobhan (Sheh-vonn) a Vhari (Vah-ree) a Seonaid (Sho-nah)- all girls- and a Ruaridh (roe-rae)- a boy- and know through them that names that need to be explained all the time can be a hindrance.
My sisters are Amy and Lilian. I’ve only come across one other Lilian, she was forty years older than my sister.
My dad is called Blair, which I really like too. I’m not desperate to give my children unusual names, but names that give them character and which in twenty-years I won’t regret.
A friend of mine has been thinking of calling her expected child either pepper (girl) or babylon (boy). My only worry is that while these are quite cute names now, what about when they go to job interviews? would you hire someone called pepper to be the new lawyer at your firm? people do make assumptions on your intelligence etc based on your name.
In the States and Canada ,where I think the majority of these messages are coming from, unusual names aren’t unusual. So maybe the same kind of judgement may not occur.
In the end I think that I’ll call my kids names that will add character to their lives and which people can respect (and pronounce/spell)
Laura.