335+ Colonial Names from the 1700s

Little-used name borne by several biblical figures including a king. It would make an unexpected way to get the nickname Eli - or Kim.

The Biblical Abijah might be temporarily lost to time, but this antiquated short form could move with it into the modern era.

A poetic name first used in Edmund Spenser's "The Faerie Queene" in 1596, it had a literary vogue in the 18th century, especially favored by Robert Burns. "inda" names--Melinda, Belinda, Linda" are not particularly in right now.

Gussie fits the growing trend of boyish nicknames for girls - alongside Charlie and Frankie. But Gussie is a bit fussy — try Gus.

Parthenia may be a bit unwieldy, but does conjure up majestic images of the Parthenon. It was briefly in the US charts in the late 19th century.

A traditional French male name that could, with American pronunciation, become an admirable word name.

Adeliza is a unique member of the popular Adelaide-Adeline family. Different enough to distinguish it from all the others? Maybe, and it's definitely got an appealing sound that makes it sound a bit like a smoosh of Adele and Eliza.

Melvina ranked in the Top 1000 for over 65 years in the US, coinciding to a large extent with the years its much more popular masculine counterpart Melvin ranked in the Top 100. Today, Melvin is still hanging on in the Top 1000 for boys, but Melvina hasn't been given to more than 20 babies in a year since 1991.

These days Finney is most likely a pet form of Finn, but it was once a standard nickname for the biblical Phineas.

Young rocker Tennessee Thomas has brought this former one-person name over to the girls' side -- though the census roles of North Carolina in 1850 included a female named Tennessee and called Tincy.

Winnet is a long-forgotten nickname for Winifred that was used in the US in the 18th and 19th centuries. These days, it's more often found in South Africa.

Greek name found in the New Testament makes for one of the unique baby names still undiscovered from the Bible.

Feminization of the Greek place name Delphi (of oracle fame), Delphia could also be used as a nod to American city Philadelphia. Delphine and Delphinia are similar names.

nature namesare in, and even fish names like Pike and Salmon are open for consideration.

Feline nickname for Tabitha — a bewitching vintage choice.

In the Zulu and Xhosa languages of Southern Africa, Phila is a unisex name pronounced "PEE-la" and means "to live of life" It's also the feminine version of the ancient Greek name Philo, pronounced "FEE-la", meaning friend or lover and present in several contemporary names and words used throughout the Western World. The name Philip, for instance, means lover of horses, while the city name Philadelphia means "brotherly love" and philosophy means "love of wisdom".

Replaced Patsy as the midcentury's popular, peppy babysitter.

Mellie is not Millie and it's not Nellie, though it will forever be confused with those too more familiar nicknames. It's cute, too, and while some of the names it's usually short for may be sailing into the sunset (so long, Melody!), others like Amelia are rising through the ranks and may give Mellie a new chance to shine as a cute girls' nickname. Just be prepared for endless confusion.

If Abigail's too popular and Tabitha is too...."Bewitched."

In the Old Testament, Asenath was the wife of Joseph and mother of Manesseh and Ephraim.