Gray Cat Names

With its dramatic nature meaning (blaidd "wolf" + rhi "ruler"), Bledri looks and sounds pretty distinctive. It's rare even in Wales. But the WYSIWYG spelling makes it perfectly viable.

This Indian name with a Slavic sound definitely has potential.

Tornado first meant thunderstorm and only later came to mean whirlwind, the common modern meaning. More recently, Tornado is the first name of a tennis-playing teen whose sister is called the equally attention-getting Hurricane. Both names work for either gender, if you think you can withstand the storm jokes.

Tore, which peaked in Norway in the 1940s, is now solidly in grandpa territory. But Ture, the Swedish variant, is a rising favorite among Swedish babes.

Cendrine derives from Cendrillon, the French form of Cinderella. It's quite uncommon, even in France, but if the fairy tale made a big impression on you, it could be a sweet tribute.

Thunderous name with Native American origins.

With its appealing double-a configuration, this is the name of an Israeli kibbutz on the Galilee beach. For girls, Saar is a popular modern name in the Netherlands, a shortened form of Sarah.

And her sisters, Stormy and Sunny.

Although Tamerlaine, especially with the addition of an i, feels more feminine than masculine these days and is occasionally used for girls, the original Tamerlane was a fierce Mongol warrior.

Related to the Indian word and currency "rupee', Rupa derives its meaning from the ancient Sanskrit language, and can mean both silver and beautiful. Rupa also has strong historical and literary associations (as Rupa Bhawani was a noted 16th Century poetess and mystic) from Kashmir.

A name given by the Traveller community in England to a child born when it is raining.

Comes with a monocle.

Futuristic, in a 1930s kind of way.

Old dialectal form of Tholf

Momoko is a Japanese name meaning "peach child." It's also the name of a character in the popular Sailor Moon manga series.

South America provides a continent of interesting, undiscovered names -- Bolivia, Peru, Brazil, and the tango-rhythmed Argentina.

The unusual (to English speakers) name Cendrillon is French for Cinderella, though most Americans wouldn't recognize it as such. This might make an excellent middle name for those who are looking for something rare, whimsical, fantastical, and literary. But you must insist on the lovely French pronunciation — if you're choosing a name this uncommon, why not go all the way.

Cute and quirky Zeldy adds some extra zip to Zelda — which is making its way back up the charts after decades out of the Top 1000.

Olympic skier Picabo Street was allowed to choose her name at the age of three, and picked it possibly (a) after a nearby Idaho town or (b) because she loved to play peekaboo. No longer a single-person name, it is now worn by a number of satisfied bearers.

This name stems from an Irish word meaning sullen, but in the Isle of Man is used to refer to sullen weather, rather than sullen people (hence the tempest meaning). It's a cute and spunky name that could easily work outside Manx circles.