Dog Names That Mean Comfort

A popular Muslim girl name in the UK, possibly boosted by its similarity to familiar classic Hannah.

This name of a minor Hebrew prophet in the Old Testament is rarely heard outside the Jewish culture.

Once you get past thinking of it as a red-painted building where they keep cows and hay, has a nice plainspoken country-like feel and may make a cooler diminutive than the still-purple Barney.

Variant of Haniya

A cool and breezy nature name with a stylish sound, used in the Scirocco spelling by Volkswagen for one of its cars.

Relief was a name used by the Puritans in reference to the relief of Christ. Leafy was the common nickname.

Traditional Hebrew name that has never entered the American mainstream, though it is popular among Hasidic parents and was found to be the quirky favorite girls' names of New Jersey in our survey of baby names that enjoy outsized popularity in each state.

Catalan form of Amparo, found especially in Valencia.

Spelled Najee, this was chosen by rapper LL Cool J for his son several years ago.

See NECHAMA.

Menahem derives from a Hebrew word meaning "the comforter" King Menahem of the Old Testament did not live up to his name — he was one of Israel’s cruelest kings.

Urdu form of the Arabic name Ridha.

Oasis is an ultra-rare word name that has only ever been used for a handful of babies born in the US. Its appeal is undeniable, though. An oasis can be a place of refuge, or a place of beauty, in an otherwise harsh environment. It also shares sounds with other popular and trendy names—think Owen, combined with Silas, with a touch of Ocean.

An is a gender-neutral Chinese name, originally a surname, that can be used for girls or boys and means peace or quiet. It is also a Vietnamese name meaning safe and secure. In the English-speaking world, it may feel slight due to its equivalence to the article an.

A cool and breezy nature name with a stylish sound, used in the Scirocco spelling by Volkswagen for one of its cars.

Salim is a popular Arabic name used in this form mostly for boys, though the variation Salem -- also a Biblical place-name -- is more popular for girls. In the US, the version given to girls is more usually the feminization Salima or Salimah.

Very popular throughout the Arab world and growing in use in the US as well, where it was given last year to more than 50 baby girls.