Nameberry's Favorite Names

Best known as the name of Naruto Uzumaki, the main character in the Naruto anime series. It's also a common place name in Japan—the Naruto whirlpools are said to have inspired the name of the manga character.

Whimsy is a new entry to the ever-expanding word name lexicon, sister for Pixie and Bliss. While it has an undeniable offbeat English aristocratic charm (maybe we're thinking of Dorothy Sayers' fictional detective Lord Peter Wimsey, whose middle name was Death?), we see this as more fitting for a middle than a first name.

Ayelet is an unusual -- and somewhat challenging -- Israeli name familiar thanks to sometimes controversial Jerusalem-born novelist-essayist Ayelet Waldman.

More often spelled Nika, this is a well-used diminutive for the Eastern European Veronika, and there's no reason that the same principle can't apply in the West. It makes a venerated saint's name sound fresh and cute.

Although they could be easily confused, Elsbeth is a fairly unusual contracted German version of Elizabeth, while cousin Elspeth hails from Scotland. With its 'beth' ending, Elsbeth feels closer to the mother name.

The Irish boys' name Colum, rarely heard in the U. S., makes an interesting alternative to Colin.

A character name from Avatar: The Last Airbender. Azula is one of the two main antagonists of the series: a Firebender who produces blue flames (hence her name, which is derived from Spanish, Portuguese and Galician azul, meaning "blue").

Many baby boys have been named after LA Clippers' basketball player Kawhi Leonard since his 2013 debut. Leonard says his father invented the name because he wanted something that sounded Hawaiian. Kawhi sounds like Kauai, the name of one of the Hawaiian islands.

This name of a minor character in the Old Testament, also spelled Atara, has a softly pleasing sound. In the Old Testament, Atarah was a descendant of Judah.

An evocative word name denoting a rare celestial phenomenon when the sun and moon are aligned so that the moon casts a shadow over the Earth (a solar eclipse), or when the moon is right in front of the sun, showing only a ring of light (a lunar eclipse).

Pop princess Amerie is half Korean, half African-American. Her name may relate to Amelia, Emily, Emery, or Amory, though there's no exact equivalent among historical names. But doubtless there will be more Ameries, starting now.

Shortened form of Zarin / Zareen.

A prominent character name from the animated series Avatar: The Last Airbender, derived from an Arabic word meaning "(water) droplet" ⁠— Katara belongs to a water tribe.

An attractive, surprisingly uncommon variation of Josiah. To give you an idea of how comparatively rare Josias is, there were about 200 baby boys named Josias in the US last year, versus nearly 6000 named Josiah.

This spiritual word name is rising for girls and boys.

A highly unusual name in the U.S., Assumpta refers to the Assumption of Mary, the ascent of the Virgin Mary into Heaven before her death in Catholic and Eastern Orthodox doctrine. An intriguing and pious choice for a devout Catholic family — though watch out for those first three letters.

If Erykah Badu can name her son Seven, why can't you name your daughter (or son) this? Eleven has recently gotten a lot of attention via the character on the TV show Stranger Things.

A better idea: how about you choose a name that means handsome, like Beau or Hasan or Irvin?

Is there a more fitting choice for your unique and well, special little girl? For six sets of parents one recent year, the answer was no.