Nameberry's Favorite Unique Names

Alcott evokes shades of nineteenth-century New England, and memories of the author of the books Little Women and Little Men. Louisa May Alcott was the daughter of Amos Bronson Alcott, noted educator, writer and philosopher, and colleague of Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau.

A smooth and velvety Gallic choice first heard here as the heroine of the movie "Chocolat."

Both a place name and a masculine given name in the Old Testament.

A spin on Calia or Calla, with a lot of fashionable sounds.

Mabli is the sweet Welsh form of Mabel; like its English cousin, it’s starting to make a modest comeback in Wales as part of the trend for vintage baby names from a century ago.

Lush and unusual.

Modern name based on the Latin for "sun", with a bright and pretty sound.

A distinguished English and Irish surname, probably deriving from the Old Gaelic name Fearsithe, meaning "man of peace". It's also possible that the surname derives from a place name now lost to history, in which case the meaning would be "fairy meadow" or "fairy mound", from Gaelic fer "grass" or for "hill, mound" plus sithe "fairies".

This romantic, ethereal name sounds straight out of Arthurian legend but is in fact a modern hybrid of Guinevere and Lili.

An odd name, with a pretty bad meaning, rescued by the reputation of the courtesan (more beautiful than Aphrodite) and the charming character Phryne Fisher from Australian author Kerry Greenwood's detective series Phryne Fisher's Mysteries, set in the 1930s. In the series Phryne is a wealthy Melbourne woman, but goes beyond her class and gender stereotypes - she can fly a plane, drives her own car and sometimes wears trousers. However, while displaying bohemian panache, she manages also to maintain style and class.

Rarely used on its own and irrevocably tied to former House Speaker Gingrich -- who was christened Newton.

Inessa is a truly multi-cultural name, heard in Spain, Germany and Russia, and is related to the names Agnes and Ines/Inez.

A fairly common Hebrew name without much crossover potential.

Voltaire is the nom-de-plume of François-Marie Arouet, who became noted for his witty and satirical takes on enlightenment philosophy and Western society. Voltaire's most famous work, Candide, used satire as a vehicle to advocate against religion, monarchy, greed, and for tolerance, freedom and reason. It is said that his moniker was a variation of his sister's family nickname "le petit volontaire" (the determined little thing).

Sunshine was seen as a quintessential hippie name of the 70s, reaching as high as Number 536 in 1975. Now such names are making a bit of a retro comeback, seen, for example, as a character on Glee.

In Greek mythology Asterion is the name of the Minotaur — also called the Minoan Bull — who lived in the Labyrinth in Crete. Asterion was the child of Poseidon and the queen of Crete.

Unique and unusual as a nickname and a stand-alone name, Loie is a vintage choice worth reviving. It is traditionally used as a short form of Lois and Louise but would work as a nickname for any Lo- starting name, or even names such as Laura, Eloise, and Charlotte.

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.

One of the rarer names to come from the Bible, Cherith has a fresh and modern sound despite its ancient roots. Cherith was the name of the stream that kept Elijah alive during the three years' drought which he announced to King Ahab. In English, Cherith pleasingly reminds one of the word cherish which is another plus to this underused girls' name.

The name St. John is much more usable in its phonetic spelling — similar to the way St. Clair evolved into Sinclair. St. John has some literary cred — St. John Rivers is a cool character in Jane Eyre.

St. John has been attached to a number of notable men — not as a first but as a middle name, one shared by Evelyn Waugh, Basil Rathbone, Richard Harris and Brian Eno.