998+ Unique, Rare, and Uncommon Boy Names (with Meanings and Origins)

One of numerous usable Irish and Scottish surnames starting with Mac and Mc, this is the real McCoy. McCoy Tyner, the well-known jazz pianist, is one of the few to use this very cool name. Bonus: Nickname Mac.

When the King was alive, and for years afterwards, few people (except Declan McManus who became Elvis Costello) dared use his singular name, but now it's very much up for grabs.

One of those names that most Americans find just too too tea-sippingly British to consider; its meaning has led to occasional use for Capricorn boys.

Most people will assoicate it with the well-known children's singer.

If ever there was a one-person name, it's probably Sherlock. But Sherlock Holmes the character has arguably never been hotter: he's been played by Robert Downey Jr., Ian McKellen, Jonny Lee Miller and, most memorably, Benedict Cumberbatch, in various film and TV adaptations over the last few years. So you never know.

This early Scottish title -- known to us via Shakespeare's Macbeth -- has recently surfaced as a baby name possibility, familiar sounding through its similarity to names like Zane and Wayne.

Supermodel Helena Christensen named her son in honor of jazz great Charles Mingus, opening up a whole category of jazzy possibilities: Kenton, Calloway, Ellington, Gillespie, Mulligan, Tatum, and Thelonius. 

Radical Bradley.

Tobias-related name that makes an attractive and modern-sounding form of the biblical original. It was recently chosen by Karolina Kurkova for her son.

Errol was a swashbuckling name in the Errol Flynn era, which still has a trace of jazz cool.m thanks to jazz pianist Erroll Garner.

Walden is a recent entrant to the en-ending boys' names trend, a name that summons up placid images of Thoreau's two-year stay contemplating nature near Walden Pond.

Truman is an upstanding presidential name that radiates an aura of integrity and moral truth, values any parent would want for a child. It seems definitely headed for a revival.

Lighthearted, spirited Irish-accented name. Works particularly well with an O' surname, as in 'Darby O'Gill and the Little People'. Patrick Dempsey chose it for one of his twin boys.

An x makes any name cooler, so that Baxter has a bit more pizzazz than the original Baker. Baxter had some currency as a first name a century ago--it was on the popularity lists sporadically from 1880 till the 1920s, peaking at Number 515 in 1886-- which means it's just about due for a comeback. And we can see Bax as a worthy follow-up to Max and Jax.

Monroe is a presidential surname which feels fresher than Jackson, Lincoln and Taylor. Marilyn Monroe is a famous female namesake, but her smart Scottish surname feels equally usable for either sex. Plus, we think old man nickname Moe would sound both cool and adorable on a baby boy today!

This stuffy English surname and hotel name took on Twilight cool when attached to vampire Carlisle Cullen. Inspired by the character, it's more popular in this spelling than as Carlyle and more widely used for boys than for girls.

Artie is a cute short form rarely given on its own, unlike the more grownup Art. But for a young Arthur, it's adorable.

Abbott is a neglected masculine surname with religious overtones as the head of a monastery. Though the feminine nickname Abby could be a slight drawback, Abbott is still an attractive offbeat possibility.

Urban was not an uncommon name through the 1930s (rising as high as Number 435), having been attached to several saints and early popes, but it has completely disappeared from the landscape--both urban and rural. Yet in this era of word name appreciation and trend for 'an'-ending boys' names, we're thinking it might be ready for a return.

Rollo is a livelier, roly-poly, o-ending version of Roland.