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

A new entry is the fashionable new occupational name category -- and a jolly job it must be -- with the added attraction of relating to the great early 20th century American artist James Abbott McNeill Whistler, of "Whistler's Mother" fame.

Modern Hebrew form of Tobiah

Heard more often as a surname in Italy, its meaning has also been linked to the dolphin--which would make a cool nursery motif.

One of the more unfamiliar Nordic choices, a perfect set-up for the nickname Brody.

Like Stian, a more manageable short form of the unwieldy Srigandr, but with a less euphonic sound. Stig Larsson is a successful Swedish novelist, not to be confused with the even more successful late Swedish novelist Stieg Larsson (born Karl Stig-Erland LArsson), author of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo</>..

This would make an interesting name for a boy, if it weren't for the fact that the two most well known Fergies are female.

Photographer Richard Avedon's unique surname would make a stylish, one-of-a-kind first name for a baby of either sex.

A Hollywood agent created the name Tab Hunter and poof. -- the former Arthur Gelien became a fifties teen idol. We don't advise trying this at home.

Tornado is a tempestuous weather name for parents who like to live dangerously. The best-known Tornado is a female tennis player whose sister is named Hurricane, but this wild name is decidedly gender-neutral.

Attractive Sanskrit boy name given to 22 American baby boys one recent year.

An interesting Canadian province and city name that has some literary history as the name of a character in Dickens's Bleak House; could make a distinctive choice for parents with northern roots.

Charming Dickensian route to Nick.

Dashing surname for the Basque kingdom.

God of fertility in Latvian mythology. Jumis is responsible for ensuring a good harvest — he lives in the fields and the last of the crop would be left for him to live in.

This Yoruba praise name is used throughout West Africa, and has an empowering meaning.

A case in which the son is now more attractive than the father. There have been Colonial settlers surnamed Dennison on this side of the Atlantic since 1623.

Name of nine provincial Spanish kings, but more likely to conjure up Sancho Panza, the hapless squire of Don Quixote.

One of the less common names that came over on the Mayflower, albeit, one with modern potential.