36 Unique Invented and Word Names

Reverie is a strong-sounding word for an ethereal, dreamlike state -- a perfect contrast and meaning for a word that intends to become a first name. Popular mommy blogger Rebecca Woolf of Girls Gone Child named one of her twin daughters Reverie, setting off a groundswell of interest.

Fable, like Story, is a word name with real potential, combining enchanted tale-telling with a moral edge. And soundwise, it would fit right in with the likes of Abel and Mabel.

Solstice graduated from word to official first name when author Lionel Shriver used it for a character in her novel Big Brother. But of course, there were people named Solstice before: 16 baby girls were given the name in the US in 2021 (and it is occasionally used for boys too).

A recently entered name on the roster, Poet was used for her daughter by Soleil Moon (Punky Brewster) Frye, who obviously appreciates the advantages of an unusual name. This is a possible middle name choice for verse-loving parents who want to skip specifics like Auden or Poe or Keats or Tennyson and go with the generic.

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.

Tao is the Chinese word for the underlying harmony of the universe, combining both yin and yang. Extreme kayaker Tao Berman made this one of the spiritual names prime for adoption, and more recently, it has appeared in hit graphic novel and TV series, Heartstopper. Tao rhymes with cow.

A name that looks intriguing and masculine on paper, but is, unfortunately, a homonym for a girl's name.

Free and fun name if you don't want to be pinned down to Noelle, Pasqua, or Valentine.

A natural phenomenon that makes a stylish baby name. Teen Mom's Kailyn Lowry used it for her daughter, twin to Verse.

On one hand, Saturnine is a bright and golden French name, ultimately derived from the Roman God Saturn, associating it with agriculture, renewal, time, and abundance, along with the planet. On the other, it is an English word name, referring to a person, a place, or an occasion that is dark, sombre, and gloomy.

This cosmological name is given to a handful of boys and girls each year in the USA. Likely to get confused with Stella or Stellan.

Nimbus is a word from nature for a type of cloud that has occasionally -- very occasionally -- been used for a human. But it's evocative and upbeat and certainly makes an intriguing and stylish nature name.

This evocative term for a stone or shell carved in relief could make a striking first name for a girl, though she would have a starring role in her story, rather than a cameo.

Ode could be part of the extended Otto/Otis family, or it might be a literary term, referring to an elaborate lyric poem, such as Keats's Ode to a Nightingale..

Cooler than April, May, or June, but also a tad icy. December gets its name from the number ten as the old Roman calendar only had ten months, and as now, December was the last.

There are many fire-related names, from Aidan to Fiammetta, but the Flame isn't one that's often found on birth certificates. It's a highly symbolic word: flames can represent faith, passion and cleansing, for example, as well as straightforward heat and light.

A lyrical choice with a similar feel to Story and Posy and a similar sound to Penelope. It might refer to either a work of poetry, a collection of poems, or something that is comparable to the beauty often associated with poetry as a form.

"Girls Gone Child" blogger Rebecca Woolf made Boheme a first name when she gave it to one of her twin daughters (the other one's name is Reverie). La Boheme -- "The Bohemian" -- is a Puccini opera that was transmogrified into the modern play Rent. Boheme means a literary or artistic person who lives outside conventional society.

Worn round the neck and close to the heart, lockets are often used to hold small items of sentimental value, like a photo, a lock of hair, or a letter. Used as a surname, but rarely as a given name, Locket could have potential given its similarity in sound to Lochlan, Beckett, and Luka.

A word name that's appealing when applied to a person boogying or doing ballet; a different story in the context of Santa's reindeer.