Far-flung Blossoms

Jessamy and big sister Jessamine are all but unknown in the U.S., but make distinctive alternatives to overexposed Jessica, Jessie, and Jasmine.

A sweet and feminine Italian name almost unheard of here.

This Thai name can get shortened to Niki or Nika.

Kantuta is the Quechua name for the national flower of both Bolivia and Peru, which is known for flowering around Christmas time. With its vivid green foliage and extremely bright red bell-shaped flowers, the plant encapsulates many traditional Christmas symbols, making Kantuta one of the great unique names for Christmas babies.

This attractive multicultural name is found in India and Finland, where it is also a word meaning "frost."

If it's possible for a name to be too musical, this one is.

Lyrical, lively and bold, Leilani is a name that feels fresh, floral, and summery. Sharing sounds with the popular Lillian, Layla and Luna, Leilani is a fairly recent addition to the US Top 100.

Liliosa, one of the most extravagant forms of the ever-more-popular and varied Lily family, is an ancient saint's name that's a perfect candidate for revival by parents who love the double-L flower name trend but want a distinctive variation. Saint Liliosa was one of the martyrs of 9th century Cordoba, along with her husband Felix and cousins Aurelius and Natalia — all names newly fashionable in the modern world.

Lillias is a spin on Lilias, two international members of the popular Lily family. Whatever the spelling, the name is so rare that it was given to no baby girls in the US in 2015.

Madelief is an uncommon name but not unheard of in the Netherlands, where 123 girls were called Madelief in one recent year. With its soft sounds and similarities to all those "Madeleine" type names as well as names ending in "eef/eev" sounds (Aoife, Eve, Genevieve), Madelief has potential in English-speaking countries to be a fresh and pleasant change from Daisy, Margaret and Madeleine.

This fragrant name is unfortunately just too close to the English word malady to be a good omen for English-speakers.

The th sound both softens and complicates this Melanie relative.

This name has been in the Chilean popularity charts for a while. Millaray makes a good choice for those looking for a feminine floral name that manages to look and sound fresh and modern.

This Greek flower and mythological choice doesn't make it into the pantheon of possibilities because of its association with narcissism. But narcissa is December's flower of the month, so Narcissa and Daffodil theoretically make perfect names for December babies.

This name gets given to a handful of Persian girls each year in both the USA and the UK.

Nasrin has a strong sound and lovely floral meaning. International variants include the Turkish Nesrin and Egyptian Nesreen.

Has a pleasantly fizzy, effervescent feeling.

Like many a popular name, Ornella is a theatrical creation. Italian playwright Gabriele d'Annunzio created this name for his dramatic heroine in the 1904 play La Figlia di Iorio. Ornella is a feminization of the orno or ornello, which is the Italian word for the Fraxinus Ornus, a type of tree which produces such sweet sap that it was compared to biblical manna.

A virtually unknown choice in the U.S. -- after 20 years of researching names, we've just heard of it ourselves -- but definitely attractive and usable for the baby namer who truly wants something different.

Pema is related to the more familiar Hindu name Padma and means lotus flower. This delightful name was given to only 14 girls in the USA last year, so it's guaranteed to be a unique choice. Pema is probably most familiar to Westerners through Buddhist nun Pema Chodron and through Jetsun Pema, the Dalai Lama's sister.