Power Names/Fantasy

Ancient name, near obsolete now, but could make a good alternative to Owen for the adventurous baby namer.

Shakespeare's moor has exclusive ownership of this name.

Ottilie is trending in the UK, where the pronounced T helps the name sound pretty and delicate, rather like Amelie and Elodie. Ottilie is less popular in the US, where many Americans pronounce it as a near-homonym for "oddly".

Sharing her name with a country, a city, an isthmus, a gulf, a canal, and a hat might be a bit much for a child to handle.

Paola is the Latinate version of Paula. Its intriguing sound could make it more appealing than the English standard.

Turning Paul or Paol -- whether it's as Paolo, Paolina, or even Paola -- instantly makes it more romantic and appealing.

A sweet and clear Hopi name with a lovely natural meaning to match.

The name of several early saints, including one, Pelagia the Penitent, a beautiful and licentious dancing girl who repented, then, disguised as a man, spent the rest of her life living alone in a cave on the Mount of Olives. Because of her early vocation, she is the patron saint of actresses.

An interesting figure from Greek mythology -- an Amazon queen who fought for Troy in the Trojan War -- but no figure could be interesting enough to make that five-syllable mouthful usable today. Stick with Penelope or, if that's too popular for your taste, try Thessaly.

Interesting on paper, though most people would confuse it with the word peruse.

The name Persia derives from Avestan Parsa, the name of the Indo-European nomadic people who migrated into southern Iran in about 1000 BCE. Persis or Persea, the feminine form of Perseus, feel more namelike.

Parents seeking a distinctive New Testament name might consider this one. Adopted by some Puritans in the seventeenth century, Persis was used in the William Dean Howells novel The Rise of Silas Lapham for the wife of the protagonist.

The fact that this Spanish classic, which honors the Virgin Mary, does not end in the conventional letter 'a' gives it a special sense of strength, elegance, and style, making it a worthy choice.

Pom is a shortened word name that's not much used in France, but cute and familiar here as one of Babar (the Elephant's) triplets. Pom, pommy and pommie are (non-derogatory) terms sometimes used by Australians, New Zealanders and South Africans to denote a person of English heritage. 

In ancient Greek mythology, a Trojan king with fifty children; in the modern world it sounds more like a computer language or environmentally correct car.