Uncommon but useable names

Ike, once the quirky one-person nickname of President Dwight Eisenhower, has morphed into a cool kid nickname of the early 21st century.

Coolly attractive African name, with distinguished representatives in sports and literature. Jabari has been on the rise recently, returning to the US Top 1000 in 2023.

Jago is a dashing alternative to overused favorite Jacob.

Once rare, this streamlined form of Jessica has been boosted by two very different television figures: the Jemima Kirke character on HBO series Girls, and reality television daughter Jessa Duggar.

A rarely-used name even in its native Cornwall, Jory nevertheless feels very wearable, thanks to its similarity to familiar picks like Rory, Corey and Joey. Jory Cassel is a minor character in the first season of Game of Thrones.

This sweet and loving name, favored in recent years by a mix of Hispanic-American parents and Bob Dylan fans, was chosen for her daughter by TV actress Melina Kanakaredes.

Katerina and its near-identical twin Katarina have a pleasingly lilting European sound, though for some Americans they may be uncomfortably close to Katrina, which will be linked for a long time to the hurricane that devastated New Orleans.

Kenna is the Scottish version of Kendra, both of which are feminine versions of Kenneth. Used in the TV show Reign for one of the supporting characters.

A friendly Irish and Persian name chosen by Geena Davis for one of her twin boys, whose father is Iranian.

The great African-American Harlem Renaissance writer Langston Hughes put this one on the map; actor Laurence Fishburne adopted it for his now grown son, born in 1987. Despite these popular associations, the name didn't make it into the US Top 1000 until 2013. This name is even less used in England or Wales, where as recently as 2014 no births were registered using this name.

Luella is a sleeker spelling variant of the girls' name Louella and is now more popular than the original. Sweet, but lively, it was a popular name in the the early 19th century, but fell out of favor in the 50s. Now, after a 60 year absence, it's back in the charts, in the US and the UK.

The name of the Roman goddess of the moon, Luna is derived straight from the Latin word for moon, luna. Luna may be the name most likely to surprise someone from an older generation by its Top 10 status in the US and its widespread international popularity.

The French Miley? This trendy choice from Brittany, which is pronounced either as Miley or May-lee, is related to the traditional (male) saint's name Mael, traditionally feminized as Maelle.

Maude, also spelled Maud, is a lacy, mauve-tinted name that was wildly popular a hundred years ago, but has been rarely heard in the past fifty. Some stylish parents are starting to choose it again, especially as a middle.

This sweet nickname name has seen a recent revival in the US, breaking the Top 1000 in 2019 for the first time in 40 years. By 2023, Nellie became one of the fastest rising girl names, chasing sister name Eleanor up the charts. Nellie is an elaboration of Nell, a medieval diminutive of names starting with El, such as Eleanor and Ellen. It may have arisen from the affectionate phrase "mine El" which was later reinterpreted as "my Nel".

A much more dynamic nickname than Nicky for any of the Nic-names. Nico was chosen by Thandiwe Newton for her daughter.

Love the popular Noah but want to make it more distinctive? You can vary it to Noam, and going all the way to Noaz takes it from distinctive to unique.

Otto is cool again. Long a quintessential Old Man Name, Otto has been promoted to trending darling of adventurous baby namers.