Walter is an old school boys' name that is gently on the rise again. Short forms include Walt (as in Disney) and Wally, but Wat was once commonly used in England as a diminutive of Walter.

There were no baby boys named Cay born in the US last year, but there's no reason why there couldn't be, especially with the rise in popularity of the similar Kai as well as the nouveau proper names Cayden, Cayson and so on. Cay Dose was an 18th century German architect and Christian Cay Lorenz Hirschfeld was a German garden historian of the same era.

Usually pronounced to rhyme with nice — though others may rhyme it with Jace — Thijs is a popular Dutch name short for that country's form of Matthew. Matt Lauer's half-Dutch son is called Thijs.

An lesser-known member of the John-Joan family, though popular in its native habitat, has never emigrated, possibly due to its non-intuitive pronunciation.

Oline is an old school feminization of the classic Scandinavian names, Ole or Olaf, whose light, timeless sounds means it still ranks in the Norwegian Top 100 today.

This is most familiar here as a musical name, via Indian Parsi conductor Zubin Mehta, but it certainly could be used by others.

Tassos makes this venerated Greek name more earthy and approachable.

Meeri is kind of like Siri with an M. This unusual name is certainly cute and intriguing but would forever be mistaken for Mary.

Trini is best known as the name of the (male) singer Trini Lopez, who sang "If I had a Hammer", but Trini is a gender neutral name that works equally well for girls or boys.

Finja Is a Josephine nickname that ranks among the Top 100 girl names in Germany.

All baby names can be made more "creative" by putting a Z at the beginning instead of what's conventionally there: B or C or H, for instance. Zaley is an adorable entry in this group, also spelled Zailey or Zayley or Zalee. The Zaley spelling attains a measure of authenticity when seen as a feminine form of Zale, a Greek name with an ocean-related meaning.

Kamma is an appealing Danish name signifying a combination of Katherine or Karen and Maria or Margaret. It may also be a short form of Kamilla, the usual Scandinavian spelling of Camilla.

The name recently given to their daughter by Susan and Robert Downey, Jr. is pronounced like Avery and may be seen as a kree8tiv spelling variation of that popular unisex name or a girlish short form of Avraham, the Biblical Hebrew form of Abraham.

Cute tomboyish diminutive that's popular in Germany but has not spread far. An interesting choice for the parent who wants an elaborate feminine proper name with a modern short form.