Unusual Girls’ Names: A Guide to the Very Coolest

Am I understanding correctly that Caia is pronounced like Kaya /Kaia only with a C?

This might help with the pronunciation of Caia: http://www.forvo.com/search/Caia/

I really like Electra, Clementina, Lake and Lux.

..as long as you don’t use Electra and Lux together……

I like Tempest and Elizabella. I also like Sybil, but spelled Sibyl.

Touche, Christy Heather. On the pronunciation of Caia, it rhymes with Maya.

I like quite a few names on this list, but would probably not use them because they don’t match our style.

Since Caia is a feminine version of Caius and is Latin I would have to say it’s pronounced as if it rhymed with Maya.

Love Guinevere…always have…ever since Dad told me that’s what I was almost named…now, I’m excited to use it for my daughter…although i keep having (wonerful) boys! But, nn, Vera makes it very usable, I think.

Also love Tally…

Can’t see Domino catching on with the pizza reference in the States, and it’s connotation as an exotic dancer’s name…or is that just me???

I love Caia, Lake, Saskia, Honora, Jacinta, Olympia and Ondine! I like Lilou but that just reminds me of Lindsay Lohan- no thank you. I also like Pippa, but maybe more for a cat than a baby!

Jezebel? Uh, no. Who in their right mind would use that one?

Tessie is growing on me. Birdie, Trixie, and Dolly are adorable and awesome, although I wouldn’t have the nerve myself.

Thanks for sharing this! I love these and would consider using:

ALBANY
ANOUK
ANTONINA
CARMELITA
CELESTIA
CIRCE
CLEMENTINA
ELECTRA
FINOLA
FLEUR
ISOLDE
JACINTA
LILOU
LUX
ONDINE
PHILOMENA
RAFAELLA
SABRA
SAFFRON
SASKIA
VALENTINE
VERENA

I think Branwen is okay but I like Bronwen so much better.

I really like Antonina, Eleonora, Elizabella, Fionla, Guinevere, Katherina and Philomena.

Gracia, Guinevere, Henrietta, Mireille and Ondine are all lovely.

My daughter goes to preschool with a Noe. The name has really grown on me.

I’m surprised that a lot of these names are on this list! It’s shocking to think that there are so many Kamryns but not enough Blanches or Hesters. I also like Anora, Caia, Cicely, Cornelia, Eleonora, Elspeth, Finola, Honora, Isolde, Katherina, Mireille and Sybil. Any parent looking for a unique, wonderful name should head to this list.

I love knowing that there are little ladies out there with these names. My faves are Albany, Anouk, Finola, Olympia, Rafaella, and Saskia. Can’t wait to see the boys!

Amabel, Clio, Finola, Guinevere, Isolde, Lilou, Mirielle, Philomena, Snow, Tansy

Amabel, Clio, Mirielle and Tansy were already on my list

I’ve been pouring over the master list since I saw the Daily Beast post. That baby is a doozy

I LOVE this post. And will have to look at the whole list sometime. I’m surprised that some of these names are so underused! Some I had considered for my daughter, even. Here’s what I love:

Augustina, Bellamy, Clementina, Eleonora (though I prefer Eleanora), Fleur, Isolde (prefer Yseult), Jacinta, Leonie, Lucienne (strongly considering this for a second daughter), and Mireille. There are plenty of names on this list that I like, but not enough to have the courage to use them…and, they wouldn’t really match my daughter’s name: Tansy, Spring, and Lilou among others.

I have a question: how would Noe be pronounced? NO or NO-ee?

Great list! But aren’t Annora (6) and Anora (7) essentially the same name, or do they have different origins?

I can’t get the silly visual of Shelley Duvall tied to a tree out of my head in Time Bandits when I see the name “Tansy” (even though her name was “Pansy”).

Love Spring, Lux, Taja, Mireille, and Clio – though I can never use Clio because our last name ends in “o”.

I also like Elspeth because of its soft, nineteenth century feel. I imagine empire waisted gowns and curl-framed faces ala Pride and Prejudice.

Great list! I will have to look at the big list!

Here is what I like from this list!
Bea
Bellamy
Caia
Corin
Elizabella ( cute twist )
Leonie
Lilou
Noe ( if it’s pron. no-ee )
Pippa ( really love this one! )

Bellamy and Pippa were already ones I liked!

Can’t wait to see the boys list!!

Some of these names are beautiful and seem like viable options and their own, real name (Honora, Federica, Mireille, Saskia, Vita). Others are just very rare spelling variants that would be mixed up with their much more common homonyms (Caia, Austen, Branwen). Others seem like nicknames (like Pippa, which I love but would never use on its own, Franny, Tally, Dolly, Carmelita). Hester and Jezebel I would never use for the negative connotations. Others like Snow, Lake, Gray, Langley, November, Elizabella, and Domino, I think are rightfully obscure. Others like Finn, Palmer, and Noe (latin variant of Noah, common for Mexican middle-aged men) aren’t nearly as rare when you factor boys in.

gingerkid, Noe is related to Noah and is pronounced to rhyme with Zoe or Chloe — two syllables, no-ee.

Great list! My sister’s name is Tana (rhymes with Donna) and I’ve only met a couple others. She’s in her mid-30′s now, but I’d love to see it on a baby!

We used Lucienne for our daughter’s middle name, so it’s fun to see it here! I like Cicely but love Cecily–I’d be curious to know which people like better and why…

Ahh, I love so many of these.

Katharina (slight spelling difference) was in our top two for girls. We ultimately decided we liked Vivian better, but it was oh so close… we debated changing the name right up to the end.

Other favorites: Bea, Cornelia, Elspeth, Fleur, Gracia, Ione, Isolde, Leonie (one of my guilty pleasure names, I love it), Mireille, Pippa, Saffron and Tansy.

Granted, I also love Philippa and could use Pippa as a nickname for that.

I actually heard of somebody planning to name their baby Henrietta if it’s a girl recently, too.

my niece is guinevere and i think its so lovely and unique

I’m surprised at how many of these are already on my personal version of “THE LIST”. Also surprised that some of these are not as common as I had previously thought.

Names already on my “LIST”:
-Cerys (can’t commit to this spelling though)
-Clio (might prefer Cleo)
-Cyra (a new favorite found here on Nameberry)
-Domenica (this was my great grandmother’s name, so I would love to use it! She spelled it Dominica.)
-Franny (as a nn for Francesca)
-Jacinta (with the nn Jacey)
-Vita (also like Vida)

And close to ones on my “LIST”:
-Augustina (Augusta, though now I think I might prefer Augustina!)
-Carmelita (Carmella, a family name)
-Cicely (Cecily)
-Clementina (Clementine)
-Gracia (Grazia, another family name though it was changed to Grace when she came to the US. Several family members have used Grace to honor her. Never could figure out why none of them used the original!)
-Lake (Laken)
-Tessie (Tess, as a nn for Contessa)
-Truth (True)

Some other really good ones here…Adira, Amabel, Annora, Austen (this was a favorite girls name when I was younger. Even though my tastes have changed since then, I still have a fondness for this one), Finola, Guinivere (Guinevere), Honora, Langley (prefer Landry and love Langston for a boy), November (with the nn Nova), Sabra, Sidra, Tally and Tansy (only as nicknames, not sure for what though), Trixie (only as a nn for Beatrix).

I always though Noe was pronounce No-ae. With a softer “long a” sound.

I like:

Albany
Branwen
Finola
Gray– Love
Guinivere
Leonie
Lux –Love
Philomena–Really like this name but don’t feel that it’s something I would ever actually use
Pippa
Saffron
Saskia

Made me grin when I saw November on the list. I went to school with a girl whose first name was September. However — tellingly, I think — she went by her middle name of Leigh instead! I think her mother was way ahead of her time.

I like Annora, Dariela, Gracia (though I think Graciela is prettier), Jacinta (I like Jacintha as well), Kellen, Mireille, and Saskia. I used Mireille as a character name. I’ve thought about naming a character Kathara, as a sort of back-formation of “Katherine” which would more closely reflect the name’s Greek origins, but haven’t yet found a good use for it. (In case you’re wondering or haven’t guessed, I’m a writer.)

I LOVE the name Langley for a girl but i do not think i would use it i think its just a lil to unusual you know

Saskia is a very common ’70-ties Dutch girls name. According to the Meertens Institute, it is a name derived from the German/Saxon/Friesian Sax or Saks, meaning knife or short sword. At the moment, I don’t think it is considered “Cool” in the Netherlands, only 48 girls got this name in the year 2006 (approximately same in 2010)

do anyone called ‘Mizzane’ or ‘Missane’?

I think Brielle (Bree-Ell) short for gabrielle is cute. I would never name a kid after a month, though, that’s just weird! Finola, Guinevere, and Franny are NOT one of my favs. I do like Emory (memory without the “e”) and Callista. I suggest something orginal, like Ava or Albany, because otherwise your child could be known as, say “Ann.H” or “Ashly.K” their whole lives, which isn’t unique. NAMBERRY ROCKS!

Is it just me, or are a lot of these names very masculine sounding? For instance; Valentine was a male saint and the female version is Valentina (which I think is rather pretty) and some of these names are Italian mis-spells (I’m Italian) Leonie should be just Leoni no e. But I adore Lake, Bea, Caia and Clementina. I also like Ginevra, (it means princess in Italian) Adora, Isadora and Giuglietta (another Italian one, say: Julietta) baby’s due in May and if it’s a girl she’ll probably be Adora Belle Dearheart and a boy Moist von Lipwig (personla, don’t ask) but these lists have been a great help-Thank You

My kids were all born in different countries. My 17 year old son conan – born in the ROI. My 15 yr old boys Mason and Elliot – Uk and my 11 year old Cruz – born in spain. When I re-married I had a baby boy, Now 5 anr he is named Lachlan, He was born in Australia. My husband also has step kids from his previous marriage (his wife died and their dad wasn’t on the scene so he raised them as his own)Cauis was born in Italy, he is 25 and has a 2 year old Brody – born in ireland and his newborn Emmet born in England. And Lexi is 22. She has a 3 newborns that were born out in africa or somewhere. Yes 3! They are called Savannah Grace, Shia Henry ane Shiloh Marie. We go all out on names! We don’t care what people think!

My name is on here! I was really shocked that Henrietta was on here. Are you sure that’s not a mistake?Ambrosia is a name crush of mine. I do not have a middle name but I want one so I am looking for a Mn that will sound great with my Fn and two Lns. Ambrosia fits all my criteria and is much more interesting than the Mn my parents want me to use– Rose!

I really want to name my daughter something interesting. I’m thinking about using two names as one. How about…

-Katerina Clementine
-Trixie Marilyn
-Cleo Augustina
-Mireille Rosalyn
-Elizabella Louise
-Clarisse Guinivere
-Amber Pippa

What do you guys think?

[...] we brought you our picks for best cool unusual girls’ names; today we look at the best 100 cool unusual boys’ names from the master list of names given [...]

Annon, Adora Belle Dearheart is all I can think of when I see the ever-so-cutesy names. PREACH THE PRATCHETT, SPIKE IS AN EXCELLENT NICKNAME

I was surprised to see that three of the names on this list are on my personal “favorite girls’ names” list:

Saffron
Finn
Cornelia

these names all sound so ridiculous!

There are some gems in here! My favorites are:

Adira
Annora
Bea
Cerys
Corin
Cornelia
Dariela
Eleonora
Elspeth
Finola
Guinivere
Lenora
Leonie
Lilibeth
Mireille
Noe
Pippa
Sidra
Sinead
Verena

I enjoyed finding so many unusual names thru your web sight,
it has helped me in choosing a name for my yorkie pup.

Great post, I Love so many of these names!
Favorites are:

Anouk
Saskia
Lilou
Circe
Cerys
Ondine
Mireille
Guinivere
Elspeth
Birdie
Finola
Lake
Pippa
Leonie
Gray
Henrietta

Tessie is my daughters name.
Not short for anything her name is Tessie Maeve.
She did pass away a month ago from SIDS.
but we are TTC in October and its going to be hard to top that name

I named my oldest daughter Maveree Jaike and my youngest daughter Rave Questry

Tempany i named my daughter, really suites her.

My all time favorite names for girls are:

Waverly (My new-found favorite)
Addie (I’ve alwayd loved this name)
Justice (I named a character in my book that name)
Kaylee (It’s spelled different than usual)
Cyrstal (another book character of mine)
Luna (yes, a Harry Potter reference….)

I also like the name Adiah….. One of my friends is named that…

Philomena….

Sybil is my name crush!

Domenica was my great grandmaother’s name and I really want to use it eventually. It’s a beautiful name, but it would probably be a middle name if I used it.
Rafaella is my Confirmation name after Domenica’s husband, Raphael. (I wanted to switch the spelling up–still honoring but modern)
I am in love with the names Tally and Caia, but I would not use them in the same name.

Love Lilou, Lux and Vita.