As the race towards the Oscars heats up, Abby Sandel of Appellation Mountain offers her annual analysis of possible award-winning baby names–the most interesting names attached to nominees and the characters they play.

Award season is in full swing, with the Golden Globes last month and the Oscars coming up soon.

A glance at any kindergarten roster demonstrates Hollywood’s impact on baby names.  Audrey, Ava, Olivia, and Natalie all belonged to screen legends long before they were among the most popular choices for our daughters.  Surname choices like Harlow, Monroe, Gable, and even Chaplin have been heard.

But those are Golden Age names.  How about the nominees for 2013?  There are some fascinating choices, rich with potential for a son or a daughter.

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This week for her Nameberry 9, Appellation Mountain‘Abby Sandel seeks out and finds creative baby names that are on the safe side of unusual.

We endlessly dissect outlandish names.  There are the wacky celebrity choices that make headlines in the mainstream press, and the footnotes at the end of articles announcing Mason and Emma the most popular names in Montana, but a handful of babies named Banana or Marvelous.  Heck, we’re still talking about Blue Ivy, and probably will be until she heads off to middle school.

And yet much of the time parents still gravitate towards the more popular choices.  How many times have you heard: “We wanted something unusual, but we just kept coming back to Ava.”  It takes an awful lot of daring to choose a name that is completely out of the mainstream.

This week’s list is packed with possibilities that are just a little bit different – not shocking departures from the mainstream, but neither are they currently in the US Top 100 – or even the top 1000.

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