In the most recent list of Most Popular Boys ‘ Names, all five of the top five names came from the Good Book, accounting for well over 100,000 of the boy babies born in the US.  Obviously, many parents–whether for religious reasons or not–continue to be attracted to names with this strong traditional base.  But why, we ask, be limited to the same relatively small group of biblical choices, when there are loads of other more unusual options out there?  Why not Joab or Joah instead of Noah?  Beniah rather than Benjamin?  Jemuel in place of Samuel?

Many of these now obscure names were quite commonly used by the Puritan Colonists, especially in New England, until the middle of the 19th century when Old Testament names fell out of favor.  Most of the names listed below are hardly heard today, with only one of them–Asa–even appearing in the current Top 1000, but they are all possible alternatives to those standards that are given to thousands of babies each year.

ABIJAH — The name of Samuel’s second son would make a perfect substitute for the Top 25 Elijah.

ABSALOM — A literary as well as biblical name, used by Chaucer (for the jolly clerk in The Miller’s Tale, Dryden, Faulkner–and currently as a comic book character.

ADLAI –  Associated with with several generations of the Stevenson family, which produced a Vice-President and a UN representative named Adlai, it can be pronounced either ad-LAY or as-LYE. (more…)

We’re always coming across names on nameberry that we never thought of before, undiscovered gems that suddenly seem attractive and eminently usable for a real live person.

How come everyone flocks to Ava and Aiden, or even Avery and Atticus, when there are so many names like this hiding in plain sight?  Beats us.  If you truly want something distinctive, there are thousands of such choices to be found just by clicking Unusual Names in the left purple column on most pages of nameberry.

Here, the first in a series of names you might not have considered…..but definitely should.

ABIJAH – A Biblical name used in the Colonial times that can work for both boys and girls.  Rhymes with Elijah, stands in for that name or Abigail.

AMORET – Redolent of love, this unusual name comes from Edmund Spenser’s “The Faerie Queen.”  The character of Amoret represents married love, an ideal sentiment.

BATHSHEBA – True, it’s a whole lotta name.  But Bathsheba, which means “seventh daughter,” has a rich Biblical and literary history.  Short form Sheba walks that intriguing line between being edgy and ready for prime time.

CIRCE – Okay, so she was a siren who turned Odysseus’s men into pigs and lured the poor hero away from the patient Penelope.  She also had a lovely name, pronounced sare-see, that would make a standout modern choice.  That’s her in the picture above.

CORIN – It may sound like a nouveau two-syllable boys’ name, but Corin has a Shakespearean pedigree.

ELEAZAR – A Biblical boys’ name with more zest and distinction than the flagging Eli variations.

KETURAH – Old Testament name – she was Abraham’s wife post-Sarah – that hasn’t been much used in the past few hundred years but has a rhythm and feel that’s appropriate for today.  And in case you’re still looking for Biblical names you never heard before, Keturah and Abraham had six sons: Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah. 

LORCAN – If Logan and Aidan are megapopular, can Lorcan be far behind?  Somehow, this Irish boys’ name meaning fierce has not achieved the notoriety of its compatriots.  But smart parents will look to it as a fresh entry in that trendy crowd.

NICASIO – Love Nic-names but tired of Nicholas?  Then consider this Spanish choice that’s related to Nike.

PALADIN – A French name that means “of the palace,” Paladin was a title of honor given to Charlemagne’s twelve best knights.  That’s a name story any little boy would love taking to kindergarten.  There was a fifties television show by this name.

When I was a little girl I wanted to be named Susie.  Cute, perky, popular: the name Susie seemed to embody all the things I wanted to be, everything not associated with prissy, proper Pamela.

While I’ve come to prefer Pamela to Susie, I’m still fascinated by all the variations of that early beloved name.  Susannah is one of my very favorites, for example, undoubtedly inspired by my early love of Susie.  If I had six daughters, I’d certainly name one of them Susannah.

Alas, I had only one daughter, and a husband who didn’t like the name Susannah – upon hearing it, he could never resist breaking into a chorus of Oh Susannah!  Which, obviously, is one of the few big downsides of this otherwise beautiful name.

The original version of the name is Shoshana, Hebrew for ‘lily.’  Appearing in both the Old and the New Testaments, the name wasn’t common until the seventeenth century, when it was sometimes found in the archaic forms Susanney and Shusan or Shusanna.

Over the centuries and throughout the Western World, the name has moved in and out of fashion in so many different forms that they might comprise a chapter of a name dictionary all by themselves.  The major variations include:

SUSANNAH and SUSANNA – What’s the difference between these two versions of the same name?  The ‘h’ ending makes the first more properly Hebrew, and is the spelling used for the Old Testament figure falsely accused of adultery.  Susanna, usually the Italian, Swedish, Finnish, Russian, and Dutch version of the name, appears in the New Testament and as the name of two virgin martyrs.  SUSANA is the usual Spanish spelling. Susannah feels more old-fashioned but also more complete, relating to such currently fashionable names as Hannah and Mariah.  No form of Susannah has been in the Top 1000 for nearly ten years, though they all hold some style currency.

SUSAN – The abbreviated English Susan became the most popular version of the name in the 18th century, fell out of style in the 19th, and then came back in such a major way in the mid 20th century that it feels too much like a mom or a grandma name to be used for a baby now.  It was in the Top 10 from the mid-1940s through the mid-1960s and in the Top 100 from the 1930s well into the 1980s – a full fifty years!

SUZANNE – The French form of the name enjoyed some popularity during Susan’s heyday but now has nosedived right out of the Top 1000.  The German and Scandinavian spelling is usually SUSANNE.  A pretty enough name, but with the more fashionable and more authentic Susannah or Susanna equally distinctive, why not choose one of those instead?

SUZETTE – Another French version of the name by now relegated to use only for poodles.  SUSETTE is somewhat softer, but not enough.

SANNE – The Dutch short form of Susanne has become a star in that country, ranking in the Top 10 for several years now.  While some Americans have by now heard of the name, few have yet used it.  SANNA is a related name used in Scandinavia; ZANNA is also found.

SHOSHANNAH – The original Hebrew form of the name, along with SHOSHANA, are still used, mostly in Israel and by Jewish parents.  SHANA and variant spellings are the short form.

ZSUZSANNA – The Hungarian version of Susannah, pronounced ZHOO-zhawn-a, is attracting some notice as the name of the wife of a Canadian politician and writer.  ZSUZSA and the more famous ZSAZSA are short forms.  Most Eastern European forms of Susan are spelled with a Z, including the Czech ZUZANA and the Polish ZUZANNA.  One of the most familiar and most winning versions: ZUZU, the name of the little girl in “It’s A Wonderful Life.”

SUE – Used so often as a short form, as a middle name, and in conjunction with other names such as SUE-ELLEN and SUE-ANNE that it’s come to become almost a non-name, blending into the background without a strong identity of its own.

SUSIE – My ideal childhood name feels terminally girlish now, and most bobby-soxed Susies have long ago shortened their name to Sue or reverted to the original Susan or Suzanne.  Such appellations as Susie Homemaker and Susie Q have further driven the name out of consideration.  SUSI and SUZI have a similarly long time to mark before they have any chance for a comeback, though the antique SUKIE or SUKEY feels a tad fresher.

When we finally finished researching and writing our encyclopedic name book, the day came when we had to decide what to call it. (The working title of Big Baby Name Book just wasn’t going to cut it.)

This turned out to be almost as laborious a task as writing the book. Dozens and dozens of lists of possibilities were emailed back and forth. Our book editor and even our agent entered the fray, offering their own suggestions. (We actually chronicled this painful process in an article we wrote for Publishers Weekly magazine, called Naming the Name Book.) We finally settled on The Baby Name Bible because, well, we hoped people would make it their baby naming bible.

It never entered our minds that some people would take it literally as a book of biblical names. But on our earlier, smaller website, before nameberry was born–babynamebible.com– many visitors did come to search solely for Old and New Testament names. And of course they found them, but a lot more besides.

Biblical names have a long history in this country. They came to colonial America with the early Puritans, who scrutinized the Good Book for names of righteous figures, believing that such names could shape the character of their offspring, and often using extreme examples, like Zelophehad and Zerubbabel. Over the centuries and decades since then, there has been a steady stream of biblical names: individual Old Testament examples, in particular, have drifted in and out of fashion, for both boys and girls.

Looking back at the more recent past. we see that boys’ names have been more consistent: Joseph has been in the Top 25 for the last century, usually accompanied by David and Daniel, and later Joshua, Jonathan, and Adam. Archangel Michael was in first place from the mid-fifties to the late nineties, and now Jacob has been on top since 1999. This past year has seen a record high for Old Testament boys’ names in modern times, with 10 of the Top 25.

Biblical girls’ names have not been as popular as the boys’–possibly because there are fewer of them. Ruth was the sole representative in the first several decades of the 20th century, until Deborah arrived in 1949. After that, the triumvirate of Sarah, Rachel and Rebecca remained in the Top 25 from the seventies until very recently, and the last big success stories were Hannah, which entered the Top 25 in 1993, and Abigail in 1997.

It’s still pretty much a boys’ story when it comes to OT names, with parents now reaching out for some of the less familiar: Nehemiah, Judah, Zachariah. Here are the ones that are currently growing in popularity:

ETHAN
NOAH
NATHAN
GABRIEL
ELIJAH
CALEB
ISAAC
ISAIAH
JEREMIAH
JOSIAH
MICAH
ELI
LEVI
EMMANUEL
MALACHI
JONAH
ABRAHAM
ASHER
EZEKIEL

But since there are so few biblical names on the girls’ list, we offer some possibilities to consider to replenish the supply:

ADAH
ADINA
ATARAH
DINAH
EVE
JAEL
JEMIMA
JERUSHA
KETURAH
KEZIAH
MARA
MICHAL
NAAMAH
SARAI
SHUA
TAMAR
ZIBIAH
ZILLAH

Lots of parents-to-be are searching for “unique baby names,” but  when you Google that term, the site that pops up first is babyhold.com, a serviceable but far from unique baby name destination.  Another site that promises to deliver unique baby names offers such ridiculous choices as Gimm and Sinley for a boy and Hemi Skye for a girl.

A better source for names that are distinctive and unusual as opposed to truly one-of-a-kind — what most parents are really looking for when they search for unique baby names — might be an old-fangled one like E.G. Withycombe’s 1945 Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names. This classic guide contains some names with deep historic roots that are rarely used today.  Some of the most intriguing choices:

girls

ALETHEA — Greek name that means “truth” was fashionable in the 17th century.

AMBROSIA — Heavenly female equivalent of Ambrose.

ANCILLA — Ann meets Priscilla.

AVERIL — Might make fresh spin on Ava.

BRILLIANA — Invented for his daughter by the governor of the Dutch city Brill.

CHRYSOGON — A male saint’s name transferred to the girls.

CLARIMOND — Clara meets Rosamond.

ELUNED — Luminous Welsh name.

EVADNE — Tragic Greek heroine name that may be revived with the craze for all Ev- and Av- names.

GRACILIA — Meaning “slender,” could substitute for the overused Grace.

HAIDEE — Lord Byron used this name in Don Juan.

HERO — The name of three female figures in Greek mythology.

IDONEA — Derived from the name of the goddess of spring.

ISMAY — Found throughout the British isles.

KINBARRA — Old name related to that of a saint named Kyneburg.

LALAGE — Latin name used by Horace.

MELIORA — Romantic old Cornish name of legend.

MERAUD — Cornish name related to the emerald.

ORIEL — There’s an Oriel College at Oxford.

PENTECOST — Old religious day name used for both males and females.

PROTASIA — Ancient saint.

SANCHIA — Spanish name that means “holy” and gave rise to Cynthia.

TACE — Also spelled Tacy and Tacye, closer to the pronunciation, common in the 17th century and used by the Puritans.

TROTH — Old word name.

VESTA — The Roman goddess of fire.

ZILLAH — Hebrew name that means “shade” and is, according to Withycombe, a “favorite gypsy name.”

boys

ARETAS — A dynasty of kings mentioned in the bible.

CYRIACK — Name of an infant martyr sometimes shortened to Cyr.

DIGGORY — A Cornish name that goes back to the medieval romance of Sir Degore.  Cool modern nickname: Digg.

DURAND –Related to the Latin word for “lasting.”

EDRED — Old English king’s name.

ELKANAH — Biblical father of the prophet Samuel.

EUDO — Old German name sometimes spelled Udo.

GERSHOM — A Biblical name that means bell.

GIFFARD — All the rage in the 11th century.

IOLO — A Welsh name that may have sprung from Julius.

JEVON — Welsh relative of Evan.

KENELM — Name of an ancient king and saint.

MANASSES — Biblical name used by the Puritans.

ORIGINAL — Once used for first sons.

OSWIN — Might make an alternative to Owen.

PAGAN — Popular name that died out during the Reformation.

PASCOE –Name used for children born at Easter.

RAYNER — Old German name that inspired several surnames.

SAYER — Also spelled Saer, very popular in medieval England.

SERLE — Norman favorite that means “armor.”

THURSTAN — Danish name that means “Thor’s stone.”

WYSTAN — From Wigstan, name of an ancient king and saint.