A captivating and sprightly name brought into the limelight by actress Thandiwe Newton.

This name from the Igbo language of Africa, which feels like the more-familiar Arabic Ahmad, might be an original and attractive choice.

Ibo is short but striking. Another, unrelated but equally appealing name is Ivo.

A bit masculine in feel.

Pleasing crossover possibility.

Akosua means "born on a Sunday," which relates the name to the sun and thus to fire.

Something slightly negative about that Nil beginning; more positive similar names would be Lilla or Willa, Lucilla or Priscilla. Nilla may also be a short form of the Scandinavian Gunilla.

Dynamic and creative; common in Africa, challenging here. Pronunciation isn't as difficult as you'd guess, but everyone will have to ask. Many favor n-GO-zee, but a native speaker tells us that it is closer to n-GAW-zee, and we've found at least one n-GAH-zee, too.

This variant of the more-difficult Afua, from the Akan language of what is now Ghana in West Africa, is a traditional "day name" that can make a perfectly pretty modern choice.

Zeila, the name of a port town in Somalia, has cultural resonance and an appealing sound.

Namibian supermodel Behati Prinsloo, who has walked the runway for every designer from Prada to Versace to Vera Wang, has introduced us to this Afrikaans version of Beate or Beatrice, a rhythmic twist on an international favorite.

While this African place-name is much more popular for boys, nearly 40 girls were named Zaire last year. Among African baby names, this is one of the best-known in the US.

Juba, a strong and resonant unisex name, belonged to an ancient African king, is a city and river name, and is traditionally given to Ashanti (of Ghana) girls born on Monday.

Lissa might be an abbreviation of Melissa, but it's more substantial in its own right: Lissa is the name of a supreme mother goddess in African mythology and an Arabic symbol of rebirth.

This Akan day name is very much associated with Kofi Annan, the seventh secretary general of the United Nations. The Akan people of Ghana and the Ivory Coast frequently name their children after the day of the week they were born and the order in which they were born. Most Ghanaians have a name using this system.

Not long ago, the name of this central African republic was firmly in place-name territory and not seen as baby appropriate. But those boundaries are moving so quickly that all kinds of place-names that were once not considered as baby names, from Alaska to Morocco to Chicago to, yes, Congo are on the list. The place-name Congo is taken from the people and language of the Kingdom of Kongo. In that language, the word kongo means "gather".

Unusual name chosen for her son by actress Nia Long, who combined it with the even more unusual literary middle name, Zhivago.

The Akan people of Ghana and the Ivory Coast frequently name their children after the day of the week they were born and the order in which they were born. Most Ghanaians have a name using this system (think Kofi Annan, whose name means born on a Friday).

Diarra has a nice meaning, but we could see it leading to possible teasing re association with a certain digestive problem.

Kwadwo is a name given to men born on Monday in Western Africa, particularly Ghana and some parts of Togo and Ivory Coast. The female variant is Adwoa.