By Pamela Redmond · Updated September 2026
Across 109 pages
of 109
Italian surname name
An unusual name with some real high-low appeal: It was the first name of a bully on The Fosters and the last name of the great Enlightenment philosopher Giambattista Vico. It has many of the merits…
Italian
"song or stanza"
A canto is a literary term denoting a long passage in a poem. Dante's Divine Comedy is broken into such cantos. As a name, Canto packs in literary credentials with pithy punch.
Word name
The term Quarto comes to us from the Latin for "four", but it is used as a term in literature to describe a book from the early days of printing that was a particular size. An obscure and potentially…
Persian
"aryan"
Aryobarzanes or Aryo Barzan, meaning "exalting the Aryans", is the name of a Persian hero who fought against Alexander the Great in 330 BC.
Fictional name; Basque
The name of the eponymous Hobbit , Bilbo is said by Tolkien himself to be "of unknown meaning". It’s also an unusual place name: Bilbo is the local Basque name for the city of Bilbao.
Variation of Murdoch
This modern variation of Murdoch spruces up a Scottish surname that is indelibly linked with controversial media magnate Rupert Murdoch. Definitely one of the more unusual boy names starting with M…
Literary name
"ill will"
Coined by Shakespeare for the main antagonist in his comedy Twelfth Night , the unfortunate Malvolio’s name literally means "ill will". Incidentally, a peace-loving character in Romeo and Juliet…
Armenian; Italian; Nigerian
As a masculine name Saro has three origins: In Armenia, Saro is a literary choice: he’s the lover of the eponymous heroine of the opera Anoush by Armen Tigranian — and is hence a Romeo-like figure.…
Japanese
"great (or eldest) son"
An energetic Japanese name that would make for an on-trend choice in the English-speaking world. Especially appropriate for a first-born son.
Greek
"softness, delicacy"
Variation of Tryphon.
Galician
"farmer"
The Galician form of George; an extravagant option for lovers of the letter X.
Romani
"son / sonny"
This Romani name may derive from the Yiddish name Zindel, which is itself a name derived from Alexander.
Hawaiian variant of James
An upbeat Hawaiian name with the fashionable -o ending, Kimo would theoretically be an appealing choice... were it not for its homophony with the grim word "chemo."
Hawaiian
"leaf bud"
A nature name from the Hawaiian islands that's vaguely reminiscent of trendy names like Luke and Luca. However, it's also the name of a Swedish company that makes mechanical lifts used in medical…
Greek, Engilsh
"possessing goodness"
The double-A is often a hard sell for baby names in an English-speaking context, and many will find Dario, as in public intellectual Dario Fo, appealing enough with just one. But diehard Game of…
Spanish
An energetic Spanish surname with serious first name potential, thanks to its trendy initial V and -o ending. A famous bearer is Spanish surrealist artist Remedios Varo (1908-1963).
Yoruba
"joy"
This charming West African mini name fits in with the other similarly short names that are all the rage right now. Actress Ayo Edebiri is the star of TV's The Bear .
Spanish, Portuguese
"dry"
Variation of Aridius.
Portuguese
Rider Strong used this variation of the Portuguese surname Barreto as the middle name for his son Indigo.
Armenian
Armenian surname that could easily work in the US.
