Calista Flockhart may have made her variation of this beautiful Greek name familiar to modern Americans, but the even-edgier x version was the name of an earlier feminist heroine: a character in Kate Chopin's The Storm.

Charity is one of the Big Three abstract virtue names, along with Hope and Faith, though far less widely used than the others. But as Faith, Grace and Hope grow more common, some parents are beginning to look at the more unusual three-syllable choices like Verity, Amity, Clarity and Charity, which sound much fresher and also have that pleasingly rhythmic 'y'-ending sound.

Novelist Djuna Barnes introduced this interesting and unusual name with an arty, Bohemian feel to the mix. She explained that it was invented by her father, saying it came about as a combination of her infant brother's pronunciation of the word moon as 'nuna' and a character in a book her father was reading, Prince Djalma, and so he "put the Dj onto the 'una'." Result: the silent-D pronunciation (as in Django) of JOON-a.

If you’re a fan of the annual animated Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, you’ll recognize the name of Rudolph’s beautiful doe sweetheart, pronounced cla-REES—uncomfortably close to the Silence of the Lambs pronunciation. Clarice was the name of the wife of Lorenzo de' Medici, and Clarice Cliff was a famed British ceramics artist. Though a Top 300 name from 1906 to 1934, modern parents might prefer the more delicate Clarissa.

Alcott evokes shades of nineteenth-century New England, and memories of the author of the books Little Women and Little Men. Louisa May Alcott was the daughter of Amos Bronson Alcott, noted educator, writer and philosopher, and colleague of Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau.

Attached to one of the heroes of Christopher Paolini's megapopular fantasy novel Eragon, this name sounds strong yet sensitive.

Katniss Everdeen is the heroine of the popular Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins, whose name comes from the (very real) edible aquatic plant of the genus Sagittaria. Katniss's father tells her that if she "finds herself," she'll never go hungry. Other unusual botanical names in the series include Primrose, Posy, Rue, and Clove, all for girls. Several of the boys' names come from ancient Rome: Cato, Seneca, Flavius, Caesar. Katniss the name has less appeal than Katniss the heroine, though it's definitely more attractive than Renesmee.

Ishmael is most familiar through "Call me Ishmael," the opening line spoken by the youthful narrator of Moby-Dick. Few American parents have followed that advice, though the Spanish and Arabic spelling, Ismael, ranks at Number 362. With its warm and pleasant sound, though, we could see Ishmael tagging along behind Isaiah and Isaac.

This is an eighteenth century elaboration of Honor found in Charles Dickens (Bleak House) but rarely heard here and now.

In Nabokov's notorious novel, Lolita is the pet name given by the pedophilic narrator, Humbert Humbert, to his victim: a young girl called Dolores and nicknamed Lola or Lo by her mother. Still, it seems that a few parents are prepared to look past this problematic association, seeing this as a offbeat option for those who defy convention. We would recommend thinking seriously about the background of this name before bestowing it on your daughter.

With the current taste for last names first, this sounds a lot cooler than Shawn; it also has creative connections to the great Irish playwright, George Bernard Shaw, novelist Irwin Shaw, and Big Band Era clarinetist/bandleader and one-time Ava Gardner husband Artie Shaw.

Obsolete Swanhild gives way to oh-so-modern Swan, joining the flock of newly fashionable bird names such as Wren and Lark. In France, the Swann spelling is fashionable for both sexes. But Swan carries an image of grace, though perhaps also a bit of languor. It's a lovely and original name, right for our times.

An occupation name with a preppy, scholarly air, Author could fit in alongside Arthur and August or Chosen and Booker, in terms of sound and style. Author saw more usage that you might think in the first half of the 20th century, peaking in 1933 when it was given to nearly 60 boys. While some may have used it as an occupational and word name, others may have chosen owing to misspelling or misinterpreting the classic Arthur.

A dashing French surname name most famously borne by Henry David Thoreau, an American naturalist, writer and philosopher who influenced such notable figures as Leo Tolstoy, Mahatma Gandhi, and Martin Luther King Jr. The most common modern American pronunciation is "thor-OH", with emphasis on the final syllable, although Thoreau himself pronounced it "THOR-oh".

Author Toni Morrison is an acknowledged master of naming, and Sethe, the name of one of the main characters of Beloved, which can be pronounced as Seth or Seth-eh, relates to the male biblical name Seth but is also the name of the Egyptian god of confusion.

Updates Ellis -- but also has a lot of feminine potential thanks to Allison/Ellie similarity.

What with Mason scooting up the charts, this attractive place-name, with its thick Georgia accent, could make a more distinctive alternative.

An archetypal fantasy name with a cool Cal/Kal sound and short form, Kaladin is a character in The Stormlight Archive by Utah resident Brandon Sanderson. Westerners are early adopters: of the 97 baby Kaladins born in 2023, almost half were in the Western States, including 20 in Utah.

The mythological queen whose perpetual weeping for her slain children turned her into a stone has always cast a pall over this name. Still, when other names with less-than-savory associations -- Delilah, Ophelia, Persephone -- are becoming popular, parents might want to consider this one of the more unusual mythology names for girls.

Snow is increasing in usage mostly as a girls' name, but hero Jon Snow of Game of Thrones just might nudge it into the boys' column. Currently, there are 12 times as many girls named Snow as boys, but its usage is much higher in middle place.