Names That Mean Surprise

The Roman goddess Fortuna personified luck and ruled over fortune and fate. She is often depicted as blindfolded, and remains an important figure in Italian culture today, where a common saying translates to "Luck is blind."

Sreya is an Indian name with several positive meanings--beautiful, fortunate, auspicious, favorable--and ties to the goddess Lakshmi. Spelling variant Shreya was on the U.S. popularity list from 2002 to 2005.

Raz is one of the many modern Israeli unisex names. It's simple and sleek and translates easily to English.

An obscure Cornish saint's name that can also be considered a place name — Madron is a Cornish village named for the saint.

In Roman mythology. Felicitas was the deity of good luck.

Raz, like many similar names, is used for both girls and boys in modern Israel. Simple, sleek, memorable.

As the list of English word names like Wonder, Brilliance, and Superior that are making appearance in the US name data grows each year, it may be time to look to other languages for inspiration. The Spanish Maravilla, meaning "wonderful", would make a beautiful and meaningful girl's name.

Marvel is rising for both sexes, and this cheerful, melodic variation could appeal too.

A popular American name in previous centuries in honor of famed Harvard President, Charles Chauncy. This name is burdened by an incredibly pompous sound and best left in the past.

Derived from the Finnish word "mielu", meaning "luck", Mielikki is the Finnish goddess of forests and the hunt.

A deity of fate and destiny in Latvian and Lithuanian mythology. Laima prophesizes how the life of a newborn will take place — sometimes there was only one Laima, while in other cases three Laimas would give contradicting predictions.

Unrelated to the gemstone, Opalluk is a rare name of Greenlandic origin with an endearing and lively meaning. Rarely used as a given name, it would be a surprising choice. Upaluk is another form of the name.

While the female version, Miranda, has long been popular, maybe it's time to consider the equally attractive male version.

The futuristic consonant x sets this apart -- for better and worse -- from all the other Felices, Felicias, and Felicitys.

Maimun is a common name in Arabic-speaking countries, where its meaning bestows good fortune.

Though the accent falls on the second syllable, people will mistake this name of the first month of the Jewish calendar or for the Japanese car.

The Yiddish name from which the common matronymic Jewish surname Glick derives.

An attractive name that's uncommon even in its native Finland. Onneli ja Anneli is a Finnish children's movie translated to English as Jill and Joy, although the names are unrelated.

Of the Faust- name family, Fausto is considered the most stylish.