Unique Celebrity Baby Names

The Salishan are ingenious people from the Pacific North West, made up of four major groups who speak one of 23 Salishan languages. The name "Salish" is an anglicization of Séliš, the local name of the Salish Tribes of the Flathead Reservation in Montana. They are known for their weaving and work with red cedar wood. 
 
It also appears in the name of a sea in the Pacific Ocean, the Salish Sea, which was renamed in 2009 to reflect the significance of the water to the Salishan, and to recognize the importance of taking care of it.
 
Rarely used as a given name, it is notably borne by Salish Matter, a social media star and a competitive gymnast, who is the daughter of YouTuber and photographer Jordan Matter. In response to questions about his daughter's name, her father explained it was inspired by a cruise in the Pacific North West that the family took when her mother, Lauren Boyer, was pregnant with her. On hearing the name of the Salish Sea, her then three-year-old brother insisted it was his sister's name, and it stuck.
 
A name that might appeal to those who have Salishan ancestry they wish to honor, or an alternative to the more popular Sailor, Selah, and Shiloh, Salish appeared in the US stats for the first time in 2024, when it was given to five girls.

Salish

Sweet, spirited, and unexpected as a given name, reality TV star Lala Kent brought Sosa into the spotlight when she chose it for her daughter in 2024. A Spanish name deriving from the Portuguese surname Sousa, Sosa is a unique choice that still fits in with the likes of Luna, Rosa, Nova, and Luz. 
 
The literal meaning of Sosa is "from Sousa", Sousa being a river in Portugal that takes its name from either the Latin salsus meaning "salty" or saxa meaning "stones, rocks, pebbles". As a surname, Sosa appears in a variety of forms, including Souza, D'Souza, and de Sousa. 
 
Sosa ticks lots of boxes then: it's a place name, a nature name, a surname, and a unique name that's concise and zippy. It's possible that Lala Kent chose the name for its salty water meaning, so that it matches big sister Ocean's name. 
 
Occasionally used on boys in the US, coming years might just see it used more often on girls.

Sosa

When Matthew McConaughey and wife Camila Alves chose the old English surname and place name Livingston for their third child, they elevated it from half of a Stanley & Livingston joke to a modern possibility.  Kind of.  The only other well-known bearer of the name in the contemporary world is singer Livingston Taylor, brother of James, who is called Liv.  Given that little Livingston McConaughey's older brother is named Levi, that uplifting nickname may be too close, though his parents apparently like its sound.  An original choice.

Livingston

Avis is a bird name that's been in hibernation for awhile, possibly due to the car rental association, but it could make a return on the wings of Ava. Baldwin brother Daniel chose it for his daughter.
 Avis Everhard is the fictional narrator of the Jack London dystopian novel The Iron Heel. In the Harry Potter books, Avis is not a character, but a spell.

Avis

Solas is a surname name in both Norwegian (as Solås) and Spanish (as Solás), but it was introduced as a first name via the video game franchise Dragon Age. In the series, Solas is an Elven mage whose name is derived from the Elven word for "pride".
 
In Irish, solas is a word that means "light", "brightness", and "enlightenment". The similar word sólás means "comfort". Solas may also be associated with the Latin root sol, meaning "sun". 
 
Solas has never made the charts as a baby name, but it hits several trends with its sun-related meaning and S ending. NFL player Cooper Kupp has a son named Solas Reign.

Solas

Long synonymous with the American outlaw Harry Longabaugh, aka The Sundance Kid, who got his nickname from the town of Sundance, Wyoming, where he was incarcerated as a teenager. The place name Sundance was taken from the sun dance ceremony practiced by local Native American tribes.

 Modern bearers of the name include Australian physicist Sundance Bilson-Thompson, and the son of beach volleyball players Casey and Kerri Jennings, born in 2010.

Sundance

Lozen is the name of a female Apache warrior and medicine woman who fought with Geronimo in the 19th century. The sister of the warrior called Victorio, Lozen was the name chosen by soccer star Hope Solo and football player Jerramy Stevens for their daughter, Lozen Orianna Judith, twin of Vittorio Genghis.

Lozen

Taja

Cashmere is soft, luxurious — and way out of the ordinary. One of the unique names found in The Hunger Games series, you might be surprised to learn that this fabric name has been appearing in the US stats since the 1920s, it spiked in usage for girls in 2009 and 2013, following the release of the first book and movie adaptation. Since then, it's done a switch-around, with 44 boys and 5 girls given the name in a recent count.

Cashmere

For girls, typically used as a nickname for names such as Georgia and Georgiana, although Orange is the New Black stars Samira Wiley and Lauren Morelli recently used it as a full name for their daughter George Elizabeth. 
The adorable little 18th century girl in the Disney Plus series Renegade is called George.
In the Nancy Drew series, Nancy’s best friend is Georgia "George" Fayne.

George

Actor Terrence Howard and wife Miranda created this name for their son inspired by the Chinese mythological creature called the Qilin, a good omen predicting the arrival of a sage or ruler.  Pronunciation is like the Irish name Kieran.

Qirin

Candice Swanpoel and Hermann Nicoli gave this uncommon Portuguese name to their son in 2016. It's the Portuguese word for the red-fan parrot, putting it in the fashionable bird name category.

Anaca

Stenton

Spike is part mid-century nickname-name, ala Buster or Buck, and part word name, with an all-over cool creative dude feel thanks to directors Spike Lee and Spike Jonze. Mike Myers named his son Spike. That's right: Spike and Mike. Spike qualifies as one of the distinctly <a href="https://nameberry.com/list/519/american-baby-names">American names</a>.

Spike

Wylei exists because Corey Parker decreed it so: He gave his newborn son this variation of the classic surname more conventionally spelled Wylie or Wiley.  The problem with the Wylei spelling is that it makes you think the name may have a different pronunciation, with an ay versus an ee sound at the end.  This is one of those creative inspirations that will make the child's life more difficult for years to come.

Wylei

Yardley, a surname redolent of British soaps and perfume, was used for her daughter by Megyn Kelly.
 Yeardley Smith (born Martha), has long been the voice of Bart on The Simpsons.

Yardley

An uncommon Hindi name that Sinead O'Connor gave to her son in 2006.

Yeshna

Brisk, preppy York is an underused classic with the potential to really shine in the 21st century. It's most familiar as a place name — York is a city in England — and surname. New York City and State were named after the Duke of York.
 
The most notable York in history was an enslaved man who was the only Black member of Lewis and Clark's expedition. York was a key member of the journey, skilled in hunting, medicine, and other survival skills. He was also invaluable in Native American diplomacy. At the end of the expedition, Clark denied York's freedom and instead sold him black into slavery.
 
Despite the sad ending to York's story, he is an American hero with a name worthy of consideration.

York

Charming nature name made even more appealing by the connection to iconic nurse and statistician Florence Nightingale.

Nightingale

Woody Allen introduced us to the name Zelig as the ever-morphing title character of his 1983 film. Zelig does have an upbeat meaning, and nickname Zelie makes it accessible for a girl, though it's an undeniably quirky choice for either gender.

Zelig

Unique celebrity baby names might seem like a redundancy: Aren't most celebrity baby names unique?

Not really, but we may most attention to the rare, uncommon, unusual, and unique celebrity baby names, forgetting all the celebrities who named their babies Adelaide or Luna or Alexander -- just like us!

, when they do exist, often get REALLY unique, as in names no one has ever heard before. The most outrageous celebrity baby name in recent years is still Elon Musk and Grimes' not only unique but unpronounceable X Æ A-Xii.

Other uncommon names chose by celebrities recently include Christina Ricci's Cleopatra, Cardi B. and Offset's Kulture, and of course Usain Bolt's twin sons Saint and Thunder. That's right, Thunder Bolt.

There's also a girl named George and a boy named Laurie. Several celebrity babies were given nonbinary names such as Bowie, River, and Phoenix. And 

 are in some cases even more outrageous than their first names: Muse, Warrior, and of course Mixolydian.

rare, unusual, and uncommon celebrity baby names

, trying to stay on the near side of crazy but the far side of popular. Unique names given to celebrity babies over the past few years include the following notable choices.

Unique Celebrity Baby Names with rare, uncommon, and unusual names of celebrities' children, including origins, meanings, and popularity. (Page 14)