Unique Celebrity Baby Names

Nakoa is a Top 100 name for boys in Hawaii. It became more widely known after actors Lisa Bonet and Jason Mamoa chose it for their son.

Nakoa

Mars is a name with interesting potential, ticking the boxes as a mythological name, a space name, and a single syllable choice ending in -s. For parents wanting something unexpected, Mars could work as an alternative to popular Brooks, Max, Atlas, or Miles - and given to around 124 boys - and 27 girls - in a recent year, it is unusual but recognisable. 
 
In Roman mythology, Mars was the god of war, whose name likely relates to the Latin maris meaning "male". He is often seen as the less cold and less ruthless counterpart of the Greek god Ares (Ares being a fast rising Top 500 choice). While the war aspect might put people off, Mars was also the god of agriculture, giving it a more down to earth meaning, and was considered the father of Rome.
 
Used as the name of "The Red Planet", one of the brightest objects in the sky, and for the month of March, Mars could work for anyone looking for something space-related, or for anyone hoping to honor the month in some way.
 
Soul singer Erykah Badu helped to make this name feel more grounded when she gave it to her daughter, while musicians Thomas Mars and Bruno Mars have leant it a modern and stylish edge. 
 
If you love Mars but find it a little too outer-space (or too associated with the chocolate bar), it would also make a cool middle option, or an unexpected nickname for Marcus or Marshall.

Mars

This Spanish variation of the French Estelle and spelling spin on Estella is on the rise, along with most star-related names, even Starr (and Star) herself.
Popular personality Ali Landry chose it for her daughter.

Estela

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's middle name could make an interesting pick for music-loving parents, most easily in the middle place, ala Mozart. But today's more wide-ranging naming sensibility and love for ancient names makes Amadeus a real possibility. Amadeus is the title of a Peter Shaffer play which became an award-winning film in 1984.
 German-born tennis ace Boris Becker chose Amadeus for the name of his fourth son.

Amadeus

Eamon is one of the traditional <a href="https://nameberry.com/irish-names">Irish names</a> that has not yet emigrated to the US. This Irish name pronounced ay-mon was popularized by early president of the independent republic Eamon de Valera (birth name George), who was born in the United States to an Irish mother and a Cuban father. Eamon definitely has possibilities as a successor to the epidemically popular Aidan/Aiden.
 Though it may be an older generation name in Ireland, it would sound fresh elsewhere.
 The original spelling of the name is Eamonn.

Eamon

Levon, an unusual alternative to Levi. has two musical associations: it's the title of an Elton John song, inspired by late, great drummer for The Band, Levon Helm--whose birth name was Mark.  Uma Thurman and Ethan Hawke chose Levon for their son.

Levon

Though to most Americans Viggo is a one-person name attached to intense actor Mortensen, it is actually an old Norse name dating back to the Vikings, and is currently the 32nd most popular appellation in Sweden. Viggo Mortensen is a Jr., sharing his name with his Danish father.
 
We think this name is so, well, vigorous, that it might appeal to others as well. Taylor and Natalie Hanson seemed to agree when they chose it for their fourth child.

Viggo

For as long as we all shall live, Harry Potter's sneering nemesis. 

Draco

Music legend David Bowie lends his adopted surname considerable charisma to this stylish <a href="https://nameberry.com/list/472/scottish-names-for-girls">Scottish name for girls</a> and boys. Born David Robert Jones, he changed his name to avoid confusion with The Monkees' Davy Jones. 

Another famous reference: Jim Bowie, an American hero of the Alamo, and the bowie knife's namesake. 

With girls answering to musically-inspired surnames like Marley and Lennon, Bowie has slowly started to appear on girls' birth certificates, too. Actor Jackson Rathbone has a daughter called Presley Bowie, and Dale DeHaan and Anna Wood named their daughter Bowie Rose.

Bowie

A celebratory choice with a bright sound, Simcha is also used as a word to describe Jewish festivities and joyful occasions such as a wedding or a Bar Mitzvah. 

Simcha

This popular Turkish name has a very on-trend sound and is familiar to English speakers thanks to Orson Scott Card’s sci-fi novel Ender’s Game. The book has recently been turned into a movie, starring Asa Butterfield as Andrew "Ender" Wiggin.
 
Ender was chosen by Halsey and her partner Alev Aydin for their son born in 2021. It was an ideal choice for the couple, nodding to their love of Sci-Fi (Ender's middle name is Ripley) and Aydin's Turkish heritage.

Ender

Jovan, the name of the supreme Roman deity, seems more extraterrestrial now -- and it's also firmly attached to a perfume label.  Some parents may see it as a variation of Giovanni, the Italian for John.  It is in fact the Slavic variation of John and may be an original way to honor an ancestral John.

Jovan

Oskar is to Oscar as Jakob is to Jacob: more distinctive and continental.

Oskar

One of those place and surname names that hasn't be used much as a first name yet -- but could soon. You could think of it as a fun, one-syllable twist on Amos. Ames is also notable as a surname that comes from a female name, Amys or Amice, ultimately deriving from the Latin amicus, "friend".

Ames

Sweet and cosy with a touch of sass, this nickname-y choice was a familiar option up until the sixties in the US. Then, for a while, it was a bit of a one-person name, associated with singer Dolly Parton, but more recently, it's been singing a fashionable note again along with sisters Dottie and Millie. 
 Typically short for Dorothy or its sister, Dorothea, Dolly has been used on its own since the seventeenth century, so common then that it became a generic term for a favored girl. In the US, it was a Top 300 name around the turn of the last 20th century.
 The fourth First Lady of the United States spelled her name variously as Dolly and Dolley Madison. And of course Dolly Levi is the name of the central character in the iconic musical bearing her name. Then, there's Dolly the sheep, the first mammal to be cloned, and the British writer and journalist, Dolly Alderton, who likely helped bring this name back into the England and Wales Top 1000 back in 2008.
 
While some may read it as just a touch too cutesy, Dolly does fit right in with Birdie, Scottie, Maisie, Etta, Goldie, and so on, and was a Top 400 choice in the UK in a recent year. Its return to the stage in the US has been quieter, but 127 girls were called Dolly in the latest count: more than double the number who were given the name in 2020. 
 
Love Dolly but want a full name besides Dorothy and Dorothea? You could try Dahlia, Gwendolyn, Theodora, Delphine, Odilia, or Dolores.

Dolly

The poetic, soft-spoken Auden has recently started to be considered as a first name option, used for both sexes, appreciated for its pleasing sound as well as its link to the distinguished modern Anglo-American poet W.H. Auden.

Auden

A flower name containing both beauty and power, Lotus has significance in both Buddhism and Hinduism, symbolizing purity, grace and spiritual growth — not to mention a familiar yoga position.
 In ancient Greece, the lotus was a legendary plant, whose fruit was eaten by the mythical lotus eaters, causing them to go into a state of hypnotic forgetfulness. Lotus Flower is a Chinese character in the 1931 Pulitzer Prize-winning Pearl S. Buck novel, The Good Earth.
 
Lotus is gaining in popularity with over 120 girls receiving the name in a recent year. Rain Pryor, daughter of comedian Richard, named her daughter Lotus Marie in 2008; chef Richard Blais used it in the middle spot for daughter Emory Lotus in 2011; actress Teresa Palmer chose it for her daughter Lotus Bloom in 2025.

Lotus

An imaginative choice with an uptempo Cory/Rory/Tori sound, perfect for the child of a writer &mdash; or anyone with a good story to tell. Story has been finding some appreciation among celebs like Minnie Driver and others as a middle name. This is just one of the literary word names that have recently entered the realm of possibility, such as Fable, Sonnet and Poem.


Story

Lars is a perfect candidate for a cross-cultural passport: it has been heard often enough here to sound familiar and friendly, yet retains the charisma of a charming foreigner.
 In this country Lars has been particularly associated with two Danes--Metallica's Lars Ulrich and film director Lars von Trier. In the 2007 movie Lars and the Real Girl, protagonist Lars Lindstrom was played by Ryan Gosling.

Lars

Wolf is a name with a split personality. It can be seen as one of the fierce animal names, like Fox and Bear and Puma, with a touch of the werewolf, or it can be viewed as a quieter, Wolf Blitzer kind of name, fairly common in German (where is pronounced Vulf) and Jewish families, sometimes as a short form of Wolfgang, or even Wolfram or Wolfhart.

 CNN newscaster Blitzer inherited the name from his grandfather. Other Wolfs of note include British screenwriter Wolf Mankowitz, who was instrumental in the early James Bond films, painter Wolf Kahn, and the hero of Jack London's 1904 novel The Sea-Wolf, Wolf Larsen.

 
Despite all it has going for it, Wolf is relatively rare and has never been given to more than 80 babies in a single year. But now that Kylie Jenner and Travis Scott chose it for their infant son, Wolf is primed to climb the charts.

 Spelling variations Wolfe or Woolf push it into surname territory, while nickname Wolfie definitely domesticates it.

Wolf

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 6)