350+ Best Unique Baby Names

Birch is a rarely used nature name that calls to mind the lovely image of the tall, strong but graceful white-barked tree.

The two X's may be a challenge for even the most intrepid baby namer. Xerxes was the name of two early kings of Persia and the Handel opera Serse or Xerxes is loosely based on Xerxes I.

A name that looks intriguing and masculine on paper, but is, unfortunately, a homonym for a girl's name.

A Leave It to Beaver/old comic-strip name, vacationing for years with the Griswolds in WallyWorld, but now back as WALL-E?

Plausible word name, denoting strength and stability, currently given to a small handful of boys in the US each year.

Vale is part place name, part nature name -- a poetic term for a type of valley. Today Show coanchor Savannah Guthrie put Vale on the baby name map when she chose it for her daughter, but there's no reason the name can't work equally well for a boy. Vale might also be a short form for Valentine or a spelling variation of the city name Vail.

Meryl is a name that's at once rare and famous, thanks to Meryl (born Mary Louise) Streep. Streep's name is an invented short form of Mary Louise, but Meryl might also be a contraction of the unique Irish name Meriel.

Actor Farley Granger set it in motion, now could be a gentler alternative to Harley.

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.

Can Ernie shed the rubber ducky association and make its way onto the vintage revivals list? Years ago we may have said no, but celebrity chef Stephanie Izard made a strong case for Ernie when she gave the name to her son in 2016. Princess Eugenie uses Ernie as a nickname for son Ernest, born in 2023 - showing that Ernie could be the next Augie.

One of those names that most Americans find just too too tea-sippingly British to consider; its meaning has led to occasional use for Capricorn boys.

Lupine (spelled Lupin outside of North America) is a flower related to sweetpeas. It was given its wolfish meaning because the plant was said to deplete the soil. Comedian Jenny Slate used it as a middle name for her daughter Ida in 2020.

Raoul, with its unique three-vowel middle, rolls off the tongue in an appealing way. Raoul is one of the French names that sounds infinitely more romantic and attractive than the somewhat harsh English version Ralph.

Originally a short form of Odell, a place name turned surname that hails from England.

Urban was not an uncommon name through the 1930s (rising as high as Number 435), having been attached to several saints and early popes, but it has completely disappeared from the landscape--both urban and rural. Yet in this era of word name appreciation and trend for 'an'-ending boys' names, we're thinking it might be ready for a return.

More familiar to English speakers in the Italian Elio form.

A welcoming name that seems to say "hello". Celio can be thought of as a much rarer male variation of Celia. With heavenly names in the ascendant, we may be hearing lots more of Celio.

One of the aggressive new boys' names, ala Tracker and Heller, that have become fashionable among parents who are courting trouble.

A warm and cuddly nickname name, although he famously "kissed the girls and made them cry" in the old nursery rhyme.

Deriving from the Catalan title for the Virgin Mary, Nostra Senyora de Núria , meaning "Our Lady of Nuria", this distinctive name is a popular choice in Spain and Portugal.