Baby Names Sure to Shock Grandma

This evocative place-name is rising in popularity -- despite (or perhaps because of) the unfortunate association with an airplane that went missing in March 2014.

Bamboo is a plant name that you might want to save for the zoo's name-the-panda contest. It was used for a starbaby in 2000, though, the rapper Big Boi.

A bold word name choice for the intrepid baby namer who hopes her son will face the world with a sense of discovery.

A sweet French word name possibility, but with unsavory teasing potential.

Modern variant spelling of Anniston

Poppy is the most widely-used seed name, opening the door for Sesame. While Sesame has a pretty sound, it is not often used as a name -- fewer than five baby girls were given the name in the US in 2021. In kids' minds, this might be overly associated with Sesame Street.

Talk about pressure! Too much name for any little girl to bear.

Elixyvett is part Elizabeth, part Alexis, part Yvette -- and a total mess. Few people go to such lengths to make a name different. Aren't you glad?

A bouncy midcentury TV nickname name.

There are two lovely Portlands, in Maine and Oregon, but not many babies with their name.

Configuration coined by troubled former NBA star Jayson Williams for his daughter.

An adorable nickname for a smiley baby, but not suggested as a legal name.

Slightly awkward girl's version of a straightforward male name.

Pistol is one of the new names that entered the lexicon in the US in 2013, when it was given to nine babies of each gender. Call it an equal-opportunity badass baby name with an unfortunately violent image.

Somehow a "y" got stuck in a glass of apple juice.

Jansen is an intriguing way to honor an ancestral John; Jantzen is a brand of swimwear.

Rather than going with a yooneek spelling like Macen (or Maysen or Masyn), we'd suggest sticking with the original Mason, as Kelsey Grammer did for his daughter.

A yellowish chemical compound that produces fluorescent dyes ranging from bright yellow to hot pink to flaming red -- but as a name sounds glaringly sci-fi.