Rare Names

A popular spelling variation of Adriana.

A twist on Alina or Alena, this name popped into the Top 500 for the first time in 2014. Also an Arabic name, meaning "soft, pliable, delicate".

Actress Gena Rowlands publicized this name, which she pronounces with a soft e.

Though Jules hasn't been on the US popularity list in fifty years, it is a current hit in its native France—where it's currently in the Top 10—and we can definitely see it making a comeback here, being far more romantic than, say, Jim.

We've seen Ray regain his cool, but could this country/cowboy name epitomized by Roy Rogers (born Leonard Slye), Acuff, and Clark, do the same?

Most parents today would prefer the softer-sell Stella. But Star has symbolic power related to Christmas, so this could make one of the perfect names for December babies.

This striking name has a lot going for it: it's a self-confident Spanish surname, it identifies one of the most brilliant stars in the sky, and it has a musical reference to singer-songwriter Suzanne Vega.

This name of the first recorded dynasty of ancient China is short and simple enough to make a possible Asian-American alternative to Mia and Tia. British-Filipino child star Xia Vigor has invigorated the name in the Philippines.