User-created list
By rapidashl3y · Updated March 2018
Across 4 pages
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Welsh
"white breast"
Bronwen is widespread in Wales, but still rare enough here to sound somewhat international — we think Bronwen is a real winner. (Note: the Bronwyn spelling is an Anglicization, since the -wyn ending…
"very fair, beautiful"
Anwen is one of the simplest and best of the classic Welsh girls' names, more unusual than Bronwen but with the same serene feel.
Greek
"aggressive, warlike"
Pronounced "TAHL-a-mee," this was the name of one of Alexander the Great's generals and several Greco-Egyptian rulers, as well as the name of a famous Greek astronomer. Actress Gretchen Mol brought…
German
"victorious protection"
The connection to Freud is a strong one, but this German name has a strong and interesting sound and great nickname potential: Ziggy, Iggy, Sim, Sid...
Russian variation of Theodore
"God's gift"
This variation of Theodore is familiar here mostly via the great Russian novelist Dostoyevsky. It was also the name of three early tsars of Russia.
Latin, diminutive of Dulcibella
"sweet"
A sweet-meaning and sounding name dating back to the Roman Empire, and later found in the antebellum South, Dulcie has in the modern era been heard most often in Australia. In Agatha Christie's…
Tree name
Birch is a rarely used nature name that calls to mind the lovely image of the tall, strong but graceful white-barked tree. The best known bearer of the name is former high-ranking Democratic Senator…
English
"woodcutter or reciter"
One of the more subtle occupational surnames, Sayer is a pleasant, open, last-name-first name, particularly apt for a family of woodworkers -- or writers. Some parents are beginning to consider Sayer…
French
"daring king"
Actress Sigourney -- born Susan -- Weaver made this unusual name (which she found in The Great Gatsby ) famous, if not popular.
French, English
"to stay a while"
African-American and women's rights activist Sojourner Truth was born as Isabelle into enslavement. She adopted her new name when she began traveling and preaching abolition in 1843. Sojourner is a…
"noble wolf"
World War II stamped a permanent verboten on Adolph.
Greek mythology name
"kingfisher"
Alcyone was the wife of Ceyx, but the happy pair angered the gods by calling each other Zeus and Hera. Ceyx's ship was sunk, Alcyone hurled herself into the sea, but then in sympathy for their grief…
Flower name; Greek
"daughter of the wind"
Anemone is a floral name that relates to the ancient Greek myth of the famous love story of Aphrodite and Adonis, in which Aphrodite transforms her wounded lover's blood into a flower, the crimson…
English, French, German
"elf ruler, bright elf; noble bear"
Rarely heard in the US, Auberon has a gentle autumnal feel rare in a male name. A Shakespeare-adjacent choice, Auberon started out as as a pet form of Auberi, the French form of German Alberich.…
Nature name
With the recent arrival of fruit names like Apple and Plum, this more traditional example, symbolic of fertility, might rise in popularity. Photographer Berry Berenson was born Berinthia.…
"beautiful as a poem; crooked women"
A mythological Welsh name with an intriguing sound, Ceridwen appears in several Welsh legends, in which she is an an enchantress and the owner of the cauldron of poetic inspiration. She is also…
Spanish, English
"wild, untamed"
Cimarron is a Great Plains city and river name used by Edna Ferber as the title of a popular novel. The Cimarron people of Panama were previously enslaved Africans who had escaped from their Spanish…
"earth mother"
Demeter, the Greek goddess of grain, agriculture, and the harvest, growth and nourishment, was Zeus's sister and Persephone's mother. Variation Demetria is the full name of actress Demi Moore. Though…
Australian Aboriginal
"a pleasant place"
Elouera has potential for people looking for unusual versions of popular "Elle" names like Ellen, Eleanor and Ella. This Aboriginal Australian place name is filled with the mellifluous sounds that…
