unique and unusual girls names

Sia

Old Norse

"Victory"

Mia, Gia, and now Sia! Born Sia Kate Isobelle Furler, the Australian singer-songwriter scored a major international hit with "Chandelier" in 2014, and put her short, uncommon name on the radar. Sia…

Azula

Modern invented name

"blue"

A character name from Avatar: The Last Airbender . Azula is one of the two main antagonists of the series: a Firebender who produces blue flames (hence her name, which is derived from Spanish,…

Zelie

French

"noble"

A cute, zippy French saint's name that's picking up in popularity there, and starting to in the US as well. Zélie originated as a short form of Azélie, thought to derive from Adelaide via the Occitan…

Lumi

Finnish

"snow"

Lumi may be a rare girls' name in the USA and England, but it comes in the Top 50 in Finland, where it means snow. Given the popularity of Winter, Holly, Ivy and many other wintery-christmassy names,…

Honor

English word and virtue name

"honor"

Honor is a somewhat more straight-laced virtue name than Hope or Grace, placing a high standard on any girl carrying it, but it's a goal worth setting. By choosing Honor for her daughter, Jessica…

Truly

Word name

"in a truthful way"

A would-be up-and-comer if it wasn't for the spiked seltzer brand.

Amity

Latin

"friendship"

Amity--what nicer gift to give your little girl than a name that signifies friendship and harmony? This virtue name is also more rhythmic and feminine than the single-syllable Hope, Faith, and Grace.…

Enya

Irish

"fire"

This phonetic Anglicization of the Irish name Eithne was made familiar by the single-named Irish singer and composer. St. Eithne was the daughter of a king and an early Irish convert to Christianity.

Zosia

Variant of Sophia, Greek

"wisdom"

This unusual and alluring choice was used by David Mamet for his daughter, who is now grown and an actress on the hit show Girls .

Eda

English, Turkish

"wealthy, well-mannered"

An medieval English diminutive of Edith, which could make an unusual addition to simple vintage revivals like Eva, Ada and Ida. In Turkish, it means "well mannered".

Lunette

Lunette is a delicate feminine name with French origins, derived from 'lune,' meaning 'moon.' The '-ette' suffix adds a diminutive quality, essentially meaning 'little moon.' This celestial…

Kiri

Maori

"tree bark"

The name Kiri was made famous by New Zealand soprano Kiri Te Kanawa, whose original name was Claire. Cute but slight, Kiri is close to several other names from Kiriah to Keira to Kyra and its…

Tulip

Flower name, from Persian

"turban"

One of the most unusual flower names, Tulip is cute but tough to pull off as a first. It has some celebrity cred via Charlie Tamara Tulip, twin daughter of Rebecca Romijn and Jerry O'Connell. It…

Aelia

Roman

"sun"

This little-known Ancient Roman name might make a fresh spin on the popular Ella, Ayla, Isla contingent. The "ae" is pronounced "ee" (think Aesop's fables). The Annals of Aeliana is a children's…

Alicja

Polish

"noble"

Polish form of Alice and Alicia

Talise

Talise is a feminine name with multiple possible origins. Some sources suggest it comes from Native American languages, particularly attributed to meanings like 'beautiful waters' or 'lovely water'…