Alanzo

Almeda

The first letter of the Greek alphabet ande the brightest star in every constellation, this would make an interesting choice for a first daughter, though it does give off some spectral sci-fi reverberations--and references to the term "alpha male.". 

Alpha

A rare but perfectly usable surname name.

Alson

Andreas is a beautiful name, with the patina of an Old Master painting, one that could make a dashing namesake for an Uncle Andrew. 
 In Europe, Andreas is currently in the Top 20 in Norway and is also popular in Denmark, Sweden, Germany, and Austria.
Some other international variations of Andrew you might want to consider — Andre, Andrei, Andres, Andrea, and Anders.
 Notable namesakes include photographer Andreas Feininger. One not-so-pleasant association: the San Andreas fault line in California.

Andreas

This name of a third-century Christian martyr has an romantic, appealing feel in the modern world. It first came to American attention via Prince's love interest in the film Purple Rain. 
 St. Apollonia of Alexandria propelled her name into great popularity in the Middle Ages; her name is invoked against toothaches.
 Apolonia, one 'l', is the name of a character in John Steinbeck's novel, The Pearl.

Apollonia

Sounds a bit like Harley pronounced with a cockney accent. 

Arley

Alexandrovna

Archange

Balthasar was one of the biblical Three Kings who visited the infant Jesus, also used by Shakespeare and in the oil-rich Getty family; offbeat and intriguing.   Balthazar is another, equally appropriate spelling.

Balthasar

Although Greek in origin--in the fourth century, a bishop by that name established the principles of the Greek Orthodox Church--Basil for years took on the aura of aquiline-nosed upper-class Britishness of Sherlock Holmes portrayer Basil Rathbone, then spiced with the fragrant aroma of the herb that entered with the Pesto generation.
 Now, it's time to take a fresh look at Basil.
 Basil was on the U.S. popularity list quite regularly up till 1970, reaching a high of Number 328 in 1904. Its history includes several rulers of the Byzantine Empire and Eastern Orthodox saints, including one whose grandmother, father, older sister and two younger brothers were all saints as well.
 Basil has also been seen as a figure of fun, as in the manic Basil Fawlty in the British TV comedy classic "Fawlty Towers," in the Disney movie "Basil of Baker Street," and as Basil Brush and Basil Wombat in other kids' entertainment.
 The Russian version, Vassily, is another possibility.

Basil

If you can't have an Alpha male, how about a Beta girl. 

Beta

Buta

Spelled with either one 'l' or two, Calista came to the fore in 1997 when Calista Flockhart hit it big as Ally McBeal. Flockhart, who bears her mother's middle name, didn't just introduce a name, she introduced a whole sensibility. Pretty and delicate, Calista is definitely worthy of consideration, especially for parents with Greek roots. 
 In ancient myth, Calista (or Calisto)was a nymph loved by Zeus, whose jealous wife Hera turned her into a bear.

Calista

Cintha

A poetic name first used in Edmund Spenser's "The Faerie Queene" in 1596, it had a literary vogue in the 18th century, especially favored by Robert Burns.  "inda" names--Melinda, Belinda, Linda" are not particularly in right now.

Clarinda

Cyntha

Clista

Pleasingly quaint and dainty New Testament possibility; the nickname Dru modernizes it. 

Drucilla

Old-timey surname that's been very rarely used.

Duvall

Easter has been used as a name for several hundred years, as part of the day-naming tradition; now, this rarely heard holiday celebration name would make a novel choice for a springtime baby. 
Background:The early Anglo-Saxon monk and scholar Bede took the name of a goddess--Eostre-- whose feast was celebrated at the vernal equinox and gave it to the Christian festival of the resurrection of Christ.
 Easter appeared on the Top 1000 list during the first few decades of the twentieth century. It was heard for the character played by Jasmine Guy in the TV miniseries Queen.
 International versions include Pascal, Pasqua and Pascua.

Easter

Elsworth

Ephraim is an Old Testament name we would place high on the list of neglected Biblical possibilities, solid but not solemn.
 In Genesis, Ephraim is the second son of Joseph, and founder of one of the twelve tribes of Israel. The name also appears as characters in Oliver Goldsmith's The Vicar of Wakefield, Charles Dickens's novel Little Dorrit, and in works by Sir Walter Scott and Robert Louis Stevenson. More recently, Ephraim Black was a character in the Twilight saga, a shape-shifter who was the great-grandfather of Jacob.
 Father and son violinist and actor Efrem Zimbalist, Jr. and Sr, simplified the spelling.

Ephraim

Ancient martyr's name that, though not especially appealing, might still be mildly possible, especially for Anglophiles. It was widely used in early Scotland, but was overtaken by its nickname, Effie.

Euphemia

Eustace was originally popularized by St. Eustace, who was born a Norman nobleman and is said to have been converted to Christianity by seeing a crucifix between the antlers of the deer he was hunting. It was introduced to England by the Normans, and can be found in medieval legend. In literature the name appears in the person of Eustace Clarence Scrubb in C. S. Lewis's The Chronicles of Narnia.
<bre/> The image of Eustace today is as sedate and stuffy as the monocled Eustace Tilly character on The New Yorker magazine covers. Its diminutive Stacy became a unisex hit.

Eustace

Eziah

Emele

Euranie

Euretta

Fonze

Hard as it might be to believe, Gladys was the Harper of 1900, emerging almost out of nowhere to take the naming world by storm. It became a favorite among parents — and writers of romantic Edwardian novels, seen as alluring and unusual. One impetus was the 1870 Ouida novel Puck, whose heroine was the idealized beauty, Gladys Gerant.
 Gladys reached as high as Number 11 at the turn of the last century, popular along with other s-ending names such as Doris. Though Gladys hasn't shown any signs of revival yet, some parents might respond to the 'glad'ness of it, and its gladiola-flower feel. 
 It's been associated in the U.S. with singer Gladys Knight.

Gladys

Godfrey was very popular in the Middle Ages, but today you're more likely to hear it as a surname than a first name. It has a solid, old-man charm, but a couple of possible deal-breakers: the first syllable being God, and no obvious nickname. Goff, maybe? For a different feel, we also like the Italian artist's version Giotto.

Godfrey

Middle name possibility for a nature-loving family -- Uma Thurman and Ethan Hawke used it for their son's middle name. 

Green

Gatramae

Georgü

Guillelmus

Hardy is a spirited and durable un-Germanic German surname that is starting to be used in this country. 
 British fashion designer Hardy Amies (born Edwin) is its best known bearer, and Thomas Hardy could make a literary namesake--as might the old Hardy Boys series of adventure books for young boys.

Hardy

Henric

Hesper is a feminine form of Hesperus, the name of the Greek mythological personification of the Evening Star. The Hesperides are daughters of nymphs of the evening. Hesper may be related to the name Vesper as well as Hespera and Hesperia.

Hesper

Helenae

Illa

Iren

It might be surprising to know that this name originated as a Scottish place and surname name, as in Washington Irving.  It became a popular choice for first-generation Jewish-American boys, such as best-selling authors Irving Stone and Irving Wallace, whose parents looked to surnames from the British Isles to confer a measure of assimilation and class. Irving Berlin changed his name from Israel; actor Ving Rhames streamlined and coolized it. Irving was a Top 100 name during World War I, and though we don't envision it reaching those heights again, we can see some hipster parents having their own little Ving.

Irving

Isom

Isma

Jacobi

Johannem

Johis 

Foppish name with a distinguished forebear, French general Marquis de Lafayette, who fought in the American Revolution. It accounts for the L in L. Ron Hubbard.   Old-time short form: Fayette or Fate.

Lafayette

Lavern

Lucinda, an elaboration of Lucia created by Cervantes for his 1605 novel Don Quixote, is a pleasingly pretty alternative to Lucy. It was subsequently used by Moliere in his play The Doctor in Spite of Himself' (1666). More in tune with the times than Linda, Belinda and Melinda, it could be used to honor someone with one of those dated names. 
 Lucinda was a Top 200 name in the late nineteenth century, but hasn't been on the charts for more than 25 years--which could make her ripe for revival.
 One appealing namesake is country-rock-blues singer Lucinda Williams. Similar in feel: Lucilla and Lucetta.

Lucinda

Laurabelle

Lecta

This name made famous in the New Testament has gone from crusty grandma to sleek and chic in recent years, or is it months?  The name's image is perhaps helped by the fact that Mary Magdalene was one of the most intriguing women inthe Bible, both a saint and a sinner.

Magdalene

Margaretha

Australian opera singer Nellie Melba—self-named for her hometown of Melbourne—inspired this now-dated name more associated today with a peach dessert and dietetic toast. 

Melba

Margrethae

Mehitable

Nena

Orin is one of a variety of similarly-spelled names that have a soft and sensitive image. The Orrin spelling has been known nationally via Republican Senator Hatch.
 Orin is the name of a character in Eugene O'Neill's drama Mourning Becomes Electra. Oren is a Hebrew name that means laurel while Oran is Irish and means pale little green one.

Orin

Orlena

Onis

Osma

Oxanna

Permelia

More universal than Elvis...and more conventionally attractive, too. Cindy Crawford used it for her son, though it's on the rise mainly for girls. 

The last time Presley ranked in the Top 1000 for boys was 1903, 120 years ago. Today, it's used for girls 14 times as often as for boys, mainly because of the -ley ending.

Presley

Refers to one of the seven sacred rivers of India. 

Reva

This can be a cool and unusual way to honor your family Robert, conjuring up memories of Robinson Crusoe and Swiss Family Robinson, as well as narrative poet Robinson Jeffers, born John Robinson, who shared his mother's middle name.

Robinson

A name commonly used in Spain and Italy, it refers back to the annual Roman ceremony of hanging garlands of roses on tombs. 

Rosalia

This elegant, minimally-spelled name could be a variant of Rosanna/Roseanna. But it's also the Portuguese version of Roxana, with all the meaning and history of the name, but none of the "Roxanne" associations.

Rosana

Rayton

The Puritans used it as a virtue name -- but today it would just be considered weird: silence is no longer golden. 

Silence

The image of the lovely Lady Sybil, tragic youngest daughter of the Crawley family on Downton Abbey is likely to go a long way towards reviving this almost forgotten name, off the list since 1966 and most popular in the 1920s and '30s. Sybil is currently Number 253 on Nameberry; Sybil is the most common spelling of a name which the ancient Greeks used as the generic word for a prophetess--a woman who claimed to be able to interpret the wishes of the gods through their oracles. Benjamin Disraeli wrote an influential political novel titled Sybil, which increased the popularity of the name in Victorian times. Later, the name was severely undermined by the eponymous book and 1976 movie based on the character of Sybil-- played by Sally Field-- whose multiple personalities have now been confessed as fake. This is not to mention the harridan wife on the classic British sitcom Fawlty Towers. There is also a Sybil in Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray and Sybill Trelawney is a witch and (fittingly) seer in the Harry Potter books, a Professor of Divination played on screen by Emma Thompson.
 Cybill Shepherd, on the other hand, bears an invented name combining those of her Uncle Cy and Dad Bill.

Sybil

Not too long ago, Temperance was found only on lists of Puritan <a href="https://nameberry.com">baby names</a>.
 
With increased increase in virtue names, and Dr. Temperance "Bones" Brennan on long-running television series Bones, this name has experienced a surprising revival.

Temperance

Though modern parents seeking to honor an ancestor named Thelma might opt for the airier Thea instead, Thelma is starting to make its way back onto adventurous vintage name lovers' radars. It is currently experiencing a modest revival in France, where it now ranks around the #300 mark.

 The meaning of Thelma is unknown, although it is sometimes claimed to be derived from the Greek thelema "will". It was extremely rare as a given name until British writer Marie Corelli used it for the Norwegian heroine of her eponymous novel in 1893. 

 In the English-speaking world, Thelma is associated with Geena Davis' character in the iconic female-centred crime movie Thelma and Louise (1991). It was also the birth name of first lady Pat Nixon.

Thelma

Turner is a name that's both preppy and painterly, recalling the exquisite watercolor seascapes of British painter J.M.W. Turner. An occupational name in the Taylor-Carter mold, Turner is a more distinctive choice than many of the usual suspects.

 One first-name Turner namesake is Turner Catledge, the first Executive Editor of the New York Times, but for the most part its more notable bearers were surnamed Turner: Nat, the leader of a rebellion of enslaved people and subject of a William Styron novel; media mogul Ted; musicians Ike and Tina; and glamour girl Lana. In the movie Turner & Hooch, Tom Hanks was Det. Scott Turner and Hooch was the dog.

Turner

Thyris

Vena

Vianna

Wendelini

Wendelinus

Zenas

viviv's list "Rare Names from my Family Tree" of 83 great name ideas: Alanzo - Zenas!

Rare Names from my Family Tree

Rare names found on my family tree. This list is US-centric.

I'm going to reference this list for writing honestly lol