Uncommon Names for Baby Boys!

The version of Rob used in George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire books and HBO's Game of Thrones.

Sorley is an anglicization of the Irish name Somhairle, itself derived from the Old Norse Sumarliði, a nickname for a summer traveler (perhaps meaning a viking raider!). It is sometimes used as a boy name in Britain, but very rarely in the US. The similarity to the word "sorely" may put some off, but we still think it makes a jaunty, unusual surname-style option.

One of the classic hippie word names. In the 1970s, actors Barbara Hershey and David Carradine gave this name to their son...who later changed it to Tom.

Slate, Stone and Steel are on the rise, so why not Shale?

This herb is also known as cilantro. It's meaning, "bed bug" is on account of its smell, characterized by the ancient Greeks as bed bug-like.

Even if you're hoping for a fiery child, this seems like playing with fire. One celebrity--Steve Vai--was bold enough to use it for his son.

Bardo has a poetic beginning and upbeat ending, with roots in several diverse cultures. It may be most familiar today via George Saunders' novel Lincoln in the Bardo, which refers to the Tibetan Buddhist state of suspension between one life and the next, resembling the Christian idea of Limbo. Bardo is also an ancient saint's name: Saint Bardo was the eleventh century bishop of Mainz, in Germany. Actress Sandra Bullock chose Bardo as her son's middle.

This recently coined respelling of Cole darkens its image.

Hot name best used as a middle, as Paula Patton and Robin Thicke did for their son Julian in 2010.

Tierney is a Celtic surname with a definite Irish twinkle, a name just waiting to be discovered. Though now sometimes used for girls (in the US, not Ireland), as in jazz singer Tierney Sutton, it still has plenty of masculine punch.

While patriot Thomas Paine is a worthy honoree, the mere association with the word 'pain' knocks this name out of bounds.