Abilene is a rarely used place name, mentioned as such in the New Testament, that combines the cowboy spunk of the Texas city with the midwestern morality of the Kansas town where Dwight D. Eisenhower spent his boyhood. Abilene is a much more untrodden path to the nickname Abbie/Abbie than the Top 10 Abigail.

One of those pan-European nickname names much more familiar in Scandinavia and Eastern Europe than in the US, though related name Mina is making a comeback here. Light and bright, it could be an alternative to Mila, Minnie, or Millie.

Both Maire and Mare have begun making inroads with parents seeking novel yet authentic ways of honoring an ancestral Mary. The Finnish variation derives from the word mairea, meaning "sweet."

Amabel is an older name than Annabel and a lot more distinctive. Amabel was a very common name in the twelfth and thirteen centuries, then was revived during the nineteenth century British fad for medieval names.

A unisex name with lots of flair and a daring spirit, Adair was first noticed as a girl's name in the 1980's, thanks to the long-running daytime drama Search for Tomorrow, with the character Adair McCleary, who had ahead-of-their-time brothers named brothers Hogan, Cagney and Quinn. Given to just 22 girls in a recent year (along with 59 boys), it remains a familiar but quietly used choice.

If you're a lover of the beach and sea, and want a name that relates to the largest body of water, there are several variations you could consider.

A feminization of Adam with several sweet nickname options — Addie, Ada, Minnie, or Mina being a few.

Old-fangled nickname could make dot.com era short form or middle name.

More uncommon and powerful than garden varieties like Rose and Lily. Named for Scottish botanist Dr Alexander Garden.

A simple and seamlessly international choice with a joyful sound and beautiful meaning.

Marvel, now a character name in The Hunger Games series, was a miracle name of yesterday, on the girls' Social Security list until 1941 and reaching a high of 487 at the turn of the last century, when Marva was also in style.

Xanthia gets this classic Greek name closer to the modern Cynthia, sometimes used as its Anglo equivalent.

The Mira spelling was given to nearly 500 girls last year while this variation was used for only nine in the US.