strange names

A British-accented Greek name with an intellectual image that has been off the U.S. charts since 1966, but was a Top 300 name at the turn of the last century. We have the feeling Cyril's ready for a comeback.

Echo, the pretty, resonant name of a legendary nymph, was the heroine of Joss Whedon's sci-fi series Dollhouse. Nick Hexum, of the band 311, named his daughter Echo Love.

Eden is an attractive, serene name with obvious intimations of Paradise, one of several place names drawn from the Bible by the Puritans in the seventeenth century.

Enzo originated as the Italian variation of Heinz, a German name derived from Heinrich, related to Henry. It has historically been used as a short form for Italian names such as Vincenzo and Lorenzo. The most famous bearer of the name is Enzo Ferrari, founder of the luxury sports car brand.

Rarely used un-Gaelic-sounding Scottish name with literary associations to Erskine Caldwell, author of Tobacco Road and God's Little Acre.

Trippy variation on Hayes.

Attractive, rhythmic choice with roots in several languages and cultures. It's a lesser-known a celestial name, meaning "star" in Basque and referring to a star in the constellation Boötes in Arabic.

Jinx, a James Bond heroine name has an ominous meaning but kinetic energy. In the film "Die Another Day," the actual first name of the character played by Halle Berry is Giacinta.

This phonetic spelling of Drew feels particularly distanced from the original classic Andrew. Jrue, along with other phonetic "Jr" names such as Jream, is on the rise in the US — even cracking the Top 1000 in 2022.

Keon, a mashup of Kevin and Leon, has been in the Top 900 for a decade and a half, following in the wake of female cousin Kiana.

Kreative Kross is a member of the new generation of Christian word names.

The Hungarian classic Laszlo, with its zippy 'z' middle and energetic 'o' ending, has become something of a hipster option, beginning to be considered by cutting-edge parents.

The association with the infamous Nero, the fiddling Roman emperor, would be unavoidable. But there was also the detective Nero Wolfe, hero of many mystery stories.

In Greek mythology, Nyx was a powerful goddess and the embodiment of the night, but when spoken, its negative meaning can't be ignored.

Remus is one of the legendary twins who, with brother Romulus, founded Rome. An unusual yet classic name for the extremely adventurous who can put aside the stereotyped image of Uncle Remus. Though because of that "ream" first syllable, we prefer Romulus.

He was the original Roman, Remus's twin and a founder of Rome. But parents attracted to this name are advised to read the legend first. Romulus does have some less than savory characteristics, including killing his twin brother and making Rome in his own image, and is later deified as Quinnius. Romy and Quinn might make good twin names.

An unusual name related to the willow family.