User-created list
Unusual Baby Names
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The names
Banning
Irish
"small, fair one"
If you like the Irish surname feel, there are loads of more congenial options.
Roone
Irish
"red-haired"
Roone is a lively, attractive and unusual redhead entry brought into the mix by the late TV sports and news executive Roone Arledge, who seemed to own it as a one-person name when he was alive. Roone…
Brosnan
Irish
"dweller near the Brosna River"
Actor Pierce made both his first and last name appealing.
Cashel
Irish
"castle, stone fort"
Cashel is one of the many appealing Irish names that have not yet emigrated to the US. Cashel was chosen by actor Daniel Day-Lewis and his writer-director wife Rebecca Miller for their son. In…
Duryea
Irish
"from the stream"
Irish name with an intriguing lilt.
Fallon
Irish
"leader"
Fallon was one of the first of the unisex surname names, but thanks to "Dynasty" in the 1980s it now has a feminine image. For a boy, try Phelan instead.
Larkin
Irish
"rough, fierce"
While Larkin takes this name from bird to surname, there are actually more female Larkins these days than male, and it's a name that works as well for either gender. It has the literary connection to…
Madigan
Irish
"little dog"
A jovial and jaunty Irish name, the title of a long-gone TV crime drama, this would make an appealing choice. Slight downside: Maddy is already a mega-popular nickname for Madeline/Madelyn and…
Mannix
Irish
"a little monk"
An X -ending surname less common than the Jolie-Pitt-inspired Maddox. Grandparents might still associate it with the old TV crime show.
Manus
Irish variation of Magnus
"greatest"
This is an old Irish name associated with such heroes as the seventeenth century chieftain, scholar and poet Manus O'Donnell. It is likely a variation of Magnus, itself derived from the Latin word…
Nuala
Irish, short form of Fionnuala
"white shoulders"
Officially a shortening of the traditional and tricky Gaelic Fionnghuala/Fionnuala, Nuala makes a lovely choice all on its own. Nuala is well-used in Ireland.
Riordan
Irish
"bard, royal poet"
Has a legitimate first name history in its native land and an appealing meaning, but pronunciation is far from obvious.
Sadbh
Irish
"sweet; goodly"
Sadbh is the modern Irish form of the more streamlined but equally confusing Sadb or Sadhbh: these names are pronounced to rhyme with five. In Irish mythology Sadb or Sadbh or Sadhbh, a goddess lover…
Sloan
Irish
"raider"
A few decades back, this name -- which hardly shows its Irish roots -- evoked a man in a gray flannel suit; now, though still upscale, it's more likely to be attached to a female.
Lash
Romani variation of Louis, German and French
"renowned warrior"
Lash might look an unexpected English word name, associated with eyelashes or hitting, striking, whipping, or heavily criticizing someone. It is however a Romani name and a form of the regal Louis,…
Crow
Bird name
From Haruki Murakami's Kafka on the Shore , the story of a boy named Kafka -- crow in Czech.
Diarmaid
Irish
"free man"
This authentic form of the name of an Irish mythological hero with the power to make women fall instantly in love with him would work far better here as the Anglicized Dermot.
Remo
Italian variation of Remus, meaning unknown
Virtually unknown in the U.S., yet with its jaunty o ending and similarity to the stylish (yet unrelated) Remy, Remo may find some new followers.
Sayer
English
"woodcutter or reciter"
One of the more subtle occupational surnames, Sayer is a pleasant, open, last-name-first name, particularly apt for a family of woodworkers -- or writers. Some parents are beginning to consider Sayer…
Tamsin
English, contracted form of Thomasina
"twin"
Tamsin is an offbeat name occasionally heard in Britain and just waiting to be discovered here. U.K. actress Tamsin Greig is a star of the show Episodes , Tamsin Olivier is the daughter of Joan…
