An undiscovered option among occupational names, as of 2023, Banner has never been used for more than 100 baby boys in a single year. It does have charm however, much due to its associations with fêtes and phrases like "a banner year".

Indiana is one of those place-names (think Camden and Trenton) that sounds cooler than the place that inspired it. Its fashionable -ana ending certainly sounds eminently name-like, and Indie/Indy/Indi is one of the hottest nickname names for girls right now.

Randolph is a timeworn classic that had its last hurrah in the 1940s, when Randolph (born George) Scott was starring in westerns, but then was probably done in by its tricky nickname Randy (which, strangely enough, was itself a Top 50 name in the fifties and sixties).

Edna is one of those names that, until what it seemed like a few minutes ago, felt so terminally frumpy that no one could imagine a parent choosing it for an innocent modern baby girl. But with the great upswing in names honoring ancestral family members, several of them being other four-letter, e-ending names, we wouldn't be so sure.

Everybody knows Huckleberry Finn, the Mark Twain character named, Twain said, for the 19th century slang term for "humble." A few modern parents have put it on a birth certificate, including "Man Vs. Wild" star Bear Grylls, who, like many parents, will call the boy the much more manageable Huck. It was also the name of a child on TV's West Wing,

It feels like Finch should be a modern bird name that's as popular as Wren or Lark, but that's not the case - so it's one to consider if you're looking for a nature name that's familiar but rare.

Literary heritage: the "Loony Tunes" girlfriend of Porky Pig. But with the increasing popularity of all kinds of unusual botanical names, Petunia may be a name we start to hear more of. Perhaps-more-pleasing Petunia alternatives: Petal, Posy, Poppy.

Ike, once the quirky one-person nickname of President Dwight Eisenhower, has morphed into a cool kid nickname of the early 21st century.

Starbaby name that might prove too supercharged for real life, but if like director Robert Rodriguez you're interested only in boys' names starting with R, you may need to add Rocket (and Rebel and Racer) to your list.

One of the rarest of the floral names, though not without some teasing potential. Peony is a historical 1948 novel by Pearl S. Buck.

A new favorite of the bohemian set, brought to light by actress Monet Mazur, daughter of the artist who designed the Rolling Stones' mouth logo.

Yes, though it seems so extreme, girls were actually sometimes given this name a century ago; now it is so uncommon it would make a strong springtime statement. Biggest obstacle: the nickname Daffy.

Pixie is a cute -- quite possibly too cute -- name that suddenly feels possible thanks to the craze for names that contain the letter x. Though its origin may be uncertain, a pixie is internationally recognized as a sprite or fairy: tiny, sometimes green, usually pointy-eared.

Popular in Norway and Denmark, but familiar across Europe, Amalie can be pronounced as a-MAHL-yah, much like sister Amalia. A variation of Amelia, it shares the same Germanic element, amal meaning "vigorous, unceasing, work".

Variant spelling of Nyx, the name of the Greek goddess of the night. It also coincides with the English word "nix, a corruption of German nichts "nothing".

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.

Gypsy, long associated with the intellectual stripper Gypsy Rose Lee and the musical that was made about her life, was used by Drea de Matteo and Shooter Jennings as the middle name of their daughter Alabama. Be aware, however, that the word gypsy is now considered an ethnic slur when used for the Romani, or Roma, people.

Zero has been documented as a given name before, but it's largely familiar as a stage name (such as Zero Mostel, born Samuel Joel Mostel) and comic book and anime characters. Seven boys were called Zero is a recent year.

Birch is a rarely used nature name that calls to mind the lovely image of the tall, strong but graceful white-barked tree.

This old-fashioned word for poetry has some antiquated charm but doesn't exactly roll off the tongue.