Searching high and low for the perfect uncommon name for your little one? Do you want your child’s name to be rare, but not weird? Here is your ultimate guide to unique baby names!
How do I define uncommon? These names have never been in the 100 most popular names in the 1900s. You can track the trends of every name with this awesome Baby Name Wizard tool.
Another one of my favorite sites to spend forever checking out names on is nameberry.com.
This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I can earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.
Why uncommon baby names?
Parents-to-be have lots of reason for wanting a less traditional name for their son or daughter. Many people disliked being one of several “Jennifers” or “Johns” in their class at school, and don’t want their child to have to identify as Ava S. or Charlie B.
Others feel that baby naming is a creative process. Rather than just name their son Ronald Junior because it’s his father’s name (as was frequently done in prior generations), parents today want to choose a name that has a special sound or meaning.
Lastly, parents today feel it’s important for their child to stand out from the crowd. Like it or not, our children are growing up in an ultra-competitive era. If having a unique name helps our child make an impression and be remembered, we’re all for it.
And now onto the list of the most adorable unique baby names!
Unique Baby Names for Girls
There are way too many beautiful girl names out there to settle for a common and overused name at the top of the charts! Instead choose one of these unique and gorgeous names for your precious daughter.
Ainsley “one’s own meadow”
Aislin “vision, dream”
Alessandra “defender of mankind”
Alondra “lark”
Amaya “night rain”
Amelie “hardworking”
Anya “grace”
Aurelia “the golden one”
Beatrix “she who brings happiness”
Brielle “hunting grounds”
Cadence “rhythm”
Carina “dear little one”
Carrigan “pointed spear”
Cecilia “one of the shining light”
Cleo “to praise, acclaim”
Colette “victory of the people”
Coraline “heart, maiden”
Delia “person From Delos”
Eliora “my God is my light”
Etta “ruler of the home”
Faye “fairy”
Fleur “flower”
Gaia “earth”
Gwendolyn “white ring”
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Hadley “heather field”
Hattie “estate ruler”
Haven “safe place”
Honora “woman of honor”
Imani “faith”
Imogene “maiden, innocent”
Jana “God is gracious”
Juliet “youthful, downy”
Juniper “from the juniper tree”
Kyla “narrow”
Lavinia “from Lavinium”
Leonora “light”
Liana “my God has answered”
Lilia “lily flower”
Lilith “ghost”
Lorelei “ambush cliff”
Lottie “free one”
Lucia “light”
Mae “month of May”
Mabel “lovable”
Marcella “young warrior”
Mavis “songbird”
Meadow “meadow”
Melina “made of honey”
Melody “song”
Mirabelle “wonderful”
Nahla “drink water”
Nicolina “victory of the people”
Ophelia “helper”
Phaedra “glowing”
Pippa “lover of horses”
Rhya “fertility goddess”
Rosalie “rose”
Salem “peace”
Sidra “like a star”
Soleil “sun”
Sylvie “forest”
Thora “thunder”
Tillie “battle mighty”
Vada “famous ruler”
Vera “faith”
Verona “truth”
Verity “truth”
Vita “life”
Wren “small bird”
Xiomara “ready for battle”
Yasmine “jasmine flower”
If you’re expecting a little girl, this post will help you find her perfect middle name!
Unique Baby Names for Boys
Until recent years, boys were very likely to be given traditional, family names. These days the trends are starting to change, as people want their sons to stand out from the crowd as much as their daughters. Here are some handsome, underused name choices for your baby boy.
Abram “high father”
Alton “old town”
Barrett “bear strength”
Bastien “venerable, revered”
Beau “handsome”
Benedict “blessed”
Bennett “blessed”
Boone “a blessing”
Brecken “freckled”
Brock “badger”
Cael “slender”
Caius “rejoice”
Calloway “pebbly place”
Callum “dove”
Clyde “river in Scotland”
Cohen “Hebrew priest”
Colby “from Kol’s settlement”
Conrad “brave counsel”
Dalton “from the valley town”
Dashiell “page boy”
Dax “leader”
Deacon “messenger”
Donovan “dark”
Eamon “wealthy protector”
Elias “Yahweh is God”
Emmerich “ruler”
Ewan “born of the yew tree”
Ezekiel “God strengthens”
Fabian “bean grower”
Finnian “white”
Gage “measurer”
Gannon “fair skinned”
Giancarlo “combination of the Italian John plus Charles”
Grady “descendant of the noble one”
Hiram “exalted brother”
Holden “from the hollow in the valley”
Humphrey “peaceful warrior”
Jonah “dove, peace”
Judah “praised”
Kendrick “bold ruler”
Kieran “dark haired”
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Leandro “lion man”
Leland “meadowland”
Levon “lion”
Lorenzo “laurel”
Luca “man from Lucania”
Lucian “light”
Maclean “servant of Saint John”
Madden “little dog”
Marshall “horse keeper”
Mathias “gift of God”
Matteo “gift of God”
Maxim “greatest”
Mayer “steward”
Nehemiah “comforted by God”
Nico “victory of the people”
Orson “bear cub”
Oswald “divine power”
Otis “wealth”
Otto “wealth”
Patten “shoemaker”
Phelan “wolf”
Pierce “son of Piers”
Prescott “priest’s cottage”
Rafe “wolf counsel”
Redmond “wise protector”
Roland “famous land”
Sanders “son of Alexander”
Shepherd “sheep herder”
Stanton “stony town”
Stellan “calm”
Tanner “leather worker”
Tate “cheerful”
Theo “divine gift”
Torin “chief”
Tyson “firebrand”
Vaughn “small”
Walden “valley of the Welsh”
Walker “cloth walker”
Watson “son of Walter”
Wheaton “from the wheat town”
Zaide “increasing, surplus”
Unique Unisex Names
Unisex names are all the rage right now! There are so many lovely choices for uncommon unisex names beyond the typical Robin and Quinn. Here are some fantastic name options and their meanings.
Arden “from the Eagle valley”
Arlo “hill”
Aspen “quaking tree”
Aster “star”
Austen “great”
Camden “winding valley”
Desi “desired one”
Echo “reverberating sound”
Eden “place of pleasure”
Ellis “benevolent”
Finley “warrior”
Harlow “rock hill”
Henley “high field”
Isidore “gift of isis”
Justice “doing right by the law”
Landry “master of land”
Lane “lane, road”
Lennon “dear one”
Lennox “elm grove”
London “from the great river”
Micah “who is like God”
Oakley “from the oak tree field”
Paxton “peace town”
Presley “from the priest’s field”
Raleigh “from the rye field”
Reese “running”
Reeve “bailiff”
Rowan “from the Rowan tree”
Ryland “rye land”
Sage “herb or prophet”
Sawyer “wood cutter”
Shea “hawk”
Sloan “expedition”
Soren “stern”
Sullivan “black-eyed one”
Sutton “from the southern homestead”
Wynn “fair, pure”
Share your favorite unique baby names in the comments!
And if you are planning to breastfeed your little one, don’t miss this post about how to set yourself up for breastfeeding success!
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68 comments
Love that you included a unisex list! I’m always drawn towards those types of names but my favorite name from this list is Imogene and it’s not one that I would have thought of myself.
Thanks Bridget! I love it when I name jumps out at you that you never would have come up with on your own. That’s what happened with my daughter, Elle. A little girl at the pool answered to Elle and I was like “whoa, I’ve never thought of that name, but I think I love it!”
Wow, I love all of these names! Im going to save this list when it comes time to name my baby! Thanks for such a great list, I haven’t seen alot of these names anywhere.
Thanks Lakiesha, so glad you like them!
I really wish the name Brandt was on there that is my baby cousin’s name Brandt Ryan
I really love that you included a unisex names section. I’ve always really liked them! I wish I would’ve had something like this when I had my kids. Both of them have very common names. LOL. Great list!!
Too funny! I tried for unique with my kids but a couple of them still turned out to be pretty common :/
You are correct. I love every single one of them!
My goodness these names are beautiful! I’ll share this list with my friends having babies. Thank you.
Thanks Rosey, glad you liked them 🙂
Thanks for all these great names! I love Sage and Soliel for a little girl ; ) and Finely and Gage for a little boy ; )
Those are adorable choices!
Excellent list! Love Sloan!
Excellent list! Love Sloan!
Thanks Melisa! I like that one too, definitely underused 🙂
My grandsons name is Keller and I totally love it!
What an adorable and unique name!
My daughter is called Eris after the Greek goddess but theses names are lovely maybe if I have a second 😉
Hae happy to see my son name in your list his name is blaise Ryan help me make a combo with first name cadenza
Please send me P starting names
Are you looking for boy or girl names? Some of my favorites: Pia, Poppy, Penelope, Persephone, Paige, Petra. For boys I like Paul or Paolo, Payton or Paxton, Pascal, and Parker. Hope this helps!
These are great names. I love unique names. I have 4 babies and we chose unique names for all of them. Braylen Robert, Kyler Rhys, Jasper Eamon, Piper Maddyx.
Aren’t different names just refreshing?? Great names, thanks for commenting!
Neither my name or my sons name (Laiken) are ever on these lists! 😂
Funny! Your name is only one letter off of my daughter’s (Tiana) and hers is not that unique but yours is 🙂 Love the name Laiken- be on the lookout because it just might pop up in a future post!
Omg I have a Laken I love how you spelled it though!
Gage stuck out to me! But for a middle name. I think I like Emmett Gage for a boy. Annika Everly for a girl. Oohh, can’t wait to see what our third baby will be!
My name is Mazie and I’ve only known 2 other people my whole life with that name. My boyfriend’s name is Courtland and he is the same. Although he usually finds girls have his name spelt (Courtlynn).
I had a hard time naming my son…I wanted different…
These were some top picks:
Samir
Paxton
Laiken
I ended up naming him maverick
I love the name Redmond! I currently have a little boy named Taran, so those two would sound good together. 🙂
Some other names that I love:
For boys: Zaryn, Aiden, Lauwrie
For girls: Nyra, Kenna, Dahlia
My sons name is Barrett. I love that it’s uncommon but still masculine. We get so many compliments on it!
Love Salem and Oswald for second child. My sons name is Sullivan. This is a fantastic list!
My daughter’s names are Jordyn and Kamryn! Both unisex and spelled uniquely. 😀
My oldest son is Barrett! And my youngest is Silas 🙂
So cool that my name made it to a list! “Xiomara”
I just fell in love with the names Etta and Vera
<3 <3 <3
I love that meaning you have there for Cecilia. I’ve been wanting to use it because it was my grandmother’s name, but the only translation I’ve seen of it is “blind”. Where did you find that meaning?
Hi Alida! Thanks so much for your question. I have many books I use for making my baby name lists, so I’m not sure of exactly which one I used for the meaning of Cecilia. It’s important to note however, that the meaning “blind” is oversimplified. It doesn’t mean that the named person IS blind, rather “blind to/blinded by one’s own beauty”. Several sites use that expanded definition, such as this one https://www.babynames.com/name/CECILIA. So the meaning I have listed here, “of the shining light” is consistent with “one with blinding beauty”. I hope that helps you see the meaning in a more positive way. Cecilia is such a beautiful name!
I don’t see Winnie or Ruth on here for girls names. They’re more old school. When I thought of boys names I like Oliver, Simon and Theodore when I said them aloud they were the chipmunks (minus Oliver).
MANDII called her 3 kool kids Twins-boy/gal
ZADE & TAYLI
& AYLA
We plan to name our son Herschel. This is a great list!
My son’s name is ‘Ransom’. It’s an old family name.
We named our son Tarak
This is the second list that I’ve seen my daughter’s beautiful, unique name. It gave me such a smile! Her name is Lorelei
My son’s name is Jonas. It’s easy to spell and pronounce, but it’s still unique.
My girls are Cambridge and Averley so now I’m trying to find another girl name to go with them! Lol
Thank you for the list, helping my oldes daughter find a name for the baby boy coming soon. my younger daughter’s name is Jaisudy, my dad gave her the name. 😊
Mine too. Lorelei Michelle. Its also my middle name and my moms.
My mommas name js Hattie, it’s such a beautiful name. Some of the older names as hers is coming back. Thank you,
Adlaley or Adleigh would go great!
Cledith is my Dads name and Grandfather who was born in 1900. I rarely see it!
Thanks for sharing this informative and useful article.
cool names
My daughter is due in June and we had a really hard time coming up with a name for another Boy. The first one is Zander Ayden, this little guy will be Remington Dobbs, and call him Remy.
I named our daughter Anneliese after caring for a lady with this name while working as a nurse I love this name!
Great names but Lorelei has the wrong definition.. that’s my daughters name. It means Siren, the ones who sing and lure fishermen to their death.