Countless articles and books promote the most popular baby names in the world. Even if you aren’t pregnant or have a baby at home, you probably know that the names “Ava” and “Aiden” are much cooler than “Lizzeth” and “Zwin.”
Still, it seems parents these days are constantly on the lookout for the next unusual name that will go mainstream. That’s where Pamela Redmond Satran’s book, “Beyond Ava and Aiden” comes in. The author recently scoured name statistics and found the 100 most unpopular baby names. Well, technically, Redmond Satran categorizes the baby names as “cool” and “uncommon,” but what she really means is that the names that appear in the book were used for fewer than 25 newborns in 2009.
I looked through the entire list and I must say that the names are quite unique. Which is not to say that they are horrible, just… ah… interesting.
I’m not going to share all of the names with you, but I will list the ones that caught my attention the most.
For girls, some of the most uncommon baby names are:
Amabel
Ambrosia
Bellamy
Celestia
Circe
Domino
Elspeth
Honora
Isolde
Lake
Leonie
Ondine
Paz
Sabra
Saffron
Saskia
Snow
Tanaquil
Tansy
Toril
Verena
For boys, some of the most uncommon baby names are:
Ahmet
Amias
Birch
Breccan
Brick
Calloway
Cashel
Day
Fergus
Guthrie
Hamish
Hart
Inigo
Kermit
Lorcan
Malachy
North
Oberon
Ozias
Pike
Raoul
Rufus
Serge
Stellan
Thornton
Tiberius
Walden
Win
“Green,” “Purple,” and “Snap” didn’t make the list for obvious reasons, yet there are some parents who think very highly of the words and have chosen to bestow them on their newborns. What’s more, according to Redmond Satran, in most cases, once the name is out there, no matter how obscure, inevitably you’ll find another child shares it within a few years. The reason: originality is key in baby naming these days.
What do you think about the aforementioned “unique” baby names? Personally, I think they are unpopular for a reason.