If you follow Appellation Mountain on social media, you’ll know that we’ve been talking about the most Out-There baby names that make our lists of favorites.
This question:
Alphabet time: what are the most out-there names that you love, starting with the letter …
The answers were so great that I decided to round them up to share here. The first installment covered letters A through F.
Now we’re back for the second round of the post that you wrote.
It’s quite the eclectic list, ranging from the perfectly wearable (Genevieve) to the whoa (Icarus) to the names I had to Google because I had my doubts. (Isn’t Laphroaig best known as a wh
iskey? Oh well. Left it on the list anyhow. It’s definitely out-there.)
The same notes hold from the last time around:
- Most mentioned means any name that was mentioned more than once. I probably should have kept count, because a few of these were really, really mentioned, again and again!
- The * after a name means that the person mentioning the name actually used it for their child, or has a sibling, niece/nephew, etc. by the name. Always interesting to see which unusual choices are actually being, well, chosen.
- I’ve divided the list by names for girls and names for boys. But not all of the original comments were so clear – meaning I’ve probably put some girl names on the boy list and vice versa. If the comment did indicate gender, I’ve listed it accordingly.
And now, here’s the list of your favorite Out-There Baby Names, starting with the letters G through L.
The Out-There Alphabet: Letter G
NAMES FOR GIRLS
Most Mentioned
Gardenia
Garnet
Geneva
Genevieve
Georgina
Graylin
Greenlee
Guinevere
Gytha
Other Names
Gray
Gala
Galadriel
Galatea
Galilea
Garden
Georgiana
Geraldine
Geralee
Gia
Gianna
Giovanna
Gladiola
Glenda
Gloriana
Glynnis
Godelieve
Golda
Golden
Gracia
Grainne
Grainne
Griselda
Gudrun
Guidaí
Guinan
Gwendolen
Gwenllian
Gwyneth
NAMES FOR BOYS
Most Mentioned
Gareth
Garland
Gideon
Graham
Gray
Griffin
Grady*
Grover*
Gerrard*
Other Names
Gable
Galen
Garrick
Gavin
Gershon
Gilead
Godrick
Gove
Graeme
Graeme
Granger
Grey
Grove
Gryphon
Guilfoyle
Gulliver
Gus
Guthrie
Gwyddion
The Out-There Alphabet: Letter H
NAMES FOR GIRLS
Most Mentioned
Hadassah
Hadley
Halia
Hannelore
Harriet
Hartley
Hephzibah
Hermione
Hester
Holiday
Hope
Hyacinth
Hypatia
Other Names
Honor
Hala
Harley
Harlow
Harpeth
Hattie
Havana
Hecate
Hedy
Heidi
Helga
Heloise
Henley
Henrietta
Hensley
Hero
Hestia
Hildena
Hippodameia
Holland
Honalee
Honora
NAMES FOR BOYS
Most Mentioned
Hadrian
Harbor
Hart
Hartley
Hawk
Hawthorne
Henley
Henry
Holden
Huck
Huckleberry
Hugh
Hugo
Huxley
Other Names
Hamish
Hardin
Hareton
Harpo
Harvest
Heathcliff
Hector
Helios
Henning
Hezekiah
Hiero
Hieronymus
Hindley
Hiram
Hogarth
Holland
Hollis
Hollister
Homer
Horace
Horus
Hoyt
Hubert
Hudson
Hyperion
The Out-There Alphabet: Letter I
NAMES FOR GIRLS
Most Mentioned
Idony
Indigo
Ingrid
Iolanthe
Ione
Ireland
Isabeau
Isadora
Isannah
Isis
Isolde
Iva
Other Names
Ilsa
Igraine
Illyria
Immelise
Imogen
India
Indie
Indira
Ingaret
Iphigenia
Irelyn
Iris
Irisa
Iseult
Ismary
Ismene
Isra
Ivančica
Ivanka
Ivy
NAMES FOR BOYS
Most Mentioned
Icarus
Idris
Ignatius
Indigo
Other Names
Ichabod
Iefan
Ike
Ilya
Indiana
Indie
Indio
Ira
Ireneu
The Out-There Alphabet: Letter J
NAMES FOR GIRLS
Most Mentioned
Jacinta
Jemima
Jerusha
Jessamine
Jubilee
Juniper
Other Names
Jovi
Jovial
Jacinthe
Jovie
Jael
Jemina
Jemma
Jezebel
Jocasta
Jolene
Jolie
Jora*
Jorah
Josephine
Josie
Jovey
Julep
Juliette
Juneau
Junia
Juniata
Juno
Jurata
NAMES FOR BOYS
Most Mentioned
Jasper
Jericho
Jethro
Justinian
Junichiro
Other Names
Jabez
Jaden
Japheth
Jasper
Jaz
Jedidiah
Jett
Joachim
Joaquin
Jokull
Jorrun
Jove
Jubal
Jude*
Judea
Jupiter
Justice
Justus
Jee
The Out-There Alphabet: Letter K
NAMES FOR GIRLS
Most Mentioned
Kelila
Kerensa
Keturah*
Kiara
Kilmeny
Other Names
Kaelin
Kaiulani
Kalanit
Kalina
Katara
Katari
Katarina
Kelda
Kelly*
Kelty
Kestra*
Kestrel
Keti
Keturah
Ketzia
Keziah
Khaleesi
Kinneret
Kit
Kivrin
Kristina
Ksenia
Kya
Kyra
NAMES FOR BOYS
Most Mentioned
Karsten
Klaus
Other Names
Kael
Kayle
Kemper*
Kemuel
Kenya
Kermit
Kieran
Kindred
Kipling
Kipling
Korben
Kyrie
The Out-There Alphabet: Letter L
NAMES FOR GIRLS
Most Mentioned
Lazuli
Lavender
Lavinia
Leatrice
Leocadia
Lettice
Lilias
Lilith
Lilou
Linnea
Lorelei
Luna
Lysandra
Other Names
LaLa
Lanie
Layla
Laylah
Leela
Leilani
Leonie
Liahona
Liesel
Lilevi
Lilibet
Liliosa
Liljana
Linnet
Litsa
Litsy
Liv
Livier
Lobelia
London
Lorna
Lostrid
Loula
Lovisa
Lucasta
Lucretia
Lulaia
Lyra
Lyric
Lysanndra
NAMES FOR BOYS
Most Mentioned
Leif
Llewellyn
Ludovic
Lennox
Leonidas
Leopold
Lysander
Other Names
Lambert
Laphroaig
Lawson
Lazarus
Leander
Leith
Lemuel
Lennon
Leofric
Liadan
Lindon
Linton
Locke
Lorne
Luka
Lyndon
Lynx
Leopold
Girl’s; Graceland, Genie-Leigh, Hero, Idalia, Jupiter, Jonesy, Jerylyn, Kathrenée, Kismet, Kiskadee, Kandyland, Lulu, Leosbel, Luzmary…
Boy’s; Gearhart (family surname), Guardian, Hercule, Hapi, Illumi, Jedi, Jeryly, Kai-Wolf, Kyndylan, Knightwine, Kenzo, Luca-Aslan, Littlewolf (middle only)…
Gundeline, Godesa, Hildegarde, Boy:Hesketh and Hildebrand, Girls: Ianuaria, Gregoria and Horatia and Leopoldine all should be added. Fantastic list.
I’d add Ivor to the list – such a strong, handsome name.
I would add Ivor to the list. Such a strong, handsome name.
Oh man, I must have missed the day for J names. I would have added Jadzia- my daughter’s name!
I actually know a Livier! It’s a typical name in the North-Eastern part of France (particularly in the Lorraine region). It’s used for boys, though. The female version is Livière, but I’ve never seen that used and strongly doubt it is nowadays (the “-ère” ending is waaaay too harsh and lacks fluidity/grace. It’s characteristic of long-forgotten feminisations, like “Didière”)
Ismeria!!!!
Jovienne and Jovienne
Kavita
Kestrel
Kismet
Heron
Kariva is a brand name for birth control…but I love it!
KATERINA is easily my favorite from the entire list. I like a lot of the floral / botanical / nature names especially Gardenia, Hyacinth, Iris, Ivy, Jessamine, Lavender and Linnea. I liked seeing Genevieve, Guinevere, Glynis and Gwyneth on the list. I’ve always been intrigued by Jerusha and I’m a sucker for -ana- names like Gloriana.
Love Galilea and Livier with the Spanish pronunciation. I think Isis, Ilsa and Ivanka are adorable. Kerensa, Kiara, Lilith, Lorelei and Leilani are wonderful!
I’ve never met a Gable, a Grove, nor a Harbor but they sound great. I don’t see what’s our there about Joaquin or Jasper (same goes for a lot of the girl names), but I like them a lot, along with Jericho, Jethro and Jubal.
What a great round-up!
I would add Gustav to the boys G list, it’s so dignified and cool but I’m am so very not Norse.
And then Ilithyia for the girls I list, it’s one of the very first names I fell in love with when I was a girl. All those i’s! I was infatuated. But even if I could convince myself that its usable, I can’t picture naming one of my kids after a goddess of childbirth. Somehow I’m perfectly fine with goddesses of wisdom like Athena or the moon like Diana and Artemisia. But childbirth feels like I’m forcing a certain expectation on the kid, like I could guarantee that she became a Obstetrician or a Midwife. Though now that I think about it, is that any different from other occupation names? I’m not sure.
I’d add Laszlo to the boy list. One of my all-time, never-to-be-used favorites.