Over the summer, I started throwing out this question:
Alphabet time: what are the most out-there names that you love, starting with the letter …
It was the kind of fun question that I love to share on Facebook and Twitter, and they were consistently popular, in June and July and August.
And the answers! Oh, the names were spectacular. They couldn’t just fade away.
Plus, other bloggers have been doing some great series on obscure names focused on the alphabet. Lou just launched her Offbeat Alphabet series here, and Sophie has been writing about Names You Never Thought of Using for months.
So I’ve collected all of your wisdom, and, along with some of my favorite quotes from the responses. There are so, so many names, from the perfectly wearable to the truly obscure. A few notes:
- 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!
- An * 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.
Other than that, I’ve left the lists free of comments. First, because I’d love to hear your honest reactions. (Are they really all that out-there? Are there any new favorites you’re adding to your list?) Plus, most of my thoughts apply to the entire list – so it makes more sense to share them at the very end of the series.
My apologies for any omissions – there was a lot of cut and paste, and I’m sure I overlooked a few (great) names. Feel free to add them at the end.
And now, the post that you wrote!
The Out-There Alphabet: Letter A
NAMES FOR GIRLS
Most Mentioned
Agatha
Allegra
Arwen
Astrid
Azalea
Other Names
Abcde
Adalee
Adrasteia
Alabama
Alastrina
Alberta
Albertine
Aleydis
Allifair
Amara
Amarantha
Amalthea
Amaryllis
Annelise
Annevieve
Antigone
Antonella
Aoibhgreine
Apoline
Araminta
Ariadne
Arianwen
Artemis
Artemisia
Astraea
Atalanta
Atarah
Australia
Azizza
NAMES FOR BOYS
Most Mentioned
Achilles
Agamemnon
Amadeus
Arrow
Asher
Atlas
Atticus
Other Names
Abernathy
Alasdair, Allistair
Alaska
Aloysius
Alyosha*
Ambrose
Amergin
Amyas
Anthy
Apollo
Aquinas
Arlington
Artis
Aurelian
Aurelius
Azaezel
The Out-There Alphabet: Letter B
NAMES FOR GIRLS
Most Mentioned
Bellamy
Bellatrix
Bernadette
Bijou
Blythe
Briar
Bridget
Briony
Bronte
Bronwen*
Bronwyn*
Other Names
Bara
Beathan
Beatrix
Belen
Belsante
Bessie
Beulah
Bevin
Blair
Blakely
Blanchefleur
Bliss
Blodwen
Blue
Bluebell
Botilda
Briar Rose
Bridghe
Bridie
Brigitta
Briseida
Britomartis
Britton
Brünnhilde
Brynja
Bryony
NAMES FOR BOYS
Most Mentioned
Balthazar
Barnabas
Barnaby
Bartholomew
Basil
Bertram
Boston
Bowie
Bram
Brandt*
Brighton
Other Names
Baker
Banyan
Baron
Baxter
Bay
Bear
Beck
Beckett
Bellamy
Benedict
Benson
Benton*
Berkeley
Berkley
Berlin
Bevan
Birch
Blaine
Blaze
Boaz
Bode*
Bodhi
Booker
Boone
Boris
Botan
Bowen
Brantly
Brave
Breccan
Brennan
Bridger*
Brix
Brooks
Bunzaburo
Burton
The Out-There Alphabet: Letter C
NAMES FOR GIRLS
Most Mentioned
Calanthe
Calista
Calliope
Cassiopeia
Clothilde
Cressida
Other Names
Caetana
Callisto
Calypso
Camera
Candida
Caoimhe
Celeste
Celestine
Ceridwen
Chenoa
Chiquita
Cinnamon
Clarinda
Corisande
Cortana
NAMES FOR BOYS
Most Mentioned
Caspian
Constantine
Cristobal
Other Names
Clevon
Conrad*
Curran
Cadmus
Caedmon
Cael
Cagny
Calgary
Calogero
Caradoc
Casimir
Cassian
Castiel
Chamberlain
Charlemagne
Charleston
Chrysanthos
Connery
Conrad
Cordovan
Cove
The Out-There Alphabet: Letter D
NAMES FOR GIRLS
Most Mentioned
Daisy
Damaris
Delia
Delphine
Desdemona
Diem
Dixie
Dorothea
Dove
Other Names
Daenerys
Dagne
Dahlia
Damiana
Delaidis
Delaney
Delilah
Della
Delta
Demelza
Desta
Deyanira
Dianthe
Divina
Doveva
Drucilla
Dulcinea
Dulcissima
Duvina*
Dvora
Dymphna
NAMES FOR BOYS
Most Mentioned
Darragh
Other Names
Dane
Darcy
Dashiell
Dax
Dean
December
Demetrius
Denim
Denver
Digby
Digory
Domino
Donovan
Dorian *
Doyle
Drummer
Dryw
Duffy
The Out-There Alphabet: Letter E
Most Mentioned
Echo
Eirene
Elise
Enid
Esme
Eulalia
Evadne
Evangeline
Evanthe
Everild
Other Names
Ebba
Edelweiss
Effie
Eileithyia
Eir
Eira
Eivor
Ekaterina
Eleanor
Eliora
Elisenda
Ellaria
Elle
Eloise
Elowen
Elsa
Emaline
Emer
Emerald
Emerentia
Emerine
Emeryn
Endelyn
Eneida
Eneli
Eowyn
Erendira
Erin
Eris
Esther
Etoile
Eugenia
Eulalie
Euphemia
Evalince
Evanelle
Eveliina*
Ever
Everleigh
Evolet
Evren
NAMES FOR BOYS
Most Mentioned
Emerson
Emrys
Evander
Other Names
Edmond
Edward
Eiger
Elio
Ellison
Eloy
Elvis
Emerick
Ennis
Enoch
Enzo
Ephraim
Estevan
Etienne
Everard
Everest
Evren
Ezekiel
THE OUT-THERE ALPHABET: LETTER F
Most Mentioned
Fabienne
Faith
Faraday
Fern
Fiona
Flanne
ry
Flavia
Fleur
Flora
Florence
Freya
Other Names
Fairen
Farrow
Fatima
Faye
Felicia
Felina
Fernanda
Fidelia
Fievel
Fig
Finna
Fiona
Fionnuala
Forest
Francesca
Freyja
Frida
Fuchsia
NAMES FOR BOYS
Most Mentioned
Felix*
Ffion
Finch
Finn
Flynn
Fox
Other Names
Faolan
Farallon
Faramund
Farren
Fearghal*
Federico
Ferguson
Ferris
Field
Fielding
Finlay
Finley
Finnegan
Finnigan
Flannery
Ford
Forrest
Franklin
Franziskus
Frey
Friedrich
Fritz*
Froilán
Any new favorites from this list? Any names you would add?
Algernon and Cynewulf need to be added. I saw Cynewulf is suppose to be NOTW.
Apheline/Aphelina, Aspasia, Adelmonde, Aregonde, Amplishisia, Audfleda/Odfleda, Afrella, Axel, Auden, Aldon…. Boadicia*, Braxton*, Branson*, Cleone*, Ermintrude*, Alfrida/Elfrida/Elfin*(The spelling varies ) Elvira*, Esmond*, Ender* are few to add. * means I knew someone who gave the name to their child.
Either by first or middle name to clarify.
I named my son Atlas Paul this July and because it isn’t common everyone over 30 keeps asking what his nickname is. The younger crowd love it though, and so do we!
I’ve unfortunately been unable to read the comments, but as promised here’s my list. I am not separating them into boys/girls as several could work for either.
Aderet
Aderyn
Aleria
Amoret
Andromeda
Arcadia
Archon
Aslan
Avalon
Avonlea
Azelie
Azure
Caesura
Cadenza
Calix
Calyx
Cannelle
Catalene
Coretta
Cyan
Darrow
Denali
Eire (LOVE the Irish pronunciation but I don’t think it would cross to the U.S. well)
Eirlys
Escher
Esperance
Evolet
Fleurette
Florentine
Asher isn’t out there at all…We love it and I think it has the potential to be the next Mason in the U.S. #104 last year and only rising.
Castiel is also jumping onto the boys SSA list. Pretty neat, in my opinion.
Love Calanthe/Calantha!
Fritz is a family name for me and I love seeing it on the list! I wouldn’t be brave enough to use it for a child but think it could make a really cool dog/cat/ferret name.
Great list! I love seeing them all on one spot.
Hmm. I can’t seem to find the comments. Maybe leaving one will give me access to the others.
And no, Flannery isn’t an out-there name. I want to use it for my due-in-December baby. It is just the right type of not-heard-very-often-but-sounds-legit name. I actually thought very few of these names were too crazy to use.
I think a lot of these are VERY wearable, Andrea! One person’s out-there is another person’s top name. Well, maybe not Abcde.
Hmm, haven’t been able to see comments all day long, but here goes.
Love several botanicals on this list: Azalea, Amaryllis, Artemisia and Dahlia. Others for girls: Belen, Briseida, Deyanira, Eneida, Eneli, Evelina and Freya.
On the boys side my faves are: Beckett, Cordovan, Digby, Dashiell, Eloy and Enzo.
What a wonderful list. Looking forward to future installments.
Astrid, yay! I have an Astrid. 🙂
Not on facebook or other social media, so this was a surprise and a TREAT! Love this idea! Keep ’em coming, Abby!
I’ve got several to add…will do later…but firstly, Candida jumps out at me in the terrible “yeast infection” sort of way! Always consult a medical dictionary before trying anything unusual.
The person who added Candida said that very same thing – totally unwearable. And yet there’s Tony Orlando: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WROdwlk9_h8