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Are you having a baby this year, and you are unsure of what name to use? Or perhaps it is not you that is pregnant but you have a friend, a family member or a co-worker that is expecting and you may want to give them some inspiration on names that they can use for their upcoming bundle of joy! Claim Your 20 Free Pregnancy Tests – Click Here
The fact of the matter is that the style of names are changing as time goes by. Names that were unique 20 years ago, or even 10 years ago are not so unique now. This is thanks to the fact that celebrities are using unique names that have caught on or some names that were odd years ago just become popular without any inspiration from celebrities due to the fact that trends change.
Let’s take a look at 20 names that are used for girls, and 20 names that are used for boys that are unique but at the same time are gaining popularity. Unique but not bordering on the absurb.
Girls
Harper is an English name which is more commonly used as a girl’s name instead of a boy’s name. It literally means harp player. David and Victoria Beckham, Neil Patrick Harris, Tiffani Thiessen, Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl, and Lisa Marie Presley all have daughters named Harper. This one is a celeb slam dunk. It is a unique name that is most definitely rising. Also, the author of To Kill a Mocking Bird was named Harper Lee who passed away in 2016.
Esme is of French origin which means esteemed or beloved. Esme might also be used as a short form of the Spanish name Esmeralda, which means emerald. The name Esme became popular due to the Twilight Saga, which aired from 2008-2012, from the character Esme Cullen, foster ‘mom’ to the Cullen clan of vampire-kids.
Zara is Arabic, and it is either derived from Sarah, which is a very common name of Hebrew origin which means princess or lady, or from the Arabic name Zahra which means blossoming or flower. Either way it is gaining popularity.
Arabella is a Dutch name that means beautiful, and it is also taken from the Latin word orabilis which means to pray. A beautiful, feminine name.
Niamh is an Irish name, and in Irish Mythology, Niamh was the daughter of the god and sea. This name means radiance, beauty, and shine. It’s an Irish name that is gaining popularity in other parts of the world. Examples of those with the name are Niamh Cusack, an Irish actress, and Niamh Kavanagh, an Irish singer.
Thea is a German name which was derived from the Old Greek, which means Gift of God.
Orla is an Irish name meaning golden princess, and variants of the name are Orlaith and Orlagh. This unique name has been gaining popularity and made it in the 100 top names for girls in 2017.
Luna is derived from the Latin word luna which means Moon, and it is also used in Roman mythology by the goddess of the moon. John Legend and Chrissy Teigen have a daughter named Luna.
Lottie is rising in popularity which is a pet name for Charlotte. Charlotte is the feminine form of Charles which means free man, and is of German origin.
Saylor is most definitely trending, as Kristin Cavallari named her daughter Saylor in 2015. Saylor is an English name, and was originally used as a surname, Sailor. The name is of German origin, which was first recorded in the medieval period.
Poppy is a flower name, which has been used by Jamie Oliver, Anna Paquin, Jessica Capshaw and Anthony Edwards, all of whom have named their precocious daughters Poppy (because how could a Poppy not be precocious!?)
Penelope is of Greek origin for weaver, and Kourtney Kardashian helped make this name popular again.
Isla Fisher and Drew Barrymore named their daughters Olive, a food-inspired name, Latin for olive tree which represents peace.
Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner named their daughter Seraphina, which is a form of the Latin name, Seraphinus. This was derived from the biblical word seraphim, which was Hebrew in origin and meant fiery ones. The seraphim were an order of angels that was described by Isaiah in the Bible as having six wings each.
Coco is a pet name that has been used in France and Spain, but Courtney Cox increased the popularity with her daughter’s birth years ago. Therefore, it is most definitely a unique name that is growing in popularity.
Jason Schwartzman and Sienna Miller named their daughter Marlowe, and Marlowe is an English name. It means from the hill by the lake.
Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner have a daughter named Violet, which is from the Old French violette, a diminutive form of viole. Viole is derived from the Latin word, viola which is a violet. The name has been around since the Middle Ages, but did not become common until the middle of the 19th century. That was when flower names became popular but the use disappeared for a while in the 20th century until recently.
Sienna is derived from the color of the bricks in the city of Siena, Italy which means orange-red in English. The use of this name has been gaining popularity.
This name is not all that unique but was not used for a long time until Reese Witherspoon and Hugh Jackman each named their daughters Ava. Ava could be from the Latin avis which means bird. Ava may also be a short form of the name Chava which means life in Hebrew, and it is the Hebrew form of Eve.
Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis named their daughter Wyatt, which has long been traditionally a country-inspired boy’s name but that is changing. Wyatt could be derived from the Old Germanic word, wido which means either wood or wide. This name was used as Guyat and Wyat in medieval times.
Boys
Bodhi is a Sanskrit name which means awakening or enlightenment, which relates to a Buddhist concept. Bodhi also represents the state of nirvana, which is being freed from greed, hate and ego. Megan Fox and Brian Austin Green named their son Bodhi.
Knox is Scottish for round hill, and Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt named their son this name. It has been gaining popularity since then.
Maddox is another one used by Jolie and Pitt, as they named their son this in 2003. Maddox is a Welsh surname which means the son of Madoc. Madoc or Madog was a legendary Welsh prince who in Welsh folklore ended up sailing to the New World 300 years before Christopher Columbus did. Leave it to the former Brangelina to have not one, but two names in the 2018 top 20 unique baby name list!
Kate Hudson and her ex Chris Robinson named their son Ryder, which is of Anglo-Saxon origin. Ryder has two possible meanings, and the first is from the late Olde English before the 7th Century term ridere which is a derivative of ridan or to ride. The other meaning could be from it being an occupational last name that was given to a messenger or a mounted warrior.
Brandi Glanville named her son Mason in 2003, and Kourtney Kardashian named her son this as well. Mason has been traditionally a boy’s name, although recently Mason has been used for girls too. The origin is from the occupational last name Mason, which means the one who works with stone.
Will Farrel and Vivica Paulin named their son this, which is less popular than Axl which Fergie and Josh Duhamel used. Axel is a form of the biblical Absalom, which is derived from the Hebrew for the meaning the father is peace. But it makes many of us still think of Guns n Roses frontman, Axl Rose!
Jessica Simpson and Eric Johnson named their son Ace, as it is English for unity. This name is most definitely catching on.
Elizabeth Banks and Max Handelman revived this name, which has not been heard for a long time. In fact, Felix was a common Roman family name, which may have been first adopted as a nickname by Sulla. That means fortunate or lucky, and it was popular during the medieval times but it disappeared for a while.
Kristin Cavallari and Jay Cutler, as well as Nick and Vanessa Lachey, used this for their sons, as this is a name of a city in New Jersey. In Scottish, the meaning of the name Camden is from the winding valley.
Craig Boyd and Taylor named their son Graydon, and it is English for gray-haired one.
Alfie is an English name and it means sage or wise. It is from the Old English, Aelfraed, which means handsome. It is also from Ealdfrith or Alfrid, which means old peace.
The name Arlo is a Latin word which means strong or masculine. Holly Williams and Chris Coleman named their son Arlo. It was another name that disappeared for a long time, but it has been revived and becoming more popular again.
Tori Spelling and Dean McDermott as well as Virginia Williams and Bradford Bricken named their sons Beau, In French, the meaning of Beau is handsome.
John and Candice Cody named their son Forrest, This name derives from the Old French forest, which is foresta in Latin. It comes from foris, which means outside. The word was first introduced by the Normans which was referred to a Royal Forest. It is also a Scottish last name which may have originated in the Lowlands. Though for many of us, it will always be synonymous with “Run Forrest Run.”
Molly Sims and Scott Stuber named their son Grey and in Scotland the name Grey has two meanings. Firstly, Grey has been used as a nickname which came from the Gaelic word riabhach, which means gray. Grey also derived from the place named Graye, in Calvados and this name has been gaining popularity. Something about the ‘grey’ names like Graydon and Grayson.
Jaren and Evyn Mustoe Johnston, and Steven Yeun and Joanna Pak named their son Jude. Jude is a short version of the Hebrew name Judah or Judas which means praise. Jude was one of the 12 apostles in the Bible. Jude was also referred to Judas, but not the Judas Iscariot who betrayed Christ. There was also St. Jude, who was the miraculous saint of hopeless causes and this name is becoming more popular as time goes on.
Jeff Goldblum and Emilie Livingston, and Paulina Gretzky and Dustin Johnson named their son this, and there was of course River Phoenix, the young actor who died in the prime of his youth. River is an English name, which was of Norman origin.
Chris O’Dowd and Dawn O’Porter named their son Valentine. Valentine is a boy’s name and it came from the Roman family name Valentinus. Valentinus was derived from the Latin word valens, meaning healthy and strong. Several saints of the Roman Catholic Church were named Valentine, and example of one was St. Valentine who was a martyr in the 3rd century, which is how Valentine’s Day originated.
Geri Halliwell and Christian Horner named their son Montague and this is an English name which is of Norman origin meaning hill. It it also an English last name which was adopted, and is the same as the Gaelic Mac Taidhg or McTigue. This was the famed surname that was used in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet as well – the Montagues and the Capulets.
Zoe Saldana and Marco Perego named their son Zen which was derived from either the word that is the Japanese on’yomi or the Chinese word chan, that came from the Sanskrit word dhyana, which means being in a meditative state. Or possibly the name was inspired by the football defender Zen Luzniak, which is a shortened form of Zenon. For many, it also inspires the idea of ‘zen’ – being defined as one with enlightened through meditation.
Those are the 40 names for boys and for girls that are unique, but are becoming more and more popular due to both the influence of celebrities choosing these names for their kids, or due to trends changing. If you’re expecting a baby boy or baby girl are inspired by any of these, or if you know someone who is expecting that might be, then these names will not be considered so unique in years to come after all.
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