Often I'll look up a name I think is attractive or stylish -- or even trendy -- on nameberry, and find myself shocked to discover it doesn't rank in the Top 1000. How is it possible that names du jour like Esme or Clementine, Tallulah or Wren doesn't make it into the pool of 1000 names that are chosen for 80 percent of newborn girls?, I wonder. Or that Theo and Gus are so far down the list from brothers Sam and Max, when it seems that every other baby I meet has one of these names?
The names on this list were below the Top 1000 -- that's the actual ranking on the left -- and were used for more than 100 babies last year. The actual number of babies who received each name in 2009 can be found here.
If you're looking for a name with a lot of style that's also unusual, here are 100 great choices. Warning: These names may not be quite as unusual in Park Slope as they are in Wyoming. And you may be hearing a lot more of some of them in the future. But in 2009, none was given to more than 270 babies total in the entire country.
GIRLS
1008. Pearl1012. Winter1016. Roxanne (Roxana is #1126)1027. Willa1045. Shea1067. Laurel1068. Mae (May is down at #2457)1076. Adele1092. Esme1105. Anais1108. Delia1118. Aurelia1134. Estella1249. Antonia1299. Mercy1302. Gwen1316. Chiara1362. Cordelia1372. Liv1373. Mariella1397. Geneva1402. Arden1404. Juniper1423. Evangelina (Sister name Evangeline is up at #429, thanks to Lost actress Lilly.)1445. Susanna (Susannah is way down at #2463, with only 77 girls receiving the name)1450. Remi1453. Thea1482. Bryn1545. Mabel1577. Clementine1599. Magnolia1624. Faye (and Fay is much much lower)1628. Louisa1664. Wren1678. Beatrix (though Beatrice has cracked the Top 1000 at 860)1716. Darcy1726. Keziah1796. Isadora1851. Maisie1864. Viola1920. Cecily1924. Tallulah1934. Octavia1935. Ramona1980. Magdalene1982. Scout2000. Flora2016. Honor2023. Allegra2030. Dora
BOYS
1002. Edison1005. Ulysses1025. Simeon1028. Taj1029. Thaddeus1035. Theo (shocked!)1037. Turner1047. Gordon1057. Miller1061. Bishop1066. Lionel1071. Langston1079. Truman1088. Hank1105. Channing1109. Hendrix1114. Enoch1115. Forrest (Forest way down at #2058)1127. Keanu1128. Lennox1130. Augustine1133. Colter1134. Eamon1157. Arlo1165. Gannon1185. Lachlan1187. Abner1214, Beck1236. Clifford1273. Judson1284. Ewan1313. Finnian1322. Phineas1325. Grey (Gray is even lower, at #1735)1335. Bowen1362. Gus1371. Otis1376. Magnus1405. Harris1414. Brooklyn1425. Pierson1428. Dashiell1448. Foster1487. Lazaro1489. Zev1491. Angus1505. Linus1519. Clint1565. Eleazar1586. Cormac