RANTS AND RAVES ABOUT UNIQUE BABY NAMES

Unique Baby Names

In a May, 2010 article in the The Washington Post, author Laura Wattenberg (The Baby Name Wizard) surveyed the shifting trend in baby names, as parents abandon traditional and classic names in favor of the never-ending pursuit of unique baby names.

As Wattenberg correctly notes, a quick look at the most popular baby names in America seems to indicate the classics are still hot. After all, names like Jacob, Noah, and William, along with Emma, Emily, and Abigail – hardly unique names – still grace the top ten rankings. But what's hidden is the fact that today, it takes far fewer Jacobs or Emilys to garner the top spot, because names are far more diverse and varied than ever before. In other words, because there are so many different names in use today, it takes far fewer instances of one name to hit the top spot.

Unique Boy Names

Unique Girl Names

In 1990, almost 22,000 boys were named Jacob, and it was the number 20 most popular name in the U.S. In 2009, there was almost the exact same number of boys named Jacob, and it was the number one name of the year (and of the decade).

Americans today seem committed to individual and unique names, almost as if they are "branding" their kids. But are the names that they are choosing truly unique? Or are they just variants on perceived "cool" names? Among the top 100 boys names for 2009, we have Aiden at number 12, Aidan at 72, and Ayden at 85. Are these last two really that different, or are they just condemning the kid to a lifetime of having to spell out their first name?

We decided to create our own list of "unique" names for boys and girls that's a little different. Using common sense, we figured that parents-to-be who are looking for a unique baby name are probably looking for a baby name that is, well -- unusual, individual, a little bit different. A name that will stand out from the crowd, but one that still has some basis in the English language, some sort of background or history.

Those are the kinds of names we went looking for. All the names on our unique baby names list are found in authoritative sources, but none of them has been in the top 1000 names in the last hundred years, according to U.S. Social Security data. Maybe they're not one hundred percent unique. But they're unusual, out-of-the-ordinary, and very individual. If that's the kind of name you're looking for, then this list is definitely for you.

Rants and Raves
about Unique Baby Names

Nothing else in the world of baby names – at least the world of Anglo-American baby names – seems to get people more riled up, pro and con, than the issue of unique baby names. We're talking here about the kind of names where it's clear the parents have strived to make the name stand out, whether by playing with an existing name – changing Brittany to Britnee, for example – or a totally off-the-wall name of the type most-closely associated with celebrity baby names – Ashlee Simpson's and Pete Wentz's son, Bronx Mowgli, leaps to mind.