Out There Names

Softer, milder, and sans chipmunk references, Alwin is a likable alternative to Alvin. Win makes a nice nickname.

This name of a busy British port city -- as well as of several places in America -- has a brisk and bustling air. It will now--and for years to come--be identified as a (female) Sarah Palin name.

A cup-shaped flowerhead in botany, which could lead to the super cool nickname Cal.

An ancient Celtic name worn by one of the Knights of the Round Table, as well as a semi-legendary Welsh King.

Crimson could be a possible competitor for Scarlett's success, though it's lacking that Johansson charm.

Although this month name was used only for girls in a recent year, there's no reason it can't work for both genders. For a holiday baby, more original than Noel and more universal than Christmas.

Could be a modern virtue... or perhaps not for the parents!

Easter has been used as a name for several hundred years, as part of the day-naming tradition; now, this rarely heard holiday celebration name would make a novel choice for a springtime baby. Background:The early Anglo-Saxon monk and scholar Bede took the name of a goddess--Eostre-- whose feast was celebrated at the vernal equinox and gave it to the Christian festival of the resurrection of Christ.

Echo, the pretty, resonant name of a legendary nymph, was the heroine of Joss Whedon's sci-fi series Dollhouse. Nick Hexum, of the band 311, named his daughter Echo Love.

Inventive name for the child of a writer.

Like Silver, Golden is a shimmering metallic color name, almost too dazzling for an ordinary girl.

Gulliver is an obscure Gaelic surname known almost solely through its literary Travels until actor Gary Oldman used it for his son, instantly transforming it into a lively option. British actors Damian Lewis, of Homeland, and Helen McCrory also have a son named Gulliver.

Haven is a recently invented safe-harbor name that appeals to an increasing number of parents who don't want to voyage quite as far as Heaven.

Indigo is one of the most appealing and evocative of the new generation of color names. Color names have joined flower and jewel names -- in a big way -- and Indigo, a deep blue-purple dye from plants native to India, is particularly striking for both girls and boys. Indigo is the name of a character in the Ntozake Shange novel Sassafrass, Cypress & Indigo, and was used for his daughter by Lou Diamond Phillips.

Kim Basinger and Alec Baldwin put Ireland on the map when they chose it as a first for their daughter, saying that geographic names were a family tradition. And it seems they were a bit ahead of the curve (or trendsetting)—Ireland has been among the fastest-rising names of recent years. Other Irish place names include Shannon, Kerry, Galway, and Dublin.

The next Destiny? Kismet seems like it might be fated for increased use.

Now deeply associated with the gemstone Lapis Lazuli, Lazuli is derived from one of the places where the stone was first mined. The word Lazuli is the root for words like azure. Lapis Lazuli is a deep and rich blue color and was used for pigments and jewellery. Lazuli can be used for a boy or a girl.