Unique, Unusual Baby Names: Whimsical, Wonderful or Just Weird?

Gosh, I'm a b***h when it comes to baby names. I got the idea for this hub from Syrusv37, a hubber who posted a question on the HubPages Answers page. Normally I'm a polite, noncontroversial, nonconfrontational person, especially here on HubPages. But for some reason, I was pretty harsh with the poor guy. He wanted to know if Kree and Kite were good names for twin babies, with Kree for a girl and Kite for a boy. I told him that I thought those names sounded like he was trying way too hard to be cool and they made me cringe.

Being the sweet little wimp that I am, I felt bad that I had voiced my opinion so harshly. I went to repost something nicer, but it was too late. Hubpages allows each hubber only one answer per question. However, the automated tag telling me I could not post a second answer suggested I wriet a hub about the subject, so I decided to do just that.

Normally, I pride myself on being a nonjudgmental person. If you want to dye your hair purple or get multiple piercings -- go for it, I say. Are you gay, bi, transgender? None of my business. I could not care less. Are you cheating on your spouse? Are you deep in debt because you've purchased way too many unnecessary luxury items? Ooops -- those are not choices I would make, but hey, you are you and I am me.

So why do I care that a basically anonymous person wants to name his son Kite? For whatever reason, I get judgmental about the names people choose for their children. I'm not normally one to to get a bee in my bonnet about things that do not affect me, but when I hear of someone naming their child a weird or trendy name, I just want to roll my eyes and beg them to stop the madness!

So basically, when it comes to parents naming their children, I get my b***h on and turn into a judgmental, tantrum-throwing brat. I did a quick search of hubs here, and found that there are quite a few about names, including some quite funny ones that critiicize what are deemed "gay" names. I decided that if those hubbers had their little rants, that I too, would indulge my inner b***h and have a rant myself.

Although there are exceptions in every category, in general I don't care for:
• Car names
• Location names
• Food names
• Hotel names
• Poser Cowboy names
• "Roughing It" names
• Tough names
• Dumb names
• White Trash names
• Pretentious Poser Aristocrat names
• Hipster names
• Feminine names for boys
• Overly Masculine names for girls
• Made-up names, aka "Pharmaceuticals" names
• Names with unfortunate spellings
• Overused Trendy names ....and....
• Silly Celebrity names.

"Mercedes" and "Porche" were girls' names long before the automobile was invented. I may be mistaken, but I believe these two types of cars were named after people. However, these days, some parents have taken to naming their kids after cars.
Camry, Kamri, Kaamri, etc.
Lexus
Riviera
Denali
Diesel
Chevy
Chassi (or Chassis)

I would never name my kid after something you eat, but I would rather name a baby after something you eat than an alcoholic drink. That's just asking for future troubled soul. Perhaps I should move the alcoholic names to the 'Dumb" category. It's hard to believe that parents have actually given these names to a tiny little baby. Granted, Jameson was a surname before it was a whiskey, so I almost hate to include it. However, it does belong in my rant. If I move it out of the alcohol category, I can put it in the "pretentious poser aristocrat" category, instead.
Food names:
Cayenne
Kobe
Tiramisu
Chutney
Paprika
Kale (Kale is another word for cabbage! Who would name their kid "Cabbage?")
Dijon
Candy
Saffron
Brie
Mocha

Alcohol names:
Cristal
Tequila
Jameson
Chivas
Guinness
Skyy
Hennessy
Bacardi
Kahlua
Champagne
Alizé
Zima
Chablis
Merlot
Cognac
Marsala
Brandy
Daiquiri
Chardonnay

These sound like the parents are trying a bit too hard to make their kid seem tough. Of course, giving your child one of these names is no guarantee they'll actually be tough.
Tripp
Blade
Blaze
Rowdy
Gunner
Jagger
Jett
Crash
Magnum
Ace
Race
Pace
Mace
Rogue
Steel

When I say these are dumb names, what I mean is that the people who choose them must be dumb. Believe it or not, these are not urban legends like the often-cited Lemonjello, Orangejello and Le-a. These are names that have actualy been given to kids. Give your child one of these names, and people will question your brain power. Please don't chose one of these. Ever.
Adolph
Satan
Demon
Lucifer
Stalin
Aryan
Jezebel
Navaeh
Fayemus
Jermajesty
Nada

Stick a fork in it. These names are done. I'm not talking about names like Michael and Emily here. Yes, Michael and Emily are very popular and perhaps overused, but they are tried-and-true names that have been given to children for centuries. What I'm talking about are the trendy names that parents think are really cool and unique, until they go to drop their child off on the first day of preschool only to find that five kids out of the 20 in the class have that same "unique" name.

The "Mc" or "MaK" names: McKenzie, MaKayla, McKenna, McKinley, etc.
Madison, Madysyn, Mattisen, etc.
Dillon, Dylan, Dillan, etc.
All the "aden" names: Aiden, Grayden, Caden, Stayden, Brayden, etc.
The "iley" names: Kyley, Riley, Wylie, Briley.
The "lin" or "lyn" ames: Kaitlin, Brooklyn, Ashlyn, Jazzlin, Jaydlyn, etc. .
Kennedy, Kennidi, etc.
Jaxon, Jackson, etc.

If the white trash parent wants to give their child a "classy" name, they might choose Chantel or Wayne. Middle class parents who want to appear aristocratic have ther own set of names, which are way more pretentious. There is often quite a bit of overlap with these names and Hipster names. I've sorted the overlap names into one category or another, but many of them fit well in either category.
Paxton
Baxter
Fritz
Chase
Chance
Atticus
Holden
Brooks
Brennan
Anastasia
Aubrianna
Alistair
Piers
Beckett
Tennyson
Kingsley
Antoinette
Felice
Brantly
Thurston
Archibald
Crandall
Winthorpe
Cannes
Ainsley
Flannery
Aristotle
Spartacus
Bentley
Huntley
Brecken
Blakesly
Ridglea

It's getting harder and harder to name a boy something other than Mike or Steve. Every time a name gets trendy-hot, parents of girls take it over, and what once was a masculine name becomes associated with girls. If you've given your boy one of these names, all I can say is "sorry." The girls have claimed these and they now seem too feminine for a boy.

Ashton
Ashley
Eden
Skylar
Bailey
Dana
Shannon
Addison
Darby
Avery
Emmerson
Sidney
Peyton
Robin
Tracy

I sometimes call made-up names “pharmaceuticals" names because -- you guessed it -- many of the made-up these names sound like the latest offering to treat asthma, eczema or erectile dysfunction.

Braylon
Jalen
Dayson
Natalin
Addalin
Jayton
Laken
Cayton
Malin
Braley
Briley
Bryden
Jaythan
Jaxten
Kymbrie
Kambree
Merrix
Maxon
Maxton

Celebrities seem more likely than the average person to give their children just plain silly names. ALthough silly celebrity names are way more ridiculous than the annoying names in the other categories I've listed here, they don't bother me much because the chance that I will ever know a cute kid with one of these names is very low. I don't think there is much danger of average citizens giving their babies one of these names:
Apple (Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin)
Moxie Crimefighter (Penn Jillette)
Banjo (Rachel Griffiths)
Mars, Seven and Sirius (Erykah Badu)
Alabama Gypsyrose (Drea DeMateo and Shooter Jennings)
Kal-El (Nicholas Cage)
Zowie (David Bowie)
Moon Unit, Dweezil (Frank Zappa)
Pilot Inspektor (Jason Lee)

Names are so personal and subjective. What one person falls in love with, another would never even consider. Let me know what your favorites and least favorites are! Please leave a comment in the comments box, below the Amazon ads.

MORE NAME LISTS You may also want to read my other name lists:
Cute Baby Names for Girls
Romantic, Feminine Baby Names for Girls
Unisex Baby Names for Girls
Unisex Baby Names for Boys
Retro-cool, Vintage Baby Names for Boys
Retro-Cool, Vintage Baby Names for Girls