I thought it might be interesting to make a list of names that we’ve encountered only once. As far as you know, no one else in the world has this name. You never heard the name until you met this person and you’ve never seen it anywhere (not even on a list of What Not to Name Your Baby). These should be people you actually know, not just an unusual name from a Doper thread or a website.
I have three (one relative and two friends):
Ramae
Jalois (pronounced Ja-loyce)
Jerrilea
A former coworker named her daughter Sparkle - I always found that to be, um, unusual.
Hm, that’s a pretty strict list. I know a woman named Sola and a boy named Raven.
My aunts are named Creola and Sedonia, and one great-aunt was Clementina.
A woman I worked with named her daughter LaLa.
I had a great uncle Zebulon. My friend is pregnant with a boy and I’m lobbying for her to name him that but she’s not buying into it.
I thought of two more: Jaylene.(friend from grade school) and Taleena (friend’s grown daughter)
I went to school with a girl named Maurrie (rhymes with Lori).
I know someone whose daughter is named Emmarie.
Yeah, I thought it would be more interesting to share one-of-a-kind names. Not celebrity baby names though or Biblical names. I knew just one Delilah but I’ll bet there’ve been thousands of Delilahs.
There are mystery writers (female) named:
Sparkle (Hayter)
Twist (Phelan)
Nevada (Barr)
Harley Jane (Kozak)
Ngaio (Marsh)
I don’t think any of these are pseudonyms. I could be wrong.
My dad had a ‘double’ aunt & uncle (his mother’s brother married his father’s sister) named Herman and Lucy. Their oldest daughter was named Herma Lou – a bit Okie (unsurprising, since they were Okies) but not extraordinary. Their oldest son was named Luehen (pronounced Loo-in), which I’ve never seen or heard anywhere outside of my family.
My middle son is named Jamison. I’d never seen it except as a last name when I named him it, but I’ve seen it as a first name since. I still love it 15 years later- we call him Jamie.
I know both several Clemente (that’s the male form) and Clementina (often called Tina, that’s the female form). Also a Sola, although Sole (short form of Soledad) is much more common.
Recently I read a book where one Hispanic-American character was named Valencia. That’s a town’s name and not linked to any saint or similar, so if you tried to name your kid that in Spain the clerk would be obligated by law to try and disuade you on grounds of “dissuading names that may induce mockery,” but well, Americans do call their kids Dakota and Nevada, so… in that context it’s believable. Weird as all get-go to me, though.
I’ve always wondered how Ngaio is pronounced. I say “na-ow” in my head, but that can’t be right.
I work with two ladies named Alease and Genevra.
I went to school with a girl named Jofi (Joe-fee.) I’ve never heard of it since then.
Oooh, I’ll have to tell my neighbor there’s another Ginevra in the world – different spelling. She said she’s never known another and she doesn’t know where her parents got the name. She goes by Ginny.
Is Alease pronounced like Elise? Pretty name.
Alease pronounces her name like this:
Did you purchase your car or do you have **A lease ** ?
Genevra is pronounced Jen-evra, with two soft e’s.
Zebulon is awesome. Maybe you could persuade her to name him Zoltan The Magnificent!!11!! Exclamation pointies mandatory.
Island.
Spice.
Hazard
Leopard.
Ocean
I got you all beat and just from my own fam damily. (These are NOT nicknames folks.)
Thelda
Booge (booj)
Boots
Adgie
Sambonie (sam-bone-ee)