Once Upon a Time Baby Names

Corbeau (kor-BOW) is French for raven, from Old French corbel , and ultimately Latin corvus . While Corbeau can be found as a surname, this word has given us other surnames , such as Corbus, Corvo, Corvino, Corbinien, Corbin, Corby, and Corbelin. Of those, Corbin gained use as a given name in the U.S. with actor Corbin Bernsen and it now ranks at #239. Change the spelling to Korban or Corban and it is an unrelated name found in the Bible. Saint Corbinian was a Frankish bishop who lived between 670 and 730. The name Corbeau is not used in the U.S. as a given name.

Dulcibella is one of the later forms of the Middle English feminine name Douce, from the word dulcis , meaning "sweet" in Latin. The name went through many spelling options between the 13th and 16th centuries, including Douse, Dowse, Dulcia, Dowsabel and Dousabel. Later variants include Dulcea, Dulcina and Dulciana. Dulcinea was the form used by Cervantes for Don Quixote . Although Dulcibel is pronounced DULL-sih-bell or DOOL-sih-bell depending on your native language, the spoken form of the name for centuries was Dowsabel, pronounced DOW-suh-bell. Like some other medieval names, the form Douce was also used for boys, and the name has given us surnames like Dowson and Dowse. At some point in the mid to late-1600's, Shakespeare picked up the name and turned it into a term meaning "sweetheart" in The Comedy of Errors , a little bit like how Doll is a nickname but also a similar term. The only other place I see Dulcibella pop up is in the children's novel The...

Say it isn't so! This drop-dead gorgeous name is so rare it was only given to 6 girls in 1998, and that's it. And yes, she's legit. As is the case with Katherine/Catherine, Katriana is another option, both a variant spelling of Catriona. Catriona is the Irish and Scottish way to spell Catrina, from Katherine, meaning "pure." Catriona is pronounced kuh-TREE-nah. Caitria is another version of the name used in Ireland. Catriana can be found at least once in a published work -  The Celtic Monthly . What isn't so clear is the intended pronunciation of Catriana. Did someone see Catriona in Ireland and mistake the pronunciation for kah-tree-ON-uh, then take the name elsewhere as Catriana (kah-tree-AH-nah)? Is it just a case of name typo? Or down another path, did someone first intend it as a different spelling for Catrina, independently of Catriona? Similar events led to the family of Caterina/Catarina, Catherina/Catharina, Cathryn/Kathryn etc. If you take a look...

Here's a list of boy names that were not used in 2016 in the U.S., many of which have not been used for decades - or ever. Acis Acteon (and Actaeon) Aether Alcide Alderic Amadis Ardal Ariodante Auberon Balint Bard Bas Baudelaire Belisario Bramwell Cadmael Cadman Cadmar Cadmus Cadwallon Caliban Cassio Cathal Cicero Claren Clasien Cobalt Corentin Cyrano Daan Dalibor Dardanus Drystan Elderic Eleazer Eltanin Endymion Ernani Faust Ferre Florent Gabin Gabor Galt Ganymede Gawain Geo Glastian Gower Guiscard Gulliver Heliodor Humphrey Hyperion Iridian Janus Jaromir Jessop Kassian Kermit Kitterick Levente Lothar Lowie Ludo Ludovic Melchior Melior Mingus Moe Nat Night Odalric Orfeo Orpheus Osgood Paladin Pascale Pastor Pelleas Peregrino Pherrick Pieran Pim Piran Placido Priamus Puck Radovan Raoul Rastaban Reynard Rinaldo Roald Romaric Rudyard Ruggiero Runyon Salazar Scipio Septimus Seraphim ...

Below are the names that were not used on any baby girls in 2016, and most have never been recorded in the U.S. at all. These are all legit, and many have historical, mythological or literary backgrounds. If you named your child one of the following names, yes it still shows up as unused because the Social Security Administration, for the sake of privacy, only mentions names given five times or more. I have now (as of 5-12-18) updated this list with the applicable 2017 stats. Abigaia Acantha Accalia (suddenly 7 in 2017) Acrasia Adamina Aegina Aeronwen Aetheria Alastrina/Alastriona Aleydis Alienor Alifair, Allifair, Alafare, Alafair Allegria Alsatia Altamira Aludra Alula Amabilia Amapola Amarantha Ambroselle, Ambrosine/a Amelina Aminta Amoret Anatolia Anaxandra Angerona Angiola Angiolina Antalia Antalya Aphra Aquamarine Aquilina Aradia (5 in 2017) Araminta Archina Ardith Argenta Arianell Arianella Arianwen Aristea (11 in 2017) Aristella Arma...

If Osric (OZ-rik) looks at all familiar, you've probably read Shakespeare's Hamlet , in which Osric is a courtier. Osric is also a prince in the fantasy series The Chronicles of Amber , a king in the 1982 movie Conan the Barbarian , and there is actor Osric Chau. From history we have a handful of namesakes. Osric of Deira was a king in the kingdom of Deira in the mid-600's, Northern England, but he did not leave much of a legacy. Osric of Northumbria ruled from 718 until 729, and he may be a descendant of Osric of Deira. Osric of Sussex probably ruled at the same time as Osric of Northumbria, but in Sussex alongside another ruler. Osric of the Hwicce was an Anglo-Saxon ruler in the kingdom of Hwicce and might've ruled jointly with his brother. His mother came from Northumbria, so there is a possible relation to the first two Osric's. This last king left a bit more of a legacy, founding two monasteries - Bath Abbey and Gloucester Cathedral. The legendary chroni...

This baby name was invented by the Hungarian author  Mór Jókai for a character in his novel The Golden Man  ( Az Arany Ember ), which was published in 1873. Timea (TEE-may-uh) was taken from the Old Greek name Euthymia, meaning "sweet-natured," and is not to be confused with Timaeus, meaning "honor" in Greek, because the feminine there would be Timaea (or Timaia, Timmia, or Timmea depending on what time period and namer).  Most real-life namesakes are famous in sports, like Swiss pro tennis player Timea Bacsinszky. The U.S. only has records to show for this name starting in 1996, when Timea was given to 6 girls. Since then it had not been given to more than 12 girls in a year, and by 2016 it was down to only 5 girls.

Female : Adelaide Adelia Adriana Agrippina Aida Alceste Alcina Alexandra Alzira Amelia Angelica Anna Antigone Ariadne Ariane Armida Beatrice Beatrix Bertha Bess Carmen Céphise Charlotte Dafne Dalila Daphne Dido Djamileh Dolores Elektra Esclarmonde Euridice Evangeline Fedora Fifi Florencia Francesca Galatea Genevieve Genoveva Giaconda Giovanna Gloriana Gretel Helena Helene Iphigenie Iolanta Iris Isolde Jenůfa Judith Julie Juliet Káťa (Katerina) Kate Lakmé Loreley Louise Lucia Lucretia Lucrezia Luisa Lulu Lyudmila Manon Margaret Maria Marilyn Martha Mavra Médée Mélisande Mignon Mlada Nina Norma Oresteia Patience Polixène (Polyxene, Polyxena) Polyphème Poppea (Poppaea) Rodelinda Rogneda Salammbô Salome Šárka Semele Semiramide Susannah Szibill (Cybil) Thaïs Tirésias (Therese) Tosca (this is a surname in the opera but I couldn't resist) Treemonisha Turandot (Turan-Dokht) Vanessa Venus Ver...

Love Emily, but wish it wasn't so popular? Or do you have a grandma Sophia you'd like to name your baby after, but you wish you could make it a little more her own? Read on, as this is a list of familial variants to the top 50 most popular baby names from 2016 - legit alternatives to the most popular girl's names last year. 1. Emma - relations include Emmy, Ima, Erma/Irma, Irmuska 2. Olivia - Scandinavian Vivi, French Olivie, Croatian Olivera, literary Olivette, and Italian Oliviera 3. Ava - ancient Germanic Avila and Aveza are ripe for the picking, classy Evelina/Avelina and Eveline/Aveline are uncommon, and medieval Avis is short and spunky 4. Sophia - try European Sonia, or one of the two Polish versions: Zofia and Zosia 5. Isabella - short and sweet Isa, Disney beauty Belle, older English form Sabella, Basque Elixabete, Armenian Zabel, Biblical Elisheba, the Welsh version Bethan, international Elisaveta/Elizaveta or Elizabeta/Elisabeta, Scottish Elspeth, or the cl...

Sweet Cicely Cecily (SESS-ih-lee) is the female variant of the Latin name Cecil, meaning "blind." This name can be found  as early as 1246 with that spelling, and as early as 1210 as Cecilie. Going back further, Sisley is recorded in 1154. Cicely (SISS-eh-lee), however, is the later version of Cecilia (from Cecil, originally spelled Caecilia). Both of these sweet names can have the nickname Cece, although some might prefer the unusual nickname Celly. Or maybe you can borrow the Slavic name for Cecilia, Cilka. Cicely ranked twice 1973 & 1974 but was only given to 16 girls in 2016, and Cicily to 5 girls. Cecily is much more popular - given to 194 girls in 2016, just below the top 1000 (but still far enough removed from it to classify as uncommon, perhaps even unusual). Most notably there is King Richard III and Edward IV's mother Cecily Neville aka the "Rose of Raby." Cecily of York, the Viscountess Welles, was King Edward IV's daughter. There...

The Gemma Augustea Onyx (ON-iks) is a tricky name. People often think it's a name they can't use, but for what reason? Raw onyx is anywhere from a golden-beige to smoky black. Polished onyx is usually shiny black and can be made into a wide variety of jewelry pieces. A banded variety of the mineral chalcedony, it's sibling is the agate stone and the only difference between them is which way their bands run. Sardonyx is the beautiful red variety of onyx, which was used by Roman warriors to represent Mars, the god of war, but you can find yellow, blue and green shades too. While onyx is Latin, it ultimately comes from Greek word meaning "nail" or "claw." Historically it has been used since ancient times for ornamental carvings, cameos, bowls, and other works of art. It's also mentioned in the Bible. Elsewhere, Onyx was used as the name of a planet in the novel Halo: Ghosts of Onyx , as a comic book character from the DC Universe, is the na...