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The Best Rare Baby Names of 2012

Goodbye, 2012. You've brought the world some amazing baby names, and some amazingly bad baby names. Let's take a look at some rare names that made the headlines this year...

Severine - the name of the latest Bond girl gets more use in France, as well as the name of the actress that plays her - Bérénice Marlohe, but I'm just a tiny bit surprised that hardcore Harry Potter fans didn't show interest in it as an alternative for Severus, as they both mean...

Matilda - for the simple reason that this name is everywhere, but also the new magazine.

Malala - this poor girl was shot by the Taliban for wanting girls to have equal education rights, but unfortunately her name means "grief stricken."

Blake - Lively. Debuted at #815 in 2011 for girls.

Grey - first name, middle name, boys name, girls name, mothers are going nuts for Grey ever since 50 Shades of Grey came out and took over the world. In 2011 Greysen made the top 1000 at #940. Christian has also been seeing some new popularity, for reasons just stated, plus Christian Bale and the "Dark Knight."

Gatsby - the new movie will soon be here, and parents are pondering the name Gatsby.

Sandy - despite the hurricane, Sandy isn't all that bad, for a name. As a nickname for Sandrina or Sandrine (but maybe not Sandra) Sandy could have a revamped future.

Maple - celebrity baby Maple Sylvie was refreshing, and made parents consider more unusual nature names. Snow seems to be all the rage right now for middle names.

Aria/Arya, Sansa, Theon - obsession over Game of Thrones led to name lovers entertaining the idea of these three names. Aria is the only one that won't get immediately connected to the series, and it was also used in Pretty Little Liars, but Theon is also a legit name.

Adele - the world seems to be fascinated by not only Adele, but her name as well - and the name of her newborn. What is the baby's name, anyway? I was more fascinated by Clary, the name of the baby's father's ex. Clary should be getting more attention when the movie version of Mortal Instruments comes out.

Nova - worth a mention, it appeared on the charts in 2011 at #884 and has been the talk of the town. Well, some towns.

Rosalind - the first name of Uma Thurman's newborn, who has a ridiculous amount of middle names. Rosalind is unfortunately very ignored as a first name, sitting quietly at the bottom of the SSA extended list.

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