Once Upon a Time Baby Names

Here are some handsome French boy's names that are rare in the U.S. Also see my list of  French girl's names you've never heard . Absalon Adalric Alain Albin Alberic Aldric Alliaume Aloïs  Alpinien Amandin Amant Anastase Anatole Ancelin Andéol Andoche Angelin Angilran Angoustan Antonin Apollinaire Arcade Archambeau Arian Aristion Arsène Arthème Ascelin Aubin Audouin Audran Aurelien Aurian Auxence Aymard Aymeric Aymon Barthélemy  Basile Bastien Baudouin Benoît Béranger Bertrand Blaise Bon Brice Brieuc Camélien  Camillien Caribert Carloman Cassien Chrétien Claudien Clement Clotaire Clovis Corentin Cyprien Cyril Didier Edgard  Éleuthère Emeric Emile Emilien Epiphane Etienne Eudes Eudoxe Eugene Evariste Evrard Fabrice Flavien Florent Florian Foulques Fulcran Fulgence Gabin Gaël Gaston Gaspard Gatien Gédéon Géroud Ghislain Girart Gonthier Grégoire  Guérin Guillaume

Here's a long list of French girls names you've probably never heard in America that could likely go over well here. I have included 2016 use, and if I've written nothing next to a name it means that name was not used in the U.S. last year. Also see my list of  French boy names you've never heard . Abeline Aicelina Aliénor Alaine, 21 Alcine Alexine Aliette (from place name Aleth) Alix (a form of Alice), 26 Amaliane (from Germanic amal liut, "powerful people") Amandine Ameline Anastasie Anceline Anicette Apolline, 10 Apollonie Arabelle, 124 Arcadie Ariette Audeline Auxane Avoye Aymardine Azelie, 16 Basilisse Bastienne Bérangère Bibiane Blanchette Blandine Brunelle Brunissende Capucine Carine, 5 Celandine Celarie Cendrine Charlaine Charmaine, 15 Claudie  Claudine, 7 Clio Coline Coralie, 167 Corisande Cyrielle Delphine, 45 Domitille Doriane Edmée (or  Edmé) Éliane, 15 Élia, 194 Elzire Émérance Eudoxie

Vermeer, Saint Praxedis Also seen in the form of Praxedis (Latin), Praxede (18th and/or 19th century France), and Prassede (Italian), this unusual saint name is extremely rare and interesting. She comes from Greek praxis , "an accomplishment." PRA-shed-yees and PRAHK-say-dahs are accepted pronunciations in Spanish and Portuguese, while prak-SAY-deez for the Praxedes spelling (like Mercedes) and PRAK-sed-iss for the Praxedis spelling are accepted in English. PRAK-seh-deh is commonly accepted elsewhere. The Roman female Christian saint died in the year 165, and little is known about her. According to Jacobus de Voragine, her sister was Saint Pudentiana and her brothers were Saint Timothy and Saint Donatus. Sabine Baring-Gould claims she was the daughter of Saint Pudens, also the sister of Saint Pudentiana, but that her brothers were Saint Timothy and Saint Novatus. Some think because her  name  is not a feminine form of Pudens, she must have been a slave. According to  C

Garden is a baby name option for the very brave, although it wouldn't be the first time this unisex name was used. It was used in 1923 on five boys, but for all we know this may have been a surname used in honor, much like the use of Gardener as a given name (although Gardener is an occupational surname). Garden basically means "enclosed yard," but through time it has been used to refer to a home orchard, kitchen garden or personal yard. Today we immediately think of a beautiful flower, herb, or vegetable garden. It sounds similar to the vintage gemstone name Garnet, the trending Arden, masculine Gordon, and popular Grayden-Ayden type names (names ending with N are very popular now).

Tamarix gallica Tamarix (TAM-ar-iks) would make for quite an unusual baby name, but the salt cedar plant, shrub, and small tree also known as tamarisk is no different than other flowering plants used as baby names, such as Rose, Magnolia, Petunia or Laurel. The only difference is that everyone knows what a rose looks like, while little Tamarix would have to say "Google it" with every introduction. She's also very similar to other familiar names like Tamar/a, Beatrix and Tamsin. This pretty namesake might just be worth the trouble. From Latin, the name may have originated from the Tamaris River in Spain, now know as the Tambre or Tamariz, because these plants grew along the river. Tamaris may have been directly connected to the Biblical names Tamara and Tamar, meaning "date palm tree," but more likely the ancient goddess Tamara of Britian, goddess of rivers and streams or at least specifically the Tamar River, which borders Cornwall and has a different me

Cian (KEY-in) is an Irish boy's name meaning "enduring, ancient." The most legendary namesake was Cian Mac Maelmuaid, son-in-law of Ireland's great Brian Boru, King of Munster. Cian led an army from Munster to victory against the Vikings during the Battle of Clontarf in 1014, where he and his father-in-law were killed in battle. Ironically, Cian's father Mael Muad had been killed by Brain Boru years before. In mythology, however, Cian is also known as Scal Balb and is father of Lug (Lugh, sun god) and son of Dian Cecht. In oral medieval narrative Cian's marriage to Ethniu was a romance/bridal quest. Today the most popular namesake is likely either Youtube star Cian Twomey or Kian Lawley. In 2015 Cian was given to 153 boys, not too far outside the top 1000 but far enough from the top 100 to be unusual. It is currently a very popular name in Ireland, #14 as of 2015. Spelled Kian the name is now Persian, pronounced key-AHN, possibly meaning "kings."

Boys:                                                      Girls: 1. Jack                                                     1. Emily 2. James                                                  2. Emma 3. Daniel                                                 3. Ava 4. Conor                                                  4. Sophie 5. Sean                                                    5. Amelia 6. Adam                                                  6. Ella 7. Noah                                                   7. Lucy 8. Michael                                               8. Grace 9. Charlie                                                9. Chloe 10. Thomas                                            10. Mia (This seems like a dated U.S. list!)       (This seems like a future U.S. list)

"Polly want a cracker?" "Polly put the kettle on." We've all heard it, and you must understand that if you choose Polly as your baby's name then you and she will hear this often. The question is, is it worth it? Polly has a certain allure - catchy, obviously, but also confident and happy. Maybe you'll just want to put it in the middle spot, but it is a delightfully bright, vintage name with dozens of namesakes. Most people don't know that Polly and Molly are related, connected in medieval times. Both are originally nicknames for Mary (the most popular name ever given in the U.S.), which either means "beloved," from Egyptian, or "sea of bitterness," the most common given meaning. An inspiring name, little Polly can look up to several powerful women. Polly Berry was an American slave who sued for freedom. Polly Beemis was born in 1853 in China, then became an American pioneer whose story later became a novel. Polly Bergen, born

The baby name Maynard (MAY-nard) is from Anglo-French Mainard, ultimately Old High German Maganhard, meaning "mighty and brave." There are a few famous namesakes, such as Maynard James Keenan, lead singer of the metal band Tool, American artist Maynard Dixon, actor Rex Maynard Linn, 1930's movie cowboy Ken Maynard and trumpet jazz player Maynard Ferguson. On TV, there was a Maynard in "Desperate Housewives" and "The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis," as well as the movie "The Sasquatch Gang." The name peaked in 1922 at #278, but was only given to 16 boys in 2015. Mayne could make a good nickname. Menard and Maynor are unusual variants. Maynor was given to 23 boys in 2015.