Everyone is different. Some parents like to go with a baby name that’s right on trend while others prefer something a bit more…unusual. Celebrities can always be relied on for delivering some of the weirdest baby names around but they’re not the only ones. Unorthodox and weird baby names crop up in official statistics every year and sometimes even fall foul of the law.
We’re not judging. One person’s ridiculous is another’s unique (both of which might be the name of someone out there!) but here are some of the top weirdest names that you’re unlikely to find featuring on a list of most popular baby namesany time soon. Whether you’re looking for weird baby boy names, weird baby girl names, weird unisex names or names so weird they could be anything, we have them all the weird names here…
Weird girl names
1. Moon Unit
This was the suitably weird choice of the avant-garde late rock star Frank Zappa for his oldest daughter. Her siblings include Dweezil and Diva Muffin.
2. Exa Dark Sideræl
Elon Musk and Grimes raised plenty of eyebrows when they named their first child together X Æ A-Xii (known as ‘X’). They more recently went on to name their daughter Exa Dark Sideræl (known as ‘Y’). Grimes told Vanity Fair that the name Exa refers to the supercomputing term exaFLOPS, or the ability to perform 1 quintillion floating-point operations a second.
3. Hellzel
This was submitted on a Reddit forum, with the user explaining that the mother liked the name Hazel while the father was a biker and wanted to work in the Hells Angels. The resulting combo was Hellzel.
4. Cyanide
In Wales, one woman was banned from naming her baby daughter Cyanide in 2016. A judge ruled the name was unacceptable "even allowing for changes in taste, fashion and developing individual perception".
5. $helly
Shelly has been a common enough name over the years as a variant of Michelle, but the addition of the $ sign gave this baby a head start in becoming a rock or hip-hop star.
6. Shanda (Lear)
Shanda is actually a traditional if not hugely common girl’s name. But Bill Lear, founder of the Lear Jet airplane company, proved he had a quirky sense of humour when he named his third daughter Shanda. Shanda Lear…chandelier…you see what he did there?
7. Marijuana
Perhaps predictably, Marijuana (or Marijuana Pepsi) was born and registered in the 1970s. For the record, the Wisconsin teacher mom said that she’s never touched the drug.
8. Portabella
There are lots of beautiful unisex and baby girl names taken from trees and flowers but mushrooms? The story broke on Reddit with one poster saying she hated the name her pregnant sister wanted to name her baby but maybe she just thought she would make a fun gal. Cough.
9. Fifa
Dedicated football fans often make references to their favourite players or teams when naming their children but this one went a bit beyond, naming them after the sport’s international governing body.
10. Phelony
A felony is a serious crime in the US and also derives from English common law. But that switch of the ‘F’ for the ‘Ph’ really softens it up. Right?
11. Maybelline
Maybe she’s born with it. Well at least 20 girls were in 2017, as the brand name cropped up in the U.S. Social Security Administration’s list of registered baby names for that year.
12. Talula Does The Hula From Hawaii
So do the kids themselves appreciate their unusual names? Not always. A judge in New Zealand made a young girl a ward of court so that she could change the name she hated and found an embarrassment.
13. Spicy
Want a name with a kick to it? Spicy showed up on name lists in the late 1800s!
14. Cinnamon
Sticking with spices, Cinnamon was actually quite popular in the 1960s, with more than 200 being registered in 1969. The popularity was probably tied to two songs – Cinnamon Girl by Neil Young and Crazy Horse and Cinnamon by Derek.
15. Ima
Ima was a popular name in the 1930s but you have to be careful what you pair it to – as former Texas governor James Stephen Hogg found when he called his daughter Ima Hogg.
16. Birdella
There were Five little girls registered as Birdella in America in 1882. The name is believed to be a portmanteau of Birdie and Ella.
17. Cricket
Cougar Town actress Busy Phillipps (real name Elizabeth) and screenwriter Marc Silverstein named their second daughter Cricket Pearl.
18. Fanny
In the 19th Century and into the 20th, Fanny was a very common name – both in its own right and as a diminutive of names including Frances and Stephanie. In the 21st Century though, it has quite a different colloquial meaning in both British and American English.
19. Wealthy
A sort of aspirational take on ‘virtue’ names like Faith, Hope and Chastity. Seven sets of parents chose to name their daughter Wealthy in 1887, presumably hoping to predict their children’s future.
20. KVIIIlyn
Inventive spellings of traditional names have become more popular recently but one family went viral when they took it to extremes. KVIIIlyn is pronounced the same as the Irish name Caitlin, apparently.
21. Dorcas
This is actually a biblical girl’s name meaning ‘Gazelle’ but fell out of favour after the 1920s and now sounds more like a playground insult.
22. Maim
Maime as a girl’s name comes from Latin, means ‘star of the sea’ and is related to other names including Mamie and Mary. The spelling here is very unfortunate for English speakers though.
23. Temperance
Virtue names like Hope, Faith and Charity became popular under the Puritans but Temperance – referring to abstinence from alcoholic drink – seems a less usual choice.
24. Vanity
And sometimes the Puritans went the other way, choosing ‘vice’ names that were supposed to inform a child how not to behave as they grew up.
25. Candida
Candida is derived from the Latin ‘Candidus’ meaning ‘white/pure’ and was an acceptable given name in the early 20th Century. Unfortunately it’s now very much associated with the types of yeast that cause thrush.
26. Fifi Trixibelle
The eldest child of Bob Geldof and Paula Yates. She was apparently named after Geldof's aunt Fifi, with Trixibelle because Yates wanted a ‘Belle’ in the family.
27. Christin
We’ve heard of dropped vowels but almost a thousand sets of parents in the US apparently lost the ‘e’ from Christine in 1989, when a brief ‘name glitch’ trend occurred. One researcher suggested that the culprit might have been a computer system that only allowed 8 letters to be recorded.
28. Jacqueli
All the weird ‘name glitches’ found had 8 letters but, even if it was an error, those were the official names recorded in the US social security system, with many appearing in the charts of popular baby names.
29. Nevaeh
This has become one of the most popular versions of the ‘backward-spelling’ trend. Sonny Sandoval, the lead vocalist of nu-metal band P.O.D. named his daughter Nevaeh and revealed it was simply ‘Heaven’ spelled backwards in an episode of MTV Cribs. This triggered a trend for backward names around the early 2000s.
30. Otter
Jacob Pechenik and Zooey Deschanel named their baby girl Elsie Otter. Commenting on the second name, Zooey said the couple just loved otters for how ‘sweet and smart’ they are.
31. Zooey
While we’re at it, Zooey Deschanel has quite an unusual name herself. It’s taken from a character in J.D. Salinger's novella Franny & Zooey – although the character in the book was male and ooey was a nickname (the character’s real name being Zachary).
32. Girl (Stulka)
Iceland is one of a number of countries that require baby names to come from an approved list. One set of parents had a name meaning ‘light breeze’ rejected so in protest they simply called her ‘Stulka’ (Icelandic for ‘girl’) on all official documents.
33. Omega
10 baby girls were called Omega in 1893. As the last letter in the Greek alphabet, it’s thought it could be a name for the last (planned) child and therefore the youngest in the family.
34. Blue Ivy
Blue has had a big boost thanks to Beyonce and Jay-Z’s choice of the name for their daughter. There were a few notable Blues in the 20th Century but it was still a pretty leftfield choice.
35. Destry
Destry is an unusual choice, being a name for a warhorse. Steven Spielberg and Kate Capshaw named their daughter Destry, but it was after the Jimmy Stewart character Tom Destry in the classic western ‘Destry Rides Again’.
36. North West
If your surname is a cardinal compass point like Kanye’s, why not have some fun with it? Kim and Kanye also named their other children Saint, Chicago and Psalm.
37. Sunday Molly
Mike Myers and wife Kelly named their daughter Sunday Molly. The comedian told David Letterman: “Sunday is because me and my wife Kelly hate Sundays and we wanted to turn it around and make it a good thing,” while Molly was the name of his English aunt.
38. Tu Morrow
Tu is an established if uncommon girl’s name (French for ‘you’ and also a Vietnamese root for ‘bright’ or ‘sharp’. But pairing it with the surname Morrow, as Northern Exposure star Rob Morrow and wife Debbon Ayer did, is the real stroke of genius.
39. Raddix
Cameron Diaz and Good Charlotte star Benji Madden invented the name Raddix – ‘Rad’ being one of their favourite words and claiming that ‘raddix’ is a translation of ‘new beginning.’ Their daughter’s full name is Raddix Chloe Wildflower Madden.
40. Reign Beau
This is the name chosen by Pulp Fiction and Mission: Impossible star Ving Rhames and wife Deborah. They also have a child named Freedom.
Weird boy names
41. X Æ A-Xii
The son of billionaire Elon Musk and musician Grimes. Reportedly pronounced ‘Ex Ash A Twelve’, ‘Ex AI Archangel’ or simply ‘X’. Grimes revealed in a tweet that the name contained references to ‘the unknown variable’, the elven spelling of ‘AI’ and the precursor to the couple’s ‘favourite aircraft’.
42. Version 2.0
Calling your kids Junior has long been a thing, especially in America, but one dad in Michigan went a bit further, calling his son Jon Version 2.0.
43. Lucifer
At least one Scottish child was named Lucifer in 2018. Edinburgh Council's Karen Watson told the Sun: 'There aren't really any rules around names. It's a case of people can call their babies whatever they like.'
44. Slayer
On the U.S. Social Security Administration’s list of registered baby names for 2017 there were six boys named Slayer. We think their parents might well have been metalheads and fans of the infamous thrash band of the same name.
45. Kal-El
Superhero fans might have spotted that Kal-El was the Kryptonian birth name of Clark Kent, aka Superman. It’s also the name chosen by actor Nicolas Cage and ex-wife Alice Kim for their son.
46. Semaj
This one took off, cracking the top 1,000 for boys’ namesin the US in 1999. It’s origin? It’s simply James written backwards.
47. Derfla
Another example of the backward boys’ names trend. (Yep, that will be ‘Alfred’ written backwards).
48. Buddy Bear
This is the name of one of Jools and Jamie Oliver’s brood, along with siblings Poppy Honey, Daisy Boo Pamela, Petal Blossom Rainbow and River Rocket Blue Dallas. Jools told the Daily Mail: ‘I hate people's opinions on names. Whatever you call your baby is your decision.’
49. Kingmessiah
This was named the worst boy’s name of 2019 by one parenting site. Like we said, we’re not judging…but it does give the child a heck of a lot to live up to.
50. Darth
Census data shows that at least 10 girls were named Darth in 1920. A century on, it’s indelibly linked to the Sith lords of the Star Wars universe. Choose this for your youngling and expect a lot of ‘I am your father…’ jokes.
51. Xxayvier
This is another name that was registered last year. It takes the trend of alternate spellings of traditional names to a whole new level and ensures your child will be very much towards the back of the school register.
52. Prince Michael II/Blanket
Michael Jackson named his first son Prince Michael and his second-born…you guessed it. The official name was Prince Michael II but the late singer revealed that his nickname was Blanket. The grown-up young man now prefers to go by Bigi.
53. Harm
This is a Dutch name derived from Herman…but doesn’t translate quite so well into English.
54. Man
Can’t think of what to call your little boy? Just imagine what they’ll be when they grow up. There were at least five babies registered as Man in the US 1884.
55. Doll
Dolly has been a popular girl’s name at various points in time, but Doll became popular for boys in around 1900.
56. Almond
You think this name is nuts? It might actually be after the nut but there are thoughts that the name – which emerged in the late 19th Century – may have been a variation of the popular name Almund, itself a contraction of Adalmund.
57. Apollo
Apollo is the god of the sun in classical Greek and Roman mythology. Bush frontman Gavin Rossdale and Gwen Stefani presumably thought it wasn’t distinctive enough, naming their third son Apollo Bowie Flynn.
58. Christop
It looks like Chris stopped a few letters short. This is another example of the naming glitch trend that gave rise to the likes of Christin and Elizabet being officially registered.
59. Alexande
Oh and Alexande was another name glitch name that was given to nearly 300 babies in 1989 – curiously almost all of them in New York
60. Dijon
Want a name that cuts the mustard? 132 baby boys were named Dijon in the US in 1991. To be fair, it is also a town in France but the condiment is probably where most people immediately go on hearing the name.
61. Nimrod
Actually a character from the Bible and with a name meaning ‘Hunter’, Nimrod was essentially spoiled as a name by Daffy Duck in the 1940s when he started referring to Elmer Fudd as a ‘Nimrod’ meaning a stupid person or dimwit.
62. Bear Blaze
The name of Ned Rocknroll (yes, that’s his legal name) and Kate Winslet’s son. The Blaze part came because the couple met during a house fire at Richard Branson’s island estate!
63. Bingham
Bingham is a market town in Nottinghamshire. It’s also a pretty standard surname but a given name? Not so much. That’s what Muse frontman Matt Bellamy and actress Kate Hudson named their son though, apparently as it was Matt’s mother’s maiden name. Bingham Bellamy does have a sort of ring to it, we suppose.
64. Exton
Very similar is Robert Downey, Jr. and Susan Downey’s choice for their son. Exton is the name of several villages in the Midlands, derived from ‘Town on the River Exe’. The river’s name itself is of Celtic origin, meaning simply ‘the water’.
65. Bronx Mowgli
Another place name, will rock and pop star couple Ashlee Simpson and Pete Wentz do for the Bronx what the Beckhams did for Brooklyn? The Mowgli part by the way, is the character from Kipling book and Disney classic The Jungle Book.
66. Jermajesty
Not to be outdone by brother Michael in the baby name stakes, Jermaine Jackson invented his own majestic version of his own name for his son with Alejandra Genevieve.
67. Dweezil
Musician Frank Zappa’s son and the brother of Moon Unit. Legend has it that a nurse where he was born refused to record the name Dweezil so he was registered as Ian Donald Calvin Euclid Zappa. He later asked for Dweezil to be made his legal name, which his parents hired a lawyer to do.
68. Sage Moonblood
This was the name that Sylvester Stallone chose for his eldest son.
69. Zowie
David Bowie and first wife Angie picked Zowie as a rhyming name. Zowie Bowie wasn’t too keen on it though and now goes by the more sensible if less striking Duncan Jones.
70. Zumma
Gwen Stefani and Bush singer Gavin Rossdale named their son Zumma Nesta Rock. The Zumma part was reportedly from Zuma Beach in Malibu while Nesta was Bob Marley’s middle name and Rock…well, just rocks!
Weird unisex baby names
71. Number 16 Bus Shelter
In New Zealand, the Department of Internal Affairs vetoed names including 4Real, Juztice and Mafia No Fear. But Number 16 Bus Shelter apparently got through.
72. Robocop
The Mexican state of Sonora said it was forced to publish a list of banned names, including Facebook, Burger King. Hitler and Robocop, following a trend of ‘silly’ names that could lead to bullying at school.
73. Facebook
This has been vetoed as a name in some countries but one Egyptian father reportedly named his baby daughter Facebook to acknowledge the role the social media played in spurring the Egyptian revolution of 2011.
74. Covid
It was widely reported that a number of babies were given Covid-related namesduring the pandemic including, yes, Covid.
75. Corona
And one set of parents named their twins Covid and Corona. Corona actually means ‘Crown’ and can also refer to a white or coloured circle or set of concentric circles of light seen around a luminous body, especially around the sun or moon. It’s quite a pretty name but will probably now forever be linked to the virus.
76. Sanitiser
This was another name linked to the pandemic but the family in this case said the name was a symbol of protection against the virus, because hand sanitizer is one of the ways to help reduce the spread.
77. Audio Science
Actress Shannyn Sossamon, best known for her role in A Knight’s Tale, called her son Audio Science. She told the press: ‘We wanted a word not a name, so my boyfriend read through the dictionary three or four times. We were going to call him Science, but thought it might get shortened to Sci, as in Simon.’
78. ABCDE
Many of the names on this list are one-offs but it seems a lot of parents thought that the start of the alphabet made a great name in the 1990s. There were more than 300 people (mostly girls for some reason) bearing the name by the start of the 2000s.
79. Nutella
In France registrars must inform the court if they feel a baby name goes against the child’s best interests and it was decided that Nutella did just that.
80. Author
Occupational names go right back but the trend possibly went a little too far in 30s America. As well as Author there were numerous other occupations including Judge, Singer and…
81. Doorman
Yep, at least one child in the 1930s was named Doorman. At least it wasn’t Bouncer, which is far more suited to over-excited Labradors (if anyone remembers Neighbours back in the day!)
82. Window
And in the 50s at least two children in the US were named Window. As if that wasn’t enough, one had the middle name Coverings.
83. Pilot Inspektor
Sticking with the world of celebrity, My Name Is Earl star Jason Lee told Entertainment Weekly he named his son after a song called ‘He’s Simple, He’s Dumb, He’s the Pilot’ by indie-rock band Grandaddy.
84. Brfxxccxxmnpcccclllmmnprxvclmnckssqlbb11116
It’s pronounced ‘Albin’ apparently. This was actually submitted as a protest against the naming law in Sweden, which requires parents to submit a name for approval within three months of birth. Unsurprisingly, the name was rejected.
85. Awesome
This was another name registered in Scotland. Perhaps the conversation started, ‘You know what would be an awesome name for the baby…?’
86. Apple
Chris Martin and Gwyneth Paltrow chose this name for their daughter in 2012. Presumably she was the apple of their eye.
87. Binx
It sounds like a nickname but Binx has shown up in its own right on baby name lists.
88. Hashtag
Social media is a big part of most people’s lives these days and one family reportedly celebrated the fact by naming their baby Hashtag.
89. Like
And one couple in Israel liked likes so much that they named their baby Like. As in after getting a Like on Facebook.
90. Google
‘Google’ is a creative spelling of googol, a number equal to 10 to the 100th power, or generally used for an unfathomable number. The couple that named their son Oliver Google Kai in Sweden were paying tribute to the search engine though, with the dad saying his wife “knows how much I adore Google services”.
91. Tarantula
Some people keep them as pets but for most, these big hairy 8-legged crawlers are something to stay away from. And certainly not something to name your baby after.
92. Cobra
Of course, if spiders aren’t your thing you could go for snakes instead, as the parents of at least one baby named Cobra did.
93. Xela
No relation to Xena: Warrior Princess but simply a unisex version of the backward-spelling trend that became a thing at the turn of the century. That’s simply ‘Alex’ written backwards.
94. Geo
This could be a unisex name for ecologically aware parents, although Adam Levine and Behati Prinsloo chose it for their little girl. Geo is from the Greek word for ‘Earth or land’.
95. Moxie Crimefighter
Penne Jillette, the magician known as half of the Penn & Teller duo, chose Moxie CrimeFighter for his daughter. He said in an interview: “‘It’s only the losers named Dave that think having an unusual name is bad, and who cares what they think. They’re named Dave.” He also said the name was wife Emily’s idea.
96. Sparrow Midnight
Not to be outdone by Cameron Diaz and Benji Madden’s Raddix, Nicole Richie and Good Charlotte rocker Joel Madden (Benji’s twin) went for Sparrow James Midnight for their son. The Midnight part came about because that’s when the baby arrived.
97. Seven
Singer and actress Erykah Badu named her son Seven – not because he was her seventh child as you might guess, but because the number ‘can be divided by nothing but itself’. She also has children named Puma Sabti Curry and Mars Merkaba Thedford.
98. Moroccan
Mariah Carey and Nick Cannon named their son Moroccan – reportedly due to the fact that the top floor of the singer’s apartment features Moroccan-inspired decor and was the place where Cannon proposed.
99. Everest
Want a name that can move mountains? It could be seen as a twist on Everett but Star Wars creator George Lucas and wife Mellody Hobson went for Everest for their daughter. Presumably, she has the high ground.
100. Rocket
They’re now split up but filmmaker couple Elizabeth Avellán and Robert Rodriguez have had a lot of fun naming their children, rolling with the alliteration of Robert’s name. As well as Rocket they had Racer, Rebel, Rogue and Rhiannon.
