I’ve deciphered lots of data to find the rarest of rare baby boy names!
All the names on this list were given to 100 or fewer baby boys last year! That means they’re very unique and you’re unlikely to meet anyone with that name in your lifetime!
First, we’ll go through the top unique baby names and meanings. Then, we’ll learn about cool and strong unusual boy names.
And finally, I’ve put together a gigantic list of all the names!
Unique boy names with meanings
Explore these unique boy names with meanings! These names were only given to 100 or fewer babies in the US last year!
Ashwin
In Hindu mythology, the Ashwins are the twin gods of sunrise and sunset.
Aziz
The Arabic, Turkish, and Persian name Aziz means “powerful, respected, beloved.”
Baxter
In Old English, Baxter means “baker.” I love that this name is totally recognizable, easily spelled and pronounced, yet it’s still uncommon!
Bence
This Hungarian name is short for Vincent or Benedek. But it sounds like a name on its own, too!
Claude
This no-nonsense French name is perfect and perfectly unique for boys and girls!
Cyril
Cyril comes from the Greek word for “lord.” It’s another recognizable but uncommon boy’s name!
Darby
The name Darby comes from the town of Derby in England. And the town gets its name from Old Norse, where it means “deer town.”
Related post: Nerdy Baby Names!
Gable
This last name makes a great first name too! It might come from a Norse word meaning “triangular-shaped hill,”
Hiram
Hiram might come from Phoenician or Old Hebrew, where it means “exalted brother.” It used to be popular in the US in the 1800s but is virtually unheard of now.
Irwin
This name means “boar friend.” It used to be common in the US until about 1930.
Juno
Although Juno is typically a female name, it works just fine for boys. It comes from the Greek goddess Juno, the wife of Jupiter and queen of the heavens.
Leander
The Greek name Leander comes from the word Leo, meaning “lion.” This name is a great lesser-known alternative to names like Leo and Alexander!
Marcelino
Marcelino is a Portuguese and Spanish name that comes from the Roman god Mars.
Marlow
The English name Marlow means “remnants of a lake.”
Related post: Vintage boy names
Niles
Niles comes from the Gaelic name Niall. Historians debate over the meaning- it might mean “cloud” or “champion.”
Olivier
The French and Dutch name Olivier is usually pronounced AWL-LIV-EE-AY. It’s a great, unique alternative to the more popular Oliver.
Related post: Middle names for Oliver
Prescott
Although Prescott is traditionally a surname, it makes a unique first name for boys too!
Rupert
Until I researched this post, I had no idea that Rupert is a German version of Robert. It means “bright fame.”
Spence
While Spence is usually a short form of Spencer, it works just fine on its own! Meaning: dispenser of provisions
Sylvester
This Roman- based name means “forest.” It used to be very popular in the US until the 1910s but has dwindled and is almost unheard of now!
Tremaine
Tremaine, with the fun nickname Trey, means “stone settlement.”
Winslow
This distinguished name means “from the hill of wine.”
Zed
On its own, Zed is the pronunciation of the letter Z in some English- speaking countries. It’s also a short form of Zedekiah.
Related post: How to choose a middle name
Cool rare names for boys
Here are the top cool rare names for boys, given to less than 100 children last year. That is to say, if you choose one of these names for your child, they’re unlikely to meet someone else with that name in their lifetime!
Albion
This Celtic name means “white” and was inspired by the cliffs of Dover.
Avett
This short and sweet name is unique and cool for a boy or girl!
Beaumont
The rare boy’s name Beaumont is French for “beautiful mountain.”
Candor
I love the sound of “virtue names” like Clement, Grace, Hope, Constance and Joy. And Candor is one more option to add to the possibilities!
The dictionary defines candor as “the quality of being open and honest in expression.”
Cassiel
In medieval Jewish, Christian, and Islamic tales, Cassiel is an angel. This name might mean “speed of God” or “cover of God.”
Elton
Although everyone has heard of British musician Sir Elton John, it’s rarely used as a given name. It comes from Old English and means “Ella’s town.”
Florian
Florian sounds exotic, which also makes it a cool, rare name for boys. It comes from the Roman word meaning “flower.”
Related post: Exotic Boy Names
Griffith
The cool sounding name Griffith means “strong prince.” Although it’s pretty rare today, it was a common name for medieval Welsh royalty.
Hamlet
Shakespeare used a variation of the Danish name Amleth for his play. While the meaning of the original name is unknown, hamlet also means “a settlement smaller than a village.”
Related post: Twin Names for Boys
Horatio
This classical English form of Horace means “hour, “time,” or “season.”
Ignatius
This meaning of this late Roman name is unknown. But it was borne by several saints. And it resembles “ignis,” the Latin word for fire.
Jules
Jules is the French version of Julius, made famous by Jules Verne, author of Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea. This name refers to the Roman god Jupiter.
Related post: more nerdy baby names
Kirby
Kirby comes from an Old Norse name meaning “church settlement.”
Langley
The name Langley means “long woodland clearing.” And the CIA is associated with Langley, Virginia, where it’s headquartered. Hard to find a cooler namesake!
Matrim
This unique name sounds like a twist on Matthew. It’s the name of a protagonist in the Wheel of Time series of books.
Related post: Over 2,000 names from Wheel of Time.
Oberon
Oberon is the name of the king of faeries in Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Fittingly, it probably means “elf ruler.”
Related post: Ethereal, Fairy, and Celestial Names, and Boy Names that Mean Dream
Pascal
The name Pascal means “relating to Easter.” The French philosopher Blaise Pascal had it as a last name.
Sabino
Sabino sounds suave and cool! This masculine form of Sabina comes from the Sabines, an ancient tribe who lived in Italy.
Sylvan
This classic name means “forest.”
Tycho
Astronomer Tycho Brahe made this name better known. It is related to the name Thor, the Norse thunder god.
Victoriano
This Spanish form of Victor or Victorianus means exactly what you would think- victor or winner.
Related post: Alternatives to the popular name Liam
Strong unusual names for boys
These strong, unusual names for boys were given to less than 100 babies last year:
Angus
The Irish and Scottish name Angus actually means “one strength,” so it’s the perfect strong, unusual name for a boy!
Barnes
The honest, hard- working Barnes actually comes from a last name referring to someone who lived or worked in a barn. And the word barn actually comes from the words meaning “barley dwelling.”
Related post: Coolest Names in the World!
Braddock
Braddock invokes a strong and sturdy sound. It actually means “broad oak.”
Cliff
Cliff can be short for Clifford or Cliffton. And as you might have guessed, they refer to a ford near a cliff, or a town near a cliff.
Crockett
Of course, this name brings to mind the American folk hero, a great inspiration for a strong and unusual name.
Deckard
Deckard makes me think of the main character in Bladerunner. Not only does the name itself sound strong, but it also inspires me to think about the steady and capable protagonist from the movie!
Ferdinand
This name comes from the ancient Germanic words “fardi” and “nand.” Respectively, they mean “journey” and “brave, daring.”
Harbin
Harbin is an example of a surname that makes an interesting first name too.
Hutton
This unique name also comes from a last name. It means “ridge town. “
Related post: Names that mean earth
Ingram
This strong name is an anglicized version of a medieval French name that comes from an Old German word meaning “raven.”
Jocko
Jocko is usually a nickname for John, Joseph, Jacob, and other similar names. And John “Jocko” Willink is a retired Navy SEAL officer.
Kaplan
Did you know the name Kaplan means “tiger” in Turkish?
Karsten
Karsten is a German form of the name Christian. Many German names sound strong and powerful!
Klaus
Another German name, Klaus, is short for Nicholas. It means “victory of the people.”
Mercury
Roman god Mercury’s name means “to trade.” He shares his name with the first planet in the solar system and the liquid metallic element.
Mitch
Mitch, a short form of Mitchell, means “big” or “large.”
Osric
Shakespeare used this Old English name for a courier in Hamlet. It’s formed from two words meaning “God,” and “power” or “rule.”
Percival
One of the knights of King Arthur’s Round Table, Percival searched for the Holy Grail. It might mean “to pierce the valley” or “hard spears.”
Piers
Piers is a medieval form of Peter, which means “rock.”
Rayland
This name might be a variation of Rowland, or just a simple combination of Ray and land. No matter what, it sounds tough!
Sherrod
I would have never guessed that this name comes from the French word “cherot,” which means “wagoneer.” I like the soft sh sound combined with the strong last syllable!
Taggert
Taggert is another last name turned first name, and means “son of the priest.”
Theoden
JRR Tolkien invented the name Theoden, King of Rohan for Lord of the Rings. He based the Rohirric language off of Old English, so we know Theoden means “king” or “ruler.”
Related post: LOTR baby names
Thorsten
Did you know Thorsten means “Thor’s stone?” Yeah. Enough said about this unique but strong name for boys!
You might enjoy these Star Wars baby names!
Even More Unique Boy Names
All of the baby boy names in this list are extremely rare. Fewer than 100 boys receive these names each year. Or, odds are good that only 2 infants in your state received this name last year!
If you want even rarer baby boy names, those in bold were given to 50 or fewer newborns last year.
And finally, the very rarest boy names listed in bold italics were only given to 10 or fewer children last year!
Rare boy names (A-D)
- Abdo
- Absalom
- Aemon
- Aesop
- Afton
- Alain
- Albin
- Albion
- Albus
- Aldous
- Alfie
- Aloysius
- Alwin
- Amadeus
- Amin
- Amory
- Angelino
- Angus
- Aragorn
- Arcadius
- Archibald
- Archimedes
- Aristotle
- Arkham
- Armstrong
- Arnez
- Arno
- Arsenio
- Art
- Arvin
- Ashby
- Ashley
- Ashwin
- Athens
- Atwood
- Auburn
- Aurelius
- Avett
- Azazel
- Aziz
- Azlan
- Bach
- Bailor
- Baird
- Bankston
- Bannon
- Barnabas
- Barlow
- Barnaby
- Barnes
- Barney
- Basim
- Bartholomew
- Basil
- Baxter
- Beaumont
- Becker
- Bence
- Benjen
- Benning
- Bennington
- Benz
- Beorn
- Beowulf
- Beric
- Bernardino
- Bolton
- Booker
- Boris
- Bosco
- Boyd
- Bracken
- Braddock
- Bradford
- Brando
- Braulio
- Brewer
- Brio
- Brodrick
- Brooklyn
- Browning
- Burke
- Burton
- Caio
- Calcifer
- Calhoun
- Candor
- Canton
- Carbon
- Cassiel
- Castor
- Cato
- Cecil
- Chesney
- Chester
- Chilton
- Chip
- Chiron
- Churchill
- Clancy
- Claude
- Claudio
- Claudius
- Clement
- Cletus
- Cleveland
- Cliff
- Cliffton
- Clive
- Coburn
- Collier
- Coltrane
- Columbus
- Conall
- Conan
- Constantine
- Copeland
- Corbin
- Cormick
- Cornelio
- Cortland
- Corwin
- Cosmo
- Credence
- Crockett
- Croix
- Cyprian
- Cyril
- Dace
- Danell
- Danico
- Darby
- Dartanian
- Daryl
- Dashiel
- Deckard
- Deimos
- Dempsey
- Denarius
- Dennison
- Denton
- Dermot
- Dionisio
- Dixon
- Dmitri
- Dodger
- Domingo
- Don
- Donatello
- Dontarius
- Draco
- Dwight
Rare boy names (D-M)
- Earl
- Ebon
- Edric
- Egan
- Eldon
- Elric
- Elton
- Emelio
- Enzio
- Eoin
- Eragon
- Errol
- Escher
- Eustace
- Etzio
- Fabio
- Fawkes
- Ferdinand
- Finnic
- Fionn
- Fitzgerald
- Florencio
- Florentino
- Florian
- Florin
- Forbes
- Francois
- Frey
- Fulton
- Gable
- Galileo
- Gallagher
- Garfield
- Garnet
- Garrus
- Gaspard
- Gatsby
- Gaston
- Gene
- Gilead
- Godric
- Godwin
- Gregor
- Griffith
- Grisham
- Grover
- Guiseppe
- Gunther
- Gustav
- Hamilton
- Hamlet
- Hampton
- Han
- Hansel
- Harbin
- Hartford
- Haskell
- Hawkins
- Helio
- Hemingway
- Herman
- Hermes
- Heston
- Hezekiah
- Hiram
- Holmes
- Holt
- Horace
- Horatio
- Howell
- Hoyt
- Humphrey
- Hutton
- Icarus
- Ignatius
- Illidan
- Indiana
- Ingram
- Inigo
- Iris
- Irwin
- Ivar
- Jacques
- Jamis
- Janus
- Jedediah
- Jehan
- Jenner
- Jessup
- Jocko
- Jojo
- Jonesy
- Jorah
- Joseth
- Judas
- Judea
- Jules
- Juno
- Kailani
- Kalet
- Kaplan
- Karsten
- Kartik
- Keaunu
- Kefren
- Keldrick
- Kelso
- Kemp
- Kentrel
- Kenzel
- Kevan
- Kevian
- Kip
- Kipling
- Kirby
- Kirk
- Kirkland
- Kit
- Klaus
- Klein
- Kurt
- Lakeland
- Lambert
- Lan
- Lancelot
- Lando
- Landrick
- Langley
- Langdon
- Lars
- Laszlo
- Lavar
- Lazario
- Leander
- Lebron
- Ledarius
- Lemuel
- Leonid
- Leslie
- Lester
- Leto
- Leviticus
- Lewin
- Leyton
- Lofton
- Lonnie
- Loudon
- Lucario
- Ludovic
Related post: 5 unique ways to brainstorm unique baby names that you’ll like
Unique boy names (M-R)
- Macaulay
- Machiavelli
- Madison
- Malak
- Malon
- Marat
- Marcelino
- Marlow
- Mars
- Martell
- Marzell
- Matrim
- Mattis
- Maxime
- Maximillian
- Melchor
- Meliodas
- Mercury
- Merle
- Midas
- Mio
- Mir
- Mitch
- Mitt
- Montrell
- Mordecai
- Morris
- Morrison
- Mortimer
- Napoleon
- Naren
- Nautica
- Navier
- Ness
- Newell
- Newton
- Nicasio
- Nicoli
- Niles
- Nomar
- Norbert
- Norrin
- North
- Numair
- Nymere
- Obadiah
- Oberon
- Octavius, Octavian
- October
- Odai
- Odie
- Odysseous
- Olaf
- Oleg
- Olivier
- Ollivander
- Olson
- Ontario
- Oriole
- Orlan
- Orlo
- Orrin
- Orville
- Osborn
- Osric
- Ossian
- Othello
- Oxford
- Ozymandias
- Paco
- Paolo
- Parth
- Pascal
- Patrice
- Patterson
- Pax
- Penn
- Percy, Percival
- Peregrine
- Perrin
- Pevel
- Philemon
- Piers
- Prescott
- Price
- Ptolemy
- Quade
- Quill
- Quinlan
- Radford
- Rafe
- Rafferty
- Ramello
- Randolph
- Rankin
- Rayland
- Raziel
- Reggie
- Redford
- Redmond
- Regis
- Renato
- Reynold
- Rhaegar
- Richmond
- Ripley
- Robson
- Rockwell
- Romulus
- Ronnel
- Rook
- Rorick
- Roxas
- Rudolph
- Rupert
- Rutherford
- Rutledge
RELATED: Romantic names for boys
Unique boy names (R-Z)
- Sabino
- Sagan
- Samael
- Sanford
- Scout
- Sherlock
- Sherrod
- Sherwin
- Silvano
- Simba
- Sinclair
- Sirius
- Slate, Slater
- Socrates
- Sol
- Sora
- Sosa
- Spence
- Stanford
- Stanislav, Stanislaw
- Stanton
- Stuart
- Sunday
- Sydney
- Sylvan
- Sylvester
- Taft
- Taggart
- Teague
- Tesla
- Thackery
- Thaddeus
- Thales
- Thelonious
- Theoden
- Theon
- Theron
- Theseus
- Thor
- Thoreau
- Thorsten, Torsten
- Tiberius
- Tiller
- Timon
- Tracey
- Tremaine
- Triton
- Tully
- Tycho
- Tyrion
- Tywin
- Ulric
- Vale
- Valentine
- Vega
- Ventura
- Victoriano
- Viggo
- Virgil
- Voltaire
- Waldo
- Warden
- West
- Whittaker
- Wilbert
- Wilkes
- Willis
- Wilhelm
- Wilmer
- Winchester
- Windsor
- Winslow
- Wolfram
- Woodrow
- Wrangler
- Wulfric
- Wyndham
- Wynn
- Yates
- Yehoshua
- Yuriel
- Zaccheus
- Zed
- Zeo
- Zoltan
Related post: 463 Unique Names for Girls and Vintage Girl Names
Wrap up
I hope you’ve enjoyed these unique and rare baby boy names! Which are your favorites? Which rare baby boy names are just way too out there?
Personally, I love Marcelino and Leander. But as far as rare baby boy names go, Irwin and Zed just don’t fit my naming style!
Resources for finding unique and rare baby boy names
- The US Social Security Administration provides data on baby names
- I use Behind the Name to research name meanings and popularity
- Reddit’s r/ namenerds gave great feedback and analysis on these names! I especially like that a few people summarized the list as “the names from a British nursing home combined with fandoms!”
