Girls’ names used 50 times or fewer in 2016

[ABCFamily]

I often see people looking for unusual names, so I’ve made up a list of girls’ names that were used 50 times or fewer in England & Wales last year. Not all of them are to my taste, but I thought it was interesting.

Aisling
Allegra
Althea
Aster
Audra
Bridget
Bronwen
Bryony
Cassandra
Cecile
Celeste
Claire
Cordelia
Corinne
Cosima
Dahlia
Damaris
Delphine
Demelza
Dorothea
Elara
Elowen
Estelle
Fiona
Georgiana
Hester
Imelda
Ingrid
Isolde
Jane
Jocelyn
Juliana
Juniper
Justine
Leonie
Lorna
Lucinda
Marianne
Marjorie
Maud
Melina
Miranda
Mona
Nadine
Nerissa
Noelle
Odette
Olympia
Opal
Oriana
Pascale
Ramona
Regina
Rhiannon
Romilly
Rosalind
Rosamund
Rowena
Sage
Sally
Samara
Sîan
Simone
Soraya
Sybil
Tamsin
Tansy
Thora
Ursula
Valerie
Vera
Viola
Willa
Winifred
Yasmina

The full data set can be found on the ONS Website. Boys’ list to follow.

I like Hester and my own name is on that list 😳

Claire? That used to be everyones middle name! I'm surprised it's 50 or fewer.

I think the majority of them are usable

Just came to this after reading your boys' list. Again, some nice names here. Claire is probably due a revival but in 10 years or so when Clara has peaked.

I'm liking Cassandra, Cosima and Viola.

One of my DCs is on there - nice

Really surprised at some of these, esp Viola.

I thought Allegra was nice, but then I googled it, and it's the brand name for an allergy tablet, which has put me off it a bit...

And no medical person would ever use Melina... (melaena is the medical spelling if anyone needs to Google it)

Surprised at Sally and Fiona though!

Some lovely names here - Aster and Viola are on our shortlist for DD1, who's due in December.

Love the name opal

DD's name is on there. Always mention on here so I'm always surprised it hasn't got more popular. I generally like all of the names though!

Sybil is ace.

I think Serena Williams has, very appropriately, called her newborn Olympia?

I love loads of these! Just got to get dh to agree on something now which might be more of a challenge!

Names currently on my list are:
Allegra
Juniper
Noelle
Opal
Ramona
Sally
Tansy

There are some fantastic names there, I'm surprised some are not more popular.

My name is on there. And my niece. And a fair few friends my age. I'm 53.

There are some lovely names on there due a revival.

So many lovely names on here!
Mine's there, I'm waiting for someone to comment on it haha

They’re almost all beautiful and SO much more interesting than the popular top 10 names!

Really surprised about some of them. I love Bryony and Valerie and know a little Marianne. I know of a baby Claire born in America so might be making a comeback there.

Love Juniper and Elowen! There's some pretty names in there.

Some lovely ones on there. My favourites are

Claire
Corinne
Dahlia
Delphine
Elara
Estelle
Georgiana
Jane
Juliana
Juniper
Justine
Leonie
Marianne
Marjorie
Miranda
Opal
Tansy
Viola

Really surprised by some of those - I would have guessed Bryony and Romilly to be much higher!

Ailsa
Amethyst
Annaliese
Arabelle (which is odd when you see arabella at no. 90 on the list)
Azalea
Celestia
Celia
Clarissa
Clover
Cressida
Dawn
Dorothea
Emerald
Esmeralda
Fauna
Fawn
Gwendolyn
Hebe
Honor
Honora
Jane
Joyce
Kathleen
Leonora
Marigold
Maude
Minerva
Mirabelle
Miranda
Opal
Paloma
Priscilla
Tova
Tuva
Wendy
Winifred

I realised that I didn't take the Clare spelling into consideration, so I just checked it. Even when the data for the different spellings were combined, only 48 girls were called Claire/Clare. Bryony/Briony was similar at 49 girls when combined.

ItsNice - I was also surprised that Viola was so underused, considering the popularity of Violet, and celebrity namesake Viola Davis (not to mention the literary and musical connections). I think it's a really pretty name too.

meglet - yes, I think Olympia was the baby's middle name. Wonder if that will give it a boost in popularity?

Thank you ABCFamily, some really lovely names. I'd love to have stumbled across this when I was expecting. DD's name is on there, although her twin brother DS is now top 100 for the first time.

Dd's name is on there (born 2016). Deliberately went for an uncommon name, so obviously chose well!