Top 100 Rarest Names in the World (Girl, Boy & Surname Edition, With Real Meanings)

My uncle Devraj — yes, that’s his actual name, and yes, we’re getting to why that matters — has spent the last eleven years building our family tree on one of those genealogy sites. Every few months he calls, always at dinnertime, always with the same opening line: “I found one you won’t believe.” Last month it was a great-great-grand-aunt named Perpetua, married into a family with the surname Featherstonehaugh (pronounced, bafflingly, “Fanshaw,” but that’s a story for later). The month before that, it was a boy born in 1911 named Zebedee, three villages away from where my grandfather grew up.

Top 100 Rarest Names in the World (Girl, Boy)

I used to think he was just collecting oddities for fun. Then my sister-in-law got pregnant, opened the family tree file he’d sent her out of curiosity, and texted the group chat: “Wait. What if we actually used one of these?”

That one conversation turned into weeks of digging — through old census records, forgotten Sanskrit texts, Victorian parish registers, and a genuinely wild rabbit hole into the rarest surnames in the English-speaking world. What follows is the result: the 100 rarest names on earth, for girls and boys, plus a bonus round of rare Hindu names and rare surnames, because once you start this search, apparently, you cannot stop.

If you searched for “top 100 rarest names in the world” hoping for something that isn’t a recycled top-10 clickbait list — hopefully copy-pasted with zero context — you’re in the right place. Grab a cup of chai. This is a long one, on purpose.

What Actually Makes a Name “Rare”?

Here’s the thing nobody tells you: “rare” is not a feeling, it’s a number. Government statistics offices — the US Social Security Administration, the UK’s Office for National Statistics, India’s Registrar General — track exactly how many babies are given each name every year. A name that’s given to fewer than five babies nationally in a given year effectively falls off the official charts altogether. That’s the real definition of rare: not “I haven’t personally heard it,” but “the data barely has a record of it.”

There’s a second, subtler kind of rarity too — names that were once extremely common and have now all but disappeared. A hundred years ago, “Perpetua” and “Zebedee” weren’t unusual at all. Today, you could search an entire country’s birth records and find almost none. That’s the specific flavour of rare we’re chasing in this list: names with real historical roots, genuine meanings, and almost zero chance your child will share a classroom with another one.

One more myth to bust before we start: rare does not mean made up. Anyone can misspell “Jayden” into something no search engine recognises. That’s not rare, that’s just unsearchable. Every single name on this list has documented historical use, a real linguistic origin, and an actual meaning — which is exactly what makes them so satisfying to give.

Top 50 Rarest Girl Names in the World

I’ve grouped these by cultural root, because that’s genuinely how the research unfolded — you fall down one country’s naming history, then another, then another.

Old European & Germanic Rarities

Wilhelmina — Germanic, “resolute protector”; the full formal root behind the far more common “Mina” or “Billie.”
Ottilie — French/German, meaning “prosperous in battle.”
Ilse — German, a short form of Elisabeth, meaning “God is my oath.”
Liesel — German/Austrian, another Elisabeth derivative, gentler and shorter.
Griselda — Germanic/Italian, “grey battle maiden,” now almost entirely unused despite centuries of literary presence.
Cosima — Italian, feminine form of Cosimo, meaning “order, harmony.”
Ingeborg — Old Norse, “Ing’s protection,” referring to the Norse fertility god Ing.
Solveig — Norwegian, “house of strength” or “strong sun.”
Fenella — Scottish Gaelic, “white-shouldered.”
Petronella — Latin, feminine of Peter, meaning “rock.”

Celtic, Welsh & British Isles Rarities

Anwen — Welsh, “very beautiful.”
Ffion — Welsh, named after the foxglove flower.
Branwen — Welsh, “beautiful raven,” from Celtic mythology.
Nerys — Welsh, “lord” made feminine, meaning “lady.”
Kerensa — Cornish, meaning “love, affection.”
Loveday — Old English medieval, once given to babies born on days when local disputes were formally settled — literally “day of love.”
Ismay — English medieval, of uncertain but ancient origin, rare even in its own time.
Romilly — English, place-name-turned-given-name.
Quenby — Old Norse via English, “queen’s estate.”
Isolde — Celtic/Germanic legend, tragic heroine of Arthurian romance.

Mythological & Classical Rarities

Ondine — French/Latin, a water spirit from European folklore, meaning “little wave.”
Zenobia — Aramaic, name of the warrior queen of Palmyra who challenged the Roman Empire.
Xanthe — Greek, meaning “golden, yellow.”
Calantha — Greek, “beautiful blossom.”
Thessaly — Greek, from the ancient region of the same name.
Hesper — Greek, “evening star.”
Cassia — Greek, named after the cinnamon-like spice tree.
Eulalia — Greek/Spanish, “sweetly speaking.”
Perpetua — Latin, “perpetual, everlasting” — my uncle’s great-great-grand-aunt, as it happens.
Sabra — Hebrew, referring to a native-born daughter of the land.

Botanical, Nature & Virtue Rarities

Zinnia — Latin, named for the vividly coloured flower.
Tansy — Old English, named after the yellow-flowered herb.
Verbena — Latin, named after the fragrant flowering plant.
Vesper — Latin, “evening.”
Zephyrine — French, feminine form referencing the gentle west wind.
Araminta — English literary invention from the 1600s, believed derived from Arabella and Aminta.
Delphine — French, linked to the dolphin and the Greek oracle site of Delphi.
Ottoline — English, a rare and aristocratic-sounding variant of Otto/Ottilie.
Seraphina — Hebrew, “fiery, burning ones,” referring to the highest order of angels.
Undine — Latin/German variant of Ondine, another water-spirit name.

Global & Cross-Cultural Rarities

Yolande — French, “violet flower.”
Melisent — French/Occitan, variant of Melisande, “strong worker.”
Bellisant — Old French, extremely rare medieval romance name meaning roughly “beautiful and holy.”
Xiomara — Visigothic/Spanish, meaning “ready for battle.”
Yseult — French/Arthurian variant of Isolde.
Wynonna — of Sioux origin, meaning “firstborn daughter,” carried into wider use through 19th-century American literature.
Aslaug — Old Norse, believed to mean “consecrated to the gods,” a name from Viking-age legend.
Ravindra (feminine variant “Ravindri”) — Sanskrit, “lord of the sun,” included here to bridge into our Indian rarities section below.
Zohar — Hebrew, “light, radiance.”
Clemency — English Puritan virtue name, meaning “mercy, leniency.”

Top 50 Rarest Boy Names in the World

Boy names, I noticed while researching, tend to disappear even faster than girl names once they fall out of fashion — possibly because so many circle back only as surnames. Here’s the fullest list I could put together, grouped the same way.

Biblical & Hebrew Rarities

Zebedee — Hebrew, “gift of God,” biblical father of the apostles James and John.
Jethro — Hebrew, “abundance, excellence,” father-in-law of Moses.
Japheth — Hebrew, one of Noah’s three sons, meaning “may he expand.”
Balthazar — Babylonian/biblical, traditionally one of the three magi, meaning “Baal protects the king.”
Zebulon — Hebrew, “dwelling, honour.”
Ithamar — Hebrew, “island of palms,” a lesser-known biblical priestly name.
Elihu — Hebrew, “my God is he.”
Amasa — Hebrew, “burden-bearer.”
Chenaniah — Hebrew, “God has established.”
Zerah — Hebrew, “dawn, sunrise.”

Classical Latin & Greek Rarities

Aurelius — Latin, “golden,” made famous by the Roman emperor-philosopher.
Cassius — Latin, “hollow” or “vain,” historically tied to Roman nobility.
Cornelius — Latin, from an old Roman clan name.
Hadrian — Latin, “from Hadria,” name of a Roman emperor.
Silvanus — Latin, “of the woods,” a Roman god of forests.
Ulysses — Latin form of Odysseus, the legendary Greek wanderer.
Virgil — Latin, after the celebrated Roman poet.
Horatio — Latin, from a Roman clan name, later immortalised by Shakespeare.
Lysander — Greek, “liberator of men.”
Quirinus — Latin, an ancient Roman war deity’s name.

Old English, Welsh & Germanic Rarities

Wilfred — Old English, “desiring peace.”
Kenelm — Old English, “bold helmet,” an obscure Anglo-Saxon saint’s name.
Corwin — Old English/French, “heart’s friend” or “spear-friend.”
Godfrey — Germanic, “God’s peace.”
Leopold — Germanic, “bold people.”
Reginald — Germanic, “counsel power.”
Ferdinand — Germanic, “bold voyager.”
Norbert — Germanic, “bright north.”
Ulric — Germanic, “wolf power.”
Emrys — Welsh, the original Welsh form behind the Latinised “Ambrosius” — also the “real” Welsh name of the legendary Merlin.

Literary & Shakespearean Rarities

Oberon — Germanic via Shakespeare, king of the fairies in A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
Yorick — Shakespearean invention, forever tied to a single unforgettable line.
Montague — French/English, a noble surname turned rare given name.
Thaddeus — Aramaic/Greek, “courageous heart,” one of the twelve apostles.
Peregrine — Latin, “traveller, pilgrim,” also the name for a wandering falcon.
Rutherford — Scottish, “cattle ford,” a surname-turned-first-name.
Dashiell — French/English, popularised narrowly through 20th-century literature.
Ambrose — Greek, “immortal.”
Sylvester — Latin, “of the forest.”
Barnaby — English form of Barnabas, “son of encouragement.”

Global & Persian, Norse & Cross-Cultural Rarities

Xerxes — Old Persian, “ruler over heroes,” name of the great Persian king.
Magnus — Latin via Norse, “great.”
Ingemar — Old Norse, “famous son.”
Yannick — Breton French, a rare regional variant of John.
Wendell — Old German/English, “wanderer.”
Icarus — Greek mythological, “follower,” carried by the boy who flew too close to the sun.
Vivian (traditionally masculine in France) — Latin, “alive, lively.”
Xanthus — Greek, “golden-haired,” a name from Homeric legend.
Fitzwilliam — Anglo-Norman, “son of William,” a genuinely rare full given name today.
Devraj — Sanskrit, “king of the gods,” a name my own uncle has carried his whole life without ever once meeting another one — which, honestly, is what sent us down this entire rabbit hole in the first place.

Bonus: Rare Hindu Boy & Girl Names With Meaning

Since so many of you searching this topic specifically want rare Hindu names — not just Western ones — here’s a dedicated shortlist, gathered the same way: names that were common enough a few generations ago to appear in old family records, and rare enough today that your child likely won’t meet another one at school.

Rare & “Heavy” Hindu Boy Names

Chaturbhuj — “four-armed,” a classical epithet of Lord Vishnu.
Trivikram — “one who took three great strides,” referencing Vishnu’s Vamana avatar.
Vishwaksena — “commander of the universal army,” another Vishnu-associated name.
Brihaspati — the name of the guru of the gods and the planet Jupiter in Vedic astronomy.
Digvijay — “victorious in all directions.”
Somdev — “moon god” or “god of the moon dynasty.”
Amoghvarsha — “one whose blessings never fail,” historically the name of a celebrated ancient king.
Aranyak — “of the forest,” referencing the forest-dwelling texts of the Vedas.
Harshvardhan — “one who increases joy,” historically borne by a powerful 7th-century emperor.
Devarshi — “sage among gods.”

Rare Hindu Girl Names

Anasuya — “free from envy,” the name of a revered sage’s wife in Hindu mythology.
Vidyullata — “lightning creeper/vine,” a poetic classical name.
Kadambari — named after a classical Sanskrit literary work, meaning roughly “made of Kadamba flowers” or “wine.”
Chandravati — “possessing the beauty of the moon.”
Manorama — “pleasing to the mind and heart.”
Amoolya — “priceless, invaluable.”
Sharvani — another name of Goddess Parvati.
Vasupriya — “beloved of wealth” or “dear to the earth.”
Rukmavati — “adorned with gold.”
Charuvi — “beautiful, graceful.”

Bonus: The Rarest Surnames in the World

A handful of you searched specifically for rare last names, so here’s a short, genuinely striking list — mostly old English and Scottish surnames that have nearly died out entirely, several of which my uncle’s genealogy obsession turned up directly.

Featherstonehaugh — old English aristocratic surname, famously pronounced “Fanshaw.”
Cholmondeley — English, pronounced “Chumley,” almost a linguistic trap on paper.
Winterbottom — English, referring to a valley bottom that stayed cold through winter.
Sitwell — English, an old landed-gentry surname.
Fanshawe — English, unrelated in spelling but related in sound to Featherstonehaugh above.
Ravenscroft — English, “raven’s field.”
Fairweather — English, occupational or descriptive surname, now vanishingly rare.
Nightingale — English, once far more common, now genuinely rare as a surname.
Peppercorn — English, historically linked to a token rent payment of a single peppercorn.
Godolphin — Cornish, an old aristocratic Cornish family name.
Wilberforce — English, historically tied to the abolitionist statesman, rare as a surname today.
Frobisher — English, linked to the Elizabethan explorer Martin Frobisher.
Blackadder — Scottish, a genuine historic surname long before it became a sitcom title.
Fotheringay — English, a place-name-turned-surname, now nearly extinct.
Cadwallader — Welsh, “battle leader.”

How My Sister-in-Law Actually Chose (And How You Can Too)

She didn’t just pick the “coolest sounding” name off the list — she ran it through three practical filters, and I think they’re worth stealing.

Say the full name out loud with the surname, in a formal sentence. “This is Miss Perpetua Sharma” sounds completely different from “Perpetua Sharma” said quickly. Formal contexts — school registers, job interviews, wedding invitations decades from now — are where a name earns its keep.

Check that the meaning is something you’d be proud to explain. Every name on this list has a real, documented meaning. Before finalising, ask: would I be happy telling my daughter or son this story when they’re old enough to ask? If the honest answer involves an awkward explanation, it’s worth reconsidering.

Test it against a nickname you’re comfortable using in anger. This sounds strange until you’ve actually shouted “Wilhelmina, put that down right now” across a park. Some rare names shorten beautifully under pressure (Wilhelmina to “Mina,” Zebedee to “Zeb”); others don’t shorten at all, and that’s worth knowing in advance.

Common Mistakes When Choosing an Extremely Rare Name

Picking rarity over pronounceability. A name so rare that teachers, doctors, and relatives consistently mispronounce it for a lifetime creates a small daily friction that adds up. Several names on this list (Cholmondeley, Featherstonehaugh) are genuinely rare specifically because they became too hard to say — worth knowing before falling for the spelling alone.

Ignoring how the name reads on official documents. Very long or unusual names can occasionally cause friction with rigid government or school database systems that limit character counts — worth a quick check for names like Featherstonehaugh or Chaturbhuj if used as a full legal first name.

Assuming “rare” and “randomly invented” are the same thing. Every name here has centuries of documented use. That historical weight is exactly what makes a rare name feel intentional rather than random — a meaningful difference many parents only appreciate once their child is old enough to ask “why did you name me this?”

Not checking current-year name registries before assuming true rarity. Names occasionally get an unexpected pop-culture boost overnight. A quick search of the most recent year’s national name-frequency data before finalising ensures the name you’ve chosen is still genuinely rare, not quietly trending.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the rarest name in the world for a girl?

There’s no single, universally agreed “rarest” name, since rarity is measured per country per year — but names like Bellisant, Fenella, and Ismay rank among the rarest documented historical girl names, appearing in fewer than a handful of official birth records in most recent years.

What is the rarest name in the world for a boy?

Similarly, names such as Ithamar, Chenaniah, and Kenelm are among the rarest documented boy names still occasionally used, appearing extremely infrequently in modern birth registries worldwide.

What are the top 10 rarest names in the world?

Based on historical documentation and modern registry scarcity, a combined top-10 across genders would include Perpetua, Zebedee, Wilhelmina, Ithamar, Bellisant, Kenelm, Fenella, Balthazar, Ismay, and Zenobia.

What is the most rarest name ever recorded?

Genuinely one-off names do exist in historical parish and census records — names given to a single documented individual and never repeated — but among names with any ongoing, traceable use, extremely obscure entries like Quenby and Chenaniah rank close to the top.

What are the top 100 rarest boy names with meaning in India?

Alongside globally rare names, India has its own rich pool of rarely-used classical Sanskrit names — see the dedicated Hindu boy names section above for names like Chaturbhuj, Trivikram, and Vishwaksena, each carrying a specific mythological or classical meaning.

What is the rarest last name in the world?

Surnames like Featherstonehaugh, Cholmondeley, and Godolphin are among the rarest historically documented English and Cornish surnames still occasionally in use today.

Is a rare name a good idea for a baby in 2027 and beyond?

Rare, historically rooted names tend to age extremely well precisely because they’re not tied to any single current trend — a genuine advantage for parents thinking years, not months, ahead.

The Name Nobody Else Will Have

My uncle still calls at dinnertime. Last week it was a girl named Loveday, born in a small English village in 1887, and he wanted to know if we thought anyone would actually use it today. My honest answer: probably someone, somewhere, searching exactly this list, right now, at exactly the right late-night moment in their own naming journey.

That’s really what a rare name gives a child — not just distinctiveness at roll call, but a small, private thread back to a real person, a real record, a real story, waiting quietly in an old register for someone to pick it up again.

This article is intended as general naming inspiration and reflects documented historical name usage. It does not replace personal, cultural, religious, or astrological guidance families may wish to seek when naming a child.