Unique Baby Girl Names

It seems these days Madison is one of the most popular allegedly unique baby girls names in the U.S. I'm not sure why the capital of Wisconsin has become such a source of girl's name unique-ness all of sudden, but there it is. Or maybe people naming their baby girls are just watching the movie Splash a lot. (Remember, Tom Hanks named Darryl Hannah the Mermaid Madison?) Well, no offense to all the new baby Madisons out there, trendy and unique are mutually exclusive. So, future parents looking for a unique baby girl name, I ask you to look deeper into the dictionary of baby names and don't resign your baby girl to a life of her teachers looking at her name on a class list and saying "Oh, man, another Madison…" Give her and the world something new, or at least, different. Here are some suggestions truly unique baby girl names:

If you want to go with a state capital:
Instead of Madison, capital of Wisconsin, how about Augusta, the capital of Maine (also a city in Georgia among other places). It's pretty, it's strong, it connotes greatness. Same goes for Olympia, Washington. Go for the gold, Olympia. Or how bout Helena (the capital of Montana) which is elegant, can be shortened to Lena (though presumably not to Hel) and whether you want the Greek connection, there it is again, plus there's the good-old western US connection, or the first name of Tim Burton's love interest connection. It's all there. Just please, no Cheyennes (capital of Wyoming). It's almost as overused as Madison.

If you want to go with dead president's last name:
Instead of Madison, as in James Madison, president from 1809-17, for whom all the other Madison places in America were named, try some other options. It may be difficult with a girl. But Reagan's a perfectly good first name. Or Taylor, for Zachary Taylor. Taylor's sort of on the overused list, but not quite as much as Madison. And I think it's better for a girl than a boy. Or go with Madison's wife's first name: Dolly. Okay, actually, that name isn't so hot. But be a little inventive, you can come up with Rose for Roosevelt.

If you want to go with a love interest from a Tom Hanks movie: Tom Hanks has loved many women in many films. And also at least one man. Who can forget Jenny from Forest Gump yelling "Run, Forrest Run!". Or maybe you'd prefer a character who makes it through the whole movie. How about Meg Ryan's characters - Kathleen in You've Got Mail or Annie in Sleepless in Seattle, or Angelica in Joe Vs. The Volcano. There's Marilyn, his character's wife's name in Apollo 13. Or Jan in the Green Mile. Or even go with his real-life wife's name: Rita.

If you want to go with a famous street: New York's Madison Avenue is America's advertising capital. But there are other ways to go. How about Abbey, for Abbey Road, famed Beatles album locale? Go natural with Ocean, as in Miami's Ocean Drive. (I don't suggest Rodeo). Do a take off from the alphabet streets of Washington DC: L can be Elle, K can be Kay, D can be Dee.
Lane itself is a sort of nice name.

If you want to go with an M-A name: There are many names that begin with MA. We don't all have to use the same one. Madeleine and Madelyn, with all their various spellings, are very close to Madison. There's also the Mary category which goes form your basic Mary and Maria. You've got your Mary hyphens: MaryBeth, Mary-Kate, Mary-Anything. And the Maryanns: Marian, Mary-Ann, Marion, Marianna. There's Marisol, and Maribelle. Then there's Irish names like Maura, Maureen, Maeve. Or how about Margaret, Margarita, or Marguerite. And don't forget the nicknames can come from these names: May, Maggie, M.J.. Mari. There are plenty of MA names.

If after thorough consideration of all your non-Madison options, you still believe Madison is the best name for your baby, good luck to you, and may she be the happiest, healthiest Madison ever!