Rare ‘A’ Baby Names for Girls in 2016 (Part 1)

Remember how much fun my “Below the Top 1000” lists were? I miss writing them, and I miss the conversations they produced.  So, I’ve decided to revive them for the 2016 data set, but there’s a twist! Rather than posting lists of names by frequency, I will post the 2016 lists alphabetically. I will continue including usage ranges, but they aren’t the focus this time. Hopefully these alphabetical selections will help any readers who want to give their children (or characters) names beginning with the same letter!

The letter ‘A’ is extremely popular for names today – and especially for girls’ names! To create the list of rare girls’ names beginning with ‘A,’ I had to pick from nearly 3,000 unique entries below the U.S. top 1000! That means sifting through hundreds of transliterations and alternate spellings. 

Anyway, because there are so many fascinating rare names available for the letter ‘A’, I’m splitting this first post into two parts (this won’t be the case for most letters). I’d like to avoid repeating too many spellings of the same rare names unless said spellings are especially interesting!

Here is “Rare ‘A’ Baby Names for Girls in 2016 (Part 1)!” Like the 2015’s Below the Top 1000 series, this series relies on publicly available data from the Social Security Administration.* 

• 200-260 range: Abrielle, Akira, Aimee, Aminah, Amora, America, Arleth, Arlette, Agnes, Anais, August, Adalee, Araceli, Adela
• 150-199: Annette, Ashton, Aida, Aveline, Ariadna, Anita, Araya**, Ananya, Ashanti, Amethyst, Avalon
• 100-149: Artemis, Akshara, Arlene, Adina, Amal, Aditi, Arwen, Arabelle, Avril, Adalind, Alba, Anjali, Amberly, Annalisa, Arizona, Avia, Azul, Avigail, Anissa, Aviva, Aoife, Asma
• 75-99: Aura, Alanis, Aeris, Amor, Abilene, Adelia, Austen, Amaria, Avelyn, Amiracle, Ashleigh, Aven, Acacia, Annora, Afton, Aminata, Avonlea, Adah, Adlee, Abella, Avary, Ahuva, Agatha
• 50-74: Arina, Aziyah***, Advika, Aseel, Anja, Arrow, Anayeli, Aries, Adira, Antoinette, Ayat, Ainara, Amna, Azeneth, Alizabeth, Ahana, Andromeda, Angelia, Avelina, Aja, Azari, Adria, Aulani, Avni, Acelynn, Adara, Arlo, Anabia, Adora, Amairany, Anela, Ara, Allegra, Aziza, Alaska, Aashi, Amen, Annsley
• 25-49: Aeryn, Ailee, Anari, Azuri, Adelaida, Amyiah, Aisling,Amaryllis, Analicia, Ainhoa, Amalie, Amore, Aletheia, Aline, Amena, Arbor, Adore, Aiyla, Amity, Averly, Azucena, Auden, Ayelen, Ami, Angeles, Aniela, Atley, Azura, Adamaris, Arsema, Atalia, Ahlam, Ailish, Akari, Alida, Arisha, Avila, Anaelle, Aishani, Amoura, Akshaya, Arantxa, Auburn, Acadia, Ailin, Akeelah, Aolani, Archer, Atarah, Ayelet, Aine, Amarachi, Amour, Anh, Arisbeth, Ameliana, Allura, Alvina, Amarissa, Anuhea, Aishwarya, Aleksa, Antonina, Adelaine, Aerith, Aissatou, Anagha, Ariam, Akasha, Aster, Akemi, Alix, Alva, Alysse, Angelic, Aolanis, Abisai, Aiko, Alahia, Augusta
• 15-24: Adalida, Amada, Anvitha, Ayumi, Afnan, Alaisha, Alexie, Alley, Alyx, Aella, Alaijah, Anara, Anijah, Auset, Adabelle, Alaine, Anshika, Arietta, Astraea, Avnoor, Azrielle, Adair, Adelise, Alaila, Albany, Almira, Amylia, Amzie, Aurelie, Avantika, Aviella, Abria, Adama, Aeliana, Aixa, Ajla, Alazne, Alexiana, Aliciana, Amare, Analeia, Anusha, Anzal, Ashleen, Astoria, Astra, Ayeza, Ayomide, Aerial, Aibhlinn, Ailed, Anahita, Anaid, Anjelica, Anjolaoluwa, Asani, Asra, Abigaelle, Adelita, Adya, Ahava, Aidana, Ainslie, Alera, Alicja, Alis, Allure, Ambrosia, Amorette, Anaaya, Apollonia, Arcadia, Areen, Arial, Arista, Arlynn, Ashira, Astella, Augustina, Avital, Adaeze, Adel, Adelheid, Aditri, Agata, Ahmiyah, Aitiana, Ajwa, Akua, Ama, Amahia, Amulya, Anaika, Anjana, Anneke, Ariabella, Asenath, Ashby, Asmi, Athaliah, Aysel, Aza, Azarah, Azelie, Abeeha, Abrar, Abri, Adaira, Adaleah, Adileny, Airyanna, Alayjah, Alexianna, Aliani, Amar, Amel, Amra, Angelisse, Annakate, Annasophia, Aqsa, Ares, Arpi, Aryssa, Ashland, Athea, Avanthika, Aviendha

*My color-coding:

• Dark/Rose Pink = Usage in 2016 / at last count was overwhelmingly (>90%) feminine. 
• Blue = Usage in 2016 was overwhelmingly (>90%) masculine.
• Purple = Usage is somewhere in between / unisex.

**I’m thinking that at least some of the girls named Araya (and other spellings) have the middle name Sunshine. Araya Sunshine, get it? Only half-joking…

***Not sure whether Aziyah is a variant of “Asia” or a Biblical name; in other words, not sure whether it’s pronounced like Asia//Aja or uh-ZYE-uh. Maybe either, depending on the user?

What do you think? Are there any names here that pop out at you? Let me know in the comments, and stay tuned for Part 2 of the girls’ names! 

UPDATE: Part 2!