50 Uncommon Gender-Neutral Baby Names You'll Completely Fall In Love With

Another bird-related name, Merle is a name of French origin that means "blackbird" (via The Bump). This gender-neutral, uncommon baby name (pronounced "merl") may bring to mind Merle Haggard, the famous American country musician.

This unique name offers an interesting twist on the slightly more popular, similar-sounding names of Earl and Pearl. As a bonus, it is exceedingly rare — it is so seldom used in modern times that data for girls named Merle ends in 2004, when the name was ranked No. 27,787; for boys, the name ranked No. 10,144 in 2021, per The Bump.