Borrowed from the English noun rarity, used as a name to mean preciousness and uniqueness.
Rarity is a name drawn directly from the English lexicon, where it has meant 'something uncommon, precious, or not easily found' since at least the 16th century, derived from the Latin raritas (thinness, infrequency) via Old French. As a concept it has always carried a double valence — rarity implies both scarcity and worth, the two ideas inseparably linked: a thing is rare because it is valuable, and valuable because it is rare. For centuries this was the province of jewels, manuscripts, and wonders of nature catalogued in curiosity cabinets by Enlightenment collectors who called their treasures raritates.
The name gained its most prominent modern cultural foothold with the animated series My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, which debuted in 2010 and introduced Rarity as a white unicorn dedicated to generosity, fashion design, and the pursuit of beauty — a character notable for combining glamour with genuine moral depth. The show attracted a wide and surprisingly diverse fanbase, and Rarity became associated with creativity, aesthetic care, and the idea that elegance can coexist with kindness. The name thus has an unusual quality: it carries both a philosophical meaning (the precious and uncommon) and a vivid pop-cultural persona.
As a given name, Rarity belongs to a broader late 20th- and early 21st-century trend toward lexical names — names that are simply beautiful English words, following in the tradition of Faith, Hope, Serenity, and Harmony. Parents who choose it are often making a quietly audacious statement: that their child is singular, that naming should be an act of intention, and that beauty and meaning need not come from ancient texts alone.