Names That Mean Maiden
Updated Thu Nov 30 2023
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Names that mean maiden include a handful of the top girl names today: Ella, Cora, and Imogen.
Along with Cora, girl names meaning maiden also include many Cora variations, such as Corinne, Corinna, and Kore.
Unique names that mean maiden include the Welsh Arwen and the august Parthenia.
All Nameberry's girl names meaning maiden are collected here. The top names below rank among the current US Top 1000 Baby Names and are ordered by popularity. Unique names rank below the Top 1000 and are listed alphabetically.
Along with Cora, girl names meaning maiden also include many Cora variations, such as Corinne, Corinna, and Kore.
Unique names that mean maiden include the Welsh Arwen and the august Parthenia.
All Nameberry's girl names meaning maiden are collected here. The top names below rank among the current US Top 1000 Baby Names and are ordered by popularity. Unique names rank below the Top 1000 and are listed alphabetically.
- Cora
Origin:
GreekMeaning:
"maiden"Description:
Cora is a lovely, old-fashioned girls' that has been recently rejuvenated by its contemporary-feeling simplicity. In fact, Cora seemed headed straight for the top of the popularity list when the coronavirus pandemic somewhat weakened its appeal.
- Imogen
Origin:
CelticMeaning:
"maiden"Description:
Imogen has long been fashionable in England and is gaining favor in the US among stylish parents. Pronounced the British way — the initial i is short as in Kim, as is the final E as in Ken — Imogen is as pretty and classy as it is distinctive.
- Ella
Origin:
German; EnglishMeaning:
"all, completely; fairy maiden"Description:
Ella is a sweet, simple name that owes much of its current popularity to the popularity of other names, from Emma to Bella to Emily to Ellie.
- Arwen
Origin:
Literature, Sindarin, WelshMeaning:
"noble maiden; fair, blessed"Description:
Best known as the princess of the Elves in Tolkien's Lord of the Rings, Arwen is a fantasy-inspired choice that feels perfectly down to earth. In 2022, it entered the UK Top 400, making it one of the fastest rising names, more than doubling in use from the previous year.
- Corinne
Origin:
French variation of Greek KorinnaMeaning:
"maiden"Description:
Corinne is one of the names that, it might surprise you to learn, has never been off the US popularity charts. Its most popular year was 1926, when it ranked Number 249. Corinna is another pretty ancient form of the name, technically a diminutive.
- Jezebel
Origin:
HebrewMeaning:
"not exalted"Description:
Jezebel, the wife of King Ahab in the Hebrew Book of Kings, has long had a bad girl reputation. But in the modern secular world, this is somewhat mitigated by the feminist perspective of her as a strong woman, the power behind the throne. Previously avoided as a baby name, Jezebel is now, along with the also previously avoided Delilah and Desiree, coming into use, helped by its relation to other 'bel' name such as Isabel and Bella.
- Ethel
Origin:
EnglishMeaning:
"noble maiden"Description:
Ethel is a name we once declared as 'So Far Out They'll Probably Always Be Out,' but with the return of other names on that list and with its new starbaby cred via Lily Allen, its soft sound and admirable meaning, we're not so sure.
- Morwenna
Origin:
WelshMeaning:
"maiden"Description:
Morwenna is an ancient Cornish name now being revived in Wales, deriving from a Celtic word meaning "maiden", although the Mor- syllable means that it's often associated with the sea. It's been heard in the British series Doc Martin and Poldark. Morwenna Banks is a British actress.
- Dagmar
Origin:
NorseMeaning:
"Day maiden"Description:
This royal Danish name has long been used across Scandinavia, Germany and Slavic countries and somewhat in the US around the turn of the last century --it was #622 in 1888. There were two notable silent screen stars named Dagmar, one with Polish, the other with Danish roots.
- Corinna
Origin:
GreekMeaning:
"maiden"Description:
Delicate and gentle old-fashioned name, the kind found in early English poetry. While Corinna and the original Green Korinna are technically diminutives of the ancient Kore, now the popular Cora, this name will often be mistaken for other similar-sounding though unrelated names, such as Karenna. But it's pretty and is backed by more tradition than you'd guess.
- Riva
Origin:
HebrewMeaning:
"maiden"Description:
A modernization of the Hebrew Rivka, which doesn't sound so modern anymore.
- Rhian
Origin:
WelshMeaning:
"maiden"Description:
Popular in Wales, but likely to be mispronounced as Ryan here.
- Kore
Origin:
GreekMeaning:
"maiden"Description:
Kore is the original Greek form of the modern Cora, a name that's heading straight for the top of the charts in the English-speaking world. Kore was an alternate name for Persephone, goddess of the underworld. Spelling the name Kore may tip it toward the short form Kory or Korey.
- Kora
Origin:
Maori, English, GreekMeaning:
"maiden"Description:
As the softer-looking Cora of Downton Abbey fame charted highly in the US and the UK, some parents were looking for a way to make this name a little less common, a bit more trendy or far more Germanic by using a "K". We prefer the C version, but Kora is still an elegant name.
- Parthenia
Origin:
GreekMeaning:
"chaste maiden"Description:
Parthenia may be a bit unwieldy, but does conjure up majestic images of the Parthenon.
- Naarah
Origin:
HebrewMeaning:
"girl, maiden"Description:
Another rarely heard biblical name, with some possible pronunciation confusion.
- Corrine
Origin:
French from GreekMeaning:
"maiden"Description:
Variant of Corinne
- Miriel
Origin:
English, Irish, Scottish, Icelandic, LiteratureMeaning:
"bright sea or jewel-garlanded maiden"Description:
Miriel is an English and Icelandic variant of Muriel, which in turn derives from Irish Muirgel or Scottish Muireall.
- Galadriel
Origin:
Literary nameMeaning:
"maiden crowned with a radiant garland"Description:
The name of the wise and beautiful elfin princess in J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings novels, best known through Cate Blanchett's immortal representation in the film series. This ethereal name has a gorgeous meaning and a lot of weight.
- Bertille
Origin:
FrenchMeaning:
"heroine, bright maiden"Description:
The name of medieval French saint, similar to Sally Field's name, Bertrille, on the old The Flying Nun sitcom, leading some to expect the word "Sister" in front of it.