Names That Mean Pretty

Rosalind has a distinguished literary history – used and popularized by Edmund Spenser and Shakespeare via one of his most charming heroines, in As You Like It. Along with a bouquet of other Rose names, Rosalind might be ready for a comeback.

Linda will live forever in baby name history for toppling Mary from its four hundred year reign as Number 1. Queen of Names in 1947, Linda has fallen even further in favor than Mary today.

Jolie is as pretty as its literal meaning; nowadays it is also seen as a girls’ name, via Angelina for whom Jolie was originally her middle name.

If you like soft, lispy Welsh names like Gwyneth, or want an alternative to Delilah, Adele, or Edith, consider this out-of-the-ordinary option.

Belinda, cousin of Linda and Melinda, enjoyed a brief return to the Top 1000 from 2005 through 2013, only to fall off again in 2014. A name that some may consider a modern spin on the midcentury popularity queen Linda is in fact a classic with deep and fascinating roots. In Babylonian mythology Belinda was the goddess of heaven and earth, and the name later was used for the heroine of Alexander Pope's satirical poem The Rape of the Lock.

Dainty and doll-like.

Dulcibella is an old name that's fallen into disuse but may rise again with the new wave of fashionable names that end in -bel, -belle, and -bella. Behind the Name says that the medieval form of the name was the Dowsabel, which we definitely do not see making a comeback. But Dulcibel or Dulcibelle could work.

Like Benita, had some popularity in the fifties.

When President LBJ's daughter Linda Bird changed the spelling of her name to Lynda, she set a trend for spelling adventurism that's still rippling through the name world today.

Pleasant sound, but too tied to the racetrack.

An Indonesian name that is virtually unknown in the Western World but that is eminently portable, sister of India and Indre or Indra.

Delwen appears to be a modern invented name in Welsh, deriving from two common name components: del - meaning pretty and wen - meaning fair/white. Similar names include Delyth, also Welsh, and Elowen, which is Cornish.

Belden is a little-used surname-name that might work in this age of Belles.

Juliet sound-alike Joliet actually derives from the name Jolie, and was historically a term of endearment, later a surname. It's an attractive alternative to Juliet names and could work to honor a Joe or Joseph in your life.

Try telling the kids it really means "pretty face" and not "burper".

A gorgeous Swahili name for girls that hits multiple trends — Mar- names like Margot and Marley, and names that end in I, like Leilani and Zuri.

Rosalind feels fresher now.

One of many similarly pretty names, this one identifiable as a female form of the familiar Shaquille.