Names That Are Variations

Allena may feel like a somewhat antiquated feminization, though Allen itself is a tad old-fashioned. In many ways, Allena -- pronounced ah-LEN-ah -- feels more appealing that Alana or ah-LAH-ah.

French designer name Chanel spelt phonetically in English.

This Dutch variation of Walter is pronounced vow-ter, although Americans will likely default to wooter or wowter.

Virsaviya is the Russian form of the biblical name Bathsheba. It appeared on the US charts twice, in 2015 and 2016.

Popular Irish name brought here by singer Sinead O'Connor, could make a striking choice for a child with deep Irish roots.

Derived from an ancient Roman name, this is best known in its male form Placido, thanks to the tenor.

Even more Olde World, especially with that accent.

A name that seems to switch genders when it switches nationalities.

The q-ending of this common name adds a quirky element.

Cosy is a, well, cozy name, whose only downside is people forever making that dumb joke. Cosy can be short for Cosima or Cosette but can certainly stand on its own as a word name. Another plus: Sounds like Posy, Josie, and Rosie.

This version of the name creates an almost-homonym to Isora, but it adds in the trendy z. The possible nicknames of Ezzy and Zora give this name a little more wearability.

Ulrica has an Old World sound that may not be user-friendly in the modern US.

This spelling of popular Jalen ranks in the Top 1000 for both girls and boys.

In its native Germany, Gerhard was very popular a hundred years ago and is now rather old-fashioned. It isn't much used by English speakers either, but has a certain clunky charm about it.

Tatjana is an interesting twist on an already uncommon name, borne by German-born supermodel Tatjana Patitz. Note that as j is pronounced as y in German, the name is spoken just like sisters Tatiana and Tatyana.

Earvin gained NBA fame as the birth name of Magic Johnson. If your name was Earvin, you'd probably change it to Magic too.

The Finnish translation of Elvira, a Spanish name that ultimately derives from the Gothic name Guilvira.