Names That Are Variations

Pavel may be widespread in the former Soviet Union, but it has a somewhat impoverished image here.

Popularized in Scotland by Tam O'Shanter, the hero of one of Robert Burns' most famous poems, it's associated in the U.S. with the plaid cap he gave his name to.

Fewer letters does not always mean easier—the traditional spelling is the one most people will recognize.

The Hawaiian variant Iakona modernizes Biblical favorite Jason.

Oh, the many spellings of Rafaella. Those with Fs and double-Ls denote Italian origins, while an F and a single L is Spanish and Portuguese. The original Hebrew form is Raphaela.

The -ee suffix is decisively feminine, so it's no surprise that male usage of this name lags behind female usage.

Known as a British royal family line as well as a style of architecture, this name has a forbidding solemnity; schoolmates might also confuse it with tutor.

As an Arabic name, the normal transcription is Na'ima, with an apostrophe. It was a Top 200 name in France in the 1970s and '80s, and ranked in the US Top 1000 from 2005 to 2008.

The name of one of the Three Wise Men from the East is heard in several European countries, but rarely here.

Simple but sultry.

Mattheo is another way to say Matteo, one that gets you to either Matt or Theo

Common in France, but could be confused with the feminine Maxine here.

Stormi is like Sunni, with angst. If naming your child Storm or Stormy is asking for trouble, naming her Stormi -- as Kylie Jenner and Travis Scott did -- is asking for trouble of several different kinds. But we're sure she'll be adorable and as celebrity baby names go, this one is nearly normal.

French Canadian singer Dion made us notice this variation, but most parents would prefer the Selene spelling.

More stylish than either Paula or Pauline, it was given a glamour gloss by model Paulina Porizkova in the nineties.

A familiar and usable last name turned first. Or you could look at it as a homophone of the verb howl, which gives it a wilder feel.

This iteration of the name makes the link to the ultra-popular Emma even more obvious. It lags behind alternate spelling Emmeline on the US Top 1000 list.

Russian form of Eli mainly used today by families with Russian Jewish heritage.

Last popular in this country from the 1920s to the 1950s, it now seems more modern than the English Theresa.

Better to stick with the Neil spelling in the US, where the word "nil" also means "zero." But this is a Top Ten name in Catalonia.