Names That Are Variations

Once a birth order name, now might work as a cool x-ending nickname. But be warned that it sounds very close to an unfortunate slang term.

Santa has an appealing sound, or maybe that's sleigh bells we hear? It's difficult to separate the Italian girls' name Santa from the association to Mr. Claus, king of Christmas. The German diminutive Senta -- or Snow or even Christmas -- might be an easier name to handle.

A modern twist on Michelle spotlighted by Star Trek actress Nichelle Nichols.

Fien is a popular enough girls' name to make the Top 100 in The Netherlands. Dutch parents love nickname-names taken from the last vs. the first syllable of a name, like Sanne for Susanne or Lotte for Charlotte.

Pelle is one of several possible Peter-related Scandinavian choices. In Swedish or Norwegian, the name Pelle rhymes roughly with Ella.

Actress Jada Pinkett Smith propelled her name into the limelight during the 1990s and early 2000s. Alongside this rise, variant spelling Jaida entered the US Top 1000 in 1998 and peaked at Number 516 in 2008. In the last five years, however, Jaida has dropped dramatically, drawing ever closer to the bottom of the charts.

Goodwin — which is mostly seen as a last name — comes from the long-forgotten given name Godwine. Godwine was a relatively common name in medieval England. It later traveled to Germanic regions in the form of Godwin.

The first name of famed designer Balenciaga, was also the birth name of Christopher Columbus--aka Cristobal Colon. A name still well used in the Hispanic community.

Jac is one of the new "creative" variations of Jack, a name on the rise in its own right and not just as a short form of John. But why, when Jack is so simple and so familiar, make it Jac and invite people to guess whether it's pronounced like Jake, or maybe like the French Jacques.

Authentic Irish choice, easy to spell, tricky to pronounce.

Espn was first recorded as a girl name in 2015, eleven years after it was first used for boys. It's considered a variation of the Scandinavian male name Espen, although its use can be attributed to the cable sports channel ESPN, which stands for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network.

The Kodi respelling of early 90s favorite gender neutral name Cody might have gone unnoticed were it not for Australian actor Kodi Smit-McPhee, star of Jane Campion's Power of the Dog.

Eastern European variation of Felix.

Sohvi is the Finnish translation of Sophia, although Sofia ranks as the most popular variation in Finland.

The Germanic tribe known as the Varni took their name from the verb werren, meaning "to defend." The given name Varin derived from the tribe name, meaning "one of the Varni."

This name was consistently in the boys' Top 200 until WW2. It's a name with so many dimensions to it: the hyper-masculine meaning, the surname-as-firstname trendiness, and the softer sound and connotation since homophone Carol was favoured in the 1940s and '50s for daughters. We think it's time for a resurgence of Carrolls amongst the boys.

Zaiden grafts the fashionable first letter z onto the Aiden/Kaiden/Jaiden group of names, to popular effect. Soundalike Zayden is even more popular.

Arleth has made the US Top 1000 twice — in 2005 and 2021 — thanks to telenovela star Arleth Terán.

Russian form of Roderick given to a small number of American boys each year.

Americans may consider Lohan a surname name forever tied to Lindsay but in France, it's a modern variation of the Breton saint's name Elouan.