Names That Are Variations

Makes Severin and Severus a little less, well, severe.

Sounds incomplete, like a pet form of Miranda.

Krista may be past its peak -- along with all similar C-starting sisters and their K variations -- yet it's still a pretty name.

The final -e takes this from a daring word name to a literary honor name, for the inimitable Irish author, poet and playwright Oscar Wilde, infamous for his wit and flamboyance.

More commonly spelled FEODORA, a charming choice for the intrepid baby namer, especially with its dynamic nickname FEO (pronounced FAY-o).

A name that sounded unthinkably priggish until it became attached to Domestic Goddess British TV chef Nigella Lawson (named for her father), who gave it a big dollop of glamour.

A Top 50 choice in the Netherlands.

Right up there on the Hispanic popularity list.

Romanian form of Cosmas

Variant of Caelan

Sarika is a pretty Sanskrit nature name, referring to a type of myna bird. Spelled Sárika, it's the Hungarian version of Sarah.

Katharina is an attractive form of Katherine and a great way to update a classic. But English speakers may want to choose the Katerina or Katarina spelling to avoid pronunciation confusion.

It may surprise Americans to hear that Ulrik is a fashionable choice elsewhere in the world, as U is the least-used letter for given names in the US. In recent years, Ulrik has been one of the fastest-rising names in Norway.

Ioanna may be an original spin on the Joanna family, but American tongues may have trouble wrapping themselves around all its vowels. Ioanna is pronounced ee-oh-ah-nah.

Unless you're Nordic, probably best to stick with Michael if you want to avoid a life of confusion and misspelling.

Y is often used to feminize a variant spelling of a name, though of course there's nothing intrinsically gendered about it. The Karsyn spelling is slightly off its peak for girls, but rising for boys.

This is a Scottish pet form of John, the equivalent of Jack in England. Has long been used as a generic name for a Scotsman, here it's a generic name for a--well--jock.

Juana has not achieved the popularity in the U.S. of the male version Juan. Whereas Juan has made it almost to the Top 50 on the U. S. hit parade, sister Juana has barely entered the thousand most popular. It is nevertheless a popular choice in Mexico.

Teasagh or Teasag, which can be Anglicized as Jessie, is a Scottish form of Jean, which itself originated as a Scottish feminine form of John. Scotswomen called Jessie are more likely to be properly named Teasagh than Jessica.