Names That Are Variations

Unusual and appealing, Laurenza might make a perfect honor name for an ancestral Laura or Lawrence. Count Laurenza among the unknown-yet-usable Italian names for girls.

Iskandar is one of the Arabic names for boysderived from a Western name.

Surprising relative of the French saints' name Blaise, which is definitely easier on the English ear than vowelsome Italian version. Also spelled BIAGIO.

Trendy Cason is becoming popular enough to have a variety of offshoot spellings in the Top 1000.

Birgit is pronounced with a hard 'g' and is one of the many international versions of the Irish Bridget. Birgit Nilsson was a celebrated Swedish operatic soprano.

Spanish spelling of the Hebrew classic that might prove confusing to non-Spanish speakers.

Brings to mind phrases like "I vanda new bike" or "I vanda go home".

A water nymph in Greek mythology, for which the Greek village of Lilaia is named.

With the still popular Allison ranking at Number 60 in the United States, and variant Alison sitting at Number 343—not to mention Allyson (Number 490 and Alyson (Number 835)—it makes sense that Alisson is still getting some attention from parents today, although it may unfortunately seem more like a spelling error than a legitimate name to some.

Rarely used cerebral-sounding name that is actually the Yiddish form of Ezekiel.

Itta is a cute old-fashioned name that arose parallelly as a nickname for Yehudit, used among Ashkenazi Jews, and a variation of Ita, an Irish name.

Kesey is a possible literary hero name honoring Merry Prankster Ken Kesey, whose characters flew over the cuckoo's nest. Kesey rhymes with easy.

Probably better to stick with Jasmine -- this one's a little too Tasmanian devil. Or Tasmine might be better scrambled to the lovely Cornish Tamsin.

Feodora is an interesting choice for the intrepid name giver, especially with its dynamic nickname, Feo (pronounced FAY-oh).

Heard in Scotland, not in Schenectady.

Galene is a minor goddess of Greek mythology, representing the calm seas. She is also sometimes referred to as Galatea.

This distinctive variation was chosen for their third daughter by the Eddie Murphys.

An overly elaborate version for use in this country.

Quirina is the feminine form of Quirinus, the name of the Sabine god of war. This is one mythological name that has not traveled to the modern world -- we've found no babies ever name Quirina or Quirinus in the US -- but with this newly-trendy class of names, anything is possible.

This name of a renowned Apache leader and mystic would be a difficult choice, since it was used as a rallying cry in so many old westerns and by paratroopers jumping out of their planes in World War II.