Names That Mean Feminine

Pervasive in all Spanish-speaking cultures, Juanita, like Juana, has not emigrated.

Cyril has several attractive femaie forms, including the French Cyrielle as well as Cyrilla. The one downside of this unique name is that many English speakers will pronounce it like cereal, so you'll constantly be explaining, "No, it's siri-ELLE."

If there's an ancestral Earl you want to honor, consider Early instead.

Lively and joyful. Jovie could be a cute short form.

This, the simplest French female version of Paul, was brought into the U. S. mix by novelist Paule Marshall, whose roots are in the West Indies.

Oline is an old school feminization of the classic Scandinavian Ole or Olaf that is still popular enough to rank among the Top 100 girl names in Norway.

This Scottish name for girls has been sued since the 19th Century as a feminine given name, and has a surprisingly feminine sound for a feminization.

Lutza is largely unknown in the English-speaking world and might remain that way, due to its resemblance to klutz.

One of those quintessentiallyFrench names still wearing a beret, also too tied to the image of tires.

Another, more feminine, female form of Jacob sometimes heard in Scotland.

Cesarine is the French femininer version of Casear. It is used occasionally in French-speaking countries, including Belgium, Switzerland and Jersey.

A more substantial but less-popular feminization of Tristan, the originally-male mythological name now used for girls as well as boys.

Faunia is more often rendered as Fauna, who was a Roman goddess of fertility, women and healing. Faunia was the downtrodden yet loving heroine of Philip Roth's Human Stain. Faunia and Fauna have more gravitas than the doe-like Fawn.

Ulrike and its Anglicized form Ulrica were given to exactly zero baby girls in the US last year, while their masculine form Ulrich was used for a dozen baby boys. U is the least common first initial for baby names in the US, making Ulrike extra unique. Ulrich and variations is German and means "rich and noble heritage".

Novel way to honor Grandpa Henry.

As Joaquin enters the American mainstream, his sister might just follow.

Now that Jacob has been the top boys' name for several years, this may come to the fore, the way Michaela did after Michael's long reign at Number One. For now, it's one of the more unusual girl names starting with J.

Tarabai is an Indian name with a lot of feminist clout. Tarabai Bhosale was a 17th century Maratha queen who was a skilled military leader in her own right and successfully resisted the Mughal empire on behalf of her people. More recently Tarabai Shinde is often regarded as the author of India’s first feminist text - in which she rails against both the patriarchy and the caste system. Meaning feminine star, Tarabai is a perfect name for your budding feminist.

Rather than going with a yooneek spelling like Macen (or Maysen or Masyn), we'd suggest sticking with the original Mason, as Kelsey Grammer did for his daughter.

Light and cheerful, Gal·la is used for girls in its native Catalonia. The Spanish form Gala is even more popular both there and throughout Spain, and this spelling travels more easily around the world.