Names That Mean Form

Rarely heard outside the Jewish community; another form is Minda.

A striking form of international favourite Maria, the meaning of which is uncertain. Theories include "drop of the sea" (from Hebrew roots mar "drop" and yam "sea"); "bitter" (from Hebrew marah "bitterness"); and "beloved" (from the Egyptian root mr).

Many C forms of this name are becoming more popular, from Cassia for girls to Cassian, Cassius, and Caspian for boys, so Kass feels more possible today too. And Kassia and Kassiani are both intriguing longer forms.

Ellar Coltrane, the star of Richard Linklater's acclaimed 2014 movie "Boyhood," is an outlier, namewise. Most others with his first name are girls, and there aren't even many of them -- the last time the Social Security Administration registered the name at all was in 1956, when six girls were named Ellar. Still, with Gaelic names being trendy, and the "El-" sound on the rise, it has some potential.

Frederique, the soigne name of Dutch-born model Frederique Van der Wal, is a lot more sophisticated than the dated MONIQUE. Still, as feminine forms of the Fred names go, we prefer the Italian Federica or the distant Spanish cousin Fernanda.

While Austin is a popular boys' name, this spelling, honoring novelist Jane, nudges the name toward gender-neutral, chosen last year for 67 baby boys and 57 girls.

The name recently given to their daughter by Susan and Robert Downey, Jr. is pronounced like Avery and may be seen as a kree8tiv spelling variation of that popular unisex name or a girlish short form of Avraham, the Biblical Hebrew form of Abraham.

Ode could be part of the extended Otto/Otis family, or it might be a literary term, referring to an elaborate lyric poem.

A pretty Roman name, but unfortunately also the English vocabulary word mania. Spelling it Manya would avoid the issue.

William has any international variations, including the super-popular Liam. This version is largely unknown beyond the South Sea Islands.

Betsan is little-known outside of the U.K. but it could provide an intriguing alternative to Liz, Beth, Betsy, Betty, and Libby.

Kostas makes the ancient emperor's name more approachable.

Gianni, the Italian form of Johnny, has gotten popular in the US, and there's a good chance Giannis will be next, thanks to rising star basketball player Giannis Antetokounmpo, who is Greek. It makes an original spin on John or Jonas - though, it should be noted that the traditional Greek pronunciation would be YAH-nees. Other spelling variations are Iannis and Yanis - the latter perhaps being popular in France and on the rise in the UK.

Omero lifts Homer out of both The Simpsons and The Odyssey, making it a romantic name ala Romeo. Some sources give the meaning of Omero and Homer as "hostage".

A Slavic variation of Helen that might make an unusual update of that classic name.

Finja Is a Josephine nickname that ranks among the Top 100 girl names in Germany.

Bartholomew is one vintage name with Biblical antecedents that hasn't risen again in the modern world, perhaps because short form Bart, as in Simpson, would be too difficult for a contemporary boy to bear. But antique nickname Bat might work better. Might.

Also spelled Anael, this offers a new spin on an old standard. Or even a couple of old standards, if you count Annabelle.

Bennett doesn't really need feminizing — over 100 baby girls in 2020 were given the name as it is — but if you need to make it clear that it's a girl name, Bennette is one way to do that. It was given to five girls in 2020, and before that had not been on the charts at all since 1981.

There are almost the exact same number of female and male Sidneys born in the US these days, which makes Sid a perfect gender-neutral nickname. And cute for boys or girls.