Four Syllable Names for Girls

The 6th-century Saint Scholastica was an Benedictine abbess, and is the patron saint of education. In modern times, her name has been connected to various educational institutions. This clunky name probably works best on groups rather than people.

A spin on Calia or Calla, with a lot of fashionable sounds.

Part-April, part-Felicity, but with the wonderfully whimsical feel of Serendipity. Apricity debuted in the US charts for the first time in 2022.

Given to children of both sexes as far back as colonial times, this carries a lot of baggage. However, parents continue to take the risk. Actress America Ferrera may be have inspired some families to choose the name. Ferrera's Honduras-born mother shares her unusual name.

One of the most popular names of all time in Portugal and Brazil, with a romantic, lively sound. The main risk is confusion with other names that sound similar: Catalina, Katrina, and so forth. Caterina, with an "e," is more common in Italy.

An attractive enough name, but for die-hard Star Wars fans only.

Alejandra, the Spanish form of this popular and multivaried name, has fans both in and outside the Latino community. Still, it has lost ground since its peak in the 1990s.

A pretty, dainty name for one of the little characters in the children's book series The Borrowers. It was the basis for a later Studio Ghible animated film, The Secret World of Arrietty. While the connection to Harriet is tenuous, you might want to consider Arrietty as an honorific for an ancestral Harriet, Harry, or even Henry or Henrietta.

Vasilisa is the feminine form of Vasili, the Russian translation of Basil.

In Greek legend Clytemnestra was the wife of Agamemnon, mother of Orestes and Electra. She took a lover while her husband was away fighting in the Trojan War, and upon his return she had him killed as revenge for his sacrifice of their daughter Iphigenia. She was subsequently killed by Orestes.

A dramatic nature-inspired possibility for either sex.

Scheherazade -- or Sheherazade --is a legendary Persian queen immortalized as the narrator of all one thousand stories in the One Thousand and One Nights. Her story is even more remarkable than the tales she tells.

This was the name of a 2nd-century BC king of Bactria. It was also borne by Saint Pantaleon – also called Panteleimon, as in Lyra's daemon in the His Dark Materials trilogy – who was a doctor martyred during the persecutions of the Roman emperor Diocletian in the early 4th century. He is a patron saint of doctors and midwives.

Fashionably Continental and much fresher than Dominique, though it's been used since the Middle Ages. Dominica can be spelled any number of ways, from Dominika to Domenica, but we prefer this version.

Analia is a melodic newcomer to the US Top 1000, a fresher spin on the Olde Worlde Anamaria. It charted in the US from 2009 to 2012, and then reentered the popularity list in 2015. El Rostro de Analia is a popular Spanish language telenova on the Telemundo channel, which probably greatly contributed to its initial entry to the US list in 2009 at Number 331 when it was unranked the previous year!

Despite being associated with male characters in the Bible, Anaiah is much more common for girls in the US. In Puerto Rico, Anaiah ranks in the Top 100.

Anahita is the name of the water goddess who rules, among other things, fertility and wisdom. Associated with Venue, Anahita is a stylish Iranian name for girls.

If your ancestry is Italian, you may want to consider this elegant twist on a classic.

Charming nature name made even more appealing by the connection to iconic nurse and statistician Florence Nightingale.