Two Syllable Names for Girls

Ettie or Etty works as a nickname for any name with a prominent "et" sound, usually at the end: think Henrietta, Juliette or Colette. The -ette ending is a French diminutive suffix.

Name of the enslaved girl in Dumas' The Count of Monte Cristo sounds more like a modern invention, though it's related to another time-honored literary heroine name: Haidee from Byron's "Don Juan."

Oh dear! We can see where you were going with connecting this name to the classic "Leah," but it just doesn't work. We recommend sticking with the classic Malia.

A subtle literary surname choice: Estlin is the second "E" in E.E. Cummings (the first being Edward). Works equally well on both men and women.

The Turkish form of Amina, and an extremely popular name in its native land. Famous bearers include writers Emine Semiye Önasya and Emine Çaykara, and politicians Emine Ayna and Emine Ülker Tarhan. The current first lady of Turkey is also named Emine.

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

With geographical features like Savannah and Sierra and increasingly getting the baby-name treatment, could icy Tundra also see some use? It's only appeared six times on the Social Security rankings, all in the 1960s and 70s.

This rare name crosses cultures. With the popularity of Ella and Bella, perhaps we'll hear more of Pella one day soon?

Lexus, an automotive newcomer, has recently entered the Top 1000 -- more because of its association, we fear, with the status symbol car than its relation to the name Alexis. If you love this name, do your child a favor and make it Alexis or at least spell it Lexis.

A common name in Indonesia that would not work well in English-speaking countries, being too close to putrid or putty.

Halie is the name of several figures in Greek mythology, most of them sea nymphs.

To most, the name Austra is most likely to be connected to Australia (or Austria), but to Latvians, Austra was the goddess of the dawn.