Two Syllable Names for Girls

Olwen is a Welsh favorite, the name of a legendary princess in what is believed to have been the earliest Arthurian romance, and in fact one of the first recorded examples of Welsh prose.

This variation of Brinley is currently the most popular of the plethora of alterative spellings. Ranking in the US Top 300 and given to 1200 girls in 2023, it is twice as popular as the traditional Brinley.

This name of a Buddhist goddess, a possible alternative to the trendy Maya, was chosen for their daughter by Laura Dern and Ben Harper. Jaya is simple yet unusual, a winning combination, and one of the out-of-the-box goddess names as well as one of the most easily translated Hindi names for girls.

Lumen is a Latin word meaning "light", and the term used for the measurement of light output (making it an attractive choice for science-buffs).

Kiernan Shipka, aka Sally Draper on Mad Men, brings this Irish surname into the girls' column. And, like Kieran and Tierney and Tiernan, it's one of the perfectly unisex baby names. Only 14 girls were named Kiernan in the US in a recent year...and three times as many boys. If you want to move beyond Riley and Kennedy to one of the more unusual surname-based Irish names for girls, this may be a good choice.

The Narellan is the name of a river in New South Wales. From this name comes this quasi-French girls' name, which is quite common in Australia.

Marine is an extremely popular and fashionable name in France that's virtually unknown here — and is ready to set sail. Marine feels more contemporary than Marina and less hippie-esque than Oceane, another popular name for girls in France.

Distinctly feminine form of the unisex name Liel

Cyrene was a mythical nymph and huntress who was beloved by Apollo. An ancient city in Libya was named after her.

A modern unisex update for Rebecca.

Revel is a joyous word name that may appeal to parents wanting a non-traditional Biblical choice or simply a name that expresses how they feel.

Lucienne is a soft and ultra-sophisticated French-accented option in the Lucy family, one that could provide a fresh alternative to such fatigued Gallic choices as Danielle and Michelle.

The most famous Sinclair was the (male) writer Lewis, but these days the name works at least as well for a girl.

Possibility for a dark-haired babe.

Short form occasionally used on its own, with an open and friendly androgynous quality.

Lettice is still occasionally heard in upper-class British families, but we fear it would cause too much salad-green teasing to be considered in the U.S. Calling your little Lettice Lettie could help make the name more user-friendly, or go all the way to the original Letitia.

Upper-crusty nickname occasionally used in Britain, particularly in 1930s novels featuring significant garden party scenes, but eclipsed here by Carrie et al.

Enticing modern nickname name possibility.

This surname gained momentum in the 1990s, when it was particularly in vogue for males. However, it seems to be experiencing a surge for females—it was one of the fastest-rising names of 2013, jumping 266 spots back into the Top 1000.

Pronounced like Sunny, Suni is the nickname of astronaut Sunita Williams. Suni is also the nickname of US Olympic gymnast Suni Lee, whose full name is Sunisa.