Girl Dog Names That Start With P

Patrice is a more modern-sounding and polished unisex alternative to Patricia.

Padmé Amidala, played by Natalie Portman, was one of the main characters in the Star Wars prequels, the mother (with Anakin Skywalker) of Luke and Leia. Enough time may have passed for it to be conceivable as a first name IRL.

A bit syllable-heavy, but a pretty name for a springtime baby.

This mild-mannered short form was Queen of the Prom in the fifties and sixties, but today is mostly heard on TV's The Office (and of course as one of the founders of Nameberry).

Though many might find it too syrupy, hundreds of parents each year choose this name for their daughters to make them feel special. Precious Ramotswe is the engaging African sleuth in the popular No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series.

Une amie for Gwyneth's little girl.

Sophisticated, stylish feminine form of Pascal especially appropriate for girls born around Easter or Passover.

The power of the popular ella sound is sapped in this cross-cultural choice.

This operatic Italian name -- it appears in Mozart's "The Magic Flute" -- is a more unusual route to the nickname Pam/Pammy.

Panda, welcome to the baby name menagerie! Panda is an adorable animal name (after an adorable animal) that is sure to be both very rare and very cute. In Skins there was a character called Panda, which was short for Pandora. The name Panda comes from the Nepali word ponya meaning "bamboo eater".

The Shakespearean Portia may be a real name, but Porsche is now and forever a car, not a little girl.

Peanut is a name you might call a baby in the womb, but at least one set of parents put it on the birth certificate too. General Hospital star Ingo Rademacher and his fiance Ehiku named their son Peanut Kai.

A lyrical choice.

Potential alternative to Piper. Streamlined Fifer would probably be the preferred spelling if it wasn't for high-profile actress Michelle Pfeiffer.

Petronilla is an ancient saint's name that relates to the Roman family name Petronius, thought to mean yokel, though some connect it with Petra or Peter, meaning stone. With the resurgence of so many ancient Roman names, the elaborate and pretty Petronilla or its French form Petronille seem more usable these days than they have in centuries.

Spaniards use Pax and Paz, Hebrew speakers Shalom, for Greeks it's Irene, so why can't we make the English word Peace a name? Peace Adzo Medie is the author of the novel His Only Wife.

A handful of baby girls were named Poem in the US in the most recent year, along with Poet and Poetry. But of course, these word names can work for boys too.

Surname-sounding unisex cousin of Peyton is gaining in popularity, especially for girls.

Pania is a possible alternative to Tania, if you want to go the New Zealand rather than Russian route.

Olympic skier Picabo Street was allowed to choose her name at the age of three, and picked it possibly (a) after a nearby Idaho town or (b) because she loved to play peekaboo. No longer a single-person name, it is now worn by a number of satisfied bearers.