Girl Cat Names That Start With A

A representative Japanese name with a meaning symbolizing ripeness.

Alcina is an operatic name, best-known as the name of the beautiful sorceress of the eponymous Handel opera drawn from the Orlando poems. Alcina and her sister Morgana live on an island where Alcina seduces every passing sailor but once their novelty wears off, changes them into plants, rocks, or animals. Alcina comes with modern-sounding short forms Alcie or Alsie, which feel more baby-ready now that names such as Elsie, Elsa, and Isla are becoming popular again.

The tree, not the charred bit of soot in the fireplace, usually used for boys, but, as a short form of Ashley, works for girls too.

This old Persian name was chosen by actress Geena Davis for her daughter. It's an attractive variation on a name that exists in dozens of forms, from Alissa and Eliza to the French Alizee, but you'll forever be explaining how to spell and pronounce this version.

This name has many different connotations, from Tarot cards to a species of butterfly. It is related to the English word arcane, which means esoteric, mysterious, enigmatic.

Spelling variant of Arianwen. Note that in Welsh, the -wyn suffix is usually masculine.

Albertine and Alberta are old-fashioned feminizations ala Geraldine and Roberta. This is the kind of name that sounds very dowdy until a hip celebrity chooses it, at which point we don't know how we missed its coolness all this time.

An Indian name that has seen a recent uptick, especially in Canada. Asees was the title character of a 2018 Netflix family drama, and Asees Kaur is an Indian singer.

Ashley substitute with a slightly more unisex feel; it was picked for her daughter by TV host Nancy O'Dell.

Hot star Ashton Kutcher is pushing this unisex choice toward the boys' camp, but its variation Ashtyn is on the rise.

Feminine spin on Arnold that received a brief flurry of use in the early 1990s.

The açai palm is a tree native to Brazil that produces açai berries (the base of those trendy smoothie bowls). Since US birth certificates don't allow for diacritical marks, we are unsure if people are naming their children after the fruit (pronounce ah-sah-EE) or omitting the cedilla and pronouncing it a-KYE.

The color red plays a prominent role in Hindu mythology, referring to the rising sun or the reddish horses of the "son of fire." Pronounced ahr-OO-shah, it has a stylish Russian flair. Hindi version is ARUSHI.

There's still only one.

A medieval French name which belonged to the mother of Eleanor of Aquitaine (incidentally, Aenor is thought to be an older form of the name Eleanor). Its etymology is uncertain, but it may derive from the Germanic name Audamar, meaning "famous wealth'.

Ayan is an African name heard for both sexes.

Alcie and Alsie are antiquated short forms that feel more baby-ready now that names such as Elsie, Elsa, and Isla are becoming popular again. Mother name Alcina was an operatic sorceress who turned men into trees and animals.

Gwyneth Paltrow's Apple has opened the world of botanical names beyond flowers to trees, herbs, fruits, and -- why not. -- nuts.

Fanciful, edging toward bizarre.