Names ending in a

Intriguing Russian possibility, even though proper pronunciation would not be obvious. Ilya might be a more manageable option.

Properly spelled Lāsma in Latvian, this name has one of the prettiest meanings around.

While the original Irish St. Columba was male, the modern Irish variation Colm or Scottish Callum would be more appropriate for a contemporary boy. We can, however, imagine Columba as a rhythmic and contemporary-sounding girl's name.

Arcangela is a heavenly possibility if Angel or Angela isn't elevated enough for you.

Like Quentin, Quintin and Quintana, Quintia was once reserved for the fifth child in a family, but now would make an interesting choice for a child coming anywhere in the birth order.

Claudina — a traditional Spanish diminutive of Claudia — was a Top 500 name in Spain for the first half of the 20th century. It never caught on as a given name in the US. At its peak, Claudina was given to 17 American baby girls in 1969.

Fresher diminutive form of Gertrud

Well used in Israel and in Russia, either on its own or as an endearment for Galila or Galina.

Mar — Spanish for "sea" — was a fast-riser in 2022. The beautiful Marea, meaning "tide" certainly deserves consideration as well.

The name of a breed of Spanish sheep is hardly worthy of a child.

This Catalan classic — spelled Nuria in Spanish — is the name of a valley in Catalonia with a shrine to the Virgin Mary, making this both a Marian name and simply a place name. Or maybe not so simply: during Franco's dictatorship, place names were a way to sidestep the rule that all names had to be Spanish, so Núria became popular as an act of Catalan patriotism. It is still in the region's Top 100 girl names.

Omega is an unusual name used now equally for boys and girls, though the a ending is conventionally feminine. More popular boys' names, like Omega, end in the a sound these days: Joshua, Noah, Micah.

Now that Jacob has been the top boys' name for several years, this may come to the fore, the way Michaela did after Michael's long reign at Number One. For now, it's one of the more unusual girl names starting with J.