Names ending in a

Has a petite, dainty charm.

Rarely heard in the US, but borne by Jorma Taccone an actor featured on the TV series Girls., who was named after the Jefferson Airplane guitarist Jorma Kaukonen. Taccone--who plays Booth Jonathan on the show-- has been quoted as saying, "I grew up in Berkeley and my parents were hippies, obviously, since my name is Jorma.

An ancient Roman name with a heavy metal vibe, Metella has never featured on the US charts. But there's nothing wrong with it — it could be an interesting alternative to names like Magnolia and Minerva.

A common name among Turkey's Muslim population.

A rarely heard ancient Latin names for girls that has a not-so-appealing brand name feel. Try Alba instead.

Strong and striking Persian and Arabic name, currently popular in the Netherlands and in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

An appealing unisex Hawaiian name (more commonly used for boys) with a lovely meaning and vibrant sound. It derives from the words ke "the" and aloha "love". Keahloha is also a common Hawaiian surname.

An intriguing variation of classic Mary that could act as a more inherently feminine alternative to the rising unisex Micah.

Ibiza — a Spanish island in the Mediterranean Sea — stems from the Arabic word Yabisah, meaning "land".

The lovely Portuguese word for "pearl" (Pérola) was seldom used as a first name even in Brazil and Portugal until it was the name of a character on a popular telenovela "Joia Rara." It is also the name of a town in the south of Brazil, near the Paraguayan border.

Madhava is given as a name among Hindu baby boys, as Madhava is an epithet for the god Krishna. Madhava of Sangamagrama was a 14th-century Indian mathematician and astronomer whose contributions influenced later discoveries in calculus.

In America, it is inextricable from the popular '90s line dance, but Macarena is a traditional feminine name in Spain. It is used in honor of the Virgin of Hope of Macarena, an epithet of the Virgin Mary. Macarena is also the name of a hip neighborhood in Seville.

South America provides a continent of interesting, undiscovered names -- Bolivia, Peru, Brazil, and the tango-rhythmed Argentina.