Names ending in a

See NECHAMA.

Leanira is a type of orange, white and black butterfly.

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.

A town in the San Fernando Valley: slightly better than Encino or Tarzana.

Torquano Tasso likely invented this name for the magical enchantress who beguiles the crusaders in his celebrated poem Jerusalem Delivered. Armida is also the eponymous heroine of a Handel opera.

A whole raft of names that start with Adel are coming back into fashion, from Adele to Adelaide to Adeline to Adelina, and so Adelisa -- a hybrid of the Adel sound and the isa suffix -- was given to a handful of girls last year. While still a quiet variation, we predict we'll see more of Adelisa in the coming years, and as hybrid names go, it's quite charming.

A feminine form of the Latin name Flaminius, which derives from flamen: a Roman priest devoted to a particular "official" deity.

Like the Maori name, Anahera, Atchara is a good option for parents looking for the perfect name for their little angel, but wanting to avoid Angela and Angelina.