Names ending in a

The Elissa version of a long-popular name is fading in favor of Alyssa, Eliza and other variants. The legion of other forms and spellings includes Alissa, Allissa, Allyssa, Alyssa, Elissah, Ellisa, Ellissa, Ellyssa, Elys, Elyssa, Elyssia, Ilissa, Ilysa, Ilyssa, Lissa, Lissie, Lissy Lyssa.

Julietta feels newly fresh and friendly thanks to the growing familiarity of Juliet and French sister Juliette.

Cleta was one of the Charities or Graces.

Instead of the more obvious Aqua, Turquoise, or Blue, consider this offbeat Arabic name, brought into the American name pool by actress Fairuza Balk (named by her father for the color of her eyes). Since turquoise is the birthstone for December, Fairuza is one of the perfect names for December babies.

Sounds like a princess -- or an enticingly evil witch -- in a fairy tale.

Some parents, including rapper Ludacris, are literally bestowing good karma on their children; it could just join the new spiritual name congregation.

Malika is an attractive multi-cultural name--it is also a pet form of Amalia in Hungary.

Because of its meaning, this is a symbolic name given to girls born on Hanukkah, the Festival of Lights.

Kaiya reached a peak of Number 652 in 2002. This spelling performs worse than its sisters Kaia and Kaya, and it likely creates more pronunciation confusion.

Lucasta was invented by seventeenth century poet Richard Lovelace for a collection of poems dedicated to a lover named Lucy, and is familiar through the Eugene O'Neill play and film Anna Lucasta. Lucasta is a distinctive, rarely used choice and a logical extension of the Luke/Luc/Luca names.

This spelling is more unisex than either Luca or Luka, perhaps because it is also an Italian city name. However, it fell for both genders in 2021, as the Disney movie Luca sent that spelling skyrocketing.

This sweet and simple name has origins in both Yiddish and Slavic, each with an equally appealing meaning.

As Elodie filters into the mainstream, parents may turn to the rarer Spanish form Elodia as an alternative.

Fiery Native choice.

Inventive female form of Aloysius.

An anglicized spelling of Muirne, the name of the mother of Finn mac Cool in Irish legend, Myrna has a unique sound and two possible meanings, both of which are positive. Actress Myrna Loy was a notable bearer and her fame caused a spike in popularity of the name, when it reached the US Top 150 in the 1930s.

Amica is a word meaning girlfriend that is not often used as a name in Italy, but it would sound pretty and name-like elsewhere.

Ersa, daughter of Zeus and the moon goddess Selene, is goddess of the morning dew, which may make this an excellent name for a child born in the early hours of the day.

Obscure form of an old-fashioned favorite that's poised to make a comeback. This version, which owes as much to Alison as to Louisa, has a stylish A beginning and a multi-syllabic feminine grace.

The memorable folk singer, an early single-name celeb, brought this into the spotlight. The French variation is Odette.