Names ending in a

An international take on Dara.

In Greek mythology, Adrastea (or Adrasteia) was a nymph who helped raise the infant Zeus. It was also sometimes used as an alternate name for several other goddesses, and is the name of one of the moons of Jupiter.

The name of several early saints, including one, Pelagia the Penitent, a beautiful and licentious dancing girl who repented, then, disguised as a man, spent the rest of her life living alone in a cave on the Mount of Olives. Because of her early vocation, she is the patron saint of actresses.

Martia, more distinctive than cousins Marta, Marcia and Marsha, also has a strong image and slightly unexpected feel.

In the days of huge families, this name of the Roman goddess of prophecy and childbirth, and one of the Fates, would be saved for bambina number ten. Now it might be used for a girl born in October, the tenth month.

The goddess of dawn, twilight, and dusk, is also the patron goddess of beauty, virgin women, and flowers in Incan mythology.

The name of a wise and beautiful 10th century BC Ethiopian queen, probably the same person as the Queen of Sheba, who visited Solomon in the Old Testament.

You can think of Lilyanna as a variation of Liliana, the Spanish and Italian form of Lilian, or as a combination of the names Lily and Anna. All types of Lily-related names have been fashionable for many years now, with Lillian and Lily the most common and many other variations in use. What that means is that any little girl with any of the Lily variations is likely to find plenty of company—maybe too much, depending on your viewpoint. This version of the name has been in the US Top 1000 since 2009, though it may not be there much longer.

In Celtic mythology (later borrowed into the Roman empire), Epona is the goddess of horses and fertility. Link's horse in The Legend of Zelda is fittingly named Epona.

An invention of the eighteenth-century romantic poet James Macpherson, in his epic cycle about Ossian, a legendary Celtic hero. In Poland, where it was popular at the start of the 20th century, the spelling is Malwina, and it's also had some use in other Eastern European countries.

The Roman equivalent of Persephone, making her a goddess of spring, and queen of the underworld. Also spelled Proserpine.

This floral name, related to bloom and Blossom, is common in the Jewish community, but not often heard outside it. Other Yiddish nature names are Ita (star), Masha (rising water), and Mayim (water).

Sounds like and is often confused with Asia, though it has an air of retro cool via the seminal Steely Dan album. Or, pronounced eye-ah, it can be an alternate spelling of the international favorite Aya.

Something slightly negative about that Nil beginning; more positive similar names would be Lilla or Willa, Lucilla or Priscilla. Nilla may also be a short form of the Scandinavian Gunilla.

The addition of the h makes it more Old World, which is not the direction you want to push Matilda in.

This variant of the more-difficult Afua, from the Akan language of what is now Ghana in West Africa, is a traditional "day name" that can make a perfectly pretty modern choice.

Spanish and Romanian form of Ottilia or Odilia

Hilla is a rising girl name in Finland, where it is seen as both an independent name and a short form of names beginning with Hil-.

Most Africas today would be named for the continent, but the name actually existed in Scotland in medieval times, where there was a Celtic queen named Affrica. Africa has also been a Spanish name for girls since 1421. The church of the Virgin "Nuestra Senora de Africa" is in Ceuta, the Spanish city she is Patron of, in North Africa.