Dutch Names for Girls

Famke was introduced to this country via Dutch-born actress Famke Janssen, but is not likely to appeal to many American parents.

Could run into pronunciation confusion.

The usual form of Eleonara is Eleanora, with each syllable pronounced, but transposing, adding, or subtracting a vowel or syllable here or there works fine and adds to the international, feminine spin on a solid name.

This fairly obscure saint's name was chosen by Oscar-winning actress Marcia Gay Harden for one of her twins.

Sidonia is an international spin on the recently-trendy Sydney. Plus Sidonia has an advantage over the French Sidonie in that it sounds more distinct to the English speaker. An original way to honor grandpa Sid.

Rineke is a diminutive of a diminutive, which might have remained unknown outside The Netherlands were it not for the wonderful photographer Rineke Dijkstra.

Spelling variation of Amalia, rising in popularity throughout Europe.

A variation on Anne-Marie, this sweet name deserves the attention of some Anglophone parents. Note that "Mieke" rhymes with "Peak-a" not "Pike-a".

Like Jette, Jetje is kind of a diminutive for a diminutive: The suffix je indicates the name is a pet form -- think Katje for Katharina --in this case of Jet, itself a short form of names such as Henriette or Mariette. An English equivalent might be Ettie.

Variant of Marisa

As Anouk, a name that's newly popular in The Netherlands, this spelling is borne by Belgian supermodel Anouck Lepere.

Derived from Marie, the meaning of which is uncertain. Theories include "drop of the sea" (from Hebrew roots mar "drop" and yam "sea"); "bitter" (from Hebrew marah "bitterness"); and "beloved" (from the Egyptian root mr).

This name has spawned dozens of spelling variations, but this is one of the more unusual. People won't know whether the c is silent or pronounced as a k.