Animal Names for Girls

Chris is one of the longest-running and still most appealing unisex short forms, still used nearly equally for boys and girls. Though no longer fashionable, Chris still feels crisp and appropriate for both sexes.

Long before the current place-name craze, a pair of the more daring pop singers of the Age of Aquarius picked this name for their daughters. Jefferson Airplane's Grace Slick used the conventional spelling, the Mamas and the Papas's Michelle Phillips went further afield with Chynna (of the group Wilson Phillips).

This unique baby name is stronger, more distinctive than April or Avril.

A nouveau elaboration of Arya that may have also been influenced by the rise of -ani ending names such as Leilani.

Cleora is a now-extinct name (there were no babies named Cleora recorded in the U.S. in 2012) that achieved some standing in the early 20th century thanks to the craze for all things Egypt-related. A range of Cleopatra diminutives, including Cleo, Cleora, Cleona, and Cleola, made the Top 1000 then as the ancient tombs were opened in Egypt.

Not to be confused with the Aria/Arya name family, Arja is a variation of Irja, which ultimately is derived from Irene.

The Disney surname is derived from the French d'Isigny, referring to someone from the Norman town of Isigny. Isigny may be etymologically related to the Germanic name Iso.

Clarimond is related to the Occitan name Esclarmonde, and is probably the more wearable of the two variations.

One of the rare English surname names originally derived from a female given name: Eoforhild (Everild), meaning "boar battle". Also spelled Averill, it's an extremely rare choice today, but shares sounds with fashionable Ava and Avery.

Brida, which may also be spelled Breda, is one of the many variations, Irish and otherwise, of the ancient saintly name Brighid. It's virtually unknown in the US, given to fewer than five baby girls in the most recent year counted.

Delphinium is the proper name for larkspur. It's also related to names like Delphine, which are connected to dolphins (the flowers were thought to resemble a dolphin's back).

Duke has recently been seen on the TV show Better Things as the name of the youngest of three sisters, the other two being named Max and Frankie.

The original Allison was a Top 50 name from the 1980s through 2016, and Allyson is one of the many spelling variations parents used to put a more unique spin on the original.

Davis may seem an unlikely choice for a girl, but over 50 baby girls received the name in the US last year, perhaps in honor of an ancestral David. Viola Davis is a notable female namesake.

A Slavic variation of Helen that might make an unusual update of that classic name.

Bowen is a Celtic surname representing two separate Celtic strains, one Welsh and one Irish, and entered the US Top 1000 (for boys) for the first time in 2011. It comes complete with cute nicknames Bo and Winnie.

Common in Wales, but would really stand out here. One of the middle names of Stella McCartney's daughter Reiley; Dilys Powell was a well-known British film critic, Professor Dilys Derwent a Harry Potter character., a witch who worked as a Healer at St. Mungo's Hospital, and was a celebrated Headmistress of Hogwarts School..

Although this name literally means disaster, the use of Calamity as a descriptor of Martha Jane Cannery, aka Calamity Jane, was meant to signal that she was a good person to have in troubled times. Calamity Jane was well regarded as a frontierswoman and nurse, someone who was said to be extremely generous and compassionate to the sick and troubled.. Calamity's connection to the American West gives this a roguish name a sort of windswept charm about it. Indeed, the most controversial aspect of this name is its connection to the frontier wars that led to the dispossession of Native American peoples.

Eisheth is thought to be the personification of sin, said to eat the souls of the damned in Jewish mythology.

Stronger and more contemporary twist on Carla or Carly, Carlin was used just about equally for girls and boys in the US last year.