Animal Names for Girls

Amabella is an elaboration of Amabel, a popular medieval name. Neil Gaiman and Liane Moriarty used Amabella as a character name in their novels, The Graveyard Book and Big Little Lies, respectively.

Akari is a gender-neutral Japanese name used fairly evenly between the sexes in the US.

This Spanish month name has been quietly used for several years now in the US.

A name heard in the Jewish community and another addition to the color name list.

In fashion limbo with Anita and Juanita.

Variant of Cecilia used in several European countries, which could also make for a pretty variant spelling of the medieval English version, Cecily.

Basque names, indeed the entire Basque language, are unrelated to any other. Arantxa is a diminutive of Arantzazu. This obscure choice was made known by tennis player Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario.

This is a name used as a pseudonym by Celia in Shakespeare's As You Like It to conceal her real identity. It was later seen as a character in the Ken Follett novel Pillars of the Earth. Can also be spelled Alienna, taking it further away from the alien connection.

More than the sum of Abby and Ella.

A contemporary, feminized variation of Carson.

Bleuenn is a name virtually unknown in the English-speaking world but trendy in its native France. Bleuenn's origins are in Brittany, in the north of France, and it's related to the Welsh Blodwen. Other spellings include Bleuen and Bleunwenn. This might give the perfect twist to a color name that feels too slight.

The obscure yet not unappealing name of a legendary heroine of Rome. The ancient Clelia escaped an Etruscan invader by swimming across the Tiber River.

Alafia is a Yoruba name for peace and is used as a name for both men and women in Nigeria.

An elegy is a poem lamenting a deceased person. As a name, it could be used by parents in remembrance of a recently deceased person or as a euphonic and unusual literary name. The original Greek could also work.

An edible plant used in seed and spice form.

This glamorous name of a hot young French singer is catching on. Tessa and Barron Hilton used it as a middle name for their daughter Milou.