Three Letter Girl Names

Eos -- that's pronounced with a short e like eros without the r -- is the Greek Titan of the dawn. Any ancient name with a sleek modern feel has definite revival possibilities. Eos could be an inventive way to honor grandma Dawn.

This Anglicized form of the Irish Ruadh is traditionally male, but has a unisex feel — in fact, Rua was given to a handful of girls in recent years, but not enough boys to make the charts.

Could be a short form of Sylvia, Olivia, or any other similar name. Or a vivid Italian word name.

A short and zippy name that would blend right in with but also stand out among a group of girls named Mia, Gia, Lia and Tia. If you're searching for girl names that work in many cultures, this is an accessible yet distinctive choice. One caveat though: in an Italian-American family it would be strange to have a baby named Aunt.

If Sam can make it as a girl's name, why not Max? Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg's eldest daughter Maxima goes by Max, but you could also use it as a short form for Maxine, Maximilienne or even Margaux.

A very popular girls' name in Japan whose sound is consistent with its meaning. Another possibility is Ren.

Now that Faye is back on the Top 1000 after a decades-long absence, its spelling variations are being revived as well. Fae was given to nearly as many baby girls last year as Fay and may be especially attractive as a middle name option.

A male Biblical name meaning healer, Asa is also an international gem. In Japanese, it means "(born in the) morning". And in Scandinavia, where it's generally spelled Åsa or Ása and pronounced O-sa, it's a popular diminutive form of Old Norse names beginning with the element áss "god".

A very popular girls' name in Japan with an unfortunate English pronunciation: picture a toddler with a hurt knee saying "owee."

The original brief, breezy name is somewhat out of favor now even as a middle name. The Leigh spelling has more substance and is more identifiable as female.

Rey, a Ray-soundalike that has ranked on the boys' side for the past 15 years, is about to get more popular for girls too, now that it's the name of the new heroine of the latest Star Wars movie. While the sound of the name is nothing new, the royal connection is, joining names such as Reign (Kardashian) and Charlotte (the new Princess) in an expansive definition of royal baby names.

Old-fangled nickname could make dot.com era short form or middle name.

A simple name occasionally heard a couple of generations back.

Eli is more often considered a Biblical classic for boys, with the name ranking in the Top 100 alongside Biblical choices for boys, like Elias, Elijah and Levi. Despite this, nearly 50 girls in the US were still called Eli last years. While some parents might have been following in the footsteps of those naming their daughters James, it could also be a spelling twist on familiar Ellie, or a short form of the Scandinavian names, Elisabet and Elin. Either way, with its similarity to Ellis, Ari, Elizabeth, Evie, Ivy, Riley, and Eden, there could be scope for Eli to be seen as a gender neutral option.

Ira for a girl can be either a Russian short form of Irina, meaning "peace", or a gender-switch of the Hebrew male name Ira.

Kia is a sweet, simple name that is now, unfortunately, associated with a Korean car label. Better today: Nia, Thea, or Keira.

This distinctive spelling was popularized by the R&B singer Mya (Harrison) and has inspired many baby namers to adopt Mya for themselves.

One of the boys' names newly appropriated for girls -- either on its own, as a pet form of any J name, or as a singular middle name.

Short and feminine, Ria has a rhythmic flow.

French version of Leah, currently popular with French-speaking parents. In this spelling, it looks pleasingly like the female equivalent of Leo (or Léo), and sounds like Leia.