1798 Four Letter Girl Names

Whit is an uplifting short form of any number of surname-y full names, for Whitney to Whitaker. But Whit stands perfectly well on its own and makes for a witty spin on modern virtue names.

An attractive and easily translatable Finnish name.

Hawa is the Arabic equivalent of Eve in that it is the name used for the wife of first man Adam.

Slovene Mia cognate, rarely seen in the US.

Arce was the twin sister of the Greek rainbow goddess Iris. Arce is often associated with the seldom-seen, faded second rainbow. She had iridescent wings, which Zeus eventually took off her after she betrayed the Gods of Olympus. The character is lovely, but Arce is likely to be mispronounced in English in a very unhelpful way. If you fancy this name we suggest you go with the alternate spelling Arke.

Raja is a widely-used Arabic or Sanskrit name that works for girls as well as boys. Five baby girls were named Raja and seven given the Rajah spelling in the US last year, where for boys the popularity of the spellings was reversed: 18 Raja to ten Rajah.

Variant of Ayda and Aida, found especially in French-speaking Muslim communities. The trema indicates that the name is pronounced with three syllables: ah-EE-da.

Uncommon choice too reminiscent of "bidet". Try Bridie instead.

Barb is a midcentury nickname name that, like Deb and Sue, feels terminally dates now. But with the revival of Barbie, Barb may not be far behind.

A cutesy Hawaiian name with a pretty meaning.

Related to the Indian word and currency "rupee', Rupa derives its meaning from the ancient Sanskrit language, and can mean both silver and beautiful. Rupa also has strong historical and literary associations (as Rupa Bhawani was a noted 16th Century poetess and mystic) from Kashmir.