Names Ending in D for Girls

Howard? For a girl? In the woolly new world of baby naming, stranger things have happened. One or two, anyway.

Kim Basinger and Alec Baldwin put Ireland on the map when they chose it as a first for their daughter, saying that geographic names were a family tradition. And it seems they were a bit ahead of the curve (or trendsetting)—Ireland has been among the fastest-rising names of recent years. Other Irish place names include Shannon, Kerry, Galway, and Dublin.

Fiery but slight middle name choice; much more apt to be a redhead's nickname. Instead, check out other names that mean red: Rory, Rowan, Ruby.

Kim Basinger and Alec Baldwin's daughter Ireland opened up the map for names like Scotland, and now that it's been chosen by Kourtney Kardashian for her daughter Penelope's middle name -- in honor of daddy Scott Disick -- Scotland is sure to appear on more birth certificates. Can Scotlyn be far behind?

The kind of serious old-school name that sounds appealing again; perfect for the intrepid baby namer. More commonly spelled Rosamund but highly unusual these days in either version, with fewer than 20 baby girls named Rosamund in the US last year while Rosamond didn't even register with five.

An even more unusual alternative to the fashionable Adeline and Adelaide, Adalind comes from the same Ancient Germanic root adal, meaning "noble". Adalind Schade is a character on the popular NBC show Grimm.

Gwyneth Paltrow's Apple has opened the world of botanical names beyond flowers to trees, herbs, fruits, and — why not — nuts. Cayley and Brandon Jenner have a daughter named Joan Almond.

Garland is fragrant and celebratory, and also has a celebrity-tribute tie to the star of The Wizard of Oz.

The ancient German name Adelheidis gave rise to both Adelaide and Adelheid. While Adelaide is more popular and better known internationally, Adelheid is still used occasionally in Germany, the Netherlands, and Scandinavia. The German pronunciation is not that different from Adelaide, with a soft h and a long I sound instead of a long A in the last syllable.

Sleek, unisex surname rarely heard for girls -- which could be seen as an asset.

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

This kind of plainspoken nature name (think River and Sunshine) may still carry a whiff of the hippie, but this one has a nice, airy feel.

This unusual English word name and surname was the middle name of American sci-fi writer Philip K. Dick, after his mother's maiden name. Its striking sound and appealing meaning make it a promising virtue name possibility for either gender.

Rosegold, or rose gold, is actually an alloy of gold and copper, used in jewellery for its warm, pinkish hue. It would make for a pretty and quirky girl name, with sweet short forms Rosie and Goldie.

A beautiful ancient Welsh name, the meaning of which is not entirely clear. It has been linked to the Welsh for salty, hallt or halenaidd. The "th" sound at the end is pronounced like the first sound of "then" (rather than "thin").

Sounds like Jude, but with a distinct Arabic origin.

Related to the Arabic Warda, Vered is a strong sounding nature name with a sweet floral meaing.

An ancient name belonging to "the most beautiful of all women" in Germanic mythology, whose tragic story features in many northern European legends. The daughter of Sigurd and Gudrun, her jealous husband had her murdered after she was accused of infidelity, and was then himself killed by Swanhild's brothers.

The Reid spelling is surprisingly more popular than the naturey Reed for both boys and girls, though more than 95% of little Reids are male.