Names That Mean Shining

Lainey is one of the many fast-rising nickname names of the last few years, and longer forms like Elaine, Alaina, and Delaney are enjoying their own bouts of popularity. Simple and tailored, but equally sweet Laine is not yet in the Top 1000, but feels stylish today.

Marilla is a names that's familiar via its resemblance to Mary and variations, but also distinctive: It hasn't been on the Top 1000 since the 1800s and was given to only 27 baby girls last year.

A name that sounds so old-fashioned some parents out there might conceivably find it quirky enough for a comeback, along with other one-time fuddie-duddies like Oscar and Homer.

If you don't want your daughter to be a Diva, try this Hindu moon goddess name that was chosen by actress Monica Bellucci for hers.

A kind of old-fashioned nickname name that's enjoying some fresh life thanks to trendy brother Lane. Lainie is a more old-school spelling.

One of many international versions of this classic.

Lainie is a nickname for Elaine that has been in the public eye via Lainie Kazan (that was her full given name), who was a popular singer in the 1960s and 1970s (she was Barbra Streisand's understudy in "Funny Girl"), and then became a motherly character actress. We still find Lainie a bit flimsy for a full first name.

This chic Ukrainian form of Helen is relatively unknown outside of its native country, but it definitely has international appeal. Olia or Olenka are the usual Ukrainian diminutives, but tomboyish Oli or Leni could work too.

Very popular in its native Turkey (Top 20 since 2014), this beautiful name has international appeal.

Simple-yet-unusual name with a creative meaning. Actress Sanaa Lathan promoted it, and it was on the U.S. popularity list from 2003 to 2011. Shaquille O'Neal used it as the middle name of his daughter Amirah. And spelled Sana'a, it's the capital of Yemen.

Kaguya-hime no Monogatari, "The Tale of Princess Kaguya," is a Japanese folk story, also called "The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter." In the story, a bamboo cutter finds a baby girl from the moon nestled in a glowing bamboo stalk. Her name is Kaguya, meaning "shining."

An attractive Scandinavian take on Helga, or a potential Helen nickname.

A common Chinese, Vietnamese and Korean unisex name, and the name of a culturally rich Chinese Dynastic period. Yao Ming is the seven and a half foot Shanghai-born basketball star. Trivia tidbit: His parents were the tallest couple in China at the time of his birth.

Girlish, but has a nice feeling of uniqueness and unity.

Eilo is one of the few masculine names to derive from a feminine one. It comes from Eila, the Norwegian variation of Elina.

An epithet of the sun and the Hindu god Shiva, also borne by a 12th century Indian astronomer. Bhaskar, a common Indian surname, is related.

Star in Orion that might make a fine name, except people will always assume it's Melissa, with a typo.

To some, may have the same warm feeling of Russian nicknames like Sasha and Misha.

A gentle old-fashioned compound name that has never been epidemically popular, but is now almost unused.

Yu the Great founded China's first dynasty, but in this country "Hey, you!" would make this name utterly confusing, in an Abbott and Costello way.