Celebrity Girl Names

Ed Sheeran put this continental place name on the map when he used it as the middle name for his daughter Lyra, born in 2020.

Spiritual word names are a hot trend and ever-expanding category of baby names. Chapel was notably used in 2020 by Josh Brolin for his daughter. He said of her name, "Chapel Grace is, to us, a manifestation of that celestial feeling that was always felt as we meandered and knelt."

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?

Much fresher and more energetic than Dominique.

Stormi is like Sunni, with angst. If naming your child Storm or Stormy is asking for trouble, naming her Stormi -- as Kylie Jenner and Travis Scott did -- is asking for trouble of several different kinds. But we're sure she'll be adorable and as celebrity baby names go, this one is nearly normal.

Lisa Ling made Jett an option for girls when she gave it to her daughter in 2013.

Chance feels like a mainstream pick for boys thanks to Chance the Rapper and several starbabies with the name. It hasn't caught on in the same way for girls, but it makes a strong alternative to the rather slight Lucky.

Gigi Hadid and Zayn Malik chose the stylish and meaningful name Khai for their daughter, born in September 2020. It honors Gigi's paternal grandmother Khairiah Daher Hadid, whose name is a variation of Khairiya, which is found in the Quran.

Elula, female derivation of Elul, the name of the sixth month on the Hebrew calendar, was used by Isla Fisher and Sacha Baron Cohen for their second daughter. The couple kept their unusual choice under wraps for several months, perhaps to get a head start on the hordes of fans who might adopt the fashionable-yet-unusual double-l name for their own. Reminiscent of (though not actually related to) Eulala, the stylish pick of Marcia Gay Harden for her daughter. Lula, Lulu, or Lu could be short forms.

Tied to the bluesy southern city and to the world heritage cite in Egypt after which it was named, Memphis is a modern choice with ancient history. Currently significantly more popular for boys in the US, as a place name with sounds reminiscent of Paris, Meredith and Emma, it has plenty of potential as a unisex choice.

Meilani may sound like a Hawaiian name, kind of a mashup of Leilani and Melanie, but it's actually an invention by that style-maven JWoww, AKA Jenni Farley of Jersey Shore, who used it for her daughter. It debuted in the US Top 1000 in 2015.

This phonetic spelling of a traditional Scottish male name wasn't seen until used by Vince Vaughn for his daughter. As Lachlan becomes more of an established boy's name in the US, more parents are turning to the Locklyn spelling on the girl's side.

Evocative of the sand dunes at the beach, Doone is a relatively rare surname found in Scotland, Ireland and England. It was recently used with this spelling by Olympic medalist Amanda Beard; photographer Diane Arbus named her daughter Doon, inspired, yes, by walks along the sand dunes during her pregnancy.

Marvel, now a character name in The Hunger Games series, was a miracle name of yesterday, on the girls' Social Security list until 1941 and reaching a high of 487 at the turn of the last century, when Marva was also in style.

Rappers Cardi B and Offset gave the truly unique word name Kulture to their daughter in 2018. Its message is more inclusive and artistic than such elevated celebrity baby names as Saint, Reign, and Sir. Kulture may refer to a creative culture or a social culture. The baby's middle name is Kiari, which is dad Offset's birth name.

Kulture is one of the most unique celebrity baby names of recent years.

Antique girl names like Louise, Louisa, Loretta, and Etta are all on the rise, and Louetta is a hidden gem among them. Rumer Willis recently revived this vintage compound name for her daughter, Louetta Isley Thomas Willis. Louetta, a combination of Lou and Etta, was used consistently from the 1910s-1960s' but has never been given to more than 50 baby girls in a single year.

Names that have not historically been names are not intrinsically gendered, so though we originally pinned Arrow as a boys' name, both starbaby Arrows that have been born recently have been girls. And with Arrow given to 60 girls in the US in 2015 and 94 boys, we call that a pretty decidedly gender neutral name. With its forward-moving, true-landing imagery, Arrow is one of the new inspirational names.