Country Girl Names

Dee is a slight midcentury nickname that might be short for Deanna or Denise, but might be too slight for today's strong, independent female.

A word name with fashionable o-ending that has associations with both the homespun fabric and the mottled cat. Alice Cooper named his daughter Calico decades ago.

The popular cosmetics brand Maybelline inspires at least a few baby girls' names each year. Company founder Thomas Lyle Williams created the name as a portmanteau of Mabel and Vaseline after watching his sister Mabel mix up a quasi-eyeshadow out of coal dust and Vaseline.

Old-fashioned nickname for a sister, almost never heard today.

We usually think of place-names as a modern invention, but in fact Arizona ranked on the US Top 1000 from its inception in 1880 until 1911, when it vanished below the surface. It peaked at Number 510 in 1882, before Arizona became a state. One notorious vintage bearer: criminal "Ma" Barker, born Arizona Clark.

An early unisex nature name that has been surpassed by others, Dale is still a simple, sylvan and serene option.

Overly trendy western place-name, as stated in the title of our book Beyond Jennifer & Jason, Madison & Montana.

Vintage nickname for Roberta or Barbara, most famously borne by Roberta "Bobbie" in Edith Nesbit's classic The Railway Children.

Britney Spears' little sister Jamie Lynn was one of the first to put this nickname on the birth certificate. Cute for a child, but we recommend giving her the option of the full name for later use.

Tied to country singer/sitcom star Reba McEntire.

May be the most modern, stylish Catherine nickname: more unusual than Kate or Cate, with an animal and word name edge. Cat Power is a trendy folksinger.

Mauve-tinted nickname with vintage charm that could just follow in the footsteps of ABBIE. More prominent now as the nickname for the Texas A&M sports teams.

As this word is less often used to mean derriere, it becomes more possible to view Fanny as the kind of appealingly quaint nickname name, like Josie and Nellie, that many parents are favoring now.

This sassy, spunky name was used for the mostly Irish jump-roping pigtailed girls of the thirties and forties -- and some Irish and Italian boys as well. Its most noted bearer was iconic country music singer Patsy Cline (born Virginia), and was sighted most recently in the Ab Fab movie. After reaching Number 52 in the late thirties, it dropped off the list completely in 1970--and we're not anticipating a return.

Just like Flora is for botanicals, Jewel is the generic gemstone name, not used much since the early twentieth century, when it was seen as a symbol of how precious a daughter could be. The French version, Bijou, feels more modern, as do Pearl and Ruby.

Cady is one of those names that sounds popular but is actually rare in this form, given to only a few dozen baby girls in the US last year.

While some sources assign the place-name the romantic meaning "beautiful daughter of the stars," the Virginia region itself says the name is of uncertain Native American origin with many possible but no definitive meaning. No matter: Shenandoah is a lovely name that's rare but usable.

Sprightly and engaging nickname for human, full name for pet. Author Jojo Moyes and dancer/singer Jojo Sliwa have propelled the name into the public eye.

One of those casual down-home names last popular in the 1960s.

Alabama is a hot southern place-name, picking up from Georgia and Savannah. This is not a geographical name come lately, though--there have been girls named Alabama dating back well over a century.