Invented Girl Names

Devony is a highly unusual girls' name that is occasionally found. While there were no baby girls named Devony on record in recent years, the name has been used over time for a handful of females. It may be a variation of the British county name Devon or a made-up name. Pronunciation follows the same rhythm as Stephanie.

Inspired by either Raleigh -- a North Carolina place-name and the surname of the explorer Sir Walter Raleigh - or by Raylee, a modern creation, blending Ray and Lee, Rayleigh has been steadily used since the beginning of the 2010s. Never as popular as Braylee, Kayleigh, Hailey, Jaylee, or Bailey, Rayleigh was given to around 160 girls - and 13 boys - in 2023.

A nouveau creation inspired by Paisley.

Arlenis Sosa, the hot young supermodel from the Dominican Republic, is popularizing this lovely and unusual choice, related to Arlen or Arlene.

Cerie -- which may be thought of as a variation of Siri or Cherie or Ceri but in fact is related to none of them -- is the name of Liz Lemon's assistant Cerie Xerox on 30 Rock. The gorgeous Cerie's name is pronounced seh-REE. As baby names go, you could do worse. But you could also do a lot better.

Heard in Spain more as a last name, but would work here as an alluring first.

The Kimberly of the current age, but currently less popular than either Ember or Everly.

Girl names ending in -lani are invented every year — Ehlani is among the latest pseudo-Hawaiian inventions.

This Latin-sounding place-name, created by C. S. Lewis for his Chronicles, will undoubtedly be adopted by a few admiring parents.

Zayley -- which may also be styled Zaylee or Zaylie or Zalie, among other spellings -- is a member of the squad of names that include Bailey, Hayley, and Kaylee and is always welcoming new members.

Delwen appears to be a modern invented name in Welsh, deriving from two common name components: del - meaning pretty and wen - meaning fair/white. Similar names include Delyth, also Welsh, and Elowen, which is Cornish.

Girl names ending in lani are one of the hottest trends of recent years, thanks to the lilting and lyrical Hawaiian name Leilani. Leilani has inspired a number of offshoots, including Kehlani and Meilani.

Oakley is one of the truest unisex names for babies, achieving a 56-44 gender distribution, favoring girls. Oaklee is 80% female and may serve as a clearer identification of sex, if that’s what you’re interested in.

Clia could be seen as a variation of Clea (probably another invented literary name), or the creation of L. Frank Baum for a mermaid Princess character in one of his Oz books. Offers a similar choice to Cleo vs Clio.

Kaylynn follows a current trend in naming: add a -lynn or -lin suffix to a simple, single-syllable moniker. Alternate spellings include Kailyn, Cailin, and Kaylen. This variation has one too many Ys, and one too many Ns.

The beauty brand name L’Oréal is rumored to derive from L’Auréale (literally translating to "the halo"), a popular hairstyle in France in the early 1900s. The first product created by Eugène Schueller, who would eventually go on to found L’Oréal, was a hair dye called Oréal. It is related to the French word for gold, or.

The name Dasani was created by the Coca-Cola Company in 1999 for its bottled water product. Like other brands at the time, Coca-Cola tested various invented names and ultimately settled on Dasani because focus group data told them "the name is relaxing and suggests pureness and replenishment."