Invented Girl Names

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.

Rosabel, a vintage smoosh name created in the 18th century, feels slightly less frilly than her cousins Rosabelle and Rosabella. It could make for a more distinctive alternative to Isabel, or an unusual name that gets you to sweet nicknames Rosie or Belle.

Tauriel is the name of an elf in the film adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit, played by Evangeline Lilly. She is the head of the Mirkwood Elven guard, and a companion of Legolas. Her name was created from the Sindarin elements taur "forest" and riel "maiden’.

A cute nickname name that's risen high over the past decade or so, more especially as Kaylee, this name combines the attributes of Hailey and Kayla, Kylie and Callie.

Kaylee meets Hailey.

Many names relating to oak as in the tree are becoming more popular for baby girls, including Oaklynn, more popular than twin Oaklyn three to one. About 1800 baby girls were named Oaklynn versus 600 spelled Oaklyn.

Sypha Belnades is a witch in the Castlevania franchise, which includes video games and a Netflix TV series. Her name debuted on the charts in 2021, during the show's fourth season, when it was given to five baby girls. Sypha was inspired by the word "cipher."

The -leigh suffix seems to be losing its luster; several names in this category, including Kayleigh, Kyleigh and Ryleigh, peaked in popularity a few years back but have since lost quite a bit of ground.

A recent coinage in English, perhaps created as a variation to Anya/Anja and Aaliyah. In Arabic, the name can mean "vessel", "pinnacle" or "helper".

Gidget was the surfer girl who started it all. She was the subject of six novels by Frederick Kohner, and the 1959 film in which she made her theatrical debut, starring Sandra Dee, helped make surfing a popular sport.

Pop princess Amerie is half Korean, half African-American. Her name may relate to Amelia, Emily, Emery, or Amory, though there's no exact equivalent among historical names. But doubtless there will be more Ameries, starting now.

Zalie -- which may be styled Zayley or Zaylee or Zaylie, among other spellings -- might be a short form of the flower name Azalea or may also be a cute modern nickname-name used on its own. You might think of it as a member of the squad of names that include Bailey, Hayley, Kaylee and so on, which is always welcoming new members and is one of the prime group of cute baby names.

Not quite a nature name and not quite a surname — whatever Laken is or isn't, we know it's definitely a name to watch.

Anaya is a spelling variant of Inaya , a name that derives from the Arabic word "inayah", meaning "care, concern, help". It is an indirect Qur'anic name, and the strictly feminine form of the unisex Inayat.

While Alivia may not have achieved the megapopularity of its mother name, it's still a widely used choice. Alivia combines the trendiness of A names with the trendiness of Olivia to create a choice that's slightly off the beaten track -- slightly being the operative word here. Is the distinction the initial A earns you worth a lifetime of explaining, "No, it's Alivia, with an A, not Olivia"? Your call, though ours would be no.

A diminutive of Anxela in the Galician language of north-eastern Spain. Also used as a modern invented name in the US, for example as a backwards spelling of Alex.

Is Milani an elaboration of Italian city name Milan or is it a modern form of Melanie? While it's newly on the Top 1000, Milani is not a choice we recommend.

Nylah is the Arabic name of a princess -- Nyla is another variation -- that's rising quickly through the ranks, partly thanks to an adorable kitty that enjoyed 15 minutes of YouTube fame. But we predict this attractive and unusual name will get a longer turn in the sun than the pop-culture cat.

Kyrie elieson is one of the oldest religious refrains, meaning Lord, have mercy. As a first name, though, Kyrie is less a name of God and more a nickname-name that might be short for Kyra or a diminutive that stands on its own, a la Kylie. The best-known Kyrie is the male basketball player Kyrie Irving, who pronounces the first syllable to rhyme with my rather than fear. He has inspired more than 1000 baby boys to be given this name one recent year in the US, while it was given to 178 baby girls. Impressive numbers.

Combine two parts Paisley with one part Hazel and one part Harley, add a dash of Hayes, and voila: Haisley.