Cat Names That Mean Lucky

Woody Allen introduced us to the name Zelig as the ever-morphing title character of his 1983 film. Zelig does have an upbeat meaning, and nickname Zelie makes it accessible for a girl, though it's an undeniably quirky choice for either gender.

A popular name in the Arab community, with an upbeat meaning.

Swiss-German variation of the Roman name Beatus.

The whimsical quality of the work of Swiss artist Paul Klee is somehow reflected in his name, although many would mispronounce it to rhyme with key. Say it like clay.

Sreya is an Indian name with several positive meanings--beautiful, fortunate, auspicious, favorable--and ties to the goddess Lakshmi. Spelling variant Shreya was on the U.S. popularity list from 2002 to 2005.

Portuguese form of Benedict

Yet another member of the Gwyn/Gwen/Finn family of names ultimately deriving from a Celtic element meaning "white", Guin gets rare use in England and Wales; a notable bearer is Olympic-medal winning rower Guin Batten.

A quirky international translation of Benedict.

Cornish form of Benedict

German painter and sculptor Bendix Passig bore this eye-catching name, a Frisian and German form of Benedict, also found as a surname.

Of the Faust- name family, Fausto is considered the most stylish.

In Roman mythology. Felicitas was the deity of good luck.

Faroese nature name.

The Yiddish name from which the common matronymic Jewish surname Glick derives.

Many Cornish names in use today are taken directly from the dictionary, as is the case with Bennath, a noun meaning "blessing." Despite its similarity to the male name Bennett, Bennath is most commonly used among baby girls.

Benedita is easy for an English speaker to pronounce yet sounds just uncommon enough to be intriguing. And with Benedict more in mainstream use, Benedita feels possible.