Nature Names for Girls

Most familiar as the name of Tony Soprano's wife, but she spelled it Carmela. In the contemporary US, both Carmella and Carmela are used in near-equal numbers, given to a total of about 300 baby girls last year.

Clove is a spice name that is a tad more piquant than Saffron or Cinnamon. It might get more attention now as a member of The Hunger Games family of names.

Vivacious but lightweight.

Marine is an extremely popular and fashionable name in France that's virtually unknown here — and is ready to set sail. Marine feels more contemporary than Marina and less hippie-esque than Oceane, another popular name for girls in France.

This is a rare and lovely form of Susannah commonly heard in Israel. Shoshana Shapiro — nicknamed Shosh — is the character played by Zosia Mamet on the hit HBO series Girls — a fact that could give the name an upward thrust.

This Maori name, often heard in New Zealand, is an attractive, evocative choice for lovers of the ocean made famous – perhaps too famous – by the Disney heroine. Moana was also an alternate name for the heroine Ofelia in Pan's Labyrinth. Moana may also be a color name for a deep ocean blue ("lanu moana"). Moana and other Disney Princess Names are the subject of a featured blog.

Name of the licorice plant, this spice comes in the shape of a star, giving this name an extra level of sweetness.

Literary heritage: the "Loony Tunes" girlfriend of Porky Pig. But with the increasing popularity of all kinds of unusual botanical names, Petunia may be a name we start to hear more of. Perhaps-more-pleasing Petunia alternatives: Petal, Posy, Poppy.

Invented for Bellini's opera, Norma had some star quality in the silent-screen and Marilyn Monroe days, but at this point it's a graying grandma in baby name limbo.

Zariyah has several possible origins: the Arabic Zahrah which means "flower" or Zariya "scattering wind"; the Hebrew name Azariah, meaning "God has helped"; or the Russian word Zaria which means "sunrise, dawn."

A star in the constellation Triangulum Australe, also the name of a publishing imprint and an assisted living corporation, probably because it has that streamlined corporate I-could-be-a-car-name feel. Atria is the plural of the more familiar term for an entry hall or foyer, atrium.

The Halley version of this popular name family hit the Top 1000 only once, in 1986, inspired by Halley's Comet, named for astronomer Edmund Halley.

Similar to Ivana but less personality-driven.

Liliosa, one of the most extravagant forms of the ever-more-popular and varied Lily family, is an ancient saint's name that's a perfect candidate for revival by parents who love the double-L flower name trend but want a distinctive variation. Saint Liliosa was one of the martyrs of 9th century Cordoba, along with her husband Felix and cousins Aurelius and Natalia — all names newly fashionable in the modern world.

It's a car brand, a planet, and the messenger of the gods -- but it's questionable whether it works as a little girl's name.

Yes, though it seems so extreme, girls were actually sometimes given this name a century ago; now it is so uncommon it would make a strong springtime statement. Biggest obstacle: the nickname Daffy.

Jupiter may be known as the father of all the gods, but it's baby girls who have claimed his name for their own. Mythological and celestial baby names are hot across the board, so Jupiter was bound to rise in popularity. But the reason it's currently mostly female in the US is thanks to its similarities to the trendy feminine name Juniper.

A gem named for its green hue.

Bird name possibility, rarer than Lark and Wren but with the same short, punchy feel.

Deriving from an old English surname or from the alder tree, whose wood is used to make electric guitars, Alder can mean "old" if considered a variation on the Germanic alter or "red, brown" when you follow the root of the tree name.