Modern Baby Girl Names

This Amy/Mia combination debuted on the US Top 1000 in 2013. It could also be seen as a variant of Amaya.

Rivers is an indisputably unisex surname with is strong nature connotation and its connection to the character Diana Rivers from Charlotte Bronte's novel Jane Eyre. Rivers is also the first name of one of the girl Sweet Home sextuplets.

Part Ava, part Lynn, and part cousin of the stylish Evelyn and Adeline, Avalynn is a recent 2014 entrant to the US Top 1000. But sometimes when a name is trying hard to have everything, it doesn't really impress. Avalyn is one spelling variation.

Fresh and fragrant nature name more apt to be used for a boy.

If Erykah Badu can name her son Seven, why can't you name your daughter (or son) this? Eleven has recently gotten a lot of attention via the character on the TV show Stranger Things.

Jaelyn is a name popular in many spellings and variations, including Jaelynn, Jaylin, and Jalen, and used for girls as well as boys.

Y is often used to feminize a variant spelling of a name, though of course there's nothing intrinsically gendered about it. The Karsyn spelling is slightly off its peak for girls, but rising for boys.

This extra-N variation matches up with the current preferred spellings of Oaklynn, Raelynn, and Adalynn, however it has always been outranked by popular Brooklyn. Though both spellings have trended downwards since their peak in 2011, Brooklyn maintains its place in the US Top 100, while Brooklynn lags behind in the #300s.

Kanye West and Kim Kardashian have done it again for their third child: Chosen a name that feels iconic yet strangely inevitable. They named North and Saint's younger sister Chicago, after Kanye's hometown. The name Chicago derives from a Native American word for "wild garlic," which once grew plentifully in the Illinois city, the third most populous in the US.

Chosen is officially a baby name thanks to Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton, who chose (can't resist) the word as the name of his newborn son. While it may inspire bad puns, Chosen is actually a pretty good word name: It's got the two-syllable, n-ending sound that is so fashionable for names, plus a positive, affirming meaning. Chosen is rising on the girls' side too now, given to 74 baby girls in 2022.

Icelyn and its more popular sister Icelynn have been among the fastest-rising girls' names in the US in recent years.

Smoky variation of Hayes.

Jianna was one of the fastest-rising names of 2020 after the deaths of Kobe and Gianna Bryant. It continued to rise in 2021.

With Henley and Kinsley two of the most popular new ley-ending baby names for girls, why not Hensley? We can think of several reasons, but if you like this style of name, Hensley is as attractive as any.

The K-spelling of Carter has been in the boys' Top 1000 since 2005. In 2014, Karter cracked the girls' Top 1000, too. Karter joins the plethora of surnames turned boys' names that are now entering the world of girls' names as well. This particular one also has the trendy Kardashian-Esque "K" beginning. The Carter spelling entered the Top 1000 for girls around the same time but currently sits higher up in the charts, hovering just around the Top 500.

Neo, indeed--though it was a male character in "The Matrix."

A trendy choice that takes a little from Riley and a little from Kayleigh, to create the rather appealing meaning, "beam of light in the meadow".

Divorces Aspen from its nature and ski resort associations. Aspyn first broke into the Top 1000 in 2020.

Actor couple Chyler Leigh and Nathan West added this one to the lexicon when they adapted the surname of actress Jennifer Aniston as their daughter's first name, Anniston. Aniston, which theoretically might mean "Agnes town," was actually Anglicized from the Greek Anastasopoulos. With its similarity to both Addison and Anna and its relationship to the attractive star, Anniston is taking off a la Jolie.