Modern Baby Girl Names

An established place name, associated with a sunny island in the English Channel, the Garden State in the US, knitted pullovers, reality TV, and a Broadway musical. It peaked in the late 2000s and though it is now in decline, 130 girls and nearly 50 boys received the name in 2023.

-ey meaning "island". Alternative theories suggest it comes from jarl ,meaning "earl" or hjǫr meaning "sword".

Seinfeld's George threatened to name his future child Seven, and then singer Erykah Badu actually did it.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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".

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

Smoky variation of Hayes.

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.

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.

Blakeley is one of the many -ley ending surnames that is being adopted as a first name, updating the 80s darlings Blake and Ashley.