Modern Baby Girl Names

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.

The invented Daleyza was the fastest-rising girls' name in the US in 2013, thanks to the adorable young daughter of Larry Hernandez, star of Larrymania. If you've been out of the world of baby names for a while, you may be surprised to learn that Daleyza is now one of the most popular girl names starting with D.

Legend joins cousins Story, Saga and Fable in the baby name pantheon of narrative words. Unlike Story and Fable, however, Legend comes with additional weight, being used for fame ("living legend") and to denote a person who is fantastic "what a legend"). Who can live up to that?

Royalty was the hottest name of 2016, moving furthest up the ladder to enter the Top 1000, and is also arguably the trendiest name of the past decade, used a whopping 71 times as often in 2017 as it was ten years earlier. Royalty represents the convergence of two important trends: word names and superlative names such as Legend and King. This is one we'll hear a lot of for a while.

Jagger, made famous as the surname of Rolling Stone Mick, gets an entry in the girls' column thanks to Ashlee Simpson and Evan Ross, who chose it for their daughter. For either gender, this name rocks...but a bit jaggedly. Currently, there are nearly 20 times as many baby boys than girls are given the name Jagger. That balance may shift, making Jagger a more truly gender neutral name.

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

A fast rising city name and on trend for boys, Kairo has unisex potential too. Similar in sound to Kaia, Kyra, Skyla and Kai, Kairo was chosen by DJ Zinhle and later rapper, AKA, for their daughter, Kairo Forbes. Given to nearly 50 baby girls in recent years, it may well catch on in the future.

A Puritanical virtue name and also a place name, belonging to the state capital of Rhode Island and several other towns and cities in the US.

This nouveau spelling peaked at Number 583 in 2004. In spite of its trend-making K and "ee" ending, Karlee is much less popular than the original Carly.

A sweet and simple Quechua choice with an equally pretty meaning.

Psalm became a name by the power of Kim Kardashian and Kanye West, who chose it for their younger son in 2019. As a spiritual word name however, it is a perfectly gender neutral choice that works just as well for girls. The name is now 7 times more popular than it was before Kim and Kanye put it on the map, and in a recent year, it was given to 40 girls and 120 boys.

Blending the sounds of Bryce, Brian, Riley and Kylie, Bryleigh is a modern invention that ranked in the US Top 1000 from 2010 to 2017, alongside its more popular counterpart, Brylee. Peaking in 2015 when it was given to 320 girls, Bryleigh has since been in decline, pushed out by Brynleigh and Everleigh.

Vanellope is a Disney creation, given to the protagonist of "Wreck it Ralph" and now a character on Sugar Rush. She is energetic, tomboyish and very sassy. Read more about Vanellope and other Disney Princess Names in our featured blog.

Lexington is rising as a place name used just about evenly for the genders. For Americans, it's got a patriotic ring, given the importance of Lexington, Massachusetts in the Revolutionary War. Lexington, Kentucky, in horse country, is another famous place with the name.

Zeppelin is a fast-rising Z name for both sexes — a cool choice that evokes aviation and classic rock. Nick Cannon used it as the middle name for his 11th child, daughter Beautiful Zeppelin.

Arya has become a popular name thanks to the young heroine of Game of Thrones and because of the rise of similar Aria too. Now, variation Aarya has risen up the charts, making the Top 600 in the UK.

This name caught the attention of American parents beginning in 2018, when the Fox show The Four: Battle for Stardom premiered. Zhavia Ward was a finalist on the first season.