Surname Names for Baby Girls

One of the most popular Italian surnames, this refreshes Ross and Rose for both genders.

This fashionable-sounding surname is surprisingly rare, considering its proximity to popular Ryder. Musical fans will recognise it as the fictional high school setting for Grease (albeit with two Ls), after which singer Rydel Lynch was apparently named.

An emerging unisex surname name. Radley is more common for boys — it could be seen as an updated version of Bradley — but for girls, it's a rare alternative to Hadley and Adley.

Upbeat Scottish surname reminiscent of Kenzie. Kedzie Avenue is a major North-South street in Chicago, named after real estate developer John Hume Kedzie.

Juliet sound-alike Joliet actually derives from the name Jolie, and was historically a term of endearment, later a surname. It's an attractive alternative to Juliet names and could work to honor a Joe or Joseph in your life.

Azumi is both a Japanese given name and a surname. It was used as the title of an award winning manga series that ran between 1994 and 2008 and is borne by singers Azumi Takahashi and Azumi Inoue and voice actress Azumi Asakura.

An obscure European girls' name that will recall, to many, the Algerian surname of French soccer star Zinedine Zidane

Preppy surname that would make a fashionable first name for a girl.

An Irish surname choice that could very well make its way into first name territory.

Loyola is a Spanish surname occasionally used as a first name for girls. This is most likely in honor of Saint Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Jesuits. Loyola O'Connor was an American silent film actress.

A well-to-do London neighborhood, English surname, and potential route to the nickname May. Mayfair has everything going for it, and yet it couldn't be rarer.

Arrington originated as a habitational surname for those from a town of the same name in Cambridgeshire, England. According to the etymology of the name, the town was settled by an Earn or Earna — nicknames that meant "eagle."

A surname not often heard as a first, except in the case of English Gardner, the American track and field Olympian.

A jaunty English surname which may derive from "betony", the name of a pretty purple-flowering shrub. A famous bearer is British historian and broadcaster Bettany Hughes.

Palin has suddenly become a hot new surname-name given usually to girls. The inspiration can only be former Alaska governor Sarah, though the name Palin is her husband's -- her original surname is Heath. Palin herself is no stranger to the adventurous baby name, as the mother of daughters Bristol, Piper, and Willow, and sons Track and Trig.

Patel is the most common Indian surname in the US, with nearly 10% of all Americans with Indian heritage having this surname in their family tree. It originated in Gujarat, where it is still a popular last name today, and was bestowed upon those in the Patidar, or landowner, caste.

Sisley may look like a modern coinage, building on the fashionable -ley ending, but it's actually a medieval English variant of Cicely or Cecily, which in turn is a variation of Cecilia. Also found as an English surname, from the same root.

A fresh take on Jessica, Jessel is currently borne in the public eye by Jessel Taank, a Real Housewife of New York City.

A virtuous surname which has occasionally been used as a unisex given name, as in the case of Vanity Fair author William Makepeace Thackeray.

Many parents these days are responding to names meaning peace, and this is one of the more unusual ones (more often heard as a surname). Pronounced PACH-ee-a, it relates to such other peaceful names as PAZ, PAX, and PAXICO