Surname Names for Baby Girls

Stark hits many ears as a blunt and forceful word name, but it has a storied history dating back to ancient times. Stark is a surname derived from the Old English word stearc, meaning firm and unyielding.

Stark has drawn attention from parents recently due to its use on Game of Thrones, as the family name of House Stark. The ruling family's motto is "Winter is coming," making Stark a creative winter baby name.

A Yoruba surname as well as a unisex given name.

This steely surname has a simple, strong sound – similar to names like Sloane or Clarke.

Keller is a German surname that originated as an occupational name for a cellar or store master. It may be an honorific for deaf-blind author and activist Helen Keller.

This preppy alternative to Gen Z favorite Summer has the potential to be a big surname hit for girls. It recently gained media attention from Instagram model Sumner Stroh.

A German occupational surname deriving from the German word Bad, meaning "bath". Its most famous bearer in recent years has been (the notorious) RBG – former Supreme Court justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, making this a great feminist name or a nod to a lawyer in the family. Its simple, dynamic, er-ending sound fits right in with the likes of Harper, Piper and Saylor.

A spelling spin on presidential surname McKinley.

Obscure surname and Yorkshire and Lincolnshire place-name (where it's spelled Ferriby) makes a jaunty first. Placed in the public eye by Manhattan socialite Ferebee Bishop Taube.

Wave is used as a name in its own right, but on girls, it's most often seen as a nickname for Waverly. It lends a beachy, bohemian air to the classy English surname.

A unisex French name that ranks in the Top 200 for boys and the Top 500 for girls there, inspired by a character with the surname Swann in Marcel Proust's In Search of Lost Time. As a given name, it was popularized by the 1984 film Un amour de Swann ("Swann in Love"), directed by Volker Schlöndorff.

Place name and surname that sounds a tad snooty.

In the same unisex placename/surname style as Oakley and Hadlee, this name makes total sense but has never been on the American charts. Rushlee Buchanan is a New Zealand Olympic cyclist.

Randall Jarrell was an important mid-20th century poet; his surname makes a pleasingly soft name for a girl.

The Yiddish name from which the common matronymic Jewish surname Glick derives.

Branch is a novel unisex name with ties to nature and trees and also to branching out with new experiences and ideas. Branch can also be considered a surname name, as in country singer Michelle Branch. If you're looking for a tree name with more subtlety than Willow or Aspen, Branch is a great option.

Philosophical surname that could make an unusual first for a red-headed girl.

Japanese surname occasionally heard as a first.

Demille might be an honor name for director Cecil B. DeMille, a Founding Father of the American Cinema. DeMille directed such blockbuster films as The Greatest Show on Earth and The Ten Commandments</>. The surname Demille might also be used as a spin on the increasingly popular last name as first Miller.

Cantonese surname that is occasionally heard as a first. The lack of vowels would make this one hard to wear in English-speaking countries.

A gender-neutral Chinese name that originated as a surname, An can be used for girls or boys and means peace or quiet. An may also be a Vietnamese name meaning safe and secure. Its equivalence to the English article an may make it feel slight in an English-dominant culture.