Names That Mean Hope

Simple, delicate, and unusual.

Problematic, even if not for Dilbert.

Merrill, once fairly common for males, is rarely used for girls (or boys either, for that matter) with this spelling. Chef Emeril Lagasse dropped the initial E from his name and called his daughter Meril.

This name was on the U.S. Top 1000 in the early 20th century, when recent immigrants frequently chose native names that have since died out for American babies. But if you're of Finnish or Estonian ancestry, you may want to consider reviving this one with a positive meaning.

Phyllida, a "Masterpiece Theatre"-style appellation, seems far fresher and more unusual than Phyllis. It's green-related meaning makes it one of the prime names that mean new beginnings.

This name gained widespread attention via the actress Taraji P. Henson, who was nominated for an Academy Award as Best Supporting Actress for her role in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. A variant is Taraja.

Appreciated by religious Jews for its connection to "Hatikva," the Israeli national anthem.

Norse god who's the son of light plus historic diplomat Dag Hammarskjöld and author Dag Solstad combine to boost this Nordic name's appeal, but this could be difficult in English-speaking countries where the obvious tease will be "daggy Dag."

Nadya and Nadia are Eastern European short forms -- for the more difficult Nadezhda -- now fully accepted on their own.

Fluttery and flighty. But there are a couple of names that mean butterfly you might consider, such as Yara and Farasha.

Strongly identified with peace-accord-seeking Egyptian president Anwar el-Sadat.

A positive name from mythology, given to the hope left in Pandora's box.

This cute as a button name stems from the Goonayandi word for the sun and can be used as a unisex name.

A relatively popular Arabic and Sanskrit name, which has a great positive meaning no matter which origin you claim.

Spiritual author Deepak Chopra made this familiar, if not particularly accessible, outside the Indian community.

Claribel improves on its mother name Clarabelle by distancing itself from the clown and the cow.

There are many lovely day/month/seasonal names -- and this is one of the most intriguing.

The usual form of Eleonara is Eleanora, with each syllable pronounced, but transposing, adding, or subtracting a vowel or syllable here or there works fine and adds to the international, feminine spin on a solid name.