Dutch Baby Names for Girls

Courageous sister of Raskolnikov in Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment.

Cato may have risen to new prominence in the English speaking world as an ancient Roman boys' name, popularized by The Hunger Games. But in the Netherlands, it's most widely used as a short form for Catharina and other forms of Katherine, ranking close to the Top 100, higher than any formal variation of the name. Cato for a girl is a cute idea and a fresh way to shorten the ubiquitous Catherine.

An unusual and straightforward name with an attractive Scandinavian accent; a royal name in Norway.

In old Norse mythology Lifa/Liva is one of only two people that are destined to survive Ragnarok (Nordic armageddon) and will therefore be the parents of a new race of man.

Elif is the Turkish form of Alif, the name of the first letter of the Arabic alphabet. Actor Natalie Portman gave another spelling to her son, Aleph.

Femke is a diminutive version of the Dutch or Frisian name Fem, which in turn is a feminine form of the masculine name Femme (still with us?), which is a diminutive of several Old German names names containing the syllable "frid" which means peace.

This Danielle/Monique hybrid offers a new twist on an old favorite.

Madelief is an uncommon name but not unheard of in the Netherlands, where 123 girls were called Madelief in one recent year. With its soft sounds and similarities to all those "Madeleine" type names as well as names ending in "eef/eev" sounds (Aoife, Eve, Genevieve), Madelief has potential in English-speaking countries to be a fresh and pleasant change from Daisy, Margaret and Madeleine.

Dutch supermodel Doutzen (pronounced doubt-son) Kroes has introduced us to a name from the Netherlands that might have a hard time in an American classroom and is nowhere near as glamorous as its bearer.

This is a Scandinavian variant of Margaret, and is pronounced MEH-teh or MET, rhyming with jet.

Nine is not a numerical name, but rather a Dutch nickname for Katherine. It's identical in sound to Nina, although the two are etymologically unrelated.

This Top 100 girls' name in The Netherlands is unlikely to translate to the U.S., where it would undoubtedly pronounced fee-line and mistaken for the adjective that means cat-like. While the name Feline -- and Felina and Felinus -- do have the same root, the considerably more charming pronunciation in modern-day Europe is fee-LEEN-ah. Some websites mistakenly relate it to Felix and give its meaning as happy or fortunate.

Fenne and its phonetic version Fenna are vintage names enjoying a resurgence in The Netherlands, where both make the girls' Top 100.

Lise is most often found in the U.S. as the second half of the hybrid name Annalise. Canadian journalist Lyse Doucet bears a pretty alternative spelling, pronounced LEESE.

Esme and by extension Esmee have gotten more popular in the US in recent years, but that extra e can confuse an already-confusing pronunciation, especially if you start adding accents.

Bente, pronounced ben-tah, is a popular girls' name in both The Netherlands and Denmark though largely unknown in the English-speaking world. It suffers by being a near-homonym of the English word bent, not the best dictionary equivalent for a first name. Still, if you're looking for a girls' name that equates to Ben or Benjamin or Benedict, this may be one of your best bets.

Saar is a very popular girls' name in The Netherlands, where it's an abbreviated form of Sarah. The Dutch feminine Saar, pronounced sahr, is distinct from the Hebrew place-name Saar used for boys in Israel.