Middle Names for Girls (with Meanings & Popularity)

Heavenly, the word that's become a name, has been flirting with the bottom of the Top 1000 for a handful of years now. Heaven and cousins like Nevaeh have been well-used so adding the popular -ly suffix, ala Everly, seems like a natural progression.

Pretty sound, provocative meaning, but a little over-the-top.

Though many might find it too syrupy, hundreds of parents each year choose this name for their daughters to make them feel special. Precious Ramotswe is the engaging African sleuth in the popular No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series.

Sounds pretty. But pretentious.

Fey, for middle name purposes, could be thought of as a fey spelling of Fay. These days, however, Fey would be considered by most people to be honoring comedian Tina.

North's image and gender status was irrevocably changed when Kim Kardashian and Kanye West announced it as the name of their newborn daughter. But why not? West is firmly established as a name, Easton is coming up strong, and North has a nice solid sound as well -- certainly as appropriate for either gender. South, though, not so much.

A warm-sounding word and virtue name used by the Puritans and still popular in parts of Africa, especially in the Favour spelling.

An early day name worthy of consideration today for someone seeking a truly unusual name.

Authentic, melodic place-name for the adventurous, chosen by rapper LL Cool J for his daughter and given to nearly 80 baby girls in the US last year. Italia of course is what the Italians call Italy.

The late tennis great Arthur Ashe (whose wife was a photographer) pioneered word names when he used this for his daughter. It would make an interesting first or middle name possibility for parents involved with photography.

Many virtue names have long been in style or have seen a resurgence in recent years. Happy, however joyous, seems unlikely to join this trend. This could be because it doesn't have a solid history of being popularly used (in comparison to Joy or Hope) and because it's such a familiarly used word in day to day life (unlike Verity or Felicity).

Seinfeld's George threatened to name his future child Seven, and then singer Erykah Badu actually did it.

Used in France as a male name, this would make an appealing and unusual choice, as would two other Gallic month names, Avril and Mai.

Spiritual word names are becoming more and more popular – think Peace, Bodhi, Zen and Psalm – and Spirit is among the rarer options, given to a couple dozen baby girls each year in the US. It's the name of the horse in the kids' TV show Spirit.

In geography, a meridian is a line drawn around the curve of the Earth between the North and South Poles. The term comes from Latin meridianus, meaning "pertaining to midday", and the association with midday has led to the word gaining an added figurative meaning of "pinnacle; culmination".

Better for a perfume.

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

With the growing popularity of Celia and Cecilia, this vintage canasta-playing nickname name could be due for a comeback.

A contemporary sounding word name with an ancient history, widely used in the Roman Empire, and based on the mythic goddess of good luck and fertility.

No one will ever forget it. But Remember as a name came over on the Mayflower, so it has deep history as well as modern potential.