Middle Names for Girls (with Meanings & Popularity)

ALLEGRA is a delicate ballet-dancer name; ALLEGRO, which means a fast-paced movement in music, is stronger and more vibrant.

This geographic name has lots of Gallic elan. France Nuyen is a French-Vietnamese actress who starred in the Broadway hit The World of Suzie Wong.

Chosen by aviators Charles and Anne Lindbergh for their daughter, Reeve is another single-syllable surname waiting to be borrowed by the girls.

Musical choice that may be a short form of Jasmine or Jazlyn, or might stand on its own like this or as Jaz, the spelling used by tennis duo Steffi Graf and Andre Agassi.

Dune is a haunting and evocative sandy-beach name, which also has sci-fi connections. Dune is a science fiction franchise that was launched by Frank Herbert's 1965 novel. Some interesting Dune character names include Alia, Leto, Siona, Bellonda,and Tamalane.

One of the rare cases where spelling a name with a y makes it less rather than more feminine. Birdie might be the freshest choice in this aviary.

A fresh and fragrant nature name, Cedar is one of the new tree/wood names that parents are starting to consider. A unisex option, for every one girl called Cedar, there are currently two boys. Nevertheless, its similarity to Selah, Celia, Freda, Sailor, and Ida could mean it doesn't feel out of place on any gender.

This old-fashioned word for poetry has some antiquated charm but doesn't exactly roll off the tongue.

Name that enjoyed some popularity early in the 20th century but now is locked in another, ahem, era.

Astrological name retains a hippielike Age of Aquarius feel.

Generally used in conjunction with another name to form a religious phrase -- for instance the daughter of rapper DMX is called Praise Mary Ella.

Not yet on the place-name map, this name has Shakespearean ties via the Duke Of Albany character in King Lear.

The mythical daughter of Eros and Psyche becomes a modern-sounding word name. Danger: could be seen as X-rated.

If Erykah Badu can name her son Seven, why can't you name your daughter (or son) this? Eleven has recently gotten a lot of attention via the character on the TV show Stranger Things.

Spacey.

Cool, cruising choice for either sex.

This unusual word name means a song sung to put infants to sleep, from the components lull as in calm and by as in goodbye. While it's not on record as being used for any actual babies in the US, it's a rhythmic choice and one of those unique baby names with more mainstream nicknames such a Lula and Bee.

"Girls Gone Child" blogger Rebecca Woolf made Boheme a first name when she gave it to one of her twin daughters (the other one's name is Reverie). La Boheme -- "The Bohemian" -- is a Puccini opera that was transmogrified into the modern play Rent. Boheme means a literary or artistic person who lives outside conventional society.

Fanciful, edging toward bizarre.