American Girl Names

Fiery Native choice.

Although it looks and sounds like the Spanish name Paloma, meaning "dove," Poloma has Native American origins from the Choctaw tribe.

Tied to the bluesy southern city and to the world heritage cite in Egypt after which it was named, Memphis is a modern choice with ancient history. Currently significantly more popular for boys in the US, as a place name with sounds reminiscent of Paris, Meredith and Emma, it has plenty of potential as a unisex choice.

A cute, upbeat name with a covetable meaning.

Alabama is a hot southern place-name, picking up from Georgia and Savannah. This is not a geographical name come lately, though--there have been girls named Alabama dating back well over a century.

Juneau, the name of the city in Alaska, has rightfully taken a back seat as a name to the classic Juno. Most famous reference: When the pregnant teenager is introduced in the movie "Juno," the prospective adoptive father says, "Oh, like the city in Alaska." Juno takes a deep breath and then says simply, "No."

Adds a soupcon of French flair to some old classics with the currently trendy ae ending.

Variation of Emma with the popular suffix -lyn.

Caylee was the third fastest-rising name in 2009 and peaked then at Number 263, but has since dropped in the charts, perhaps due to the Caylee Anthony association.

Kaylin is a variation of Kayla and Katelyn that had several years of chart climbing before reaching a peak of Number 372 in 2009. Cailin and Kailyn are two other spellings.

According to Cherokee legend, hummingbirds were healers, helping those in medical crises.

In Choctaw culture, babies were often named for animals or circumstances around the time of their birth.

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.

Resonant and unusual.

In Choctaw culture, people could have multiple names over a lifetime. New names would be bestowed upon tribe members after major life events.

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.