Lovely Little Girls

This hauntingly euphonious Choctaw name has re-entered the public domain, as memories of the outrageous actress Tallulah Bankhead have faded. For years, Tallulah was a name associated only with Bankhead, named for her paternal grandmother who was named after the Georgia town of Tallulah Falls.

Nickname sometimes heard on its own, sort of an updated Sally and playmate of Hallie.

Tassia is an obscure short form used mostly in Russia and Eastern Europe, where the name Anastasia as in the executed Russian princess is common. Rarely found in the English-speaking world, Tassia could make a distinctive and attractive nickname for this elegant royal name and can easily stand on its own.

Tatiana was derived from Tatius, a Sabine-Latin family name of unknown origin. Titus Tatius was the name of an ancient king who ruled over the Sabines, an ancient Italic tribe who lived near Rome. The Romans used the name Tatius even after the Sabines died out and created the derivative forms Tatianus and Tatiana. The names were eventually disseminated throughout the Orthodox Christian world, including Russia.

Thea is a diminutive of names ending in -thea, including Dorothea, Althea, and Anthea. It is also the Anglicized spelling of Theia, the Titan of sight, goddess of light, and mother of the moon. She was the consort of Hyperion, and mother of Helios, Selene, and Eos.

An important biblical name, being the wife of Moses in Exodus. Has a number of spelling variations, including Tziporah, Zipora(h), Zippora(h), Tzipor and Tzipori. The Yiddish forms are Tzeitl and Tzertel.

The "Tz" beginning of Tzofia represents the Hebrew letter tzadi, which is pronounced more like ts. So Tzofia sounds like Sofia with a light t at the beginning — intriguing, but a difficult sound for a native English speaker to reproduce. While Tzofia is a distinct name from the megapopular Sophia and Sofia, many people will hear it as a cognate and pronounce it the same...or like Zofia.

Uma is a sweet, strong name for a Hindu goddess... and a Hollywood one. But as popular as Uma Thurman is, other parents have not yet picked up on her name, making it a rarity.

Victoria is the Latin word for "victory" and a feminine form of Victor. It is the name of the ancient Roman goddess of victory, the equivalent of the Greek Nike, and also a popular third century saint.

Violet is soft and sweet, yet with a vivacious edge. Today, Violet is the top flower name for girls, outranking Lily and Iris in the Top 100, and the second most popular color name for girls after Scarlett.

Whimsy is a new entry to the ever-expanding word name lexicon, sister for Pixie and Bliss. While it has an undeniable offbeat English aristocratic charm (maybe we're thinking of Dorothy Sayers' fictional detective Lord Peter Wimsey, whose middle name was Death?), we see this as more fitting for a middle than a first name.

Willa has become increasingly fashionable, with its combination of Willa (born Wilella) Cather-like pioneer strength and the graceful beauty of the willow tree.

Rode two rockets to fame, with actress Winona Ryder and singer Wynonna Judd. Winona entered the Top 1000 for the first time since 1957 this past year in 2022, following in the footsteps of trending short form Winnie.

Wylie is one Celtic surname with as much appeal for girls as for boys. Wylie is ripe for spelling variations: Wiley is as appropriate as Wylie but when you spell it Wylei, as Corey Parker did for his son, you're getting into yooneek naming territory.

X marks the spot in names these days, usually at the middles or ends of names, but here is one that puts it squarely up front.

Xaviera is one of the most intriguing and rarest female forms of a male name. Only a handful of baby girls are named Xaviera in the US each year, compared with nearly 3500 baby boys named Xavier.

This name of the first recorded dynasty of ancient China is short and simple enough to make a possible Asian-American alternative to Mia and Tia. British-Filipino child star Xia Vigor has invigorated the name in the Philippines.

Yael is an Old Testament name often heard in Israel that could work well here: just remember that it's pronounced with two syllables...it is also spelled Ya'el. In the Bible she was a Kenite woman in the time of Deborah who killed the enemy general, Sisera.

Eire was a mythological goddess who named Ireland after herself. Rarely used today, even in Eire.