If Abigail's too popular and Tabitha is too...."Bewitched."

Abitha

Acadia, the French name for Nova Scotia and the name of a gorgeous national park in Maine makes a fresh, rhythmic choice for your little girl. Acadia is an original yet accessible member of the stylish <a href="https://nameberry.com/search/girls-names/a">girl names starting with A</a>.
 The origin of the New World place name dates back to the sixteenth century borrowing of the ancient Greek name Arcadia, ultimately from the Greek word for "bear".

Acadia

This undiscovered unisex name has lots of flair. It was first noticed as a girl's name, starting in the 1980's, on the long-running daytime drama Search for Tomorrow, with the character Adair McCleary, who had ahead-of-their-time brothers named brothers Hogan, Cagney and Quinn. But since Adair has yet to find many takers, it would make a fresh and appealing choice.

Adair

Adira is one of those rare names that's both little-used and simple, and crosses languages easily. Pronounced ah-DEER-ah, Adira is given to only a handful of girls in the US each year and could make a worthy substitute for such overexposed favorites as Ava and Ariana.
 
Serena Williams recently named her daughter Adira River, which is guaranteed to boost this name's profile.

Adira

Aikaterine

Alba is quietly making a behind-the-scenes comeback, perhaps thanks to actress turned baby-product mogul Jessica Alba. Last on the Top 1000 a century ago, the name was given to nearly 200 baby girls in the US last year. Alba might be tomorrow's successor to Ava and Ella. In Spain, Alba ranks among the Top 20 <a href="https://nameberry.com/girls-names">girls' names</a>. Alba is the name of a character in The Time Traveler's Wife.
 
Alba is a popular patriotic girl name in Scotland, as the Scottish Gaelic term for the country is Alba.

Alba

Alette

Alice is a classic literary name that's both strong and sweet, ranking in the US Top 100 and popular throughout the western world. Alice is derived from the Old French name Aalis, a diminutive of Adelais that itself came from the Germanic name Adalhaidis, which is composed of the Proto-Germanic elements aþala, meaning "noble," and haidu, "kind, appearance, type." 
 Alice is quite distinct among traditional <a href="https://nameberry.com/girls-names">girls’ names</a>—more feminine and dainty than Mary and Helen, more substantive than Ann or Jane, yet with more lightness and innocent charm than Margaret or Katharine. 
 
Alice has been riding a fresh wave of popularity, not only in the US and other English-speaking countries but in places as diverse as Italy, France, Brazil, and Sweden. That makes Alice a remarkably international choice.
 Alice is a darling of literature, from the immortal heroine in Alice in Wonderland to an unusual number of fine modern writers like Alices Munro, Walker, Sebold, Hoffman, McDermott, Adams, and Elliott Dark. In other fields, there were First Daughter Alice Roosevelt, painter Alice Neel, food innovator Alice Waters, and literary figure Alice B. Toklas, to name a few.
 As a British royal, Alice was Queen Victoria's second daughter, the princess who shocked her Victorian mother by breastfeeding her baby. More recently, Tina Fey helped popularize the name when she chose it for her daughter.

Alice

Aliz is a Top 50 name in Hungary and puts a zippy spin, thanks to that final z, on the classic Alice. Its similarity to names such as Elise may cause some confusion, but its simplicity makes it a winner.

Aliz

Alize feels like a blend of Alice and Eliza but it's not related to either of those names, rather to the more unusual (in the US, at least) Aleeza, a Hebrew name meaning joy, or Alizee, a French name meaning wind, or the related Alizeh, a Persian name that also means wind.

The final e can take an accent, which might elucidate pronunciation, but English speakers are sure to be confused.

Alize

Allecenne

Sounds like a princess -- or an enticingly evil witch -- in a fairy tale. 

Allura

Alma is a somewhat solemn, soulful name that had a burst of popularity a century ago, then faded into the flowered wallpaper, and is now finding its footing once more. 
 In addition to being familiar via the term alma mater, Alma has many cultural ties, such as Alma Mahler, a 19th Century composer and musician and the character Alma Del Mar played by Michelle Williams in the 2005 film Brokeback Mountain. Other characters named Alma have appeared in Deadwood, The Hunger Games, American Horror Story, and The History of Love by Nicole Krauss. In the Tennessee Williams play Summer and Smoke, a character named Alma explains that her name is "Spanish for soul."
 The name became fashionable in England following the Battle of Alma--named for the Russian river—during the Crimean War.
 Alma is one of those surprising names that's always been on the Top 1000, but after sinking to its lowest point ever in 2011, Alma is making a comeback. Like Ella and Ada, Alma is a name appreciated for its simplicity, integrity, and—yes—soul.

Alma

Althea is a poetic, almost ethereal name found in Greek myth and pastoral poetry, associated in modern times with the great tennis player Althea Gibson, the first African-American to win at Wimbledon. 
 
Althea appears in Greek mythology as the mother of the hero Meleager and was revived by the seventeenth-century poet Richard Lovelace as a poetic pseudonym for his beloved.
 
These days, parents would also appreciate the short form Thea.
 
Althea is the most common girl name in the Philippines.

Althea

Emily gets a Bohemian spin and a French accent when it becomes Amelie. This favorite among <a href="https://nameberry.com/baby-names/497/french-names-for-girls">French girl names</a> has been gaining notice here thanks to the charming 2001 French film Amelie; it entered the American popularity list in 2002 and is now solidly established in the Top 1000. 
 
There's definitely a lot of confusion over the roots of, and differences among, all these related names, but Emily, Emma, and Amelia all derive from different roots and have different meanings, and Amelie is a descendant of the Amelia branch. 
 Amelie is currently enjoying great popularity in abroad, especially in England and Wales, Australia, and Germany.
 Probably inspired by the name of French King Louis Philippe's consort Marie-Amelie, Balzac used the name for two of his prominent characters.

Amelie

Anais, the name forever attached to the daring French-born American novelist and diarist Anais Nin, is unusual and French enough without appending an e, though some may think it clarifies pronunciation.

Anaise

Gorgeous name in any form, though the c may muddy the pronunciation.

Anastacia

Anastasia is the feminine form on Anastasius, a Greek name derived from the word anastasis, meaning "resurrection." It was a common name among early Christians, who often gave it to daughters born around Christmas or Easter. There are handful of saints named Anastasia, including the patron saint of weavers.
 
Anastasia is no longer a forbidding regal Russian name, but is now seen as a viable—and increasingly popular—American option, elegantly beautiful.
 
Anastasia's greatest claim to fame is via the "lost" daughter of the last czar of Russia, whose story has been told and retold in books and movies.
 
Anastasia was well used in ancient Britain and in Ireland as well as Russia.

Anastasia

Boyish nicknames for girls are all the rage — just look at the success of Charlie, Frankie, Stevie, Billie, and Scottie in recent years. Andie has history as a nickname for Andrea, popularized by actress Andie Macdowell. Spelled Andi, this name entered the US Top 1000 in 2015, and now the (arguably more substantial) Andie spelling has joined the charts in 2023.

Andie

Annora is a noble name, a distinctive twist on its most essential form: Honor. Other variations to explore include Honora and Nora. 

Annora

Aoife, pronounced EE-fa, is derived from the Irish word aoibh, meaning "beauty." Aoife was borne by several different heroines of ancient Irish legend. In one tale, she was the fiercest woman warrior in the world and enemy of her twin sister, Scathach.
 
Aoife is very popular in Ireland, and is catching on across the UK as well. Aoife is sometimes Anglicized as Eva, but the names are from independent origins. Eva shares roots with Eabha and Aoibhe, both also currently popular in Ireland.

Aoife

Aphra would make an interesting choice-- especially since it's the name of the first professional female writer in English, the seventeenth century's Aphra Behn. Born in 1640, she was a prolific dramatist of the English Restoration, and a spy.
 The spelling Aphra was probably inspired by the biblical place name Aphrah, but in medieval English records it also had spellings such as Eaffry and Affery, and is thought to derive from Anglo-Saxon names such as Aethelthryth and Aelthryth — which would make it a cousin of Audrey.
 In antiquity, Afra was also a name for a woman from Africa that eventually became a given name, and was borne by several Roman saints.

Aphra

Simple and yet distinctive, Ara is a mythological name of a famously handsome king. Although it originated as a boys' name, in the contemporary US, it's now much more commonly used for girls.
 Ara was one of the many vowel-heavy two-syllable names popular at the end of the nineteenth century and into the twentieth--it went as high as Number 481 in 1884. It's also used as a nickname for Arabella.

Araluen is a beautiful Aboriginal Australian place name, used in several sites, always connected to the dainty water lily. 
In terms of sound Araluen offers it all - the "Ara" beginning made popular by Arabella, the spunky "Lu" sound in the middle, giving rise to great nicknames like "Lulu," and the final "en" sound which makes it fit right in with all those Viviens and Adriennes in the school yard.
Araluen is a great choice for parents looking for a fresh sounding nature-based girls name that isn't too frilly or too masculine.

Araluen

Araminta is an enchanting eighteenth-century invention familiar in Britain and just beginning to be discovered here. It was used in 1693 by William Congreve in his comedy The Old Bachelor, and in 1705 by the versatile Sir John Vanbrugh, architect of Blenheim Palace as well as a playwright, for his comedy The Confederacy.
 In the Enid Bagnold novel National Velvet, Araminta is the name of the central character's mother.

Araminta

Arbor is an original unisex tree-related choice we're sure to hear more of.  Highly unusual now, Arbor takes its place alongside other new arborial names ranging from the mighty Oak (or Oakley) to the more delicate Birch to the more flowery Juniper, Acacia, and Hazel.


Arbor

Arden, the name of the magical forest in Shakespeare's As You Like It, is a stylish A name with a strong, straightforward image. Another reason to love Arden: its similarity to "ardent." Arden is solidly unisex, with the current gender distribution running about 60 percent girls and 40 percent boys.

 A locational surname name deriving from several places in England, there are multiple legitimate derivations for this name. One is from Old English earn "eagle" + denu "valley", while another is from the Celtic ard meaning "high".

 As a girls' name, Arden has been flirting with the bottom of the Top 1000 in recent years, hopping on and off the US list. A solid Nameberry favorite, this name should begin climbing more steadily.

 Arden is more familiar as a surname, as in cosmetics entrepreneur Elizabeth and actress Eve, and the narrative poem by Tennyson, Enoch Arden. Shakespeare's mother was Mary Arden.

Arden

Ethereal combination of Arden and Edith, with a sweet naturey meaning.

Ardith

This name of the Cretan goddess of fertility is most popular now as the more melodic Ariana, but Ariadne has possibilities of its own. It first entered the US Top 1000 in 2014. The renewed interest in the name falls in line with the revival of other mythological names like Apollo and Athena. The trendy nickname Ari doesn't hurt either.
 In Greek mythology, she was the daughter of Minus who gave Theseus the thread by which he escaped from the labyrinth. After being deserted by him, she married Dionysus, the god of fertility, wine and drama

Ariadne

Arwen is well known as princess of the Elves in Tolkien's Lord of the Rings. The author took inspiration from Welsh for many of his character names, and indeed Arwen and its masculine counterpart Arwyn do have a modest history of use as legitimate Welsh names, deriving from the -wyn suffix ("fair, blessed") plus an intensifying prefix.

 Trivia tidbit: The International Astronomical Union names all colles (small hills) on Saturn's moon Titan after characters in Tolkien's work; in 2012, they named a hilly area "Arwen Colles" after Arwen.

Arwen

Aspen is part of two groups of stylish and unique baby names: <a href="https://nameberry.com/list/329/nature-baby-names">nature names</a> and place-names. The name of a graceful tree in the poplar family with heart-shaped leaves so delicate they quiver in the gentlest breeze, Aspen is also the name of a trendy Colorado ski resort. Aspen started as a unisex name possibility but now is much more frequently worn by girls.
 Aspen entered the popularity list in 1993 and is a good bet to start climbing higher as more and more parents respond to the appealing place and nature image it evokes.

Aspen

A starry-eyed, intergalactic name, far rarer than Stella or Esther. It's attached both to a comic book character and to Princess Astra on "Doctor Who". 

Astra

Astrid has been a Scandinavian royal name since the tenth century, and many people associated it with the Swedish author of the Pippi Longstocking stories, Astrid Lindgren. Astrid is derived from the name Ástríðr, which is made up of the Old Norse elements that mean "god" and "beautiful." 
Related names include Asta, a diminutive used throughout Scandinavia, and Astride, the French form. Despite their similarities, Astrid is unrelated to Astra, a Latin name meaning "of the stars."
 
Astrid has never really assimilated into our culture the way Ingrid did, but with the renewed interest in international names, Astrid might be worth consideration by parents with Norse roots. 
 
Astrid is the name of the teenage heroine of Janet Finch's 1999 novel White Oleander and has appeared as a character in How to Train Your Dragon and the TV shows Fringe and Once upon a Time.

Astrid

Athalia was an Old Testament daughter of Jezebel and a king's powerful wife with a gory history. You don't wanna know -- and you probably don't wanna name your kid after her either. Pretty name, though, and one that's in step with the current fashions for A beginnings and endings as well as for distinctive names with deep roots.  Atalia is a simplified spelling..

Athalia

An interesting cousin of Natalie (the 'h' is silent) found in the Louisiana Cajun community, Athalie is the name of a tragedy by classic French playwright Racine.

Athalie

The given name Athena was derived from the city name Athens, which is of uncertain origins. In Greek mythology, Athena is the name of the daughter of Zeus who was the goddess of wisdom, warfare, handicrafts, mathematics, and courage, among others. She was the great patroness-goddess of the city of Athens. In the Odyssey, Homer describes her as 'sparkling-eyed Athena.'
 Athena is a distinctive name that could appeal to enlightened parents who particularly prize intelligence. It's one of the most widely used of the ancient <a href="https://nameberry.com/list/433/goddess-baby-names">goddess names</a> that are finding such favor in the contemporary Western world.
 Athene is another version, and Athena's Roman counterpart is Minerva.
 In the Disney movie The Little Mermaid, Athena is the mother of Ariel.
 Tina Fey turned to her Greek heritage for both of her second daughter's names: Penelope Athena—and this has spurred interest in Athena, even though it's in middle place.

Athena

With the growing popularity for girls of such names as Aubrey and Audrey, Auberon feels like a fresh and viable option.

Auberon

A softly poetic surname name, associated with poet W.H., Auden is enjoying quiet but marked fashion status. It was chosen for his daughter by Noah Wyle and is definitely one to watch.

Auden

While Augusta is the more traditional feminine form of the name, tacking on the -ina ending makes Augustina more feminine and contemporary sounding.

Augustina

Aurelia is an ancient Roman name that's become a surprise hit in the contemporary world. A top favorite on Nameberry, it reentered the US Top 1000 in 2014 after a 70-year absence and continues to climb.
 
Aurelia is the female form of the Latin name Aurelius, an ancient Roman surname. Aurelius is derived from the Latin word aureus, meaning "golden," which was also the name of a gold coin used in Ancient Rome. Aurelius was a cognomen, a third name in Roman culture that often referenced a personal characteristic or trait, likely used for someone with golden hair.
 
The Roman classic Aurelius, from which Aurelia derives, was very common in the Roman Empire and is currently experiencing a resurgence in the US—it re-entered the Top 1000 list in 2012 after a 61-year hiatus. 
 
The name of several minor early saints, Aurelia's sound and feel can be credited for it being on the rise again. Aurora and Oriana are Aurelia cousins you might also want to consider. 
 
Aurelia was the name of the mothers of Julius Caesar, the writer Sylvia Plath, and Arnold Schwarzenegger, who, in her honor, made it one of his daughter Christina's <a href="https://nameberry.com/list/673/middle-names">middle names</a>.

Aurelia

Aurelie is the delicate French variation of Aurelia, one of the most improbable popular names of recent years. Both versions of the name are lovely, but it might be difficult to insist that Americans pronounce Aurelie the attractive <a href="https://forvo.com/word/aur%C3%A9lie/#fr">French way</a> rather than like plain old orally.

Aurelie

Aviva is vivacious and memorable, a fresh spin on the Vivian and Vivienne names that have been getting more popular since Angelina and Brad chose one for their twin daughter. Another A-beginning palindrome name: Aziza. 

Aviva

AVONLEA

Aziza is a zippy palindromic choice that is the female variation of Aziz and is found in several Middle Eastern and African languages and cultures. All in all, an attractive and interesting option; a Turkish variation is Azize.
<p<>In African mythology, the Azizi are a supernatural race of forest dwellers who give practical and spiritual advice.
 Aziz is the male version, as represented by Aziz Ansari, one of the stars of Parks and Recreation.

Aziza

Alaïa

Anders

This fabric word name would be a one-of-a-kind. 

Baize

Barra is a Gaelic-speaking island in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland, that’s been inhabited since the Neolithic era.  A male nickname for Finbarr in Ireland, as well as a stand-alone name, Barra was used by George R.R. Martin as a girl’s name. It means ‘fair-haired’.

Barra

BECKETT

A felicitous combo of two sweet names; also a Queens, New York neighborhood.

Bellerose

The sweetest and most sensitive of the pet names for Elizabeth, now also one of the most dated. 

Beth

Very popular in Wales, this perfectly nice name's only problem is its similarity to the dated Beth Ann. 

Bethan

Bianca, the livelier Italian and Shakespearean version of Blanche, has been chosen by many American parents since the 1990s, just as Blanca is a favorite in the Spanish-speaking community. Its meaning of white relates to snow, making it one of the prime <a href="https://nameberry.com/list/89/winter-baby-names">names for winter babies</a>.
 Miss Bianca was an elegant mouse (voiced by Eva Gabor) in Disney's 1977 The Rescuers, and Bianca features as a character in two Shakespeare plays, Othello and The Taming of the Shrew, not to mention its musical offshoot, Kiss Me Kate.
 Bianca was brought to prominence here by the first Mrs. Mick Jagger. Her name entered the U.S. popularity ranks in 1973, reaching a high of Number 84 in 1990. Bianca was chosen for her daughter by actress Tia Carrere.

Bianca

Birdie was until recently a middle-aged Ladies' Club member wearing a bird-decorated hat --but now it's just the kind of vintage nickname (think Hattie, Josie, Mamie, Millie) that's coming back into style in a big way. Actress Busy Philipps named her baby Birdie (inspired by First Lady Lady Bird Johnson), as did soap star Maura West.
 In an earlier heyday of nickname names--the 1880's--Birdie was a Top 200 name.

Birdie

This tiny but punchy name has multiple origins. It stands strong alone, but could be short for numerous names including Bonnie and Bodhi.
In Mandarin Chinese, Bo means "wave".

"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.

Boheme

Bonnie is an adorable nickname name, heading back up the popularity list after a 50-year nap. A Top 100 girls' name throughout the rest of the English-speaking world, Americans are later to jump on the Bonnie bandwagon but now it's trending here too.
 
Bonnie is a word the Scots really do use for pretty, thus the root of this name, from the French bonne. Along with Betty and Bea, Bonnie, is one of the vintage <a href="https://nameberry.com/search/girls-names/b">girls' names starting with B</a>that are back in.
 Gone With the Wind gave Bonnie a big push when Scarlett and Rhett used it for their daughter. Her full name was Eugenie Victoria, but the pet name came from the fact that she had "eyes as blue as the bonnie blue flag." 
 Bonnie's last moment in the limelight came in the late sixties with the film Bonnie and Clyde, about outlaw Bonnie Parker. Now after a long decline, it's finally showing new signs of life, perhaps thanks to the Bonnies in The Vampire Diaries and The Hunger Games, as well as a new miniseries about the 1930s-era bandits.

Bonnie

This lovely surname of the three novel-writing sisters, now used as a baby name, makes a fitting tribute for lovers of Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights. While the original name took an umlaut over the e, modern English speakers may find that more trouble than it's worth.
Trivia note: The Anglo-Irish clergyman who was the father of Charlotte, Emily and Anne changed his name from the original Brunty. According to scholars, the family pronounced the name brun-tee, though in the 21st century world it's commonly pronounced bron-tay.
In Australia, the name is more likely to take inspiration from Bronte Beach in Sydney. It was named after Lord Nelson, the 1st Duke of Bronté. He got his title from a town in Sicily, itself named after a mythological Cyclops.
 Many people first noticed the name in the film Green Card, as the name of the Andie MacDowell character.

Bronte

Bethka

Caia Caecilia was the Roman Goddess of fire and women.  The name Caia would make a truly fresh alternative to the flagging Maya, with which it rhymes.

Caia

Cajsa

Extremely simple and extremely distinctive -- a winning combination.  Sound-alike Calla is a Greek (and botanical) name that means beautiful. 

Cala

Cassia is related to the cassia tree, which has yellow flowers and produces a spice that can be a substitute for cinnamon. Keziah, the name of Job’s daughter in the Old Testament, derives from the name of the plant as well. Cassia also has ties to the Ancient Roman name Cassius, an Ancient Roman family name meaning "hollow." 
 
Cassia is one of the rare names that's truly unusual yet has a stylish feel. Cassia has the added attraction of the sweet smell of cinnamon, thanks to its botanical associations. We predict Cassia will become much more popular along with her brother names Cassian and Cassius. 
 
Keziah, the Biblical equivalent, is also due for rediscovery, while Kassia is the Greek spelling that ties the name to Saint Kassiani, a feminist heroine.

Cassia

This Katherine variation, used through Ireland and Scotland, is pronounced like Katrina. The name became popular after the Crusaders brought home stories about the colorful fourth century martyr, Catherine of Alexandria. Its later popularity increased following the success of Robert Louis Stevenson's 1893 Catriona, the sequel to Kidnapped.

Catriona

Cecilia is a lovely classic name deservedly enjoying a new turn in the sun. Always among the Top 500 girls' names in the US, Cecilia is now at its highest point ever.
 
Cecilia is a feminine form of Cecil, which was derived from a Roman clan name related to the Latin caecus, meaning "blind". While that may put some parents off, we say put that ancient meaning aside and focus on Cecilia's symbolic resonance in the contemporary world as a classy and classic name.
 
The martyred Saint Cecilia was designated the patron of musicians, either because she supposedly sang directly to God while the musicians played at her wedding, or because she sang to God as she was dying. The name was popularized in the Middle Ages as an homage to the Saint.
 On TV, the Cecelia spelling variation was the name chosen for Pam and Jim's baby on The Office; in real life the name of the daughters of Vera Wang and Soledad O'Brien.
 Cecilia is also a Dickens character name in Hard Times, and appears in the novels Atonement and The Virgin Suicides, and The Hunger Games series, as well as being the subject of a memorable Simon & Garfunkel song.
 Cecilia, Celia and Cecily are all nameberry faves. Cecelia is an accepted spelling variation you may want to consider if you plan to shorten the name to Celia or Cece.

Cecilia

Cecily is as dainty as a lace handkerchief. Cecily has a wide assortment of namesakes. One Cecily was the mother of King Richard III, whose beauty gained her the title "the Rose of Raby," Cecily Parsley is a Beatrix Potter bunny, Cecily Cardew is a character in The Importance of Being Earnest, and the author of the Gossip Girl books is Cecily von Ziegesar.
 Sisters of Cecily that may also interest you: Cecilia, Cicely, and Celestia. Variant Cicely has a distinguished bearer in actress Cicely Tyson and was used by Sandra Bernhard for her now grown daughter..

Cecily

Celia, splendidly sleek and feminine, is a name that was scattered throughout Shakespeare and other Elizabethan literature, but still manages to feel totally modern. 
 Shakespeare has been credited with introducing Celia in As You Like It, and it was to Celia that the poet Ben Jonson penned the immortal line, "Drink to me only with thine eyes." Other literary Celias have appeared in works ranging from George Eliot's Middlemarch to T. S. Eliot's The Cocktail Party to Lionel Shriver's We Need to Talk About Kevin.
 Celia Cruz was a superstar of Latin music.
 Celia is not a short form of Cecilia, which has a completely different meaning, and developed independently. But some contemporary parents are naming their babies Cecelia, especially with that spelling, and calling them Celia—which gives you two beautiful names in one.

Celia

Charlie is one of the friendly, tomboyish male nickname names--another is Sam-- now used almost as frequently for girls: in 2015, it ranked higher on the girls list than on the boys list for the first time. That makes Charlie one of the most <a href="https://nameberry.com/unisex-names">popular unisex names</a> around today. The name Charlie, for females, has been jumping up the charts since it reappeared, after a 50-year hibernation, in 2005. Charlie has been a favorite for starbaby girls, including the twin daughter of Rebecca Romijn and Jerry O'Connell and the daughter of Julie Chen and Les Moonves. Jeremy Sisto has a hyphenated Charlie-Ballerina. And as Charlotte gets more popular, there will only be more little girl Charlies.

Charlie

Charlotte, the name of the young Princess of Cambridge, is the latest classic name to join Sophia, Emma, Olivia, and Isabella at the top of the popularity list. It is now among the most popular girl names in many English-speaking and European countries.
 
The feminine form of Charles, Charlotte derived from Charlot, a French diminutive of Charles meaning "little Charles" and the name of Charlemagne’s son in French literature and legend. The name was popularized by England's Queen Charlotte Sophia, wife of King George III.
 
Queen Charlotte was the mother of fifteen children and a patron of Mozart and Bach. She and George ruled England in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century during the French and American revolutions.
 
Charlotte is an elegant royal name, with a host of widely varied role models, from Charlotte Brontë to the spidery protagonist of E. B. White's Charlotte's Web to the more recent Charlotte York, aka the prissy one, of Sex and the City. Charlotte is appealing to a wide range of parents because it sounds feminine yet grownup, sophisticated yet lush. 
 
Charlotte is a pop culture staple—it was Scarlett Johansson's character in Lost in Translation and has been featured on TV shows like Lost and Revenge. The band Good Charlotte was named for a children's book with that title. An all-around winner of a name, Charlotte has been chosen by Chelsea Clinton, Dylan McDermott, Colin Hanks, and Sarah Michelle Gellar and Freddie Prinze Jr.
 In addition to Charlie, Lottie makes a cute nickname.

Charlotte

Yes, we tend to think of Claude as a male name and Claudia and Claudette as the female, but this ancient clan name is used in France for girls as well as boys, and could make a distinctively chic <a href="https://nameberry.com/list/79/boy-names-for-girls">boy name for girls</a> here too. You may be surprised to know that Claude was in fairly regular use for American girls in the 1880's and nineties, reaching as high as 553 in 1880.

 In her native country, there have been some famous female Claudes, including Queen Claude of France (1499 to 1524), daughter of Louis XII, and another sixteenth century Claude de France, daughter of Henri II.

 Later Claudes include the daughter of Claude Debussy, Claude-Emma (called Chouchou), the leading female character in Tracy Chevalier's novel Lady and the Unicorn, French actress Claude Jade and photographer Claude Cahun, and the widow of French Prime Minister Georges Pompidou.

 While the "lame" meaning is the most widely acknowledged, some etymologists theorize that the name may relate to the word for enclosure or clause, an alternate meaning that may appeal to a child with a form of this otherwise-appealing name.

Claude

Claudie

Collins is a surname name that has made the girls' Top 1000 thanks to its use for the daughter of the real-life Blind Side heroine. This derivation of the Greek Nicholas—which means "people of victory"—or the Irish and Scottish Colin—which may itself be a Nicholas derivation or an Anglicization of the word for pup—has a stylish feel made more so by that final s.

Collins

Cosette is best known as the heroine of Les Miserables. In the Victor Hugo novel, Cosette was the nickname given to the girl named Euphrasie by her mother. Although Hugo invented the name, some etymologists believe it's a spin on Colette, originally a female short form of Nicolas.


 Despite the popularity of Les Mis the musical, the name was given to only 138 girls in 2015 -- though it's worth noting that this is almost double the number from just a few years ago. Cosette would make for a sweet and quirky French choice.

Cosette

Cosima, the kind of elegant and unusual name the British upper classes love to use for their daughters, is given to a handful of baby girls in the US after being chosen by two high-profile celebs in the same month; cool couple Sofia Coppola and Thomas Mars as well as supermodel Claudia Schiffer. It was used earlier by celebrity chef Nigella Lawson, while the male form, Cosimo, was given to the son of Marissa Ribisi and Beck.
 
The most famous Cosima in history had strong musical ties — Cosima Wagner was the daughter of composer Franz Liszt and the wife of composer Richard Wagner. Cosima is well used in Germany, Italy and Greece, but in the US, it was given to only ten baby girls in 2021, the same number who got the name in 2010.
 
A note on pronunciation: in Germany, Italy, and Spain, they say KO-zee-ma, like cozy ma. In the UK, they rhyme the first syllable with boss. In the US, you can do whatever you want.

Cosima

Daenerys is yet another girls' name invented by "Game of Thrones" author George R. R. Martin that is beginning to gain some traction in real life. Daenerys was used for 67 baby girls in 2013 while one of the character's titles, Khaleesi, was given to 241 baby girls. And the name Arya, also from the hyper-popular series, is one of the fastest growing <a href="https://nameberry.com/girls-names">girls' names</a> in the country.

Daenerys

One of the flower names, used occasionally in Britain (where it's pronounced DAY-lee-a). It seems to have recovered from what was perceived as a slightly affected la-di-dah air. The flower was named in honor of the pioneering Swedish botanist Andreas Dahl, which means dale.
 In the Victorian language of flowers, Dahlia denotes elegance and dignity.
 In P.G. Wodehouse's Jeeves stories, Dahlia is Bertie Wooster's more sympathetic aunt, described as being constructed along the lines of Mae West. Reporter Dahlia Lithwick covers legal matters for the online magazine Slate.

Dahlia

The invented Daleyza was the fastest-rising <a href="https://nameberry.com/girls-names">girls' name</a> in the US in 2013, thanks to the adorable young daughter of Larry Hernandez, star of Larrymania. If you've been out of the world of baby names for a while, you may be surprised to learn that Daleyza is now one of the most popular <a href"https://nameberry.com/search/girls-names/d">girl names starting with D</a>.

Daleyza

A name with an ancient pedigree which might prove confusing to the modern ear.

Damiane

A Scottish favorite that could make it here thanks to its similarity to the word divine. It's the most popular of several feminizations of David used in Scotland, including Davida, Davinia and Davidina, which have less of a chance in the U.S. It reentered the US Top 1000 for the first time in two decades in 2016.

Davina

Cooler than April, May, or June, but also a tad icy.


December

Fresh, bright, and sunny, Della could be an alternative to Ella, Delilah, or Adeline. Familiar but not yet overused, it combines the elements of contemporary favorites with vintage charm.
 
With its noble meaning and associations with delight, Della was a popular choice in the 19th century and remained so up until the 1930s, when it slowly began to fall out of favor. It disappeared from the Top 1000 in 1978, but, after an absence of 40 years, it re-entered the charts in 2018.
 
This reappearance was perhaps partly inspired by actress and singer Della Reese, who died in 2017. This could have brought the name to the attention of a new generation of parents, and it has been climbing the US charts ever since. 
 
As a diminutive of Adela or Adelaide (or perhaps Delphine, Madeline, or Idella), Della fits into the trend of nicknames as proper names, blending well with the likes of Mila, Josie, and Nora.
 
As of 2023, it is given to around 450 girls in the US each year and may well be one to watch out for. A small caution, however, is that della does mean "from the" in Italian.

Della

Delphine is a sleek, chic French name with two nature associations — the dolphin and the delphinium, a bluebell-like flower, a well as a link to the ancient city of Delphi, which the Greeks believed to be the womb of the earth. All of these derive from the Greek word delphus "womb". 
 
Delphine was very popular in France from the 1960s to the 1980s, peaking at Number 6 in 1977-78. In the US, its peak came earlier — in 1930, when it reached Number 427. Today, Delphine is absent from the Top 1000 entirely but retains its French flair, making it an even fresher alternative to stylish vintage names like Daphne and Josephine. Sophie Turner and Joe Jonas have a daughter named Delphine, which may revive the name among Americans.
 
Balzac used the name in two of his novels, and Madame de Stael wrote the 1802 epistolary Delphine, which helped bring the name into fashion in France. Delphine Seyrig was a renowned French movie actress.
 
The attractive Spanish version is Delfina.

Delphine

Delta is an unusual vintage option with a lazy-day-down-by-the-river feel. Delta is the fourth letter of the Greek alphabet and also the geographical name given to an island formed at the mouth of a river. 

 Australian singer Delta Goodrem is a notable modern bearer.

Delta

Desi makes Desiree a lot cuter and more boyish.

Desi

Dido was the heroine of Virgil's Aeneid and of the opera "Dido and Aeneas," and in Roman mythology the founder of Carthage. A strong ancient name in the Juno mode, but it could have some awkward associations down the line. 
 The English singer-songwriter Dido was born with the equally unusual name Florian Cloud, but was called Dido since childhood.

Dido

As the song says, "Dinah, is there anyone finer?" Dinah is a charming, underused Old Testament name with a rich literary and musical resume.

 In the Old Testament, Dinah was the beautiful daughter of Jacob and Leah. While some conflate the Biblical Dinah with the Biblical Adinah, they are in fact different figures in the Old Testament.

 Dinah is the heroine of the best-selling Anita Diamant novel The Red Tent. In the George Eliot novel Adam Bede, Dinah Morris is a young preacher who marries the hero. And in the classic film The Philadelphia Story, Dinah is the heroine's sassy kid sister. Dinah also appears in Alice in Wonderland as the name of Alice’s kitten. 

 One important thing to note is that "Aunt Dinah" has been used as a racial stereotype, from the character of the cook in Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin. The term has also appeared in several songs. 

 The name Dinah was adopted by two great singers: Dinah Washington (born Ruth) and Dinah Shore (born Frances).

Dinah

Eachna is the name of an Irish goddess renowned for her beauty, brains and stylishness; in early legend, a Connacht princess named Eachna was deemed to be one of the loveliest and cleverest women int he world. 
Eachna is pronounced ahk-na, so despite its nice namesake story, it would provide a pronunciation challenge outside the Irish culture.

Eachna

Eddy, recently used by Celine Dion for one of her twin boys, was chosen to honor Eddy Marnay, who produced her first five records. Though less common a nickname for Edward than Eddie, Eddy is used more often on its own.

Eddy

Eden is an attractive, serene name with obvious intimations of Paradise, one of several place names drawn from the Bible by the Puritans in the seventeenth century.
 Eden entered the Top 1000 in 1989, and got a real bump in visibility when Desperate Housewives' Marcia Cross used it for one of her twin girls. There have been also Edens on the old soap opera Santa Barbara and the shows Heroes and Extras.
 Pronounced ED-en, Eden is also a Hebrew name for boys, though as EE-den it's gaining ground in the US for boys, now given to one boy for every four girls.

Eden

Familiar in the US thanks to the lovely movie Brooklyn, based on the Colm Toibin novel of the same name. Popular in medieval times, it is still used in Ireland (properly spelt with a fada: Eilís) could make an alternative to the super-popular Isla. Eilish and Eibhlis are alternate forms.

Eilis

This Welsh nature name that can be pronounced exactly like the male Ira. Or, to avoid confusion, you could just name her Snow. 

Eira

A modern Welsh name that will be misunderstood as Irene. 

Eirian

An Early American name undoubtedly related to the Greek mythological name Electra, the version we prefer.

Electa

A common choice in Greece, Eleni is starting to rise in the US thanks to its bouncy rhythm and trendy I ending.

Eleni

Less electric and melodramatic, more serene, than Electra. Isabella Rossellini's daughter (and Ingrid Bernman's granddaughter) is named Elettra Rossellini Wiedemann.

Elettra

Eliora is a melodic name ripe with vowel sounds. 

Eliora

Elizaveta

Ella is a sweet, simple name that owes much of its current popularity to the popularity of other names, from Emma to Bella to Emily to Ellie.

Ella is one of those names that just misses ranking among the US Top 1000 for its entire history, falling off the list for a handful of years in the 1980s before shooting straight back toward the top. Like many names from Liam to Finn to Emma that's easy to spell and pronounce, Ella is an international favorite, making the Top 100 throughout the Anglophone world as well as in a range of French and German-speaking, Scandinavian, and Eastern European countries. 

Which makes sense for a name with parallel derivations in several different languages and cultures. Ella is the Norman variation of the Germanic Alia—itself a nickname for names containing the element ali. In English speaking countries and Scandinavia, Ella developed as a diminutive for names beginning with El-, such as Eleanor and Elizabeth. Ella is also a Hebrew name, referring to a tree in the pistachio family or in modern Hebrew, "goddess."

Ella can also be a short form of names that begin with El, such as Eleanor and Elizabeth, as well as those that end with -ella, from Gabriella to Luella to Rafaella. And it can be one of the many routes to the super-popular nickname Ellie.

Ella has long been a favorite celebrity baby name, chosen by several stars for their now-mostly-grown daughters by John Travolta, Warren Beatty, Ben Stiller, Eric Clapton, Jeff Gordon, Ioan Gruffudd, Alex Rodriguez, and Mark Wahlberg.
 
Iconic singer Ella Fitzgerald adds a jazzy edge. And Ella Enchanted gave the name some princess-y pop.

Ella

The lyrical and melodious Elodie, a Nameberry favorite, is starting to rise through the US popularity charts for the first time since the 1880s. It's a uncommon member of the trending El- family of names, which includes Ella, Eloise, and Eleanor. 
 
Elodie derives from Elodia, the Spanish variation of Alodia, a gothic German name associated with Saint Alodia. Saint Alodia was a child martyr in 9th century Spain, along with her sister Nunilo. In France, Elodie is spelled Élodie, with an accent over the E.
 
Élodie is a mono-named Italian singer and model as well as a major character in the Emile Zola novel The Earth. Princess Elodie is the protagonist of the video game Long Live The Queen and there was a character on The Hills named Elodie.
 Popular in the UK and French-speaking countries, Elodie could make an original honor name for Aunt Melody.

Elodie

Well balanced between sleek, sweet, strong, and vintage, newly chic Eloise re-entered the US Top 1000 in 2009, following a 50 year absence. In 2022, it broke into the Top 100 in the US and across the pond in the UK. Given to nearly 3000 babies each year, Eloise is showing no sign of stepping out of the spotlight. 
 
Eloise comes from the Old French name, Héloïse, which means "healthy" and "wide." The name was first used by Héloïse, a 12th century scholar, philosopher and Catholic Abbess whose work inspired a many French and English writers.
 There is contention over whether her name is a feminized variant of Eloi, meaning "to choose" or a French form of the Old German Helewidis meaning "healthy" and "wood" or "wise".
 
Eloise has also been linked to the name Louise, but despite their similarities, there is no evidence either derived from the other. But don't let that stop you from using Eloise as an updated honor for a family Louisa!
 
However it originally came to be, the name was revived in the 19th century as Eloise, making the pronunciation more obvious to English speakers and the spelling more in line with the familiar Eleanor and Eliza. 
 
To some, Eloise will forever be the imperious little girl making mischief at the Plaza Hotel, while others might think of the rebellious Eloise from the TV series Bridgerton - a popular show which first aired in 2020, and likely influenced the rise of Eloise. 
 With that popular El- beginning and the potential nicknames Ellie, Lolly, Lola, Elsie, and Lolo, it is no wonder Eloise is climbing the charts.

Eloise

laurashgre's list "Lovely Little Girls" of 259 great name ideas: Abitha - Éire!

Lovely Little Girls

beautiful names for beautiful baby girls.