Favorite boyish girl names

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.

Once a macho biker name, Harley is now showing its softer side. In the UK, Harley is predominantly masculine, but it's currently more popular for girls than boys in the US.

Milo is most commonly considered to be Germanic name derived from the Latin word miles, meaning "soldier." However, there is evidence to suggest it also may have independently spawned from the Slavic root milu, meaning "merciful." Milo predates brother name Miles, a variation that evolved when the name immigrated to the British Isles in the Middle Ages. Mylo is an alternate spelling.

There is a female figure in the Old Testament named Noa or Noah, whose name derives from the Hebrew No'ah, meaning "motion". The popular Biblical male name Noah (sometimes spelled as the streamlined Noa) is derived from a different Hebrew name: Noach, which means "rest, repose" – although confusingly they are often written the same in English.

Quinn is one of the first popular Irish unisex surnames, a strong and attractive choice on the rise for girls but still popular for boys. Quinn was used for about 3000 baby girls and 700 boys in the US last year.

Less popular than Reagan, but more popular than Regan, Raegan is a spelling option for the popular Irish surname. It followed Reagan up the charts in the 90s, perhaps due to its similarity to Morgan, but in recent years, use of Raegan has declined

Sage is an evocatively fragrant herbal name that also connotes wisdom, giving it a double advantage. It entered the Top 1000 at about the same time for both genders in the early 1990s, but it has pulled ahead for the girls. Toni Collette named her daughter Sage Florence.

Cool meets Born Again meets Brad and Angelina, who made Shiloh an instant star when they chose it for their daughter. While Shiloh has risen from obscurity thanks to its celebrity baby use, it hasn't become a star the way brother names Maddox and Pax have. It entered the Top 1000 in 2007, one year after the birth of Ms. Jolie-Pitt.