Flutterby, butterfly

Nova has the feel of both newness, from its meaning, and great energy as an astronomical term for a star that increases suddenly in brightness before fading.

A Shakespearean invention for an abandoned baby in The Winter's Tale, Perdita's sense of loss has always been off-putting to parents. But her image was somewhat resuscitated by its association with the appealing canine character in Disney's One Hundred and One Dalmations.

This is one of the few butterfly names that is distinctly masculine, found as a surname in Finland.

Selene may be the mythological Greek original, but Latin variation Selena is used more often in the US these days. Selene is the Greek goddess of the moon, sister of Helios the sun god. Selene is also sometimes called Cynthia and Phoebe. The name may be related to the word selas, which means light, and is one of the loveliest of the Greek goddess names.

Senta is a lovely name, but if you name your daughter Senta, will the kids call her Santa? Maybe, but this obscure yet simple German name for girls.may appeal to parents searching the untraveled name routes.

Despite being connected to a type of butterfly, Siphone is a name that has some elements that make it unlikely to become popular, such as containing the words siphon and iPhone. One name best left to the butterflies.

This name comes from a very rare species of butterfly, making it a nice choice for those seeking a name that suggests nature, rarity and fragility.

Vanessa was invented by writer Jonathan Swift for a lover named Esther Vanhomrigh—he combined the first syllable of her last name with the initial syllable of her first. Swift used it in the poem Cadenus and Vanessa in 1713. A century later, Johan Christian Fabricius used Vanessa as the name of a genus of butterfly.

The multicultural Yara is also the name of a beautiful green-skinned Brazilian goddess and might make a more unusual spin on Mara or Sara.

This name derives from the name of a group of buttercup yellow butterflies. It is also a zingy twist on the more familiar Serena.

Zerynthia is one of the alternate names of Hecate, deriving from one of the caves in which she appeared. Zerynthia is also the name of a set of strikingly-coloured Spanish butterflies. This is one name that deserves more attention.