Futuristic Female Names

The name of a heavenly planet and the Roman goddess of beauty and love was an intimidating no-no until tennis champ Venus Williams put an athletic, modern spin on it.

More often spelled VERENA, this name is attached to a third century Swiss saint. But the "virtue" name VERITY, is more appealing and comes more directly to the point.

If you love Puritan virtue names and want to move beyond Hope and Faith and Grace, this is a wonderful choice, both for its meaning and its sound. A rare find here, though occasionally heard in England. It was used in Winston Graham's Poldark novels, was Madonna's name as James Bond's fencing instructor in Die Another Day, and made a brief appearance in Harry Potter. Not to mention being a fixture on British and Australian soaps. Verity also appears in one of Agatha Christie's Miss Marple mysteries.

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.

A frilly southern-accented flower name yet to be planted on many birth certificates. In the language of flowers, the wisteria is a symbol of devotion. It is named for American horticulturalist John Caspar Wister.

Wynn is an attractive Welsh name, originally male but now also used for girls outside of Wales. The authentic feminine version would be Gwen, which derives from the same very productive gwyn element, making it a relative of all Welsh names ending -wyn or -wen, as well as the Irish Fin- names.

A Slavic classic, as common as Jane or Joan here.

This is the Armenian version of the familia Julia, which has a rich and evocative sound. Other variations are Iuliya, and the diminitive Yulya.

Has a gemlike glow, as in Sapphire.

Z names have been popular in recent years, and here's an obscure option for achieving the initial, though Zelina may be a little more successful in the US with its feminine -a ending.

This unusual and alluring choice was used by David Mamet for his daughter, who is now grown and an actress on the hit show Girls.