Favorite Girl Names

Azalea is one of the fresher flower names, along with Zinnia and Lilac, that are new to the name bouquet — in fact, it entered the Social Security list for the first time in 2012. So if Lily and Rose are too tame for you, consider this brilliant pink springtime blossom with a touch of the unusual that has been growing in popularity.

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.

Romantic, and classy, this variation heats up Caroline and modernizes Carol, adding a southern accent. A popular choice in Portugal, Spain, Mexico, and Italy, it recently entered the US Top 500.

Naples-born Enrico Caruso was one of the greatest opera singers of all time. Recordings of his powerful singing voice are still in circulation today, nearly 100 years after his death.

Corinne is one of the names that, it might surprise you to learn, has never been off the US popularity charts. Its most popular year was 1926, when it ranked Number 249. Corinna is another pretty ancient form of the name, technically a diminutive.

Delicate ballerina name with grace, charm, and heft courtesy of Jane Austen's Mr.

Now a mostly-male name, in its earliest incarnation Douglas was used equally for girls and boys and could certainly make a comeback as one of the new boy names for girls".

Edwina may still be taking tea in the parlor, but we can see her joining friends like Matilda and Josephine for a comeback, especially if pronounced like Edwin rather than Edween.

Eliza is a name with a wonderful combination of streamlined zest and Eliza Doolittle charm and spunk. It's a classic that's popular right now -- but not too popular.

A beautiful modern Cornish nature name that is rapidly picking up steam in the States: even spawning variant spellings like Elowyn and Elowynn. In its native region, it wasn't widely used as a name before the twentieth century, when the Cornish language was revived. A (currently) unique member of the fashionble El- family of names, it has a pleasant, evocative sound.

Estella is a pretty Latin name that's sounding more and more stylish, remembered as the ward of Miss Haversham in Dickens's Great Expectations. Though Estella ranked as high as Number 110 in the 1880s, it now sits near the bottom of the US Top 1000 along with near-twin Estelle. Either would be well worth considering as an alternative to the popular Stella.

Eugenia, a name scarcely used at all since the 1980's, is another that flourished a century ago and could be due for a revival.

Evangeline is a romantic old name enjoying a major comeback, thanks to its religious overtones, Eva's popularity, and the star of the TV megahit Lost, Evangeline Lilly. Evangelia and Evangelina — two variants of Evangeline — are sure to tag along for the ride.

Francesca is a lighter and much more feminine choice than the classic Frances, and one that is increasingly popular with upscale parents.

No, we don't consider Jane too plain. In fact, for a venerable and short one-syllable name, we think it packs a surprising amount of punch, as compared to the related Jean and Joan.

This Slavic variation would make a pleasant and slightly more unusual alternative to Johanna or Giovanna.

This pet form of Helena and other ena-ending names, long used as an independent name, is attracting notice again as an option both multicultural and simple. Lena was a Top 100 name from 1880 to 1920.

This saintly name--she was the mother of St. Augustine--plummeted after the double whammy of Lewinsky and the demise of Friends.

Nora is a lovely, refined name that conjures up images of Belle Epoch ladies in fur-trimmed coats skating in Central Park. Long seen as a quintessentially Irish name though its roots are not in Ireland, Nora is a quietly stylish favorite that's tiptoed to the top of the popularity ladder.