Ada is one of the classic <a href="https://nameberry.com/">baby names</a> for girls that is suddenly super stylish again. A favorite at the end of the nineteenth century, Ada is an alternative to the over-popular Ava. Ada is also part of the trend toward simple, old-fashioned names beginning with a vowel, like Ivy and Ella.
 
Ada is derived from the German name Adelaide, which came from the ancient name Adalheidis. The root, adal, is a Germanic word meaning "noble." Ada can also be considered a variation of the biblical name Adah, pronounced AH-da, one of the first <a href="https://nameberry.com/girls-names">girls’ names</a> mentioned in the Book of Genesis. 
 
A worthy namesake is Ada Lovelace, mathematician daughter of the poet Lord Byron, who worked with Charles Babbage on the forerunners to the calculator and the computer. In his poem Childe Harold's Pilgrimage, Byron addresses her as "Ada! sole daughter of my house and heart."
 
Ada has a number of fictional references as well, appearing in Dickens's Bleak House and Nabokov's 1969 novel Ada; additional characters with the name were portrayed by Holly Hunter in The Piano and Nicole Kidman in Cold Mountain.
 
Ada returned to the Top 1000 in 2004, after being off since 1992; by contrast, Ada was a Top 100 name in the 1880s.
 
The Turkish name Ada means "island" and is unrelated — though it makes an excellent option for parents looking for a name spanning two cultures.

Aida is a melodic name largely associated with the title character of the 1871 Verdi opera, an enslaved Ethiopian princess who dies to save her people. In the past, her name was rarely heard outside the Latino community, but in the current time of love for all A-starting girls' names, this could very well change.
 Aida did have a period of some U.S. popularity; in 1954, it reached as high as Number 663, but fell off the list in 1976. Aida Turturro played Tony Soprano's sister in The Sopranos.

 Arabic families often pronounce it with two syllables — as EYE-dah — rather than three.

Aida

Aiden/Aidan is just beginning to wander into the girls' side of the name popularity list, but it's so huge for boys in all its spellings that it will be a long time before it can be called a unisex name.

Nearly 8000 baby boys were given the Aiden spelling alone in the US last year, and only 43 baby girls -- less than one percent of the total.

Aiden

While theoretically unisex, this surname name has been edging up the <a href="https://nameberry.com/girls-names">girls’ names</a> list, perhaps originally as an Ashley substitute. 

One quality in Ainsley's favor: It's remained steadily popular -- but not TOO popular -- for more than 20 years now, ranking consistently around Number 400. That makes it stylish and familiar without showing up everywhere.

Ainsley

Sounds like and is often confused with Asia, though it has an air of retro cool via the seminal Steely Dan album. Or, pronounced eye-ah, it can be an alternate spelling of the international favorite Aya.

Amy is the English variation of the Old French name Amée—Aimée in modern French. Amée was a translation of the Latin name Amata, which derived from amatus, meaning "beloved." Other spelling variations include Amie and Ami.
 
Amy was second only to Jennifer for the whole decade of the 1970s and, though far less used for babies today, remains a short, sweet Little Women-style classic. When asked which seventies name might make a comeback, several Berries placed their bets on Amy.
 Amy rocketed to popularity in the late nineteenth century along with the other Louisa May Alcott Little Women names (Amy was the artistic one), fell from favor, then burst onto the scene again in the 1960s, when parents were turning back to basic names like Jessie, Maggie and Molly. 
 The many notable Amys on the scene today include actors Amy Adams, Amy Ryan and Amy Poehler, singer Amy Grant, director Amy Heckerling and author Amy Tan.
 Amy was the name of 'Little Dorrit' in the Dickens novel.

This still attractive place name was one of the first to gain popularity, though it now probably owes some of its favor to the similar Aisha. Asia ranked as high as Number 195 on the US <a href="https://nameberry.com/">baby names</a> popularity list in 1997. 
 In Greek myth, Asia is the daughter of Oceanus and Tethys and mother of, among others, Atlas and Prometheus.
 One of the best known modern bearers of the name is Italian actress, singer, and director Asia Argento, who is probably responsible for its popularity in Italy, where it ranks Number 35. Asia Monet Ray is a dancer featured on the hit television shows Dance Moms and Abby's Ultimate Dance Competition.

Asia

Avery is a hugely popular name in the US, especially for girls. But while nearly four times as many girls as boys are named Avery today Avery's popularity is starting to soften for girls while it continues to strengthen for boys.

Unlike many gender-neutral surname-y names popular today, Avery began life as a first name and later became a patronymic last name. It originated in the Middle Ages as a Norman-French pronunciation variation of the Anglo-Saxon name Alfred and the Ancient Germanic name Alberich. The elements aelf, meaning "elf" and ric, meaning "ruler" give Avery its meaning. 
 
Angie Harmon and Jason Sehorn may have started it all when they chose it for their daughter in 2005, just as they did with daughters Finley and Emery. Amy Locane used the name in 2009 and now Dr. Phil has a granddaughter named Avery.
 
On 30 Rock, Elizabeth Banks had an extended cameo playing Alec Baldwin's glamorous fiancée, Avery Jessup.

Avery

Bailey -- a jaunty surname -- was first used for a female TV character in 1978 in the show WKRP in Cincinnaati, then caught on big time. Bailey's still an appealing choice, though, and a celebrity fave. Parents of daughters named Bailey include Scot Baio and Stella McCartney.

Bailey

A hot name, though perhaps not in the sense you want for your baby. About 20 times as many boys as girls were named Blaze in one recent year, perhaps because it can be seen as a spelling variation of the classic male saint's name Blaise.

Blaze

Cady is one of those names that sounds popular but is actually rare in this form, given to only a few dozen baby girls in the US last year.

Its origins are unclear, and as many possible meanings and origins are cited as there are sources on the web. It may relate to male names Cade, which means round or barrel, or Caden, meaning battle. The similar Caddie is an antiquated nickname for Caroline.

One disadvantage is that Cady will forever be misunderstood as Katie. Advantage: It can be used, perhaps in the middle place, to honor women's rights leader Elizabeth Cady Stanton.

Cady

Daisy, fresh, wholesome, and energetic, is one of the flower names that burst back into bloom after a century's hibernation. Originally a nickname for Margaret (the French Marguerite is the word for the flower), Daisy comes from the phrase "day's eye," because it opens its petals at daybreak.

 Daisy has a colorful literary and pop culture history – as the innocent Daisy Miller in the Henry James novella, as Daisy Buchanan, the hero's object of desire in The Great Gatsby, and as many movie and TV characters, including in L'il Abner and The Dukes of Hazzard, as the older Daisy in Driving Miss..., as well as Julia Roberts's character in her breakthrough movie, Mystic Pizza.

 Meg Ryan has a daughter named Daisy True, chef Jamie Oliver has Daisy Boo, and Katy Perry and Orlando Bloom recently named their daughter Daisy Dove.

Daisy

This name found in both Celtic and Scandinavian mythology has gone from all-boy to almost all-girl, retaining a strong, unisex quality. However, it has dropped following its three-decade heyday from the 1960s to the 1990s.
 Dana is the birth name of Queen Latifah.

Dana

Faith is one of the most straightforward of the virtue names popularized by the Puritans in the seventeenth century, many parents still choosing it as an indicator of their religious conviction. Faith peaked in 2002 at Number 48.
 Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban are the parents of a daughter they called Faith, little sister for Sunday -- a sibset suitable for a minister's brood. A prominent adult bearer is country singer Faith Hill.

Faith

Grace, a simple and pure virtue name which originally referred to divine grace, is a fashionable classic. In the early 2000s, it seemed headed for the Top 10 but pulled back from the upward trajectory, which you may consider a very good thing.

Grace is one of the most luminous of names, recalling the cool elegance of Grace Kelly, Princess of Monaco. Embraced by Americans of the Victorian era, it was the eleventh most popular name in this country in 1875 and has always ranked among the Top 1000 girl names.

Currently, Grace is the Number 1 girls’ name in Ireland, and ranks highly in other English-speaking countries. In the US, it’s one of the most popular one-syllable middle names for girls.
 
Grace is derived from gratia, the Latin word for "grace." It existed as Gracia in the Middle Ages but was not in common use until the Puritans adopted it along with other Christian attribute names in the sixteenth century. It was used as a <a href="https://nameberry.com/list/373/virtue-names">virtue name</a>, in reference to divine grace — the love and kindness of God.
 
If Grace is too overused for you, consider an international variation like Engracia or Graziella. Some parents have even migrated into the gender neutral camp in search of Grace equivalents such as Gray or Grayson or even Gracelyn. Choosing the nickname Gracie for the birth certificate is a popular option.

Grace

Long used in Spanish-speaking countries, this strong but feminine name was jump-started here by the rise of actress Jada Pinkett Smith. The Italian Giada is a popular variation. In the Bible, the name Jada was borne by a man and has a different root and meaning: It's Hebrew and means "he knows".

Jada

As a precious stone, Jade is known for its cool green hues, its importance in Chinese art, and its ability to transmit wisdom, confidence, and clarity. As a name however, Jade is a 90’s throwback in the UK, a Number 1 choice in France, and a returning gem in the US right now. 
Deriving from the Spanish phrase Piedra de la ijada, the name Jade means “stone of the side” or “stone of the flank” as it was once believed that jade could cure renal colic. While this might not be the most glamorous of meanings, it does give the name some extra history. 
Jade has been used to make carvings since Neolithic times, but as a given name, it only took off in the 1970’s, when Mick and Bianca Jagger chose it for their daughter. 
Originally used as a unisex name, the number of girls called Jade soon outweighed the number of boys, and with the rise of Jaden, it hasn’t been (statistically) unisex since the early 2000’s. 
Trendier than vintage Pearl, but more grounded than Sapphire or Topaz, Jade fits in well with other popular choices. Both a word-name like Scarlett and a one syllable option like Maeve, Jade feels just as right next to an Audrey or a Claire as it does to a Reese or a Kinsley. 
A big favorite in France where it has ranked in the Top 10 since the mid-2000’s, Jade is also well-loved in Belgium, Quebec, the Netherlands, and Monaco. Ihe US, it has had a shakier history, rising and falling on the charts. Now though, it’s at its peak in the Top 100, and given to nearly 3000 babies every year. 
Notable Jades include singer Jade Thirlwall, originally from the group Little Mix; Jade Ewen of the Sugarbabes; Jade, one of the original Bratz Dolls.; and Jane Goody, a TV personality, often remembered for openly sharing her cervical cancer diagnosis, which led to more people being tested and treated sooner. 
If you love Jade, but want some more inspiration, you could consider the Italian variant, Giada. You might also like another <a href= “https://nameberry.com/list/414/jewel-baby-names”>gemstone name</a>, like Opal or Garnet, a <a href=“https://nameberry.com/blog/tiago-and-thibault-the-latest-french-name-trends”> French favorite</a>, like Romy, Ambre, Roxane or Zelie, or a throwback British choice, like Chelsea, Jodie, Demi, or Tia.

Jade

Friendly mega-popular short form of Katherine that has definitively replaced Kathy, Katie is often given on its own.  Going forward, though, Katie is more stylishly clipped itself to the grownup Kate.

Katie

Kayla is a modern invented name that emerged in the late 1950s. Despite its similarity to the name Michaela, Kayla most likely began as a combination of the then-popular name Kay and -la suffix. Alternatively, it may be a variation of the Yiddish name Kaila, which derived from the Hebrew name Kelila. Kayla can also be considered an Anglicization of the Gaelic surname MacCaollaidhe or MacCathail.
 
Kayla sprang from obscurity due to a soap opera, Days of Our Lives, in the 1980s to become a superstar, reaching Number 12. After giving birth to the related Mikayla and Kaylee, Kayla's now fallen in the charts. She's made more recent media appearances on Desperate Housewives and NCIS.

Kayla

A lovely musical name (remember the old Eric Clapton-Derek & the Dominos song?), Layla's seen a significant surge in popularity, partly partly all names with a double L are stylish, and partly because all the forms of the name push it into the Top 15 for girls.

Layla is the most popular spelling of the name, as well as the one with the most phonetic spelling. Other popular forms are, in order, Leila, Laila, Laela, Laelah, Laylah, Leyla, Lejla, and Leighla.Leila, Laila, Leyla, Laylah, Leilah, Lailah, Leylah

If you're concerned about the name's popularity, you might consider that there are many other names that are similar. There's Leilani, for instance, along with Leah and Leia and Lily and new favorite Lyra.
Layla is derived from the Semitic element layl, meaning "night." It has roots in the Arabic, Hebrew, and Persian languages. In the Arabic story Qays and Layla, Layla is the subject of the poet’s unrequited love. 
 The spelling Laila is represented by boxer Laila Ali.

Layla

Mabel is a saucy Victorian favorite rising in popularity in the US over the past decade, after a 50-year nap If you love offbeat old-fashioned names like Violet or Josephine, only sassier, Mabel is one for you to consider.
 In the 1880s and 1890s, Mabel was a Top 20 name. Some of Mabel's vintage cultural references include Charlie Chaplin's favorite leading lady Mabel Normand, jazz singer Mabel Mercer, the lead character in Gilbert & Sullivan's Pirates of Penzance
 There is a Princess Mabel in the Netherlands today, born a commoner and the widow of Prince Friso. Several celebrities have named their daughters Mabel, including Chad Lowe, Nenah Cherry, Bruce Willis and Dermot Mulroney., and the baby on the sitcom Mad About You (in which Mabel was an acronym for Mothers Always Bring Extra Love--a nice thought).

Mabel

Maisie, a charming name long popular as a nickname for Margaret or Mary, entered the Top 1000 as itself ten years ago and continues to rise. Game of Thrones star Maisie Williams helped propel the name back into the limelight, along with the that of her character, Arya.

In literature, Maisie is the name of the precocious young title character in the Henry James novel What Maisie Knew, and is also the main female character in Rudyard Kipling's The Light That Failed. And to bring things up to date, Maisie is a half-blood character in the Harry Potter series. Spelled Maisy, it's a popular children's book series.
 When Maisie re-entered the US Top 1000 in 2014 at 658, it was one of the fastest rising names of that year. She's still got a ways to go In the US to catch up to other English-speaking countries, where Maisie ranks in the Top 100.

Maisie

May is a sweet old-fashioned name that hasn't been on the national charts in several decades, but is definitely sounding fresh and springlike. Parents are beginning to see it once more as one of the prettiest middle name options. May was as high on the list as Number 57 in the 1880s; it's now 228 on Nameberry.
 May started as one of the innumerable pet forms of Mary and Margaret, as well as a springtime month name along with April and June. She's represented in literature by May Bartram in Henry James's The Beast in the Jungle and May Welland in Edith Wharton's The Age of Innocence. 
 Actresses Emily Morton and Madeline Stowe named their daughters May, and Eric Clapton and Jodie Sweetin used it in middle place for theirs.

For a name related to a Scottish town, a patterned Indian fabric, and a country singer named Brad, Paisley has seen remarkable success. After appearing, seemingly out of nowhere, it is now an American favorite. 
Deriving from a Scottish surname and town near Glasglow, Paisley means “church” or “cemetery.” It has been given to a tiny handful of girls each year since the 1960s, but it wasn’t until the late 2000s that it had any significant usage. 
 
Then, between 2010 and 2015, the number of girls named Paisley quadrupled, and it entered the US Top 50. 
 
So what did make Paisley so popular? Perhaps parents drew inspiration from the American country singer, Brad Paisley, who’s dueted with Dolly. Maybe the 2009 appearance of ‘Peppermint Paisley’ on the controversial TV show “Toddlers and Tiaras” turned some heads?
 
Or perhaps it simply emerged as a fresh spin on both Ashley and Paige, the once popular choices that were falling rapidly out of style?
 
However it made its way to the charts, Paisley remains in the US Top 100 and is given to over 4000 girls each year. Athlete Jennie Finch, The Guns ‘n’ Roses musician Richard Fortus, and the actress Gabrielle Anwar are among those who have chosen Paisley for their daughters. 
 
Nameberry users tend not to share this love of Paisley and it ranks outside the <a href=“https://nameberry.com/popular-names/nameberry/girls/allNameberry Top 1000”> Nameberry Top 1000.</a> For more ‘Berry-style’ choices, you could try Maisie, Daisy, Astrid, Romy, Blair or Marlowe.

Paisley

All the old ae/ay <a href="https://nameberry.com/list/479/middle-names-for-girls">middle names for girls</a> are back--Kay, Fay, Mae/May, --and Rae is one of the coolest, used as such by celebrities as Mark Wahlberg and Daniel Baldwin. Even more popular in the celebrisphere is the jazzy Ray spelling: among those who used it as their daughters' middles are Bruce Willis, Dermot Mulroney, Maggie Gyllenhaal and Peter Sarsgaard, Uma Thurman and Lee Lee Sobieski. 
 But Rae is perfectly capable of standing on her own, as in Rae Dawn Chong; it was in the Top 500 in the first two decades of the twentieth century.

Among a small shower of rain-related names, this pure version can have a cool, refreshing image. 
 Richard Pryor named his now-grown daughter Rain, and Rain is also one of the nature-named Phoenix family siblings. More recently, 24 actress Marisol Nichols named her daughter Rain India.
 Rain also makes a nice nature middle name--Brooke Burke called her daughter Heaven Rain.
 If you want to embellish this simply spelling (and alter the meaning), you might also consider Raine, Raina, Rainn, Rayne, Reine or Reign, the middle name of Willow Smith. Or you could take the Holly Madison route all the way to Rainbow.

Rain

Bird name Raven, once a symbol of pride for both African-American and Wiccan parents, is finding new life as a superhero name. Raven Darkholme is the real name of Mystique, heroine of the X-Men films played by Jennifer Lawrence. And there is another Raven superheroine in Teen Titans. Some parents may still choose Raven to signal black pride or mystical powers or maybe even Edgar Allan Poe fandom, but we are guessing most inspiration is coming from the comics.

Raven

An appellation for the Virgin Mary, "Queen of the apostles." After three years off the US popularity charts, Reina rejoined the list in 2014, though it lags behind alternate spellings Raina, Rayna, and Reyna. It is also used in Yiddish and in Japanese.

Reina

Term for a native-born Israeli, first brought to notice in Edna Ferber's 1929 novel Cimarron.  Prickly pear has neen interpreted to mean tough on the outside, soft and sweet within.

Sabra

Sadie started as a nickname for Sarah, but their images couldn't be more disparate. Where Sarah is serious and sweet, Sadie is full of sass and fun.
 Sadie has been soaring in popularity recently. Its last heyday was a century ago. She's been chosen by celebrities including Adam Sandler and Christina Applegate for their daughters.

 In popular culture, there's Somerset Maugham's Sadie Thompson, portrayed by Joan Crawford in Rain, Sadie Hawkins Day, where the girls get to ask the boys to dance, and songs like the Beatles' Sexy Sadie.

Sadie

Sheila peaked in popularity from the 1930s to the 1960s (she reached Number 49 in 1965), along with Maureen and Colleen; parents today would probably go back to the original Cecilia or forward to Shea. 

Sheila

Taylor is one of the prime unisex surnames used for girls and has also been a soap opera favorite. Taylor was in the Top 10 for the last several years of the twentieth century, so that now it tends to feel a little nineties – though Taylor Swift is keeping it in the spotlight and Tay is a charming nickname. Garth Brooks and Bryan Cranston have daughters named Taylor; Taylor Schilling portrays lead Piper Chapman in Orange is the New Black.

Taylor

Vada is a feisty retro choice that feels like a fresh spin on the likes of Ava and Ada. Its bold V initial is bang on trend, although Vada remains very uncommon in the US. It is perhaps best known as the heroine of the 1991 cult classic coming-of-age movie My Girl, Vada Sultenfuss, played by Anna Chlumsky.

 Vada entered the US Top 1000 for the first time in 2016. Rapper Kid Cudi named his daughter Vada in 2010.

Vada

A name with religious resonance, as the Vedas are the most sacred texts of Hinduism. Outside of that religious context, Veda has the makings of a modern <a href="https://nameberry.com/popular-names">popular name</a>, with its sharp V initial, two syllables, and feminine a ending. This is evidenced by it reentry into the US Top 1000 in 2015, after fifty-five years off the list. Similar names on the rise are Vera and Vada.

Veda

seemoni's list "Long A Girl Names" of 35 great name ideas: Ada - Veda!