Girl Names that start with the letter I

Like Violet, Lavender and Lilac, Ianthe is a purple flower name. Chosen by the poet Shelley for his daughter, Ianthe has a poetic, romantic, almost ethereal quality. In the ancient myth, she was the daughter of Oceanus, supreme ruler of the sea, and also a Cretan woman so beautiful that when she died the Gods made purple flowers grow around her grave.

Iara rhymes with Yara, an Arabic name of which it can be a variation. More commonly it's associated with Iara of Brazilian myth — a water nymph, sometimes mermaid, of Tupi and Guaraní legend. In the legends, Iara seduces men to the river to accompany her in her immortal life.

Many vowel names stylish a century ago are coming back, and Ida seems like a possible, logical successor to Ada and Ava.

A pretty, if unusual choice for a summer baby, particularly a girl with an ancestor named Ida. An epithet of the goddess Aphrodite, Idalia is derived from the Greek place name Idalion.

Makes Ida more feminine but no more fashionable.

Ilena-style variants have all been considered more stylish than Helen for many years.

Ilene might be a phonetic way to spell Aileen or Eileen, though in the end people may have more luck pronouncing the original.

While Ilise is unusual, the E version is more attractive.

One of the best-known African names in the Western World because of the Somali-born model and wife of the late David Bowie.

A worthy update for Imani.

Euphonious and long stylish in England, India was one of the fastest-rising names on the 2013 list, after jumping 240 spots back into the Top 1000.