Fantastical Names

Brigitte is the French version of the ancient Irish Brighid long associated with 1950s sex symbol Brigitte Bardot. If you want to pronounce Brigitte the French way, it's brih-ZHEET.

Briony may be the variation and Bryony the original, but many parents will see this as the more authentic-feeling version of this attractive botanical name. Still unusual in the U.S., Briony is in the British Top 100 and may appeal to parents as a fresh spin on Briana or Brittany or an honorific for a Brian, though it bears no relationship to the male name.

Brisa is commonly used in Latino families, all but unheard of in others.

Variation of Greek mythology name Briseis.

If you want a pan-Scandinavian name with energy and style that could have been a winner, if not for the sound-alike water filtration company Brita.

The simple and attractive Bryn is well used for boys in Wales, and does have a history as a male name in the US, although both Bryn and Brynn are currently far more popular for girls.

Bryony is an unusually strong plant name --the bryony is a wild climbing vine with green flowers --that caught on in the U.K. before sprouting here. The name of the young character in the Ian McEwan novel Atonement is spelled Briony, which is the variation and Bryony the original.

Rhythmic and captivating.

The musical word name Cadence, seemed to come out of nowhere to zoom up the charts; it rose over 700 spots between 2002 and 2004, and showed up in the Top 200 in 2007. It's gone down in the popular names list since then, though. Some might see it as a feminine relative of the popular Caden. Kadence and Kaydence are also rising.

Caia Caecilia was the Roman Goddess of fire and women. The name Caia would make a truly fresh alternative to the flagging Maya, with which it rhymes.

A beaming, friendly Irish last-name-first-name waiting to be discovered.

Spelled with either one 'l' or two, Calista came to the fore in 1997 when Calista Flockhart hit it big as Ally McBeal. Flockhart, who bears her mother's middle name, didn't just introduce a name, she introduced a whole sensibility. Pretty and delicate, Calista is definitely worthy of consideration, especially for parents with Greek roots.

Calla is a lily name that is much more distinctive and delicate than Lily. Rarely heard today, it did appear in the popularity lists in the last decades of the nineteenth century.

An Anglicized form of the Irish surname Ó Cathaláin. It's a highly popular name in Scotland.