for female warriors and witches

Reference to the mythological Three Graces of womanly charm, this one representing charity. Pronounced in Greek as starting with a back-of-the-throat H sound, most English-speakers would translate that to something closer to KAR-is. It's also the name of a girl who lived in Atlantis in the novel Taliesin, and appears in the Margaret Atwood novel The Robber Bride.

In Greek myth, Circe, daughter of Helios, the sun, was a sorceress living on the island of Aeaea, who could turn men into animals with her magic wand, which is just what she did to Odysseus's crew in Homer's Odyssey, transforming them into swine. All was forgiven, however, as Circe and Odysseus later had a child together—Telegonus.

Clio is the name of the ancient Greek mythological muse of history and heroic poetry, one that is rich with modern charm and would make an intriguing choice, especially thanks to its dynamic o-ending.

Cora is a lovely, old-fashioned girls' that has been recently rejuvenated by its contemporary-feeling simplicity. In fact, Cora seemed headed straight for the top of the popularity list when the coronavirus pandemic somewhat weakened its appeal.

Corvina sounds too much like a car model.

Cosima, the kind of elegant and unusual name the British upper classes love to use for their daughters, is given to a handful of baby girls in the US after being chosen by two high-profile celebs in the same month; cool couple Sofia Coppola and Thomas Mars as well as supermodel Claudia Schiffer. It was used earlier by celebrity chef Nigella Lawson, while the male form, Cosimo, was given to the son of Marissa Ribisi and Beck.

Cressida is a pretty mythological and Shakespearean heroine name much better known in Britain than it is here — an imbalance the adventurous baby namer might want to correct.

Daenerys is yet another girls' name invented by "Game of Thrones" author George R. R. Martin that is beginning to gain some traction in real life. Daenerys was used for 67 baby girls in 2013 while one of the character's titles, Khaleesi, was given to 241 baby girls. And the name Arya, also from the hyper-popular series, is one of the fastest growing girls' names in the country.

One of the flower names, used occasionally in Britain (where it's pronounced DAY-lee-a). It seems to have recovered from what was perceived as a slightly affected la-di-dah air. The flower was named in honor of the pioneering Swedish botanist Andreas Dahl, which means dale.

An intriguing mythological name whose one challenge might be pronunciation questions.

Melodic and lively, Delilah has cut itself (mostly) free from its treacherous past to become a contemporary favorite.

An interesting unisex possibility, with an air of mystery connected to the Delphic Oracle, the most important oracle in ancient Greece; it was also a major site for the worship of the god Apollo.

Demeter, the Greek goddess of grain, agriculture, and the harvest, growth and nourishment, was Zeus's sister and Persephone's mother. Variation Demetria is the full name of actress Demi Moore. Though familiar, Demeter is not one of the Greek goddess namesthat's finding widespread modern favor.

Desdemona is as Shakespearean as a name can be, but because the beautiful and innocent wife of Othello came to such a tragic end, her name has been avoided for centuries. But at this point in time, there might be some adventurous parents willing to overlook that.

Diana, the tragic British princess, inspired many fashions, but strangely, not one for her name. For us, Diana is a gorgeous and still-underused choice.

Domitille is the French form of the ancient royal name Domitilla. Domitille is used today, and is much fresher than similar-sounding Dominique.