Celestian Names

Many African tribes have a tradition of naming children for the day or time they were born -- Friday, Afternoon -- a practice finding new life in the Western world as word names become more popular.

A bright and optimistic middle name choice.

In the days of huge families, this name of the Roman goddess of prophecy and childbirth, and one of the Fates, would be saved for bambina number ten. Now it might be used for a girl born in October, the tenth month.

Decimus is one of the Roman numeral names used in large Victorian families--in this case for the tenth child. It is now seeing some new life thanks to the cutting-edge fashion for ancient Roman names.

The mythical daughter of Eros and Psyche becomes a modern-sounding word name. Danger: could be seen as X-rated.

Fresh, bright, and sunny, Della could be an alternative to Ella, Delilah, or Adeline. Familiar but not yet overused, it combines the elements of contemporary favorites with vintage charm.

This 1950s Welsh bird name sounds less dated than our fifties Robin.

Synthesized name in the Justin/Dustin mold, but has an unpleasant similarity to the diaper rash ointment called Desitin.

If you don't want your daughter to be a Diva, try this Hindu moon goddess name that was chosen by actress Monica Bellucci for hers.

Devilishly handsome, Devin arrived as Kevin was moving out. Not to be confused (though it often is) with the English place-name Devon. While both Devin and Devon are flagging somewhat for boys, the names have dropped out of the Top 1000 for girls, making it more a masculine and less a unisex name these days.

Diamond sparkled all through the nineties--reaching as high as Number 150 in 1999. Although its shine has diminished quite a bit, it remains in use.

Diantha, a mythological flower of the supreme Greek god Zeus, is a melodious and more unusual cousin of Diana, heard most often in The Netherlands.

Diarra has a nice meaning, but we could see it leading to possible teasing re association with a certain digestive problem.

A variation of Greek Dionysius, itself derived from the name of the god of wine, revelry, and dance, Dion gives a nod to mythology while also having historical ties to a student of Plato, to a Greek mathematician and to 1st century writer and historian.

As a contemporary name, it came into popular use in the late 1950s and remained in the Top 1000 until 2006. It has dipped in and out of the charts since then, and is still given to a not insignificant 200 boys each year.

In Greek mythology the mother of Aphrodite by Zeus, and also one of Saturn's moons; this is an astral name quite distinct from the better known Dionne.

Dionne is an Americanized version of the Greek Dione, with many sub-versions of its own, identified with singer Dionne Warwick. It was also the surname of the Canadian quintuplets born in 1934, who gained worldwide fame as the first kown quints to survive to adulthood.