Old New England Names from Maine

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.

Cinderella stepsister type Victorian-valentine name.

Eleazar is a distinguished Biblical name--in which it appears several times-- ripe for the picking following the stardom of Eli, Elijah, and other similar names.

Rarely used in the last two centuries, but might be worth dusting off and holding up to the light.

Ellar Coltrane, the star of Richard Linklater's acclaimed 2014 movie "Boyhood," is an outlier, namewise. Most others with his first name are girls, and there aren't even many of them -- the last time the Social Security Administration registered the name at all was in 1956, when six girls were named Ellar. Still, with Gaelic names being trendy, and the "El-" sound on the rise, it has some potential.

Ellery is a rhythmic three-syllable boy's name that is familiar and yet rarely used--and just waiting to be discovered. It's long been identified with Ellery Queen--which was both the pen name of two cousins, Frederic Dannay and Manfred B. Lee, and the detective they created.

Historically a diminutive of Wilhelmina, Elma's parent name and soundalike sisters are slowly stirring back to life as the trend for vintage baby names continues. With Alma on the rise in the US, Thelma chic in France, and Selma hot in Scandinavia, Elma could be in with a shot at a revival – especially given the popularity of Emma and Ella. But Muppet Elmo and Looney Tune Elmer Fudd may cast a long shadow.

Elzie was given to 16 baby girls in the US last year, almost certainly as a spelling variation of the increasingly popular sweet nickname Elsie, a diminutive of Elizabeth.