sappho's longlist - girls

Eilonwy is a rare and poetic Welsh name first recorded in the late 19th century and used by Lloyd Alexander for his novel series The Chronicles of Prydain. The character appeared in Disney's adaptation of the series. In both the books and on the screen, Eilonwy is a feisty yet kind character. Read more about Eilonwy and other Disney Princess Names in our featured blog.

So airy, it's almost not there.

This Welsh nature name that can be pronounced exactly like the male Ira. Or, to avoid confusion, you could just name her Snow.

This ethereal Welsh word name has a sound as pretty and delicate as its floral namesake.

Pretty and soulful name of a goddess from Irish mythology and several Irish saints. Singer Enya, born Eithne Ní Bhraonáin, has made the Anglicized spelling familiar. Eithne comes from the vocabulary word "kernel", which was used as a term of praise in old bardic poetry.

Though the tragedies of the Greeks and Eugene O'Neill that used this name are filled with incest and murder, Electra is still a brilliant choice. Isabella Rossellini chose the gentler Italian verson, Elettra, for her now grown daughter.

This spelling of Electra makes this vibrant name less electric and more kinetic.

Spanish form of Eleadora, a combination of Elio and Dora, meaning sun and gift respectively.

Less electric and melodramatic, more serene, than Electra. Isabella Rossellini's daughter (and Ingrid Bernman's granddaughter) is named Elettra Rossellini Wiedemann.

The name of the mother of Aethelred the Unready was once common among the Anglo-Saxon nobility, and was briefly revived during the 19th century, only to be lost once again to history.

Eliora is a melodic name ripe with vowel sounds.

Eliza is a name with a wonderful combination of streamlined zest and Eliza Doolittle charm and spunk. It's a classic that's popular right now -- but not too popular.

Though she has long stood on her own, Elke has many longer cross-cultural connections, to the Dutch/German/Scandinavian Adelheid and Alice and the English Adelaide, as a feminine version of Elkanah and as a Yiddish form of Eleanor.

As Elodie filters into the mainstream, parents may turn to the rarer Spanish form Elodia as an alternative.

While the etymology of the name is unclear, it's most likely a contraction of Eliora or Elnora. Despite the uncertain heritage, it's a winning construction, based on its El- prefix, the feminine three-syllable flow, and the a ending. It debuted in the US Top 1000 in 2015, and by 2023, Elora was one of the fastest rising girl names.

A beautiful modern Cornish nature name that is rapidly picking up steam in the States: even spawning variant spellings like Elowyn and Elowynn. In its native region, it wasn't widely used as a name before the twentieth century, when the Cornish language was revived. A (currently) unique member of the fashionble El- family of names, it has a pleasant, evocative sound.