sappho's longlist - girls

A pretty, feminissima name, more distinctive than Cynthia. George Bernard Shaw used it for a character in his play The Apple Cart, about which it is said 'Orinthia is a name full of magic for me.'

As elaborate O names such as Olympia and Ophelia gain popularity, Orithyia seems more and more usable. It's the name of several women in Greek mythology, including Orithyia, Queen of the Amazon, who co-ruled with her sister Antiope.

Ottilie is trending in the UK, where the pronounced T helps the name sound pretty and delicate, rather like Amelie and Elodie. Ottilie is less popular in the US, where many Americans pronounce it as a near-homonym for "oddly".

Curiously appealing, in a hoop-skirted, wasp-waisted way, Ottoline has recently entered the realm of modern possibility, especially since Sienna Miller chose it as the middle name of her daughter Marlowe.

Pandora has occasionally been used by the British gentry (for girls with brothers who might be called Peregrine) and is now starting to be heard in the US too: It was given to 34 baby girls last year.

Parthenia may be a bit unwieldy, but does conjure up majestic images of the Parthenon.

Peach is one of those names that, a generation ago, would have been placed in the wacky celebrity baby name category. But now with the proliferation of word, nature, and yes, food names, Peach sounds adorably baby-ready.

An interesting figure from Greek mythology -- an Amazon queen who fought for Troy in the Trojan War -- but no figure could be interesting enough to make that five-syllable mouthful usable today. Stick with Penelope or, if that's too popular for your taste, try Thessaly.

One of the rarest of the floral names, though not without some teasing potential. Peony is a historical 1948 novel by Pearl S. Buck.

A Shakespearean invention for an abandoned baby in The Winter's Tale, Perdita's sense of loss has always been off-putting to parents. But her image was somewhat resuscitated by its association with the appealing canine character in Disney's One Hundred and One Dalmations.

Peregrine is considered to be an elegantly aristocratic name in England, but has never made it to the US, where it has been seen as extravagantly eccentric. In the new naming climate, though, it's not beyond consideration — in fact it's already been chosen by at least one Berry.

A 3rd century saint's name sometimes used in Catholic communities, and in Western European countries like Portugal and Italy.

Persephone is the esoteric name of the Greek mythological daughter of Zeus by Demeter, the queen of the harvest. After she was kidnapped by Hades to be Queen of the Underworld, it was decreed by Zeus that she would spend six months of the year with her mother, allowing crops to grow, and six in mourning, thus accounting for the seasons.

A strong Greek name with pan-European charm, Petra is a relatively recent feminization of Peter, though it relates back to an incredible ancient city in Jordan that was rediscovered in the early nineteenth century.

Petronella, and its shorter sister Petra, are both feminizations of Peter. While Petronella is a name with deep history, it's extremely rare. It was given to no baby girls on record in the US last year.

This name of a tragic figure in Greek mythology, the daughter of King Minos, sister of Ariadne and wife of Theseus, has a mysterious and intriguing appeal, and would make a dramatic choice.