Czech names for girls

The fashion for elaborate girly-girl names, especially those that end with -ella or -ana, has put this distinctive Latin favorite into play.

This strong yet graceful feminine form of Gabriel is a modern favorite. The double L spelling is given to more than three times as many girls as the Gabriela version.

Peaked in the Czech Republic in 1939.

A simple, international name extremely popular in India. The word, meaning "song", also appears in the name of the Bhagavad Gita, a Hindu sacred text. Geeta is a spelling variant.

Many things to many peoples: a flower name, also spelled Hanae, to the Japanese; a Czech and Polish short form of Johana; and an alternate form of the biblical name Hannah in the US. It also means "craft, work" in Hawaiian and "glow" in Maori.

A pretty and substantial German smoosh name, a combination of Hanne and Eleonore. Most popular in Germany from the 1930s to the 1950s. Former German Chancellors Helmut Kohl and Helmut Schmidt both had wives named Hannelore.

Helena is one of those classic names that just misses making the US Top 1000 girl names for its entire history, falling off for a single year in 1992. Since then it's been drifting lazily up the charts, and makes a perfect choice if you want a name that both fits in and stands out.

Short for Brunhilda, the operatic Valkyrie of Teutonic legend, Hilda still has not quite shaken off that image that image. Though with the resurgence of Matilda, she might just have a bit of a comeback.