Old-Fashioned, Vintage, Retro, Classic, Eclectic, Unusual and Uncommon Names for Girls

A name with a surprising amount of history--it was the name of the wife of Ptolemy I of Egypt, occurs in the New Testament, and belonged to a fourth century saint. In the US, it has long been spelled and pronounced Bernice. Nicknames include Bernie, Berry, Binnie and Bunny.

Although feminizations ending in "ette" are not particularly popular now, Bernadette is a pleasant, feminine, but strong name that doesn't feel prohibitively dated. And though strongly associated with the saint who saw visions of the Virgin Mary—Saint Bernadette of Lourdes—it is now no longer strictly inhabiting the Catholic diocese.

As dated as the old Pat Boone song.

Bernardine is really driving home its Bernard connection, for better or worse. Bernadine is the usual form of this name.

Rarely heard today-- it fell off the list around 1980--Bernice is a biblical name of Greek origin. In the Bible, she is a sister of King Agrippa.

Ever since the enormous German cannon was dubbed by Allied soldiers "Big Bertha" in World War I, this name hasn't worked for a sweet little baby girl. But this was not always so. Hard as it might be to imagine now, Bertha was a Top 100 name until the 1930s, and in the 1880s was the seventh most popular name in the land--the equal of Joseph.

The name of medieval French saint, similar to Sally Field's name, Bertrille, on the old The Flying Nun sitcom, leading some to expect the word "Sister" in front of it.

Dated British favorite that never caught on in this country, where Jade remains the green gem of choice. Interesting namesakes: British writer Beryl Bainbridge and British aviatrix Beryl Markham.

Although she declared her independence as far back as the reign of Elizabeth I--Good Queen Bess, Bess now sounds less passé than Beth or Betsy.

After a century of association with horses and cows, this name just could be ready for revival by a fearless baby namer -- after all, it did happen to Jessie and Becky.

The sweetest and most sensitive of the pet names for Elizabeth, now also one of the most dated.

Long forgotten Old Testament name with modern potential.

This Elizabeth nickname has a decidedly retro feel--think Betsy Ross and the Betsy Wetsy doll-- once seen as a perkier, younger-sounding alternative to Betty. But with Betty on the brink of a comeback, pigtailed Betsy could return as well.

Combine the popularity of Betty White and Mad Men's glamorous Betty Draper Francis, with the residual sweetness of Ugly Betty's Betty Suarez, and the result is an impending return of the name. It's got presidential cred via Betty Ford and feminist history through Betty Friedan.

In the Bible, Beulah is a place, not a person, applied to the land of Israel by the prophet Isaiah. The land of Beulah has sometimes been considered a reference to heaven. Beulah began to be used as a given name in England at the time of the Reformation and was used by the seventeenth century Puritans.

The remarkable success of the girls' name Everly makes a revival of the name Beverly seem possible. More commonly a masculine name in the 19th century, it began to be used for girls in the early 1900s, reaching #14 ion the popular names list in 1937. Inspirations: Beverly Johnson was the first African-American model to appear on the cover of Vogue, Beverly Sills was a major American soprano, Beverly Cleary authored the beloved 'Ramona' books, and Beverly Goldberg is the beloved TV matriarch of 'The Goldbergs'.

Melodic and unusual, and she will outgrow any bib jokes.