Rare and Beautiful Girl's names

Gemma is a jewel of a name, an Italian classic that was very popular in 1980s England, but has only recently been started to be used here; it entered the list in 2008.

Greta is an Old World name long tied to the iconic Garbo, but now synonymous with environmental activism.

Honor is a somewhat more straight-laced virtue name than Hope or Grace, placing a high standard on any girl carrying it, but it's a goal worth setting. By choosing Honor for her daughter, Jessica Alba brought it very much into the modern world.

This creative spelling of Jade adds in the trendy y, but it remains much less popular.

Johanna is the version of this name used in Holland, Germany, and Scandinavia. The extra h makes Johanna a slightly more dignified version of Joanna.

One of those names that's suddenly on the map because of a celebrity's influence, Leighton Meester of the TV show Gossip Girl. She pronounces it LAY-ton but some will intuitively say LEE-ton.

Liana is a pretty, graceful and simple name that doesn't fall flat. The name of a flowering tropical vine that grows in forests, it's an international gem that works well in multiple languages.

Deriving from "Lilian", as an elaborate form of the flower name, "Lily", Lilianna is a clean and polished spelling for those wanting the pronunciation Lily-Ann-uh.

Lilith is derived from the Akkadian word lilitu meaning "of the night." In Jewish folklore she is portrayed as Adam's rejected first wife, who was turned into a night demon for refusing to obey him. Lilith is unrelated to most other Lil- names, with the exception of Lilita, which is the Latvian variation.

Mabel is cuddly Victorian favorite rising in popularity in the US, after a 50-year nap If you love offbeat old-fashioned names like Violet or Josephine, only sassier and bubblier, Mabel is one for you to consider. It is currently in the US Top 200 and the UK Top 50.

Mae, a sweet and springlike old-fashioned name, hadn't been on the national charts in forty years, but finally made it back in 2010. Mae is derived from May, the month name that was chosen for its connection to Maia, the Roman goddess of growth and motherhood.

Maisie, a charming name long popular as a nickname for Margaret or Mary, entered the Top 1000 as itself ten years ago and continues to rise. Game of Thrones star Maisie Williams helped propel the name back into the limelight, along with the that of her character, Arya.

This version of Malia (as in Obama) peaked at Number 296 in 2009. Though Maliyah has lost ground since then, it's surprisingly enduring for a newly-fashion name whose pop culture connection was more than a decade ago.

An old English surname name that sounds just like the invented Marlo. Though the final w places it among the more buttoned-up androgynous baby names, all spellings of the name, which also include Marlowe, are gaining in popularity for girls.

Matilda is a sweet vintage name that has been gently climbing the popularity list for the past 15 years, after a half-century slumber. The spunky children's book heroine Matilda is one factor in its rise, along with others of its class like Eloise and Caspian.