French Girls

The lyrical and melodious Elodie, a Nameberry favorite, is starting to rise through the US popularity charts for the first time since the 1880s. It's a uncommon member of the trending El- family of names, which includes Ella, Eloise, and Eleanor.

Lost in limbo for decades and decades, Elsa now stands a good chance of following along in the progression from Emma to Ella to Etta, thanks to the ice queen heroine who "Let It Go" in the wildly popular Disney movie Frozen. The name shot all the up to Number 286 (its highest ranking since the 1890s) in the year after the release of the movie, though it's now dropped back down the list in the US.

Lila is one of the girl names with a double l sound — Lila, Lola, Layla, Leila, Lily et al — that have caught on in a major way., Delicate yet dynamic, Lila has a slightly international flair.

Lilou is a charming, rarely heard import. Occitan is a language spoken in Provence, in the south of France, in which the suffix "ou" denotes a pet form — thus, Lilou as a short form of Liliane or its Occitan form Liliana or Liliano. Its popularity in France--where it's currently Number 12--can be traced to the 1997 film The Fifth Element.

Pretty, delicate and crystal clear, with the readymade nickname of Lucy.

The name of the Roman goddess of the moon, Luna is derived straight from the Latin word for moon, luna. Luna may be the name most likely to surprise someone from an older generation by its Top 10 status in the US and its widespread international popularity.

Melusine was a figure from early European folklore, associated with the water. Her legends are especially connected with the northern and western areas of France, as well as the Low Countries. She is also connected with the French Lusignan royal house which claimed to be descended from Melusine. This name makes a good choice for people looking for a feminine mythological name but want to steer clear of Greek and Arthurian mythology.

Minerva is the long-neglected name of the Roman goddess of wisdom and invention, the arts and martial strength, one of the mythology names for girls that might appeal to adventurous feminist parents. With Juno and Jupiter, she made the Capitoline triad, whose worship was at the very center of Roman religion.

Part of the vogue for French-sounding names in the 1920s and 30s, Nadine has been replaced by the Russian sound of Nadia and Natasha.

With its relation to Mount Olympus, home of the Greek gods, and to the Olympic games, this name has an athletic, goddess-like aura, making it the perfect Olivia substitute.

Strictly for the girls.

Rosalie hit its apex in 1938 and then slid straight downhill until it fell off the U.S. Top 1000 completely in the 1980s, only to spring back to life in 2009 as the name of a character in the Twilight series. The beautiful vampire Rosalie Hale has breathed fresh life back into this mid-century name, and the fact that the character is both sympathetic and relatively minor means Rosalie has the chance to thrive again as a baby name without feeling unduly tied to Twilight.

Simone, the elegant French feminization of Simon, strikes that all-important balance between unusual and familiar, and it's oozing with Gallic sophistication. Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson has a daughter named Simone; Chris Rock used it in the middle place for his daughter, as did Kevin Kline and Phoebe Cates

African-American and women's rights activist Sojourner Truth was born as Isabelle into enslavement. She adopted her new name when she began traveling and preaching abolition in 1843. Sojourner is a heroine name that may, with the rise of spiritual word names such as Journey and Genesis, finally be ready for prime time.

An attractive French word name known here via former child TV star Soleil Moon Frye, aka Punky Brewster. It started to be lightly used in the U.S. in the 1920s and is now attracting some attention as both a sunny nature and an international word name. It's currently in the Nameberry Top 500.

Creative choice, evoking the high-kicking can-can girls and other colorful figures in the works of Toulouse-Lautrec.

Vera was the height of fashion in 1910, then was for a long time difficult to picture embroidered on a baby blanket. Now, though, it has come back into style along with other old-fashioned simple names such as Ada and Iris.