vintage girl names begging to be rediscovered

Cecily is as dainty as a lace handkerchief. Cecily has a wide assortment of namesakes. One Cecily was the mother of King Richard III, whose beauty gained her the title "the Rose of Raby," Cecily Parsley is a Beatrix Potter bunny, Cecily Cardew is a character in The Importance of Being Earnest, and the author of the Gossip Girl books is Cecily von Ziegesar.

With the growing popularity of Celia and Cecilia, this vintage canasta-playing nickname name could be due for a comeback.

Celestia is a heavenly name that sounds more ethereal than Celeste, Celestia might make a distinctive, feminine choice if your taste runs toward names like Angelina and Seraphina.

We are hearing more of such heavenly names as Celeste and Celia, which opens the door to the range of lovely variations rarely heard before. Celestina is one of them, though given the more accessible options, it may be gilding the lily.

Celestine is a pretty, crystalline extension (actually a diminutive) of Celeste that would make a choice that is both delicate and strong. It is also a popular name in France.

An appealing surname-name that sounds perfectly feminine, unless you consider the association to Vice President Dick.

Long before the current place-name craze, a pair of the more daring pop singers of the Age of Aquarius picked this name for their daughters. Jefferson Airplane's Grace Slick used the conventional spelling, the Mamas and the Papas's Michelle Phillips went further afield with Chynna (of the group Wilson Phillips).

Antiseptic sounding.

Either an alternative feminization to Christina, an elaboration of the French diminutive Christelle , or a compound name, blending the element Christ- with either Stella or Ella. In the case of the latter, it could give you a rather powerful meaning.

Offbeat and romantic place-name.

Claribel improves on its mother name Clarabelle by distancing itself from the clown and the cow.

A poetic name first used in Edmund Spenser's "The Faerie Queene" in 1596, it had a literary vogue in the 18th century, especially favored by Robert Burns. "inda" names--Melinda, Belinda, Linda" are not particularly in right now.

The obscure yet not unappealing name of a legendary heroine of Rome. The ancient Clelia escaped an Etruscan invader by swimming across the Tiber River.

Calm, composed, and chic. Often seen with an accent in France, as Clémence.