Black Night And Shadowy Names

Beguiling and lovely, Laila is one of the lilting variations of Leila and Layla. It's the name of the former-boxer daughter of Muhammad Ali and of actor Shawn Wayans. In Finland, the Sami people use this in place of the Scandinavian name Helga.

A lovely musical name (remember the old Eric Clapton-Derek & the Dominos song?), Layla's seen a significant surge in popularity, partly partly all names with a double L are stylish, and partly because all the forms of the name push it into the Top 15 for girls.

Leila was popularized in the West by the poet Byron, who used it in his poem Don Juan for a ten-year-old Turkish girl. Leila also appears as a fairy in the Gilbert & Sullivan comic opera Iolanthe.

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.

Lilah may be a simple spelling variation of Lila—or you might think of it as a shortening of Delilah or an Anglicization of the Hebrew Lilach, which means lilac. Whatever the root, it's a beautiful and stylish name. The final h adds balance or creates needless complications, depending on your viewpoint.

Latvian variant of Lilith

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.

The Lyla spelling variation has now superseded the original Lila — the former remains on the rise while the latter is consistently falling in popularity.

Maroochy Barambah, an Australian singer, brought this name into prominence in Australia.

New twist to the Maur- names, a bit cosmetic sounding.

An upbeat and accessible form of Maurice.

In the USA, Maurice was in the Top 200 for most of the 20th century; since 1990, however, it has been on a slow and steady decline. This name has the potential for some old-school cute nicknames such as Mo as well as the more trendy Reece.

One of those old-mannish names that sounds a lot fresher for a girl.

This Spanish version of Maurice has been on the US charts since the 60s. Mauricio peaked in the early 2000s, getting as high as #353 before falling again. With lively, "-o" ending names getting the attention they have got in recent years, Mauricio would be a great option. Mauricio Macri was a former president of Argentina.

Maurus is one straightforward and attractive name from Ancient Rome that hasn't been discovered yet by modern parents. It's the forebearer of such names as Morris, Maurice, and Moritz, but the original Maurus is arguably the most appealing of all.

Old-man name, soft as a fraying gray cashmere cardigan, that would be even cuter for a girl.

Not one but two Spice Girls are named Mel, which led to it briefly being more popular for girls than boys in the 90s and early 00s, but it has now fallen out of favor for both sexes.

Lobbing off the final E makes Melanie more modern.

The current wife of Donald Trump, Slovenian model Melania Knauss, brought this pretty version to the fore. Saint Melania was an heiress who freed thousands of enslaved people.

Gone with the Wind inspired a generation of girls named Melanie, though it looks as though Scarlett will triumph in the end.