If You Like Hannah . . .

  1. Heather
    • Origin:

      English botanical name
    • Description:

      This flower name was one of the most popular in her class in the seventies and eighties (in the 1989 movie Heathers, every snobby girl in the high school clique bore that name). Now, though still pretty and evocative of the Scottish moors, it has faded in favor of other purplish blooms, having fallen out of the Top 1000 after having been as high as Number 3 in 1975, when it was given to close to 25,000 girls.
  2. Heaven
    • Origin:

      Word name
    • Description:

      Among the children named Heaven are the daughters of TV personality Brooke Burke and rap singer Lil' Mo, who also has a daughter named God'iss Love. Some parents have taken to using Nevaeh instead—Heaven spelled backwards.
  3. Heidi
    • Origin:

      Diminutive of Adelheid; German
    • Meaning:

      "noble, nobility"
    • Description:

      Heidi became known — and popular — via the 1880 eponymous children's classic by Swiss writer Johanna Spyri and, despite decades of American Heidis of all sizes, shapes, and personalities, the name seems permanently tethered to that spunky little girl on the Alpine mountaintop in the book and Shirley Temple movie.
  4. Helen
    • Origin:

      Greek
    • Meaning:

      "torch; shining light"
    • Description:

      Helen is a name that has connoted beauty since ancient times – Helen of Troy was the the mythological "face that launched a thousand ships," over whom the ten-year Trojan War was fought.
  5. Helena
    • Origin:

      Latinate form of Helen, Greek
    • Meaning:

      "torch; shining light"
    • Description:

      Helena is one of those classic names that just misses making the US Top 1000 girl names for its entire history, falling off for a single year in 1992. Since then it's been drifting lazily up the charts, and makes a perfect choice if you want a name that both fits in and stands out.
  6. Helenka
    • Helenora
      • Heloisa
        • Henrietta
          • Origin:

            Feminine variation of Henry
          • Meaning:

            "estate ruler"
          • Description:

            Despite a return to such feminizations of male names as Josephine, Clementine, and Theodora, starchy Henrietta has not made it into that group. Still, if you look hard enough, you'll see that Henrietta has the same vintage charm.
        • Henriette
          • Origin:

            French, feminine form of Henri
          • Description:

            Henriette is to Henri (or Henry) what Charlotte is to Charles. Yet this elegant French name is surprisingly rare in the States.
        • Hermia
          • Origin:

            Greek, female form of Hermes
          • Meaning:

            "cairn, pile of stones, boundary marker"
          • Description:

            Though we've gotten used to Hermione via Harry Potter, and even Hermes with its godlike and fashion associations, most people would still have a problem with Hermia (too close to hernia?) and Herman.
        • Herminia
          • Honora
            • Origin:

              Latin
            • Meaning:

              "woman of honor"
            • Description:

              Honora and Honoria are two ways of softening the severity of Honor, while retaining its righteous meaning. They were predominant until the Reformation, when the Puritans adopted the abstract virtue names, and were introduced to Britain by the Normans.
          • Hortensia
            • Origin:

              Latin
            • Meaning:

              "of the garden"
            • Description:

              Hortensia is an ancient Roman name that's also the common name of the flower hydrangea. The French form of the name is Hortense, which is coming back into style in Paris but has never caught on in English-speaking countries. A secondary character in Roald Dahl's Matilda is named Hortensia.
          • Hyacinth
            • Origin:

              Flower name, from Greek
            • Meaning:

              "blue larkspur; precious stone"
            • Description:

              Though it may not be as sweet and gentle as, say, Violet, the purple-hued Hyacinth still might hold some appeal for the parent seeking a truly unusual flower name.
          • Hyacintha
            • Hyacinthia
              • Jana
                • Origin:

                  International feminine variation of Jan
                • Description:

                  A sweet name with many cross-cultural ties: it's an equivalent of Jane in languages including Czech, Slovak, Dutch, German, Slovene, Catalan, Estonian, and Latvian.
              • Johanna
                • Origin:

                  Hebrew
                • Meaning:

                  "God is gracious"
                • Description:

                  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.
              • Katherina
                • Origin:

                  Greek
                • Meaning:

                  "pure"
                • Description:

                  Variation of Katherine.