Variation of the very trendy Addison, perhaps lending itself more obviously to the nickname Addy.

Addyson

While this name is a phonetic variant of Amaya and Amaia, its popularity could also stem from its similarity to names such as Aliyah and Maya.

Amiyah

This variation of Aviana adds a second n, possibly to make the connection to Anna clearer. On the popularity charts, it first entered the US Top 1000 in 2011 and was one of the fastest-rising girls' names of 2016, entering the Top 500 for the first time. Its rising popularity could be attributed to the recent success of similar names Eliana/Elliana/Elianna and Ariana/Arianna. Whereas those two names shorten to Ellie and Ari, Avianna provides the trendy nickname Avi.

Avianna

Baylor is a possible occupational alternative to the tired Taylor, especially for a horse lover.

Baylor

Like its single "n" sister name (Braelyn), Braelynn is currently enjoying its highest level of popularity. Unlike Braylin and Braylyn, the ‘ae’ of Braelynn gives the name a Scottish look, making it seem slightly less creative and more sturdy

Braelynn

Combines the prefix of Brayden and the trendy -lee suffix, and has the marks of the popular Bailey.

Braylee

An invented name that feels like a mix between Brayden and Raelynn.

Braylin

Out-of-the-way place name (it's an antiquated holiday spot on England's south coast) that might make a brilliant choice. Actor/director Jon Favreau named his daughter Brighton Rose.

Brighton

Blending the sounds of Bryce, Brian, Riley and Kylie, Brylee is a modern invention that ranked in the US Top 1000 from 2005 to 2022. It peaked back in 2012 when it was given to around 770 babies, but has since been in decline. Given to around 230 girls in a recent year, Brynlee and Oakley are now preferred. 
 
Possible meanings include "speckled meadow", "hill by the meadow", or " thorny woodland clearing", depending on what roots you follow.

Brylee

This variation of Brinley is currently the most popular of the plethora of alterative spellings. Ranking in the US Top 300 and given to 1200 girls in 2023, it is twice as popular as the traditional Brinley.
 
Appealing perhaps because it is more solidly connected to the Welsh name Brynn, Brynlee can be seen as a smoosh name, or as a twist on an English surname. Either way, you get an on-trend sounding choice and two nature-inspired meanings.

Brynlee

Cailyn

Darcie rae

The Scottish Eileen was a midcentury darling that was on a long downward slide for decades. And then, in 2012, it took an unexpected pivot and has been inching upward in the US.

The unrelated but similar-sounding Isla may have revived the taste for Eileen. Isla along with Lee and Lena might be nicknames for Eileen.

Eileen is an Anglicized form of the Gaelic Eibhlin or Aibhilin, which is technically a form of to Evelyn/Aveline, but is also sometimes considered part of the Helen family of names. Aileen is the Irish version, less popular now than Eileen.

Eileen

Parents of female Emersyns will say this Emerson variation's Y makes it more feminine -- and to some extent, it does. This, combined with the trendy Y, have flagged this name as on-the-rise.

"Em" names have been hot for girls in recent years, from the classic Emma, Emily, and Emilia to the modern Emery and Ember — and both Emerson and Emersyn are no exception. Emersyn entered the charts in 2019 and has been rising since, all the way up to the Top 200. 

Emersyn

Variation of Emma with the popular suffix -lyn.

Emmalyn

Graylynn

Another boys' name that shows signs of moving to the girls' camp, despite a very obvious and masculine "son" ending. If you love the sound, might we suggest Gracen instead?

Grayson

Grey is the more common spelling in Britain and Australia. This color name has a softness and ambiguity which makes it equally lovely for a boy or a girl.

Grey

Haelynn

Modern, feminine form of the rustic, boyish name Harlan. With the popularity of Harley and Harlow in recent years, it is no surprise that Harlyn on the rise too. The name Harlyn was given to 134 baby girls in 2022.

Harlyn

Harlynn

Harper rae

Isla rae

Ivy rae

The lynn suffix makes this one of the more feminine spellings of the popular name Jaelynn, which can also be spelling Jaelyn, Jaylin, and Jalen, among many other variations.

Jaelynn

With Journey becoming increasingly popular, it's no surprise that this alternative spelling is not far behind. However, you may be surprised to learn that in recent years, the Journee spelling has actually passed the original spelling in popularity — Journee is currently in the Top 200.

This word name may be appealing to parents attracted to the idea of a spiritual -- or even an actual -- voyage.

Journee

Kaylin and all of its forms have made many appearances in the Top 1000 in recent years. Kailyn is also the Turkish goddess of crossroads, kings and queens.

Kailyn

A huge name in the late 90's and most of the 00's, Kaitlyn's been on a downward trend in recent years. Kaitlyn and its soundalikes have been so well used in the US that they can no longer be seen as fresh, but it's still relatively popular in Canada.

Kaitlyn

One of the most popular of the trendy Caitlin variations, Katelyn points directly to components Kate and Lyn --making it a bit more traditionally feminine.

Katelyn

Kaye

Kynlee had its moment in the spotlight during the 2010s, when it entered the US Top 1000 alongside its more popular counterpart Kinley. An <a href="https://nameberry.com/list/519/american-baby-names">All-American style name</a>, it peaked in 2017 when it rose to #552, but it has been in decline ever since. 
 
Kynlee came about as a contemporary twist to the old Scottish surname Mac Fhionnlaigh, meaning it has the same etymological roots as the now more popular choice of Finley.
 
One famous Kynlee is Kynlee Heiman, also know by her Instagram moniker, "kynlee_the_great". The young gymnast, model, and aspiring Olympian rose to fame for her unusual level of fitness for her age, which has brought her both support and controversy.

Kynlee

Laelynn

The most popular variation of this name for baby girls is Leighton, as in Leighton Meester, the actress who introduced her name to the mainstream when she rose to fame on Gossip Girl.

Layton

Londyn is now a more popular name than the original London for girls.  Some parents feel that varying the spelling nudges the name away from over-identification with the British capitol. Substituting a y for another vowel is also seen by some as more feminine. For boys, London is five times as popular as Londyn -- though both variations are far more popular for girls.

Londyn

Lynn arrived in the 1940s, spinning off from the wildly popular Linda, to become a top midcentury middle name. Now, Lynn's in limbo. 

Lynn

Lynne

Luna rae

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. 
 
Mae can be used as a nickname for the names Mary and Margaret — actress Mae West was born Mary. Alternate spellings include May, Mei, and Maye. The May spelling makes it more of a month name, while Mae makes it an antique nickname name. Both can stand on their own, as seen by Hilary Duff's choice of Mae as her daughter's first name.
 Mae along with twin sister May is now one of the prettiest and most popular middle name options for girls (Eric Clapton has an Ella Mae, Greg Kinnear an Audrey Mae, Ian Ziering a Penna Mae). 
 
A Top 100 name through 1920, Mae was big in early film history — there were leading actresses named Mae Clarke, Mae Marsh, Mae Busch, and Mae Murray. Towering over them (figuratively) was Mae West, who changed the name from sweet to sophisticated. Madonna also played a character called Mae in the 1992 movie A League of Their Own.
 
Mae Jemison was the first African-American woman to travel in space. Mae Whitman is a rising young actress seen recently on Parenthood and Arrested Development.
 
It may be worth noting that Mãe is the Portuguese word for mother, so if you've got Brazilian or Portuguese relatives, it's probably best to stick to May or Mei.

If you can add Lynn to a name, someone will and Mae is no exception to the rule. This compound name sits somewhere between the mid-century charm of Marilyn, Jerilyn, and Jocelyn, and the contemporary cool vibes of Jazlynn, Oaklynn, and Emberlynn.
 
Used on a handful of girls since the 60s, it has really taken off in the last decade and is now given to around 215 babies each year.

Maelynn

May is a sweet old-fashioned name that hasn't been on the national charts in several decades, but is definitely sounding fresh and springlike. Parents are beginning to see it once more as one of the prettiest middle name options. May was as high on the list as Number 57 in the 1880s; it's now 228 on Nameberry.
 May started as one of the innumerable pet forms of Mary and Margaret, as well as a springtime month name along with April and June. She's represented in literature by May Bartram in Henry James's The Beast in the Jungle and May Welland in Edith Wharton's The Age of Innocence. 
 Actresses Emily Morton and Madeline Stowe named their daughters May, and Eric Clapton and Jodie Sweetin used it in middle place for theirs.

Just when we thought Paisley couldn't get trendier, this -ee suffix showed up. Although it's not our favorite, parents are choosing this spelling more and more often.

Paislee

Rarely used until the 90s, Payton rose up the charts when it was popularized by the football star, Peyton Manning, and, interestingly, by the character of "Peyton Flanders", the villainess of the 1992 film, The Hand That Rocks The Cradle. 
 Derived from an English place name and surname, Payton could mean "Pæga's town" or "fighting man's estate", though other sources associate it with Patton and Patrick, giving it the meaning "nobleman's town". With both surnames-as-given-names and place names in style, Payton remains in the US Top 400.
 Back in the early 2000s, Payton leaned more towards being (statistically) unisex, and it was given to roughly 2200 girls and 1400 boys. In more recent years however, the number of boys called Payton has dwindled, and now, it is given to girls 90% of the time. 
 
As of 2023, the spelling variation Peyton was nearly twice as popular as Payton for girls, and ranked significantly higher in the UK and Canada too, perhaps because of its links to Peyton Place which could make it feel more intuitive. 
 
Payton Stork (nee Ackerman) of Dance Moms fame is a notable bearer of this spelling.

Payton

Beaming, lustrous word name that comes with the nickname Rae.

Radiance

All the old ae/ay <a href="https://nameberry.com/list/479/middle-names-for-girls">middle names for girls</a> are back--Kay, Fay, Mae/May, --and Rae is one of the coolest, used as such by celebrities as Mark Wahlberg and Daniel Baldwin. Even more popular in the celebrisphere is the jazzy Ray spelling: among those who used it as their daughters' middles are Bruce Willis, Dermot Mulroney, Maggie Gyllenhaal and Peter Sarsgaard, Uma Thurman and Lee Lee Sobieski. 
 But Rae is perfectly capable of standing on her own, as in Rae Dawn Chong; it was in the Top 500 in the first two decades of the twentieth century.

Less popular than Reagan, but more popular than Regan, Raegan is a spelling option for the popular Irish surname. It followed Reagan up the charts in the 90s, perhaps due to its similarity to Morgan, but in recent years, use of Raegan has declined
 
With the cool meaning "little king", Raegan feels like it could be a modern and on trend option, however, it is in fact linked to an old surname, a Shakespearean character, and a president. Given to around 730 girls each year, Raegan remained in the US Top 500 for 2023, with parents selecting it perhaps to make the pronunciation more obvious and to get nickname Rae.

Raegan

Part Rylee, part Raelynn — Raelee is a trendy compound name on the rise.

Raelee

After entering the Top 1000 in 2009, Raelyn has climbed the charts. It's ridden the coattails of Raelynn (which remains more popular), but also may be benefiting from the rise of Brooklyn. The use of -Lyn and -Lynn suffixes has grown in recent years, even as the name Lynn itself languishes.

Raelyn

Bird name Raven, once a symbol of pride for both African-American and Wiccan parents, is finding new life as a superhero name. Raven Darkholme is the real name of Mystique, heroine of the X-Men films played by Jennifer Lawrence. And there is another Raven superheroine in Teen Titans. Some parents may still choose Raven to signal black pride or mystical powers or maybe even Edgar Allan Poe fandom, but we are guessing most inspiration is coming from the comics.

Raven

Most female Rays used to spell their names Rae, but now the Ray Charles, ray-of-sunshine way is cool for both genders. 

Like many single-syllable R names right now, Raye is on the rise.

Raye

Raylan may be on the rise as a baby name thanks to (male) TV lawman Raylan Givens, but the name is also occasionally used for girls: the statistical gender split is 15 to 1.  The -lan ending might be thought of as Lynn-like, with Raylan an updated spin on such midcentury concoctions as Rae-Lynn.

Raylan

Rayne is the unique name used for one of the girl sextuplets on the Sweet Home TV show.

Rayne

Like somewhat more popular twin sister Reagan, this vibrant last-name-first Irish choice makes a strong, straightforward option. 
 She does have a couple of downsides though. Regan entered the girls' list in 1974 – one year after the horror flick The Exorcist featured the demonically possessed Regan MacNeill. And before that, Regan was one of the faithless daughters in Shakespeare's King Lear.
 But putting all that aside – and you can – Regan makes a worthy successor to the overused Welsh Megan.

Regan

An appellation for the Virgin Mary, "Queen of the apostles." After three years off the US popularity charts, Reina rejoined the list in 2014, though it lags behind alternate spellings Raina, Rayna, and Reyna. It is also used in Yiddish and in Japanese.

Reina

This variation is actually more popular in the United States than the original Spanish Reina.
 Reyna Grande is a Mexican author, known for the 2009 novel Dancing with Butterflies.
 A character with this name also appears in Rick Riordan's Heroes of Olympus fantasy novel series.

Reyna

Originally a surname deriving from the Roman twin Romulus, this attractive name was introduced to the English-speaking world as a first name by painter Augustus John who used it for his son. Romilly John became Admiral of the Fleet in England. 
 A French surname from the twelfth century on, it's more recently been heard as a girls' name. Emma Thompson, for example, used Romilly as her daughter Gaia's middle name. And Romilly was used in the US last year for a dozen baby girls.
 The logical nicknames would be Romy or Milly, both very much in style.

Romilly

Shae-lynn

Taelynn

Taylynn

Waylynn

With Wren gaining a lot of popularity recently, it's not surprising to see variants already popping up. Wrenley, which jumps on the Wren bandwagon and adds the trendy "ley" suffix for good measure, was given to thirteen baby girls in the USA in 2014; we haven't seen it pop up anywhere else yet, but we think it's only a matter of time.

Wrenley

Waylon

Zaelynn

Zaylynn combines the spiky letter Z with the popular lynn suffix, to make a very modern sounding name, likely inspired by Zaylen, Braelynn, Azalea and Zaylee. 
 
As a modern invention, the exact meaning is hard to pin down, but if you break the name up, you've got some options. Zay might come from Zaynab, meaning "beauty and grace", from Xavier, meaning "new house", Hosea, meaning "salvation" or Azalea, as in the flower. The suffix lynn meanwhile can mean "beautiful", "pretty" ,"soft and tender" or "lake". Combining some of these gives you meanings such as "beautiful, graceful and tender" or "flower by the lake".

Zaylynn

MiaLen's list "Alternatives to Raelynn" of 64 great name ideas: Addyson - Zaylynn!

Alternatives to Raelynn

Modern Raelynn is a smoosh name, made up of the popular -lynn ending and Rae, a name with a variety of debated origins. Here are some alternatives!