The Ladies Fair

Serene California town near San Francisco that could translate into a girl's name.

This name, more often spelled Ottoline, is curiously appealing, in a hoop-skirted, wasp-waisted way; heard more often in novels than real life, though that is showing some signs of change.

Ovidia is the unusual feminine form of the ancient Roman Ovidius, most famous as the name of the exiled 1st century Roman poet Ovid. Modern male form Ovidio is known in Spain and Portugal. Ovida is another variation.

A place name relating to the tropical palm tree.

Philomena is an earthy Greek name now used in various Latin countries. While it has felt simply clunky for many years, it's starting -- along with such sister names as Wilhelmina and Frederica -- to sound so clunky it's cool.

A rarely heard--even in France--name, most prominent as the third name of Charlotte Marie Pomeline Casiraghi, the daughter of Princess Caroline of Monaco and granddaughter of Grace Kelly.

The daintiest and most accessible of the many Q names for a fifth child, now used for girls situated anywhere in the birth order.

Ravenna is a lovely, untouristed Italian place-name just waiting to be discovered. Renowned for its fantastic Byzantine mosaics, it's a city that has a rich historic and artistic heritage.

A classic name with regal elegance--Queen Victoria, like other queens, had Regina appended to her name. She was a Top 100 name in the 1960s.

A town in the San Fernando Valley: slightly better than Encino or Tarzana.

This lovely, quintessentially British appellation, also spelled Rosamond, is the name of a legendary twelfth-century beauty. Rare on these shores, it is more than worthy of importation.

A fabled storybook name via the heroine of Sir Walter Scott's novel Ivanhoe (1819), which featured a heroine called Rowena of Hargottstanstede, and also a Harry Potter name, as Rowena Ravenclaw, founder of one of the Hogwarts houses.. Rowena has some old-fashioned charm, though most modern parents seem to prefer Rowen. Pronunciation, however, is NOT like Rowen with an a at the end, but with a long e and an emphasis on the middle syllable. She was on the popularity list until 1963, several years in the Top 500.

The name of the wife of Alexander the Great, more attractive than the better-known Roxanne. Roxana was first used in the English-speaking world in the 1600s and was popularized by Daniel Defoe's novel Roxana, published in 1724. An underused and attractive possibility and perfect if you're searching for names that mean new beginnings.

Sabrina, the bewitchingly radiant name of a legendary Celtic goddess, is best known as the heroine of the eponymous film, originally played by Audrey Hepburn, and later as a teenage TV witch; it would make a distinctive alternative to the ultrapopular Samantha. Similar names you might also want to consider include Sabina and Serena.

Serafina is a name so lovely it's worthy of an angel. But the more stylish spelling today is Seraphina.

Signe could make an offbeat, more unusual alternative to Sydney or Sigrid. In Norse mythology, Signe was the twin sister of Sigmund. Can also be spelled Signy.