Girl Names

A traditional name still used in Orthodox families. Rivka is the original form of Rebekah or Rebecca, today used far more widely than the original. Rifka is a variation.

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.

Rue has gone from Golden Girls actress to Hunger Games heroine. This botanical name is also a coincidental double word name, meaning "regret" in English and "street in" French. Despite these unfortunate secondary meanings, Rue has real potential to be one of the most popular new middle names for girls.

Ruth, with its air of calm and compassion, was the third most popular name in the 1890s, remaining in the Top 10 through the 1920s. It's still in use today as some parents tiring of Rachel and Rebecca are giving Ruth a second thought. Some see such Old Testament girls’ names as Ruth and Esther rising on the heels of boy equivalents Abel and Moses.

Sapphira is a lovely name which unfortunately has an unsavory Biblical history. The New Testament Sapphira was killed by God for lying about a tax payment.

Shai, pronounced like shy, might morph to rhyme with may among native English speakers. This simple and attractive name is sometimes confused with or anglicized as Shay or even the Irish Shea.

An attractive French word name known here via former child TV star Soleil Moon Frye, aka Punky Brewster. It started to be lightly used in the U.S. in the 1920s and is now attracting some attention as both a sunny nature and an international word name. It's currently in the Nameberry Top 500.

Lively modern Hebrew name with a positive meaning.

The "Tz" beginning of Tzofia represents the Hebrew letter tzadi, which is pronounced more like ts. So Tzofia sounds like Sofia with a light t at the beginning — intriguing, but a difficult sound for a native English speaker to reproduce. While Tzofia is a distinct name from the megapopular Sophia and Sofia, many people will hear it as a cognate and pronounce it the same...or like Zofia.

Would make a truly original alternative to the overused Sarah.

Zara has multiple origins, but most notably is a variation of Zahrah, a name derived from the Arabic zahrah, meaning "blooming flower." Zara can also be a diminutive of the Bulgarian name Zaharina, a feminine form of the Hebrew Zechariah. Today, Zara is heavily associated with the Spanish fast-fashion empire of the same name.

An appealing name almost unknown in our culture but with roots in several others; worldlier than cousins Celia and Delia.

There are many variations of this name, with or without the initial T and the final h, with one p or two. In the Bible she was the wife of Moses.

A zippy little international name. The Hebrew name relates to the month of Israeli independence. The Slavic Ziva (also spelled Živa and Siva) is a goddess of love, life and fertility.