The Hoarder's List of Names

Albert Einstein's first wife was Mileva Maric, a Serbian student and his classmate at the Zurich Polytechnic. (Her childhood nickname was Mitza.) With the newfound popularity of Mila, this obscure Old Slavic name may be discovered outside of its native land.

Adventurous parents are venturing deeper into the garden in search of fresh names, but remember that this also makes for an alcoholic brunch.

The short-lived magazine edited by former Vogue chief Grace Mirabella put this beautiful name off-limits for a while, but now it's perfectly fit to join the fashionable Bella pantheon. More distinctive than Isabella.

Popular name in Spain drawn from the Provencal Mireio, coined by the poet Frederic Mistral. Very pretty and, though difficult to spell and pronounce, simpler than the French version.

A pretty and unusual path to the nickname Mira. Mira is the main character in Nobel Prize-winner Federico Mistral's poem of the same name. Mireya Moscoso was Panama's first female president.

The 6th century Irish saint Mirin emigrated to Scotland and now is the patron saint of both the Glasgow suburb of Paisley and the game of football. Mirren is one modern spelling; the Cornish Merryn, best known as the name of the seacoast town St. Merryn, is also related. The name is usually used for girls.

Well-established Irish and Scottish name that has never really caught on across the pond. Remembered by an older generation as the beautiful red-haired ballerina in the film The Red Shoes, Moira Shearer.

Monroe is a presidential name which, thanks to the immortal beauty of Marilyn Monroe, is catching on fast for baby girls. Mariah Carey and Nick Cannon chose it for their twin daughter, honoring Marilyn Monroe. Their use of Monroe as a girls’ name did much to revive this Old Man name, a la Sydney, as a newly fashionable choice for girls.

Morena is the goddess of seasonal rites and rebirth worshipped in Central Europe.

As with many grandmother-y names, this choice may be coming back into style.

Romantique French name invoking Debussy's haunting score for the opera Pelléas and Mélisande.

Nadia, an accessible Slavic favorite, has a strong run of popularity in the US in the early 2000s, partially thanks to the character on Lost called Nadia but actually named Noor, but it's since slumped down the rankings. An earlier inspiration was Romanian gymnast Nadia Comaneci, who won the 1976 Olympics.