Name of an Old Testament soldier that's been also used as a girls' name in modern Israel. An alternate spelling is Adinah. Some mistake Adina and Adinah to be the root of Dinah, but the Biblical name Dinah is borne by a different figure and has a different meaning. You can consider the modern short forms Dena and Dina as stemming from either Adina or Dinah.

Adina

Anwen is one of the simplest and best of the classic Welsh girls' names, more unusual than Bronwen but with the same serene feel. 

Anwen

Aviva is vivacious and memorable, a fresh spin on the Vivian and Vivienne names that have been getting more popular since Angelina and Brad chose one for their twin daughter. Another A-beginning palindrome name: Aziza. 

Aviva

Sweet and sparky but maybe a little bit stuck in the 90s, Bria is a nickname-y style choice with various origins.
 
Unheard of until the 1970s, Bria only started to see substantial use in the 90s, when it rose up alongside its longer forms, Briana, Gabriella, and Sabrina. It fitted right in besides Brittany, Brooke, and Paige, and got a boost after comedian and actor Eddie Murphy used it for his daughter in 1989.
 
Peaking in 1993, Bria has been on the decline ever since, and, as of 2023, it is only just lingering in the US Top 1000. Given to 290 babies each year, Bria has been replaced by the likes of Mia, Bella, Blair, and Bridie.
 
Connected to poetry via its ties to the literary Briana, to the Bible through its link to Gabriel and Gabriella, to mythology through Brigid and Sabrina, Bria could holds an unexpected amount of meaning. It could also originate from the Italian word brio meaning "lively" or "confident" or from the Celtic Brigantī, meaning "high, exalted".
 
Namesakes such as basketball player, Bria Hartley, singer Bria Kelly, actress Bria Vinaite, and influencer Bria Myles help keep the name in the public eye - but what does the future hold for this short but punchy name? Only time will tell, but 2023 did see Briana, Brianna, and Sabrina move slightly up the charts, so perhaps Bria could see a resurgence one day, 





Feminine form of Brian. It appears in Edmund Spenser's epic poem The Faerie Queene

Bria

Bryony is an unusually strong plant name --the bryony is a wild climbing vine with green flowers --that caught on in the U.K. before sprouting here. The name of the young character in the Ian McEwan novel Atonement is spelled Briony, which is the variation and Bryony the original.
 Bryony sounds a lot fresher than the now dated Brittany. Pronunciation is like Brian with an ee at the end, though the name bears no relationship to the male Brian or Bryan.

Bryony

Calliope is the name of the muse of epic poetry -- and also the musical instrument on the merry-go-round. Bold and creative, it would not be the easiest name for a girl lacking such qualities. It debuted in the US Top 1000 in 2016. While Americans usually pronounce this name with a long I sound and the emphasis on the second syllables, Greeks pronounce it with the emphasis on the third syllable -- ka-lee-OH-pee.


Calliope

Like the French author with whom the name is most closely associated, Colette is a chic and charming name that is being rediscovered. After disappearing for nearly 30 years, Colette rejoined the Top 1000 in 2012 at Number 659 and has continued to rise since then. Dylan McDermott used it for his daughter, as did actress Constance Zimmer.
 There is an appealing animated Colette featured in the film Ratatouille.

Colette

Desta

Eliora is a melodic name ripe with vowel sounds. 

Eliora

Mononymed English singer Elouise put this Eloise variant on the map; now Elouise is making it to the mainstream, having joined the US Top 1000 for the first time in 2023. One may be tempted by opt for this spelling if honoring a Louise or Louisa, or to more easily lead to the clunky cute nickname Lou.

Elouise

A beautiful modern Cornish nature name that is rapidly picking up steam in the States: even spawning variant spellings like Elowyn and Elowynn. In its native region, it wasn't widely used as a name before the twentieth century, when the Cornish language was revived. A (currently) unique member of the fashionble El- family of names, it has a pleasant, evocative sound.

The traditional Cornish pronunciation is with stress on the middle syllable: eh-LOW-en. But most English speakers seem to pronounce it with first-syllable stress, perhaps on the example of more familiar names like Eleanor and Elodie.

Elowen

Estella is a pretty Latin name that's sounding more and more stylish, remembered as the ward of Miss Haversham in Dickens's Great Expectations. Though Estella ranked as high as Number 110 in the 1880s, it now sits near the bottom of the US Top 1000 along with near-twin Estelle. Either would be well worth considering as an alternative to the popular Stella.
 Ali Landry used the Estela spelling for her daughter's name. Estrella is another possibility.

Estella

Ezri is one of the cool new <a href="https://nameberry.com/search/unisex-names/e">unisex names starting with E</a>, except as a Biblical name, it's not so new. Used for both genders in Israel, in the US it's currently running five to one in favor of girls, surprisingly. Its deviation from the better known and more traditional Ezra makes it feel like one of the more truly <a href="https://nameberry.com/unisex-names">gender neutral names</a>.

Ezri

Another strong Arabic name, related to Iman. Imani one is popular throughout the Muslim world but especially East Africa. It was chosen for her daughter by actress Jasmine Guy. 

Imani

Relic of a past period of French favorites, out to pasture with Claudette and Paulette. 

Jeanette

A lovely (and uncommon) longer form for Nora, one of the most fashionable international nickname names around. Lenora fell off the US charts in the 70s, but just re-entered in 2022 as parents' love for short forms Leni and Nora is growing.

Lenora

Somewhat dated Hebrew name that appears more modern when spelled Liora. 

Leora

A beautiful Hebrew name that would work perfectly for a child today.

Liora

Louisa, a quaint vintage name, is an example of the idea that these days, old-style <a href="https://nameberry.com/girls-names">girls’ names</a> are more fashionable when they end with an a rather than with an e, as in Julie/Julia, Diane/Diana. So for the next generation, Louisa may rise again, especially with the growing popularity of other Lou/Lu-starting names, like Lucy and Luna. Louisa reentered the US Top 1000 in 2014 after a 45 year absence.
 Very popular in the eighteenth century, Louisa was finally toppled at the end of the nineteenth by the French form Louise, which was a top name through the first quarter of the twentieth century.
 Louisa has many literary associations, including Louisa May Alcott, author of Little Women and Little Men; two Charles Dickens novels, Hard Times and Dombey & Sons; and two novels by Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice and Persuasion. 
 Louisa is a First Lady name, being the wife of President John Quincy Adams. One of Meryl Streep's daughters is named Louisa.
 Some international variations: Luisa, Lovisa, Ludovica, and Luigia. Nicknames include Lou, Lu, Lulu, and Ouisa.

Louisa

Lenka

Matilda is a sweet vintage name that has been gently climbing the popularity list for the past 15 years, after a half-century slumber. The spunky children's book heroine Matilda is one factor in its rise, along with others of its class like Eloise and Caspian.

The comeback of this sweet vintage name, one of the most stylish girls' names starting with M, has been prompted by a boomlet of starbaby Matildas, beginning with chef Gordon Ramsey's in 2002 and Moon Unit Zappa's two years later. But the renaissance of this name of the charming Roald Dahl heroine was assured when Michelle Williams and the late Heath Ledger chose Matilda for their daughter. 
 Matilda was introduced to the English-speaking world by the eleventh century Matilda of Flanders, queen of William the Conqueror, then used for his granddaughter, known as Maud. In literature, Matilda appeared in Dickens's Nicholas Nickleby.
<p.>Trivia tidbit: The Matilda in the Australian song 'Waltzing Matilda' refers not to a person but to the knapsacks that swing, or waltz, on the backs of itinerant laborers as they walk along.
 Highly popular in England and Australia, Matilda has a choice of great nicknames: Tillie for the bold, Mattie for the shy, Tilda for the slightly more eccentric, such as Tilda Swinton, born Katherine Matilda.
 Molly Ringwald used the spelling Mathilda for her daughter.

Matilda

A melodious choice big in the sixties, Melody is now starting to pick up tempo again. It cracked the Top 150 for the first time ever in 2015. Melody is also the name of Ariel's equally curious and more tom-boyish daughter in The Little Mermaid sequel. Read more about Melody and other <a href="https://nameberry.com/blog/disney-princess-names">Disney Princess Names</a> in our featured blog.

Melody

Mika is a Japanese girls' name that translates easily to English. As a male name, it's a short form of Mikael, the Scandinavian and Finnish form of Michael. Both are spelled and pronounced the same.

Mika

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. Nadia is actually a short form of Nadezhda, the name of Lenin's wife, though more Westerners will relate it to the familiar Natalya or Natasha.

 Nadia is also a traditional Arabic name, popular in the Muslim community and also spelled Nadiyya or Nadya. It means "moist, tender, delicate" in Arabic.

 Octomom Suleman spells her first name Nadya, as in the Queen Nadya character in Noel Coward's play The Queen was in the Parlour.

Nadia

Part of the vogue for French-sounding names in the 1920s and 30s, Nadine has been replaced by the Russian sound of Nadia and Natasha. 

Nadine

Nadira

Possibility for a girl born under one of the water signs -- Cancer, Pisces, or Scorpio. 

Naida

Nora is a lovely, refined name that conjures up images of Belle Epoch ladies in fur-trimmed coats skating in Central Park. Long seen as a quintessentially Irish name though its roots are not in Ireland, Nora is a quietly stylish favorite that's tiptoed to the top of the popularity ladder.
 
Nora has two separate origin stories, as a derivative of both Honora and Eleanor. The Irish and Anglo-Norman version derives from Honora, based on the Latin word honor. The Hungarians spawned Nora as a short form of Eleonora, a variation of Eleanor.
 One of Nora's most prominent contemporary namesakes is the late witty writer Nora Ephron. Other notable Noras are the independent Ibsen heroine of A Doll's House, and the female half of the witty Nick and Nora Charles duo, adding up to a most desirable choice. 
 It can also be spelled Norah, as in Norah Jones.

Nora

Priya originated in India as a name derived from the Sanskrit word for "beloved." In India, where names are often given based on one’s birthday and horoscope, Priya is traditionally given to girls born in August. Priya is used in Hindu mythology as the name of a daughter of King Daksha—known for fathering 146 daughters.
 
Priya is a very popular given name in India, and can also be found in countries including Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Thailand. Priya remains uncommon in the US and denotes someone with an individual brand of beauty.

Priya

Strong and solid, with a touch of foreign intrigue, it's the most popular of the rain-related names, with a variety of pronunciations—RAY-na, rah-EE-na, or RY-na. Alternate spellings Reyna and Rayna currently rank higher in the US.

Raina

Known in America via the wife of Soviet head Mikhail Gorbachev; a possibility for parents of Eastern-European descent wanting to move beyond Natasha and Nadia or for parents from the Middle East looking for a name that works in both cultures.

Raisa

Rani, alternatively spelled Ranee, is the female equivalent of Raja in Hindi. In many Indo-Aryan languages it can mean "queen" or "lady". The Hebrew version is used for both genders in modern Israel. Actress Kate Hudson and director Danny Fujikawa named their daughter Rani after Fujikawa's late father, whose name was Ron.


Rani

A pan-European short form often used as a name in its own right, Rina is sister to names like Mina and Lena, popular at the end of the 19th century and showing their pretty if slight faces again.  In the Netherlands, Rina itself is sometimes shortened to Rineke, as Tina may become Tineke.

Rina

One of the glamour girl names of the Rita Hayworth 1940s, Rita was once a Top 50 name and stayed on the SSA list until 2002.
 The name Rita still has enough Latin zip to be a lively, revivable short form of Margarita. Other namesakes include Puerto Rican actress/singer Rita Moreno (born Rosa), poet Rita Dove and novelist Rita Mae Brown. Rita Skeeter is a Harry Potter character.

 In Indian religion and philosophy, Rita is the cosmic order mentioned in the Vedas.

Rita

Most of the notable Rivers have been male, but this nature name certainly flows as well for a girl. The name River is still rising for both genders, with about 3500 baby boys receiving the name last year vs. 1900 baby girls.

Kelly Clarkson's choice of River for her newborn daughter further raised the profile of the <a href="https://nameberry.com/girls-names">name for girls</a>. Baseball great Derek Jeter and Hannah Davis used the same name as Clarkson for their daughter born in 2021, River Rose.

River

Rosette

Selene may be the mythological Greek original, but Latin variation Selena is used more often in the US these days. Selene is the Greek goddess of the moon, sister of Helios the sun god. Selene is also sometimes called Cynthia and Phoebe. The name may be related to the word selas, which means light, and is one of the loveliest of the <a href-="https://nameberry.com/list/624/gorgeous-greek-goddess-names-for-babies">Greek goddess names</a>.

Selene

Seren is a top girls' name in Wales – and a lovely choice almost unknown elsewhere. Seren, in the Sirona form, was an ancient goddess of the hot springs.
 Seren only recently fell out of the girls' Top 10 in Wales, and ranks just below the Top 100 in England and Wales combined.
Seren is also a Turkish surname and girls' name.

Seren

Anglicized form of Seònaid, the Scottish Gaelic equivalent of Janet. It has historically been quite popular in Scotland, although it hasn't ranked in the Top 100 there since 1995. 

 Shona is also, coincidentally, the name of an ethnic group who live in southern Africa, mainly Zimbabwe.

Shona

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.

Soleil

Synove

Talia is derived from the Hebrew elements tal, meaning "dew," and yah, in reference to God. In the mythology of one ancient sect, Talia was one of ten angels who attended the sun on its daily course. The occasionally homophonous name Thalia has unrelated Greek origins.
 
In tandem with the longer-form Natalia, this pretty Russian-flavored girls’ name has been rising in the popularity charts in the US.
 
A prominent bearer is Talia Shire, doomed to go down in cinema history as Rocky's mousy girlfriend Adrienne, along with actress Talia Balsam, aka the former Mrs. George Clooney. Most recently, Talia was attributed to YouTube star Talia Joy Castellano, a young girl battling cancer who passed away at age 13.
 
Talia is also an Australian Aboriginal name meaning "near water".

Talia

Lively modern Hebrew name with a positive meaning. 

Tova

If you love Puritan virtue names and want to move beyond Hope and Faith and Grace, this is a wonderful choice, both for its meaning and its sound. A rare find here, though occasionally heard in England. It was used in Winston Graham's Poldark novels, was Madonna's name as James Bond's fencing instructor in Die Another Day, and made a brief appearance in Harry Potter. Not to mention being a fixture on British and Australian soaps. Verity also appears in one of Agatha Christie's Miss Marple mysteries.
 We love the newer sounding three-syllable, 'y'-ending virtue names, and Verity is one of the best.

Verity

This is one of the most vibrant and feminine of the <a href="https://nameberry.com/baby-names/377/names-that-mean-life">names meaning life</a>, and it's sure to gain more attention as the whole sisterhood of Viv- names rise. 
 Celebrated Swedish actress Viveca Lindfors, born Elsa Viveca, was one of several notables bearing this pretty, feminine V-name in a variety of spellings, including Viveca Paulin, the Swedish-born wife of Will Ferrell and the non-Scandinavian Vivica A. Fox.

Viveca

Vivia, the fresh Italian version of newly popular name, streamlines and even vivifies the original.

Vivia

Willa has become increasingly fashionable, with its combination of Willa (born Wilella) Cather-like pioneer strength and the graceful beauty of the willow tree. 
Sophie Turner and Joe Jonas are the latest celebrities to welcome a daughter named Willa. Other stars who used this name include actress Keri Russell, who named her daughter Willa Lou and the late actor Philip Seymour Hoffman, who used Willa for the youngest of his three children. David Mamet and Brian De Palma also have daughters named Willa, plus it's the middle name of Meryl Streep's actress daughter Mary (called Mamie.) Young Willa characters have appears on Six Feet Under and True Blood.
 Willa originated as a short form of Wilhelmina. After a half-century hiatus, it reentered the U.S. Top 1000 in 2010 and soared to the Top 500, for the first time since 1949, in 2015. Willa might also work as an honor name for an ancestral William.

Willa

Willemina

Zaina is the simplified form of Zaynab, the name of the eldest daughter of Muhammad.  Zayna is another accepted spelling; the name is also found as Zainabu, which exists in both the Arabic and Swahili languages. These are all feminizations of the male Zayn, also spelled Zain, which sounds exactly like but is a fundamentally different name from Zane, rooted in Western culture as a variation of John. Confused yet? Zaina is an unusual name that is simple to understand and pronounce, all pluses, though the many spelling variations may cause mixups.

Zaina

Zayna is a simplified spelling of Zaynab, the name of the eldest daughter of Muhammad, and also the feminine version of Zayn. Zaina is a widely-used spelling variation. Zainabu is another form of the name, also found in Swahili.

Zayna

Zelena

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.


Ziva

Zora is a meaningful literary heroine name honoring Zora Neale Hurston, an important black writer and leader of the Harlem Renaissance. 
 Spelled Zorah, it is a biblical place name, and is also the name of a character in the Gilbert & Sullivan operetta Ruddigore.
 Fairly well used from the 1880s until 1940, Zora reached a high of Number 293 in 1885.Now, Zora is back in the charts and given to more than 300 girls every year, perhaps because of its namesake and how it makes an interesting alternative to Nora, Cora, or Zara.

Zora

Both a first and last name, Zorina has a pretty, ballerina-like quality. 

Zorina

Zuri migrated, at least to American sensibilities, to the feminine side when an Ohio zoo used it for a female giraffe. For either gender, Zuri is an attractive name with the usual Z-initial zest. Zuri Ross also is a character on the Disney show Jessie. Basketball megastar Lebron James and his wife Savannah named their baby girl Zhuri, a slightly different spelling, in 2014.

Zuri

Zyanya

musicfrog's list "Rare and Uncommon Girl Names" of 56 great name ideas: Adina - Zyanya!

Rare and Uncommon Girl Names

These are uncommon and rare names from around the world that also translate well into English.