Female Historic Names

Hannah is one of the nation's top biblical girls' names—it surpassed Sarah in 1998, and ranks in the Top 50 along with Elizabeth, Abigail, Chloe, and Naomi. Hannah is a name with many sources of appeal: Old Testament roots, soft and gentle sound, and a homey yet aristocratic image.

An ancient German saint's name – and most famously the name of Harry Potter's snowy owl – but the combination of "head" plus "wig" feels a little too literal in English.

Helen is a name that has connoted beauty since ancient times – Helen of Troy was the the mythological "face that launched a thousand ships," over whom the ten-year Trojan War was fought.

Whether it's pronounced with an "een" or an "aine" or an "enn" sound at the end, Helene doesn't feel as current the more forthright Helen or the airier Helena. Helene reached a high of Number 228 in the US in 1916, when ene, ine and een names were all the fashion, and stayed in the Top 500 until 1962, making a final exit in 1970. It still ranks well in its native France, and even more in Norway (#70). Model Heidi Klum's daughter 'Leni' has Helene on her birth certificate.

French form of Hildegard

Many vowel names stylish a century ago are coming back, and Ida seems like a possible, logical successor to Ada and Ava.

Also spelled Ines, this name of the prudish mother of Don Juan in the Byron poem has a touch of mystery, but has also been fully integrated into the American name pool.

Ingeborg (and all Germanic and Scandinavian names beginning with Ing-) references the ancient fertility god Ing. Ing, later known as Freyr, is one of the primary gods in Old Norse mythology.

Serene Irene, the name of the Greek goddess of peace and one of the most familiar Greek goddess names, was hugely popular in ancient Rome and again in the United States a hundred years ago.