Gothic Names for Girls

This ethereal Welsh word name has a sound as pretty and delicate as its floral namesake.

The final e introduces pronunciation questions. Is Eleanor pronounced just like Eleanor, or is it the more elaborate el-LAY-ah-nor? Or something else?

Though the tragedies of the Greeks and Eugene O'Neill that used this name are filled with incest and murder, Electra is still a brilliant choice. Isabella Rossellini chose the gentler Italian verson, Elettra, for her now grown daughter.

The lyrical and melodious Elodie, a Nameberry favorite, is starting to rise through the US popularity charts for the first time since the 1880s. It's a uncommon member of the trending El- family of names, which includes Ella, Eloise, and Eleanor.

The famous home of Hamlet in Shakespeare's great play is based on an actual castle in northern Denmark, which guarded the narrow entryway to the Baltic Sea for centuries. (The Danish word for it is Helsingør.) Elsinore may claim a rightful place among the Danish names for girls, vaguely akin to Eleanor, with Elsie a natural nickname, though some may find it a little pretentious. But as a middle name for the lover of Shakespeare or Copenhagen? Golden.

Unlike Amber, which is in decline, this name still has a bit of a glow left -- though confusions between the two will inevitably arise.

With Ember in the US Top 200 and Gracelynn, Raelynn, and Oaklynn all on trend, Emebrlynn feels right at home in the Top 1000.

Famously the name of Samantha's mother on Bewitched.

Might have a shot as a name, à la Genesis and Destiny, if it weren't for yet another perfume connection.

Eulalie hasn't ranked in the US Top 1000 since 1899, but its French roots might make it more appealing to modern ears than its sister Eulalia.

Despite (or because of) her tragic story in Greek myth--Eurydice was poisoned by a snake and condemned to the underworld, where her husband, musician Orpheus, tried and failed to bring her back--she has provided creative inspiration in the arts, namely as the subject of operas by Monteverdi, Haydn and Gluck, in an eponymous play by Jean Anouilh, and the myth was the inspiration for Tennessee William's drama Orpheus Descending. Paintings by Titian, Rubens and Poussin also focus on Eurydice.

An obsolete term for the evening, literally translating to "evening time."

Now that Faye is back on the Top 1000 after a decades-long absence, its spelling variations are being revived as well. Fae was given to nearly as many baby girls last year as Fay and may be especially attractive as a middle name option.

A strong and simple nature name from the Choctaw culture.

A Disneyfied name: Faline was the sweet doe Bambi fell in love with.