A - Z All My Favorite Names

Festive name of the wife of Salvador Dali. In Spanish, Gala comes from the Roman name Galla, a feminine form of Gallus meaning "rooster" or "a person from Gaul".

Spanish for galaxy, this larger-than-life name would make a bold but beautiful choice for girl.

A tad spacy.

More uncommon and powerful than garden varieties like Rose and Lily. Named for Scottish botanist Dr Alexander Garden.

Gemma is a jewel of a name, an Italian classic that was very popular in 1980s England, but has only recently been started to be used here; it entered the list in 2008.

Like Ray, a formerly funky nickname name that is newly cool. Comedian Amy Schumer used it for her son.

Genevieve is derived from the Germanic medieval name Genovefa, or Kenowefa, which consists of the elements kuni, meaning "kin", and wefa, meaning "woman." The medieval saint Genevieve, patroness of Paris, defended the city against Attila the Hun through her rational thinking, courage and prayer.

Could cute nickname Gertie, remembered as cute five-year-old Drew Barrymore in E.T., revive the long shunned Gertrude?

Glimmer is shimmery but a little too showy, as is Glitter, a character on a TV sitcom-- while Glimmer appears in The Hunger Games.

Like Silver, a shimmering metallic color name, almost too dazzling for an ordinary boy.

More Sadie than Sadie, this old canasta player--somewhat modernized and energized by Goldie Hawn--looks like it could be making a comeback. It was recently chosen for her daughter by Ione Skye and Ben Lee, as well as by shoemeister Steve Madden.

There's a whole quarry of rocky names parents are now considering: Slate, Flint, etc. , but this one is particularly hard-edged and problematic.

Griffin is one of the newer and most appealing of the two-syllable Celtic surnames. In English, griffin is the name of a mythological creature, half eagle, half lion. It re-entered the list in 1983 after an absence of 75+ years.

One spelling variation that's more popular than the original, this somewhat old-fashioned name might be in honor of poet Gwendolyn Brooks, the first African-American to win a Pulitzer prize for poetry, or may be a way to get to the modern short form Gwen.

Gypsy, long associated with the intellectual stripper Gypsy Rose Lee and the musical that was made about her life, was used by Drea de Matteo and Shooter Jennings as the middle name of their daughter Alabama. Be aware, however, that the word gypsy is now considered an ethnic slur when used for the Romani, or Roma, people.