A - Z All My Favorite Names

A word name with fashionable o-ending that has associations with both the homespun fabric and the mottled cat. Alice Cooper named his daughter Calico decades ago.

This evocative term for a stone or shell carved in relief could make a striking first name for a girl, though she would have a starring role in her story, rather than a cameo.

The late tennis great Arthur Ashe (whose wife was a photographer) pioneered word names when he used this for his daughter. It would make an interesting first or middle name possibility for parents involved with photography.

Too sugary sweet and inconsequential for a modern girl.

Canyon is a unique baby name evocative of natural splendor and the old Steve Canyon comic-strip heroism, making it an intriguing new word-name possibility.

It's usually preceded by the letter 'A'--as in 'a capella'--singing without accompaniment, and probably has never been used as a girl's name, but in this anything-goes naming climate, we're putting it out there as a possibility.

Chosen by the late Kobe Bryant and his wife Vanessa for their youngest daughter, there is renewed interest in Italian isola name Capri.

It's a nature name evocative of rushing waterfalls. But also a dishwashing detergent.

With the popular 'ash' sound and a contemporary feel, Cash is a widely used name in the US. Used occasionally before the 2000s, Cash really took off in 2003, following the death of American musical legend, Johnny Cash.

Cashmere is soft, luxurious -- and way out of the ordinary. One of the unique names found in The Hunger Games series.

One of the most romantic of appellations, Caspian is a geographical name referring to the large salty sea between Asia and Europe. It's also the name of the hero of C.S. Lewis's beloved Chronicles of Narnia, Prince Caspian.

Forget the oil. It's one of the twins that make up the constellation Gemini, and a mythological name on the cutting-edge of fashion; used by Metallica's James Hetfield.

May be the most modern, stylish Catherine nickname: more unusual than Kate or Cate, with an animal and word name edge. Cat Power is a trendy folksinger.

This Katherine variation, used through Ireland and Scotland, is pronounced like Katrina. The name became popular after the Crusaders brought home stories about the colorful fourth century martyr, Catherine of Alexandria. Its later popularity increased following the success of Robert Louis Stevenson's 1893 Catriona, the sequel to Kidnapped.