Girl Names

Anglo parents are taking note of this Hispanic classic, thanks to actress Rosario Dawson and a character on Will & Grace. Poetic and powerful, it comes from the Spanish title of the Virgin Mary, Nuestra Señora del Rosario, or "Our Lady of the Rosary", Rosary referring to vocal and mental prayer in Catholicism, that reflect on the life of Christ and his Mother.

This elongated form of Sibyl is dainty and delicate -- dare we even say demure? It's got deep history, a powerful namesake, and it's extremely rare -- zero baby girls were named Sibylla or Sybilla in the US last year.

A paramour of Alexander the Great and the heroine of a Jules Massenet opera based on the life of a fourth century Egyptian saint, this name is nothing if not dramatic. Often spelled with a diaeresis or umlaut -- aka two dots -- over the letter i, Thais is a Top 100 girls' name in France and is also popular in Spain. 

Viridiana is a frillier version of the medieval name Viridis, meaning green. Viridiana briefly made it into the top 1000 in the US in the 1990s.