Names That Are Variations

The inclusion of the trendy "z" doesn't do much for this variant of Jasmine. We recommend the original spelling.

In its native Germany, Gerhard was very popular a hundred years ago and is now rather old-fashioned. It isn't much used by English speakers either, but has a certain clunky charm about it.

Most modern parents would prefer the more straightforward Ryan.

The pronunciation is different enough -- it's clar-EE-sa -- to make this feel like a distinct name. But an improvement on Claire or Clarissa? Not really.

Perhaps a tad too close to vellum to be successful in English-speaking countries. However, a good choice for those wanting to honor their Nordic heritage.

Phonetic spelling brought to light by actor Efrem Zimbalist Jr.

A name that seems to switch genders when it switches nationalities.

Apt to be confused with Raquel.

Tatjana is an interesting twist on an already uncommon name, borne by German-born supermodel Tatjana Patitz. Note that as j is pronounced as y in German, the name is spoken just like sisters Tatiana and Tatyana.

Old-time movie actor Franchot Tone (born Stanislas -- Franchot was his mother's maiden name) earned this name its own place in the book. An interesting, provocative choice.

Donia is a name with many possible origins. Besides a short female form of Donald, it may also be a form of the Italian Donna meaning lady, a variation on the Arabic Donya meaning world, or a Celtic name of the Don family, which all have meanings related to dark or darkness.

Form of Elizabeth commonly seen in Slovenia and Croatia.

A Scandinavian up-and-comer taken directly from Norse mythology. Iðunn was the goddess of apples, fertility, and youth. Idun is another common spelling.

You may think of this as a variation of Eilis, an Irish name that rhymes with Irish, or a mashup of Eileen and Elise.

This Cameron variation entered the US Top 1000 in 1998 and remained there for more 17 years. While it did fall out of favor in 2016, it is still given to more than 100 boys each year.

Nollaig is a unisex Irish name created in the 20th century. It is a translation of the French name Noel, meaning "Christmas".

Dimitar is the Bulgarian (and Macedonian) version of Dmitri, which is itself a variation of the name of the Greek goddess Demeter, whose name means earth mother.