Names That Are Variations

Whether it be due to the Kardashian's or another manifestation of the creative spelling trend, we're seeing K spelling variations as some of the fastest-rising names of the past few years -- and Karly is no exception.

Woody Allen introduced us to the name Zelig as the ever-morphing title character of his 1983 film. Zelig does have an upbeat meaning, and nickname Zelie makes it accessible for a girl, though it's an undeniably quirky choice for either gender.

Lans is the Dutch variation of the German name Lanzo, which is also the origin of Lance.

William is a stylish classic right now, and while translating many classic names into Italian makes them instantly cooler and more attractive, this is one exception: Guglielmo presents pronunciation problems for the English speaker, suggesting the less-than-cool word "googley" followed by the even-less-cool-than-that Elmo.

This variation of Milena was given by supermodel Doutzen Kroes and her partner Sunnery James to their daughter in 2014.

Distinctive Slavic choice.

All the Taron-related names have various uncertain and perhaps-unrelated origins. The Irish girls' name Tara is the most widely-used of the bunch, sitting at the bottom of the Top 1000 after ranking in the Top 100 from 1970 through 1990. In its heyday, Tara was occasionally used for boys too: about 20 boys vs. more than 5000 girls in 1970. Taryn, which you might think of as a Tara-Karyn hybrid, was given to nearly 200 girls last year, placing it right below the Top 1000. Homonym Taron is actually more usually a boys' name, thanks to two notable modern bearers: Welsh actor Taron Egerton and South African-born filmmaker Taron Lexton. It may be a variation of Taran, which may be a shortening of Taranis, the name of the Celtic thunder god. Taron and Taran were both given to about 30 boys last year but no girls. But any of these variations or spellings could be used for either sex.

In Poland, a Top 100 name on the rise.

Anahit is the Armenian form of Anahita, the Persian goddess of fertility, wisdom, and water.

A classic Slovene choice.

This simple but alluring name — some might associate it with the Kama Sutra — was chosen by heavy metal rocker Sammy Hagar for his daughter.

Want to be sure that people pronounce your baby's name the way you intend? Then choose a spelling variation like Ahna for Anna. Ahna is best known as the name of actress and ex-James Franco girlfriend Ahna O'Reilly. Pronunciation issues aside, we still prefer Anna.

The Icelandic transcription of Emilia, pronounced with an emphasis on the first syllable.

Pronounced more or less the same as Victoria, depending on the local language.

An intriguing Finnish choice that is entirely unknown in the US.

Although the origins of Ene aren't entirely certain, it is likely to have ultimately derived from Anne, meaning "grace."