Names That Are Variations

Rae is one of the coolest middle name choices: why not leave it at that?

Portuguese form of Philippa

A city name that sounds more legit than most because of its similarity to Peyton and other such names in circulation.

These early versions of Eleanor are still sometimes found today.

Mitrofan comes from the obscure Greek name Metrophanes. It is primarily used as a first name but is also seen as a surname in countries such as Romania.

Variation of Ludovicus.

Singer Alanis Morisette may have made the one-n version of this name more famous, but like the other Alan feminization Alana or Alanna, the spelling can go either way.

Josephe is much less well-known in the English-speaking world than Josephine or Joanna.

Even less popular than the rarely-used Deangelo. This spelling is likely helped by singer-songwriter and record producer D'Angelo.

This name relates to Oisin, a famous ancient Irish poet, the son of Finn MacCool.

Richenza is a medieval European name borne by a number of Polish and Swedish royals throughout history. The variation Richeza was used with similar frequency. Rixa was a common short form. Richenza is derived from the same Germanic root as Richard and could be used to honor one in your life.

This unusual name offers some cute nickname options such as Grusha, Feefee and Raffy.

Most Americans would take the easy way out and spell it Willem, as in artist de Kooning and actor Dafoe.

The connection between the two names isn't intuitive, but Jernej is the Slovene form of Bartholomew.

Žiga is a former Top 10 name in Slovenia, where it peaked at Number 3 in 2010.

Has diverse associations: the long-term Communist head of Yugoslavia, one of Michael Jackson's older brothers, and an animated Disney character -- none of them a very strong recommendation.