Names That Are Variations

Much too feminine in English-speaking countries.

Philosopher names can be difficult to wear — the Russian form of Plato is just different enough to give your child his own identity.

The relationship to "ill" makes this and similar names less pleasing than the versions that start with A or E.

When the Danish author Karen Blixen chose Isak Dinesen as her male pseudonym, she set a precedent that could well be followed today.

This Theodore sound-alike derives from the name Diodorus, associated with the ancient Greek historian Diodorus Siculus.

With Jace in the Top 100 and Jase almost there, we're seeing more and more variations -- this is one of the fastest-rising names of recent years.

Yet another phrase of the sha chorus.

Hermila stems from the Greek name Hermes, though in the contemporary world it would be considered one of the Spanish names for girls.

The form of Kwaku commonly used by enslaved people in America and the Caribbean in the 18th and 19th centuries. Quaco was sometimes nicknamed or Anglicized as Jack, Jacco, or Jacky.

Z names have been popular in recent years, and here's an obscure option for achieving the initial, though Zelina may be a little more successful in the US with its feminine -a ending.

Ilisa is a spelling variant that's less appealing than the original.

Version of Moses commonly used among Italian Jews in the Middle Ages.

There were no baby boys named Cay born in the US last year, but there's no reason why there couldn't be, especially with the rise in popularity of the similar Kai as well as the nouveau proper names Cayden, Cayson and so on. Cay Dose was an 18th century German architect and Christian Cay Lorenz Hirschfeld was a German garden historian of the same era.

Gianna and Gia are both red-hot in recent years, so it is only natural that alternative spellings will begin popping up as well. This leads us to Ghia — still short and sweet, but may cause some more confusion.

Wishy-washy, and too similar to Colleen.

Parvana, also spelled Pərvanə, is an Azerbaijani name related to the Persian word for "butterfly".