Names That Are Variations

Amadej is the Slovene version of Amadeus, perhaps best known as the middle name of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

An intriguing Russian name best known as that of a Fyodor Dostoyevsky character in his novel The Village of Stepanchikovo and its Inhabitants.

The sweet old-fashioned Adeline is one of the prime up-and-coming vintage baby names; Addilynn is a phonetic spelling.

Aaprahami is unlikely to catch on in the US. Nickname Hami is more usable.

One of the few military ranks used as a name, as in Kennedy in-law and Peace Corps creator Sargent (born Robert Sargent) Shriver. There's also a more creative, artistic association with painter John Singer Sargent.

Anacita is a variation of the ancient feminization Aniceta that's largely unknown in the English-speaking world. But with the rise of so many A names, the pretty Anacita may have her day in the sun.

Form of Juliana used in countries including the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Serbia, and Macedonia.

La is the French prefix used to indicate paternity, much the same way Mc or O' are used in Irish and the son suffix is used in English. First names with the La prefix were popularized in the 19th century by the Free Blacks of New Orleans, who used La plus the father's first name, making Lashawn (or LaShawn) a name meaning son (or child) of Shawn, a phonetic spelling of Sean, the Irish variation of John.

Sounds the same, but looks much more confusing.

This Basque name is more unusual and attractive than the grandfather-ish Bernard.

Arriana is a more-unusual spelling variation of the names that are most popularly found as Ariana or Arianna. All are forms of the Greek Ariadne. Given its many spellings, that extra r only complicates things.

This unusual name with a lovely meaning works surprisingly well outside its Armenia.

With the ultra-popularity of Madison—currently ranked Number 15 for girls—it's inevitable that spelling deviations will make their way into the charts as well. Madyson joins this group of alternates, headlined by Maddison and Madisyn, all of which rank somewhere in the Top 1000. While the "creative" trend of adding the letter y doesn't look to be going away any time soon, it often creates confusion more than anything else.

Many of the parents who choose this name may not even be aware of the lovely Irish_Gaelic name that spawned it.

A relatively stylish choice in Slovenia, where it is the standard form of Ulrich. Unlikely to catch on in the US, where U is the least common initial.

This is one case where removing a letter makes a name more complicated, not more simple.