Names That Are Variations

Richard is far from fashionable, but Ricardo is one of the most popular Spanish names for boys in the US. And it does sound far more appealing that the English version.

The beguiling Darya is the name of a character in Tolstoy's Anna Karenina. As a Russian name, it's a spelling variation of Daria, while in Iran, it's a girl's name that means "the sea".

Old saints' and popes' name that went to France in the 1920s with the Russian Ballets Russes; in its Russian form, Sergei, it retains an artistic, almost effete air.

Dramatic and worldly, Cosimo was chosen by singer Beck and his wife, Marissa Ribisi, for their son. Now that Cosima has emerged as a starbaby favorite, twin brother Cosimo could join her.

Pre-Thomasina female form of Thomas, now seen as more literary and upscale British. In Thomas Hardy's novel The Return of the Native, a leading character is Thomasin Yeobright.

Like Lars, Sven, Niels, and Nels, an unjustly neglected straightforward Scandinavian name. Surname Nilsson or the anglicized Nelson derives from Nils.

Fernanda is very popular in the Latino community, with a lot more charm than its male counterpart. The standard nickname is Nanda, and variations include Ferdinanda and Fernandina.

This semi-obscure historic name was recently chosen for their son by Halle Berry and Olivier Martinez.

Like the masculine form Galileo, Galilea is a variant of Galilee, a region in Northern Israel of great Biblical significance. Given the current popularity of soft Italian girls’ names, this name’s long historical roots, its beautiful sound and the potential for cute nicknames (Leia, Lil, Ally, etc) it’s no surprise that this name has been on the rise in recent years.

Since the first production of Camille this has been considered one of the world's most romantic names, though it's one of those French names for boys rarely heard in this country.

A Dutch version of Marie - this is a cute name that has potential.

Jasper and its many international variations, from Kasper to Casper to Gaspard, is finding new popularity.

Sean may be off its peak for boys, but there were still 1300 baby boys named Sean in the US in the most recent year counted, versus only five baby girls. In fact, there were fewer than 30 baby girls given the spellings Sean, Shaun, and Shawn combined. So while this name has been long used for girls, it remains in only occasional use as a feminine name and is not truly unisex in the way that names such as Rory and River are.

In the Anglophone world, Love is more likely to be perceived as an English word name than the Swedish form of Louis.

This Anglicized spelling makes the pronunciation of Ailís or Aileas – the Irish and Scottish forms of Alice, respectively – slightly more obvious to English-speakers. Ailis or Aileas are more authentic spellings, but may be fighting a losing battle against the influence of Billie Eilish.

In the beginning there was Nevaeh, created as a name by spelling the word heaven backwards, and Nevaeh rose to fame in the 2000's, becoming a mainstream choice by 2004.

One of the warm and earthy Russian nickname names now coming into style. Denzel Washington gave his daughter the Katia spelling.

Less popular than Reagan, but more popular than Regan, Raegan is a spelling option for the popular Irish surname. It followed Reagan up the charts in the 90s, perhaps due to its similarity to Morgan, but in recent years, use of Raegan has declined

French favorite gaining notice here thanks to the charming film of that name. Although to the English-speaking ear it sounds more like Emily than Amelia, it derives from the latter which has a different origin and meaning.

Anglicized form of Seònaid, the Scottish Gaelic equivalent of Janet. It has historically been quite popular in Scotland, although it hasn't ranked in the Top 100 there since 1995.