Names That Are Variations

Dael is cooler than Dale -- but why? Vowel switch gives an old nature name a hipper look.

Makes Severin and Severus a little less, well, severe.

The Irish Gaelic form of Cecilia, which is the origin of the Anglicized version Sheila, which subsequently became very popular across the English-speaking world.

When President LBJ's daughter Linda Bird changed the spelling of her name to Lynda, she set a trend for spelling adventurism that's still rippling through the name world today.

Peppi ranked in the Finnish Top 50 from 2007-2012, where it was used for hundreds of baby girls each year. In Finland, Peppi is used as the translation for Pippi in the Pippi Longstocking books.

The strong and unusual name of a medieval (male) saint and a contemporary (female) novelist, Benilde Little.

Bence has been the most popular boy name in Hungary for over a decade — it’s held the top spot since 2003, the year Hungary began releasing its baby name data. Bence is the Hungarian translation of Vincent and is also occasionally used as a nickname for Benedek.

Pavlo has more energy than the Russian Pavel, perhaps because it sounds like the Spanish Pablo.

Cooler and rarer than Pedro, but also has a slightly industrial sound.

This spelling adds a touch of the unusual to Veronica.

The Russian form of the medieval name Cyprian lends itself to the nickname Kip.

Tayla is a hybrid name, ala Sayla and Mikayla. Recipe for sudden -- if brief -- new name success: take two of the trendiest choices, Taylor and Kayla, stir, and voila...Tayla, which made it onto the hit parade in the mid-1990s.

Strong and appealing Armenian choice, but could be confused with Owen.

Leonida is the modern Italian form of the name of the ancient Spartan king. Though names that end in a or the a sound are usually feminine, there are several examples popular in recent years -- Luca, Joshua, Noah -- that make this more plausible for a boy.

The modern French take on Luna.

This classic, handsome Arabic name — cognate of the Hebrew Ishmael — was chosen by Tan and Rob France for their son born in 2021. Ismail is the preferred spelling in England, Germany, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Turkey, while Ismael ranks higher in countries with native Spanish speakers, including the US.

In Swedish, Sölvi is a feminine name and variation of Solveig. The Icelandic masculine form evolved from Sǫlvi, an Old Norse name no longer in use.

This is a Scottish pet form of John, the equivalent of Jack in England. Has long been used as a generic name for a Scotsman, here it's a generic name for a--well--jock.

Unless you're Nordic, probably best to stick with Michael if you want to avoid a life of confusion and misspelling.

Emani is more popular than the original Iman, for girls at least. About 200 baby girls were named Emani in the US last year, while 80 girls were named Iman. Iman is quite gender-neutral, with 60 baby boys given the name, while only a handful of baby boys were named Emani.