Names That Are Variations

Has an incomplete feeling....

Dariel is one of many similar forms and variations of different names—Dara, Dariela, Daria and Darya—that are all unusual and pretty if not quite authentic-feeling.

Variation of Valentina with the same pared-down appeal as Maren.

Nouveau spelling remained in the US Top 300 for all of the 1990s. With the traditional spelling still a highly popular choice, a child bearing the Nickolas version could be accused of misspelling his own name.

Onezime is a rare name that experienced the highest usage in French-speaking locales prior to the twentieth century, including French Canada and parts of Louisiana.

Many C forms of this name are becoming more popular, from Cassia for girls to Cassian, Cassius, and Caspian for boys, so Kass feels more possible today too. And Kassia and Kassiani are both intriguing longer forms.

The K-spelling of Carter has been in the boys' Top 1000 since 2005. In 2014, Karter cracked the girls' Top 1000, too. Karter joins the plethora of surnames turned boys' names that are now entering the world of girls' names as well. This particular one also has the trendy Kardashian-Esque "K" beginning. The Carter spelling entered the Top 1000 for girls around the same time but currently sits higher up in the charts, hovering just around the Top 500.

One of the top Icelandic girl names. It's very pretty — if you know how to pronounce it.

One of many takes on the Keira/Kyra concept, this one was chosen by ice-skating champ Kristi Yamaguchi.

While Kayla has been a mainstay in the US Top 1000 list since the 1960s, alternate version Keyla is relatively new, first entering the charts in 2002. While this spelling also has the possibility of being pronounced KEE-lah, it's most likely to cause confusing and frustration in the shadow of the much more popular spelling.

Did you really mean to name your child Channel, as in the body of water? Like, you know, the English Channel? Or were you going for the last name of the French designer Chanel, with a soft "sh" sound at the beginning and the emphasis on the last syllable? If so, we recommend sticking with the Chanel spelling.

Rauno originated in Finland as a variation of Norse names beginning with Ragn-, most notably Ragnar. The name is also heard in neighboring Estonia.

Makes Jane anything but plain.

Gioele is among the Top 50 names for boys in Italy, though the Italian version would cause pronunciation and spelling problems for English speakers. In the US, UK, or Australia, stick with the sleek and simple Joel.

Domitille is the French form of the ancient royal name Domitilla. Domitille is used today, and is much fresher than similar-sounding Dominique.

In the 21st century, Exa is best known as the given name of Grimes and Elon Musk's daughter Y, a sibling for X Æ A-XII. The celebrity parents were inspired by the supercomputer terms exaFLOPS, which is the "ability for a supercomputer to perform 1 quintillion floating-point operations per second."

Faigy is notable as New York State's quirkiest favorite name, widely-used in the Hasidic community.

This could be a fresh way to honor an ancestral Walter.

Portuguese variation of Matthew.