Girl Dog Names That Start With C

Best-selling Prep author Curtis Sittenfeld made this one of the many boy names for girls" gaining in popularity and acceptability.

Cachet is one of those word names -- Cliché is the most egregious example -- that sounds lovely but seems slightly ridiculous when taken literally.

Cardi B is the stage name of the rapper born Belcalis Almanzar. The name Cardi originated as a short form of Bacardi, a nickname the musician got because her sister is named Hennessy, after the cognac. The B, she says, stands for a range of things, depending on the day, including Belcalis and Bacardi. Cardi is one invented name that's found instant fame and could go much further. For now, it's definitely one of the most talked-about girl names starting with C.

Christmas is a day name long and quietly used as a name for babies born at Christmas. Prettier and more modern than Noel or Noelle.

If Caroline is too classic and Callie too cutesy, Cal might work as a cool alternative. Well established and currently in the Top 1000 for boys, it has potential as a gender neutral option too.

The popular -leigh suffix is clearly an attempt to feminize this traditionally boyish nickname -- and it works. There were about 550 baby girls named Charleigh in the US last year -- and zero baby boys.

A nickname-name made famous by the uni-named Spanish singer Charo, whose full name was María del Rosario Pilar Martínez Molina Gutiérrez de los Perales Santa Ana Romanguera y de la Hinojosa Rasten.

Sounds classy...but isn't.

If you're actually considering this as a name for your child, you must have had a glass too many. But it's an awesome name for a white cat.

Another one of those word names, like Cachet, with a pretty sound and a silly meaning: chambray is a fabric.

Cerian is a diminutive of Ceri (pronounced like Kerry), which comes from a root meaning "love". Both were relatively popular in Wales in the 1980s and 1990s, though they are used less there today.

A Pam for the modern age, improved by a harder edge and a tad less prissiness.

Claudina — a traditional Spanish diminutive of Claudia — was a Top 500 name in Spain for the first half of the 20th century. It never caught on as a given name in the US. At its peak, Claudina was given to 17 American baby girls in 1969.

This Puritan virtue name may be unstylish, but it is also sympathetic and appealing in these largely uncomfortable times.

With word names increasingly acceptable or even desirable, this Spanish word for heart, brought to the fore by Philippine president Corazon Aquino, may find more takers.

In Welsh, Ceri is traditionally a male name but can also be used for girls. It's a short form of Ceridwen too, the name of the Welsh goddess of poetry.

Cindy for the 21st century.

This herb is also known as cilantro. It's meaning, "bed bug" is on account of its smell, characterized by the ancient Greeks as bed bug-like.

A handful of baby girls are still named Carlene every year, but today other feminizations of Charles or Carl, from Carly to Charlotte, are much more popular.