Animal Names for Girls

An alluring addition to the collection of cosmic baby names.

An unusual Greek mythological name belonging to a fresh-water nymph, also known as Cleona, Kleone, and Kleona.

Bryony or Brianne, with an edge. This last name as a first name is far more popular for boys, but returned to the charts for girls in 2020 after the death of basketball legend Kobe Bryant.

Carleigh, a fancier way of spelling Carly, reflects the trend toward trying to make an ordinary name more special by fiddling with the spelling. Yes, Leigh is a feminine way to spell Lee, so Carleigh is theoretically an acceptable way to spell Carly, but it doesn't really work that way. People will wonder: is it Car-lay? Car-lee-uh? And your child will forever have to spell her name. Stick with Carly....or better, Carla or Carlin, or better yet, Charlotte or Caroline.

The Turkish element ay, meaning "moon," is common among girl names. In this case, it is combined with büke, meaning "queen," giving Aybüke a stunning and covetable meaning.

Best known in the US as the name of Chris Brown's son (they pronounce it like "echo"), but Aeko is a traditional Japanese name for baby girls.

A vowel-rich Māori name with a natural meaning. New Zealand is known in Māori as Aotearoa, which can be translated as "land of abiding day" or "land of the long white cloud".

Variant of Ellery

A bright and appealing Spanish name traditionally given to honor the church festival of Candlemas, which commemorates the presentation of Christ in the temple and the purification of the Virgin Mary.

Most distinctive of the Dominic-related girls' names.

Charming Gallic possibility but with some obvious playground problems.

Torquano Tasso likely invented this name for the magical enchantress who beguiles the crusaders in his celebrated poem Jerusalem Delivered. Armida is also the eponymous heroine of a Handel opera.

This name, which sounds like "C.G.", was popularized by the character Ciji Dunne on the soap opera Knot's Landing. She appeared from 1982-3, and her name peaked sharply in 1983 before slowly fading.

Navy, Indigo, Sky, Ocean, and Sapphire already rank as current US favorites, and Demin is another shade of blue that's on the rise. With the stylish, sturdy, and versatile feel of the fabric it denotes, Denim could be an unexpected route to nickname Demi, or a surprising color name that strands out from Scarlett or Hazel.

A whole raft of names that start with Adel are coming back into fashion, from Adele to Adelaide to Adeline to Adelina, and so Adelisa -- a hybrid of the Adel sound and the isa suffix -- was given to a handful of girls last year. While still a quiet variation, we predict we'll see more of Adelisa in the coming years, and as hybrid names go, it's quite charming.