Animal Names for Girls

ALLEGRA is a delicate ballet-dancer name; ALLEGRO, which means a fast-paced movement in music, is stronger and more vibrant.

Intriguing twist on several familiar names, though many people will mistake this for Elsa, Eliza, and so on.

Phonetic anglicisation of the popular Scottish name Eilidh, a relative of Eleanor or Helen.

Diminutive of Alvina, and a cute boyish retro nickname we can see making its way back onto a few birth certificates today.

More than the sum of Abby and Ella.

The ancient Roman name that gave us Cecilia, Cecily, and related names. This spelling looks authentic, but might raise more pronunciation problems than it solves.

The late tennis great Arthur Ashe (whose wife was a photographer) pioneered word names when he used this for his daughter. It would make an interesting first or middle name possibility for parents involved with photography.

Bowen is a Celtic surname representing two separate Celtic strains, one Welsh and one Irish, and entered the US Top 1000 (for boys) for the first time in 2011. It comes complete with cute nicknames Bo and Winnie.

Banana is one fruity name we wouldn't recommend. Pick Plum instead. There is a Japanese novelist whose pen name is Banana Yoshimoto--birth name Mahoko.

Much fresher Irish imports available for colleens now.

A light and lovely Quechua name with a joyful meaning.

Eisheth is thought to be the personification of sin, said to eat the souls of the damned in Jewish mythology.

Amarissa is kind of cobbled together from two traditional elements: Ama, which means "love" or "lover" and is found in such more established names as Amabel and Amariah, and -issa, which is a common feminine suffix that functions as a diminutive. While Amarissa is pretty and frilly, it may frequently be misunderstood as Marissa, Melissa, and may ultimately be more trouble than it's worth.

An old-fashioned term for a coal miner, or nowadays, a sister to Harper and Piper.

A minor goddess in Celtic mythology, associated with the river Aisne.

An energetic name with an embroidered feel.

Cookie is most often used as a dog name, and it should stay that way.

This possible word name, which rhymes with Maia, makes an even more distinctive alternative.

Also written as Bayla, Baila is reminiscent of the Spanish word for "dance". Its meaning is debated: it may come from the Slavic root word for "white", or it may be a form of Bilhah, one of the four women who gave birth to the tribes of Israel. An offbeat approach to Bella.