Five Letter Girl Names

This Maori name, often heard in New Zealand, is an attractive, evocative choice for lovers of the ocean made famous – perhaps too famous – by the Disney heroine. Moana was also an alternate name for the heroine Ofelia in Pan's Labyrinth. Moana may also be a color name for a deep ocean blue ("lanu moana"). Moana and other Disney Princess Names are the subject of a featured blog.

Families with a J-initial sibset may opt to spell Dream this way. While Dream has been climbing up the charts since its' entry in 2017 — attributed to the birth of a Kardashian baby by that name — alternative spelling Jream only just entered the Top 1000 for the first time in 2022.

One of many Irish names that, despite pronunciation challenge, are beginning to be taken into consideration here as authentic Celtic versions of familiar English names.

Popular with Muslim and African-American parents, this virtue name also fits in with the trendy i ending names being seen at the moment. It debuted on the US Top 1000 in 1996.

Simple-yet-unusual name with a creative meaning. Actress Sanaa Lathan promoted it, and it was on the U.S. popularity list from 2003 to 2011. Shaquille O'Neal used it as the middle name of his daughter Amirah. And spelled Sana'a, it's the capital of Yemen.

Velma likely originated as a phonetic spelling of the German name Wilma, itself derived from Wilhelmina. Velma Dinkley is a smart, if nerdy, character in Scooby Doo.

Novelist Djuna Barnes introduced this interesting and unusual name with an arty, Bohemian feel to the mix. She explained that it was invented by her father, saying it came about as a combination of her infant brother's pronunciation of the word moon as 'nuna' and a character in a book her father was reading, Prince Djalma, and so he "put the Dj onto the 'una'." Result: the silent-D pronunciation (as in Django) of JOON-a.

Name of the licorice plant, this spice comes in the shape of a star, giving this name an extra level of sweetness.

Although Lumi (Finnish for "snow") is far more popular, the elaboration Lumia is used in Finland as well. It's also a technical word in English for patterns of light used as an art form, and in Italian it refers to the citron fruit and tree – a pear-shaped citrus fruit also known as a sweet lemon. Nokia chose the name for a brand of smartphone, now discontinued.

Taiga has two origins. As a word name derived from Turkic languages via Russian, it refers to the snow forest of the Arctic regions, making it an evocative nature name.

Muffy is one of those nickname names that flourished in the Baby Boom era -- or was it only on television? -- and now is rarely used. Strictly speaking short for Muffin, few girls have been given Muffy as a proper name in any era, and when it was used, it was usually as a nickname for Mary or Margaret or some other traditional name.

Courageous sister of Raskolnikov in Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment.

Japanese classic with optimistic meaning.

Amy was a 1970s favorite, and French spelling Aimee peaked in the same decade.

An Ethiopian girls' name with a bright and cheerful sound — rhyming with Haven. Feven is the Ge'ez variant of Biblical Phoebe, also the goddess of the moon and hunting in Greek mythology. In 2022, there were 5 baby girls given the name Feven.

A sparkling choice for a nighttime-born daughter.

Agata is an Agatha form widely used throughout Europe. And the hard t may be more appealing to your ear than the th sound.

Meaning "girl" in Spanish, this has occasionally been used as a name in the Philippines, but is not a usual Spanish name.

A rarely heard Hebrew name whose zippy first initial Z transforms it from dated Yetta-like image to more lively Catherine Zeta Jones-like appeal.