Fanciful Girl Names Go Over-the-Top

Updated Thu Mar 14 2024

There’s never been a better time to give a daughter a fanciful, over-the-top name. Over the past few years, everyone has had to cut back and restrain themselves from life’s normal luxuries. But one place where you can still really go for it is with your child’s name.

Fanciful girl names are indulgent and elaborate, often frilly and feminine, but length is the most notable qualifier. Decadent girl names tend to have at least three syllables, often more.

Another factor to consider is exceptionality — the more unusual a name, the more indulgent it will seem. Familiar names that were once considered extravagant, such as Isabella and Penelope, are now so common that they no longer register as bold, dramatic choices.

Here, we’ve gathered over 100 of the best fanciful names for girls.

Over-the-Top and At the Top

In an era when we’re relying less on nicknames, you might expect parents to shy away from extravagant, multi-syllabic names. However, we’ve observed the opposite. Choices such as Zendaya, Marigold, and Itzayana were some of the fastest rising girl names last year, and Aurelia, Evangeline, and Ophelia feature among the hottest Nameberry names of 2024.

Romantic botanical baby names including Magnolia, Clementine, and Violeta have seen a big boost in recent years, and names connected to characters with controversial legacies — such as Ophelia, Persephone, and Khaleesi — are rising quickly as well.

Below, a selection of the most elaborate girl names in the US Top 1000, listed in order of popularity:

Elaborate Girl Names Rising

Fabulous namesakes are driving the rise of these over-the-top girl names to watch.

Those with legendary or classic literary names, such as Guinevere, Cordelia, and Avonlea are particularly notable, but modern heroines with extravagant names are inspiring parents as well. Marceline took off after the 2010 premiere of Adventure Time, and Primrose charted for the first time since 1982 in 2012, the year The Hunger Games movie was released.

Even invented names from pop culture are on the rise, including Renesmee (Twilight) and Vanellope (Wreck It Ralph), which also profit off the popularity of their stylish, traditional parent names, Esme and Penelope.

These unique girl names rank outside of the US Top 1000 (but maybe not for long!):

Extravagant International Girl Names

Indulgent girl names are most common in countries that speak Romance languages, such as France, Spain, and Italy.

In some cases, a simpler name becomes fanciful just because it’s been given the international treatment. Océane is more luxurious than Ocean, Zuzanna more ornate than Susanna. This can be true even when they have the same pronunciation — to an English-speaker, French-ified Margaux feels more decadent than Margot or Margo.

Here are 20 international baby girl names drawn from popular names lists around the world:

Unique Fanciful Girl Names

Perhaps the ultimate luxury is a name that is both dramatic and distinctive, like the ones listed here.

There are whimsical compound names, such as Elizabella and Stellaluna, names with literary connections, like Melisande and Sheherazade, and those connected to powerful women from history, including Cleopatra and Nefertari.

The one thing they all have in common is that they’re extremely rare. Some, such as Leocadia and Zephyrine, are truly one-of-a-kind (but no less wearable!).

The fanciful girl names here were given to fewer than 50 baby girls in 2022:

About the Author

Sophie Kihm

Sophie Kihm's Personal Website

Sophie Kihm has been writing for Nameberry since 2015. She has contributed stories on the top 2020s names, Gen Z names, and cottagecore baby names. Sophie is Nameberry’s resident Name Guru to the Stars, where she suggests names for celebrity babies. She also manages the Nameberry Instagram and Pinterest.

Sophie Kihm's articles on names have run on People, Today, The Huffington Post, and more. She has been quoted as a name expert by The Washington Post, People, The Huffington Post, and more. You can follow her personally on Instagram or Pinterest, or contact her at sophie@nameberry.com. Sophie lives in Chicago.

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