Feminizations of Male Names

Though twin brother Gerald is still in baby name limbo, Geraldine is in line to follow the path of Josephine to imminent revival—even though Gerry is not as spunky a nickname as Josie.

The gorgeous and romantic name Xiomara popped into the Top 1000 from 2004-2011 after a contestant on America's Next Top Model increased interest in her rare name.

Paula still seems somewhat stuck in the era of duo Paul and Paula bopping out the song "Hey, Paula." Two pronunciations are possible—the English "PAW-la" and the Portuguese "POW-la."

Marcia is an ancient Roman name which derives from Mars, the god of war. It was used by Dante in the Inferno and later by Thomas Hardy and others.

Joel is one of those boys’ names that's never been super-popular yet has never been UNpopular either -- it's been in the Top 400 in the US since we started keeping statistics in 1880. So it's inevitable that its female form Joelle would gain visibility too, and indeed Joelle was used most widely during Joel's reign in the Top 100, from the late 1960s through the early 1990s.

Nicola, an elegant Latinate feminization of Nicholas, has long been standard issue for English girls but for some reason has never voyaged across the Atlantic, which we consider a pity, especially as Nicole's standing has waned.

Justine is a French name that's never reached the popularity we think it deserves. Like its far-more-common brother Justin, Justine is sleek, and sophisticated, but still user-friendly.

Long a popular upper-crust form in England, where it's pronounced George-ee-AH-na, Georgiana has been been neglected here. But with Georgia growing more popular and the general fashion for elaborate feminine names, Georgiana might have room to grow.

There are much chicer versions of this name today, such as Claudie, Claudia, or Claude itself. Claudine is a name wobbling on the edge of extinction.

Kyle is stronger and sharper, though many parents will prefer the more distinctly feminine Kyla for their daughters. Kyla may owe much of its popularity to trendy cousin Kayla.

Spelled this way, Briana was coined by Edmund Spenser for his great literary work, The Faerie Queene, which gives the now-overexposed name a far classier pedigree than it's usually credited with.

While Charlotte and Caroline are considered stylish and classic members of the Charles family, this Germanic form peaked in the US at Number 76 in 1965. It fell out of favor in the 2010s, but recent years have seen it re-enter the Top 1000.

Nicolette is the ultra-feminine name of an enchanting princess in the medieval French romance, Aucassin et Nicolette, a name that got stacks of publicity in the heyday of Desperate Housewives and its star Nicolette Sheridan. It was also the name of Chloe Sevigny's character in Big Love.

Used across Europe, South America, and the US, Daniela is a popular feminine form of the Hebrew name Daniel. It has ranked in the US Top 300 since the early 90s and it's currently on trend in Spain, Portugal, Chile, Mexico, and Lativia.

Once seen as a dated French Claudette-Colbert feminization, along with Annette and Paulette, we can see Claudette moving into a more plausible Colette-Cosette arena. While some may be put off by the common "lame" meaning, some etymologists theorize that the name may relate to the word for enclosure or clause, an alternate meaning that may appeal to a child with a form of this otherwise-appealing name.

Eugenia, a name scarcely used at all since the 1980's, is another that flourished a century ago and could be due for a revival.

A sweet name with many cross-cultural ties: it's an equivalent of Jane in languages including Czech, Slovak, Dutch, German, Slovene, Catalan, Estonian, and Latvian.

This most proper form of the name shot up the charts in the nineties, only to sink just as precipitously, supplanted by upstarts Makayla and McKayla ad infinitum.

Roberta has been one of the most successful feminization names, up at #64 in 1936. It's a name that's found all over children's lit, often nicknamed Bobbie or Robbie, though Bertie is another possibility. Notable bearers have included singers Roberta Flack and Roberta Peters--plus it's the birth name of Joni Mitchell.

Malina is a synthetic-feeling name that may be a feminization of the Scottish Malcolm or a spelling twist on the Greek Melina and that also has a fruit meaning in several Eastern European languages. For all that it's a little bit of lots of things, Malina doesn't feel very much like itself.