Softer Sounding Names

Hermione's costarring role in Harry Potter has made this previously ignored, once stodgy name suddenly viable. Hermione could really take off once today's children start having kids of their own.

Heron may feel like a very usable nature name -- the heron is a long-legged wading bird -- but it was also the name of a 1st century Greek inventor and of an Egyptian saint. Highly unusual yet easy to understand and meaningful on several levels, Heron is a fantastic choice.

Honora and Honoria are two ways of softening the severity of Honor, while retaining its righteous meaning. They were predominant until the Reformation, when the Puritans adopted the abstract virtue names, and were introduced to Britain by the Normans.

This is an eighteenth century elaboration of Honor found in Charles Dickens (Bleak House) but rarely heard here and now.

Though it may not be as sweet and gentle as, say, Violet, the purple-hued Hyacinth still might hold some appeal for the parent seeking a truly unusual flower name.

Like Violet, Lavender and Lilac, Ianthe is a purple flower name. Chosen by the poet Shelley for his daughter, Ianthe has a poetic, romantic, almost ethereal quality. In the ancient myth, she was the daughter of Oceanus, supreme ruler of the sea, and also a Cretan woman so beautiful that when she died the Gods made purple flowers grow around her grave.

Ilana is a name with seemingly endless variations, well used in Israel, sometimes chosen for little girls born on the holiday of TuB'Shevat, the New Year of the Trees.

Hilary may feel too connected to a single personality, but this version offers a fresh and interesting alternative.

Ilario's merry, jovial sound reflects a shared root with the word hilarious.

Three syllables in only four letters is quite a feat, but that's exactly what you get with Ilia, a versatile, unisex option with various origins. It could derive from the Greek Iliana, which could denote someone from Illium, or it could be a feminine form of Ilian, a form of Elijah. Alternatively, it is a Basque form of Julia, or a Bulgarian feminine form of Ilya, with again links back to Elijah. Currently a gender neutral option in the US, it may be exclusively masculine elsewhere.

Iliana is one of the vaguely but usually undefinably international names that have a wide range of spellings and pronunciations. Ilium was the poetic name of the city of Troy, and variations of this name — especially Ileana and Ileanna — have been widely used, projecting a rather bohemian image. The traditional Greek pronunciation would be ee-lee-AH-nah while in English speaking countries, it might be ill-ee-AH-nah.

Imogen has long been fashionable in England and is gaining favor in the US among stylish parents. Pronounced the British way — the initial i is short as in Kim, as is the final E as in Ken — Imogen is as pretty and classy as it is distinctive.

This name of a small island off the coast of Scotland is trending upwards along with other I names.

This unusual Greek flower and color name has gained considerable recent attention via actress Ione Skye, who is the daughter of sixties folksinger Donovan.

Iris has so much going for it. It's a fashionable flower name. It's a mythological name, from the Greek goddess of the rainbow. And it's a classic name, always ranking in the girls' Top 1000 but now at its highest point ever.

With Isabel getting so popular, parents are searching for new varieties of the name, and Isabeau is one that makes a lovely French twist.

Isabel derived from Elizabeth in southwest Europe during the Middle Ages. It was originally written as Elisabel, but the first syllable was dropped as it spread across the continent. In Spain and Portugal, Isabel and Elizabeth are considered to be variations of the same name, but they are treated as separate names in other European countries and the US.

Isabella has been a Top 10 name for girls in the US for two decades now. The Latinate form of Isabel, a variation of Elizabeth which originally derived from the Hebrew name Elisheba, Isabella reigned as Number 1 in 2009 and 2010.

Isabelle is the French variation of Isabel, which emerged in the Middle ages as an Occitan form of Elizabeth. Medieval queens Isabella of Angoulême and Isabella of France helped popularize the name in the United Kingdom. Isobel is the Scottish version, Isabella the Italian, and Izabel is used in Brazil.