Jennifer Garner and Ben Affleck’s choice of the name Seraphina for their second daughter has put the spotlight on ultra-feminine names. Lots of syllables, ending in a vowel: Those are the classic earmarks of the girly baby names.

When I had my first — and as it turned out, my only — daughter, I was afraid of girly-girl names. I wanted my child to be the kind of girl who could compete with boys in the classroom and on the playing field, who was adventurous and spirited, not bound by any outmoded female conventions.

And so I rejected all kinds of girly-girl names that I otherwise liked — Susannah and Flora and Carolina and Daisy — and picked the anything-but-girly name Rory.

But something surprising happened over the years. I came to not only like the girly names, but to love them. To not merely accept them, but embrace them. Maybe what changed was not entirely within me but in society at large: Why couldn’t a girl combine the frankly feminine with the formerly masculine and end up with an identity and an image that transcended any old gender stereotypes?

In fact, I began to think it was almost revolutionary to choose a girly-girl name but raise your daughter to be whoever she wants: To wear tutus and play lacrosse, to be great in math and grow her hair to her waist. To defy the stereotypes that led to one study showing that girls who’d been given girly baby names did worse at math and science, mainly because teachers expected them to do worse.

I also came to see that the trappings of conventional little girlhood that made me so nervous — the pink and purple ruffle-y dresses, the glittery shoes and the Cinderella DVDs and the passion for Barbie — came and went as quickly as any other stage of early childhood. Whereas a gorgeous feminine name was an attribute that would last forever.

Several girly baby names have been moving up the popularity list, with Olivia, Sophia, and Isabella heading for the top of the charts. Plus, more of my ultra-feminine favorites:

ANNABELLA
AURORA
CATALINA
CELESTIA
CLEMENTINA
CRESSIDA
DELILAH
ESTELLA
EVANGELINA
GEORGIANA
JOSETTE
JULIETTA
LEONORA
LILIANA
LUCIANA
NATALYA
RAFFAELA
ROXANA
SABRINA
SERENA
TABITHA

And by the way, a big shout-out to Beth Delany of Inverness, Illinois, the winner of the nameberry Jennifer Garner baby name contest! Though no one guessed Seraphina Rose, 16-year-old Beth, a name lover who already has all her children’s names picked out, guessed Susanna Rose. Although Carlie guessed the middle names Rose and Elizabeth first, our email to her bounced back — so if you’re out there, Carlie, let us know and we’ll send you a book too! Beth’s prize is an advanced signed copy of our upcoming book, Cool Irish Names for Babies, due out in March.

At last! Jennifer Garner and Ben Affleck have finally announced the name of their newborn daughter: Seraphina Rose Elizabeth.

Seraphina’s name, which means fiery or ardent in Hebrew, comes from the Seraphim, the high order of six-winged angels. Spelled Serafina in Spanish and Italian, this elaborately feminine name is in step with the Isabellas and Gabriellas so popular today, yet is far more distinctive.

Jen and Ben have proven their baby naming know-how with this gorgeous choice, a great match for Violet, and it’s sure to rise up the popularity list along with that of her big sister.  Much more unusual than Violet, Seraphina hasn’t ever appeared in the Top 1000 of the Social Security list in the past century.

Rose is the middle name du jour, a flower name match for Violet.  And, like many young Americans following the British tradition, the couple has chosen two middle names (although some people have already expressed the objection that it wasn’t fair for this baby to get one more than her big sister).

Seraphina hasn’t appeared much in popular culture references, though a couple of its variations have.  With the Latin  Serafina spelling, it was the name of the passionate heroine of Tennessee Williams The Rose Tattoo, and just last year it was a  character played by Eva Green in The Golden Compass.  It’s also reminiscent of Sarafina, the South African hit musical that played on Broadway in the 90s.

What do we think of Seraphina?  Let’s just say that we picked it as one of the Authors’ Favorites recommendations in The Baby Name Bible.

But do we have a winner in the Guess the Jennifer Garner Baby Name contest? Not a single one of the hundreds of entries picked Seraphina, though a lot of people did guess the middle name Rose.

We empathize, Jen and Ben. As the Jennifer Garner Baby Name Watch enters Day Four Five Six Eight, we imagine you might be having a tough time settling on a name. It took us a long time to name our babies too.

First time around, we weren’t sure of the sex, so we couldn’t very well pick a name before the baby was born. And then, even when we had advance knowledge about gender, we wanted to see what the baby looked like before we made the final name decision.

And then, well, we just couldn’t decide. With so many great names out there, it can be really difficult to choose just one. And since you did such a great job naming Violet, you obviously have high standards to live up to.

We have a suggestion that might help. Check out all the great names people guessed you might name your new daughter. Phoebe? Frances? Clementine? Ivy? There are literally hundreds of awesome ideas in the comments section of the blog post below, in case you’re stuck.

Over 40 percent of the 1500 1800 1900 people who voted in the Jennifer Garner Baby Name poll guessed you would pick a Gently Old-Fashioned Name like Beatrice (another good choice), with another 35 percent opting for a sweet name like Grace. Color names such as Ruby or Scarlett: not so much.

Of course, you may have already decided on a name and are just keeping it to yourselves for now.  We understand (even though it’s driving us a little crazy).  We only hope you don’t decide to keep the name a secret for basically ever, the way Holly Hunter did with the names of her now-three-year-old twins.

For those of you reading this post who AREN‘T Ben and Jen, there’s still time to vote in our poll below and guess the Jennifer Garner baby name for a chance to win an advance copy of our new book, Cool Irish Names for Babies.

What do you think is taking Ben and Jen so long? Vote here and let us know what you think.

Jennifer Garner and Ben Affleck welcomed their second little girl yesterday, joining big sister Violet Anne. Since the new Jennifer Garner baby name has not been announced, and as Violet’s name has been so influential, we thought it would be fun to do a quick nameberry poll trying to guess the new baby’s name.

Violet’s name can lead in several different directions. Using Violet as a starting point, do you think the new Jennifer Garner baby name will be:

A GENTLY OLD-FASHIONED NAME– An old-fashioned name like Beatrice or Eliza would go perfectly with Violet.

A FLOWER NAME — A lot of starbaby watchers are guessing the new baby will have another flower name, such as Iris or Daisy.

A HIPSTER NAME — Violet definitely has hipster cred, and her little sister might be Annabel, Matilda, or June.

A SWEET NAME — Violet’s little sister might very sweetly be Grace or Willow.

A COLOR NAME — Violet is a color as well as a flower, so might the new Jennifer Garner baby be named Scarlett? Ruby? Turquoise?

What do you think? Vote here! And leave your best guess for the actual name. The first person who hits it on the nose (assuming there’s more than one) will get an advance copy of our upcoming book, Cool Irish Names for Babies!