Top Girls’ Names: Transformed!

I like your choices for the girls’ list definitely a lot better than the boys’. There seems to be closer ties than from the earlier list. Good call especially on Louisa over Sophia. Louisa hasn’t even been in the top 1000 for the past 11 years which is shocking.

Oh I just love these alternatives. C

Ahhhhh, don’t bring Louisa to the masses!!

Great list

Oh I just love these alternatives. Coralie and Bethany are two of my favorite names, and they’re definitely great alternatives to Natalie and Destiny.
But, my absolute favorite name was on here – Magnolia. Great suggestion, but I would die if it rose in popularity.

Excellent post!

Oh, Ottilie, Cecily, Elspeth, Penelope & Clementine, there’s my top 5 girls! As with the boys, I’m far more comfortable in column B.
Great job, Elisabeth!

SHHHH!!! You put my soon-to-be daughter’s name, my relatively unknown gem, in to the collective conscience! I’ll blame you guys if she’s Sylvie K in her class.

For the most part, I think your transformations are brilliant! I think, however, that I’m just so glad to see that people are using Evelyn again that I just couldn’t change it.

I really liked that the names were not just variations of the original names. Very cute and a lot of them where on my list like Nora, Juliet, Daisy, and Adele. I also agree that Magnolia is adorable. They are my favorite flowers even if I wouldn’t use it as a baby name.

I’m happy, but at the same time sad, to see Cecily on there. It’s probably my favorite name, with the exception of a few colum A names- Mia/Amelia and Julia. /sigh.

My first thought was shhh about Louisa! (although substituting if for Sophia is brilliant) and now I’m freaked out that another commenter thought the same thing! lol, Louisa has a LONG way to go to reach the top 1000 though, so I think I’m safe…I hope

Several of my favorites are on here – nice job! We’ve been planning to use Gwendolyn twice now, but we keep getting boys!

Elisabeth, this is FANTASTIC! I was stunned by your genius on most of these names and the ones I’ll list below are just others I think would work as well, no better.

I was surprised though by your substitute for my name, Gabrielle. I can’t see my mother naming me Emanuelle, so I thought of something else, hope you enjoy:

Sophia- Georgiana (gor-jay-NAH)
Ava- Aura
Neveah- Nevara
Brianna- Annika
Kaylee- Waverley
Taylor- Tate
Mikayla- Mahala
Kylie- Maisie
Sydney- Sidonie
Maya- Milla
Mackenzie- Kennedy or Kensington
Bailey- Paisley
Payton- Payson
Caroline- Marilyn
Genesis- Geneva
Gabrielle- Solange
Mariah- Marina
Rachel- Regina

What do you think?

Hey, be quiet! I’m not planning to have kids for several years, and if people take notice of this list about half of my favourite names will be unbearably trendy! Though I would suggest (since it’s a bit of an oddball on my list) Evelina as a lovely substitute for Evelyn, since it`s so similar and yet so distinctive.

Most of these are excellent, but there is an enormous disconnect between Emma and Alice for me, and I think there must be something that works much, much better as a post-modern approach to whatever it is that makes Emma so popular. I mean, I love the name Alice, but not in this context.

Brilliant!

SpotlightStarlit, I love your subs! Sidonie was one of my first thoughts for Sydney since they are from the same root, and Sidonie is so beautiful! I became self-conscious about Frenchifying the list too much though, so opted out there. I also think Solange for Gabrielle is brilliant. I’ve done this exercise before over at YCCII and used Giselle for Gabrielle there.

@Michelle, I am a little surprised that there is such a disconnect for you between Emma and Alice! Alice was much closer in tone for me than others I can think of, such as Etta and Emmeline, but I’m curious to hear if you find one you think is closer.

This list is brilliant! I’ll join the other Louisa commenters that I wish you’d keep her under wraps for a little longer, but it is a fantastic updating of Sophia.

Great list, but I too found Alice and Emma kind of far apart. I guess I don’t “get” alice, though, kind of like I don’t “get” Henry. They’re perfectly nice names, of course. Something like Ella is perhaps to obvious; I also think Lydia could work (feminine old-fashioned Jane Austen type name), as would Cora, perhaps.

Re Sophia and Louisa – I think those are the names of “Tiger Mom’s” daughters. While her parenting style is questionable, we can probably agree that she has great naming style! And her Sophia was born before the wave.

@Michele – I personally think that Emma and Alice are quite similar, thinking about it. They are both vintage sounding, both 2 syllables, sweet and generally well-rounded (…and both have an A and an E in them ). Although I do agree I could think of more obvious alternatives.

Anyway, I love just about all of these! Helena, Margot, Marlowe, Pearl, Oona, Vera; they’re simply wonderful!

Your substitutions are spot-on–I especially liked Alice replacing Emma. Makes sense to me. And I’ve always loved Abigail AND Tabitha….and now that Abigail is so well-loved (I like it too much to call it “well-used”) Tabitha is a sweet alternative.

I have a Bronwen. Can’t recommend it enough.

Funny, this looks like a side by side comparison of my husband’s list (the left) and my list (the right) for our daughter born last year. His top 3 were Isabella, Sophia, Sophie, and Camila; in my top 10 were Louisa, Sylvie, Mirabella, and Paloma. He suggested Claire and Paige for the middle, I countered Pearl and June. Finally, we agreed on first and middle names that are not on either of these lists

There are some absolutely beautiful names here!

Blythe is my number one name for a girl! Antonia is also right up there for me. I love this list!

My favorites are…

Mirabella
Alice
Ottilie
Cecily
Phoebe
Adelaide
Carys
Nora
Susannah
Bronwen
Linnea
Matilda
Bryony
Magnolia
Adele
Cecilia
Sylvie
Margot
Philippa
Penelope
Juliet
Blythe
Auden
Ariadne
Felicity
Antonia

Oh, please please please don’t let Wiley go to the girls!!!

I feel like this list tapped into my brain and stole all my great name ideas! And so many of them are really quite uncommon! Really, most of my most favorite names are in the top half of the left column. Cecily, Carys, Margot, and Paloma better not be the new Isabella and Sophia.

I think that substituting Louisa for Sophia is rather hilarious, giving Amy Chua! I agree, she has great naming style no matter what your view on her parenting is!

I really like your list of alternatives. We used two of them for our daughter Sylvie Rosalind. We call her Vivi for short. You can see photos of her here: http://crookedhouse.typepad.com/crookedhouse/sylvie/

I think she’s as pretty as her name.

I really like this list of alternatives. We used two of them for our little girl Sylvie Rosalind, who is now 2. I hope that Sylvie doesn’t start to get over-used.

I really like a lot of these alternatives, but it seems that some of them are already raising in popularly quite a bit – such as Harper, Penelope, Willow, and Adelaide. I have no problem with anyone using popular names if they love them, but while list B might not be in the top 100, some of them will surely be there soon.

So many of my favorite names were mentioned on here as substitutes! However, I have to say that I’m glad my parents named me Sydney (for once!), instead of Danae–blech!

And my Louisa was born in 1985!

Well, I have chosen Sophia even though it is top 10, but I don’t want to do Louisa since that was almost the name (Louise or Louis) of too many relatives! And Sylvie is my Aunt. Oh, well. I think for some people the substitutes might be wonderful since I like a lot of the names but not for me. Plus my 2 year old son- Liam- prefers Sophia to Lucia and every alternate I’ve thought about!

I love so many of these names!

Favorites: Alice, Mirabella, Tamsin, Cordelia, Cecelia, Espeth, Matilda, Bryony, Beatrice, Oona (although I prefer Oonagh), Margot (my current name crush), Philippa

Some ones I see as odd: Caroline to Frances. Huh?
Maybe Caroline to Coraline.

Also I might go from Natalia to Natasha.

Brianna -> Bryony makes more sense to me, with baybe Aubrey going to Audrina.

When I named my daughter in 1985, Caroline Cordelia (after her two great-grandmothers), I never imagined Cordelia would ever pop up on a names lists. Caroline loved her middle name so much, she named her daughter, now three, Cordelia…..and everyone thinks it is so beautiful. My other three daughters are: Paige Ellen, Susannah Augusta (family names), Alexandra VanToor (family names).

Re: Caroline to Frances — it’s not a sound similarity more of a similar ethos or feel, and a similar time period. For instance, those names would’ve been popular with upper class people in Britain around the same time…

I like Christabelle instead of Isabella and Marigold instead of Magnolia. And the French Benjamien instead of Chloe/Zoe/Phoebe.

Nice list! I love Alice, Mirabella, Elspeth, Madigan, Phoebe, Esme, Jessamine, Adelaide, Coralie, Iris, Hollis, Dinah, Harper, Louisa, Ottilie, Lucia, Aster, Ivy, Rafaella, Bronwen, Marlowe, Eloise, Rowan, Matilda, Xanthe, Bryony, Beatrice, Pearl, Malia, Wiley, Sylvie, Paloma, Rosalind, Gemma, Penelope, Juliet, Willow, Verity, Blythe, Daisy, Clementine, Amelie, Felicity, Celeste, Evangeline, Tamsin, Polly, and Antonia.
Though I will admit, I’m also partial to Ava, Sophia, Sophie, Chloe, Lily, Grace, Avery, Layla, Charlotte, Bella, Isabella, Clara, Claire, Arianna, Lucy, and Stella!

I think it’s uncanny that you linked Alice with Emma….reason being is that my 2yr old is Alice-Which is a name I adore-and I am 6 weeks off giving birth to #2 and if it’s a girl, Emma is at the top of that list. But am fond of a Maggie with my Alice too

Love most of the substitutions. I can’t get on board with Madigan or Connelly, though. Granted, they’re better than the names they’re replacing…

Sophie to Sylvie is BRILLIANT! Don’t worry, previous posters, I’m probably done having children anyway!

Like both (it might be hard to choose, which one I’d pick would depend on other factors): Sophia/Louisa, Emma/Alice,Leah/Lydia (love both), Sofia/Lucia, Layla/Linnea (love both), Allison (prefer Alison/Rhiannon (love both), Kayla/Kyra, Alexa(love)/Roxana, Audrey/ Adele (or Adela), Jasmine/Jessamine, Jocelyn/Rosalind, Katherine/Juliet (love both), Serenity/Felicity, Angelina/Evangeline, Rachel/Tamar

Like both, but prefer A: Mia/Esme(prefer Ismay), Anna (love)/Nora, Victoria (love)/Honora (but like nn Nora for Victoria, don’t like any nn for Victoria) Gabriella/ Rafaella, Andrea/Georgia, Ariana (love)/Ariadne, Natalia/Antonia

Like both, but prefer B: Emily/Cecily (love), Abigail/Tabitha (love), Samantha/Sabina (love), Alyssa/Larissa, Hannah/Dinah, Sarah/Susannah, Zoe/Ivy (love), Kaylee/Colette, Bella/Clara, Julia/Cecilia (love), Sophie/ Sylvie (love), Gianna/Gemma, Melanie/Amelie (love), Kaitlyn( prefer Caitlin)/Tamsin (love)

Like A, B is OK: Isabella/Mirabella (love Annabel), Maya/Mina (don’t really have the same feel to me), Lucy/Daisy, Caroline/Frances, Gabrielle/Emmanuelle, Olivia/Ottilie (Ottilie sounds better in British English or French than in American English, Ava/Rita, Ella/Elsa, Natalie/Coralie, Lily (love)/Iris, Brianna/Simona, Charlotte/Beatrice, Savannah/Magnolia, Arianna (love, prefer Ariana) /Aurelia, Lauren/Maren, Camila/Paloma, Alexandra (love) /Philippa, Kimberly/Penelope (they don’t have the same feel to me), Stella/ Celeste, Maria/Miriam, Jessica/Cordelia (but like nn Delia)

Like B, A is okay: Alexis/Carys (love), Brooklyn/Bronwen,
Riley/Rowan, Makayla/Michaela, Aubrey/Bryony (love), Trinity/Verity (love), Madeline/Clementine, Molly/Polly, Naomi/Noemi, Mariah/Mireya, Valeria/Veronica

Like A, dislike B: Hailey (prefer Hayley)(love)/Hollis (seems to masculine, I like Holly), Avery/Harper (Avery seems more feminine), Ashley/Aster (I like Astrid though) Payton (prefer Peyton)/Afton, Claire/Pearl, Kylie (cute)/Wiley (masculine), Payton(prefer Peyton)/Palmer (not very feminine, snobby sounding), Autumn/Auden (not very feminine to me), Eva/Vera (not pronounced in English, anyway – in Slavic languages sounds pretty good).

A is okay, dislike B: Taylor/Marlowe, Morgan/Margot, Brooke/Willow, Paige/June (I know June and May seem to be coming back in style while April remains dated, but I prefer April), Faith/Blythe,

Both are OK: Madison/Madigan, Chloe/Phoebe, Addison/Adelaide, Elizabeth/Elspeth, Grace/Jane, Lillian/Helen, Evelyn/Eloise, Amelia/Matilda, Zoey/Oona (prefer Zoe/Una) Aaliyah/ Malia, Sydney/Danae (don’t have the same feel to me), Mackenzie/Connolly, Madelyn/Gwendolyn, Bailey/Lowry, Genesis/ Mercy,

Like B, dislike A: Nevaeh/Nayara, Khloe (but Chloe is ok)/Xanthe (interesting), Destiny (only because of reputation, not the sound)/Bethany (love).

Love: A – 11 B- 15
Like: A – 52 B – 34
OK: A – 30 B- 35
Dislike: A – 3 B- 13 (most B’s because I don’t find them feminine)

I call Ottilie. Dibs.

HA! Louisa is my baby girl’s name and she was always going to be Louisa. Yes! Don’t bring it to the masses, let them all keep kicking the spirit out of Isabel until is sounds like Cheryl. But anyways, I LOVE THIS LIST! I need a companion to Louisa! It’s driving me near mad. Most of these names are on my list but it was good to see others. And yes, I hope Louisa remains elusive unlike Emily.

I love this list! I find the Morgan-Margot pair hilarious! My name is Morgan but my mom was stuck between that, Megan and Margot. She finally settled on Morgan Margaret. I love my name but I adore the name Margot!

How about one for boys? I made this one, and it took quite some time. Yes, it is much easier for girl names.

1. Jacob → Tobias
2. Ethan → Deacon
3. Michael → Raphael
4. Jayden → Kaden
5. William → Emereth
6. Alexander → Theodore
7. Noah → Leo
8. Daniel → Lionel
9. Aiden → Holden
10. Anthony → Jovany
11. Joshua → Jerricho
12. Mason → Tyson
13. Christopher → Russell
14. Andrew → Calder
15. David → Gerard
16. Matthew → Mattigan
17. Logan → Lochlan
18. Elijah → Elias
19. James → Desmond
20. Joseph → Jarek
21. Gabriel → Adriel
22. Benjamin → Frederick
23. Ryan → Richard
24. Samuel → Asael
25. Jackson → Dawson
26. John → Jonah
27. Nathan → Damien
28. Jonathan → Joel
29. Christian → Gregory
30. Liam → Oisin
31. Dylan → Rhys
32. Landon → Kenton
33. Caleb → Philip
34. Tyler → Peter
35. Lucas → Brady
36. Evan → Eamon
37. Gavin → Gael
38. Nicholas → Timothy
39. Isaac → Phineas
40. Brayden → Zayden
41. Luke → Quinn
42. Angel → Prince
43. Brandon → Bronson
44. Jack → Jett
45. Isaiah → Israel
46. Jordan → Riordan
47. Owen → Seth
48. Carter → Palmer
49. Connor → Brett
50. Justin → Afton
51. Jose → Ricardo
52. Jeremiah → Nehemiah
53. Julian → Lucien
54. Robert → Marshall
55. Aaron → Shane
56. Adrian → Donovan
57. Wyatt → Rhett
58. Kevin → Jensen
59. Hunter → Tanner
60. Cameron → Rowan
61. Zachary → Ezekiel
62. Thomas → George
63. Charles → Francis
64. Austin → Auden
65. Eli → Milo
66. Chase → Cason
67. Henry → Loften
68. Sebastian → Asher
69. Jason → Jared
70. Levi → Asa
71. Xavier → Zander
72. Ian → Kenneth
73. Colton → Carleton
74. Dominic → Vincent
75. Juan → Jorge
76. Cooper → Lowell
77. Josiah → Jeriah
78. Luis → Manuel
79. Ayden → Amory
80. Carson → Carsten
81. Adam → Adlai
82. Nathaniel → Eliel
83. Brody → Daley
84. Tristan → Keagan
85. Diego → Alonzo
86. Parker → Parkus
87. Blake → Blaise
88. Oliver → Atticus
89. Cole → Curtis
90. Carlos → Pedro
91. Jaden → Cade
92. Jesus → Raul
93. Alex → Calyx
94. Aidan → Leander
95. Eric → Lamar
96. Hayden → Hugh
97. Bryan → Brennan
98. Max → Sam
99. Jaxon → Ronin
100. Brian → Brock

Tabitha is at the top of our list for girls. <3

Antonia is mine!

and Mikayla-> Michaela doesn’t count. it’s just another weird spelling. (says Michaila) What about Mikyla?

I thought this list was brilliant! I have a Beatrice and a Philippa though, so I may be a bit partial.