6000+ Dog Names

Merilee and Merrilee were early respelled or word names, ahead of their time in some ways. Merrilee hit the Top 1000 for a couple of years in the 1940s, but last year no baby girls were given either version of the name in the US, which makes it more appealing.

Faunia is more often rendered as Fauna, who was a Roman goddess of fertility, women and healing. Faunia was the downtrodden yet loving heroine of Philip Roth's Human Stain. Faunia and Fauna have more gravitas than the doe-like Fawn.

Eilo is one of the few masculine names to derive from a feminine one. It comes from Eila, the Norwegian variation of Elina.

Anela is the equivalent of Angela, which means angel. Anela is also one of

Extreme cool possibilities in either of these modern categories, like a postmodern Linc.

Erkin is an Uzbek vocabulary word from Old Turkic, and is widely used as a unisex name in Turkey. In English-speaking countries, it is unknown but straightforward and with a great meaning.

A shimmery name with a wonderful meaning; another intriguing variation is Siroun.

Disney turned Maleficent into a name in 1959, when it was used for the "Mistress of All Evil" in the film Sleeping Beauty. Prior to that, maleficent was a word meaning "causing harm," the antonym of beneficent. Its similarities to the familiar name Millicent made it an apt choice for the iconic Disney villain.

Omero lifts Homer out of both The Simpsons and The Odyssey, making it a romantic name ala Romeo. Some sources give the meaning of Omero and Homer as "hostage".

Sheriff may sound law-abiding, but it also has a Wild West feel.

Rivers is an indisputably unisex surname with is strong nature connotation and its connection to the character Diana Rivers from Charlotte Bronte's novel Jane Eyre. Rivers is also the first name of one of the girl Sweet Home sextuplets.

Medieval name that still hasn't crossed the ocean, known here primarily via actress/teacher Uta Hagen.

Short form found in historical records, feels a tad feminine for modern times.

Likely an elaboration of the multicultural Yara, an Arabic name well-used in Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking countries meaning "butterfly" or "helper" (or possibly "water nymph" from its Tupi origins). A popular choice in Mexico, it has a stylish, zippy sound.

Mima was once a common nickname for the biblical Jemima.

Promise is one of those word names with an uplifting meaning that is making inroads as a girls' name, like sisters Dream and Serenity. How promising is Promise as a first name? Our try at cleverness illustrates perhaps the biggest problem with naming your baby girl Promise: It will be difficult for people to resist making bad puns on the name. We promise (argh) you'll be tired of hearing them well before your baby Promise's first birthday.

Feisty floral name that would work better as a middle name than as a first, so called because of the flower's resemblance to a dragon's open mouth.

A winning unisex word name, fresher than Victoria or Victor.

A joyous, celebratory-sounding name.

Attractive if phonetically confusing; also pronounced exactly the same as the Renault car.