A lacy, lucky name very popular in the Hispanic community a decade ago, less so now.

Homophonous with Mae and May, the beautiful (literally) Mei is poised to climb the charts. The hero of the 2022 Disney/Pixar film Turning Red is a Chinese-Canadian teen named Meilin "Mei" Lee, which may boost the name ever further.

Kairi is the name of the main female character in the popular role-playing video game series, Kingdom Hearts. Voiced by Hayden Panettiere in the main series, Kairi is one of the seven Princesses of the Heart. Kairi entered the US Top 1000 in 2010 and was given to over 400 baby girls in one recent year.

We're hearing Kat more and more being used by Katherines who are tired of Kathy, Kate and Katie. Katti or Kattie is another possibility.

The mythological Morrigan was the ancient goddess of war, often symbolized by a crow. Besides being a name, this is also used as a proper noun preceded by an article: the Morrigan, defined as a monster in female form. The meaning of Morrigan has been related to both terror and greatness. While some relate the name to Morgan of the Arthurian legends, Morrigan and Morgan are actually unrelated.

A feminine and fragrant member of the Rose family.

Lili has been blooming in many forms for a couple of decades now. The Lili version will surely get more attention now that the Duke and Duchess of Susses, aka Harry and Meghan, are using is as a short form for their daughter Lilibet Diana's name. Lili makes the slight and light though that is not necessarily a bad thing; it also mutes the name's floral identity and gives it a cute and quirky repetitive spelling, ala Coco and Lulu. A famous German song is titled Lili Marlene.

Halo is a glowing word name that's both cosmic and spiritual, and with its shiny imagery and bright sounds, it was one of the fasted rising names in 2023.

While Vanilla might be too bland, the French version is more flavorful.

Lovely Japanese name that would certainly be appreciated in Europe and the U.S. It was rarely used in Japan until the 1990s, and draws its current popularity from the fact that it is deeply connected to Japanese traditional culture without sounding frumpy and old-fashioned.

Nickname for the star Gamma Cassiopeiae given by the late astronaut Gus Grissom after his own middle name (Ivan) spelled backwards. Navi also relates to the prophets in the Hebrew Bible.

Used in the video game series, Ace Attorney, Trucy is the name given to a profession stage magician in the fictional universe. Inspired by the word "true" and by the phrase "see through", her name is play on the character's ability to perceive things, notice tricks, and understand others' intentions.

This obscure antiquated name is finding new life thanks to The Witcher series, whose heroine is named Princess Cirilla, nickname Ciri. The feminine form of Cyril, Cirilla has now surpassed the original Cyrilla in usage, given to 40 baby girls in the US in 2021 vs. only 10 called Cyrilla. We eonder how many parents will call their daughters Ciri.

Popular name in Japan in its own right, but also as a nickname for Miyako or Makiko. It appears in the visual novel Danganrompa, borne by the character Maki Harukawa.

A very popular girls' name in Japan with an unfortunate English pronunciation: picture a toddler with a hurt knee saying "owee."

Hildegard is an ancient name that sounds it, but it does have sweet short forms Hildie and Hilda to recommend it, as well as several illustrious historical bearers.

Kitana is the name of a character in Mortal Kombat II -- she's a princess who looks young but is actually 10,000 years old. It may be related to the male Persian name Katana, which means honorable, or even more likely to the Japanese word katana which means sword.

Most familiar to American ears as the Russian variation of George. Not recommended for a daughter.

Dainty and doll-like.

Imoen is the name of a character from the video game series Baldur's Gate, although in real life it's apt to be mistaken as a typo for Imogen.