Girl Names Like Alexandra

With its relation to Mount Olympus, home of the Greek gods, and to the Olympic games, this name has an athletic, goddess-like aura, making it the perfect Olivia substitute.

Philippa is a prime example of a boy's name adapted for girls that was common as crumpets in Cornwall, but rarely heard stateside. That was before the advent of royal sister-in-law Philippa Middleton, who goes by the lively nickname Pippa.

Angelica is by far the choicest form of the angelic names -- more delicate than Angelina, more feminine than Angel, more modern than Angela. But though Angelica is so lacy and poetic, it lags behind the bolder Angelina (probably for obvious reasons).

This a-ending feminine form of Adrian, from the northern Italian city of Adria, is a soft and lovely Italian choice. It appears as a character in Shakespeare's The Comedy of Errors.

Alexandria turns Alexandra into a more distinctive place-name, in both Egypt and Virginia.

Estella is a pretty Latin name that's sounding more and more stylish, remembered as the ward of Miss Haversham in Dickens's Great Expectations. Though Estella ranked as high as Number 110 in the 1880s, it now sits near the bottom of the US Top 1000 along with near-twin Estelle. Either would be well worth considering as an alternative to the popular Stella.

Augusta is a dignified name reminiscent of wealthy great-aunts, but with the fashion for both August and Gus for boys, Augusta could get some fresh energy.

This lovely orange-scented Spanish place-name would make an inventive namesake for an Aunt Valerie.

Long a popular upper-crust form in England, where it's pronounced George-ee-AH-na, Georgiana has been been neglected here. But with Georgia growing more popular and the general fashion for elaborate feminine names, Georgiana might have room to grow.

This softened version is even prettier than the original.

Fernanda is very popular in the Latino community, with a lot more charm than its male counterpart. The standard nickname is Nanda, and variations include Ferdinanda and Fernandina.

Antonella is a feminine form of Anthony growing in popularity throughout Latin America as well as in the US.

This diminutive, similar to Alex or Alexis, has been yo-yoing in popularity since the turn of the 21st century.

Together with Julian, the name Juliana/Julianna derives from Julius, a Roman family name. Its origin is shrouded in history, but possible roots include Latin iuvenis, meaning "youthfu"; Greek ioulos, meaning "downy-bearded"; or Jovis, a form of Jupiter, which means "sky father".

The short-lived magazine edited by former Vogue chief Grace Mirabella put this beautiful name off-limits for a while, but now it's perfectly fit to join the fashionable Bella pantheon. More distinctive than Isabella.

Spell it Rafaela (Spanish), Raffaella (Italian), Rafaela (German), or Raphaela (Hebrew), this is a euphonious and lovely name with a dark-eyed, long-flowing-haired image, which is, like Gabriella and Isabella, beginning to be drawn into the American mainstream.

The female version of Emanuel could become more prominent, though for some it still carries a steamy image dating back to a then sensationally erotic French film. Singer and Shameless star Emmy Rossum's full name is Emmanuelle.

Fashionably Continental and much fresher than Dominique, though it's been used since the Middle Ages. Dominica can be spelled any number of ways, from Dominika to Domenica, but we prefer this version.

This name is the feminization of mythological name Lysander, which is best known to English-speakers as a character in Shakespeare's comedy A Midsummer Night's Dream.