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The names
Douglas
Scottish
"black water"
Douglas, and more particularly its nickname, Doug, had a real romantic swagger in the 1950s and 1960s dating back to swashbuckling Douglas Fairbanks, but today is more likely to conjure up your mom's…
Jemima
Hebrew
"dove; daytime"
Jemima, the name of a strong and beautiful Biblical daughter of Job, has long been among the chicest choices of aristocratic Brits, and has since shifted to be used more generally too, replacing…
Darcy
Irish, French
"dark one; from Arcy; from the fortress"
A favorite in England and Wales, Darcy is a unisex option with delicacy, grace, and strength. Associated with classic literary and courtesy thanks to Jane Austen's hero, Mr. Darcy, and Bridget…
Rosalind
Latin
"soft horse or pretty rose"
Rosalind has a distinguished literary history – used and popularized by Edmund Spenser and Shakespeare via one of his most charming heroines, in As You Like It . Along with a bouquet of other Rose…
Percy
French surname from place name Perci-en-Auge
Percy is an adorable old name that is finally shedding its pampered Little Lord Fauntleroy image in this new era of boys with soft yet traditionally male names like Jasper and Elijah. Originating as…
Cedric
Celtic
"bounty; loved"
Soft yet solid, Cedric was invented by Sir Walter Scott for the noble character of the hero's father in Ivanhoe , presumed to be an altered form of the Saxon name Cerdic ("bounty"), or the Brythonic…
Alisha
Phonetic spelling of Alicia; also Sanskrit
"protected by God"
This name has two derivations. One is as a member of the well-populated Alice/Alicia family (with an overly literal spelling), which gives it the meaning "noble"; the other is an Urdu name with the…
Janine
French variation of Jane
Has lost all trace of its French accent.
Jillian
Phonetic spelling of Gillian
"youthful"
This spelling of Jillian is now much more popular than the original, maybe because the G version invites pronunciation problems.
Susan
English diminutive of Susannah, Hebrew
"lily"
Although Susan had her heyday from the thirties to the sixties, and is now common among moms and new grandmas, and though most modern parents would prefer Susanna/Susannah, we have spotted some…
Wendy
English, Celtic, Welsh
"friend or white"
It is popularly claimed that the name Wendy was invented by Sir James Barrie in 1904 for the big sister character in his play Peter Pan , which was followed by the classic novel in 1911. Barrie…
Lucinda
English, Spanish, and Portuguese variation of Lucia
"light"
Lucinda, an elaboration of Lucia created by Cervantes for his 1605 novel Don Quixote , is a pleasingly pretty alternative to Lucy. It was subsequently used by Moliere in his play The Doctor in Spite…
Heather
English botanical name
"small shrub"
This flower name was one of the most popular in her class in the seventies and eighties, a fact reflected in the 1989 movie Heathers , in which every snobby girl in the high school clique bears the…
Gareth
Welsh
"gentle"
Gareth, the name of a modest and brave knight in King Arthur's court, makes a sensitive, gently appealing choice, used more in its native Wales than anywhere else. The name Gareth first appeared in…
Gwendoline
Variation of Gwendolen, Welsh
"white ring"
The Gwendoline form may introduce pronunciation confusion -- does that last syllable rhyme with wine or win or when? We vote Gwendolen as not only the most proper but the clearest spelling, followed…
Kirsty
Scottish diminutive of Kirsteen or Kirstin, Latin
"a Christian"
Like Maisie, Archie, and Jamie, Kirsty is a Scottish diminutive that is equally established as a name in its own right. Derived from Kirstin or Kirsteen — Scottish forms of Christine or Christina —…
