My Fave Baby Girl Names!

A fairly common Hebrew name without much crossover potential.

Yinuo is a Chinese female name meaning "promise." It is part of an idiomatic expression "Yinuo Qianjin" (一诺千金), which means "one promise; one thousand gold" or "keep your word." This Chinese name has the advantage of being relatively easy to pronounce for non-Chinese speakers. People called Yinuo include Yinuo Mu, principle harpist in the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and Yinuo Chen, a Chinese actress who starred in Empresses in the Palace.

Rosella can be seen as a nature name (a rosella is the name of a variety of beautiful Australian cockatoos and an Australian flower) or a diminutive version of Rose.

A vintage short form of Roberta or Barbara, Bobbi fits into the boyish nicknames for girls renaissance.

Sweet and soft but outdoorsy too, Pasha could make an interesting alternative to Sasha. Typically used as a diminutive for Russian male names like Pavel, it has also been used for the feminine name Praskovya.

The Shirley of the 1950s. Shelley Winters was born a Shirley.

Kerry is the name of one of the most beautiful and lush counties of Ireland was a seventies favorite. Related, updated versions might include Cerys and Keira.

From the root for aristocrat, an upwardly mobile choice -- or if you go by its other meaning, an earthy delicious choice.

Y-ending color adjectives like Tawny and Rusty are nowhere near as stylish as the more sophisticated Lilacs and Violets.

Ash is a gender-neutral choice that calls to mind the '80s favorite: Ashley. But view it as a nature name -- as in the tree, not the charred bit of soot in the fireplace -- and it makes a cool choice that fits with today's trends.

High profile supermodel/entrepreneur Tyra Banks has put this name in the spotlight, endowing it with her confident, superattractive image.

Tora is the female version of Tor or Thor, the name of the Norse god of thunder. Actress Jeanne Tripplehorn chose it for her daughter.

Feminine spin on Moses and European river name that's also the name of a wine.

Riley is the spelling of this lively Irish name most often picked for girls, but this version is occasionally used.

The original but less common spelling of Sybil, this name comes from Greek and Roman mythology, in which the sibyls were female prophets. A name that has dipped in and out of style since the Middle Ages, the rise of the lovely Lady Sybil Crawley on television's Downton Abbey may shine a light on this mythological name.

There are many in Japan, but for most Americans there's only one Yoko.

Trending down, along with others of both the Car and the issa groups.

Dark and enigmatic. A baby named Night would follow in the African tradition of day naming—naming a child based on the day of the week, time of day, or season in which he or she was born.

Raja is a widely-used Arabic or Sanskrit name that works for girls as well as boys. Five baby girls were named Raja and seven given the Rajah spelling in the US last year, where for boys the popularity of the spellings was reversed: 18 Raja to ten Rajah.

Succinct and memorable, Yuki is a Japanese name, which may relate to winter or joy, depending on the kanji used. It is a unisex choice, notably borne by singer Yuki Kuramochi (stylized as YUKI).