Animal Names for Baby Girls!

May be the most modern, stylish Catherine nickname: more unusual than Kate or Cate, with an animal and word name edge. Cat Power is a trendy folksinger.

Doe is a soft and gentle-eyed middle name possibility and, like Fawn, one of the few animal names open to girls.

One of the bird names that's more appropriate for a boy, though it works for a girl too.

One of the boys' names newly appropriated for girls -- either on its own, as a pet form of any J name, or as a singular middle name.

This endearing nickname name is one Katherine pet form that predates all the Kathys and Katies, having been fairly common in the eighteenth century. With the current mini-craze for animal-related names, Kitty is sounding cute and cuddly again—she's already jumped back onto the U.K. list, at number 199.

Lark is getting some new and well-deserved attention as a post-Robin and Raven bird name. Although it was first recorded as a name in the 1830's, it has never appeared on the Social Security list.

Bird name Raven, once a symbol of pride for both African-American and Wiccan parents, is finding new life as a superhero name. Raven Darkholme is the real name of Mystique, heroine of the X-Men films played by Jennifer Lawrence. And there is another Raven superheroine in Teen Titans. Some parents may still choose Raven to signal black pride or mystical powers or maybe even Edgar Allan Poe fandom, but we are guessing most inspiration is coming from the comics.

Sounded bright and chirpy in the fifties and ranked in the Top 100 until 1980, but by now Robin has lost traction. Robin is, however, having something of a style comeback for boys.

With related choices such as Lark and Phoenix gaining popularity, why not Sparrow? Though it's usually thought of as a female name, Nicole Richie and Joel Madden chose it for their son.

Wren, a lilting songbird name, could be the next Robin. It makes a particularly pleasing middle name choice, as does her newly discovered cousin Lark. Wren entered the Top 1000 for the first time in 2012 and is among the new wave of popular English names for girls.