Favorite Girl Names!

Attracted attention as the stepmother of Princess Diana.

Mercedes is one of the few names attached to luxury living that we can wholeheartedly recommend, it being a legitimate Spanish appellation stemming from one of the epithets given to the Virgin Mary--Santa Maria de las Mercedes, or Our Lady of the Mercies. The car, by the way was named after the eleven-year-old daughter of the Daimler company's French distributor in 1901.

A strong, straightforward Irish unisex surname, with a merry glint in its eye, Reagan has been leaping up the popularity lists, to become one of the top girl names starting with R. Some will inevitably link it to President Ronald, but spell it Regan and it's a Shakespearean name: a daughter of King Lear.

Like its cousin Tessa, Nessa -- a shortening of Vanessa or Agnes or Anastasia among other possibilities -- is an attractive nickname that can stand on its own.

An attractive and now underused nature name belonging to a tree whose wood is prized for its dark color and dense texture, which shines when polished. Ebony joined the most popular girl names list in the US in the early 1970s, peaked in 1982 at #132, and dropped back below the Top 1000 in 2006.

Pronounced MAW-rayt or ma-RAYD, Mairead is close enough to Maureen to be accepted here. The name became popular in Ireland due to admiration for the saint of that name. Peig and Peigi are its Irish-language nicknames.

A kind of old-fashioned nickname name that's enjoying some fresh life thanks to trendy brother Lane. Lainie is a more old-school spelling.

Most names that start with Cam- are on the upswing, so why not this obscure term for Wales as well as for a prehistoric time period.

Charmaine is an ancient name connected to Charmion, the name of one of Cleopatra's servants, and Charmian, a Shakespearean name. Its meaning is related to the word charm, though some sources tie it to the Charles family, which means "free man".

Very popular surname choice — it's in the Boys' Top 100 — beginning to catch on for girls. First female association: novelist Carson McCullers.

Arbor is an original unisex tree-related choice we're sure to hear more of. Highly unusual now, Arbor takes its place alongside other new arborial names ranging from the mighty Oak (or Oakley) to the more delicate Birch to the more flowery Juniper, Acacia, and Hazel.

Rayne is the unique name used for one of the girl sextuplets on the Sweet Home TV show.

This is an attractive Celtic mythological name, popular in Wales and a cousin of the better known Bronwyn. In Welsh mythology, Branwen was turned into a bird.

Will assure your daughter she's numero uno.

One of the jewel names in use a hundred years ago, due for revival along with sisters Ruby and Pearl.

This lovely name is a softened French version of Tziporah, the biblical wife of Moses. Unfortunately, in the US, it's become attached to the cosmetics franchise.

No one will ever forget it. But Remember as a name came over on the Mayflower, so it has deep history as well as modern potential.

Meilani may sound like a Hawaiian name, kind of a mashup of Leilani and Melanie, but it's actually an invention by that style-maven JWoww, AKA Jenni Farley of Jersey Shore, who used it for her daughter. It debuted in the US Top 1000 in 2015.

Free and fun name if you don't want to be pinned down to Noelle, Pasqua, or Valentine.

We've seen Haven take off as a nouveau girls' name; Harbor could follow in its wake.