Short, Vowel-Heavy Girls Names

Pola is an international name that still bears the femme fatalish air of Polish-born silent screen vamp Pola Negri, whole birth name was Apolonia. Rarely used, she could join sisters Lola and Nola.

Brought into the mix by actress Tea (born Elizabeth Tea) Leoni, an attractive feminine option in the Mia/Lea mode. If you feel the need to lengthen it, you could go to Teadora or Teodora.

Sela is a Biblical place name, the original term for the city of Petra, which is finding new life through actress Sela Ward, star of several TV series. The young daughter of singer Lauryn Hill is named Selah, pronounced the same but with a different derivation and meaning. Found among early African-American enslaved people, it was sometimes spelled Cela or Cella.

A short form of Alexandra and Alice used everywhere from Russia to Spain. A fresh alternative to Allie.

In Tolkien's world, the derivation of this airy name is Elvish. Regular folks might consider it an artsier form of Erin, borne by cosmetics heiress and socialite Aerin Lauder.

This name of a Buddhist goddess, a possible alternative to the trendy Maya, was chosen for their daughter by Laura Dern and Ben Harper. Jaya is simple yet unusual, a winning combination, and one of the out-of-the-box goddess names as well as one of the most easily translated Hindi names for girls.

This spelling variation hasn't followed cousins Zoe and Zoey up the charts. Even though there are a number of feasible spellings, Zoie along with Zooey might cause some unwanted confusion.

Queen has seen a revival in recent times, reaching its record high in 2018 with 280 births — it has remained steady since then. Previously, Queen saw a peak in the 1920s, but its origins go back even further than that. Queen was a noted name among enslaved people in America, along with other royal choices such as Duke, Squire, and Prince.

Actress Mena Suvari (named after an Egyptian hotel) made this name seem especially appealing. Mena is also a minor Roman goddess of fertility.

Sari is a cute spin on Sarah, though some may hear it as "sorry," and it is also an item of clothing worn in India. These days many people will also confuse Sari with Suri, the lovely and unsual name of Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes' much-publicized young daughter.

A variation of Nila, a name spread through African by the substantial Indian population there. Also a variant of Neala and Neila.

See ZOE.

Cait, pronounced like more popular sister Kate, is the form used when shortening Caitlin or any of the other Irish and Gaelic Cait-starting variations of Catherine.

One of the new color names that is catching on, invoking a calm, blue-green-sea feeling.

More modern nickname for Victoria than Vicky. Better known as Tori spelling.

The middle name of the Travoltas' Ella is used twice as often -- 36 to 18 babies in the US last year -- for boys as for girls, leaning even more to the male side than the traditional Blue.

Kind of a combination of Agnes and Inez, a name rarely heard in the US.

One of the newer geographical site names, it has the advantage of sounding like a real girl's name because of its jen beginning and feminine a ending.

Adah is a biblical name twice over—one was the mother of Jabal and Jubal, the other was a wife of Esau. The latter Adah and Esau’s descendants settled in Edom and became the Edomites. Adah is unrelated to the visually similar name Ada, which is Germanic in origin.

Could be used to honor a Joel.