Names That Are Variations

The kind of cutesy female spin not popular since Barry was big for boys, several decades ago. Consider Bara instead.

Mariska Hargitay honored her Hungarian heritage when she used Miklos as one of the middle names for her son August in 2006.

Just as in English, the name Jarl is a noble title. Jarl was also the name of a figure in Norse mythology who, along with his wife Erna, raised a brood of eleven sons, who all became warriors.

Elegant Italian translation.

Many Russian names are derived from Greek names. Ermolai, also spelled Yermolai, is a Russian translation of the Greek Hermolaos.

The Hebrew Najma, more phonetically spelled Naima, is rarely heard in the US but was used by star Mahershala Ali as the middle name for his daughter Bari.

Most Americans would take the easy way out and spell it Willem, as in artist de Kooning and actor Dafoe.

Frequently used in the Spanish-speaking community; Christopher Columbus was born Cristóbal Colón.

Several variations of this name, including Kayce and Casey, had a significant rise in 2022 thanks to the hit show Yellowstone, featuring main character Kayce Dutton. However, Kaycee did not share this success and still remains strongly on the girls' side.

This variation of the English word "blessing" is on the rise, while the original Blessing actually fell in use in 2022. This may soon become a Journee/Journey type of situation, where the misspelled version becomes more popular than the original. The name Blessyn was given to 149 baby girls in 2022, and Blessing to 236.

The prefix La- was historically used by the Free Blacks of New Orleans in the nineteenth century to indicate paternity. Thus, someone named Lashawn was the son of Shawn, a phonetic spelling of Sean, the Irish variation of John.

This spelling variation of the name only recently entered the Top 1000 in 2008. The popular Layla is currently very popular in the United States, while the more traditional Leila is also widely used. The added h at the end of this version could be considered superfluous, possibly leading to confusion down the road.

Jaunty Jancey hails from the United Kingdom, where it appeared in England as a surname and in Scotland as a nickname for Janet. It's extremely uncommon in the US, given to fewer than five baby girls in the most recent year on record. You'll be hard-pressed to come across another Jancey in your life, so if unique names are a priority for you, this jolly and accessible choice belongs on your list.

A Gen X name in the Nordic region from which it hails.

Faunia is more often rendered as Fauna, who was a Roman goddess of fertility, women and healing. Faunia was the downtrodden yet loving heroine of Philip Roth's Human Stain. Faunia and Fauna have more gravitas than the doe-like Fawn.

Gwyladyss is an Old Welsh variation of the New Welsh Gladys, pronounced like the more familiar form, but modern English speakers can be forgiven for not knowing that. Gladys would be a difficult enough name for a 21st century child; with this spelling, it would be impossible.

This phonetic spelling of Quetzalli — a rare and lovely Nahuatl name, which literally means "quetzal feather" after the quetzal bird — was given to around the same number of baby girls as the original in 2022 (a few dozen).

You might be able to make this work if you pronounce it the sophisticated French way: zhil-bare.