Names That Are Variations

Lovers of the name Carter and the Kardashians method of baby naming have popularized this choice, one of many boys' names starting with K that began life as boys' names starting with C. Karter has been in the charts since 2005, riding on the success of the original Carter. Since 2014, Karter has been just inside the Top 200.

More and more variations of Mackenzie are joining the Top 1000.

In Roman mythology, Iana was an epithet of Diana, goddess of the moon.

An interesting vowel combination lightens up Graham.

Kalindi is a lovely, rhythmic name refers to one of the seven sacred rivers of India.

Emani is more popular than the original Iman, for girls at least. About 200 baby girls were named Emani in the US last year, while 80 girls were named Iman. Iman is quite gender-neutral, with 60 baby boys given the name, while only a handful of baby boys were named Emani.

This bold and straightforward name is a common variant of Tariq in Turkey and Bosnia and is used as an alternate spelling in Arabic-speaking countries.

Patrice is a more modern-sounding and polished unisex alternative to Patricia.

Constantina is a pretty, feminissima, if lengthy, variation on the Constance theme. The fourth century Constantina, also known as Constantia and Constantiana, was the eldest daughter of Roman Emperor Constantine the Great and his second wife Fausta, daughter of Emperor Maximian. Constantina received the title of Augusta by her father, and is venerated as a saint; in English she is also known as Saint Constance.

Once you get past the pronunciation hurdle, a smooth and elegant choice. In French, it's spelt with a circumflex: Benoît.

Last popular in this country from the 1920s to the 1950s, it now seems more modern than the English Theresa.

Timon has strong associations with The Lion King, making it a tough sell for American parents. Attractive Polish variation Tymon, with the emphasis on the first syllable, preserves the strength of the original while eliminating the meerkat connection.

The most popular of the number names used by Hispanic parents, open to all. Octavia and Octavio are two Spanish baby names that are moving out into the wider world.

This spelling variation of the classic Evelyn gives it a trendy makeover to fit in with the surge of names ending with -lynn suffixes. Recent counts have seen it given to around 1000 girls each year and it sits with the Top 400.

Common in France, but could be confused with the feminine Maxine here.

Eilo is one of the few masculine names to derive from a feminine one. It comes from Eila, the Norwegian variation of Elina.

Foreign variations of Mary are definitely the way to go; this one has a nice Dutch-girl feel. It also works as a cultural crossover name, e.g. between European languages and Japanese.

While Corey and its variations are losing fashion steam, the sound-alike Kori has new appeal as a name with a trendy animal meaning from the Kikuyu culture.

Eiro is to Eirik as Eero is to Eric.

Alexandra is a name with many international variations, elaborations and short forms, and Alexandrine is one of the more unusual. Another, Alexandrina, was the first name of Queen Victoria.