American Names

This spelling of the name entered the US Top 1000 in 2001, rising until it found its apex at Number 487 in 2009. It has since been trending in the opposite direction. As with all her sister spellings—Jaelyn, Jaelynn, Jaylin, Jalyn—we urge you to consider a name that has more substance and doesn't sound like the word "jail."

As modern "smoosh" names go, Starlynn is not bad. Over the past two years nearly 40 American girls have been given this name. There may be some confusion with the name Starling (a type of bird), but that shouldn't be too difficult to overcome. Beware, however, its similarity in sound to Russian dictator, Stalin.

That i adds some extra spunk to mega popular Avery. It also adds some pronunciation confusion (as it could be pronounced AV-er-ee or AV-er-eye). We suggest sticking with the original Avery.

A southwestern city name that could make a distinctive alternative to Dallas.

Raylan may be on the rise as a baby name thanks to (male) TV lawman Raylan Givens, but the name is also occasionally used for girls: the statistical gender split is 15 to 1. The -lan ending might be thought of as Lynn-like, with Raylan an updated spin on such midcentury concoctions as Rae-Lynn.

Yet another phrase of the sha chorus.

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.

The lynn suffix makes this one of the more feminine spellings of the popular name Jaelynn, which can also be spelling Jaelyn, Jaylin, and Jalen, among many other variations.

Addison has been a wildly popular surname name, mostly for girls, for a few decades now, and Addisyn is one of its many spelling variations.

Mother of rising star actress Quvenzhané Wallis.

One of many now-downscale names that begin with Da- or De-, a prefix that originally indicated patrimony.

Shevonne is proof that a name can be pretty and tacky at the same time.

Familiar-sounding hybrid name, made more unusual by virtue of the Q.

Funky, boyish, old-style combo name chosen for their daughter by hip couple Donna D'Ericco and Nikki Sixx.

Made famous by Quvenzhané Wallis, the actress.