Names That Mean Form

A variation of Michael, most often used in Croatia, where it's in the Top 20, Bosnia and Herzegovina, where it ranks in the Top 100, and also in Slovenia.

Cyril has several attractive femaie forms, including the French Cyrielle as well as Cyrilla. The one downside of this unique name is that many English speakers will pronounce it like cereal, so you'll constantly be explaining, "No, it's siri-ELLE."

Andrina is best-known as an older sister of The Little Mermaid.

Fiete is an extremely popular German name for boys that has not migrated to the English-speaking world. But it ranks among Germany's Top 100 boy names.

Short form found in historical records, feels a tad feminine for modern times.

Benthe is a popular Dutch abbreviation of the feminine for Benedict.

The onetime star of "Northern Exposure" named his daughter Tu Morrow. Think about it.

There are almost the exact same number of female and male Sidneys born in the US these days, which makes Sid a perfect gender-neutral nickname. And cute for boys or girls.

Bernie is an old school unisex nickname name, on the order of Bobbie or Willie. Not the most modern or most attractive name around, but it has a certain vintage charm.

Minda is a simle, even familiar-sounding name that is nevertheless completely unknown. It might be a contraction of Melinda but it is a genuine Indian name with an appealing meaning.

Oline is an old school feminization of the classic Scandinavian Ole or Olaf that is still popular enough to rank among the Top 100 girl names in Norway.

Mingo is a cute nickname of the Spanish version of Dominic. It's not to be confused with Mungo, the name of the patron saint of Glasgow.

Edris was used occasionally for baby girl 100 years ago, but one can't help but wonder whether those girls might really have been named Edie but with bad handwriting. Edrie is cute, though, and unusual.

This Irish variation of Isla might prove challenging outside the United Kingdom, but looks beautiful and could be a good way to make the name Isla, which is becoming more common, feel a bit more unique.

Angie was an accepted nickname for boys at the same time that Patsy was, meaning, too long ago to be relevant now.

Glyn is a pretty, glimmery name that is heard much less often than Welsh sisters Gwen and Bryn. It is also used for boys and might make a good honor name for an ancestral Glenn.

This name boomed in the 1940s and 50s thanks to the glamorous singer Risë (pronounced REE-sa) Stevens, who inherited her name from her Norwegian grandmother. It's rare nowadays, but when used it's more likely to be the uplifting vocabulary word, rhyming with "eyes". The latter was chosen by Nick Cannon and Brittany Bell for their son, born in September 2022.

Dutch diminutive of Marie, the meaning of which is uncertain. Theories include "drop of the sea" (from Hebrew roots mar "drop" and yam "sea"); "bitter" (from Hebrew marah "bitterness"); and "beloved" (from the Egyptian root mr).

Aileas is one of those Scottish names that is at once familiar and unusual, a spin on the internationally-popular Alice that is all but unknown outside of its native Scotland. It might overcomplicate things in the US, though, given that most Americans would pronounce it like the word alias and would find it difficult to get from those vowel combinations to ah-lus or eh-lus.