Two Syllable Names for Girls

One of the surname names for boys on its way to becoming unisex, this name broke into the Top 1000 for the first time in 2013 for girls. While it sounds masculine to us, because of its two-syllable er-ending sound so trendy with <a href="https://nameberry.com/boys-names">boys’ names</a>, many parents apparently disagree.

Carter

Less month, more trendy, more times needing to spell it to people. This spelling variation entered the Top 1000 for the first time in 2013—and doesn't appear to be going anywhere any time soon.
 Wynter Gordon is the stage name of an American singer-songwriter, born Diana Eve Paris Gordon.

Wynter

Combine the charming heroine of the movie Legally Blonde with supermodel Elle Macpherson and the trend toward all names beginning with "el"—Ellie, Ella, Eleanor—and you have one hit name.
 Elle Driver is the Darryl Hannah character in Kill Bill, Elle Bishop was Kristen Bell's in Heroes, and Elle Fanning (born Mary, sister of Dakota) is a rising young actress.

Elle

Helen is a name that has connoted beauty since ancient times – Helen of Troy was the the mythological "face that launched a thousand ships," over whom the ten-year Trojan War was fought. These days, however, it feels like a perfectly grounded choice, strong and elegant without fuss: the sort of unadorned classic, like Mary, Jane, and Ruth, that some parents are looking to. 
 
The name has moved in and out of favor over the centuries, often alternating with Ellen. It was a Top 5 name for several decades of the early twentieth century, falling out of the Top 100 in the 50s. It remains a Top 500 choice in the US, however, making it a solid choice but slightly less expected than Charlotte or Elizabeth. 
 Helen has legions of real-life namesakes, including a 4th-cnetury saint, author and activist Helen Keller, politician Helen Gahaghan Douglas, newspaper reporter Helen Thomas, Cosmo force Helen Gurley Brown, Bridget Jones creator Helen Fielding, artist Helen Frankenthaler, and actresses Hayes, Mirren, and Hunt. Beatrix Potter's birth name was also Helen. 
 
Love Helen but want to add a little extra spark? Try nicknames Leni, Hella, Nell, Nella, Nellie, Lena, or Hennie. Need to honor a Helen but don't want to use this exact form? Consider one of the many international variations including Ilona, Nelya, Yelena, Helemla, Helena, Ilka, Aliona, Eleni, or Elin.

Helen

Michelle is the feminine form of Michel, the French variation of Michael. Michael was derived from the Hebrew name Mihka’el, meaning "who is like God." The alternate spelling Michele, with one "L," was the original version of the name. Michelle appeared as a later Anglicization in the 20th century.
 
Onetime superstar name (Number 4 in the seventies) that's now in steep decline, having dropped out of the Top 100. Former First Lady Michelle Obama keeps it in the spotlight. Today's feminine form of Michael is more likely to be some form of Michaela...or Makayla.

Michelle

This name is a combination of the traditional Grace and the popular suffix -lyn. Gracelyn could work as an alternative to the popular Brooklyn while also sharing the modern feel of Emberlynn and Oaklyn. 
 
Currently in the US Top 500, Gracelyn has been in the US Top 1000 since 2004, but use of the name actually goes back further than you might expect. It first appeared in the stats in 1924 and has been sporadically used ever since, though it really took until the 2000s to catch on.
 
Given to around 600 babies each year, Gracelyn now ranks slightly behind sister Gracelynn, but together, they are given to around 1450 girls each year. This places them around the #200 mark collectively, similar in popularity to Amy, Norah, Journee, and Sutton.
 
If it's a unusual form of Grace you're looking for, you could try international variants like Gracília or Graciela - or maybe even Graceland (since Holland is on trend).

Gracelyn

Monroe is a presidential name which, thanks to the immortal beauty of Marilyn Monroe, is catching on fast for baby girls. Mariah Carey and Nick Cannon chose it for their twin daughter, honoring Marilyn Monroe. Their use of Monroe as a <a href="https://nameberry.com/girls-names">girls’ name</a> did much to revive this Old Man name, a la Sydney, as a newly fashionable choice for girls.

Monroe

Fiona entered the American consciousness with the opening of the 1954 Broadway musical Brigadoon, but didn't come onto the U.S. popularity list until 1990.
 
Fiona is the best known of a group of related Gaelic names, which is ironic because it's the only one without genuine traditional roots — it was found first in James Macpherson's Ossianic poems and then popularized in the late nineteenth century as a feminine pseudonym for William Sharp, a Scottish male writer. <a href="https://twitter.com/HJosephineGiles/status/1555216419721297922">Some researchers believe</a> that Fiona Macleod was Sharp's identity as a trans woman.
 
Its recent spike in popularity owes much to singer Fiona Apple and also possibly to Princess Fiona in Shrek. In fact, there have been numerous Fionas on the big and small screens, from The Thorn Birds to Josie and the Pussycats, Four Weddings and a Funeral to Nurse Jackie to Shameless.
 
Jennie Garth and Chad Lowe have daughters named Fiona. It's also Julia Roberts' middle name.
 
If you're looking for something more authentic, consider Fionnuala.

Fiona

Maren is one of the many twenty-first-century takes on Mary--but we find the more classic Marin spelling preferable.  When spelled Maren, the pronunciation seems more clearly to resemble Mary, with the emphasis on the first syllable.  Marin, the spelling also used for the beautiful coastal county north of San Francisco, is often pronounced with the emphasis on the second syllable, as in Marie.

Maren

This pet form of such names as Winifred and Edwina and Gwendolyn has loads of vintage charm, a la Millie and Maisie, with a decidedly winning vibe. And it just got celebrity cred as the baby daughter of Jimmy Fallon.
 Winnie had been used regularly on its own in the U.S. through the early 1950's and has a number of varied namesakes. There's the Pooh, of course, and also Winnie Mandela, former wife of South African President Nelson; Winnie Cooper, the charming girlfriend of the young hero on The Wonder Years--whose given name was Gwendolyn; Winifred "Winnie" Foster, a main character in the childhood classic Tuck Everlasting; and it was also a nickname for Winston Churchill.

Winnie

This Cameron variation was popularized by actress Camryn Manheim and the character inTwitches of the same name. It also makes it more obviously feminine, which might appeal to some parents, considering the classic Cameron is a Top 100 choice for boys in the US. 
 
Deriving from a Scottish surname made up of the Gaelic elements cam and sròn, Cameron means "crooked nose". This likely originated as a nickname, but if you were hoping for a different meaning, there is also the theory that the second part of the name may have come from the Gaelic abhainn meaning "river" or the Welsh bryn meaning "hill"
 
Cameron, Kamryn, and Camryn are all in the US Top 1000 for girls, with Camryn given to around 600 girls each year.

Camryn

Rylie is a spelling variation of the more-popular traditional Riley. In the US Top 1000 since 1997, it has peaked in 2004, 2008, and 2016 when it nearly reached the Top 300. It fell significantly in 2023, however, its popularity has always been bumpy. Riley, Rylee, and Ryleigh all rank above Rylie but when you combine all the spellings, it feels like a Top 20 name. 

Rylie

Combine two parts Paisley with one part Hazel and one part Harley, add a dash of Hayes, and voila: Haisley.

Haisley

While theoretically unisex, this surname name has been edging up the <a href="https://nameberry.com/girls-names">girls’ names</a> list, perhaps originally as an Ashley substitute. 

One quality in Ainsley's favor: It's remained steadily popular -- but not TOO popular -- for more than 20 years now, ranking consistently around Number 400. That makes it stylish and familiar without showing up everywhere.

Ainsley

This extra-N variation matches up with the current preferred spellings of Oaklynn, Raelynn, and Adalynn, however it has always been outranked by popular Brooklyn. Though both spellings have trended downwards since their peak in 2011, Brooklyn maintains its place in the US Top 100, while Brooklynn lags behind in the #300s.

A cool city name and a favorite of the late 2000s, Brooklyn's popularity is often credited to Victoria and David Beckham who chose it for their first son in 1999. They may well have started the trend, but parents took it in their own direction, and now, Brooklyn (and Brooklynn) are used predominantly on girls, around 98% of the time. 
 
The Brooklynn spelling was given to 821 girls in a recent year, while Brooklyn was used three times as often. When you add all these Brooklyns up, however, sound-wise, the name begins to sound like a Top 60 choice, equivalent to Lillian, Lainey, or Paisley. 
 
In 2020, the Brooklynn spelling was used for Jenna Ortega's character in the Jurassic Park TV spin off series, Camp Crustaceous, which might put it back in parent's minds in the future. .

Brooklynn

Aubree and its big sister name Aubrey are both very widely used names, and if taken together would be among the most popular girl names. The Aubree spelling came into the limelight on the show Teen Mom 2.

Aubree

As the softer-looking Cora of Downton Abbey fame charted highly in the US and the UK, some parents were looking for a way to make this name a little less common, a bit more trendy or far more Germanic by using a "K". We prefer the C version, but Kora is still an elegant name.

Kora

Arlette is a French form of the Germanic name Herleva, which was the name of the mother of William the Conqueror. It peaked in France in the mid-1930s, but you might be surprised to learn that in the US, it's only just beginning to catch on now. It entered the US Top 1000 for the first time in 2018, and has dipped in and out in the years since then.

Arlette

Charli may be the new Charlie, which is the cooler Charlotte. British singer-songwriter Charli (born Charlotte) XCX, creator of the hit album Brat, and TikTok star Charli D'Amelio popularized the Charli spelling.

Like most nickname-names ending in i, Charli is almost totally female, given to about 700 baby girls last year versus only six baby boys. Charlie, by contrast, is one of the most gender-neutral names, used last year for about 2200 baby girls in the US and 2100 baby boys.

Charli

Sleek and stylish with a touch of quirkiness about it too, Maxine is a popular choice in Belgium and France, and has been climbing up the US charts too. Following a two decade absence, it re-entered the Top 1000 in 2016 and a recent year saw it rank just outside the Top 500. 
 
A relative of Maximillian and Maximus, Maxine shares the same aspirational Latin meaning of "greatest" and offers you a way to cool nicknames, like Max, Maxie, and Mina.
 
Used familiarly since the 20th-century, Maxine had its US peak in the years between 1915 and 1930, when it was a Top 100 choice, attached as it was to celebs of the era, such as actress Maxine Elliott and one of the singing Andrews Sisters. Since then, it has been notably borne by Congresswoman Maxine Waters and Chinese-born writer Maxine Hong Kingston.
 
Musician Nick Hexum was slightly ahead of the trends when he and his wife Nikki named their daughter Maxine in 2011, a sister to Echo and Harlow.

Maxine

Two-syllable girl names dominate the English lexicon, with over 15,000 two-syllable names for girls on Nameberry.

 such as the Sanskrit Malti and the Welsh Arwen, the elegant French Celine and the multi-cultural gender neutral name Peri.

 complete list of two-syllable female names

 is too daunting, you can consult our hand-picked list of the 150+ 

Note that this list is automatically generated from the full list of names on Nameberry, and the machine sometimes 

 in English names. Eloise obviously has three syllables rather than two, while Hayes has only one.

Wade through our entire collection of two-syllable female names here, ordered by their current popularity on Nameberry.

Two-syllable girl names including top two-syllable names for girls such as Emma and Ava and unique two-syllable girl names such as the Sanskrit Malti and the Welsh Glynis. (Page 14)

15,000+ Two-Syllable Girl Names