English Girl Names (with Meanings & Popularity)

Peg is a nostalgic turn-of-the-last-century nickname, sociable but slight. Like near-identical twin Peggy, Peg is in mothballs.

Christmas is a day name long and quietly used as a name for babies born at Christmas. Prettier and more modern than Noel or Noelle.

Kimberley is a town in South Africa associated with diamonds and with wealth and luxury in general. It was name for Lord Kimberley, whose surname derived from an English place name. Used for boys in the early twentieth century, it re-emerged as a girls' name in the 1940s, usually spelled Kimberly.

Appealingly boyish a decade ago, less so now.

Echoes of two dated names: Lori and Linda.

Hip new middle-name choice, conjuring up the gothic tales of Edgar Allan, and current single-named pop singer Poe.

Sisley may look like a modern coinage, building on the fashionable -ley ending, but it's actually a medieval English variant of Cicely or Cecily, which in turn is a variation of Cecilia. Also found as an English surname, from the same root.

This rarely heard name pares down all the ultrafeminine Dan names to one that's much more powerful, for both boys and girls.

This somewhat snobby-sounding surname popped onto the name map when Mariel Hemingway used it for one of her daughters.

One of the rare English surname names originally derived from a female given name: Eoforhild (Everild), meaning "boar battle". Also spelled Averill, it's an extremely rare choice today, but shares sounds with fashionable Ava and Avery.

In the Plymouth Colony of the seventeenth century, Thankful was the third most popular of the abstract word names. It disappeared after 1700 and has virtually no chance of returning.

Blakeley is one of the many -ley ending surnames that is being adopted as a first name, updating the 80s darlings Blake and Ashley.

Obscure surname and Yorkshire and Lincolnshire place-name (where it's spelled Ferriby) makes a jaunty first. Placed in the public eye by Manhattan socialite Ferebee Bishop Taube.

With the first two syllables pronounced Georgie, it has a stylish Masterpiece Theatre air.

See TRICIA.

This Victorian pen name is the childish version of the novelist's real name, Louisa, but it has managed to gain a sophisticated image. Ouisa is a similar childhood nickname name.

A beautiful English and French flower name deriving from the Latin word for dove. Sadly, in America this name is now forever linked with a tragic terrorist attack on a Colorado high school.

Easton is a stylish Waspy-sounding surname that's climbing up the popularity charts. TV actress Elisabeth Rohm named her daughter Easton August Anthony, which seemed like a real gender bender, and now Rachel Leigh Cook has made it the middle name of her baby Charlotte. Note that Easton is now in the Top 100 for boys--for whom directional names are a real trend-- but we won't be surprised to see more and more little lady Eastons arriving.

Soft and creative update of Marsha.

Rather than going with a yooneek spelling like Macen (or Maysen or Masyn), we'd suggest sticking with the original Mason, as Kelsey Grammer did for his daughter.