Latin Names for Girls

Carita may feel like an endearing nickname but it's a name in its own right, used throughout Scandinavia in this form and as Karita, Caritas, and Karitas as a variation on Charity.

Real name that sounds like a made-up combination of Dillon and Lillian.

Slightly weightier alternative to Maxine

Romola is a literary name most notably used by George Eliot for her eponymous 1862 novel set in fifteenth-century Florence. It just may appeal to the parent looking for a name that embodies the ideal blend of the feminine, unusual, and strong. A current bearer is British actress Romola Garai.

Delicate and obscure version of this many-faceted name.

Quirina is the feminine form of Quirinus, the name of the Sabine god of war. This is one mythological name that has not traveled to the modern world -- we've found no babies ever name Quirina or Quirinus in the US -- but with this newly-trendy class of names, anything is possible.

The daintiest and most accessible of the many Q names for a fifth child, now used for girls situated anywhere in the birth order.

The original male name Alban is a lot sleeker and more usable.

This name of the wife of Mark Antony (no, not Marc Anthony) in ancient Rome sounds a tad too anatomical for a modern girl.

Variation on the Delight-Delicia theme.

Saintly, and a Mother Superior to boot.

Enshrined in the Latin and Catholic culture.

The unusual hybrid Tuliana, which rhymes with Juliana, combines the Roman offshoot Tulia with the more familiar Ana, the Latinate form of Anna or Ann. Tulia comes from the Roman family name Tullius, best known as the middle name of the philosopher Cicero. While Tuliana is intriguing, any little Tuliana, upon introducing herself, will always be asked, "Juliana?"

Octavia has the numerical meaning doubled (eighth) and is much more user-friendly.

Columba is an early saint's name that rhumbas to a modern beat. While the original St. Columba is male, the name sounds more appropriate for a girl in the modern world. Leave variations Colm and Callum for the boys.

This name of a constellation in Orion's belt has an astral feel; it also belonged to the first woman to win a Pulitzer prize in drama, Zona Gale.

Most distinctive of the Dominic-related girls' names.

This elaboration of Vera makes an attractive and uncommon choice.

Domitilla is the name of the wife of the Roman emperor Vespasianus and the mother of the emperors Titus and Domitianus. There is a Santa Domitilla with catacombs in Rome named after her.