UK Girl Names

This nouveau spelling peaked at Number 583 in 2004. In spite of its trend-making K and "ee" ending, Karlee is much less popular than the original Carly.

Karlee

With its bubbly sounds and stylish feel, Pepper joins a small but distinctive group of names inspired by the spice rack: Saffron, Juniper, Cassia, Sage, Ginger, and Rosemary. Enough like Pippa, Piper and Penelope that it feels usable, Pepper has appeared every year in the US stats since the 60s.

As a word, pepper can refer to the seasoning made from the dried seeds of a black pepper plant or to the many varieties of the vegetable-that-is-technically-a-fruit. Though unrelated, they bear the same name, deriving from the Indian name for the black peppercorn plant piper nigrum. When peppers (of the fruity kind) were first brought into Europe by Christopher Columbus, they were grouped together under the term 'pepper' because that's what all spices with a hot and strong taste were called. 
 
Pepper Potts is a character from the Marvel Universe, while Pepper Ann Pearson is the title character of a 90s Disney series. Also used in novel Good Omens, in the title of The Beatles album, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, and for the soda drink, Dr. Pepper, Pepper has only ever featured once in the US Top 1000. 
 
Possibly inspired by the 1975 film The Great Waldo Pepper, more than 130 girls were given the name that same year — five times as many as the year before. It's popularity was short lived however, and it wasn't until the 2008 release of the first Iron Man movie that the name began to gain traction. Given to 128 girls in a recent year, it is familiar while not overly popular.
 
There is a chance that Pepper may rise up the charts, thanks to Juniper's popularity, though some parents may be held back by the sound alike name of Peppa Pig. If you do enjoy the name but are put off by the cartoon character, you could consider Pepper as a nickname for Penelope, Persephone, or Phillipa.


Parents are beginning to scan the whole spice shelf for inspiration, picking up on Saffron, Sage, and Cinnamon -- and opening up a chance for this spiciest possibility of all; used for peppy TV characters.

Pepper

Carly and company have had a good run, fueled by Nickelodeon's popular series iCarly, as well as Canadian pop singer Carly Rae Jepsen.
 Now most spellings of the name, including Carlie, Karlee, and Carlee, are waning.

Carlee

Cindy as a name in its own right made it into the Top 20 in 1957 and remained a Top 200 girls' name until the end of the 20th century. Although it's fallen precipitously since then and left the Top 1000 completely in 2015, Cindy remains a name commonly heard in the US. Today, though, it would more likely be attached to moms or grandmas than to babies. 

Whether as a short form or a nickname used on its own, Cindy along with other popular nickname-names of its era -- Debbie, Kathy, Judy -- has faded from fashion to be replaced by the stylish nickname-names of this era, such as Ellie and Charlie.

Cindy

A color name, a gemstone name, and an ocean-inspired choice, Coral has a lot going for it with its sharp C sounds yet sweet vintage feel. Unlike Scarlett or Violet, however, it is only quietly used in the US these days, perhaps because of its similarity to more 'dated' Carol.
 
First appearing as a name during the Victorian craze for jewel names, Coral could never the less rise again alongside Ruby, Pearl and Opal — and as an alternative to Cora, Caroline, or Clara.

Coral

Charlene is a Charlotte variation that, along with similar names like Arlene and Marlene, spiked in popularity in the 1940s and fifties, reaching a high of Number 100 in 1949. Most parents today would prefer one of the note classic versions -- or even nickname Charlie.

Charlene

Walker is an outdoorsy, Old Western-style name that leapt into the US Top 100 for boys back in 2022. Now, like a number of occupational names before it (think Sawyer, Palmer, and Parker), Walker is being used for an increasing number of girls. 
 
Rarely used as a feminine name before 2018, Walker is now used seven times more than it was a decade ago, with 120 girls receiving the name in 2023. Preppy, cool, and tough, Walker has a stylish-cowboy feel to it and could also work as a nod to the writer of The Color Purple, Alice Walker.
 
American television host Courtney Hansen used the name Walker as one of her daughter's middle names in 2014 — as a tribute to her mother's maiden name.

Walker

Cute but slight mix of stylish sounds Cam and Bree, chosen by Rick Schroder for his daughter. 

Cambrie

Is it clunky cute, strong and vintage, or dreadful and mildewy? Like Gertrude and Bertha, Mildred is one that divides the crowds, but with popular nickname Mildred and renewed interest in Winifred, Deborah, Millicent, and Gwendolen, it's not entirely out of the question that Mildred might make a return in coming years 
 Mildred is an ancient Anglo-Saxon name that became popularized in England via the daughter of the 7th century saint and princess Ermenburga. Mildred herself became a saint and abbess in the 8th century and was noted for her kindness, especially to those made outcasts by society. Her name, meaning "gentle strength" was then fitting. 
 
In the US, she was a Top 10 choice from 1903 to 1926, with notable beaters including jazz singer Mildred Bailey and the character of Mildred Pierce, played by Joan Crawford in the hit movie of the same name.
 
Around 100 girls are currently called Mildred in the US each year.

Mildred

With strong sounds but a whimsical feel, Reverie is a word name associated with being in a dreamy, ethereal state, of being lost in a daydream, or coming up with a pleasant fantasy for the future. Similar in cadence to popularly Everly, it was given to around 80 girls in a recent year.
 
Writer and parenting blogger Rebecca Woolf was well ahead of the trends when she named one of her daughters Reverie back in 2011, a twin to Boheme and sister to Fable and Archer.

Reverie

Charity is one of the Big Three abstract virtue names, along with Hope and Faith, though far less widely used than the others. But as Faith, Grace and Hope grow more common, some parents are beginning to look at the more unusual three-syllable choices like Verity, Amity, Clarity and Charity, which sound much fresher and also have that pleasingly rhythmic 'y'-ending sound.
 In the Dickens novel Martin Chuzzlewit, there are two sisters named Charity and Mercy, who are known as Cherry and Merry.
 In the musical Sweet Charity the title character, Charity Hope Valentine, is an all too charitable girl with a heart of gold. In the novel"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" Charity Burbage is a Muggle Studies teacher at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and in Two Broke Girls there's an Aunt Charity who's not very charitable.
 Charity was in the Top 500 in the 1880's and 1890's, remained in the Top 1000 until 1927 when it dropped from sight, then reappeared in 1968. For a period in the 1970's and eighties, Charity was a Top 300 name.

Charity

In the eighteenth century there was a poetic fad for names with the 'inda' sound, and, along with Belinda, Clarinda, Dorinda and Florinda, Melinda was one of those created at that time. It came into non-literary use in the 1840's, peaking in the U.S. in the late 1960s and 1970s: Melinda was a Top 100 name from 1967 to 1980. It began to fade as nickname Mindy ascended. Nowadays, however, Melinda feels more contemporary than cousins Melissa, Mindy, Belinda and Linda.
Melinda is a name fashioned from two common elements in girls' names. Mel means honey or honeybee, or alternatively dark, and is found as an element in such names as Melissa and Pamela. Linda means beautiful.
 Melinda was the name of the lead character played by Jennifer Love Hewitt in Ghost Whisperer; her most prominent modern bearer is philanthropist Melinda Gates. If you don't like the nickname Mindy, you could go with Mel, Lin, or Lindy.

Melinda

Most names that start with Cam- are on the upswing, so why not this obscure term for Wales as well as for a prehistoric time period. 

Cambria

Used primarily in Scotland, and represented here by singer Audra McDonald, the <a href="https://nameberry.com/girls-names"> girls' name</a> Audra has been overshadowed by the return of the classic Audrey. Audra may be to Audrey what Jenna is to Jennifer and Jessa is to Jessica: A variation that will rise as the original falls from favor.
 
Alternatively, however, Audra is a separate Lithuanian name, derived from the Lithuanian word for "storm". In this case, it would be pronounced OW-dru (OW to rhyme with cow, -u like the sound in up) and is used as a feminine form of Audrius.

Audra

Invented for Bellini's opera, Norma had some star quality in the silent-screen and Marilyn Monroe days, but at this point it's a graying grandma in baby name limbo. 

Norma

Can one prominent character affect the gender identity of a name? Definitely, as has supernatural bad girl Ridley Duchannes of the Beautiful Creatures series-turned-movie, played by the gorgeous Emmy Rossum. 
 
 Before Duchannes, director Ridley Scott all but owned this unusual surname and so gave it a male spin, but it feels girl-appropriate too, thanks to the afore mentioned character and actor Daisy Ridley. The trendy -ley ending helps it along, as it could easily fit in with Wrenley, Hadley, Presley, and similar.
 
Given to around 100 girls in each recent year, it peaked in 2018 when 124 girls received the name, along with 90 boys.

Ridley

Bryn is an up-and-coming gentle, yet substantial, Welsh name that would also be effective in the middle spot. In Wales it's a traditional boys' name, but it's far more popular for girls now in the US.
 Bryn entered the U.S. girls' popularity list in 1999 but is outranked by the Brynn spelling. Reality star Bethenny Frankel named her daughter Bryn in 2010.
 Trivia tidbit: Bryn Mawr college was the first institute of higher learning to offer graduate degrees to women.

Bryn

Diamond sparkled all through the nineties--reaching as high as Number 150 in 1999. Although its shine has diminished quite a bit, it remains in use. 

Followers of the British royal family may know that the name was given in honor of Queen Victoria's sixtieth anniversary on the throne - her Diamond Jubilee. It's said that the queen asked that her granddaughter, born in 1897 during the jubilee year, be named Diamond. But Victoria's son, the future George V, chose Victoria Alexandra Alice Mary instead.

Diamond

Gentry is a word name that's gaining ground for girls as a kind of updated Jennifer, especially in the Jentry (or Jentri or Jentree) spelling.

Gentry

This much less popular variation draws more from Karin.

Karis

UK names for baby girls originate from all the languages and cultures of the United Kingdom: England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland, along with Cornwall and the Isle of Man. UK girl names range from the top female names in the English-speaking world, such as Ann, Ella, and Kate to thousands of unique girls' names like Lettice, Myfanwy, and Pixie.

Browse this list of UK girl names from the Nameberry database that originate in the English, Scottish, Welsh, Northern Irish, Cornish and Manx languages and cultures. The top names below rank among the current US Top 1000 Baby Names and are ordered by popularity. Unique names rank below the Top 1000 and are listed alphabetically.

UK names for baby girls originate from all the languages and cultures of the United Kingdom: England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland, along with Cornwall and the Isle of Man. UK girl names range from the top female names in the English-speaking world, such as Ann, Ella, and Kate to thousands of unique girls' names like Lettice, Myfanwy, and Pixie. Browse this list of UK girl names from the Nameberry database that originate in the English, Scottish, Welsh, Northern Irish, Cornish and Manx languages and cultures. The top names below rank among the current US Top 1000 Baby Names and are ordered by popularity. Unique names rank below the Top 1000 and are listed alphabetically. (Page 22)