Girl Names That End in I
Girl names ending in I include numerous wonderful options.
Naomi is the most popular girl name ending with I right now. Along with Naomi, other girl names in the US Top 1000 include Leilani, Remi, Kali, and Zuri.
Eleni, Lakshmi, Yuki, and Citlali are among the uncommon international I-ending names for girls worth consideration.
The I ending was relatively uncommon for European names before the middle of the 20th century, the I became a trendy ending for girls' names. President Lyndon Johnson's younger daughter helped popularize the I ending when she changed the spelling of her name from Lucy to Luci.
Girl names that end in I are currently trendy among celebrities. Recent examples include Chrissy Teigen and John Legend's Esti, Priyanka Chopra and Nick Jonas' Malti, and Molly-Mae Hague and Tommy Fury's Bambi.
Here are all Nameberry’s girl names that end with the letter I, ordered by their popularity on Nameberry. If you're looking for a top girl name ending in I, you'll find that toward the beginning of the list, while the rarest names are at the end.
- Esti
Origin:
Short form of Esther or Estelle, PersianMeaning:
"star"Description:
Esti is most commonly a short form of Esther and Estelle, both making the big move from old lady name to cool young name. It's also a popular short form of the Basque names Estitxu and Estibalitz. In French Canada, it's an untranslatable swear word.
- Bambi
Origin:
Diminutive of Bambina, ItalianMeaning:
"child; baby girl"Description:
Although Disney's cute deer was a male, Bambi has always been used for girls. It first appeared on the charts in 1943, the year after the Disney movie was released. Bambi featured in the Top 1000 from 1954-1964 — a decade where girl names ending in I, like Lori and Teri, were big — and again from 1977-1982.
- Lorelei
Origin:
GermanMeaning:
"alluring, temptress"Description:
Its double role as the mother and daughter -- and even grandmother -- on TV's The Gilmore Girls modernized, humanized, and popularized a name previously associated with the mythic seductive siren and the gold digger portrayed by Marilyn Monroe in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
- Naomi
Origin:
HebrewMeaning:
"pleasantness"Description:
Naomi was once a primarily Jewish name from the Old Testament that referenced the mother-in-law of Ruth. Because of this, it is a symbolic name given to girls on Shavuot when the story of Ruth is read in the synagogue. The French version is Noemie, in Italian Noemi. Naomi also has separate Japanese origins as a unisex name meaning “straight and beautiful.”
- Kiki
Origin:
French nickname and JapaneseMeaning:
"double happiness"Description:
Kiki is one of the Coco-Gigi-Fifi-Lulu bohemian-type French nickname names from the turn of the last century, which have endless energy and sparkle. Artist Kiki Smith is its most well-known contemporary representative, and Kiki was the inspiring heroine of Zadie Smith's On Beauty. Kiki can be a nickname for any name beginning with the K sound, from Katherine to Christina to Kayla.
- Suki
Origin:
JapaneseMeaning:
"loved one"Description:
One of the most familiar and usable Asian names.
- Remi
Origin:
French, variation of RemyMeaning:
"oarsman"Description:
Adorable name that's fashionable and keeps gaining momentum. Remi entered the US Top 1000 in 2013 and is now approaching the Top 100. The Remi spelling is more popular for girls, while Remy is more popular for boys, both both spellings are in the Top 1000 for both genders. That's a remarkable success story for a name that, in the late 1900s, was given to only a handful of babies in the US.
- Heidi
Origin:
Diminutive of Adelheid; GermanMeaning:
"noble, nobility"Description:
Heidi became known—and popular—via the 1880 eponymous children's classic by Swiss writer Johanna Spyri and, despite decades of American Heidis of all sizes, shapes, and personalities, the name seems permanently tethered to that spunky little girl on the Alpine mountaintop in the book and Shirley Temple movie.
- Lumi
Origin:
FinnishMeaning:
"snow"Description:
Lumi may be a rare girls' name in the USA and England, but it comes in the Top 50 in Finland, where it means snow. Given the popularity of Winter, Holly, Ivy and many other wintery-christmassy names, we think that short and spunky Lumi definitely has potential for greater usage outside its home country as one of the more unusual names for Christmas babies.
- Amari
Origin:
HebrewMeaning:
"eternal"Description:
Related to names and words in a range of languages—Yoruba, Thai, and Hebrew (where it's used primarily for boys)—and with a variety of positive meanings.
- Saanvi
Origin:
SanskritMeaning:
"follower of Lakshmi"Description:
This beautiful girl name is a popular choice in India. It is connected to Lakshmi, the Hindu goddess of luck and prosperity. Lakshmi is composed of the elements sā, referring to Lakshmi, and anvi, meaning "follow."
- Rumi
Origin:
JapaneseMeaning:
"beauty, flow, lapis lazuli"Description:
Rumi is a Japanese girls' name that sounds like a couple of other choices more familiar in the West -- Rumer and Remi -- that is achieving notice because of its choice by two celebrities, including Beyonce and Jay-Z.
- Leni
Origin:
German, diminutive of Lena; Spanish, diminutive of ElenaDescription:
A foreign nickname name that has never been widely used here — possibly because of its similarity to the outdated male Lenny — it was chosen for her daughter by high-profile German supermodel Heidi Klum.
- Gigi
Origin:
French diminutiveDescription:
Like high-kicking amies Coco and Fifi, Gigi has a lot of Gallic spunk but lacks substance. Was chosen for her daughter by designer Cynthia Rowley. While some parents might fashionably use Gigi on its own, we'd recommend lengthening it on the birth certificate to something like Georgiana or Gabrielle.
- Avani
Origin:
HindiMeaning:
"the good earth"Description:
A name often heard in India, with an energetic sound and an ecologically correct meaning.
- Zuri
Origin:
KiswahiliMeaning:
"good, beautiful"Description:
Zuri migrated, at least to American sensibilities, to the feminine side when an Ohio zoo used it for a female giraffe. For either gender, Zuri is an attractive name with the usual Z-initial zest.
- Khaleesi
Origin:
Modern invented nameDescription:
Khaleesi is an invented name introduced to the world by inventive and prolific author George R. R. Martin for his wildly popular Game of Thrones series—it's Dothraki for "queen" and is one of the titles of the character Daenerys. It entered the US Top 1000 in 2014.
- Leilani
Origin:
HawaiianMeaning:
"heavenly flower"Description:
Leilani is derived from the Hawaiian elements lei, meaning "flower," and lani, "heavenly." It can also be translated as "royal child," as lani is connected to high-birth and aristocracy, and leis—flower garlands worn around the neck—are associated with children. "Sweet Leilani" is an Academy Award-winning song by Bing Crosby.
- Sarai
Origin:
HebrewMeaning:
"princess"Description:
In the Old Testament, God changed Sarai's name to Sara, so this would make a clever and legitimate honor name for an ancestral Sarah. Sarahi is another pretty variation to make the connection even more clear.
- Mari
Origin:
Welsh, Breton, Scandinavian, Hungarian, Estonian, and Basque variation of Maria or MaryMeaning:
"drop of the sea, bitter, or beloved"Description:
Mari enjoyed some mid-century popularity as a nicknameish version of Mary, but now deserves a second look as a multicultural classic. Mari is the name of the Basque goddess of fertility and weather and is also, for unrelated reasons, popular in Norway. The biggest problem with the potentially-lovely Mari will be getting people to say it the way you want. While some Europeans pronounce it as Marie, that will only confuse things more. Better to make it its own individual name by pronouncing it MAH-ree. As one commenter pointed out, in Estonian the name is not a Mary variation but means "berry" – all the more reason for us to like it!