Updated October 2026
Across 15 pages
of 15
Ancient Greek
"light up"
Deriving from the Greek word phos meaning "light", Photine is a rare choice with a Biblical link. The name of the Samaritan woman in "Jesus and the Woman at the Well" (John 4), Photine is associated…
English surname, variation of Paul, Latin
"small"
Pauley has several possible derivations, but the most likely is an elaboration of the ancient name Paul. Actress Pauley Perrette brought this name into the female lexicon. It has the same style as…
Tahitian
"black pearl"
Tahiti is famous for its beautiful pearls, which are cultivated and collected from the black lip oyster. While you might think of pearls being white, Tahitian pearls are known as 'black pearls' and…
Latin gemstone name
"pearl"
While Pearl is predominantly used as a feminine name, it ranked in the US Top 1000 for boys from the 1880s until the 1930s, reaching the Top 200 on several occasions. Pearl fell out of style in…
Variant of Phryne, Literature, Ancient Greek
"toad"
Used by Shakespeare in his play Timon of Athens , Phrynia is a Shakespearean that hasn't caught on as Ophelia, Jessica, or Imogen have — possibly because of its unusual sounds, its toady meaning, and…
Word name
"citrus fruit"
Clementine, Peaches, Cherry, and Pepper (and more occasionally, Apple) are all in use for girls, while the name of the largest citrus fruit, Pomelo, might be a more unisex option if you want…
Word name, Latin
"of the palm; pilgrim"
Palmer is a Top 300 choice in the US for girls and has more recently been on the rise for boys, but what about the shorter form, Palm? A spiritual name, a word name, and a nature name, it comes from…
Spanish form of Ptolemais, Greek
"aggressive, warlike"
Ptolemaida is a distinctive feminine form of Ptolemy, with charming nickname options such as Tolly, Maia, and Aida. It is also the name of a town in Western Macedonia, Greece.
"small horse"
Animal names like Wolf, Fox, Tiger, and Wren have risen in recent years, but we're not sure this one is going to catch on. Nevertheless, it was chosen by internet personality Morgan Presley for her…
There were fewer than five babies of either sex named Pony in the US last year, but we do know there were two babies named Pony born to celebrities, both of them male. But there's nothing…
"persuasion, imitation; force produced when pressing on something"
Pressure conjures images of pressing down on something, a time of great stress, trying to convince someone to do something, and of something buckling under the weight of something else. Not positive…
"pride, being proud, self-esteem"
Pryde, a creative respelling of the English word Pride, may be viewed in two ways. On one hand, it has the positive associations of being proud of yourself and of celebrating your own achievements,…
Greek
"burning"
A name with links to mythology and the Bible, Phlegon is a distinctive Greek name with a blazing meaning. It was borne by one of the seventy disciples in the New Testament, by an Ancient Greek…
Portuguese, Latin, Greek
"perch, dark-spotted"
Also appearing as Percília, this distinctive choice appeared in the Brazilian charts in the 1930s and 1940s. While it may look like a relative of Percival or Priscilla, it does ultimately come from…
"poetry"
This old-fashioned word for poetry has some antiquated charm but doesn't exactly roll off the tongue.
"persuader of men; trustworthy to man"
A Latinized form of Peisandros, better perhaps than the alternative Pisander, this name appears a number of times in Greek mythology. Borne by a suitor of Penelope, a Trojan warrior and a hero of the…
Latin
"apple"
This name of the Roman goddess of fruit trees is also associated with a suburban town in Southern California.
The Shakespearean Portia may be a real name, but Porsche is now and forever a car, not a little girl.
An admirable quality to impart; Pleasant was used by Charles Dickens in Our Mutual Friend and in modern times is known via American Girl dolls creator Pleasant Rowland.