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Strong Female Names

Pamela Redmond
By Pamela Redmond
Updated Sat Dec 02 2023
Strong Female Names

Strong female names have a powerful appeal for many parents today. Our favorite short and strong names for girls range from classics like Kate, Eve, and Anna, to cool vintage revivals like Alma, Ida, and Tess, to modern girl names with a punch, like Nico, Rue, and Lux.

Many of the fabulous strong female names on this list have powerful meanings to match. Try Cleo "glory", Veda "wisdom" or Zoya "life". This list includes female names that mean strong or strength, power or powerful, brave or bravery, along with related terms.

Strong female names may be inspiring for a baby girl. They also might appeal to writers seeking strong names for female characters.

RELATED:

Strong Boy Names

Search Names by Meaning

  1. Maeve

    • Origin:

      Irish

    • Meaning:

      "she who intoxicates"

    • Description:

      Maeve is a short and sweet name that has become one of the most stylish Irish names for girls in the modern US. It joined the Top 100 for the first time in 2023 and now ranks at Number 74.
  2. Freya

    • Origin:

      Norse

    • Meaning:

      "a noble woman"

    • Description:

      Freya has long been popular in the U.K. but has only taken off in the US in the last decade, along with the entire category of mythological names. Derived from the Old Norse name Freyja, meaning "Lady, noble woman", Freya is the name of the Norse goddess of love, beauty, and fertility.
  3. Emma

    • Origin:

      German

    • Meaning:

      "universal"

    • Description:

      Emma has now been among the top girl names in the United States for several years, claiming the Number 1 crown in 2008 and again from 2015 to 2018 before dropping back to second place.
  4. Lyra

    • Origin:

      Greek

    • Meaning:

      "lyre"

    • Description:

      Lyra is a name with ancient and celestial roots that's finding new popularity thanks to its starring role in Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials series, seen in the movie The Golden Compass. Simple yet unique, Lyra hits the sweet spot between too popular and too unusual.
  5. Ada

    • Origin:

      German or Turkish

    • Meaning:

      "noble, nobility, or island"

    • Description:

      Ada is one of the classic baby names for girls that is suddenly super stylish again. A favorite at the end of the nineteenth century, Ada is an alternative to the over-popular Ava. Ada is also part of the trend toward simple, old-fashioned names beginning with a vowel, like Ivy and Ella.
  6. Mira

    • Origin:

      Latin, Slavic, Arabic, Sanskrit

    • Meaning:

      "admirable; peace; female ruler; ocean"

    • Description:

      This name owes its present life to actress Sorvino. Mira and Mirra have an arty aura.
  7. Cleo

    • Origin:

      Greek

    • Meaning:

      "glory"

    • Description:

      Cleo, one of the few girls' names to boast the cool-yet-lively o ending, is of course short for Cleopatra, the name of one of the most powerful women in history.
  8. Quinn

    • Origin:

      Irish

    • Meaning:

      "descendant of Conn, chief leader, intelligence"

    • Description:

      Quinn is one of the first popular Irish unisex surnames, a strong and attractive choice on the rise for girls but still popular for boys. Quinn was used for about 2600 baby girls and 600 boys in the US last year.
  9. Sloane

    • Origin:

      Irish

    • Meaning:

      "raider"

    • Description:

      Sloane is a sleek, sophisticated surname name that has gradually morphed over to the girls' side. With its distinctive and intriguing sound, Sloane has been in the US Top 1000 since 2009, and in 2022, it made its first appearance in the UK charts, jumping more than 400 places in a single year.
  10. Vera

    • Origin:

      Russian

    • Meaning:

      "faith"

    • Description:

      Vera was the height of fashion in 1910, then was for a long time difficult to picture embroidered on a baby blanket. Now, though, it has come back into style along with other old-fashioned simple names such as Ada and Iris.
  11. Juno

    • Origin:

      Latin

    • Meaning:

      "queen of the heavens; young"

    • Description:

      Juno is an ancient name that feels as fresh as if it had been minted, well, not yesterday, but in 2007. Since the release of the popular indie film Juno, this lively but strong Roman goddess name has held new potential as a baby name. Currently in the UK Top 500 and used in The Netherlands too, Juno is on the rise in the US - and is 15 times more popular than it was before the release of the film.
  12. Nina

    • Origin:

      Short form of names that end in -nina

    • Description:

      Nina is as multiethnic as you can get: Nina is a common nickname name in Spain and Russia, a Babylonian goddess of the oceans, and an Incan goddess of fire. Here and now, it's a stylish possibility that's been underused. "Weird Al" Yankovic chose this decidedly nonweird name for his daughter.
  13. Sage

    • Origin:

      Herb name, Latin

    • Meaning:

      "wise and knowing"

    • Description:

      Sage is an evocatively fragrant herbal name that also connotes wisdom, giving it a double advantage. It entered the Top 1000 at about the same time for both genders in the early 1990s, but it has pulled ahead for the girls. Toni Collette named her daughter Sage Florence.
  14. Nyx

    • Origin:

      Greek mythology name

    • Meaning:

      "night"

    • Description:

      In Greek mythology, Nyx was a powerful goddess and the embodiment of the night, but when spoken, its negative meaning can't be ignored.
  15. Anna

    • Origin:

      Variation of Hannah, Hebrew

    • Meaning:

      "grace"

    • Description:

      Anna has become the dominant form of the Ann family, offering a touch of the international to English speakers and a bit more style than the oversimplified Ann or Anne.
  16. Zoe

    • Origin:

      Greek

    • Meaning:

      "life"

    • Description:

      Zoe is one of those surprising names that has been on the Top 1000 nearly every year since 1880, but it's only since the turn of this century that it's ranked in the Top 100.
  17. Lena

    • Origin:

      English, Scottish, Dutch, German, and Scandinavian, diminutive of various names ending in -lena

    • Description:

      This pet form of Helena and other ena-ending names, long used as an independent name, is attracting notice again as an option both multicultural and simple. Lena was a Top 100 name from 1880 to 1920.
  18. Gemma

    • Origin:

      Italian, Catalonian, Spanish

    • Meaning:

      "precious stone"

    • Description:

      Gemma is a jewel of a name, an Italian classic that was very popular in 1980s England, but has only recently been started to be used here; it entered the list in 2008.
  19. Alma

    • Origin:

      Latin

    • Meaning:

      "nurturing, soul"

    • Description:

      Alma is a somewhat solemn, soulful name that had a burst of popularity a century ago, then faded into the flowered wallpaper, and is now finding its footing once more.
  20. Nova

    • Origin:

      Latin

    • Meaning:

      "new"

    • Description:

      Nova has the feel of both newness, from its meaning, and great energy as an astronomical term for a star that increases suddenly in brightness before fading.