Girl Names Lists · Nature, Place and Word Names
By Pamela Redmond · Updated October 2026
Across 31 pages
of 31
English diminutive of Susannah, Hebrew
"lily"
Although Susan had her heyday from the thirties to the sixties, and is now common among moms and new grandmas, and though most modern parents would prefer Susanna/Susannah, we have spotted some…
English tree name from Latin
"maple tree; tree of the Acer genus"
Maple is one of those sweet-spot word names that sounds so almost name-like that it doesn't feel outlandish or strange, despite its relative newness as a given name. Just as Juniper is adjacent to…
English color and flower name
"purple flower"
Lavender lags far behind sweet-smelling purple-hued sister names Violet and Lila, but is starting to get some enthusiastic attention from cutting-edge namers along with other adventurous nature names…
Nahuatl, Aztec
"flower"
Xochitl is a Nahuatl or Aztec floral name used in southern Mexico and pronounced SO-chee-tl or SHO-chee-tl, although sometimes the "tl" at the end is not pronounced, making it SO-Chee. A Nameberry…
Hebrew, Slavic or Irish
"pearl of wisdom; gift; or oak tree"
Though Dara was an (extremely wise) male figure in the Bible, this name feels mostly feminine to modern Americans. The Irish Gaelic version, Darragh, is well-used in contemporary times for boys.…
English word name
"low area of land between hills and mountains"
An evocative word name, conjuring up images of the beautiful low land between hills and mountains, and the streams and rivers that often run through them, Valley has the advantage of also sounding…
English
"dweller at the holly trees"
Hollis is a surname-name used quietly for both genders. At last count, it was given to over 200 baby boys and 160 baby girls in the US. Now a Top 1000 name for boys, it could well break into the…
"crystal, clear, ice"
Peaking at #9 in 1982, Crystal's popularity in the 70s and 80s stems from its sparkling natural namesake and several notable bearers, like country music singer Crystal Gayle and Dynasty character…
"driftwood"
This old English surname is gaining popularity, especially for girls. Though the Marlowe spelling is both the most popular and most feminine form of the name, second-place Marlow is 75 percent…
Japanese, English short form or Eleanor, Leonora, Nora, Honora, or North, form of Nor or Nuri, Arabic, Turkish
"ceremonial rites, doctrine, seaweed; unknown, honor, north; my light"
Nori is one of those names with several origins that would have no trouble assimilating into a variety of cultures. It might also be associated with the dried seaweed used to wrap sushi or with the…
"island with elder trees; descendant of Hilary; cheerful, happy"
In the past few years Ellery has gone from middle-aged male detective -- from old school fictional hero Ellery Queen -- to a plausible girls' name, a la Hillary. Ellery is one of the golden names…
Italian and Spanish variation of Carmel
"garden"
Carmela has been most famous recently as the name of Tony Soprano's TV wife, played by Edie Falco. The spellings Carmela and Carmella are both used in Latin cultures including Italian, Spanish, and…
"plant name"
Of all the botanicals, Fern has been one of the slowest to move back from the front parlor into the nursery, despite the appealing girl character in the children's classic Charlotte's Web . Fern was…
Word name
Among a small shower of rain-related names, this pure version can have a cool, refreshing image. Richard Pryor named his now-grown daughter Rain, and Rain is also one of the nature-named Phoenix…
English botanical name
"small shrub"
This flower name was one of the most popular in her class in the seventies and eighties, a fact reflected in the 1989 movie Heathers , in which every snobby girl in the high school clique bears the…
Italian and Spanish variation of Carmel, Hebrew
Most familiar as the name of Tony Soprano's wife, but she spelled it Carmela. In the contemporary US, both Carmella and Carmela are used in near-equal numbers, given to a total of about 300 baby…
Hebrew; Swahili
"to shine; flower"
Zahara, a delicate but strong multicultural name, came into the spotlight when Angelina Jolie bestowed it on her Ethiopian-born daughter, and we predict other parents will adopt it as well. If you…
Flower name, from German surname
"Zinn's flower"
Zinnia is an unusual floral choice with a bit more edge and energy than most and beginning to find its way onto namers' wish lists of botanical possibilities. Named after the 18th-century German…
"to bloom"
Now that parents have picked virtually every name in the garden, from the common Rose to the captivating Zinnia, some are reconsidering the old, more generic names like Flora and Posy and Blossom —…
Elaboration of Holly or spelling variation of Holland
"holly + lake, beautiful; forest land; point of the land"
Hollyn combines the Christmas- and nature-inspired feel of Holly, with the preppy, unisex style of Collins, all stung together with the globetrotter flair of Holland and the trendy -lyn ending of…
