Chicken Names

Guinevere

Welsh

"white shadow, white wave"

Guinevere was the name of the beautiful but ill-fated queen of Camelot, for so many years eclipsed by its modern Cornish form Jennifer. Today, Guinevere could be a cool possibility for adventurous…

Linda

Spanish, Portuguese and Italian

"pretty"

Linda will live forever in baby name history for toppling Mary from its four hundred year reign as Number 1. Queen of Names in 1947, Linda has fallen even further in favor than Mary today. Still,…

Greta

German, diminutive of Margarethe

"pearl"

Greta is an Old World name long tied to the iconic Garbo, but now synonymous with environmental activism. In the early 2000s, Greta was showing signs of a comeback, along with other Old Hollywood…

Stormi

Word name, variation of Stormy and Storm

Stormi is like Sunni, with angst. If naming your child Storm or Stormy is asking for trouble, naming her Stormi -- as Kylie Jenner and Travis Scott did -- is asking for trouble of several different…

Winifred

Welsh

"blessed peacemaking"

One of the few remaining unrestored vintage gems, with a choice of two winning nicknames--the girlish Winnie and the tomboyish Freddie. Winifred, the name of a legendary Welsh saint, was a Top 200…

Etta

English and Scottish, short form of any name ending with -etta: Henrietta, Loretta etc.

Thanks to the surprise hit revival of Etta James' song At Last and because of recent interest in vintage style nicknames, Etta has established herself as a possible successor to Emma and Ella. While…

Tallulah

Choctaw, Irish

"leaping water, lady of abundance"

This hauntingly euphonious Choctaw name has re-entered the public domain, as memories of the outrageous actress Tallulah Bankhead have faded. For years, Tallulah was a name associated only with…

Darla

English

"darling"

Borrowed from the term of endearment darling , Darla (and the related Darlene) have been in use long enough that they now sound more name-y than cutesy and twee. It might help too that it rhymes with…

Sunday

Day name, English from Latin

"day of the Sun"

Sunday is among the most usable of the day names with its sunny first syllable, its sweet sound, and its potential to be both a sassy or a spiritual choice. The name initially made headlines in 2008…

Nancy

English diminutive of Ann or Agnes, Hebrew or Greek

"grace or pure"

To some, Nancy is a sweet, sparkly, vintage choice with plenty of energy and style. For it strays too much into '"old-lady" territory to be cool again yet. It's out of fashion in France, New Zealand,…

Barbara

Greek

"foreign woman"

Barbara is back and among the fastest-rising names of recent years! Credit goes to 2023's breakout movie Barbie , which gave a new stylish feel to the classic Barbara and set it up to rank alongside…

Dot

English, diminutive of Dorothy

Old-fangled nickname could make dot.com era short form or middle name.

Dory

French

"gift of God"

A Dorothy nickname name with a measure of nostalgic charm. Kids will associate it with the funny fish character voiced by Ellen DeGeneres in the Pixar animated instant classic Finding Nemo .

Carol

English, feminine variation of Charles

"free man"

A Caroline abbreviation that was wildly popular with Mom's generation...or Grandma's. At one time it was a name for baby girls born at Christmas . because of its association with Christmas carols.…

Doris

Greek

"gift of the ocean"

Doris had long been on our so-far-out-it-will-always-be-out-for-babies list, and seemed to be written there in indelible ink. But there are signs of a sea change, that Doris could profit from the…

Carina

Italian

"dear little one"

Carina is a pretty delicately feminine name whose fall from popularity is not helped by its similarity to hurricane name Katrina or slang victim Karen.

Bernadine

German

"brave as a bear"

As dated as the old Pat Boone song.

Dorcas

Greek

"doe, gazelle"

Classic name used by the Romans, the Puritans, and the Bard, but pretty much taboo today due to the objectionable connotations of both its front and back ends.

Donna

Italian

"lady"

Literally meaning "lady" in Italian, Donna was the perfect ladylike housewife mom name on The Donna Reed Show in the fifties and sixties. And there were plenty of namesakes: Donna was in the Top 10…