Bad Girl Names

  1. Fanny
    • Origin:

      Diminutive of Frances
    • Meaning:

      "free man"
    • Description:

      As this word is less often used to mean derriere, it becomes more possible to view Fanny as the kind of appealingly quaint nickname name, like Josie and Nellie, that many parents are favoring now.
  2. Sheba
    • Origin:

      Hebrew, short variation of Bathsheba
    • Meaning:

      "daughter of an oath"
    • Description:

      This biblical place-name for the region now known as Yemen started to feel fresh again as the name of the heroine of Zoe Heller's Notes on a Scandal, played on screen by Cate Blanchett.
  3. Fifi
    • Origin:

      French diminutive of Josephine, Hebrew
    • Meaning:

      "Jehovah increases"
    • Description:

      Fifi is a perfect name -- for a French poodle. But Fifi may seem more child-friendly as names like Coco and Lulu rise. Fifi in its fluffiness also balances the seriousness of such full names as Josephine or Federica.
  4. Madonna
    • Origin:

      Latin
    • Meaning:

      "my lady"
    • Description:

      There's only one. Okay, two.
  5. Yasmine
    • Origin:

      Arabic variation of Jasmine
    • Meaning:

      "jasmine flower"
    • Description:

      Any of the Y forms, which also include Yasmeen, Yasmin, and Yasmina, make this name more unusual and distinctive.
  6. Medea
    • Origin:

      Greek
    • Meaning:

      "middle"
    • Description:

      Mythological princess who killed her kids. Eternal no-no.
  7. Cayenne
    • Origin:

      Word name
    • Description:

      Spicy.
  8. Maryjane
    • Origin:

      English, combination of Mary and Jane
    • Meaning:

      "drop of the sea, bitter, beloved + god is gracious"
    • Description:

      Mary was such a common name for so long that it sprouted a whole family of chimeric name splices: Maryann, Marybeth, Mary-Lousie, ad infinitum. Spiderman's Mary Jane Watson, the closed toe shoe with a strap, and the common nickname for marijuana have helped keep this one especially familiar to the American ear.
  9. Karma
    • Origin:

      Hindi, Sanskrit "destiny, spiritual force; deed, fate"
    • Meaning:

      "destiny, spiritual force; deed, fate"
    • Description:

      Some parents are hoping to bestow good karma on their children with this name, derived from the Sanskrit word for "fate". Associated with the Hindu and Buddhist belief that someone's actions in this life (and their previous ones) decide their future existences, it is more informally used in the Western world to refer to good or bad luck.
  10. Zuleika
    • Origin:

      Arabic
    • Meaning:

      "fair, brilliant beauty"
    • Description:

      Zuleika is a high-wire act of a name that might appeal to the intrepid baby namer, Like most 'Z'-starting girls' names, it projects a cool, strong aura, as exemplified by the character in Max Beerbohm's satirical 1910 novel, Zuleika Dobson, a heroine so gorgeous that the entire student body of Oxford University committed collective suicide at the sight of her.
  11. Dash
    • Origin:

      Word name
    • Description:

      For a boy, Dash is usually short for Dashiell, but as a girl's name it just stands for energetic--and also the stores run by the Kardashian sisters..
  12. Jazz
    • Origin:

      Word name
    • Description:

      Musical choice that may be a short form of Jasmine or Jazlyn, or might stand on its own like this or as Jaz, the spelling used by tennis duo Steffi Graf and Andre Agassi.
  13. Diablo
    • Origin:

      Spanish
    • Meaning:

      "devil"
    • Description:

      Diablo Cody, self-named (she's really Brook Busey) screenwriter of Juno, singlehandedly helped popularize not just her heroine's name and her own but all o-ending names for girls. You don't need us to tell you that it takes a brave parent, in every way, to name a baby Diablo. Diablo is one of the Spanish baby names that diverges furthest from the well-paved camino.
  14. Egypt
    • Origin:

      Place-name
    • Meaning:

      "the house of the soul of Ptah"
    • Description:

      Place names like Memphis, Harlem, Cairo, Vienna, Milan, and Astoria are right on trend at the moment, and Egypt could fit in, thanks to its similarity in sound to the likes of Edith and Eden. Alicia Keys used the name for her son back in 2010, but before that, it was used as a stage name for three famous belly dancers.
  15. Pistol
    • Origin:

      Word name
    • Description:

      Pistol is one of the new names that entered the lexicon in the US in 2013, when it was given to nine babies of each gender, though last year that number was down to zero. One of the new class of names with an unfortunately violent image.
  16. Babe
    • Origin:

      Word name or diminutive of Barbara
    • Description:

      You can call your baby "babe," but don't name her that.
  17. Diva
    • Origin:

      Latin
    • Meaning:

      "goddess"
    • Description:

      Once unique to the Zappa family, now you can have your own little prima donna.
  18. Flair
    • Origin:

      Word name
    • Description:

      Beware: extremely high pressure, high-expectation name.
  19. Bohemia
    • Origin:

      Place or word name
    • Description:

      More a concept than a place -- or a name.
  20. Flame
    • Origin:

      Word name
    • Description:

      Beware: Flame is the kind of name used by women named Fran when engaging in endeavors they'd just as soon their parents weren't aware of.