Tuneful variation on the Claire names.

Ellington is a swinging musical name, evoking the jazzy and elegant persona of the Duke (born Edward Kennedy Ellington). While that reference may seem to make Ellington a male name, it is also occasionally used for girls.

Madrigal might be a pretty and highly distinctive choice for a child of a musical family--or for the parent looking for a less conventional path to the nickname Maddie than Madeline or Madison . Definitely more striking than Cadence or even the increasingly popular Aria.

This unusual and spunky biblical name was one of the Kings of Israel as well as one of Judah's grandsons and has a wonderful meaning. We'd like to see Zimri being used more, and we think it has potential — "traveling lite" names, or 2 syllable names ending in -i, such as Zuri, Ezri, and Rafi are red-hot right now.

Drummer entered the baby name lexicon thanks to blogger No Big Dill, who chose it for her newborn son, who joins five older sisters. Drummer is right in step with other occupational names in vogue now, from Archer to Gardener. Let's just hope Drummer doesn't prefer to play the piano.

Makes SONATA even more feminine and musical

Caprice is a word name with an appealing sound and a light-hearted meaning that may well put parents off. While it was given to just 10 girls in a recent year, the name did have a moment back in the late 60s and then again in the 90s. In England and Wales, it even made the Top 400 in 1997.

Minuet is delicate, dancey, and lacy, with a Masterpiece Theatre feel. Is Minuet a real name? Not really, though similar-sounding French names such as Minette and Manette are.

Fifer is a musical name that fits in seamlessly with the likes of Harper and Piper, but is much more unusual. It's also a Scottish demonym, referring to an inhabitant of the historic Scottish county of Fife.

Also spelled Kōta and Kota, Kouta is a Japanese name with a sound that travels well and a number of great meanings. Associated with happiness, good luck and peace, it is also given to a style of music in which the songs are usually less than three minutes long.

With its musical allusions, a harmonious possibility.

It's usually preceded by the letter 'A'--as in 'a capella'--singing without accompaniment, and probably has never been used as a girl's name, but in this anything-goes naming climate, we're putting it out there as a possibility.

Musical term with a lot of energy.

A surname that could become a first, an alternate to the already-taken REGIS.

Riff is the name of the leader of the Jets in West Side Story, drawn from the musical word for a repeated phrase in a song. A tragic character in the musical, but a jaunty sounding name with the vibes of Ridge, Riggs, Raffy, and Lyric too.

The original name of Glinda from Gregory Maguire's novel Wicked and the subsequent Broadway musical. She drops the 'a' from her name to honor a goat, who mispronounced her name as a Glinda.

The name of a small yellow bird that hasn't taken off in the way that some of its avian sisters – like Robin, Wren or Lark – have.

Mandolin may seem like an outlandish choice for a name, but since BANJO has been used as a baby name, all the instruments in the band seem to be auditioning for a place on birth certificates. This one comes with a real name nickname, MANDY.

Octave shortens Octavius to a more manageable length, keeping the "eighth" meaning. In English speaking countries, however, people could easily confuse this with the musical and poetrry term octave. This, however, might not be considered a bad thing, or even an accident. Cadence, Lyric, Poem, and Anthem had seen increased interest, so why not this musical word?

The name appeared in the US stats in 2024 for the first time since the late 60s, when it was given to 6 boys.

Cool word name for boys evocative of rock and roll. Julia Stiles named her son Strummer in 2017.