Girl Names Lists · Names from the Arts and Pop Culture
By Sophie Kihm · Updated September 2026
Across 3 pages
of 3
French, folkloric name
Melusine was a figure from early European folklore, associated with the water. Her legends are especially connected with the northern and western areas of France, as well as the Low Countries. She is…
Slavic mythological name
In Slavic mythology, Rusalka is the equivalent of the Little Mermaid — she's a water nymph who falls in love with a land-dwelling man and eventually dies of a broken heart. Her tale was made into an…
English feminization of Andrew, Greek
"strong and manly"
Andrina is best-known as an older sister of The Little Mermaid.
Shellina is a feminine name likely derived as an elaboration of 'Shelly,' which itself is a diminutive of Michelle (Hebrew, 'who is like God') or a reference to shells found on beaches. The suffix…
Greek
"gift of glory"
The name of a nymph in Greek mythology, one of the prophetic Thriai, who divined the future by throwing pebbles. She was a lover of the sea god Poseidon. The name also belongs to a species of…
Latin
"little wave"
Mythological water spirit with the more common spelling of Ondine, heroine of an Edith Wharton novel.
Basque
"water nymph"
In Basque mythology, Lamina are mermaid-like creatures (they can also have duck tails) who grant wishes.
Cornish
"mermaid"
Morvoren derives from the Cornish mor , meaning "sea," and moren , "maiden," taking on the meaning of "mermaid." The Mermaid of Zennor, a local mythological figure, was associated with morvoren ,…
"purple flower"
Like Violet, Lavender and Lilac, Ianthe is a purple flower name. Chosen by the poet Shelley for his daughter, Ianthe has a poetic, romantic, almost ethereal quality. In the ancient myth, she was the…
Irish
"sea white, sea fair"
The popular Irish name Muireann comes from a mythical mermaid who was tranformed into a woman by a saint. Pronunciation is like the surname of the actress Helen Mirren, but with the spin of a w sound…
"born of the sea"
Muirgen in Irish mythology was turned into a mermaid and then brought back to land after 300 years and transformed back into a woman -- which must have been quite a shock. Muirgen's original name was…
Greek; Aboriginial
"sea nymph, mermaid; red waterlily"
This is one of the more unusual examples of a group of Greek names connected to the sea, which makes sense for a nation of coastline and islands. The Nereids or water nymphs were the daughters of sea…
