American Girl Names

Free and fun name if you don't want to be pinned down to Noelle, Pasqua, or Valentine.

Too tightly tied to the acronym for the activist group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.

The double S is pronounced with a pause between like in "dress suit."

St. Kateri Teckakwitha is the first Native American saint, canonized in 2012. St. Kateri was the daughter of a Mohawk warrior, born in 1656 in upstate New York. She converted to Christianity at age 20 and died at 24, and was known as "Lily of the Mohawk." Kateri was the name the saint took on, a native variation of Katherine, upon her baptism.

Adds a soupcon of French flair to some old classics with the currently trendy ae ending.

Beautiful Indigenous name connected to visual artist Dyani White Hawk. Dyani was most popular in 2001, when it was given to 73 baby girls.

We usually think of place-names as a modern invention, but in fact Arizona ranked on the US Top 1000 from its inception in 1880 until 1911, when it vanished below the surface. It peaked at Number 510 in 1882, before Arizona became a state. One notorious vintage bearer: criminal "Ma" Barker, born Arizona Clark.

It's far cooler to drop the first syllable and go for Elle.

A cute, upbeat name with a covetable meaning.

This diminutive of Kimberley is gaining momentum as a standalone name. For our part, we're stumped by its rise.

Among the children named Heaven are the daughters of TV personality Brooke Burke and rap singer Lil' Mo, who also has a daughter named God'iss Love. Some parents have taken to using Nevaeh instead—Heaven spelled backwards.

This Amy/Mia combination debuted on the US Top 1000 in 2013. It could also be seen as a variant of Amaya.

Kaylin is a variation of Kayla and Katelyn that had several years of chart climbing before reaching a peak of Number 372 in 2009. Cailin and Kailyn are two other spellings.

Alabama is a hot southern place-name, picking up from Georgia and Savannah. This is not a geographical name come lately, though--there have been girls named Alabama dating back well over a century.

Resonant and unusual.

Overly trendy western place-name, as stated in the title of our book Beyond Jennifer & Jason, Madison & Montana.

African-American and women's rights activist Sojourner Truth was born as Isabelle into enslavement. She adopted her new name when she began traveling and preaching abolition in 1843. Sojourner is a heroine name that may, with the rise of spiritual word names such as Journey and Genesis, finally be ready for prime time.