American Girl Names

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

Striking and accessible choice.

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.

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

Caylee was the third fastest-rising name in 2009 and peaked then at Number 263, but has since dropped in the charts, perhaps due to the Caylee Anthony association.

The Shawnee were an Eastern tribe that migrated westward; Shawnee makes an unusual name, if a little dated a la Shawn and Tawnee.

A cute, upbeat name with a covetable meaning.

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

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.

The Native American name for Martha's Vineyard and for a town at the far end of that lovely island, this was used by Michael J. Fox and Tracy Pollan for one of their twin daughters.

Fiery Native choice.

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.

Kimana, the name of a resort in the foothills of Mountain Kilimanjaro in Kenya, would make an unexpected path to the nickname Kim.

Variation of Emma with the popular suffix -lyn.

Unlike many other western city names, Tulsa has not proved attractive to parents. The name derives from Tallasi, meaning "old town" in the Creek language.

Young rocker Tennessee Thomas has brought this former one-person name over to the girls' side -- though the census roles of North Carolina in 1850 included a female named Tennessee and called Tincy.

In the Choctaw tribe of Mississippi and Oklahoma, Tassa was a traditional female name.

A traditional female name in the Choctaw tradition.