American Girl Names

North's image and gender status was irrevocably changed when Kim Kardashian and Kanye West announced it as the name of their newborn daughter. But why not? West is firmly established as a name, Easton is coming up strong, and North has a nice solid sound as well -- certainly as appropriate for either gender. South, though, not so much.

Combining popular names Brynn and Ryleigh produced a new name that has ranked in the Top 1000 since 2010, never surpassing the top mark set at Number 841 in 2013. Trendiness personified.

One of the few familiar Native_American choices, but now associated with several trade names.

Coastal California was originally home to the Wappo and Yuki tribes, among whom the word meiomi meant "coast". Today, Meiomi is the name of a mid-price wine brand that's inspiring the parents of baby girls.

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

Louisiana is a geographic spin on the Louise theme. Pretty, if a bit of a syllable overload. Short form Lou or Lulu lightens it.

Traditional Choctaw name, but close to the word "silly." The similar name Sillin sidesteps this.

A feminine name in Choctaw culture.

Carries a different meaning in American English. You may also like Sootima.

Yet another phrase of the sha chorus.

While the Cailin spelling doesn't appear on popularity charts, other forms such as Kaylin and Kaylen do, along with several similar names, from Caitlin to Jalen to Kayla. The result: a name that feels more common than it actually is.

Cimarron is a Great Plains city and river name used by Edna Ferber as the title of a popular novel. The Cimarron people of Panama were previously enslaved Africans who had escaped from their Spanish masters and lived together in defiance of colonial rule. In the 1570s, they allied with Francis Drake of England to defeat the Spanish conquest.

Shy Anne? The original place-name spelling Cheyenne is preferable to this phonetic and slyly jokey spelling in every way.

The lynn suffix makes this one of the more feminine spellings of the popular name Jaelynn, which can also be spelling Jaelyn, Jaylin, and Jalen, among many other variations.

Upbeat Native American name with a wonderful meaning.

Palin has suddenly become a hot new surname-name given usually to girls. The inspiration can only be former Alaska governor Sarah, though the name Palin is her husband's -- her original surname is Heath. Palin herself is no stranger to the adventurous baby name, as the mother of daughters Bristol, Piper, and Willow, and sons Track and Trig. If you're a Sarah Palin fan and don't mind shouting it from the rooftops with a name your child will carry forever, then by all means choose Palin, which has a pretty sound. We are not, but then again we wouldn't name our child Obama, Reagan, or Kennedy either, as the association feels too weighty. If you like the sound of Palin but not the association, why not consider the ancient, attractive, and underused Pallas?

Olympic skier Picabo Street was allowed to choose her name at the age of three, and picked it possibly (a) after a nearby Idaho town or (b) because she loved to play peekaboo. No longer a single-person name, it is now worn by a number of satisfied bearers.

Fresher sounding than Mandy or Brandy, but Thandie might be a more original way to go.

Shevonne is proof that a name can be pretty and tacky at the same time.

This traditional Cherokee name could easily be borne by a modern baby girl with connections to the tribe.