Villanelle

Is Villanelle the new Sonnet? This elaborate name is a form of poetry — an example is Dylan Thomas's Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night — but many know it better as an assassin's codename in the TV show Killing Eve. Inspired by that, Villanelle debuted on the American charts in 2022 when it was used for five baby girls.

It's rich with nickname potential, but we're not sure if it sounds too villainous... or if it could be an appealing "bad girl name" like Delilah.
As a word, Villanelle is derived from the Italian villanella, a type of pastoral song with refrains. Villanella ultimately comes from the Medieval Latin villanus, meaning "farmhand".

Before Killing Eve (or the 2017 novel it's based on), Villanelle appeared as a name in Jeanette Winterson's novel, The Passion, published in the late 80s.

Pronounced vil-uh-NEL.

As of October 2026, Villanelle ranked #17581 in US births in 2022 SSA.