Girl names not too trendy, not too boring

Briana

Feminine variation of Brian

"strong, virtuous, honorable"

Spelled this way, Briana was coined by Edmund Spenser for his great literary work, The Faerie Queene , which gives the now-overexposed name a far classier pedigree than it's usually credited with.…

Drew

English diminutive of Andrew, Greek

"strong and manly"

Drew is an elegant formerly male-only alternative to Andy that joined the stylishly upscale Paige-Brooke-Blair sorority, thanks largely to Drew Barrymore. Barrymore comes by her first name…

Lennox

Scottish

"elm grove"

Lennox is one of the new breed of surname names on the rise as a Scottish name for girls as well as boys. The final x makes the name a bit masculine a la Max and Felix, but female inspirations…

Kyra

Feminine variation of Cyrus, Persian

"throne"

The girls' name Kyra sounds like the also popular Keira/Kiera, but has a different root. There are twice as many baby girls named Keira as Kyra, with Kiera in third place. Kyra now ranks at #590 and…

Indigo

Greek

"Indian dye"

Indigo is one of the most appealing and evocative of the new generation of color names. Color names have joined flower and jewel names -- in a big way -- and Indigo, a deep blue-purple dye from…

Chandler

English from French occupational name

"candle maker"

In the US, nearly 300 baby girls were named Chandler in the US last year, which first appeared on the girls' Top 1000 in the heyday of Friends . While the TV character was masculine, today the name…

Cordelia

Latin; Celtic

"heart; daughter of the sea"

Cordelia is exactly the kind of old-fashioned, grown-up name for girls that many parents are seeking for their daughters today. The name of King Lear's one sympathetic daughter, Cordelia has both…

Sinclair

Scottish

"from the town of St. Clair"

The most famous Sinclair was the (male) writer Lewis, but these days the name works at least as well for a girl.

Alexa

Greek, English

"defending men"

Alexa was a steadily popular modern classic until Amazon's virtual assistant Alexa was released in 2013. It remains relatively well used in the US despite this, though its standing keeps dropping for…

Ireland

Place name

Kim Basinger and Alec Baldwin put Ireland on the map when they chose it as a first for their daughter, saying that geographic names were a family tradition. And it seems they were a bit ahead of the…

Audriana

English compound name, Audrey + Ana

"noble strength + grace"

Variation of Adriana, with a dash of Audrey thrown in. While fewer than 100 baby girls are named Audriana in the US each year, it's part of a constellation of names including Aubrey, Aubriana, and…

Spencer

French

"keeper of provisions"

Yes, Spencer makes a plausible and powerful female choice these days, though it's still used four times as often for boys as for girls. But Spencer does not swim that far beneath the Top 1000, used…

Guinivere

Guinivere is a variant spelling of Guinevere, the name of King Arthur's queen in Arthurian legend. Derived from the Welsh name Gwenhwyfar, meaning 'white phantom' or 'fair one,' it combines 'gwen'…

Milania

Variation of Milana or Melania

This name similar to Milana and Melania was popularized by Real Housewives of New Jersey star Teresa Guidice's daughter. It has ranked in the US Top 1000 since 2011.

Lark

English bird name

Lark is getting some new and well-deserved attention as a post-Robin and Raven bird name. Although it was first recorded as a name in the 1830's, it has never appeared on the Social Security list.…

Bryce

Scottish surname

"speckled, freckled"

Bryce is the preferred spelling over Brice for both genders, with nearly 70 girls named Bryce in one recent year vs. only five called Brice. But note that there were over 3000 boys named Bryce and…

Bronwyn

Welsh

"white breast"

One of the loveliest of the Welsh names , striking the perfect balance between being familiar and unusual. In Wales, the female spelling is always Bronwen, but Americans usually see a "y" as adding…