My favourite L names for girls

Lilah

Variation of Lila, Arabic, English

"night"

Lilah may be a simple spelling variation of Lila— itself an alternative form of the Arabic Leila — or you might think of it as a shortening of Delilah or an Anglicization of the Hebrew Lilach, which…

Louise

French and English, feminine variation of Louis

"renowned warrior"

Louise has for several decades now been seen as competent, studious, and efficient—desirable if not dramatic qualities. But now along with a raft of other L names, as well as cousin Eloise, Louise is…

Lettie

English, diminutive of Letitia, Latin

"joy, gladness"

Lettie, also spelled Letty, is a nickname name that until recently, had rarely been heard since the 1950s. Now, this treasured antique is on the rise, fitting right in with the trend for…

Livia

Diminutive of Olivia or Latin

"blue, envious"

Though it sounds like a chopped-off variation of Olivia, which means olive, the distinctively attractive Livia has been an independent name since the days of the ancient Romans, when it belonged to…

Lane

English

"a small roadway or path"

Lane is a unisex name equally accessible to boys and girls. Breezy, cool and contemporary, it might equally put in mind country lanes and banks of wildflowers. As a word name, Lane means "small…

Leigh

English variation of Lee

"pasture, meadow"

This spelling adds a little more femininity to the neutral Lee. Leigh and sister Lee were quite popular in the 1960s and 1970s among the first cool wave of unisex names for girls, but now have…

Lillia

Latin

"lilies"

More than Lily yet less than Lillian, Lillia is a fresh and undeniably pretty member of the stylish genus of double (or in this case triple) l names. You can also spell it Lilia.

Linden

English tree name

"tree of the genus Tilla"

Though this name of a sturdy tree that can live for centuries was quite popular for boys in the first half of the twentieth century, at this point in time we can see Linden as a fresh-sounding…

Lula

Diminutive of any Lu name

Lula is one of the livelier nickname-names with the fashionable double-L sound: It joins Lulu, Lila, Lily, and Lou among the trendiest names today. Lula might be short for Talula and sisters or for…

Lux

Latin

"light"

This name of a character played by Kirsten Dunst in the movie Virgin Suicides , originally a novel by Jeffrey Eugenides, is gaining attention, also thanks to the heroine Lux, Lady of Luminosity in…