Girl Names I love!

Alexandra fell out of the Top 100 for the first time since 1983 in 2015 but is still a popular choice. Strong, tasteful, and elegant, Alexandra remains a chic modern classic with a solid historic pedigree.

Alyssa was in the Top 20 from 1997-2010 and peaked as the 11th most popular girls’ name in 1998 and 1999 but has become less popular in recent years. It's related to the flower alyssum as well as to the classic Alice and variants. Alyssa Milano helped give it a bounce back when she was still a child sitcom star.

Extreme makeover: Brooklyn has gone from jokey Borough Boy name in the 1990s to a leading girls' name starting with B. The status of New York's Brooklyn as hipster heaven is ironic as few bona fide Brooklyn hipsters would choose this name.

An Irish and Welsh form of Catherine, Caitlin was a boom name of the eighties, rocketing from obscurity (Americans first heard it via the wife of doomed poet Dylan Thomas) to the height of popularity in the space of a decade. The original name was gradually eclipsed by its myriad spelling variations -- Katelyn and Kaitlyn both soon topping it on the popularity lists.

First-wave Irish name and place name—the poetic name for Ireland—now supplanted by newer alternatives such as Maeve and Delaney.

The quintessentially elegant and worldly Gabrielle -- designer Coco Chanel's real name -- is on its descent after years on the rise. Gabrielle was a hit in the 90s and early 2000s, peaking at number 46 in 1999. Popular nickname options include Gabby, Bri, and Brielle. Today Gabriella has taken over as the more popular version and still sits in the Top 100, while Gabrielle is soon to lose its spot in the Top 500. This follows a collective trend of "-a" ending version surpassing the more tailored versions, similar to how Daniela replaced Danielle.

There are no less than ten different variations of Hailey on the current Most Popular list, but this is the spelling that brought it into the Top 10 of 2010, although it has recently dipped a bit in popularity. So, although Hailey has a shiny, unpretentious charm, its mass popularity makes it very much of the moment. Look for the Hailee spelling to rise via Hailee Steinfeld, the young actress Oscar-nominated for her performance in True Grit.

Isabelle is the French variation of Isabel, which emerged in the Middle ages as an Occitan form of Elizabeth. Medieval queens Isabella of Angoulême and Isabella of France helped popularize the name in the United Kingdom. Isobel is the Scottish version, Isabella the Italian, and Izabel is used in Brazil.

This spelling of Jillian is now much more popular than the original, maybe because the G version invites pronunciation problems.

Julia was an ancient Roman imperial name given to females in the house of a Julius, as in Caesar. Its origin is shrouded in history, but possible roots include Latin iuvenis, meaning "youthfu"; Greek ioulos, meaning "downy-bearded"; or Jovis, a form of Jupiter, which means "sky father".

Once the quintessential bouncy teenager name, Kelly helped launch the trend of unisex Irish names . But it now takes a backseat to more substantial surname names like Kennedy.

Yesterday's hottie, today's mom name. It derives from several English place names and may mean "Cenel's island", from the Old English name Cenel "fierce".

Kiley is one of the more reasonable of the Kylie variations, which also include Kilea, Kilee, Kileigh, Kili, Kilie, Kylee, Kyley, Kyli, ad infinitum. Despite its similarity to the popular Riley, the high ranking Kylie will ensure that this choice comes with spelling confusion. For our part, we'd rather people stuck with the original Kylie, especially seeing as that is a Noongar Aboriginal word.

Originally inspired as a a girls’ name by eighties TV actress Mackenzie Phillips, parents have flocked to Mackenzie – once only a male name – for their daughters. Harry Potter creator J.K. Rowling is one of the thousands who've chosen Mackenzie. Other Mac names, such as Makayla and McKenna, are also newly popular for girls.

Megan was one of the first trendy names to spawn lots of spelling variations: This is one of the most tenacious and confusing. But with the ascendance of British Prince Harry's fiancee Meghan Markle, Meghan with an h (after the g and before the a) may soon become more familiar and more popular.

Molly is one of the original nickname names, ALWAYS ranking among the US Top 500 girl names since statistics began, in 1880. Molly peaked in 1991 only to rise just as high again in 2011, and though softening retains a good measure of popularity and charm.

A place name with a deep Southern accent, the once-obscure Savannah shot to fame, with others of its genre, on the heels of the best seller Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, which was set in the mossy Georgia city of Savannah. Originally a substitute for the overused Samantha, Savannah is now becoming overused itself, long among the top girls' names starting with S.

Sophia, which was the Number 1 girls' name in the US from 2011 to 2013, is among the top girl names in the Western World, with a sensuous sound and high-minded meaning. A real winner, Sophia reached the top of the charts without losing any—okay, much—of its sophisticated beauty.