Girl names

Verity

Latin

"truth"

If you love Puritan virtue names and want to move beyond Hope and Faith and Grace, this is a wonderful choice, both for its meaning and its sound. A rare find here, though occasionally heard in…

Xanthe

Greek

"golden, yellow"

X marks the spot in names these days, usually at the middles or ends of names, but here is one that puts it squarely up front. This extravagant name, which, like many Greek names beginning with X, is…

Yana

Slavic variation of Jana, feminine variation of John

"God is gracious"

A Slavic classic, as common as Jane or Joan here. If you live in an Anglophone culture and you want it pronounced with a Y sound at the beginning, use the Y spelling.

Yvetta

Yvetta is a feminine name of French origin, serving as a variant of Yvette, which itself is the feminine form of Yves. The name ultimately derives from the Germanic element 'iv,' meaning 'yew tree,'…

Yvette

French, feminine of Yves

"yew tree"

This French name has the elegance of other '-ette' names like Colette and Odette, and is a botanical name without being too obvious about it. Related to the sleek French name Yves, it was popular in…

Zillah

Hebrew

"shade"

A light, bohemian-sounding biblical name, mentioned in the bible as a wife of Lamech, one of the first men.

Zorah

Biblical place-name

Zorah, the Old Testament home of Samson, is both soft and substantial, and also has musical heritage, having appeared on a character in the Gilbert and Sullivan opera, Ruddigore (1887). Similar in…