Old Fashioned Girl Names

Lillian has ranked among the US Top 100 for the past 20 years, making it Lily's less popular but more grown-up cousin.

Ruth, with its air of calm and compassion, was the third most popular name in the 1890s, remaining in the Top 10 through the 1920s. It's still in use today as some parents tiring of Rachel and Rebecca are giving Ruth a second thought. Some see such Old Testament girls’ names as Ruth and Esther rising on the heels of boy equivalents Abel and Moses.

Despite appearances, Rosemary is not a "smoosh" name, not even a traditional one. The name derives from two Latin terms "Ros" meaning ‘dew’ and "Marinus" "meaning "of the sea". The plant was termed ‘dew of the sea’ due to its salty texture and its ability to thrive in coastal climes. Only after the Middle Ages did the English names of Rose and Mary become interchanged with the name Rosmarinus and give us the modern name we use today.

Opal is on the verge of a repolishing, following other jewel names like Ruby and Pearl. A Top 100 name during the first two decades of the twentieth century, the opalescent Opal has a good chance of coming back as another O-initial option.

Rosalind has a distinguished literary history – used and popularized by Edmund Spenser and Shakespeare via one of his most charming heroines, in As You Like It. Along with a bouquet of other Rose names, Rosalind might be ready for a comeback.

Sophisticated and sweet, delicate but substantial, Madeleine is the classic French variation of Magdalene.

Ann, the name of the sainted mother of the Virgin Mary, was among the top girls’ names for centuries, in both the original English Ann spelling and the French Anne. Both left the Top 100 around 1970 and show no signs of returning, with Anne is the middle of the US Top 1000 and Ann dropped out of sight.

Cecile is a fairly common French saint's name, scattered throughout classic French literature--in Les Liaisons Dangereuses, in Balzac's Cousin Pons, and Zola's Germinal.

Almost as popular in the 1950s among the Irish in Boston as it was with those back in Bray, Maureen was once among the most prominent Irish names for girls in the US but has fallen from favor along with most of her een-ending sisters such as Eileen and Colleen.

Marlene Dietrich made it famous when she condensed her first two names, Maria and Magdalena. Now more often pronounced with two syllables rather than three.

This spelling variation of the classic Evelyn gives it a trendy makeover to fit in with the surge of names ending with -lynn suffixes. Recent counts have seen it given to around 1000 girls each year and it sits with the Top 400.