Favorite Girl Names

A pretty Kazakh name derived from Turkish ayla, meaning "moonlight". The Hawaiian name 'Ailana (with the 'okina mark) means "loving".

One of the romantic names favored by British pastoral poets, more appealing in its longer form, Araminta.

Bryony is an unusually strong plant name --the bryony is a wild climbing vine with green flowers --that caught on in the U.K. before sprouting here. The name of the young character in the Ian McEwan novel Atonement is spelled Briony, which is the variation and Bryony the original.

Claire, luminous, simple, and strong, is one of those special names that is familiar yet distinctive, feminine but not frilly, combining historical depth with a modern edge. And though Claire is enjoying revived popularity, it will never be seen as trendy. Claire is also a great middle name choice.

While Danica may sound similar to Dana, Danielle, and Daniela, Danica is not a variation. Danica, a delicate and unique Slavic name meaning "Morning Star," is synonymous with Venus in many countries.

Dovie was a fairly popular nickname name a century or more ago, dropping off the Top 1000 in the 1940s only to be heading straight back uphill now.

Eliora is a melodic name ripe with vowel sounds.

Eloisa captures a lovely name back from the spoiled little girl at the Plaza. Historical romance writer Eloisa James has helped make this antique name sound fresh and sassy again.

Eloise is newly chic, along with many other names with the El- beginning. Eloise reentered the US Top 1000 girl names in 2009 after a 50 year nap and broke into the Top 100 in 2022. And she shows no signs of slowing down.

A beautiful modern Cornish nature name that is rapidly picking up steam in the States: even spawning variant spellings like Elowyn and Elowynn. In its native region, it wasn't widely used as a name before the twentieth century, when the Cornish language was revived. A (currently) unique member of the fashionble El- family of names, it has a pleasant, evocative sound.

Of all the botanicals, Fern has been one of the slowest to move back from the front parlor into the nursery, despite the appealing girl character in the children's classic Charlotte's Web. Fern was most popular from the turn of the last century through the 1940s, reaching a high of #152 in 1916. We can certainly see her rejoining the long list of popular greenery names.

Francesca is a lighter and much more feminine choice than the classic Frances, and one that is increasingly popular with upscale parents.

Gemma is a jewel of a name, an Italian classic that was very popular in 1980s England, but has only recently been started to be used here; it entered the list in 2008.

The Italian Gianna undoubtedly owes much of its popularity in the US to its status as an honor name for John. Before the importation of Gianna, there was no truly workable feminine form of John, so Gianna found widespread favor among American parents with Italian roots and far beyond.

Haven is a recently invented safe-harbor name that appeals to an increasing number of parents who don't want to voyage quite as far as Heaven.

Though there are a few (male) people named Havilah in the Bible, it's also a Biblical place-name that can work as an original choice for modern girls.

Serene Irene, the name of the Greek goddess of peace and one of the most familiar Greek goddess names, was hugely popular in ancient Rome and again in the United States a hundred years ago.