Girls Names from YA Fantasy

Calla

Greek

"beautiful"

Calla is a botanical name that is much more distinctive than popular Lily or similar Callie. Rarely heard today, it did appear in the popularity lists in the last decades of the nineteenth century.…

Agatha

Greek

"good woman"

Agatha until recently summoned up visions of martyred saints, mauve silk dresses, and high lace collars, but now that some dauntless excavators have begun to resurrect it, we're sure more will follow…

Amarantha

Flower name; Greek

"unfading"

Amarantha is a rare botanical name whose mythical equivalent was believed to be immortal. The Italian and Spanish form is the somewhat-more-acccessible Amaranta.

Genya

Genya is a feminine name with Slavic origins, particularly used in Russian, Ukrainian, and Eastern European cultures. It typically functions as a diminutive of names like Eugenia/Yevgeniya, which…

Zoya

Russian and Greek variation of Zoe, Greek

"life"

Now that Zoe is getting wildly popular in the U.S. and the U.K. -- one poll puts it at number one in Wales -- parents may start hunting down fresh twists like this.

Despina

Greek

"lady"

Despina is best known as the clever and wily maidservant character in Mozart's opera Così fan tutte , and as one of Neptune's moons, making it a musical and an astronomy-inspired choice. However, the…

Tea

Short form of Dorotea or Mattea

"gift of God"

As Theo and Thea get more popular, so do Teo and Tea, short forms of the Latinate variations of Theodore and Matthew -- which include Dorotea and Mattea. But like Theo and Thea, Tea can stand…

Mirabella

Italian variation of Mirabelle

"wonderful"

The short-lived magazine edited by former Vogue chief Grace Mirabella put this beautiful name off-limits for a while, but now it's perfectly fit to join the fashionable Bella pantheon. More…

Katharine

Spelling variation of Katherine, Greek

"pure"

This is the spelling that old-time film star Katharine Hepburn used, and it's still favored by fans wanting to reference her classic strength and beauty. But in general, it's losing ground to…

Lissa

African, Arabic mythological name; diminutive of Melissa, Greek

"honeybee"

Lissa might be an abbreviation of Melissa, but it's more substantial in its own right: Lissa is the name of a supreme mother goddess in African mythology and an Arabic symbol of rebirth.

Kelsea

Kelsea is a feminine name that originated as a variant spelling of Kelsey, which began as an English surname derived from place names meaning 'Cenel's island' or 'ship's island.' This alternative…