Aglae to Zulma: Names of my Spanish-Cajun Ancestors

Adelina is back in the Top 1000 after an absence of nearly a century, thanks to the meteoric rise of her sister name Adeline -- along with Adelaide, Adele, and Ada. Some parents choose Adelina because they want to get to cute vintage nickname Addie, but others favor it as a slightly more unusual form of this sweet vintage girls' name. A lot of attention was focused on it recently via the women's figure skating gold medal winner at the Sochi winter olympics--Adelina Sotnikova.

While Adeline is usually pronounced in the U.S. with a long i in the last syllable, to rhyme with mine, Adelina is pronounced with the long e sound at the end, as in 'lee-na'.

Celestine is a pretty, crystalline extension (actually a diminutive) of Celeste that would make a choice that is both delicate and strong. It is also a popular name in France.

Elina is one of the many variations of mother name Helen to make the Top 1000 list, this one just squeaking on. This is an appealing name but you may find it too similar to too many other names from Elena to Alina to Helena.

The lyrical and melodious Elodie, a Nameberry favorite, is starting to rise through the US popularity charts for the first time since the 1880s. It's a uncommon member of the trending El- family of names, which includes Ella, Eloise, and Eleanor.

Ferdinand, a traditional name in the royal families of Spain and a handsome young prince shipwrecked on Prosper's island in Shakespeare's The Tempest has, unfortunately, to the American ear a somewhat heavy and clumsy feel – most likely because of the bull connection. In the 1880's it was in the 200's on the US pop list, but has been off completely since 1986.

Junius is one of those names that's growing on us, along with many of its Roman countrymen such as Julius and Atticus. We once thought it was a combination of the least attractive elements of Junior and Julius but now we think...well, we think it's okay. Not great, but okay.