Curse the Gods

Georgia

English, feminine variation of George

"farmer"

Georgia is so rich, lush and luscious, it's almost irresistible. Georgia's now a rising star among the feminizations of George, helped by associations with the southern state (named for British King…

Arabella

Latin, Scottish

"yielding to prayer; lovable"

Arabella, lovely and elegant, has long been well used in Britain and finally made it onto the American list in 2005. A Top 50 choice in the UK, in the US in remains in the Top 300, given to around…

Leila

Arabic

"night"

Leila was popularized in the West by the poet Byron, who used it in his poem Don Juan for a ten-year-old Turkish girl. Leila also appears as a fairy in the Gilbert & Sullivan comic opera Iolanthe .…

Kayla

Hebrew

"crown, wreath; fortress; who is like God?"

Kayla is a modern invented name that emerged in the late 1950s. It may have been inspired by the similar sounding Michaela, though it could equally have come about as a combination of the then…

Regina

Latin

"queen"

A classic name with regal elegance--Queen Victoria, like other queens, had Regina appended to her name. She was a Top 100 name in the 1960s. St. Regina was a third century virgin martyr and her name…

Flora

Latin

"flower"

Flora, the name of the Roman goddess of flowers and spring, who enjoyed eternal youth, is one of the gently old-fashioned girls' flower names that's making a big comeback. Short and sweet, it joins…

Billie

English, diminutive of Wilhelmina, Wilma

"resolute protection"

Billie is a tomboy nickname name, part of the growing trend for using boyish nicknames for girls and now destined for stardom along with its most famous contemporary bearer, music sensation Billie…

Kelly

Irish

"war"

Once the quintessential bouncy teenager name, Kelly helped launch the trend of unisex Irish names . But it now takes a backseat to more substantial surname names like Kennedy.

Serafina

Italian and Spanish variation of Seraphina

"ardent"

Serafina is a name so lovely it's worthy of an angel. But the more stylish spelling today is Seraphina.

Magdalene

Spelling variation of Magdalen

"woman from Magdala or high tower"

This name made famous in the New Testament has gone from crusty grandma to sleek and chic in recent years, or is it months? The name's image is perhaps helped by the fact that Mary Magdalene was one…

Kamilla

Scandinavian; Hungarian; Russian, variation of Camilla

Kamilla is the usual spelling of Camilla throughout Scandinavia and in Finland, Hungary, Iceland, and Greenland. Kamma is an appealing short form.

Lumi

Finnish

"snow"

Lumi may be a rare girls' name in the USA and England, but it comes in the Top 50 in Finland, where it means snow. Given the popularity of Winter, Holly, Ivy and many other wintery-christmassy names,…

Valentine

French variation of Valentina

"strength, health"

For a girl, we'd say Val-en-teen, though many would insist on pronouncing it like the holiday.

Nichole

Nichole is a feminine name, a variant spelling of Nicole, which itself is the French feminine form of Nicholas. The name derives from Greek elements 'nike' meaning 'victory' and 'laos' meaning…

Liesl

German diminutive of Elizabeth

"pledged to God"

Sweet but sleek, and distinctive, Liesl is an old German nickname-name for Elisabeth. It might have once seemed inextricably tied to to its country of origin, but now, like Elsa, Enzo, Saoirse,…

Ixchel

Mayan

"lady rainbow"

A distinctive mythological name. likely derived from the Maya elements of ix and chel meaning "lady" and "rainbow" respectively, Ixchel was a Mayan Goddess associated with the moon, pregnancy,…