English Girl Names by ViVi

Whether you think of the chocolates or the naked long-haired lady on the horse, Godiva is a name with baggage no child should have to carry.

Alura has an entirely different root from the similar Allura and shares the fairy tale tinge. It could be a great choice for a wise baby girl.

Feels like a hybrid. Better go for Edith or Evelyn.

Demi and Bruce made waves when they named their now-grown firstborn after novelist Rumer Godden; a possible downside is its connection with the word rumor. English author Godden was actually born Margaret, with Rumer (a family surname) as her middle name

The modern name Dena can be considered to come from either of two Old Testament names. Adina, which means delicate, was the name of a male soldier in the Bible. Dinah, meaning judged, Dinah was the daughter of Jacob and Leah. Dena is a common name in Amish communities.

Although this is a legitimate name, most people would associate it with a line of Volkswagens -- you'd be better off choosing a Mercedes.

In 2014, fifteen newborns were named Whisper, all of them girls. We can see the attraction of the name but if you are in Australia be warned - Whisper is a well-known brand of sanitary products, so a teenaged Whisper will find life more embarrassing than usual.

Blakesley is the name of a village in England, also sometimes found as a surname along with Blakely and Blakeley, turned into a first name for their daughter by reality stars Trista and Ryan Sutter. Blakesley joins other -ley ending names -- Hadley, Finley -- as one of the most popular forms of unisex names with a girlish spin.

The combined inspiration of reggae master Bob and the dog-loving romp "Marley and Me" catapulted this name up the chart in recent years. But what goes up....

Compact and creative, it has been associated with one-time Cagney & Lacey star Tyne Daly.

Quirky and cute.

Marvel, now a character name in The Hunger Games series, was a miracle name of yesterday, on the girls' Social Security list until 1941 and reaching a high of 487 at the turn of the last century, when Marva was also in style.

This variation of the more well known Alvin adds an unusual and feminine touch to the original. It sounds a bit more like what it means--"elf friend."

In the Plymouth Colony of the seventeenth century, Thankful was the third most popular of the abstract word names. It disappeared after 1700 and has virtually no chance of returning.

She'd better be. Merry is one of the classic names for Christmas babies.

While Haidee may sound like a variant of Heidi or Hailey, it's actually a separate name with a literary history. First appearing in Byron's epic poem Don Juan (1819), it was likely inspired by the Greek word aidoios meaning "modest, reserved".

Pretty and distinctive choice for poetry lovers.

One of the more unusual word names used by Plymouth pilgrims for their children. Fear Brewster is an example of the usage of this name. Definitely one of the historic pilgrim names best left in the past.

Brings Jennifer into the twenty-first century.

Not time yet for Thyme.