​
​
Advanced Search

Best of Top 1000 Girl Names

SaraMRS
By SaraMRS
Updated Sun Sep 09 2018
Hello Berries! My husband and I have a difficult time when looking for baby girl names. I like names that are familiar yet uncommon but hubby likes them to be more on the traditional side. I looked through the top 1000 girl names and out of every 10 names I chose my favorite. Along the way I got rid of some that had unpleasant nicknames and added one or two that weren’t included in the top 1000 - but should be! I found this method extremely helpful.
  1. Phoebe

    • Origin:

      Greek

    • Meaning:

      "radiant, shining one"

    • Description:

      Bubbly, bright, and versatile, Phoebe is a name with mythological, biblical, and literary ties. Used since the 17th century, it fell out of fashion in the US during the '60s, only to be revived after it appeared in the 90's TV favorite, Friends.
  2. Isla

    • Origin:

      Scottish place-name or Spanish

    • Meaning:

      "island"

    • Description:

      Isla is a hit name throughout the English-speaking world but hasn't found the same popularity in other western countries, perhaps because its spelling and pronunciation don't make sense for those whose native language is not English. Think island without the final two letters.
  3. Mia

    • Origin:

      Italian word name or Scandinavian short form of Maria

    • Meaning:

      "mine or bitter"

    • Description:

      Mia is an appealingly unfussy multicultural name that has enjoyed a meteoric rise up the charts and is now firmly among the ten top girl names. Mia has surpassed its mother name Maria as the Number 1 girls' name starting with M.
  4. Caroline

    • Origin:

      French, feminine variation of Charles

    • Meaning:

      "free man"

    • Description:

      Caroline is a perennial classic, one of the elite group of girls' names that's ALWAYS ranked among the Top 1000 and that's been in the Top 100 since 1994. Elegant yet strong, Caroline calls to mind the Kennedy Camelot years and Princess Caroline of Monaco.
  5. Freya

    • Origin:

      Norse

    • Meaning:

      "a noble woman"

    • Description:

      Freya has long been popular in the U.K. but has only taken off in the US in the last decade, along with the entire category of mythological names. Derived from the Old Norse name Freyja, meaning "Lady, noble woman", Freya is the name of the Norse goddess of love, beauty, and fertility.
  6. Thea

    • Origin:

      Greek

    • Meaning:

      "goddess, godly"

    • Description:

      Thea is a diminutive of names ending in -thea, including Dorothea, Althea, and Anthea. It is also the Anglicized spelling of Theia, the Titan of sight, goddess of light, and mother of the moon. She was the consort of Hyperion, and mother of Helios, Selene, and Eos.
  7. Lola

    • Origin:

      Spanish, diminutive of Dolores

    • Meaning:

      "lady of sorrows"

    • Description:

      A hot starbaby name – chosen by Kelly Ripa, Chris Rock, Lisa Bonet, Denise Richards and Charlie Sheen, Carnie Wilson, and Annie Lennox, and used as the nickname of Madonna's Lourdes – Lola manages to feel fun and sassy without going over the top. Be warned, though: "Whatever Lola wants, Lola gets," to quote a song from the show Damn Yankees.
  8. Eden

    • Origin:

      Hebrew

    • Meaning:

      "place of pleasure, delight"

    • Description:

      Eden is an attractive, serene name with obvious intimations of Paradise, one of several place names drawn from the Bible by the Puritans in the 17th century.
  9. Felicity

    • Origin:

      Latin

    • Meaning:

      "good fortune, happy"

    • Description:

      Felicity is as accessible a virtue name as Hope and Faith, but much more feminine -- and dare we say, happier. The hit TV show did a lot to soften and modernize the once buttoned-up image of Felicity, and it got further notice as the red-haired Colonial doll, Felicity Merriman, in the American Girl series. A current bearer is actress Felicity Huffman.
  10. Jane

    • Origin:

      English

    • Meaning:

      "God is gracious"

    • Description:

      No, we don't consider Jane too plain. In fact, for a venerable and short one-syllable name, we think it packs a surprising amount of punch, as compared to the related Jean and Joan.
  11. Nina

    • Origin:

      Short form of names that end in -nina

    • Description:

      Nina is as multiethnic as you can get: Nina is a common nickname name in Spain and Russia, a Babylonian goddess of the oceans, and an Incan goddess of fire. Here and now, it's a stylish possibility that's been underused. "Weird Al" Yankovic chose this decidedly nonweird name for his daughter.
  12. Quinn

    • Origin:

      Irish

    • Meaning:

      "descendant of Conn, chief leader, intelligence"

    • Description:

      Quinn is an engaging Celtic surname that is still on the rise for girls but beginning to flag for boys. As a female name, Quinn is in the Top 100, used for over 3000 baby girls last year, but toward the bottom of the Top 500 for boys, given to 700 baby boys.
  13. Fiona

    • Origin:

      Scottish

    • Meaning:

      "white, fair"

    • Description:

      Fiona entered the American consciousness with the opening of the 1954 Broadway musical Brigadoon, but didn't come onto the U.S. popularity list until 1990.
  14. Naomi

    • Origin:

      Hebrew

    • Meaning:

      "pleasantness"

    • Description:

      Naomi was once a primarily Jewish name from the Old Testament that referenced the mother-in-law of Ruth. Because of this, it is a symbolic name given to girls on Shavuot when the story of Ruth is read in the synagogue.
  15. Esther

    • Origin:

      Persian

    • Meaning:

      "star"

    • Description:

      Esther was derived from the Old Persian word stāra, meaning "star." In the Old Testament, Esther, originally named Hadassah, was the captured Jewish wife of the King of Persia who risked her life to save her exiled people from annihilation. This story is celebrated by Jews on the holiday of Purim, so that it has traditionally been given to girls around that time.
  16. Marie

    • Origin:

      French variation of Mary

    • Meaning:

      "drop of the sea, bitter, or beloved"

    • Description:

      The ubiquitous French version of Mary came into the English-speaking world in the nineteenth century. In the United States, Marie was a huge hit at the turn of the last century and for the ensuing fifty years, becoming the seventh most popular name in the country for three years, from 1901 to 1904.
  17. Shiloh

    • Origin:

      Biblical place-name, Hebrew

    • Meaning:

      "tranquil"

    • Description:

      Cool meets Born Again meets Brad and Angelina, who made Shiloh an instant star when they chose it for their daughter. While Shiloh has risen from obscurity thanks to its celebrity baby use, it hasn't become a star the way brother names Maddox and Pax have. It entered the Top 1000 in 2007, one year after the birth of Ms. Jolie-Pitt.
  18. Harper

    • Origin:

      English

    • Meaning:

      "harp player"

    • Description:

      You might think of Harper as the hottest name of the last decade, jumping from obscurity to the Top 10, where it remained until last year.
  19. Zoey

    • Origin:

      Spelling variation of Zoe

    • Meaning:

      "life"

    • Description:

      Zoey is a modern spelling variation of Zoe, the Greek Jewish translation of Eve. For a few years, it was even more popular than the original Zoe, but has now dropped back to the second-ranked spelling — not by much, however. In a recent year, Zoe ranked at #29 in the US, which Zoey featured at #59.
  20. Natalie

    • Origin:

      French variation of Russian Natalia

    • Meaning:

      "birthday of the Lord"

    • Description:

      Natalie — a Franco-Russian name — became Americanized years ago and is one of those surprising names that's always ranked among the girls' Top 1000 names in the US.