Portuguese Royalty Names

Adelaide is now heading straight uphill on the coattails of such newly popular sisters as Ava, Ada, and Audrey, and in the company of Adeline and Amelia. It was chosen by actress Katherine Heigl for the name of her second daughter.

Alfonso was a royal name in Spain as far back as the 7th century, but it is rarely heard outside the Hispanic community in the US.

Confident and compact, Ana is a widely used variation of the Biblical Hannah. Favored in Spain, Slovenia, Bosnia, Portugal, and Croatia, this shorter spelling has the same substance and versatility of its longer counterparts.

Augusta is a dignified name reminiscent of wealthy great-aunts, but with the fashion for both August and Gus for boys, Augusta could get some fresh energy.

With the current craze for ancient Roman names, variations of the Latin Augustus with its majestic meaning are becoming more popular in many cultures. Month name August, also drawn from the original Augustus, is the most popular form in the US, but Augusto may start showing up on international popularity lists.

Attractive translation of Beatrice, popular with Hispanic parents. Beatriz is currently a Top 10 girl name in Portugal.

Benedita is easy for an English speaker to pronounce yet sounds just uncommon enough to be intriguing. And with Benedict more in mainstream use, Benedita feels possible.

Berengaria was one of the medieval queens of England - married to Richard I (also known as Richard the Lionheart). She was originally from Navarre (in modern northern Spain) and despite being the Queen of England, she only lived in England after her husband had died. Despite its royal roots, Berengaria is one of the less attractive medieval names, although it gets points for having an unusually strong meaning for a feminine name.