Modern Magical Girl Names

Eden

Hebrew

"place of pleasure, delight"

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. Eden entered the Top 1000 in 1989, and…

River

Nature name

Most of the notable Rivers have been male, but this nature name certainly flows as well for a girl. The name River is still rising for both genders, with about 3500 baby boys receiving the name last…

Sunny

English nickname

Upbeat nickname-name that can't help but make you smile. You might want to use it as a short form for a more "serious" name such as Sunniva, but Sunny is undeniably, well, sunny.

Robin

Bird name, or English, diminutive of Robert

"bright fame"

After a 60 year slide down the popularity ladder, Robin made a turnaround in 2020 and began climbing back into favor for baby girls. One reason may be its new status as one of the most evenly-divided…

Cloud

English word name

"water vapor in the atmosphere"

This kind of plainspoken nature name (think River and Sunshine) may still carry a whiff of the hippie, but this one has a nice, airy feel. It's slight similarity to Claude and Clyde helps to ground…

Moon

Word name

At one time, Moon might have felt like a celebrity-only option, memorably chosen by Frank Zappa for his daughter Moon Unit. Now, with Sunny, Goldie, Wren, Star, Storm, Ocean, Onyx, and Scout in the…

Rainbow

English

"rainbow"

Colorful, yes, but also probably among the hippiest of hippie names. Holly Madison recently chose it for her little girl.

Robinet

Robinet is an unusual feminine name with French origins, functioning as a diminutive form of 'Robin.' Historically, it was more common as a surname than a given name. The name literally means 'little…

Star

Word name

Most parents today would prefer the softer-sell Stella. But Star has symbolic power related to Christmas, so this could make one of the perfect names for December babies .

Starling

Bird name

Unusual choice that was the original name of children's illustrator Tasha Tudor, but is an interesting elaboration of Star, taking it into avian territory.

Sunshine

Word name

Sunshine was seen as a quintessential hippie name of the 70s, reaching as high as Number 536 in 1975. Now such names are making a bit of a retro comeback, seen, for example, as a character on Glee .

Dove

Nature name

"dove, a bird"

One of the new bird names, like Lark and Wren, this one's associated with the billing and cooing sounds of love. Soft and gentle, Dove also has the admirable association with peace. Dove was actually…

Doe

English

"a female deer"

Doe is a soft and gentle-eyed middle name possibility and, like Fawn, one of the few animal names open to girls. The Ballad of Baby Doe is a modern American opera based on the story of Elizabeth…