Rare Earth and Space Names for Girls

Sunday

Day name, English from Latin

"day of the Sun"

Sunday is among the most usable of the day names with its sunny first syllable, its sweet sound, and its potential to be both a sassy or a spiritual choice. The name initially made headlines in 2008…

Valley

English word name

"low area of land between hills and mountains"

An evocative word name, conjuring up images of the beautiful low land between hills and mountains, and the streams and rivers that often run through them, Valley has the advantage of also sounding…

Blossom

English

"to bloom"

Now that parents have picked virtually every name in the garden, from the common Rose to the captivating Zinnia, some are reconsidering the old, more generic names like Flora and Posy and Blossom —…

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…

Mar

Latin

"sea"

The Spanish and Portuguese word for "sea" is a Top 100 name in Spain. In America, it's sometimes used as a nickname for names like Martina and Marina, but it could also plausibly stand on its own.

Cove

English

"small bay"

Cove is an up-and-coming nature name whose cool sound and peaceful image saw it rising for both sexes until COVID-19 hit. It decreased slightly for boys in 2020 and remained steading in 2021, but it…

Cypress

Botanical name

Lovely entry into the tree name genre, joining Juniper, Maple, and Willow. Nearly 200 babies were named Cypress in the US last year, about 40 percent of them female.

Nature

English word name

"natural, physical world"

Lots of parents choose nature names, but until recently, only a few choose the all-encompassing Nature. Given to just a handful of babies until 2019, it began to spark interest as a girl name.…

Era

Word name

Name that enjoyed some popularity early in the 20th century but now is locked in another, ahem, era.

Sable

English animal name

Sable is often associated with the Dynsaty soap opera, but it is actually a type of animal historically hunted for its fur. Sable is also used as a word for a warm, rich black color. Both…

Cedar

English from Latin tree name

"cedar tree"

A fresh and fragrant nature name, Cedar is one of the new tree/wood names that parents are starting to consider. While it is currently more popular for boys, it sounds similar enough to Selah, Celia,…

Aster

English, Amharic

"star"

A fresh addition to the botanical name lists, Aster has in fact been in use since the 1910s, albeit quietly and sporadically. It began taking off for girls in the late 2000s, coinciding with comedian…

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…

Fable

English word name

"a legendary story of supernatural happenings"

Fable, like Story, is a word name with real potential, combining enchanted tale-telling with a moral edge. And soundwise, it would fit right in with the likes of Abel and Mabel.

Silver

English word name

" a metallic chemical element with atomic number 47"

Among the first wave of word names used in the hippie era, it actually is a legitimate girl's name with a lot of luster.

Golden

Word name

"gold colored"

Like Silver, Golden is a shimmering, metallic color name, similar enough to the likes of Arden, Eden, and Gwendolyn that it might not over dazzle. It could work as an unexpected route to the vintage…

Cherry

English word name

"cherry"

With other fruity names like Clementine, Olive and Plum ripe for the picking, sweet Cherry remains remarkably underused: just 27 baby girls received the name in 2017, down from 343 at its peak in…

Lake

Nature name

This body of water runs deep; the best of a group of new possibilities that includes Bay, Ocean, River, and the more established Brook. It has received attention via the actress Lake Bell. Lake would…

November

English word name

"month name"

The menu of usable month names seems to expand every, well, month, with such choices as November, October, and January joining more established names like April, May, June and August. Logical…

Henna

Color name, Finnish feminization of Henry, English from German

"estate ruler"

Reddish dye that sounds as if it could be a real name — of the outdated, Old World, Yetta-Hedda variety.