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sappho's longlist - girls
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Posie
Variation of Posy or short form of Mariposa, English or Spanish
"a bunch of flowers or butterfly"
Posie and its near-identical twins Posy and Posey are delicate old-fashioned flower names of the type that are stylish today: Think Poppy, Marigold, Clover. Perhaps because it's the name of cosmetics…
Posy
English
"a bunch of flowers"
A sweet, nostalgic nosegay kind of name, Posy has been long fashionable in England, a country of gardeners, but this pretty bouquet-of-flowers name is still rarely heard in the US, though it could be…
Primrose
English flower name
"first rose"
A quaint and quirky flower name, until recently considered a bit too prim for most American classrooms but brought back to life in recent years by the attractive character of Primrose "Prim" Everdeen…
Proserpina
Variation of Proserpine, Latin
"bringer of destruction"
The Roman equivalent of Persephone, making her a goddess of spring, and queen of the underworld. Also spelled Proserpine.
Proserpine
Latin from Greek
"to emerge or bringer of destruction"
Proserpine is the Roman equivalent of the goddess Persephone, the Queen of the Underworld in Greek myth. The story of Persephone is one of the most famous in classical mythology. The daughter of…
Poesy
Word name
"poetry"
This old-fashioned word for poetry has some antiquated charm but doesn't exactly roll off the tongue.
Penthesilea
Greek
"mournful grip"
An interesting figure from Greek mythology -- an Amazon queen who fought for Troy in the Trojan War -- but no figure could be interesting enough to make that five-syllable mouthful usable today.…
Prudence
Virtue name
"caution"
Prudence, like Hope and Faith, is a Puritan virtue name with a quiet charm and sensitivity that is slowly returning to favor, though it hasn't yet registered on the charts. The White Album Beatles…
Psyche
Greek
"breath"
This name of the mortal girl loved by Eros is too loaded with psyche/psycho/psychic associations. The mythological Psyche became goddess of the soul.
Puck
Literary name
Puck, the mischievous sprite of Shakespeare, is a unisex name given more often to girls in The Netherlands and is also the name of one of the moons of Uranus, discovered in 1985 and named Puck for…
Marjorie
Scottish variation of Margery, diminutive of Margaret
"pearl"
Scottish Marjorie and her English twin Margery were early twentieth century favorites that date back to medieval times, when it was popular among the royals. They were at their height in the 1920s,…
Rain
Word name
Among a small shower of rain-related names, this pure version can have a cool, refreshing image. Richard Pryor named his now-grown daughter Rain, and Rain is also one of the nature-named Phoenix…
Raphaelle
French feminine variation of Raphael, Hebrew
"God has healed"
American baby girls are usually given an a-ending version of this name -- Rafaela, Raffaella, Raphaella and so forth. But the sleek, sophisticated Raphaelle? Not a single baby girl received that name…
Ravenna
Italian place-name
Ravenna is a lovely, untouristed Italian place-name just waiting to be discovered. Renowned for its fantastic Byzantine mosaics, it's a city that has a rich historic and artistic heritage. Part of…
Reverie
Word name
"pleasant, dreamlike state"
With strong sounds but a whimsical feel, Reverie is a word name associated with being in a dreamy, ethereal state, of being lost in a daydream, or coming up with a pleasant fantasy for the future.…
Rhiannon
Welsh
"divine queen"
Strong and outdoorsy, yet pretty and queenly, Rhiannon was a once obscure Welsh name, brought into the mainstream in 1976, following Fleetwood Mac's flash hit song of the same title. It stormed into…
Rhonwen
Welsh
"slender, fair"
The delicate and haunting Welsh Rhonwen is still a rarity in the U.S., where her English version Rowena is better known, but would be a lovely choice for any parent in search of a name that was both…
Rhoswen
Welsh
"white rose"
If you're looking for an unusual alternative to all those Rose names, Rhoswen might be a good choice. This name has the soft sounds we've come to love from the Welsh language but is still not as…
Rosalind
Latin
"soft horse or pretty rose"
Rosalind has a distinguished literary history – used and popularized by Edmund Spenser and Shakespeare via one of his most charming heroines, in As You Like It . Along with a bouquet of other Rose…
Rosalinde
Rosalinde is a romantic feminine name with Germanic and French influences, derived from the elements 'hros' (horse) and 'linde' (soft, tender). This elegant variation of Rosalind was immortalized in…