mermaids and sirens

Plausible word name, denoting strength and stability.

Anemone is a floral name that relates to the ancient Greek myth of the famous love story of Aphrodite and Adonis, in which Aphrodite transforms her wounded lover's blood into a flower, the crimson anemone, whose blossoms are opened by the wind — accounting for its other name, windflower.

Name of the Roman goddess of harvest and grain, appropriate for a fall baby. And a palindrome too!

Among the coolest of the cool color names, particularly popular with celebs as a unisex middle name.

A word name with fashionable o-ending that has associations with both the homespun fabric and the mottled cat. Alice Cooper named his daughter Calico decades ago.

First used during the Victorian craze for jewel names; it could rise again, along with Ruby and Pearl, though it doesn't have as much luster.

More Sadie than Sadie, this old canasta player--somewhat modernized and energized by Goldie Hawn--looks like it could be making a comeback. It was recently chosen for her daughter by Ione Skye and Ben Lee, as well as by shoemeister Steve Madden.

Lula is one of the livelier nickname-names with the fashionable double-L sound: It joins Lulu, Lila, Lily, and Lou among the trendiest names today. Lula might be short for Talula and sisters or for Lucy or Louise, or may stand on its own two adorable feet. Lula was actually a Top 50 name in the late 1880's and continued in the Top 100 for a couple of decades more.

Mahi is a name seen in modern India (consider Mahi Gill - Bollywood star) and in Medieval France (perhaps as a dialect version of Marie). For those considering this name, just be aware that a Mahi-mahi is a type of fish.

Though this simple, appealing name works for both genders in Japan, it's best known as the name of the princess who chose to leave the Royal Family in order to marry a commoner. As a boys' name, it can be a short form of Makato. Mako also means "shark" in Maori, and is the name of two shark species.

This charming name, popular in France and the Netherlands, has not traveled to the U.S. yet but would make a modern way to honor grandma Mary or Louise, or as a perfect short form of Mary Louise. Or, with the growing fashion for nickname names, it can stand perfect well on its own. One of several similar variations — Lou, Lilou, Louane — in vogue in Europe.

Malu is a charming Hawaiian name chosen by ex-Talking Head David Byrne for his daughter. Malu might also be an abbreviated form of Malou, which is an abbreviated form of Mary Louise. Malu or Malou might be a retro-chic nickname for a child given the family names of Mary and/or Louise.

Miami -- or Florida, for that matter -- hasn't achieved the place-name stardom of southern sisters like Savannah and Georgia. Quincy Jones used it as his daughter KENYA's middle name.

Old-school Italian names that shortens a wide range of longer names, making it feel much more popular than it is on its own.

This Old Testament female name has been one of the most popular girls’ names in Israel over the last decade. Also highly popular in Spain, Portugal and the Netherlands, and a new entrant to the US Top 1000, it may be misunderstood here as an attempt to streamline and feminize the more familiar Noah – although it's a separate name with a separate derivation.

Noam is an underused modern Hebrew name with any number of attractive attributes attached to its meaning; it doesn't have the biblical weight of Noah, but could make a more distinctive alternative to that popular choice. Noam is a Top 10 boys' name in Israel.