Refreshing

Ada is one of the classic baby names for girls that is suddenly super stylish again. A favorite at the end of the nineteenth century, Ada is an alternative to the over-popular Ava. Ada is also part of the trend toward simple, old-fashioned names beginning with a vowel, like Ivy and Ella.

Alexa was a steadily popular modern classic until Amazon's virtual assistant Alexa was released in 2013. It remains relatively well used in the US despite this, though its standing keeps dropping for obvious reasons. Too bad, because it's a strong and pretty name (which is probably why Amazon used it.)

Angelica is by far the choicest form of the angelic names -- more delicate than Angelina, more feminine than Angel, more modern than Angela. But though Angelica is so lacy and poetic, it lags behind the bolder Angelina (probably for obvious reasons).

One of the more widely used combination forms.

A smooth, attractive choice, Arianna's on the rise with both single and double 'r's and 'n's. Single 'r' double 'n' Arianna — the second most popular version of the name — is these days associated with Greek-born blog queen Arianna Huffington.

Arlenis Sosa, the hot young supermodel from the Dominican Republic, is popularizing this lovely and unusual choice, related to Arlen or Arlene.

Though short and brisk, no nickname name could have a more creative image. Comic actor Chris O'Dowd named his son Art, as in his native Ireland it's used as a name on its own, separate from Arthur., coming from an ancient word for ""a bear,"" and used in the sense of ""outstanding warrior"" or ""champion."" A pagan High King of Ireland, Art’s rule was so honest that two angels hovered over him in battle.

Aubrianna, along with Aubriella, is an elaboration of a perfectly good if too trendy name, Aubrey. The final -anna or -ana or -ella does not improve on the original. But A names of all kinds continue to appeal to the masses.

Variation of Adrianna.

Austria is an nteresting, appealing, unexplored geographic destination, much fresher than American cousin Austin.

Although she declared her independence as far back as the reign of Elizabeth I--Good Queen Bess, Bess now sounds less passé than Beth or Betsy.

The remarkable success of the girls' name Everly makes a revival of the name Beverly seem possible. More commonly a masculine name in the 19th century, it began to be used for girls in the early 1900s, reaching #14 ion the popular names list in 1937. Inspirations: Beverly Johnson was the first African-American model to appear on the cover of Vogue, Beverly Sills was a major American soprano, Beverly Cleary authored the beloved 'Ramona' books, and Beverly Goldberg is the beloved TV matriarch of 'The Goldbergs'.

Birgit is pronounced with a hard 'g' and is one of the many international versions of the Irish Bridget. Birgit Nilsson was a celebrated Swedish operatic soprano.

More colorful than Blanche, but blanker than Bianca.

Blane is the attractive surname name of an important seventh-century Scottish saint, but is in danger of sounding slightly feminine and soap opera-ish.

Brantley is one of several English surnames that was new to the tops in 2009. A possible-probable inspiration is the country rock singer Brantley Gilbert.

Brenner is an occupational surname for both a charcoal burner and a distiller of spirits. One of the least used of occupational surnames, it has that 'er' ending that definitely adds to its stylishness; a possible successor to Brendan. 

One of the loveliest of the Welsh names, striking the perfect balance between being familiar and unusual. In Wales, the female spelling is always Bronwen, but Americans usually see a "y" as adding femininity.