Girls names as of the 12th of September 2021

An attractive Irish surname that is currently used exclusively for girls in the US, likely due to the feminine associations with the first name Kerry and with skating champion Nancy Kerrigan.

Long before the vogue of using Irish surnames for girls, writer Flannery O'Connor gave this one some visibility. It has a warm (flannelly) feel and the currently popular three-syllable ee-ending sound.

Stronger and more contemporary twist on Carla or Carly, Carlin was used just about equally for girls and boys in the US last year.

A modern invention that's been in use since the 80s and in the charts since the 90s, which combines the sounds of Jasmine (or Jasper or just the word jazz) with the popular suffix, -lyn. Inspiration might also have come from Joslyn, Jocelyn, or Roslyn. Trendy but snazzy too, Jazlyn remains in the US Top 600.

Out-of-the-way place name (it's an antiquated holiday spot on England's south coast) that might make a brilliant choice. Actor/director Jon Favreau named his daughter Brighton Rose.

A name with a bit of glamor but also cowgirl vibes, Dallas entered the US Top 1000 for girls in 1992. It fell out of style during noughties, but reappeared in 2012 when other gender neutral names like River, Sawyer, Rowan, and Blake were also climbing fast.

Mercer is one fashionable occupational name that can work as well for girls as boys, perhaps because of the soft c or the conventionally feminine nickname Mercy.

An uncommon Irish-accented surname that seems particularly well suited to a girl. Tierney Sutton is a well-known jazz singer. Tierney, in its original Tiarnach form, was the name of several saints. It can also join the ranks of Old Hollywood names, via the haunting actress Gene Tierney. ER actress Maura Tierney is a current surname bearer. 

Despite the strong association with the University of California, Berkeley, the more common version of this name omits the second E, Berkley.

Used as a masculine name in the Piedmont region of Italy, Alessi is a variation of Alessio, the Italian form of the Ancient Greek Alexius and Alexis. Meaning "defender" or "helper", in the US, Alessi leans feminine, likely owing to the familiarity of Alessia and the popularity of Alani, Elsie, and Alice. It was given to nearly 100 girls in a recent year.

Name of a town in Scotland that has a feminine strength.

Spiritual word names are a hot trend and ever-expanding category of baby names. Chapel was notably used in 2020 by Josh Brolin for his daughter. He said of her name, "Chapel Grace is, to us, a manifestation of that celestial feeling that was always felt as we meandered and knelt."

The term for a female baker was Baxter, which ironically feels less appropriate for a baby girl than Baker itself. Josephine Baker was an American-born French entertainer, French Resistance agent, and civil rights activist.

Yarrow is a flowering herb that grows wild in Europe and North America, and has long been used in several Native American and European cultures as a healing plant. Named for the mythical god Achille, Yarrow is a symbol of enduring love.

Smart and preppy, but with plenty of heart, Hartley is a surname style name that could work as an alternative to the popular Harley, Harlowe, Harper, and Hadley. Quietly used for boys throughout the 20th century, Hartley took off for girls in 2010 after both Sugar Ray singer Mark McGrath and baseball player Matt Cain used the name for their daughters.

Yet another creative character name from Toni Morrison, Denver was a daughter of Sethe's in the novel Beloved. Today Denver is most familiar as the name of the largest city in Colorado, used almost equally for girls and boys.

Bardot joined the first and last names of other glamour girl icons such as (Jean) Harlow when David Boreanaz chose the surname of '50s French sex symbol Brigitte Bardot for his daughter. Bardot debuted in the US charts in 2022.

Eighties spin on megapopular Whitney that currently ranks higher than the original. Whitley fell out of the Top 1000 for several decades but resurfaced in 2018.

Y-ending color adjectives like Tawny and Rusty are nowhere near as stylish as the more sophisticated Lilacs and Violets.

Wylie is one Celtic surname with as much appeal for girls as for boys. Wylie is ripe for spelling variations: Wiley is as appropriate as Wylie but when you spell it Wylei, as Corey Parker did for his son, you're getting into yooneek naming territory.