Girls names as of the 12th of September 2021
- Chapel
Origin:
English word nameMeaning:
"small Christian church"Description:
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."
- Zaylee
Origin:
Modern invented nameDescription:
A contemporary spin on Hailey, Bailey, and Kailey, using the stylish letter Z and the double -ee ending, Zaylee ticks the boxes as trendy choice for a modern baby. It joined the US Top 1000 back in 2015 and at least 350 girls received the name in a recent year.
- Channing
Origin:
English or IrishMeaning:
"people of Cana or wolf cub"Description:
While the most famous Channing is the very male Channing Tatum, the name is now given about a third of the time for girls. Television executive Channing Dungey is a well-know example of a female Channing. It makes an attractive surname-name for either gender.
- Wylie
Origin:
Scottish, diminutive of WilliamMeaning:
"resolute protection"Description:
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.
- Laramie
Origin:
Wyoming place-name, FrenchMeaning:
"canopy of leafy boughs"Description:
Laramie was derived from the French word la ramée, meaning "leafy canopy." It was historically a French surname, but today it is a viable first name option for girls or boys. The balance is currently running at about seven girls for every boy named Laramie. The Wyoming city gives it more of a cowgirl Western than French vibe.
- Quinlan
Origin:
IrishMeaning:
"descendant of Caoinlean, slender "Description:
Quinlan is an Irish surname name given to a few dozen baby girls in the US each year. With the success of Quinn as a girls' name, Quinlan and its variant spellings Quinlin and Quinlyn might follow behind.
- Denali
Origin:
Place-name and Native AmericanMeaning:
"the great one"Description:
Alaska's Denali National Park is the home of the highest mountain in the US, officially renamed Denali in 2014, endowing the name with a lofty feel. Twice as many girls as boys were given the name in 2021, but the gender gap is closing.
- Lively
Origin:
English word nameMeaning:
"full of life, energy"Description:
Spirited and sassy, Lively could be a feminine leaning counterpart to the trending boy name Wilder. A modern virtue of sorts, it has more energy that Patience, Prudence, and Temperance, and is far less popular than Hope or Grace.
- Bardot
Origin:
French surnameDescription:
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.
- Chesney
Origin:
English from FrenchMeaning:
"oak grove"Description:
A rising surname name for girls — it's overwhelmingly feminine, despite the association with Kenny Chesney.
- Lyric
Origin:
GreekMeaning:
"of the lyre; songlike; a personal, emotive poem"Description:
Associated with poetry, pop music, and the Greek lyre, Lyric has a light and zippy sound to it and joins the likes of Melody, Harmony, Cadence, and Aria as musical names that have become baby names. A unisex name, it is currently three times more popular for girls in the US where it sits in the Top 600. It has declined in use since its 2014 peak, but was still given to around 560 girls in a recent year.
- Melrose
Origin:
Scottish surnameMeaning:
"bare promontory"Description:
Traditionally a Scottish habitational surname, but today could be viewed as a mashup of Melanie or Melissa and Rose.
- Eisley
Origin:
German surnameMeaning:
"iron"Description:
Eisley and sister Isley are drawn from the German surname Eisele, which means iron and was often used as a nickname for a blacksmith. More than 100 baby girls were named Eisley in the US last year, and about two-thirds that number called Isley.
- Devin
Origin:
IrishMeaning:
"poet"Description:
Used far more for boys with this spelling, but still has a nice impish Irish feel for a girl.
- Rainey
Origin:
Word name or diminutive of Regina, LatinMeaning:
"queen"Description:
Has an old-time country feeling, perhaps due to Ma Rainey, considered the "Mother of the Blues". This is the most popular spelling of the name, given to about 50 girls last year, with half as many called Rainy and a quarter named Rainie, the spelling used by Andie MacDowell for her now-grown daughter.
- Cypress
Origin:
Botanical nameDescription:
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.
- Whitley
Origin:
EnglishMeaning:
"white meadow"Description:
Surname style Whitley emerged in the late 1980s as a spin on the (then) mega-popular Whitney, rising dramatically from obscurity to the Top 500 after it featured on a character in the TV sitcom, A Different World. By the mid-90s, it was out of style, but the recent appeal of retro names has saw it return to the US charts in 2018.
- Britt
Origin:
Swedish, contracted form of BirgitMeaning:
"high goddess"Description:
Brisk but rather brittle. Britt Eklund was a Bond Girl in the 1974 The Man with the Golden Gun. Britt is a contracted form of Birgit, but be aware that it does come with the strong possibility of being confused with Bret/Brett—or as a shortening of Brittany.
- Jem
Origin:
Diminutive of Jemma or JemimaMeaning:
"gem; dove"Description:
There was an eighties cartoon queen named Jem (& The Holograms), and this is as likely to be a full name as a short form – deriving from Jemma, Jemima or Jameela.
- Dior
Origin:
French surnameMeaning:
"golden"Description:
Dior has joined Chanel and Armani on the fashionista hit parade of names, appealing due to its designer quality, its succinct sound, and contemporary air. Nearly 400 baby girls were named Dior in the US last year.
The Nameberry App Is Live

Find your perfect baby name together in our iPhone app, now available on the App Store.
- Swipe through thousands of names with your partner
- Names you match on are saved to your shared list
- Get personalized recommendations that learn based on your and your partner's preferences
- Partner with friends and family to find names you all love
- Backed by Nameberry's 20 years of data around name preferences.

