girl and unisex names for girls

This ancient Greek male name, well-used in Britain, also has an herbal quality that may explain its increasing use for girls. While as a name it rhymes with dazzle, the herb has a long a, making the pronunciation BAY-zel.

With the recent arrival of fruit names like Apple and Plum, this more traditional example, symbolic of fertility, might rise in popularity. Photographer Berry Berenson was born Berinthia.

We once dismissed Bird as "too flighty", but with the rise of avian names from Lark to Robin to, well, Birdie, we don't see why Bird can't be a fine choice, especially as a middle name.

Birdie was until recently a middle-aged Ladies' Club member wearing a bird-decorated hat --but now it's just the kind of vintage nickname (think Hattie, Josie, Mamie, Millie) that's coming back into style in a big way. Actress Busy Philipps named her baby Birdie (inspired by First Lady Lady Bird Johnson), as did soap star Maura West.

Now that parents have picked virtually every name in the garden, from the common Rose to the captivating Zinnia, some are reconsidering the old, more generic names like Flora and Posy and Blossom — which was last in favor in the 1920s and still has a Floradora showgirl aura.

Blue suddenly came into the spotlight, as the unusual color name chosen by Beyonce and Jay-Z for their baby girl Blue Ivy. Blue is also a starbaby middle name du jour, used for both sexes in different spellings and forms, from John Travolta and Kelly Preston's Ella Bleu to Alicia Silverstone's Bear Blu. Dave 'The Edge' Evans named his daughter Blue Angel back in 1989.

Bluebell is one flower name that is used very quietly. Geri "Ginger Spice" Halliwell joined her former Spice Sisters in creative baby-naming with this adventurous — some might say outlandish — choice. Andie MacDowell has a granddaughter named Bluebell Coyote through her daughter Rainey Qualley.

Fluttery and flighty. But there are a couple of names that mean butterfly you might consider, such as Yara and Farasha.

This friendly Irish surname is catching on with girls, perhaps due to the easy Callie nickname.

Calliope is the name of the muse of epic poetry -- and also the musical instrument on the merry-go-round. Bold and creative, it debuted in the US Top 1000 in 2016, and entered the Top 500 in 2023. Similar in rhythm and sound to Penelope with usable nicknames Callie, Clio, and Lola, it is no wonder it's on the rise.

Calloway is one of those irresistibly jaunty, animated three-syllable surnames, like Sullivan and Finnegan — but this one has the added attraction of jazzy ties to the immortal "Dean of American Jive," Cab Calloway. For a girl, this could be an unconventional route to the cool nickname Callie.

This hyper-rhythmic name has two evocative references. In Greek mythology, she was an island nymph, a daughter of Atlas, who delayed Odysseus from returning home. It is also a genre of West Indian music, originating in Trinidad and Tobago and largely popularized in the States by Harry Belafonte.

Little known name of the goddess of the harvest — her name literally means nourishment, and is the origin of the word cereal. A possibility for the parent seeking something original, but with the aura of Roman myth. Her Greek counterpart is Demeter.

In Greek myth, Circe, daughter of Helios, the sun, was a sorceress living on the island of Aeaea, who could turn men into animals with her magic wand, which is just what she did to Odysseus's crew in Homer's Odyssey, transforming them into swine. All was forgiven, however, as Circe and Odysseus later had a child together—Telegonus.

This kind of plainspoken nature name (think River and Sunshine) may still carry a whiff of the hippie, but this one has a nice, airy feel. It's slight similarity to Claude and Clyde helps to ground it.

Clove is a spice name that is a tad more piquant than Saffron or Cinnamon. It might get more attention now as a member of The Hunger Games family of names.

Clover is a charming, perky choice if you want to move beyond hothouse blooms like Rose and Lily, and it's recently become a new celeb favorite, chosen by both Neal McDonough and Natasha Gregson Wagner, who used it to honor her mother, Natalie Wood, one of whose most iconic films was Inside Daisy Clover.