Squirrel's Favorite Girl Names

Elegant and bright with plenty of flair, Rosalia this Sicilian Saint name is familiar in Spain and Italy. It refers back to the annual Roman ceremony of hanging garlands of roses on tombs, which could make it work as a commemorative name.

Asteria is an Anglicized spelling of the Greek Astraea or Astraia, the goddess of justice and innocence. She became the constellation Virgo, so all forms of this name would be especially appropriate for a child born in late August or early September.

Nimue (Lady of the Lake) is the ruler of Avalon in the Arthurian legend. Nimue plays a pivotal role in many stories, including giving King Arthur his sword Excalibur, enchanting Merlin, and raising Lancelot after the death of his father.

Drusilla is an ancient Roman name, (probably) borne by descendants of Antony and Cleopatra, and is one of the 'illa' names that are ready for a comeback, especially with its cute short form Dru.

Nevaeh: an already bold word name with the unusual twist of being spelled backwards; a nightmare for those who love traditional, classic names; a divisive option on name forums across the internet; and a spelling and pronunciation that aren’t quite intuitive at first glance.

J.K. Rowling is a modern master of naming who brought a whole constellation of ancient and celestial names to modern parents. Bellatrix, of one of the stars of Orion, combines fashionable names Bella and Beatrix to make a convivial and original name. The down side: the Harry Potter character Bellatrix, played by Helena Bonham Carter, is a character so evil she's called a Death Eater, killing one beloved character and being murdered by another. And the name Bellatrix is so closely associated with that character that it might be challenging to sidestep the association.

Altalune is an invention used by Uma Thurman and Arpad Busson as one of several middle names for their daughter. It's evocative Latin meaning roughly translates to "over the moon." Celebrity baby Altalune will be called the more familiar Luna for short.

In Greek mythology, Amalthea is the name of a goat (or, sometimes, a goat-keeping nymph) who nursed the infant Zeus and protected him from his murderous father, Cronus. Thanks to the goat’s protection and nourishment, Zeus grew up to overthrow Cronus.

One of the most familiar and attractive Japanese names, though rarely heard outside that culture.

Corisande is a very unusual, haunting choice, with the aura of medieval romance--it is found in early Spanish romantic tales, arriving in the English-speaking world in the nineteenth century.

Said to refer to either Jupiter or Venus, either of which would be preferable as a name.

Kairi is the name of the main female character in the popular role-playing video game series, Kingdom Hearts. Voiced by Hayden Panettiere in the main series, Kairi is one of the seven Princesses of the Heart. Kairi entered the US Top 1000 in 2010 and was given to over 400 baby girls in one recent year.

Undiscovered musical form melodious enough to be a hit on the name charts.

There are many in Japan, but for most Americans there's only one Yoko.

Zvezda, which means star in several Slavic languages, is a traditional established name in Eastern Europe and Russia. While names with celestial meanings have an intrinsic appeal, that initial Zv may be difficult for English speakers to wrap their tongues around.

This French word for star sounds like even more of a celebrity-worthy choice than Star or Esther or Estella or Stella. But count on English speakers who never took high school French to stumble over the pronunciation.

An evocative ancient word that's used as a first name in the New Testament, among other places. It's also the name of an eagle-shaped constellation.

Seen as both a given name and a surname in Japan. There was a Princess Izumi in eighth-century Japan, forbidden from marriage as her older sisters had already been paired off with the Emperor's sons.

Lovely Japanese name that would certainly be appreciated in Europe and the U.S. It was rarely used in Japan until the 1990s, and draws its current popularity from the fact that it is deeply connected to Japanese traditional culture without sounding frumpy and old-fashioned.

A fresh and pretty Japanese name which would be an unusual route to the popular Emmy/Emi nickname. In Japanese, this name can be formed from a variety of different kanji combinations with different meanings, but "laughing child" and "beautiful child" are two appealing possibilities.