User-created list
Luminous Names
Across 19 pages
of 19
Oriole
Latin
"golden"
A bird name from the same Latin root as Aurelia, Oriole is extremely rare as a name: No babies were given the name in the US in 2022. But most people are aware of the Oriole bird, which makes this…
Orli
Hebrew
"light"
Cute, nickname-y, and international, à la Romy or Demi. Spelling it Orly turns it into a busy French airport.
Paz
Hebrew; Spanish
"gold; peace"
Paz, currently represented by actresses Paz Vega and Paz de la Huerts, would make a sparkling middle name choice. It originated as a title of the Virgin Mary, Our Lady of Peace, and is one of the…
Phaenna
Greek
"the shining one"
Light and ethereal, Phaenna is one of the Charities or Graces in some Greek myths. She was worshipped in Sparta, along with Cleta ("renowned one").
Polaris
Latin
"pole star"
The astronomical Polaris is better known as the North Star, the brightest star in the Ursa Minor constellation. It's also the name of a character in the Marvel Universe, as the daughter of Magneto.…
Rainbow
English
"rainbow"
Colorful, yes, but also probably among the hippiest of hippie names. Holly Madison recently chose it for her little girl.
Roxanna
Persian
"little star"
Spelled with one 'n', this was the name of the wife of Alexander the Great, and is more attractive than the better-known Roxanne.
Runa
Norwegian, Danish, Swedish, Japanese
"secret lore; moon"
A strong and stylish alternative to the super-fashionable Luna, with a double background as a Scandinavian and Japanese name. It's the female form of the Nordic male name Rune, meaning "secret lore",…
Salana
Latin
"sun"
Related to the more common Solana, Salana has a pleasantly rhythmic pan-cultural feel.
Sanaa
Swahili; Arabic
"work of art; shining light"
Simple-yet-unusual name with a creative meaning. Actress Sanaa Lathan promoted it, and it was on the U.S. popularity list from 2003 to 2011. Shaquille O'Neal used it as the middle name of his…
Sansonnet
French, startling
Senara
Variation of Azenor, Breton
"light"
The origins of Senara, the name of a Cornish saint who is patron of the village of Zennor, are not so straightforward. Some say she was the same person as Azenor, a legendary Breton princess whose…
Seren
Welsh, Turkish
"star or sail mast"
Seren is a top girls' name in Wales – and a lovely choice almost unknown elsewhere. Seren, in the Sirona form, was an ancient goddess of the hot springs. Seren only recently fell out of the girls'…
Sidereal
English word name
"with respect to the distant stars"
Sidereal is the English spelling of Sideræl, one of the middle names Grimes and Elon Musk chose for their daughter. They used "a more elven" spelling of the word sidereal, which Grimes defined as…
Sidra
Latin, Hebrew, Arabic
"like a star; order, sequence; lotus tree"
Sidra is an uncommon name shared by a gulf off the coast of Libya. Popular in the Jewish community of North Africa, its Hebrew meaning refers to a weekly reading portion of the Torah. In Arabic, it's…
Sitara
Urdu from Persian
"star"
A beautiful Urdu name with a musical sound and a lovely celestial meaning. Sitara got a boost in 2022, potentially from the award-winning 2020 short film "Sitara: Let Girls Dream", bringing awareness…
Solaira
English from Latin
"of the sun"
Variant of Solara
Solar
English word name
"of the sun"
This sunny new word name is gender neutral, used for 13 baby girls and 12 boys in 2021. Along with other celestial and weather choices, we can see Solar getting hotter.
Solara
English from Latin
"of the sun"
An English innovation based on Latin solaris "of the sun", or on its English cognate "solar". Toyota used it for one of its cars, and Mila Kunis played a character by the name in the 2010…
Solari
Italian surname
"land exposed to the sun"
Sunny Italian surname name for a little girl. Solari was the name of a character on Xena: Warrior Princess .