This unusual offshoot of Page is one of the undiscovered <a href="https://nameberry.com/list/317/unique-baby-names">unique baby names</a>, with lots of energy and charm. Actress Paget Brewster, star of Criminal Minds, presents another spelling possibility. She comes from a family of unique names--her mother is Hathaway, her father Galen.
 Padget is more off-the-grid than Bridget, more grown up than Gidget.

Padget

Sleek and sophisticated single-syllable choice that has NEVER been in the Top 1000, though sister name Paige has ranked since the mid 1950s. Though off her peak, Paige is still in the Top 200. Along with Poppy, Patience, and Plum, Page is one of the <a href="https://nameberry.com/search/girls-names/p">girl names that start with P</a> that are also words.

Page

A moderately common surname in two of the world's most populous countries. Helen Pai is one of the main writer of the TV series Gilmore Girls.

Paige is more name, and less word than the occupational Page. Paige is also sleek and sophisticated a la Brooke and Blair and reached as high as Number 47 in 2003, when there was a very popular television show, Trading Spaces, hosted by the energetic Paige Davis.
 Paige Matthews was a witch played by Rose McGowan in Charmed; Paige McCullers appears on Pretty Little Liars. Back in the day, Nicollette Sheridan played a character named Paige Matheson on nighttime soap Knots Landing.
 Paige Rense was the long-time editor of Architectural Digest magazine.

Paige

Pacific island member of the currently-in-favor Lila/Leila family and one of the most attractive and unique <a href="https://nameberry.com/search/girls-names/p">girls' names starting with P</a>.

Palila

Paloma is vibrant and ruby-lipped a la jewelry designer Paloma Picasso, but it also suggests peace, as symbolized by the dove. Paloma is a highly recommended striking but soft name, one of the best of the <a href="https://nameberry.com/list/411/baby-names-that-mean-peace">names that mean peace</a> and <a href="https://nameberry.com/search/girls-names/p">girls' names starting with P</a>.
 Salma Hayak used Paloma as the middle name of her daughter Valentina, and it was the first name pick of David Caruso and Ugly Betty's Ana Ortiz.

Paloma

This mild-mannered short form was Queen of the Prom in the fifties and sixties, but today is mostly heard on TV's The Office (and of course as one of the founders of Nameberry).

While about 100 baby girls are still named Pamela in the US every year, the name Pam is now officially extinct.

Pam was a somewhat pampered prom queen of the sixties who was never called by her full name, which is a pity because Pamela is so mellifluous and rich in literary history. A Top 25 name from the late 1940's through the late 60's, Pamela has just, sadly, dropped out of the Top 1000. 
 Pamela was first used by Elizabethan poet Sir Philip Sidney in his sixteenth century pastoral epic Arcadia, but it was Samuel Richardson's enormously popular novel Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded two centuries later that really promoted it.
Rarely used now, Pamela might almost be ready for a revival, and the appealing Pam (wife of Jim, the male-equivalent name) on The Office may help bring it back. 
 But no, we won't be recommending the name of Pamela's partner--Linda.

Pamela

Pamelita

Pamella

Pammy

Paméla

Sharing her name with a country, a city, an isthmus, a gulf, a canal, and a hat might be a bit much for a child to handle. 

Panama

Panra is a lovely nature name, meaning leaf, which would easily wear outside its native Pakistan. Pakistani singer Gul Panra is probably the most famous person with this name. 

Panra

Paola is the Latinate version of Paula. Its intriguing sound could make it more appealing than the English standard. 

Paola

Papillon

Paraskeva

The name Parastoo currently seems unusual to the Western ear, with that "too" ending rare in traditional English names. It is sometimes spelled Parastu. Pari or Parisa would make easier imports.  

Parastoo

Simple yet meaningful Iranian name that would make an excellent import to the English-speaking world.

Pari

Paris, a one-time mythical and Shakespearean boys' name, peaked in 2004 at Number 157 at least in part due to the highly publicized Paris Hilton. Michael Jackson used it for his daughter.

Paris

Funny how one letter can turn a name from ordinary to special.  Parisa is so much more distinctive than either Marisa or Paris.

Parisa

Indie actress Parker Posey put a female imprint on this sophisticated surname that's still about three times as common for boys but rising for both sexes. Parker has the advantage of its nature connection, relating it to such occupational names as Gardener and Forester.

Parker

Parthenia may be a bit unwieldy, but does conjure up majestic images of the Parthenon. 

Parthenia

Pascal

Sophisticated, stylish feminine form of Pascal especially appropriate for girls born around Easter or Passover. 

Pascale

Pascalie

Pascaline

Pascasia

Pasquette

An early and still quintessentially gender-neutral name, now supplanted by thousands of fresher options. Hasn't been recorded as a given name since 1991.
 
Pat was the name of a gardener in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Jake's daughter-in-law in Adventure Time, and a recurring androgynous character on Saturday Night Live.

Patience is a passive virtue turned engaging name, fresher than Hope, Faith, or even Charity. Its resemblance to the trendy Payton may be one reason that it returned to the US charts back in the 90's and 2000s, having been absent for a century.
 Common in the seventeenth century, Patience is the eponymous heroine of a Gilbert & Sullivan comic operetta. In literature, Patience appears in Shakespeare's Henry VIII and in Anthony Trollope's novel, The Eustace Diamonds
 In the 2004 film Catwoman, the non-superhero name of the protagonist, played by Halle Berry, is Patience Phillips--which may have caused the name's bump in popularity two years later. It remained in the charts until 2014, however, it has now declined. 
 
Its disappearance might be down to parents finding Patience a little too much like Prudence, Chastity, or Temperance: names that could feel heavy to wear or live up to. Alternatively, it could have just been pushed out by a new wave of virtue options, such as True, Chosen, Felicity, and Sage.
 
Still, Patience would be an unexpected choice, and nickname Penny would be pretty sweet!

Patience

Patrice is a more modern-sounding and polished unisex alternative to Patricia. 

Patrice

Patsie

This sassy, spunky name was used for the mostly Irish jump-roping pigtailed girls of the thirties and forties -- and some Irish and Italian boys as well. Its most noted bearer was iconic country music singer Patsy Cline (born Virginia), and was sighted most recently in the Ab Fab movie. After reaching Number 52 in the late thirties, it dropped off the list completely in 1970--and we're not anticipating a return.

Patsy

Though unrelated, this would probably be taken as a fanciful spelling of Patsy. 

Patzi

Paula still seems somewhat stuck in the era of duo Paul and Paula bopping out the song "Hey, Paula." Two pronunciations are possible—the English "PAW-la" and the Portuguese "POW-la."
 Modern bearers of the name include singer-songwriter Paula Abdul and comedian Paula Poundstone, as well as a character on My Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. Paula is still a common choice in Puerto Rico.

Paula

This, the simplest French female version of Paul, was brought into the U. S. mix by novelist Paule Marshall, whose roots are in the West Indies. 

Paule

Pauleen

Pauleena

Paulena

Paulene

Pauletta

It's interesting how names imported to the US from other countries and cultures have fashion cycles based on their culture of origin. Paulette along with cousins Annette and Claudette were the most fashionable French imports in the middle of the last century, only to sink from sight and be replaced by such current French favorites as Charlotte, Sophie, and Eloise. In general, feminizations of male names have faded in favor of gender-neutral choices, and Paul itself is off its own fashion peak. 

But Paulette has the same vintage charm as names like Margot and Josephine that are very much a la mode. And far from being extinct, Paulette hits that sweet spot of names that are familiar but not over-used. It was given to about 130 baby girls in the US last year, on par with May, Avalon, Jolee, Liza, and Vivianne. This is three times as many baby girls as were named Paulette in 2000, so while the name may still lie well beneath the Top 1000, it's very much on the way up.

Paulette

Almost completely unknown in this country: an intriguing possibility. 

Paulille

More stylish than either Paula or Pauline, it was given a glamour gloss by model Paulina Porizkova in the nineties.

Paulina

Pauline had its moment of glory almost a century ago, when movie audiences were thrilling to the silent serial The Perils of Pauline; it's a sweet and gentle name that just might be due for reconsideration. Off the list since the late 1990s, Pauline was a Top 50 name from around 1908 to 1930.
 Pauline was the name of Napoleon Buonaparte's favorite sister, and in literature there is a Pauline in Shakespeare's A Winter's Tale and in Sir Walter Scott's The Fortunes of Nigel.
 Vin Diesel chose this name for his daughter in a poignant tribute to his late friend and costar, Paul Walker Other feminine variations of Paul are Paula, Paulette, Paulina and Paolina.

Pauline

An ancient Roman spelling of Paula, used more often than the male equivalent Paullus. Because of the meaning, this name was commonly given to younger daughters.

Paulla

A cool name, representing the Roman goddess of peace and offering a positive message to bestow upon a child. Pax is one of the most stylish new <a href="https://nameberry.com/list/411/baby-names-that-mean-peace">names that mean peace</a>.

Rarely used until the 90s, Payton rose up the charts when it was popularized by the football star, Peyton Manning, and, interestingly, by the character of "Peyton Flanders", the villainess of the 1992 film, The Hand That Rocks The Cradle. 
 Derived from an English place name and surname, Payton could mean "Pæga's town" or "fighting man's estate", though other sources associate it with Patton and Patrick, giving it the meaning "nobleman's town". With both surnames-as-given-names and place names in style, Payton remains in the US Top 400.
 Back in the early 2000s, Payton leaned more towards being (statistically) unisex, and it was given to roughly 2200 girls and 1400 boys. In more recent years however, the number of boys called Payton has dwindled, and now, it is given to girls 90% of the time. 
 
As of 2023, the spelling variation Peyton was nearly twice as popular as Payton for girls, and ranked significantly higher in the UK and Canada too, perhaps because of its links to Peyton Place which could make it feel more intuitive. 
 
Payton Stork (nee Ackerman) of Dance Moms fame is a notable bearer of this spelling.

Payton

Spaniards use Pax and Paz, Hebrew speakers Shalom, for Greeks it's Irene, so why can't we make the English word Peace a name? Peace Adzo Medie is the author of the novel His Only Wife</a>.

Peace

Pearl, like Ruby, has begun to be polished up for a new generation of fashionable children after a century of jewelry box storage. The birthstone for the month of June, Pearl could also make a fresher middle name alternative to the overused Rose. Cool couple Maya Rudolph and Paul Thomas Anderson named their daughter Pearl Minnie, followed by Jack Osbourne, and several celebs have put it in the middle spot, as in Busy Philipps's Cricket Pearl, Jake Owen's Olive Pearl and Caleb Followill's Dixie Pearl .
After being a Top 25 name in the late nineteenth century, Pearl went into a long slide, but is showing signs of a strong comeback -- it reentered the Top 1000 in 2010.
 In Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, Pearl is the illegitimate daughter of Hester Prynne, who gives her the name because she is 'her mother's only treasure.'
 Pearl was also the alter ego name of Janis Joplin, tied to singer Pearl Bailey, and---hmm--the birth name of western writer Zane Gray.
 Variations are PERLE and PERLA.

Pearl

Pearla

Peg is a nostalgic turn-of-the-last-century nickname, sociable but slight. Like near-identical twin Peggy, Peg is in mothballs. 

Just when we had written off Peggy as the eternal perky, pug-nosed prom-queen she projected from the 1920s into the fifties, along came Mad Men, with intriguing mid-century characters with names like Joan and Betty--and Peggy, causing a bit of a re-think. MM's proto-feminist Peggy Olson was followed by Amy Adams's strong Oscar-nominated Peggy Dodd character in The Master.
 Peggy has been used independently since the eighteenth century, later combined with other names such as Peggy Sue, made famous by the Buddy Holly song and the film Peggy Sue Got Married.
 Some notable namesakes who have gone by Peggy include jazz singer Peggy Lee (born Norma), art patron Guggenheim (born Marguerite), skater Fleming, and author/speechwriter Noonan (born Margaret).
 It's not likely that Peggy will ever regain the 31st position it held in 1937, but we can see it coming into somewhat wider use.

Peggy

Peita

The name of several early saints, including one, Pelagia the Penitent, a beautiful and licentious dancing girl who repented, then, disguised as a man, spent the rest of her life living alone in a cave on the Mount of Olives. Because of her early vocation, she is the patron saint of actresses.

Pelagia

According to actress Yael Stone, who used this name for her daughter, it comes from the Djanbun clan of the Bundjalung nation.

Pemau

Penelope is an unlikely 21st century baby name success story. Off the Top 1000 for 25 years, Penelope jumped back on in 2001 and has been heading uphill ever since, propelled by the trend for mythological names, Spanish actress Penelope Cruz, and some high-profile celebrity babies. 
 
In Greek mythology, Penelope was the wife of Odysseus in Homer’s Odyssey. It has two possible origin stories—Penelope was either derived from the Greek pēnē, meaning "thread of a bobbin", or from penelops, a type of duck. Mythological Penelope was cared for by a duck as an infant, and later was known for fending off would-be suitors by pretending to weave a garment.
 
Penelope's status as a Kardashian baby name -- Kourtney's daughter Penelope was born in 2012 -- brought the ancient name to widespread attention. The most popular <a href="https://nameberry.com/search/girls-names/p">girls' name starting with P</a>, Penelope was also picked for their girls by Tina Fey, by Anna Chlumsky, and by Natalie and Taylor Hanson, of the group Hanson. 
 Penelope has several British novelists as namesakes—Penelopes Fitzgerald, Mortimer, Gilliatt, and Lively. And yes, she's also a Harry Potter character: Penelope "Penny" is a student at Hogwarts.
 A perennial Nameberry favorite, Penelope can be shortened to the traditional Penny or -- Berry style -- the fresher Nell or Poppy.

Penelope

A jewel-encrusted choice, far more unusual than Pearl. 

Penina

Not commonly used for girls, but Bruce Willis used it as the middle name for his daughter Evelyn.

Penn

Occasionally heard in England, rarely here. 

Penna

Pennelope

An unconventional route to the nickname Penny. Pennington debuted on the charts for girls in 2015.
 
Pennington is more familiar as a surname. It is habitational, denoting ancestors from English towns named Pennington (most often Pennington, Cumbria). Penington is an alternate spelling of the surname, but has never been recorded as a given name.

Pennington

Like Peggy and Patsy, the kind of zesty moniker young Judy Garland would sport in her early let's-put-on-a-show flicks. It fell out of favor (and the Top 1000) for a while, but has recently rebounded by reentering the charts in 2013. Expect it to continue gaining traction on the heels of Penelope.
 
A Top 200 choice in England and Wales, Penny could be considered a word name, as in the copper coin used in England and the US, and as a musical choice, thanks to The Beatles song, Penny Lane.

Penny

Inspired by the Beatles song "Penny Lane", about the sights and sounds of a typical street in Liverpool, England, this quirky smoosh name has charted regularly in the US since 2008.

Pennylane

Penrose – an ancient place-name and surname derived from several villages in Cornwall, Wales, and the Welsh border country of England – would make for an even more unexpected alternative to quirky nature name Primrose. Intuitive nicknames Penny or Rosie make it feel more wearable.

Penrose

Pensée

Not long ago, Peppa may have been at risk for confusion with the name Pepper. But thanks to the British children's TV series Peppa Pig, Peppa is now a household name. If your household contains preschoolers, that is.
 
The name is so tied up with its porcine spokesperson that it's been rendered almost unusable for a child. Try Pippa instead, or use Peppa on a pet.

Peppa

Peppi ranked in the Finnish Top 50 from 2007-2012, where it was used for hundreds of baby girls each year. In Finland, Peppi is used as the translation for Pippi in the Pippi Longstocking books.

Peppi

Percy is a traditional boys' name that could be cute and unexpected for a girl – perhaps as a short form for Persephone or Persis. Adventurous and literary Percy could follow in the footsteps of other boyish nicknames for girls, like Frankie and Charlie.
 
Percy Haswell was a silent film actress. And Lady Persephone "Percy" Towyn is a character on Upstairs, Downstairs.

Percy

Peregrine is considered to be an elegantly aristocratic name in England, but has never made it to the US, where it has been seen as extravagantly eccentric. In the new naming climate, though, it's not beyond consideration &mdash; in fact it's already been chosen by at least one Berry.
 The meaning of Peregrine, which was borne by several early male saints, relates to the transitory nature of life on earth, having nothing to do with the peregrine falcon. In literature, it is best known from the central character of Tobias Smollett's novel Peregrine Pickle.
 Historically, Peregrine was the name chosen for the first English child born in the New World &mdash; actually on the Mayflower when it was docked in Provincetown.
 And there's always the Mad Men-era nickname Perry to make Peregrine more user-friendly.

Peregrine

Perette

This name used for both sexes in several cultures is quite well used in Israel.


Peri

Peridot is the gem of the month of August, a vibrant green mineral, said to be good for helping people put the past behind them, and an interesting, undiscovered jewel name. It was regarded in ancient times as the symbol of the sun.
 Peridots figure in the mythologies of several cultures, including the ancient Egyptian and Roman. They are highly valued in Hawaii, where it is believed that they are the tears of the volcano goddess Pele. 
 If you want a truly original gem name, you might consider this instead of Opal or Ruby.

Peridot

Consistently popular Latina gem name; good choice for those who can't shake Pearl's grandmotherly vibe.

Perla

Perle

Perlette

Perlina

Perline

One of the least appealing of the ella-ending names, especially if you check pernicious in the dictionary. 

Pernella

Pernelle

A 3rd century saint's name sometimes used in Catholic communities, and in Western European countries like Portugal and Italy. 

Perpetua

Perpétue

Perrette

For boys, this name calls to mind old-school detective Perry Mason. But peppy Perri is coming around as part of a group of boyish nicknames for girls - along with favorites like Leni and Charlie. 
 
In 2023, there were 45 baby girls named Perri in the US. If you add in Perrie, Peri, and Perry - it's more like 200.

Perri

Five girls were given the name Perrine last year.  More modern-sounding are Perrin, Perry, or even Petra.

Perrine

Perry fits right in with rising boyish nicknames for girls and cool picks like Frankie and Scottie. This relaxed name sounds novel compared to such former favorites as Kerry and Sherry.
 
Perry is the most popular of its sister spellings, and given in nearly equal number to boys and girls. In 2023, there were 122 baby girls named Perry in the US. If you add in Perri, Peri, and Perrie - it's more like 200.

Perry

Persephone is the esoteric name of the Greek mythological daughter of Zeus by Demeter, the queen of the harvest. After she was kidnapped by Hades to be Queen of the Underworld, it was decreed by Zeus that she would spend six months of the year with her mother, allowing crops to grow, and six in mourning, thus accounting for the seasons.
 Despite the mixed message of her mythological past, Persephone has a light and lyrical aura, and pleasant associations with springtime and the harvest; she was also goddess of spring growth. Persephone was seen in the Matrix movies, played by Monica Bellucci, and could make an interesting replacement for the overused Stephanie.
 Persephone's meaning is in dispute: While some sources give it as the worrisome "bringing death," others indicate that's it's associated with dark blue and with speaking. Persephone was called Kore in childhood; in Roman mythology, she is Proserpina.
 Persephone is popular on Nameberry, ranking in the Top 100.

Persephone

The name Persia derives from Avestan Parsa, the name of the Indo-European nomadic people who migrated into southern Iran in about 1000 BCE. Persis or Persea, the feminine form of Perseus, feel more namelike.

Persia

An unexplored choice, evocative of the snowcapped Andes, with a pleasant, catchy sound.

Peru

A strong Greek name with pan-European charm, Petra is a relatively recent feminization of Peter, though it relates back to an incredible ancient city in Jordan that was rediscovered in the early nineteenth century. 
 Currently among the most popular girl names in Croatia, Hungary, and Bosnia and Herzegovina, Petra ranked in the US Top 1000 every year from 1880 to 1951, reaching a high of #493 in 1929.
 There have been Petras in two European film classics: Ingmar Bergman's Smiles of a Summer Night and Rainer Werner Fassbinder's The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant. The most prominent Petra in recent years is gorgeous supermodel Petra Nemcova, who is also an international disaster relief activist. Petra is also the name of a famous Christian rock band.

Petra

Petronella, and its shorter sister Petra, are both feminizations of Peter. While Petronella is a name with deep history, it's extremely rare. It was given to no baby girls on record in the US last year.

Petronella

Petya is a popular name in its native Bulgaria, where according to a 2016 study, it was the 9th most used feminine name among women of all ages. While it hasn't made the Top 10 in recent years, it remains a familiar choice.
 Petya is also a masculine diminutive of Pyotr in Russian.

Petya

Peyton is a unisex surname that rose to fame in the 90s, with parents drawing inspiration from football star, Peyton Manning, and, oddly enough, from "Peyton Flanders", the villainess of the 1992 film, The Hand That Rocks The Cradle. Combining gentle sounds with contemporary style and the naughtiness of Peyton Place, the name remains a popular choice in the US today. 
 Derived from an English place name, Peyton could mean "Pæga's town" or "fighting man's estate", though other sources associate it with Patton and Patrick, giving it the meaning "nobleman's town". In tune with Avery, Paisley, and Harper - and an updated honor for Grandpa Patrick or Aunt Patricia - Peyton is in the US Top 200 and given to nearly 2000 girls every year.
 
Obscure until the 90s, solidly unisex in the early 2000s, a feminine-leaning, Top 100 choice in the 2010s, and now seemingly in decline, Peyton has had a turbulent time in the charts over the last three decades. 
 Whether it continues to fall or rise back up remains to be seen, but for now, it still feels like a familiar option, with namesakes ranging from the literary Peyton Loftis to the actress Peyton Roi List.

Peyton

This name of a tragic figure in Greek mythology, the daughter of King Minos, sister of Ariadne and wife of Theseus, has a mysterious and intriguing appeal, and would make a dramatic choice.

 Phaedra has been a persistent theme in literature, both ancient and modern. There have been plays by Euripedes, Racine, Unamuno, and O'Neill, novels, poetry, operas and film--as recently as the 2011 Immortals starring Freida Pinto.
 One celebrity pulled a gender switch when she named her son Phaedra Bloom Forever.

Phaedra

In the Zulu and Xhosa languages of Southern Africa, Phila is a unisex name pronounced "PEE-la" and means "to live of life" 

It's also the feminine version of the ancient Greek name Philo, pronounced "FEE-la", meaning friend or lover and present in several contemporary names and words used throughout the Western World. The name Philip, for instance, means lover of horses, while the city name Philadelphia means "brotherly love" and philosophy means "love of wisdom".

Phila

Place-name mentioned in the New Testament and not yet on the name map. Philadelphia Thursday was the character played by Shirley Temple in John Ford's 1948 "Fort Apache." 

Philadelphia

Philippa is a prime example of a boy's name adapted for girls that was common as crumpets in Cornwall, but rarely heard stateside. That was before the advent of royal sister-in-law Philippa Middleton, who goes by the lively nickname Pippa.
 Philippa has still never appeared in the Top 1000 in the US, quite an accomplishment for a classic name that's been around for centuries. It does, however, rank on England's as well as Nameberry's own internal lists.
 
Pippa doesn't rank in the US either, but is far more popular than Philippa in the rest of the English-speaking world. It ranks in the Top 100 in Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand, and in the Top 200 in England and Scotland.
 
Philippa has been fashionable in England since the fourteenth century when King Edward married Philippa of Hainault. There have been several early Saint Philippas, and it was the name of the wife of Geoffrey Chaucer.
 Novelist Philippa Gregory authored the bestselling historical novel The Other Boelyn Girl.

Philippa

Philippine would be taken as an ethnic identification rather than a name in the U.S. Better try Philippa, though if you don't mind eternally correcting people, Philippine can make an interesting alternative. Pippa can be a short form of Philippine as well as Philippa.

Philippine

Philis

alyshadragonfriend's list "Girls Names Beginning With P" of 240 great name ideas: Padget - Pétronille!

Girls Names Beginning With P

A very long list of girls names beginning with the letter P. I hope it comes in handy.