Alternate Spellings

Rylee

Spelling variation of Riley, Irish

"courageous"

This substitute spelling of Riley has been popular with parents for a decade. Rylee entered the charts in 1994, and is solidly within the Top 200 for the last 2 decades. Ryleigh is another spelling…

Journee

Spelling variation of Journey, English word name

"travel or passage from one place to another"

With Journey becoming increasingly popular, it's no surprise that this alternative spelling is not far behind. However, you may be surprised to learn that in recent years, the Journee spelling has…

Londyn

Spelling variation of London, place name

Londyn is now a more popular name than the original London for girls. Some parents feel that varying the spelling nudges the name away from over-identification with the British capitol. Substituting…

Hanna

Spelling variation of Hannah

This simplified version is not nearly as popular as the original (it also destroys a perfectly good palindrome), and has been on the decline in recent years.

Charley

Spelling variation of Charlie, French

"free man"

Charlie and its many forms are on the rise -- including Charley, which relates more directly to the male formal name Charles. Surprisingly, though, while the number of girls and boys named Charlie…

Bryanna

Variation of Brianna, English

"strong, virtuous and honorable"

A confusing-looking name — is it BRY-anna or BREE-anna? There are other feminine variants of Bryan/Brian which look less made up, such as Brianna and Breanna. We recommend looking into those choices…

Abbigail

Spelling variation of Abigail, Hebrew

"my father is joyful"

A fast-rising variation of Abigail that was shooting up the popularity charts a few years ago, but whose star is now falling now that Abigail is not quite as hot as she once was.

Madilynn

Spelling variation of Madelyn, meaning "from Magdala" or "high tower"

"high tower"

This variation of Madelyn has the trendier -nn suffix and ranks lower than the single -n ending. Regardless of what spelling you use, however, when you combine all the variations together, names from…

Kaydence

Variation of Cadence, word name

We'd prefer to stick with the more-familiar Cadence and avoid the overly trendy Kay- prefix.

Shyanne

Variation of Cheyenne

"people of a different language"

Shy Anne? The original place-name spelling Cheyenne is preferable to this phonetic and slyly jokey spelling in every way.

Cydney

Variation of Sydney, English from French

"Saint Denis"

Unnecessary complication.

Karren

Karren is a feminine name that originated as a variant spelling of Karen, which derives from the Danish form of Katherine. Katherine itself comes from the Greek name Aikaterine, possibly meaning…

Fae

Spelling variation of Faye, English

"fairy"

Now that Faye is back on the Top 1000 after a decades-long absence, its spelling variations are being revived as well. Fae was given to nearly as many baby girls last year as Fay and may be…

Marjory

Marjory is a feminine name derived from the medieval French form of Margaret, which comes from the Greek word "margarites" meaning "pearl." This charming variation gained popularity in the…

Cristen

Variation of Kristen

Kind of a Kristen/Christine compromise name that makes less of either choice.

Melodie

Melodie is a feminine name that represents a French-influenced spelling variation of Melody. Derived from Greek elements 'melos' (song) and 'oide' (ode), the name literally means 'song' or 'music.'…

Bayleigh

Spelling variation of Bailey

Needlessly confusing; stick with Bailey.