User-created list
Subtly Witchy Names
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Rune
German and Swedish
"secret"
Name with connotations both mystical and tragic, newly popular in Europe. For English speakers, though, this name might be ruined by its homonym ruin.
Orlin
Orlin is a masculine name with Slavic origins, particularly popular in Bulgaria where it derives from the word "orel" meaning "eagle." This connection gives the name associations with freedom,…
Calista
Greek
"most beautiful"
Spelled with either one 'l' or two, Calista came to the fore in 1997 when Calista Flockhart hit it big as Ally McBeal. Flockhart, who bears her mother's middle name, didn't just introduce a name, she…
Elira
Elira is a feminine name with multiple potential origins. In Albanian culture, it derives from the word for 'free' or 'freedom,' making it a name with powerful symbolic significance. Alternatively,…
Vela
Sanskrit, Latin
"shore, sail"
Vela is one of those rare names that is at once simple, straightforward, authentic, and unusual, at least in the Western World. Besides being an Indian girls' name, Vela is a Southern sky…
Medora
Greek
"mother's gift"
Medora is a Greek name much less common here than, say, Melanie or Melissa. It has some literary references, including as the beautiful and passionate heroine of Lord Byron's poem The Corsair, and in…
Yona
Cherokee or variation of Jonah, Hebrew
"bear; dove"
A name with a double animal connection via two distinct origins, one Native American and the other Hebrew and Biblical. Yona is rare in the US but not unknown: It was given to a dozen baby girls in…
Eris
Greek
"strife, discord"
Eris was the goddess of strife and discord, turned fairy tale and then popular culture figure Maleficent in Sleeping Beauty. Ironic, as her name sounds so much like that of Eros, the god of love.…
Lystra
Biblical place-name
Anatolian city visited by Paul in the Bible, though risks sounding a tad antiseptic.
Vaida
Lithuanian
"to visit, to appear, to haunt"
A Lithuanian short form of various Vaid- names often used on its own, or a spelling variant of Vada.
Lumi
Finnish
"snow"
Lumi may be a rare girls' name in the USA and England, but it comes in the Top 50 in Finland, where it means snow. Given the popularity of Winter, Holly, Ivy and many other wintery-christmassy names,…
Vanora
Vanora is an elegant feminine name with Celtic roots, particularly associated with Scottish and Irish heritage. Often considered a variant of Guinevere (King Arthur's queen), Vanora carries the…
Ceris
Ceris is a feminine name with Welsh origins, often associated with the cherry tree or cherry fruit. This concise, two-syllable name (pronounced either as KEH-ris or SEH-ris) carries natural symbolism…
Xenia
Greek
"hospitable, welcoming, guest"
The name of a Christian saint and a city in Ohio, Xenia is one of the more accessible and intriguing x names. It is the name of one of the Bond Girls--played by Famke Janssen in the film "GoldenEye."…
Samsara
Sanskrit
"world, wandering, cyclic change"
In Indian religions such as Hinduism and Buddhism, Samsara is the concept of rebirth and the cyclicality of life: in other words, a pretty fundamental principle. It has occasionally been used as a…
Zelia
Hebrew
"zealous, ardent"
An appealing name almost unknown in our culture but with roots in several others; worldlier than cousins Celia and Delia.
Odeya
Hebrew
"I will thank God"
Derived from a Hebrew phrase: ode "I will thank, praise" combined with yah "Yahweh". A famous bearer is Israeli-American actress Odeya Rush.
Rena
Hebrew, Greek, Estonian, Scandinavian, German, Punjabi
"joyous melody; peace; reborn; to remain"
Rena is a Hebrew name all on its own and is also a European short form of Irene, Irini, Renata, and Renate. In Punjabi, Rena means "to remain".
Evora
Portuguese place name
"yew tree"
Evora is a city in Portugal known for its magnificent Roman aged ruins. It is occasionally seen as a female name, evoking some of the mystique of this region.