Alternatives to Grace

The Italian Gianna undoubtedly owes much of its popularity in the US to its status as an honor name for John. Before the importation of Gianna, there was no truly workable feminine form of John, so Gianna found widespread favor among American parents with Italian roots and far beyond.

Graca, typically written in Portuguese as Graça, is a stylish virtue name that has never made the charts in the US. The pronunciation rhymes with the Spanish word "casa."

Grace is about as classic of a virtue name as you can get — could Graceful be a fresh way to get to the cute nickname Gracie?

More distinctive than Grace and more creative than Presley, Graceland is a contemporary name that could catch on with parents searching for a unique honorific.

This name is a combination of the traditional Grace and popular suffix -lyn. Both Gracelyn and spelling variation Gracelynn work as alternatives to the highly popular Brooklyn.

We recommend you leave it at Grace, but it's hard to downplay the rise of -Lynn names in recent years.

Grace, meet Grayson. The stylish classic girls' name Grace -- it's in the Top 20 -- and the trendy boys' name Grayson or Greyson, a member of the Jason-Mason-Cason club, combine to create the girls' name Gracen. For a little girl, we'd stop at Grace.

Although Gracia is the literal Spanish translation of Grace and is used as the Grace equivalent in Spanish-speaking countries, where it's pronounced grah-see-a, it's also a long-time if unusual Grace variation pronounced gray-sha. You might consider Gracia if Grace is getting too commonplace for you.

Cute Gracie is one of the more recently revived nickname names by parents who chose it over the more formal Grace--or variations like Graziella or Grania. Country singers Faith Hill and Tim McGraw cut straight to the nickname when they called one of their daughters Gracie, and actors Ron Livingston and Rosemarie DeWitt named their newborn daughter Gracie James. Gracie Gold is a popular young figure skater.

A warm and positive English word name, used by the Puritans for both sexes but now given to only around a dozen baby girls each year.

A name that's on the rise for boys but rarely used -- though possible -- for girls.

Grainne is the Irish form of the name often Anglicized as Grania. It was the name of the ancient grain goddess and also of the fiancee of mythological hero Finn McCool and lover of Dermot, who was a heroine of the seas.