Alternatives to Sophie

In the 1950s and 60s, the name every little girl wanted for her very own.

The image of the lovely Lady Sybil, tragic youngest daughter of the Crawley family on Downton Abbey is likely to go a long way towards reviving this almost forgotten name, off the list since 1966 and most popular in the 1920s and '30s. Sybil is currently Number 253 on Nameberry;

Sydney was a hot girls' name in the 1990s, but she's arguably still cool. One of the original old man names adopted for baby girls, Sydney's popularity may be down but she's not out.

Although Sylvia seems to be having somewhat of a revival among trendsetting baby namers, we'd still opt for the even gentler and more unusual Sylvie. Despite being dated in its native France (where it was popular during the 1950s and 60s), in English-speaking regions it still feels fresh and international without being unfamiliar and has a cosmopolitan, international air. It debuted on the US Top 1000 in 2016.

Name that makes a dramatic musical statement.

Sypha Belnades is a witch in the Castlevania franchise, which includes video games and a Netflix TV series. Her name debuted on the charts in 2021, during the show's fourth season, when it was given to five baby girls. Sypha was inspired by the word "cipher."

X marks the spot in names these days, usually at the middles or ends of names, but here is one that puts it squarely up front.

Phonetic spelling of Xochitl, used only six percent as much as the original.