Girls Names

Elsie

Diminutive of Elizabeth via its Scottish variation, Elspeth

"pledged to God"

Elsie is a sweet vintage nickname-name turned modern star. After a 30-year hiatus, Elsie started climbing the US popularity list 20 years ago and is still headed for the top. In its native Britain,…

Brielle

Short form of Gabrielle, French, Cajun, Hebrew, Celtic

"god is my strength; hunting grounds"

Though it sounds modern, Brielle is, among other things, a traditional Cajun contraction of Gabrielle, and the name of a historic seaport in the Western Netherlands, also known as Brill. Today, it is…

Freya

Norse

"a noble woman"

Freya has long been popular in the U.K. but has only taken off in the US in the last decade, along with the entire category of mythological names. Derived from the Old Norse name Freyja, meaning…

Zara

Hebrew and Arabic

"blooming flower; God remembers"

Zara has multiple origins, but most notably is a variation of Zahrah, a name derived from the Arabic zahrah , meaning "blooming flower." Zara can also be a diminutive of the Bulgarian name Zaharina,…

Lena

English, Scottish, Dutch, German, and Scandinavian, diminutive of various names ending in -lena

This pet form of Helena and other ena-ending names, long used as an independent name, is attracting notice again as an option both multicultural and simple. Lena was a Top 100 name from 1880 to 1920.…

Lyra

Greek

"lyre"

Lyra is a name with ancient and celestial roots that's found new popularity thanks to its starring role in Philip Pullman's book series, His Dark Materials and its subsequent movie and TV adaptions.…

Maren

Latin

"sea"

Maren is one of the many twenty-first-century takes on Mary--but we find the more classic Marin spelling preferable. When spelled Maren, the pronunciation seems more clearly to resemble Mary, with…

Bristol

Place-name

"the site of the bridge"

Bristol Palin, the daughter of former Alaska governor and Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin, grabbed her own share of headlines after her pregnancy and having appearing on Dancing With The…

Elin

Swedish variation of Ellen

The Elin variation makes an old favorite sleeker and more modern. Elin came to prominence via the ex-Mrs.Tiger Woods and is now perhaps best known via novelist Elin Hildebrand.. It entered the US Top…

Marit

Aramaic

"pearl"

An unusual and straightforward name with an attractive Scandinavian accent; a royal name in Norway.

Lita

Norwegian diminutive of Elisabet, English and Spanish diminutive of names ending in -lita, or Romanian variation of Leta, Latin

"pledged to God; little; glad, joyful"

Vivacious but lightweight.

Bronte

Greek

"thunder"

This lovely surname of the three novel-writing sisters, now used as a baby name, makes a fitting tribute for lovers of Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights . While the original name took an umlaut over…