Girl names

Beatrice is back. Stored in the attic for almost a century, the lovely Beatrice with its long literary (Shakespeare, Dante) and royal history is being looked at with fresh eyes by parents seeking a classic name with character and lots of upbeat nicknames, like Bea and Bee.

Poppy, unlike most floral names which are sweet and feminine, has a lot of spunk. Long popular throughout the rest of the English-speaking world, Poppy is finally starting to rise toward the top in the US, where it entered the Top 1000 for the first time in 2016.

Gemma is a jewel of a name, an Italian classic that was very popular in 1980s England, but has only recently been started to be used here; it entered the list in 2008.

A literary name and a place name with a grand yet familiar feel, Virginia has been in the US Top 1000 since records began in the late 19th century. Also familiar in Spain, Brazil and Italy, recent years have seen it rank around the #500 mark in the States.

A unique combination of a surname feel and dainty femininity. It's currently associated with actress Lacey Chambert.

As the song says, "Dinah, is there anyone finer?" Dinah is a charming, underused Old Testament name with a rich literary and musical resume.

When actress Susan Ker Weld changed her name to Tuesday, she opened up a whole calendar of possibilities. This was decades before the arrival of Sunday Rose Urban.

Thanks to two cultural influences, January has joined March, April, June and August as a plausible month name.