Peculiar Italian Names (Girls)

Severina

Latin, feminine variation of Severino

"stern, serious"

Not only stern and serious, but a little too severe.

Vanna

Italian

"god is gracious"

Diminutive of the Italian Giovanna, or sometimes Vanessa or Ivanna. Wheel of Fortune's Vanna White — who pronounces her name like the end of Savannah — got her name from her grandmother's next-door…

Bertilla

Bertilla is a feminine name of Germanic origin, derived from the elements 'berht' meaning 'bright' or 'famous' and possibly 'hild' meaning 'battle.' The name has historical significance through Saint…

Ede

Ede is a feminine name with multiple cultural origins. In Hungarian tradition, it's a feminine form of Eduard, meaning 'wealthy guardian.' In West African cultures, particularly among the Yoruba…

Erina

Greek, Japanese, Albanian

"spring, hero; favored village; peace; our wind"

While Erina may look like popular Irish name Erin with an -a on the end (and some may well use it as such), it is in fact a multicultural choice. From its Greek origins, it likely derives from…

Fedora

Greek variation of Theodora

Fedora is occasionally heard among the British Mayfair and Belgravia set, but we're afraid that in this country there would be too strong an association with the man's felt hat.

Giselda

Giselda is a feminine name with Germanic origins, derived from 'gisil' meaning 'pledge' or 'hostage' and 'hild' meaning 'battle.' This powerful historical name was carried by several noble women…

Idalia

Greek, Germanic

"behold the sun; work, labor"

A pretty, if unusual choice for a summer baby, particularly a girl with an ancestor named Ida. An epithet of the goddess Aphrodite, Idalia is derived from the Greek place name Idalion. It may also be…

Ilda

Italian variation of HIlda, German

"battle woman"

The Italian form of Hilda is rarer but sweeter than its mother name, which still isn't ready for revival in the US.