User-created list
By kkilgallon · Updated May 2023
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German occupational name
"wagon maker"
Whether pronounced like the wag of a tail or as the correct German VAHG-ner, this might be something a devoted opera buff could consider as a middle name.
French
"to admire"
A pretty name that may pose pronunciation problems for non-French speakers or those who've never encountered it, but it is worth the effort. Pronounced meer-AY (or closer to MEE-RAY in French), it…
Latin
"stern"
Though it has literary credentials--making an appearance in Jane Austen's Mansfield Park and as the mean-spirited teacher Severus Snape in the Harry Potter books, most modern parents would find it…
English combination of Eliza + Bella
"pledged to God + beautiful"
Elizabella is a much more obscure smoosh than sisters Isabella and Annabelle, but the megapopularity of Isabella may give this unusual combo name a boost.
Roman, English word name, from Latin
"young deer; all the animals that live in a particular area"
Fauna is the Roman goddess of the earth as well as one of the fairies who protected Disney's "Sleeping Beauty". It can also be considered a word name with a scientific, nature focused feel. Used to…
Welsh
"white ring, circle"
Gwendolen, an ancient Welsh favorite, retired decades ago in favor of the short form Gwen, but now, as in the case all across the naming board, the nickname has faded and the more distinguished…
English
"family farm"
On the staff of a manor house.
Irish form of Janet
"God is gracious"
One of the best known of the Irish girls' names , thanks to singer Sinead O'Connor. Though it's still in the Irish Top 100, it's no longer quite as fashionable in Ireland as Aoife or Aisling. But by…
Word name
A Beretta is a gun, so named because of the Italian firearms manufacturer that makes it. And now Beretta is also a badass baby name, used in the middle for daughter Breeze by Bristol Palin baby daddy…
Sanskrit, Latvian
"possessing drops of rain; reed, water witch; estate ruler"
In Hindu tradition, Indra is the warrior god of sky and rain, whose name is often used as element of other names, such as Jaswinder or Rajendra. Its use as a feminine name may come from the Western…
Greek
"Christian, anointed"
See CRISTIANA.
Arabic
"long-necked beauty"
Both an independent name and an alternate spelling of Jada.
Spanish, diminutive of Lola and Dolores, Spanish
"lady of sorrows"
In Nabokov's notorious novel, Lolita is the pet name given by the pedophilic narrator, Humbert Humbert, to his victim: a young girl called Dolores and nicknamed Lola or Lo by her mother. Still, it…
Soraia is a feminine name of Arabic and Portuguese origin, derived from the Arabic Thurayya meaning 'the Pleiades' or 'chandelier', referring to the famous star cluster. The name traveled to Portugal…
Irish surname
"from England"
The fashion for using surnames as firsts has extended beyond the familiar Morgan and Parker to choices such as Cohen and O'Brien to -- why not? -- this quintessentially Irish name with the friendly o…
Latin, feminine form of Ambrose
"Immortal"
Ambrosia combines some of the more whimsical qualities of more popular Aurora and Isabella, with a heavenly meaning. In Greek mythology, Ambrosia was not a goddess or other figure but literally the…
Diminutive of Elizabeth
Pronounced a la Bette (Betty) Davis or Bette (Bet) Midler, a twentieth-century relic. Though if the equally vintage Betty comes back, Bette may be close behind.
Latin and French
"fair Christian"
Though Isabel is a smash hit, Christabel still hasn't been fully embraced. It was originally popularized in England via the Coleridge poem Christabel ("whom her father loves so well") and was given…
Russian and Slavic feminine form of Galen, Greek
"calm, healer"
Commonly used in Russia, has an Old World Slavic feel. The original Galen can be used for girls as well as boys.
"loving"
Could Philo be the next Milo? We love the o-ending and sweet meaning of this dynamic and distinctive Greek name, often used in literature, but never particularly popular. The ancient Philo (aka Philo…
