Female Names I Like

Celestia

Variation of Celeste, Latin

"heavenly"

Celestia is a heavenly name that sounds more ethereal than Celeste, Celestia might make a distinctive, feminine choice if your taste runs toward names like Angelina and Seraphina. Celestia was more…

Allura

French

"to entice, attract"

Sounds like a princess -- or an enticingly evil witch -- in a fairy tale.

Galen

Greek

"healer, calm"

The final n makes this choice infinitely more modern than Gail.

Sonya

See SONIA.

Shay

Irish, Hebrew

"stately, gift"

A variant spelling of either Irish Shea or Hebrew Shai, Shay feels at once vintage and modern.

Morgana

Female version of Morgan, Welsh

"sea-circle"

Since Morgan is used as--or more--frequently for girls as for boys, this feminization has fallen by the wayside. It drew some brief attention via the pop singer Morgana King. The similar Morgiana…

Serra

Italian, Portuguese and Catalan

"ridge"

This topographical name, more suited to a girl than a boy--though it would inevitably be confused with SARAH--has some distinguished bearers: famous Spanish missionary to Mexico Father Junipero…

Lavinia

Latin, from ancient place name Lavinium

Lavinia is a charmingly prim and proper Victorian-sounding name which actually dates back to classical mythology, where it was the name of the wife of the Trojan hero Aeneas, who was considered the…

Lucinda

English, Spanish, and Portuguese variation of Lucia

"light"

Lucinda, an elaboration of Lucia created by Cervantes for his 1605 novel Don Quixote , is a pleasingly pretty alternative to Lucy. It was subsequently used by Moliere in his play The Doctor in Spite…

Minerva

Latin

"of the mind, intellect"

Minerva is the long-neglected name of the Roman goddess of wisdom and invention, the arts and martial strength, one of the mythology names for girls that might appeal to adventurous feminist parents.…