The Search for My New Name

Delainey

Delainey is a feminine name that evolved as a modern variant of Delaney, which itself originated as an Irish surname derived from the Gaelic 'Ó Dubhshláine,' meaning 'descendant of Dubhshláine.' The…

Elsa

German diminutive of Elisabeth

"pledged to God"

Lost in limbo for decades and decades, Elsa now stands a good chance of following along in the progression from Emma to Ella to Etta, thanks to the ice queen heroine who "Let It Go" in the wildly…

Pandora

Greek

"all gifted"

Pandora has occasionally been used by the British gentry (for girls with brothers who might be called Peregrine) and is now starting to be heard in the US too: It was given to 34 baby girls last…

Rhiannon

Welsh

"divine queen"

Strong and outdoorsy, yet pretty and queenly, Rhiannon was a once obscure Welsh name, brought into the mainstream in 1976, following Fleetwood Mac's flash hit song of the same title. It stormed into…

Rosalind

Latin

"soft horse or pretty rose"

Rosalind has a distinguished literary history – used and popularized by Edmund Spenser and Shakespeare via one of his most charming heroines, in As You Like It . Along with a bouquet of other Rose…

Rosamund

German

"horse protection"

This lovely, quintessentially British appellation, also spelled Rosamond, is the name of a legendary twelfth-century beauty. Rare on these shores, it is more than worthy of importation. There was a…