Girls

With strong sounds but a whimsical feel, Reverie is a word name associated with being in a dreamy, ethereal state, of being lost in a daydream, or coming up with a pleasant fantasy for the future. Similar in cadence to popularly Everly, it was given to around 80 girls in a recent year.

A place name with a deep Southern accent, the once-obscure Savannah shot to fame, with others of its genre, on the heels of the best seller Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, which was set in the mossy Georgia city of Savannah. Originally a substitute for the overused Samantha, Savannah is now popular itself, long among the top girls' names starting with S.

The unisex Blake, which indeed has two conflicting meanings, has a briskly efficient image when used for a girl.

One of the loveliest of the Welsh names, striking the perfect balance between being familiar and unusual. In Wales, the female spelling is always Bronwen, but Americans usually see a "y" as adding femininity.

Luella is a sleeker spelling variant of the girls' name Louella and is now more popular than the original. Sweet, but lively, it was a popular name in the the early 19th century, but fell out of favor in the 50s. Now, after a 60 year absence, it's back in the charts, in the US and the UK.

One of those names that's suddenly on the map because of a celebrity's influence, Leighton Meester of the TV show Gossip Girl. She pronounces it LAY-ton but some will intuitively say LEE-ton.

Early 1980s sitcom (Family Ties) name that has been well used ever since, with an upbeat three-syllable sound and a slightly tomboyish edge.

This flower name was one of the most popular in her class in the seventies and eighties, a fact reflected in the 1989 movie Heathers, in which every snobby girl in the high school clique bears the name. Now, though still pretty and evocative of the Scottish moors, it has faded in favor of other purplish blooms. It fell out of the Top 1000 in 2016 after having been as high as Number 3 in 1975, when it was given to close to 25,000 girls. Across the pond in the UK however, it remains near the latter end of the Top 1000.

Thanks to Mariah Carey, everyone now knows this name – and is aware that Mariah's pronounced with a long i – just as Maria was in the Jane Austen era. And though Mariah now sounds modern, it was heard as far back as 1550 in Great Britain.

Indie actress Parker Posey put a female imprint on this sophisticated surname that's still about three times as common for boys but rising for both sexes. Parker has the advantage of its nature connection, relating it to such occupational names as Gardener and Forester.

Cara is a simple, sweet, Italian endearment that enjoyed its greatest popularity from the 1970s through the 1990s, reaching a high of Number 189 in 1977. Despite the rising celebrity of English model/actress Cara Delevingne, who played Enchantress in Suicide Squad, Cara dropped off the Top 1000 in the US in 2020, perhaps because it sounds too close to the dreaded Karen.

Lula is one of the livelier nickname-names with the fashionable double-L sound: It joins Lulu, Lila, Lily, and Lou among the trendiest names today. Lula might be short for Talula and sisters or for Lucy or Louise, or may stand on its own two adorable feet. Lula was actually a Top 50 name in the late 1880's and continued in the Top 100 for a couple of decades more.

A name with religious resonance, as the Vedas are the most sacred texts of Hinduism. Outside of that religious context, Veda has the makings of a modern popular name, with its sharp V initial, two syllables, and feminine a ending. This is evidenced by it reentry into the US Top 1000 in 2015, after fifty-five years off the list. Similar names on the rise are Vera and Vada.

Long a nickname for all the Em-names, as well as an annual award, Emmy is now being given on its own, as are soundalikes Emme and Emmi. Might be too identified with the TV awards--though that doesn't seem to have hurt Oscar or Tony. We think Emmy is a little too cutesey, and is probably best kept as a nickname for something that ages a little better.

This name of a character played by Kirsten Dunst in the movie Virgin Suicides, originally a novel by Jeffrey Eugenides, is gaining attention, also thanks to the heroine Lux, Lady of Luminosity in the League of Legends games. Luz is the Spanish version.

Hollis is a surname-name used quietly for both genders. At last count, it was given to over 200 baby boys and 160 baby girls in the US. Now a Top 1000 name for boys, it could well break into the charts for girls too in the coming years.

Like Peggy and Patsy, Penny is a peppy vintage nickname that fell out of favor (and the Top 1000) for a while, but has recently rebounded by reentering the charts in 2013. Expect it to continue gaining traction on the heels of Penelope.

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

Monroe is a presidential name which, thanks to the immortal beauty of Marilyn Monroe, is catching on fast for baby girls. Mariah Carey and Nick Cannon chose it for their twin daughter, honoring Marilyn Monroe. Their use of Monroe as a girls’ name did much to revive this Old Man name, a la Sydney, as a newly fashionable choice for girls.

Rugged and tough, Anderson shot up quite a bit on the pop list in the 2000's, no doubt in large part due to the prominence of white-haired cable newsman Anderson Coopers, more recently, it has featured in the US Top 400, given to 943 boys in the latest count.