Favorite Girl Names

Theodora is one of the most revival-worthy of the charmingly old-fashioned Victorian valentine names, softly evocative but still substantial, as is the reversed-syllable Dorothea.

To some, Nancy is a sweet, sparkly, vintage choice with plenty of energy and style. For it strays too much into '"old-lady" territory to be cool again yet. It's out of fashion in France, New Zealand, and Canada; it lingers towards to bottom of the US charts. In the UK however, Nancy has been a Top 100 name for nearly a decade where it fits right in with Evie, Mabel, and Pippa.

The eternal fiancee of Superman turned sweet gray-haired lady who's always available to babysit her grandkids turned....hot new baby name?

Alexandra fell out of the Top 100 for the first time since 1983 in 2015 but is still a popular choice. Strong, tasteful, and elegant, Alexandra remains a chic modern classic with a solid historic pedigree.

Sophisticated and sweet, delicate but substantial, Madeleine is the classic French variation of Magdalene.

Combine the charming heroine of the movie Legally Blonde with supermodel Elle Macpherson and the trend toward all names beginning with "el"—Ellie, Ella, Eleanor—and you have one hit name.

Virginia is a lovely place name starting with the fashionable V and having deep historical roots, yet, unlike some other other girls' classics, has been sorely neglected in recent years.

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.

Thora, related to Thor, is the ancient Norse thunder goddess name that's much softer and gentler than its meaning suggests. A noted bearer is actress Thora Birch.

Lennox is one of the new breed of surname names on the rise as a Scottish name for girls as well as boys. The final x makes the name a bit masculine a la Max and Felix, but female inspirations include Eurythmics' Annie Lennox, Mary Lennox in The Secret Garden, and Lennox Scanlon in sitcom Melissa & Joey.

This is a long-recognized smoosh name merging Anna with the short form of Elizabeth, and is one of the prettiest combo names, a possible alternative to Annabel.

Pronounced just like Jean in the English-speaking world, but as the more unusual zhahn in France, this has sailed away with the first wave of French favorites: Denise, Michelle, et soeurs.

Lizzie was commonly used as an independent name in the last half of the nineteenth century. Today Lizzie is still one of the most stylish short forms of Elizabeth, but few U.S. parents put it on the birth certificate.

Upper-crusty nickname occasionally used in Britain, particularly in 1930s novels featuring significant garden party scenes, but eclipsed here by Carrie et al.

Yes, we tend to think of Claude as a male name and Claudia and Claudette as the female, but this ancient clan name is used in France for girls as well as boys, and could make a distinctively chic boy name for girls here too. You may be surprised to know that Claude was in fairly regular use for American girls in the 1880's and nineties, reaching as high as 553 in 1880.

This is one surname-name that may swing decidedly to the male side, thanks to highly-visible young actor Alden Ehrenreich.