User-created list
By CheshireKat · Updated May 2023
Across 6 pages
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Greek mythology name
"cassia juice"
Cassiopeia, the name of a mythological mother who became a stellar constellation, is challenging but intriguing, and has all those softening Cass nicknames available. And with all names Cass-related…
Greek
"hearth, fireside"
Hestia is the name of the Greek goddess of the hearth, home and chastity. Though Hestia has been long dormant as a name, it's a possibility for the parent in search of a classic name with deep roots…
Welsh
"maiden"
Morwenna is an ancient Cornish name now being revived in Wales, deriving from a Celtic word meaning "maiden", although the Mor- syllable means that it's often associated with the sea. It's been heard…
"giant, great one"
This name of the queen of the fairies in A Midsummer Night's Dream has a delicate, lacy charm similar to Tatiana's, but that first syllable could cause embarrassing problems.
Irish Gaelic
"white shoulders"
This lovely Gaelic name, very popular in the Emerald Isle, has inspired a whole host of diminutives (including Nuala and Nola) and variant spellings, from Finola to Finula to the Scottish and English…
Irish
"golden princess"
In early, pre-Norman Ireland, this name was borne by both a sister and a niece of high king Brian Boru. Now, the English form Orla is more commonly used.
Italian
"little fiery one"
Fiammetta, from the Italian word for flame, has both femininity and fire. Fiammetta could make a good alternative to more conventional Italian girls' names like Giovanna. Fiammetta has some romantic,…
"demi-god"
Despite the possibility of gender confusion, the Hero in Greek myth was a woman. Myleene Klass got that when she chose Hero for her daughter, and Sam Taylor-Wood and Aaron Johnson used it as their…
French form of Eulalia, Greek
"sweetly speaking"
Eulalie hasn't ranked in the US Top 1000 since 1899, but its French roots might make it more appealing to modern ears than its sister Eulalia. "Eulalie" is a poem by Edgar Allan Poe, and the name…
Scottish
"true sovereignty"
Ferelith is an unusual yet deeply-rooted Scottish girl's name, also found in ancient Ireland and drawn from the Gaelic Forbhlaith or Forbflaith. While it went through a period of dormancy after the…
Cornish
"love"
Kerensa, forever romantic, is a rare Cornish name spelled with an ' s ' or ' z ', the most modern of the Karen family. Kerensa (or Kerenza) has ties to the Welsh Cerys. Kerensa is a name favored by…
Feminine variation of Zephyr, Greek
"west wind"
Zephyr may not be a name often heard in the U.S., but its variations are used throughout Europe. Zephyrine, a cousin in sound and feel if not in fact to such lovely names as Severine and Seraphina,…
Variation of Azenor, Breton
"light"
The origins of Senara, the name of a Cornish saint who is patron of the village of Zennor, are not so straightforward. Some say she was the same person as Azenor, a legendary Breton princess whose…
Literary name
This lovely name from Spenser's The Faerie Queene is borne by a character who represents married love. A related unusual-yet-usable choice: Amabel.
"beautiful as a poem; crooked women"
A mythological Welsh name with an intriguing sound, Ceridwen appears in several Welsh legends, in which she is an an enchantress and the owner of the cauldron of poetic inspiration. She is also…
Scottish from Norse
"elf victory"
Ailsa is a traditional Scottish name for girls related to a rocky island in the Firth of Clyde called Ailsa Craig. It might make an interesting alternative to the outdated Ashley or overly popular…
"equal in weight"
Atalanta was a beautiful mythological maiden who refused to marry any man who couldn't beat her in a footrace -- quite a role model. This myth is found in Ovid's Metamorphoses and later in…
