Girl's Names

Amica is a word meaning girlfriend that is not often used as a name in Italy, but it would sound pretty and name-like elsewhere.

Andorra is the pretty name of a pocket-sized princedom in the Pyrenees, noted for its skiing.

One of the stellar unique baby names from mythology, Andromeda was the beautiful daughter of Cassiopeia who, like her mother, literally became a star--the constellation that bears her name.The Bohemian Andromeda makes a dramatic and adventurous choice in a time when four-syllable mythological names are gradually making their way into the mainstream.

Part of a group of lovely A-starting names popular in Spain, along with Ainhoa and Aitana. Spanish actress Aroa Gimeno introduced this one.

The surname of enterprising journalist Nellie Bly and poet Robert Bly makes a simple, modern, and upbeat sounding choice for either a boy or a girl.

This unisex name, the seventh most popular surname in Scotland, can make a more unusual Cameron alternative. It is represented on the girls' side by TV news correspondent Campbell Brown, for whom it was a family name, Brown was born Alma Dale Campbell, Alma Dale being her grandmother's name,and Campbell her mother's maiden name.

Cleo, one of the few girls' names to boast the cool-yet-lively o ending, is of course short for Cleopatra, the name of one of the most powerful women in history.

Columba is an early saint's name that rhumbas to a modern beat. While the original St. Columba is male, the name sounds more appropriate for a girl in the modern world. Leave variations Colm and Callum for the boys.

This elegant surname has great potential to turn into an unusual first name, especially with its literary associations to both Stephen and Hart Crane.

An early Christian martyr, a bespectacled MTV cartoon heroine, and Canadian supermodel Daria Werbowy: Daria is a name that manages to feel contemporary and usable without being exactly stylish. Which may be a positive, in terms of Daria not being in danger of overpopularity.

Nice, energetic -- dare we say dashing. -- quality.

Fashionably Continental and much fresher than Dominique, though it's been used since the Middle Ages. Dominica can be spelled any number of ways, from Dominika to Domenica, but we prefer this version.

Introduced via Sopranos star Drea (born Andrea) de Matteo, and catching on with a wider audience.

Less electric and melodramatic, more serene, than Electra. Isabella Rossellini's daughter (and Ingrid Bernman's granddaughter) is named Elettra Rossellini Wiedemann.

Elliot is another traditional boy name used for girls", a trend led by political commentator George Stephanopoulos and his actress wife Ali Wentworth.

Emira is one of those pan-international names that feels pleasant enough but seems so unrooted to any one culture that it might as well be made up.

A variant of Asha, which is related to the classic Arabic name Aisha, yet another way to say life. Other on-the-rise names with this uplifting meaning: Zoe and Vivian varieties such as Viviana, Viveca, and Vivienne.

Florence is back, returning to the US Top 1000 girl names in 2017 after a nearly 40 year absence. Other English-speaking countries have been quicker to welcome Florence back into fashion.

We've seen Haven take off as a nouveau girls' name; Harbor could follow in its wake.

Despite a return to such feminizations of male names as Josephine, Clementine, and Theodora, starchy Henrietta has not made it into that group. Still, if you look hard enough, you'll see that Henrietta has the same vintage charm.