Symmetrical Names

Double exposure: 1970s rock sensation (Mamma Mia) and scholar/diplomat name in Israel.

Ada is one of the classic baby names for girls that is suddenly super stylish again. A favorite at the end of the nineteenth century, Ada is an alternative to the over-popular Ava. Ada is also part of the trend toward simple, old-fashioned names beginning with a vowel, like Ivy and Ella.

This name found in the fantasy series Endymion/Rise of Endymion has a slightly physiological feel to it.

Retro musical reference to classic Steely Dan rock album, but mostly for girls today.

Sounds like and is often confused with Asia, though it has an air of retro cool via the seminal Steely Dan album. Or, pronounced eye-ah, it can be an alternate spelling of the international favorite Aya.

Ala is the Igbo earth goddess whose symbol is the crescent moon. In a very different vein, Ala can be a diminutive for Alicja or Alexandra or really any other name with an A at both ends and an L in the middle. Ala is also an Arabic name meaning "excellence, supremacy"; could be confused as a homonym for Allah, or as part of a phrase like a la mode.

This name of the mythological sister of Mars might be used for a girl born under one of the signs ruled by the planet Mars--Aries or Scorpio. She is the personification of the war cry.

Lilting African name that translates perfectly into other cultures.

A short form of Alexandra and Alice used everywhere from Russia to Spain. A fresh alternative to Allie.

Alula, the palindromic name of the first double star to be identified as physically related to its twin, would make the perfect name for a first-born twin. Ideas (we're only half joking) for the second born: Aviva, Aziza, Otto. Alula is reminiscent of the unusual name chosen by Isla Fisher and Sacha Baron Cohen for their second daughter: Elula, a month name from the Hebrew calendar.

Ama is a day name used by the Akan people of Ghana for girls born on Saturday. Names that reference a baby's birth by day of the week, time of day, or season of the year are common in many African cultures. Ama is one that can be used happily by parents who live in English-speaking countries.

An anagram of Mama, in tune with its Tamil meaning.

Pared-down form loses none of the name's grace or power. Ana is one of the most popular Spanish names for girls in the US.