Mix and match favorites

Abyssinia is the ancient name of the Ethiopian Empire, no longer found on any map but with a possible future as a melodic girls' name in the ever-expanding place-name category. Among African names for girls, this one is undiscovered.

Acacia is an attractive, rarely used Greek flower name enhanced by its popular beginning-and-ending-with 'a'-construct, and is gradually beginning to catch on as a new member of the stylish girl names starting with A.

Acantha is one of the unique baby names in the stylish mythological category that also might count as a flower name. In Greek mythology, Acantha was a nymph beloved by Apollo. An unusual and attractive choice that could make a creative way to honor a grandma Rose.

Adam -- a primal Old Testament name -- was revived as a 1960s cowboy name. Adam is not as popular as it once was and feels ready for a respite, replaced by newer A names like Aidan/Aiden, Avery and Axel. Its most prominent current bearers include Adams Sandler, Levine, Brody and Driver -- who plays a character named Adam on Girls.

Adelina is back in the Top 1000 after an absence of nearly a century, thanks to the meteoric rise of her sister name Adeline -- along with Adelaide, Adele, and Ada. Some parents choose Adelina because they want to get to cute vintage nickname Addie, but others favor it as a slightly more unusual form of this sweet vintage girls' name. A lot of attention was focused on it recently via the women's figure skating gold medal winner at the Sochi winter olympics--Adelina Sotnikova.

While Adeline is usually pronounced in the U.S. with a long i in the last syllable, to rhyme with mine, Adelina is pronounced with the long e sound at the end, as in 'lee-na'.

Adeline has a lovely, old-fashioned "Sweet Adeline" charm, but has become so popular in the US under so many spellings and variations -- with Adalynn and Adalyn also popular -- that considered together it is far more popular than it first seems. Adorable nickname Addie is also pervasive.

Adhara is the name of one of the brightest stars in the sky. Also known as Adara, this name is perfectly suitable for a child.

This a-ending feminine form of Adrian, from the northern Italian city of Adria, is a soft and lovely Italian choice. It appears as a character in Shakespeare's The Comedy of Errors.

With so many A-beginning names finding their way into style, Agacia is one unusual choice that could get more attention. It's part Agatha, part Acacia, and quite intriguing.

Agata is an Agatha form widely used throughout Europe. And the hard t may be more appealing to your ear than the th sound.

Agatha until recently summoned up visions of martyred saints, mauve silk dresses, and high lace collars, but now that some dauntless excavators have begun to resurrect it, we're sure more will follow their lead. Actor Thomas Gibson used it for his daughter in 2004.

Agatha is an ancient name that hasn't quite joined the fashionable ranks of old lady names....yet. Agathi may be intriguing but it will also surely be confusing.

Alabama is a hot southern place-name, picking up from Georgia and Savannah. This is not a geographical name come lately, though--there have been girls named Alabama dating back well over a century.

Alana, in all its various spellings, was at one time reserved for daughters of dads named Alan, but is now much more widespread. It came into prominence via model/actress/celeb spouse Alana Hamilton Stewart.

One of the most extreme of the new word names, recommended only to the most mystical-minded parents. Actor Lance Henriksen spelled his daughter's name Alchamy.