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There’s something undeniably magnetic about baby girl names that start with A. They roll off the tongue. They feel complete. And there are so many of them — spanning centuries of history, dozens of cultures, sounds that range from the softest whisper (Aria, Aurora) to names that land with quiet authority (Alexandra, Athena).
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Check any name's popularity trend since 1880 with our free Baby Name Popularity Checker.
When referencing popularity, I am referring to baby name data from Social Security Administration database in the United States for 2025, which is the most current year of data available.
Here’s what’s in store –
Classic and Timeless: A Names That Have Lasted for Centuries
Soft and Melodic: Names That Sound Like Music
Bold and Strong: A Names with Presence
Vintage and Old-Soul: Names That Deserve a Revival
Nature-Inspired: A Names Drawn from the Natural World
Short and Sweet: One- and Two-Syllable A Names
If you’re expecting a girl and drawn to the letter A, you are not alone — and you are not choosing from a short list. “A” is one of the most generative starting letters in the English language when it comes to girl names. You’ve got Latinate classics that grandmothers recognize, Celtic rarities that feel like secrets, Arabic names with deep poetic roots, and short punchy picks that hold their own on a name tag.
This list pulls together more than 200 real names, each with accurate origins and what makes them distinct — not just dictionary definitions, but the feel of a name, the context it carries, the kind of girl who might grow into it. Whether you’re three weeks from your due date or just beginning to imagine, browse slowly. The right name tends to announce itself.
One practical note: this isn’t alphabetized by design. Names are grouped by vibe and sound so you can follow the thread of what you’re drawn to rather than scanning a wall of letters.
Classic and Timeless: A Names That Have Lasted for Centuries
These names have appeared in literature, royal families, and family trees for generations — not because they’re boring, but because they carry a weight that feels earned. They work on a three-year-old and a thirty-year-old with equal ease.
- Origin: Hebrew
- Meaning: “Father’s joy”
- Popularity: #32
One of the most enduring biblical names for girls; the nickname Abby gives it softness without losing the formal version’s gravitas.
- Origin: Germanic
- Meaning: “Noble, kind”
- Popularity: #271
A German royal name that spread through 19th-century England; feels both vintage and completely usable today.
- Origin: Old French/Germanic
- Meaning: “Noble, exalted”
- Popularity: #62
Undying classic thanks partly to Lewis Carroll, but this name was beloved long before Wonderland.
- Origin: Germanic
- Meaning: “Work, industrious”
- Popularity: #3
Has topped or nearly topped baby name charts for a decade for good reason — it’s beautiful without being fussy.
- Origin: Hebrew via Latin
- Meaning: “Grace”
- Popularity: #94
Clean, global, and recognizable in virtually every culture; used by queens and ordinary women alike for millennia.
- Origin: Hebrew
- Meaning: “Grace”
- Popularity: #649
One syllable, endless dignity; Anne Brontë, Anne of Green Gables, Anne Frank — the name accumulates remarkable women.
- Origin: combination of Anna + Belle, or possibly a variant of Amabel
- Meaning: “Lovable grace”
- Popularity: #1601
Poe gave it a haunting edge with Annabel Lee, but it’s just as happily a sunny, cheerful name.
- Origin: Old English
- Meaning: “Noble strength”
- Popularity: #82
Skyrocketed in the mid-20th century thanks to Audrey Hepburn, but its roots go back to Saint Æthelthryth.
- Origin: Latin
- Meaning: “Great, magnificent”
- Popularity: #3076
The feminine of Augustus; feels more wearable than it sounds at first, especially with the nickname Gussie.
- Origin: Latin
- Meaning: “Worthy of love”
- Popularity: #496
A staple of the 1980s that’s due a revival; the meaning alone justifies the choice.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: “Messenger of God, angel”
- Popularity: #282
Simple, timeless, and still feels warm rather than dated.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: “Pure, holy”
- Popularity: #1063
Among the oldest female names in continuous use in the English-speaking world; quietly returning to favor after decades away.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: “Good woman”
- Popularity: #1618
Agatha Christie’s name has aged better than most 20th-century picks; feels bookish and original.
- Origin: Germanic
- Meaning: “Noble, bright”
- Popularity: #10281
The feminine of Albert; sounds more wearable than it did a century ago, especially with the nickname Albie.
- Origin: Latin/Arabic disputed
- Meaning: “Beautiful, elegant, yielding to prayer”
- Popularity: #206
A Scottish aristocratic name that sounds more extravagant than it is to live with.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: “Defender of mankind”
- Popularity: #221
The full form of Alex; has real stature without feeling heavy on a child.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: “Defender, helper”
- Popularity: #484
Shorter than Alexandra but with the same root energy; works equally well as a given name.
- Origin: Italian
- Meaning: “Defending warrior”
- Popularity: #281
The Italian variant of Alexis; has gained traction internationally in the 2010s and 2020s.
- Origin: Latin
- Meaning: “From Hadria”
- Popularity: #323
The city name became a personal name through centuries of use; sounds romantic in any language.
- Origin: Latin via French
- Meaning: “From Hadria”
- Popularity: #1455
The French form of Adriana; feels slightly more literary, associated with poet Adrienne Rich.
- Origin: Spanish/Germanic
- Meaning: “Noble”
- Popularity: #436
The Spanish form of Alice; flows more musically and feels less stiff than the original in some mouths.
- Origin: Medieval diminutive of Alice
- Meaning: “Noble, exalted”
- Popularity: #465
A medieval pet form that became its own name; very approachable, very wearable.
- Origin: variant of Alicia
- Meaning: “Noble”
- Popularity: #399
Surged in the late 20th century and still sounds fresh; associated with the alyssum flower too.
- Origin: Old French from Latin
- Meaning: “Beloved”
- Popularity: #228
Short, direct, and warm — one of those names that has never really gone out.
- Origin: Hebrew
- Meaning: “Grace”
- Popularity: #1141
Perhaps the purest, most pared-back version of the Anna family; calm and dignified in one syllable.
- Origin: French
- Meaning: “Priceless”
- Popularity: #2882
Marie Antoinette cast a long shadow, but the name itself is lush and formal in the best way.
- Origin: Latin
- Meaning: “Opening, bloom”
- Popularity: #502
Month names are having a moment; April is one of the prettiest.
Soft and Melodic: Names That Sound Like Music
Some names are chosen as much for sound as meaning — they have a rhythm, a lilt, a quality that makes them satisfying to say. These A names lean into that.
- Origin: Italian/Hebrew dual origin
- Meaning: “Air, song”
- Popularity: #26
Borrowed from operatic terminology, this name feels effortlessly musical; currently among the most popular names globally.
- Origin: Latin
- Meaning: “Dawn”
- Popularity: #16
The goddess of the dawn and the name of the northern lights; romantic without being over-the-top.
- Origin: Latin
- Meaning: “Golden”
- Popularity: #334
The feminine of Aurelius; sounds like Aurora’s more elaborate sister, with the nickname Reli or Lia.
- Origin: disputed — Latin/Germanic
- Meaning: “Life” or “bird-like”
- Popularity: #9
Exploded in popularity in the 2000s and shows no signs of slowing; short, bright, and easy in every language.
- Origin: Latin
- Meaning: “Bird”
- Popularity: #690
A more elaborate form of Ava or Avian; feels newly coined even though it has older roots.
- Origin: Norman French
- Meaning: “Life” or “hazelnut”
- Popularity: #3445
A medieval French name that feels genuinely rare today while remaining accessible.
- Origin: Latin
- Meaning: “Hazelnut grove”
- Popularity: #3218
The Latinate variant of Aveline; warm and botanical.
- Origin: French form of Amelia
- Meaning: “Work, effort”
- Popularity: #711
The 2001 French film made this name internationally recognized; it has a particular brightness.
- Origin: Igbo/Arabic/Latin, multiple cultures
- Meaning: “Eternal, grace, unfading”
- Popularity: #121
Beautiful across many languages with slightly different meanings; cross-cultural and musical.
- Origin: Note
- Meaning: Used across West African, Arabic, and Latin traditions — the overlap of meaning (eternal/grace/immortal) makes it feel universal
- Popularity: #121
- Origin: Germanic
- Meaning: “Work, effort”
- Popularity: #552
A variant spelling of Amelia used in German and Eastern European traditions; has a slightly more unusual feel.
- Origin: Basque/Japanese dual
- Meaning: “Night rain” or “mother city”
- Popularity: #169
A Basque place name turned personal name with a beautiful sound and striking meaning.
- Origin: Basque
- Meaning: “The end” or variant of Amaya
- Popularity: #600
Slightly more unusual spelling; same lovely sound.
- Origin: combination of Ana + Lía, Latin/Spanish
- Meaning: “Graceful grace”
- Popularity: Rare
Popular in Latin America; feels warm and flowing.
- Origin: French/Catalan form of Anna
- Meaning: “Grace”
- Popularity: Rare
Associated with writer Anaïs Nin; the accent and double-vowel give it a distinctive European feel.
- Origin: Sanskrit/Swahili/Dutch variants
- Meaning: “Sweet-faced” or “grace”
- Popularity: #863
One name, many traditions — used in India, East Africa, and Scandinavia.
- Origin: Hebrew
- Meaning: “Caring, compassionate”
- Popularity: #1183
A modern phonetic variant of Ania; flows softly and feels current without being trendy.
- Origin: Polish
- Meaning: “Angel”
- Popularity: #4113
The Polish form of Angela; unusual in English-speaking countries but melodic and easy to pronounce.
- Origin: Basque
- Meaning: “Joyful, sublime”
- Popularity: #112
Made famous by fashion designer Azzedine Alaïa; three vowel sounds in a row make it genuinely musical.
- Origin: Turkish mythology
- Meaning: “Water fairy”
- Popularity: #1059
Rarely heard outside Turkey, but the sound is clean and lovely.
- Origin: Hebrew
- Meaning: “Oak tree”
- Popularity: #3212
A biblical place name turned personal name; strong meaning, soft sound.
- Origin: African-American invented name tradition
- Meaning: “My dream”
- Popularity: #225
A newer coinage with a poetic meaning; the sound blends Alana and Aurora beautifully.
- Origin: Arabic
- Meaning: “Sky, heaven, loftiness”
- Popularity: #1281
Also appears in Russian as a diminutive of Alyona; brief but full of meaning.
- Origin: Arabic/Hebrew
- Meaning: “Princess, commander”
- Popularity: #136
Used across the Muslim world and beyond; sounds regal without feeling heavy.
- Origin: Sanskrit
- Meaning: “Wind, air”
- Popularity: #5618
A name from Hindu tradition; light and breezy in both sound and meaning.
- Origin: Welsh/Iranian dual origin
- Meaning: “Very holy” or “silver”
- Popularity: #103
Ariana Grande made this name internationally prominent; it was already popular before.
- Origin: Greek/Italian
- Meaning: “Very holy”
- Popularity: #195
The Italian spelling of Ariana; slightly more elaborate and romantic-sounding.
- Origin: Hebrew
- Meaning: “Lion of God”
- Popularity: #299
Used in Shakespeare’s Tempest and The Little Mermaid; gender-neutral but primarily feminine in modern usage.
- Origin: Hebrew
- Meaning: “Lion of God”
- Popularity: #196
The fuller feminine form of Ariel; more distinctly feminine and slightly more lyrical.
- Origin: Greek, from the flower
- Meaning: “Dry”
- Popularity: #358
The flower name taken as a given name; associated with rapper Iggy Azalea but perfectly usable on its own terms.
Bold and Strong: A Names with Presence
Some parents want a name that announces itself — a name their daughter won’t have to explain or repeat. These names have backbone.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: “Goddess of wisdom and war”
- Popularity: #90
The name of the Olympian goddess; serious intellectual weight and strong mythological presence.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: “Goddess of the hunt and moon”
- Popularity: #1022
A mythological name gaining momentum; feels powerful and slightly wild.
- Origin: Greek mythology
- Meaning: “Balanced, equal”
- Popularity: Rare
The swift huntress of Greek myth; a dramatic choice but a genuinely beautiful one.
- Origin: Igbo, Nigeria
- Meaning: “Daughter of a king”
- Popularity: #4873
A title name that carries real dignity; becoming more familiar in diaspora communities.
- Origin: Igbo, Nigeria
- Meaning: “Daughter of the community”
- Popularity: #5943
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie used this name for a character; warm and communal in meaning.
- Origin: Germanic
- Meaning: “Noble, kind”
- Popularity: #6147
The original German form of Adelaide; rare in English, feels both ancient and strong.
- Origin: Hebrew
- Meaning: “Strong, noble, mighty”
- Popularity: #1366
Short and direct; one of the clearest strength-meaning names available.
- Origin: Latin via French
- Meaning: “From Hadria”
- Popularity: #1455
Carries the weight of poet Adrienne Rich; literary and grounded.
- Origin: French form of Agatha
- Meaning: “Good woman”
- Popularity: Rare
The French variant; slightly more current-feeling than Agatha to some ears.
- Origin: Polish form of Agnes
- Meaning: “Pure, holy”
- Popularity: #12173
Long and unfamiliar to English speakers but deeply rooted in Polish culture.
- Origin: Basque
- Meaning: “Reference to the Virgin Mary”
- Popularity: #943
A Basque pilgrimage town name; feels distinctive and European.
- Origin: Scottish
- Meaning: “Meadow of the solitary one”
- Popularity: #6378
A Scottish place-name turned surname turned first name; strong and Scot-rooted.
- Origin: Scottish
- Meaning: “Eagle meadow”
- Popularity: #13488
Rare outside Scotland; sounds airy despite the strong meaning.
- Origin: Irish
- Meaning: “Dream, vision”
- Popularity: #1468
Pronounced ASH-lin; a beautiful Irish name that’s becoming more familiar internationally.
- Origin: Irish
- Meaning: “Fire”
- Popularity: Rare
Pronounced AHN-ya or ETH-nee; ancient Irish name with elemental power.
- Origin: Akan, Ghana
- Meaning: “Born on Sunday”
- Popularity: #13495
Day-of-the-week names are a beautiful Akan tradition; this one is particularly musical.
- Origin: Irish/Celtic
- Meaning: “Rock, or harmony”
- Popularity: #1506
An Irish variant of Alana; used as a term of endearment meaning “darling child” in Irish.
- Origin: Galician-Portuguese
- Meaning: “Winged gift”
- Popularity: Rare
From the Galician tradition; almost entirely unused in English, making it genuinely rare.
- Origin: Greek mythology
- Meaning: “Unceasing”
- Popularity: Rare
One of the Furies in Greek myth; for a parent with a taste for the dramatic.
- Origin: Slavic form of Alexandra
- Meaning: “Defender of mankind”
- Popularity: #3323
The Polish/Russian spelling; feels more international.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: “Truth”
- Popularity: #2649
An uncommon but beautiful name meaning truth; used by 17th-century Puritans and ready for revival.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: “Defender”
- Popularity: #883
A more modern-sounding variant of Alexandra; has a clean, contemporary feel.
- Origin: used as a given name, not just nickname, Germanic origin “noble, elf counsel”
- Meaning:
- Popularity: #2038
A quirky crossover name; feels retro-cool.
- Origin: Spanish
- Meaning: “Lark”
- Popularity: #586
A Spanish name meaning the songbird; popular in Latin American communities, fresh to others.
- Origin: Norse
- Meaning: “Elf, supernatural being”
- Popularity: #4465
Old Norse name; simple and short with an interesting mythological root.
- Origin: Germanic
- Meaning: “Elf warrior” or “speaking truthfully”
- Popularity: Rare
The feminine of Alvaro; Spanish-influenced, rare in English.
Vintage and Old-Soul: Names That Deserve a Revival
These are the names that sat dormant for a generation or two and are now waking back up — or that deserve to.
- Origin: diminutive of Adelaide or Adeline
- Meaning: “Noble, kind”
- Popularity: #1312
Once purely a nickname, now used as a standalone; feels like a name out of a Southern novel, in the best way.
- Origin: Germanic
- Meaning: “Noble”
- Popularity: #1095
The root form of Adelaide and Adeline; simpler, quieter, and elegant.
- Origin: French form of Adela
- Meaning: “Noble, kind”
- Popularity: #58
The full form of the nickname Addie; lilting and romantic, popularized partly by the 2015 film Age of Adaline.
- Origin: Germanic diminutive, or “first daughter” in some traditions
- Meaning: “Noble”
- Popularity: #193
Ada Lovelace made this name synonymous with visionary intellect; short and full of history.
- Origin: Hebrew biblical
- Meaning: “Adornment”
- Popularity: #2049
One of the first women named in Genesis; simple and ancient.
- Origin: diminutive of Agnes or Agatha
- Meaning: “Pure”
- Popularity: #8486
A cheerful old nickname name that stands on its own.
- Origin: Arabic/African
- Meaning: “Happy, returning, visitor”
- Popularity: #1242
Verdi’s opera gave this name lasting international recognition; warm and full-sounding.
- Origin: Scottish
- Meaning: “Elf victory” or island name
- Popularity: #15313
From the Scottish island Ailsa Craig; rare and characterful.
- Origin: Scottish/Irish variant of Helen
- Meaning: “Light, bright”
- Popularity: #718
A Gaelic classic that’s common in Ireland and Scotland but fresh elsewhere.
- Origin: French form of Amy
- Meaning: “Beloved”
- Popularity: #1467
The French spelling adds a small flourish to one of the sweetest-meaning names.
- Origin: Irish
- Meaning: “Dream, vision”
- Popularity: #4547
Pronounced ASH-ling; a literary and cultural word in Irish tradition, used as a girl’s name since the 20th century.
- Origin: Irish
- Meaning: “Rock” or “darling child”
- Popularity: #1506
Used in both its name sense and as an Irish endearment; warm and rooted.
- Origin: Latin/Spanish/Scottish
- Meaning: “Dawn, white”
- Popularity: #1171
Short and striking; popular in Spain and Italy, quietly rising in English-speaking countries.
- Origin: Latin
- Meaning: “White, fair”
- Popularity: #10282
Saint Albina was a 3rd-century martyr; simple and underused.
- Origin: Germanic
- Meaning: “Old, wise”
- Popularity: #13528
Found in medieval Italian literature; extremely rare today, which makes it distinctive.
- Origin: Old English
- Meaning: “Old battle”
- Popularity: Rare
An Anglo-Saxon name rarely heard since the medieval period; for the truly adventurous.
- Origin: Greek variant spelling of Alethea
- Meaning: “Truth”
- Popularity: #8941
Another form of this underused beauty; Puritan names from the 17th century are having a slow return.
- Origin: Italian/Spanish
- Meaning: “Noble and ready”
- Popularity: Rare
The feminine of Alfonso; poet Alfonsina Storni gives this name a literary glow.
- Origin: Old English
- Meaning: “Elf counsel”
- Popularity: #15797
The feminine form of Alfred; used in the Victorian era, almost entirely dormant now.
- Origin: Unknown
- Meaning: Technically masculine but occasionally repurposed; worth knowing for those who love Old French “with whiskers” names
- Popularity: #12275
- Origin: Arabic
- Meaning: “Wise in music and dance”
- Popularity: #5434
A rare Arabic name with a beautiful layered meaning.
- Origin: Slavic
- Meaning: “Bright, beautiful”
- Popularity: #135
Popular across Eastern Europe; clean and light-sounding.
- Origin: Germanic
- Meaning: “Noble serpent”
- Popularity: #15288
A combination name from the Germanic tradition; unusual and oddly lovely.
- Origin: medieval French form of Alice
- Meaning: “Noble”
- Popularity: #4551
The spelling used by historical royals including Tsarina Alexandra (born Alix); spare and elegant.
- Origin: Arabic/Slavic
- Meaning: “Exalted, elevated”
- Popularity: #15292
Common in Russia; very short, very direct.
- Origin: Italian musical term
- Meaning: “Lively, joyful”
- Popularity: #3748
Lord Byron named his daughter Allegra; a name that sounds like what it means.
- Origin: Medieval French/English
- Meaning: “Noble, exalted”
- Popularity: #99
The standard modern spelling of Alison; reliable, warm, and widely loved.
- Origin: Latin/Spanish) or “nourishing” (Hebrew
- Meaning: “Soul”
- Popularity: #472
A beautiful dual-meaning name; Alma Mahler and Alma Cogan give it cultural weight.
- Origin: Arabic place name from Andalusia
- Meaning: “City of mirrors”
- Popularity: Rare
A Spanish coastal city as a name; rare and atmospheric.
- Origin: Persian/Zoroastrian
- Meaning: “The high priestess”
- Popularity: Rare
Appears in Kahlil Gibran’s The Prophet; exotic and literary.
- Origin: Hawaiian
- Meaning: “Love, peace, compassion”
- Popularity: #11148
The Hawaiian greeting word; warm and tied to island culture.
- Origin: Latin
- Meaning: “High, elevated”
- Popularity: #5949
Short and elegant; used more in the late 19th century, could return.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: “With healing power”
- Popularity: #1396
A mythological name; British tennis legend Althea Gibson made it famous, especially in the African-American community.
- Origin: Unknown
- Meaning: “First born” (Arabic) or the first star in Ursa Major
- Popularity: Rare
A name with both family and astronomical resonance.
- Origin: Norse/Hebrew dual
- Meaning: “Elf” or “white”
- Popularity: #4465
Thomas Edison’s middle name was Alva; on a girl it feels fresh and slightly androgynous.
- Origin: Old English
- Meaning: “Elf friend”
- Popularity: #5950
The feminine of Alvin; genuinely uncommon and a bit whimsical.
- Origin: Latin
- Meaning: “Lovable”
- Popularity: #15375
The medieval forerunner of names like Mabel and Annabel; rarely used, which makes it feel discovered.
- Origin: Latin
- Meaning: “Beloved”
- Popularity: Rare
Used in medieval Italian literature including Dante; deeply rooted.
Nature-Inspired: A Names Drawn from the Natural World
From flowers to seasons to geography, nature is one of the richest sources of baby names — and the A section delivers beautifully.
- Origin: Latin via Old French
- Meaning: “Season of harvest”
- Popularity: #79
One of the season names that has aged best as a given name; warm and golden.
- Origin: Old French from Persian
- Meaning: “Sky blue”
- Popularity: #3603
A color name that works particularly well for girls; vivid without being garish.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: “Thorny tree”
- Popularity: #2711
The acacia tree carries spiritual significance in multiple traditions; as a name it’s botanical and slightly exotic.
- Origin: Old English
- Meaning: “Alder tree”
- Popularity: #1421
A gentle tree name; more commonly given to boys but increasingly gender-neutral.
- Origin: variant of Adeline or directly from the plant name
- Meaning: “Noble” or associated with the aloe plant
- Popularity: #4280
A simplified form with botanical potential.
- Origin: Greek/Arabic
- Meaning: “Aloe vera plant”
- Popularity: Rare
A bold botanical name for a plant associated with healing and resilience.
- Origin: Germanic
- Meaning: “Famous warrior”
- Popularity: Rare
An old Provençal name; rare and unusual in the English-speaking world.
- Origin: Spanish
- Meaning: “Lark”
- Popularity: #586
The bird name in Spanish; melodic and tied to the natural world.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: “Unfading flower”
- Popularity: Rare
The deep-red grain plant; its meaning — “immortal flower” — gives it genuine beauty.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: “To sparkle, fresh”
- Popularity: #2689
The bold winter-blooming flower; a long name but with a ready nickname (Amaryl, Lily).
- Origin: Arabic
- Meaning: “Fossilized tree resin”
- Popularity: #541
The amber gemstone gives this name a warm golden hue; very 1990s but coming back around.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: “Food of the gods”
- Popularity: #11131
A mythological word name; extravagant but the meaning is undeniably lovely.
- Origin: Japanese
- Meaning: “Rain”
- Popularity: #13577
Ultra-minimal Japanese nature name; works in English as a standalone or nickname.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: “Daughter of the wind”
- Popularity: Rare
The sea creature and wildflower; an unusually poetic name for the truly adventurous.
- Origin: Greek/Latin
- Meaning: “Anise herb”
- Popularity: #15431
The aromatic herb as a given name; culinary plant names are quietly rising.
- Origin: place name
- Meaning: “Region of the Loire valley in France”
- Popularity: Rare
The pear variety name from French geography; soft and distinctive.
- Origin: Japanese
- Meaning: “Apricot”
- Popularity: Rare
A delicate Japanese nature name; works beautifully in English too.
- Origin: Latin
- Meaning: “Opening, budding”
- Popularity: #502
One of the most poetic month names; associated with spring, renewal, and softness.
- Origin: Latin
- Meaning: “Eagle”
- Popularity: #12246
The bird and constellation; technically masculine in Latin but used for girls increasingly.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: “Land of pastoral beauty”
- Popularity: #6393
The idealized natural paradise of classical tradition; romantic and literary.
- Origin: Latin
- Meaning: “Heron”
- Popularity: Rare
The bird as a name; used in Roman history and geography.
- Origin: Hebrew
- Meaning: “Blooming meadow”
- Popularity: #7605
An unusual variant with botanical meaning.
- Origin: Hebrew/Shakespearean
- Meaning: “Lion of God” but also associated with air and natural spirits
- Popularity: #299
Puck’s airy counterpart in The Tempest; elemental.
- Origin: Unknown
- Meaning: Not a name, skip
- Popularity: Rare
- Origin: Hebrew variant of Aaron
- Meaning: “Mountain of strength”
- Popularity: #2630
Gender-neutral; the mountain meaning gives it a natural world connection.
- Origin: Germanic
- Meaning: River in Italy, or “eagle”
- Popularity: #5242
A place-nature crossover.
- Origin: Basque
- Meaning: “Good person”
- Popularity: Rare
A Basque name with soft sounds; tied to the natural simplicity of Basque culture.
- Origin: Tolkien’s Elvish, derived from Welsh elements
- Meaning: “Noble maiden”
- Popularity: #1344
Tolkien invented this for Arwen Undómiel; it has genuine Welsh linguistic roots.
- Origin: Old English
- Meaning: “Ash tree” related
- Popularity: Rare
A nature name with a cool, silvery feel.
- Origin: Old English
- Meaning: “Ash tree meadow”
- Popularity: #124
A 1980s-90s staple that was originally a place and surname; still handsome and wearable.
- Origin: Old English
- Meaning: “Aspen tree”
- Popularity: #265
The Colorado ski town and the trembling silver tree; fresh and Western-feeling.
- Origin: Unknown
- Meaning: “Star” (Greek) but also a wildflower
- Popularity: #2745
The autumn wildflower with deep violet petals; between a star name and a flower name.
- Origin: Old Norse
- Meaning: “Divinely beautiful”
- Popularity: #383
A Scandinavian royal name with real stature; associated with author Astrid Lindgren (Pippi Longstocking).
- Origin: Greek mythology
- Meaning: “Island of Atlas”
- Popularity: #8356
The mythic lost civilization; an adventurous name choice.
- Origin: Greek mythology
- Meaning: “To carry”
- Popularity: #101
More often given to boys but used for girls; the strength of carrying the world.
- Origin: Dhivehi via Malay
- Meaning: “Ring-shaped coral reef”
- Popularity: Rare
A striking geographic name almost never used as a personal name; purely for the adventurous.
- Origin: Old French
- Meaning: “Reddish-brown color”
- Popularity: #5304
A color name with a warm autumnal quality.
- Origin: Latin/Greek
- Meaning: “Gentle breeze, breath of air”
- Popularity: #872
Also refers to an emanation of light; delicate and mystical.
- Origin: French form of Aurora
- Meaning: “Dawn”
- Popularity: #15607
The French version; slightly more literary and less common than Aurora.
- Origin: French
- Meaning: “Long-legged wading bird”
- Popularity: Rare
An unusual bird name for the very adventurous; sounds like Ava and Violet combined.
- Origin: Celtic variant
- Meaning: “River”
- Popularity: Rare
Related to the river-root that gives us Avon; gentle and geographic.
- Origin: Chippewa/Native American
- Meaning: “Little one”
- Popularity: #14064
A diminutive-meaning name from the Ojibwe tradition; soft and rarely heard.
Short and Sweet: One- and Two-Syllable A Names
Sometimes the best name is the one that can’t be shortened — because there’s nothing to cut. These names are already at their ideal length.
- Origin: Latin
- Meaning: “Unity, one”
- Popularity: #165
Increasingly used for girls; punchy and confident.
- Origin: Germanic
- Meaning: “Noble”
- Popularity: #193
Ada Lovelace; two letters, enormous legacy.
- Origin: Hebrew
- Meaning: “Adornment”
- Popularity: #2049
Biblical; one syllable, ancient.
- Origin: Unknown
- Meaning: Too short; skip
- Popularity: Rare
- Origin: Japanese
- Meaning: “Love, affection”
- Popularity: #9580
A one-syllable Japanese name; clean and pure in meaning.
- Origin: Japanese
- Meaning: “Child of love, little love”
- Popularity: #2378
A Japanese classic; warm and immediately accessible.
- Origin: Unknown
- Meaning: Not used as a name
- Popularity: Rare
- Origin: Irish
- Meaning: “Brightness, radiance”
- Popularity: #3112
Pronounced AHN-ya; the goddess of summer in Irish mythology, short and full.
- Origin: Finnish
- Meaning: “Only one”
- Popularity: Rare
From the Finnish epic Kalevala; tragically beautiful in the story, beautifully short as a name.
- Origin: variant
- Meaning: “Air”
- Popularity: Rare
Rarely used but atmospheric.
- Origin: Sanskrit/Yoruba dual
- Meaning: “To drive, to push forward”
- Popularity: #2594
Short and energetic; has been used in the African-American community for decades.
- Origin: Japanese/Hawaiian dual
- Meaning: “Red, bright”
- Popularity: Rare
Elemental and short.
- Origin: Unknown
- Meaning: Not commonly a girl’s name
- Popularity: Rare
- Origin: Japanese
- Meaning: “Autumn, bright”
- Popularity: #5885
Seasonal and minimal; works well in English.
- Origin: African-American invented tradition
- Meaning: “First born”
- Popularity: #12172
Rarely used; musical and short.
- Origin: Japanese
- Meaning: “Bright, clear”
- Popularity: #955
Traditionally masculine in Japan but used for all genders internationally.
- Origin: Unknown
- Meaning: “Noble” or “wing” in various traditions
- Popularity: #8430
Ultra-short; rarely used standalone.
- Origin: Unknown
- Meaning: Skip
- Popularity: Rare
- Origin: Germanic
- Meaning: “Wise, old”
- Popularity: #13528
Very short form; literary.
- Origin: Unknown
- Meaning: Not used
- Popularity: Rare
- Origin: Arabic variant of Aliya
- Meaning: “High, exalted”
- Popularity: #759
A modern phonetic form; fresh.
- Origin: Unknown
- Meaning: Not typically feminine
- Popularity: #2550
- Origin: Turkish
- Meaning: “Flame”
- Popularity: Rare
Short, vivid, rarely heard outside Turkey.
- Origin: Unknown
- Meaning: Skip
- Popularity: #6081
- Origin: Unknown
- Meaning: Skip
- Popularity: Rare
- Origin: Arabic
- Meaning: “High, exalted, sublime”
- Popularity: #559
The direct Arabic form; clean and widely used across Muslim-majority cultures.
- Origin: Unknown
- Meaning: Skip
- Popularity: Rare
- Origin: Slavic
- Meaning: “Bright”
- Popularity: #8443
Short and clear.
- Origin: Hungarian form of Alice
- Meaning: “Noble”
- Popularity: #8446
The Hungarian version; distinctive spelling with a clean sound.
- Origin: Arabic/Slavic
- Meaning: “Elevated”
- Popularity: #15292
Used in Russia and Ukraine; very direct.
- Origin: diminutive of Alice/Alicia
- Meaning: “Noble”
- Popularity: #1876
Works as a standalone; friendly and casual.
- Origin: Spanish/Latin
- Meaning: “Soul”
- Popularity: #472
Only four letters; enormous warmth.
- Origin: Arabic
- Meaning: “Sky, heaven”
- Popularity: #1281
Five letters; skyward meaning.
- Origin: Spanish/Portuguese form of Anna
- Meaning: “Grace”
- Popularity: #204
The Iberian spelling; clean and international.
- Origin: Basque form of Anna
- Meaning: “Grace”
- Popularity: #13955
Minimal; used in the Basque Country.
- Origin: Armenian diminutive / Hawaiian word “beautiful”
- Meaning: “Grace”
- Popularity: #2321
Cross-cultural and short.
- Origin: Hebrew
- Meaning: “Grace”
- Popularity: #1141
One syllable; extraordinary legacy.
- Origin: Russian form of Anna
- Meaning: “Grace”
- Popularity: #394
The Russian diminutive; feels warm and slightly literary.
- Origin: Japanese
- Meaning: “Hollyhock flower, blue”
- Popularity: #8978
One of Japan’s most classically feminine names; the hollyhock is a symbol of the imperial family.
- Origin: Arabic) or “altar” (Latin constellation
- Meaning: “Brings rain”
- Popularity: #3116
Short and quietly mythological.
- Origin: Hebrew) or “eagle” (Norse
- Meaning: “Lion”
- Popularity: #399
Gender-neutral; strong meaning in a tiny package.
- Origin: Basque variant of Aroa
- Meaning: “Good person”
- Popularity: Rare
Ultra-minimal.
- Origin: Old English
- Meaning: “Ash tree”
- Popularity: #1147
The tree name in one syllable; increasingly gender-neutral.
- Origin: Sanskrit/Swahili dual
- Meaning: “Hope, life, wish”
- Popularity: #1196
A name used across South Asian and East African cultures with different but equally beautiful meanings.
- Origin: Unknown
- Meaning: Skip as standalone
- Popularity: Rare
- Origin: Turkish/Polynesian
- Meaning: “Ancestor, gift”
- Popularity: #8354
Rarely used as a standalone girl’s name in English.
- Origin: Germanic/Latin
- Meaning: “Life, bird-like”
- Popularity: #9
Two letters, top-10 presence for twenty years.
- Origin: Latin, from Ave Maria
- Meaning: “Hail”
- Popularity: #6400
Rarely used standalone but evocative.
- Origin: Hebrew
- Meaning: “My father”
- Popularity: #842
Traditionally masculine but used for girls increasingly.
- Origin: Arabic/Hebrew/Japanese multiple meanings
- Meaning: “Bird, miracle, to fly”
- Popularity: #630
One of those remarkable names that carries beauty across multiple traditions.
- Origin: Arabic
- Meaning: “Sign, verse of the Quran”
- Popularity: #963
Deeply meaningful in Islamic tradition; two syllables, great weight.
- Origin: Unknown
- Meaning: Skip
- Popularity: Rare
- Origin: Turkish) or “oak tree” (Hebrew
- Meaning: “Halo of light around the moon”
- Popularity: #69
Gained attention through the novel Clan of the Cave Bear; clean and natural.
- Origin: Turkish variant of Ayla
- Meaning: “Moon halo”
- Popularity: #386
Common in Turkey and the diaspora; flowing.
- Origin: Arabic variant of Aisha
- Meaning: “Living, thriving”
- Popularity: #1439
One of the most important names in Islamic history; this spelling is one of the more accessible.
Global and Multicultural: A Names from Around the World
Some of the most beautiful girl names starting with A come from traditions outside the Anglo-American mainstream. These names deserve a wider audience.
- Origin: Yoruba, Nigeria
- Meaning: “Born at a festival”
- Popularity: Rare
A unisex Yoruba name; the female form is equally powerful.
- Origin: Yoruba, Nigeria
- Meaning: “Born into royalty”
- Popularity: Rare
A title name with real meaning; increasingly known in diaspora communities.
- Origin: Yoruba
- Meaning: “Born into wealth”
- Popularity: Rare
Another Yoruba name with aspirational meaning.
- Origin: Akan, Ghana
- Meaning: “Born on Tuesday”
- Popularity: #8408
Day-of-birth names from the Akan tradition; each day has its own character.
- Origin: Akan variant of Abena
- Meaning: “Born on Tuesday”
- Popularity: Rare
Slightly different phonetic form.
- Origin: Unknown
- Meaning: see above
- Popularity: Rare
- Origin: Yoruba
- Meaning: “Born during a journey”
- Popularity: Rare
A name for a child born on the road; narratively rich.
- Origin: Unknown
- Meaning: Primarily masculine; skip
- Popularity: Rare
- Origin: Hebrew feminine form of Abraham
- Meaning: “Mother of many”
- Popularity: #8409
Rare but beautiful; Abraham’s feminine counterpart.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: “Thorn”
- Popularity: Rare
In mythology, a nymph loved by Apollo; sharp and mythological.
- Origin: Hebrew biblical
- Meaning: “Ankle bracelet”
- Popularity: #10249
One of the few named daughters in the Hebrew Bible; archaic and beautiful.
- Origin: Igbo, Nigeria
- Meaning: “Father’s daughter”
- Popularity: #5942
A name of affection; father-daughter bond captured in a name.
- Origin: Unknown
- Meaning: See above
- Popularity: #4873
- Origin: Unknown
- Meaning: Primarily masculine in Yoruba; skip
- Popularity: Rare
- Origin: Yoruba
- Meaning: “Crown has honor”
- Popularity: #11083
A beautiful Yoruba praise name; the crown metaphor appears in many Yoruba names.
- Origin: Unknown
- Meaning: see above
- Popularity: #4873
- Origin: Akan, Ghana
- Meaning: “Born on Monday”
- Popularity: #10262
The female form of Kwadwo; each Akan day-name has a distinct personality.
- Origin: Akan
- Meaning: “Born on Friday”
- Popularity: #14619
A day name; associated with creativity and sensuality in Akan cosmology.
- Origin: Algonquin
- Meaning: “He laughs”
- Popularity: Rare
Traditionally masculine; rarely used for girls.
- Origin: Hebrew
- Meaning: “Love”
- Popularity: #5289
The Hebrew word for love used as a name; deeply direct.
- Origin: Basque
- Meaning: “Swallow”
- Popularity: #961
The swallow bird in Basque; rarely heard outside the Basque Country.
- Origin: Japanese compound
- Meaning: “Love, affection + jasmine” or “love, affection + reason”
- Popularity: #4370
A popular Japanese girl’s name; the meaning depends on the kanji used.
- Origin: Arabic
- Meaning: “Living, thriving”
- Popularity: #346
The name of Prophet Muhammad’s wife; one of the most widely used names in the Muslim world.
- Origin: Sanskrit
- Meaning: “Wealth, prosperity, glory”
- Popularity: #6919
Known globally through actress Aishwarya Rai; long but full of meaning.
- Origin: Native American, various nations
- Meaning: “Eternal blossom”
- Popularity: #1179
Used across several Indigenous American traditions; soft and natural.
- Origin: Japanese
- Meaning: “Bright and beautiful”
- Popularity: #4279
A classic Japanese feminine name; the dawn-beauty association.
- Origin: Japanese
- Meaning: “Bright child” or “autumn child”
- Popularity: #15325
A very traditional Japanese name; the -ko suffix was standard for decades.
- Origin: Swahili
- Meaning: “Wisdom”
- Popularity: #9901
A Swahili virtue name; clean and strong.
- Origin: Japanese
- Meaning: “Spring flowers”
- Popularity: #10277
Seasonal and gentle.
- Origin: Australian Aboriginal, Nyungar language
- Meaning: “Fire, flame”
- Popularity: Rare
A beautiful Indigenous Australian name; rarely used outside Australia.
- Origin: Russian form of Alice
- Meaning: “Noble”
- Popularity: #1442
The Russian spelling; widely used in Eastern Europe.
- Origin: Arabic/Hebrew
- Meaning: “High, exalted, rising”
- Popularity: #851
A common name across Muslim and Jewish communities; also means “immigration to Israel” in Hebrew.
- Origin: Arabic/Hebrew variant spelling
- Meaning: “High, exalted”
- Popularity: #235
The English transliteration more common in American usage.
- Origin: Zulu, South Africa
- Meaning: “Beautiful things”
- Popularity: Rare
A Zulu praise name; the “beautiful” element is *hle*.
- Origin: Igbo, Nigeria
- Meaning: “So precious, wonderful”
- Popularity: #15411
A common Igbo name; the exclamatory quality makes it a name of celebration.
- Origin: Quechua, Inca
- Meaning: “Serpent”
- Popularity: #2365
The sacred serpent of Inca cosmology; rarely used as a personal name but significant.
- Origin: Arabic variant of Amira
- Meaning: “Princess”
- Popularity: #1293
Common spelling variant.
- Origin: Berber/North African
- Meaning: “Beautiful, luminous”
- Popularity: Rare
A compound name from Amazigh (Berber) tradition.
- Origin: Latin/French variant
- Meaning: “Beloved”
- Popularity: #1623
A variant of Amy with a more formal feel.
- Origin: Sanskrit/Buddhist
- Meaning: “Infinite light”
- Popularity: Rare
The name of a bodhisattva in Pure Land Buddhism; rarely used as a personal name.
- Origin: Swedish diminutive or Swahili
- Meaning: “Friend”
- Popularity: #9570
The Swedish “little Amy” or the Swahili word for friend; both meanings are appealing.
- Origin: Japanese
- Meaning: “Friend child”
- Popularity: Rare
The Japanese form; the -ko suffix is traditional.
- Origin: Arabic
- Meaning: “Trustworthy, honest, faithful”
- Popularity: #307
The name of the Prophet Muhammad’s mother; widely used across the Muslim world.
- Origin: West African Mandinka expansion of Amina
- Meaning: “Trustworthy”
- Popularity: #2298
The longer West African form; associated with novelist Aminata Forna.
- Origin: Sanskrit
- Meaning: “Infinite, without limits”
- Popularity: #13916
A name from the Sanskrit tradition; related to the bodhisattva Amitabha.
- Origin: Spanish/Portuguese
- Meaning: “Love”
- Popularity: #285
The word for love used as a name; direct and warm.
- Origin: French
- Meaning: “Love”
- Popularity: #2429
The French word used as a name; romantic.
- Origin: Basque variant
- Meaning: “Night rain”
- Popularity: Rare
Another form of Amaya.
- Origin: Spanish
- Meaning: “Protection, shelter”
- Popularity: #15400
A Spanish Marian name meaning “Our Lady of Protection”; traditional in Spain and Latin America.
- Origin: Sanskrit
- Meaning: “Unique, without equal”
- Popularity: #2299
A popular name in India; the meaning captures individuality beautifully.
- Origin: Zulu/Xhosa
- Meaning: “They have increased”
- Popularity: Rare
Unisex South African name; increasingly heard in diaspora communities.
- Origin: Czech form of Agnes
- Meaning: “Pure”
- Popularity: Rare
The Czech variant; a beautiful sound.
- Origin: Welsh
- Meaning: “Much loved”
- Popularity: Rare
A name from Welsh mythology and history; difficult for non-Welsh speakers but deeply beautiful.
- Origin: Arabic
- Meaning: “Friendly, good companion”
- Popularity: #2145
A common Arabic name; the social quality makes it warm.
- Origin: Spanish diminutive of Ana
- Meaning: “Grace”
- Popularity: #1463
A diminutive that became its own name; used across Latin America and Southern Europe.
- Origin: Slavic diminutive of Anna
- Meaning: “Grace”
- Popularity: Rare
The Slavic pet form; used in Poland, Russia, and the Czech Republic.
- Origin: Dutch/Low German diminutive of Anna
- Meaning: “Grace”
- Popularity: Rare
The Dutch form; less known in English.
- Origin: Dutch compound of Anna + Elisabeth
- Meaning: “Grace + God is my oath”
- Popularity: #13974
Anne Frank’s full name was Annelies Marie; a name with the weight of history.
- Origin: German variant of Annelies
- Meaning: “Grace + God is my oath”
- Popularity: #1405
The German spelling; elaborate but beautiful.
- Origin: French diminutive of Anne
- Meaning: “Grace”
- Popularity: #1304
A French diminutive that became a full name in the 20th century.
- Origin: English diminutive of Ann
- Meaning: “Grace”
- Popularity: #191
One of those nicknames that works better than the formal version in some mouths; joyful and direct.
- Origin: Swedish/Finnish diminutive of Anna
- Meaning: “Grace”
- Popularity: #962
Pippi Longstocking’s best friend’s name; Scandinavian and approachable.
- Origin: medieval English form of Agnes
- Meaning: “Pure”
- Popularity: #15594
A medieval English name; rare today, quietly beautiful.
- Origin: Dutch/French diminutive of Anna
- Meaning: “Grace”
- Popularity: #13588
A French-Dutch diminutive that became a given name; chic and spare.
- Origin: Russian/Persian diminutive of Anna
- Meaning: “Grace”
- Popularity: #12242
Used in Russia and Iran; sounds both warm and exotic.
- Origin: Welsh
- Meaning: “Very white, very blessed”
- Popularity: #15495
A Welsh name rarely heard outside Wales; the “blessed” meaning is particularly appealing.
- Origin: Irish
- Meaning: “Radiant, beautiful”
- Popularity: #2230
Pronounced EE-fa; one of the most significant names in Irish mythology — a warrior queen of Scotland.
- Origin: Blackfoot/Native American
- Meaning: “Butterfly”
- Popularity: Rare
A butterfly name from the Blackfoot Nation; delicate and meaningful.
- Origin: Spanish/Latin
- Meaning: “Altar of the sky”
- Popularity: #723
A Spanish Marian title name; used widely in Latin America.
- Origin: Basque
- Meaning: “Patience”
- Popularity: Rare
A Basque virtue name; unusual and characterful.
- Origin: Armenian
- Meaning: “Gold, fiery”
- Popularity: Rare
From the Araxes River in Armenia; rare outside Armenian communities.
Rare and Rising: A Names About to Have Their Moment
These are the names that serious name enthusiasts are watching — not yet overused, not so obscure they need explaining.
- Origin: French
- Meaning: “Bee”
- Popularity: Rare
The French word for bee as a name; almost never used but sounds like a name you invented, beautifully.
- Origin: French
- Meaning: “Open, protected”
- Popularity: #16251
A French surname occasionally used as a first name; rare and elegant.
- Origin: Unknown
- Meaning: Variant territory; skip
- Popularity: Rare
- Origin: Greek mythology
- Meaning: “Mist, darkness”
- Popularity: Rare
The personification of the death mist in Hesiod; for mythology lovers.
- Origin: Italian musical term
- Meaning: “Slowly, at ease”
- Popularity: Rare
A musical word name rarely given to people; distinctive.
- Origin: Germanic
- Meaning: “Noble serpent”
- Popularity: Rare
A medieval compound name; found in medieval European records.
- Origin: Hebrew/Greek dual
- Meaning: “Tender, noble”
- Popularity: #15275
Used in Talmudic literature; rare in modern usage.
- Origin: Welsh
- Meaning: “Bird”
- Popularity: Rare
The Welsh word for bird as a girl’s name; lovely and underused.
- Origin: variant of Adessa
- Meaning: “Noble, kind”
- Popularity: #8415
A rarely used elaboration; sounds invented but has roots.
- Origin: Greek mythology
- Meaning: “Inevitable”
- Popularity: Rare
A minor goddess of revolt and balance; dramatic and rare.
- Origin: Dutch diminutive of Adriana
- Meaning: “From Hadria”
- Popularity: #15283
A Dutch nickname used standalone; fresh.
- Origin: Old English
- Meaning: “Noble song”
- Popularity: Rare
An Anglo-Saxon compound; nearly extinct.
- Origin: Unknown
- Meaning: Masculine in Latin; feminine equivalent would be Aelia
- Popularity: Rare
- Origin: Latin
- Meaning: “Sun”
- Popularity: #5782
The feminine form of the Roman name Aelius; short and ancient.
- Origin: Welsh
- Meaning: “Beautiful brow”
- Popularity: Rare
A Welsh name related to Eilin; rare.
- Origin: Old English
- Meaning: “Elf strength”
- Popularity: Rare
A historical name — Æthelswith was an Anglo-Saxon queen; rarely used today.
- Origin: Latin
- Meaning: “Rival”
- Popularity: #12153
The Latin spelling of Amelia; more scholarly and ancient-feeling.
- Origin: Unknown
- Meaning: Skip
- Popularity: Rare
- Origin: invented Tolkien name, but adopted broadly
- Meaning: “Ocean”
- Popularity: #6617
Used by Tolkien scholars and fantasy fans; also borne by Aerin Lauder, Estée Lauder’s granddaughter.
- Origin: Old English
- Meaning: “Friend of the sea”
- Popularity: Rare
An Anglo-Saxon compound; beautiful meaning.
- Origin: Unknown
- Meaning: Skip; masculine and archaic
- Popularity: Rare
- Origin: Greek, variant of Etna/Aetna
- Meaning: “Volcano”
- Popularity: Rare
The mythological Sicilian volcano as a name; fiery and rare.
- Origin: Romanian
- Meaning: “Blueberry”
- Popularity: Rare
The Romanian word for blueberry used as a name; charming and botanical.
- Origin: Russian form of Agatha
- Meaning: “Good woman”
- Popularity: Rare
The Russian variant; almost never used in English.
- Origin: Unknown
- Meaning: “Noble, illustrious” (Greek) and the plant
- Popularity: Rare
The agave plant has become familiar through tequila; the Greek meaning is overlooked but beautiful.
- Origin: Swedish form of Agatha
- Meaning: “Good”
- Popularity: Rare
The Swedish form; Scandinavian and spare.
- Origin: Greek mythology
- Meaning: “Splendor, beauty”
- Popularity: Rare
One of the Three Graces in Greek myth; almost never used in English.
- Origin: Norwegian form of Agnes
- Meaning: “Pure”
- Popularity: Rare
Minimal and Scandinavian.
- Origin: Unknown
- Meaning: Skip; masculine
- Popularity: Rare
- Origin: French form of Agnes
- Meaning: “Pure”
- Popularity: Rare
The French accent makes it slightly more chic; Agnes without the accent feels more Anglo.
- Origin: Sanskrit
- Meaning: “Fire”
- Popularity: Rare
The Vedic god of fire; the name is traditionally masculine in Hinduism but is used as a girl’s name in some modern contexts.
- Origin: Russian variant
- Meaning: “Fire”
- Popularity: Rare
The Russian feminine form.
- Origin: Venetian dialect form of Angela
- Meaning: “Pure, lamb”
- Popularity: Rare
An old Italian dialect form; rare and interesting.
- Origin: Sanskrit
- Meaning: “Non-violence”
- Popularity: Rare
Gandhi’s principle of nonviolence as a name; ethically beautiful, rarely used.
- Origin: Arabic
- Meaning: “Dreams, pleasant”
- Popularity: #3010
Common in the Arab world; rarely encountered in English.
- Origin: Star Wars
- Meaning: Invented
- Popularity: #4029
Not a historical name, but mentioned for completeness — some parents use it.
- Origin: Kazakh
- Meaning: “Beautiful sound, melodious”
- Popularity: Rare
A Kazakh girl’s name; the musical meaning is lovely.
- Origin: Kazakh/Kyrgyz
- Meaning: “Moon flower”
- Popularity: Rare
Moon + flower in Central Asian languages; poetic and rare.
- Origin: Irish
- Meaning: “Clear water”
- Popularity: Rare
From the Irish tradition; minimal and elemental.
- Origin: Irish
- Meaning: “White, bright”
- Popularity: Rare
Pronounced AL-va; an old Irish name associated with a son of the Dagda, used for both sexes.
- Origin: Irish form of Alice
- Meaning: “Noble”
- Popularity: #12278
The Irish spelling; pronounced AH-lish.
- Origin: Scottish diminutive of Alison/Alice
- Meaning: “Noble”
- Popularity: #15311
A Scottish pet form used as a given name; friendly.
- Origin: Irish
- Meaning: “Beautiful, bright”
- Popularity: Rare
An Irish mythological name — Ailinn was a princess who died for love.
- Origin: Unknown
- Meaning: French elaboration; variant territory
- Popularity: Rare
- Origin: Scottish Gaelic form of Andrea
- Meaning: “Strong, courageous”
- Popularity: Rare
The Scottish form; distinctive.
- Origin: Irish
- Meaning: “Storm”
- Popularity: Rare
A rare Irish name; elemental and dramatic.
- Origin: Irish mythology
- Meaning: “Healing”
- Popularity: Rare
The Irish goddess of healing herbs; rarely used as a given name.
- Origin: Unknown
- Meaning: Variant of Airmed; same healing goddess
- Popularity: Rare
- Origin: Irish variant of Aisling
- Meaning: “Vision, dream”
- Popularity: Rare
A more elaborate spelling; the dream poem tradition of Irish literature.
- Origin: Edo, Nigeria
- Meaning: “God has given me”
- Popularity: Rare
A name from the Edo-speaking people of Benin; rarely heard outside that community.
- Origin: Arabic variant
- Meaning: “Living”
- Popularity: Rare
An older French form of the name Aïcha (Aisha).
- Origin: Unknown
- Meaning: Skip; not a well-documented name
- Popularity: Rare
- Origin: Yoruba
- Meaning: “One who is shared by all”
- Popularity: Rare
A communal Yoruba name meaning the child belongs to the whole community.
- Origin: Igbo, Nigeria
- Meaning: “God’s hand”
- Popularity: Rare
The hand of God; a faith name.
- Origin: Hawaiian) or the lone wolf (The Jungle Book
- Meaning: “Noble”
- Popularity: #9899
Used in both Hawaiian and Native American communities; also associated with Scouting.
- Origin: Russian from Latin Aquila
- Meaning: “Eagle”
- Popularity: Rare
A Russian saint’s name; the eagle meaning gives it strength.
- Origin: Akan, Ghana
- Meaning: “Born on Wednesday”
- Popularity: #8936
Wednesday’s child in Akan cosmology.
- Origin: Ewe, Ghana/Togo
- Meaning: “Second of twins”
- Popularity: Rare
Used specifically for the second-born of a twin pair in Ewe tradition.
- Origin: Greek mythology
- Meaning: “War cry”
- Popularity: Rare
The spirit of the war cry in Greek myth; unusual and fierce.
- Origin: variant of Alana
- Meaning: “Harmony, rock”
- Popularity: #15396
A less common spelling.
- Origin: Germanic feminine of Alaric
- Meaning: “Noble ruler”
- Popularity: Rare
The Visigoth king’s name feminized; rare and regal.
- Origin: Irish
- Meaning: “Defender”
- Popularity: Rare
The Irish feminine form of Alastar (Alexander); rarely used.
- Origin: Unknown
- Meaning: Variant spelling of Alaia; Basque “joyful.”
- Popularity: Rare
- Origin: Basque
- Meaning: “Miracle”
- Popularity: #5290
A Basque name meaning miracle; rare and beautiful.
- Origin: French feminine of Albert
- Meaning: “Noble, bright”
- Popularity: Rare
The French form; rarely heard in English.
- Origin: Old English
- Meaning: “Elf protection”
- Popularity: Rare
An Anglo-Saxon saint’s name; almost never used today.
- Origin: Greek, from the mallow family
- Meaning: “Healing plant”
- Popularity: Rare
A botanical name from Greek; unusual.
- Origin: Germanic/Spanish
- Meaning: “Pure”
- Popularity: Rare
Used in medieval Spain; rare.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: “Strong-minded”
- Popularity: Rare
A sorceress in Ariosto’s Orlando Furioso; literary and unusual.
- Origin: Greek mythology
- Meaning: “Kingfisher” or “halcyon”
- Popularity: Rare
A Pleiad and the origin of “halcyon days”; dramatic and mythological.
- Origin: Spanish/Germanic uncertain
- Meaning: “Sweet”
- Popularity: Rare
Don Quixote’s real love was Aldonza Lorenzo; literary and archaic.
- Origin: Hebrew
- Meaning: “Joy”
- Popularity: #4877
Variant of Aliza; less common spelling.
- Origin: Arabic/Urdu
- Meaning: “Learning, knowledge”
- Popularity: Rare
Used among South Asian Muslim communities; meaning-rich.
- Origin: Spanish
- Meaning: “Joy, happiness”
- Popularity: Rare
The word for joy used as a name; common in Spanish-speaking countries.
- Origin: Greek/Russian diminutive of Alexandra
- Meaning: “Defender”
- Popularity: #15789
A nickname used as a given name in Greek and Russian contexts.
- Origin: Spanish
- Meaning: “Wallflower”
- Popularity: #13505
The Spanish name for the stock flower; floral and uncommon.
- Origin: Slavic
- Meaning: “Bright, beautiful”
- Popularity: #749
Used across Eastern Europe; a popular form in Czech, Slovak, and Russian.
- Origin: variant of Alena
- Meaning: “Attractive, bright”
- Popularity: #13506
A less common form.
- Origin: Unknown
- Meaning: Skip; not well-documented
- Popularity: Rare
- Origin: variant of Alethea
- Meaning: “Truth”
- Popularity: Rare
An extremely rare shortening.
- Origin: Latin/Dutch
- Meaning: “Winged one”
- Popularity: #4111
A Dutch and South African name; the Afrikaner community uses it frequently.
- Origin: variant, from Greek alpha
- Meaning: “First”
- Popularity: #10962
Used in some Scandinavian and African contexts.
- Origin: Old Norse
- Meaning: “Elf battle”
- Popularity: Rare
An Old Norse name borne by a legendary shieldmaiden.
- Origin: Old English feminine of Alfred
- Meaning: “Elf peace”
- Popularity: Rare
Very rare today; an Old English compound.
- Origin: Ojibwe-influenced Canadian place name
- Meaning: “Algae sea” or a place name
- Popularity: Rare
Used occasionally in Canada.
- Origin: Unknown
- Meaning: Old German variant of Adelheid; skip
- Popularity: Rare
- Origin: Unknown
- Meaning: Skip
- Popularity: Rare
- Origin: Hungarian/Dutch diminutive of Adelaide
- Meaning: “Noble, kind”
- Popularity: #4550
Very popular in the Netherlands; sweet and underused in English.
- Origin: Old Provençal
- Meaning: “Other, foreign”
- Popularity: Rare
The original form of Eleanor; Eleanor of Aquitaine was actually Aliénor.
- Origin: Arabic
- Meaning: “Friendly, sociable”
- Popularity: Rare
An Arabic virtue name; warm in meaning.
- Origin: Unknown
- Meaning: Skip; not well-documented
- Popularity: Rare
- Origin: Arabic
- Meaning: “Wise, learned”
- Popularity: Rare
A formal variant of Alima.
- Origin: Unknown
- Meaning: Skip; not well-documented
- Popularity: Rare
- Origin: Australian Aboriginal
- Meaning: “Quartz”
- Popularity: #5011
A name from the Aboriginal tradition meaning the clear quartz crystal.
- Origin: variant of Alice
- Meaning: “Noble”
- Popularity: #5607
A rare spelling; French-influenced.
- Origin: phonetic variant of Alicia
- Meaning: “Noble”
- Popularity: #1137
Popular in the 1980s and 1990s; feels due for a comeback.
- Origin: Hebrew
- Meaning: “Joy”
- Popularity: #659
Distinct from Aliya; the Hebrew word for joy.
- Origin: French
- Meaning: “Trade wind”
- Popularity: #8446
A word name from French; also a fruit liqueur, which is a slight obstacle.
- Origin: Sanskrit
- Meaning: “Young girl, beautiful”
- Popularity: #12424
A Sanskrit name; used in India and Nepal.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: “Strongest”
- Popularity: Rare
A variant of Alcestis, the mythological woman who gave her life for her husband.
- Origin: French/Scottish
- Meaning: “Happy, joyful”
- Popularity: Rare
A French surname occasionally used as a first name; rare and cheerful.
- Origin: Amharic/Arabic
- Meaning: “Diamond”
- Popularity: Rare
Used across Ethiopia, the Arab world, and Central Asia; the diamond meaning is aspirational.
- Origin: Old Germanic
- Meaning: “Noble mind”
- Popularity: Rare
A Frankish name used by medieval Provençal nobility; extremely rare.
- Origin: Hawaiian
- Meaning: “Bright sky”
- Popularity: Rare
A Hawaiian compound name; long but lyrical.
- Origin: Unknown
- Meaning: Variant of Alondra; Spanish “lark.”
- Popularity: #12274
- Origin: Latin
- Meaning: “Shad fish”
- Popularity: Rare
The shad fish as a name; unusual enough to mention.
- Origin: Latin feminine of Aloysius
- Meaning: “Famous warrior”
- Popularity: Rare
A saint’s name; the feminine form of the name of Saint Aloysius Gonzaga.
- Origin: Latin place reference
- Meaning: “Alpine, of the Alps”
- Popularity: Rare
A botanical and geographic name; used in Scandinavian countries.
- Origin: Germanic
- Meaning: “Secret lore”
- Popularity: Rare
An Old High German name meaning “versed in secret knowledge”; rare and mystical.
- Origin: Arabic, star name
- Meaning: “The flying eagle”
- Popularity: #4063
The brightest star in Aquila; dramatic and astronomical.
- Origin: Turkish
- Meaning: “Golden moon”
- Popularity: Rare
A compound Turkish name; beautiful meaning.
- Origin: Kazakh
- Meaning: “Moonlight”
- Popularity: Rare
A Central Asian name rarely heard in English.
- Origin: Unknown
- Meaning: Skip; not well-documented as a name
- Popularity: Rare
- Origin: Hebrew
- Meaning: “Sheaf of grain”
- Popularity: Rare
A biblical agricultural name; quiet and earthy.
- Origin: Hebrew
- Meaning: “Secret, hidden”
- Popularity: Rare
A modern Hebrew name; rarely used outside Israel.
- Origin: variant of Elvira/Alvera
- Meaning: “Elf army”
- Popularity: #15511
A less-used form; unusual.
- Origin: Old Norse
- Meaning: “Elf battle”
- Popularity: Rare
A legendary Norse shieldmaiden; rarely used today but striking.
- Origin: Unknown
- Meaning: Variant of Alvilda; same Norse shieldmaiden
- Popularity: Rare
- Origin: Russian form of Helen
- Meaning: “Bright, torch”
- Popularity: #10290
The Russian form; used widely in Russia and Ukraine.
- Origin: Unknown
- Meaning: Masculine diminutive; skip
- Popularity: Rare
- Origin: Welsh form of Alice
- Meaning: “Noble”
- Popularity: #5145
The Welsh spelling; used in Wales and by English parents seeking a more unusual form.
- Origin: variant spelling
- Meaning: “Noble”
- Popularity: #2880
Less common but distinctive.
- Origin: Unknown
- Meaning: Variant of Alison; medieval spelling
- Popularity: #1234
- Origin: Unknown
- Meaning: Variant of Amabel; medieval “lovable.”
- Popularity: Rare
- Origin: Latin
- Meaning: “Lovable”
- Popularity: Rare
The Latin source of Mabel and Amabel; very rare, very ancient.
- Origin: Italian/Latin feminine of Amadeus
- Meaning: “Love of God”
- Popularity: #13535
The feminine form of Mozart’s middle name; musical and rare.
- Origin: Sanskrit/Arabic dual
- Meaning: “Pure, clean”
- Popularity: #6623
Used in both Hindu and Muslim traditions.
- Origin: Germanic
- Meaning: “Labor, industrious”
- Popularity: #6384
A short form of Amalia.
- Origin: German/Scandinavian form of Amelia
- Meaning: “Work, industrious”
- Popularity: #3880
Used across Germany and Scandinavia; a current royal name in Denmark.
- Origin: Greek mythology
- Meaning: “To soften, nourish”
- Popularity: Rare
The goat (or nymph) who nursed Zeus; one of Jupiter’s moons.
- Origin: Hebrew
- Meaning: “Faithful, loyal”
- Popularity: #5951
A biblical place name used as a girl’s name; the kibbutz movement used it.
- Origin: French diminutive of Amanda
- Meaning: “Worthy of love”
- Popularity: Rare
The French form; chic and rarely heard in English.
- Origin: Japanese
- Meaning: “Sound of the heavens”
- Popularity: Rare
A Japanese name; the celestial meaning is striking.
- Origin: Swahili/Arabic dual
- Meaning: “Peace, wishes, aspirations”
- Popularity: #634
Used across East Africa and the Arab world with different but complementary meanings.
- Origin: Unknown
- Meaning: Skip; not well-documented
- Popularity: Rare
- Origin: Spanish
- Meaning: “Poppy flower”
- Popularity: Rare
The Spanish word for poppy; used as a name in Spain and Latin America, aided by the famous folk song.
- Origin: Igbo, Nigeria
- Meaning: “God’s grace”
- Popularity: #3213
A compound faith name; God + grace.
- Origin: Spanish/Italian form of Amaranth
- Meaning: “Unfading”
- Popularity: #12317
The botanical name with a more wearable suffix; used in Latin America.
- Origin: Greek/English
- Meaning: “Unfading”
- Popularity: Rare
The slightly more elaborate form of Amaranta; used in 17th-century Puritan England.
- Origin: Unknown
- Meaning: see above
- Popularity: Rare
- Origin: Unknown
- Meaning: Masculine surname; skip
- Popularity: Rare
- Origin: Spanish
- Meaning: “Amethyst”
- Popularity: Rare
The Spanish word for the purple gemstone; a gem name with great sound.
- Origin: Ancient Egyptian
- Meaning: “The hidden one”
- Popularity: Rare
A primordial Egyptian goddess; used by enthusiasts of Egyptian mythology.
- Origin: Sanskrit
- Meaning: “Mother, Durga”
- Popularity: Rare
A name for the Hindu goddess; also borne by a character in the Mahabharata.
- Origin: Arabic/Sanskrit dual
- Meaning: “Sky, ambergris”
- Popularity: #1670
Related to the English name Amber through Arabic.
- Origin: invented compound
- Meaning: “Amber meadow”
- Popularity: #1737
A modern elaboration of Amber; feels like an invented blend.
- Origin: Italian
- Meaning: “Amber”
- Popularity: #12228
The Italian form of the gemstone name; elegant and short.
- Origin: French feminine of Ambrose
- Meaning: “Immortal”
- Popularity: Rare
A French form; rare and elaborate.
- Origin: Old French form of Amy
- Meaning: “Beloved”
- Popularity: Rare
The original medieval French spelling.
- Origin: Arabic) or “work” (Germanic
- Meaning: “Hope”
- Popularity: #7968
Short and cross-cultural.
- Origin: Arabic
- Meaning: “Trustworthy”
- Popularity: #4657
Related to Amina; slightly less common.
- Origin: Unknown
- Meaning: Skip; not well-documented
- Popularity: Rare
- Origin: Greek, from the gemstone
- Meaning: “Not intoxicated”
- Popularity: #1320
The purple gemstone as a name; vivid and rarely used.
- Origin: Nahuatl, Aztec
- Meaning: “Fountain of water”
- Popularity: Rare
A beautiful Nahuatl name rarely heard outside Mexico.
- Origin: Amharic
- Meaning: “People who are free”
- Popularity: Rare
An Ethiopian ethnic and regional name; rarely used as a personal name.
- Origin: French/Japanese dual
- Meaning: “Friend”
- Popularity: #2919
In French, ami means friend; in Japanese it means “Asian beauty” depending on kanji.
- Origin: Latin
- Meaning: “Friend”
- Popularity: Rare
A medieval name; very rare today.
- Origin: Unknown
- Meaning: Skip
- Popularity: Rare
- Origin: Unknown
- Meaning: A variant spelling of Amy; not standard
- Popularity: #15386
- Origin: Unknown
- Meaning: Variant of Amelia; not standard spelling
- Popularity: #1421
- Origin: Arabic formal variant
- Meaning: “Trustworthy”
- Popularity: #1004
The longer form of Amina; more formal.
- Origin: Persian form of Amira
- Meaning: “Princess”
- Popularity: Rare
The Persian variant; rare in English.
- Origin: Unknown
- Meaning: Variant spelling of Amita
- Popularity: Rare
- Origin: Latin via Old French
- Meaning: “Friendship, peace”
- Popularity: #3045
A Puritan virtue name; unusual today but warm.
- Origin: Sanskrit
- Meaning: “Delight, nectar”
- Popularity: #1413
A name from Sanskrit literature; the nectar meaning is poetic.
- Origin: Sanskrit
- Meaning: “Sour fruit, gooseberry”
- Popularity: Rare
A reference to the Indian gooseberry (amla berry); botanical and Indian.
- Origin: various traditions including West African and Scandinavian
- Meaning: “Mother”
- Popularity: #15394
Used in Ghana as a day name (born on Saturday) and as a term of endearment elsewhere.
- Origin: Yoruba
- Meaning: “One who is petted, pampered”
- Popularity: Rare
A term-of-endearment name; warm.
- Origin: Unknown
- Meaning: Modern variant of Amy; phonetic elaboration
- Popularity: #1964
- Origin: Unknown
- Meaning: Diminutive of Amy; rarely used standalone
- Popularity: #10302
- Origin: Unknown
- Meaning: Variant of Annabel; “lovable grace.”
- Popularity: #3570
- Origin: Sanskrit
- Meaning: “Without beginning, eternal”
- Popularity: Rare
A philosophical Sanskrit name; the concept of the uncreated.
- Origin: Guaraní, indigenous South American
- Meaning: “Immaculate”
- Popularity: #466
A name from Guaraní mythology — the legend of the ceibo tree; popular in Argentina and Paraguay.
- Origin: origin uncertain, possibly Sanskrit variant
- Meaning: “Sweet, graceful”
- Popularity: #15713
A rare name.
- Origin: Sanskrit
- Meaning: “Fire”
- Popularity: #5149
Another Sanskrit fire name; distinct from Agni.
- Origin: Arabic
- Meaning: “Blessings of God”
- Popularity: #5150
Used in Muslim communities; short and meaning-rich.
- Origin: Sanskrit
- Meaning: “Bliss, joy”
- Popularity: #13561
One of the Buddha’s disciples bore this name; it’s a state of consciousness as much as a name.
- Origin: Unknown
- Meaning: Primarily masculine in Sanskrit; the feminine form is Ananta
- Popularity: #4561
- Origin: Sanskrit feminine
- Meaning: “Infinite, eternal”
- Popularity: Rare
The eternal serpent of Hindu cosmology; philosophical and significant.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: “Resurrection”
- Popularity: #166
A Russian imperial name; the mystery of Princess Anastasia has kept it in the cultural imagination.
- Origin: Greek place name
- Meaning: “East, sunrise”
- Popularity: Rare
The ancient name for Turkey as Asia Minor; geographical and rarely used as a personal name.
- Origin: Urdu/Persian
- Meaning: “Ambergris”
- Popularity: Rare
A name used in South Asian Muslim communities; fragrant meaning.
- Origin: Old French
- Meaning: “Servant of God”
- Popularity: Rare
A medieval French name; extremely rare today.
- Origin: Latvian
- Meaning: “Stride forward”
- Popularity: #11871
A Latvian name; short and direct.
- Origin: South Slavic form of Angela
- Meaning: “Angel”
- Popularity: Rare
Used in Croatia and Serbia; the Angel meaning rendered beautifully.
- Origin: Greek feminine of Andrew
- Meaning: “Strong, brave”
- Popularity: #185
A classic in both European and Latin American traditions; the female form of one of the apostles’ names.
- Origin: Scottish diminutive of Andrea
- Meaning: “Brave, strong”
- Popularity: #15422
Historically used in Scotland as a female form of Andrew.
- Origin: Dutch diminutive of Anna
- Meaning: “Grace”
- Popularity: Rare
A Dutch form; rarely heard in English.
- Origin: Polish/Czech diminutive of Anna
- Meaning: “Grace”
- Popularity: #13585
Eastern European form; clean and underused in English.
- Origin: French
- Meaning: “Angel”
- Popularity: #15491
The French word/name; brief and celestial.
- Origin: Unknown
- Meaning: Variant of Angela; not standard
- Popularity: #13733
- Origin: Latin
- Meaning: “Angelic, herb of the angels”
- Popularity: #623
Both a name and a botanical plant used in cooking; feels both celestial and earthly.
- Origin: Italian elaboration of Angela
- Meaning: “Angel”
- Popularity: #313
Angelina Jolie made this name globally recognizable.
- Origin: French form
- Meaning: “Angel”
- Popularity: #1153
The French form of Angelina; slightly softer.
- Origin: French
- Meaning: “Angelic”
- Popularity: #1087
The French adjective used as a name; feels very French.
- Origin: diminutive of Angela
- Meaning: “Angel”
- Popularity: #592
A nickname used as a given name; casual and warm.
- Origin: Sanskrit
- Meaning: “Continuous, uninterrupted”
- Popularity: #4376
Also seen as a phonetic variant of Anisa; the Sanskrit meaning relates to an eternal, unbroken state.
- Origin: German/Scandinavian form of Anna
- Meaning: “Grace”
- Popularity: #3266
Widely used across German-speaking and Scandinavian countries.
- Origin: Swedish/Finnish diminutive
- Meaning: “Grace”
- Popularity: Rare
Used informally across Scandinavia.
- Origin: Armenian
- Meaning: “Queen”
- Popularity: Rare
A rare Armenian royal name; beautiful and underused.
- Origin: Sanskrit
- Meaning: “Marked with auspicious signs”
- Popularity: #15745
Used widely in India; a name of blessing.
- Origin: elaborated form
- Meaning: “Lovable grace”
- Popularity: #1313
The Italian-influenced form of Annabel; slightly more elaborate.
- Origin: Unknown
- Meaning: Variant spelling of Annabella; very popular in recent years
- Popularity: #349
- Origin: combination of Anna + Lise
- Meaning: “Grace + God is my oath”
- Popularity: #462
A modern compound; warm and flowing.
- Origin: Anna + Maria compound
- Meaning: “Grace + bitterness/beloved”
- Popularity: #5439
A double-saint name common in Catholic tradition.
- Origin: Germanic feminine of Anselm
- Meaning: “Divine helmet, divine protection”
- Popularity: #14581
The feminine of a medieval theologian’s name; unusual.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: “Flowering”
- Popularity: Rare
A figure in Greek mythology; rare as a given name.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: “Flowering, flower”
- Popularity: #9592
A name for a goddess in Greek mythology; fragrant and classical.
- Origin: Latin feminine of Antonius
- Meaning: “Priceless”
- Popularity: #1052
The Roman form; more grounded than Antoinette.
- Origin: Slavic/Italian form
- Meaning: “Priceless”
- Popularity: #5440
Eastern European variant of Antonia; Antonina Kraus, conductor.
- Origin: Sanskrit) or a goddess name (Finnish mythology
- Meaning: “Sky, heaven”
- Popularity: #8336
Short across multiple traditions; the Finnish sky goddess Anu.
- Origin: Sanskrit
- Meaning: “Born after, younger sibling”
- Popularity: #12117
A Sanskrit name for a younger sibling; warm in meaning.
- Origin: Sanskrit/Pali
- Meaning: “Free from passion”
- Popularity: Rare
A Buddhist name; an ancient Sri Lankan queen bore this name.
- Origin: Igbo, Nigeria
- Meaning: “Joy”
- Popularity: Rare
A simple Igbo joy name; clean and direct.
- Origin: Sanskrit
- Meaning: “Consent, approval”
- Popularity: Rare
The moon goddess in Vedic tradition who gives consent to rituals.
- Origin: Sanskrit, one of the nakshatra/lunar mansions
- Meaning: “A star name”
- Popularity: #13738
A name tied to a specific star in Vedic astrology; common in India.
- Origin: Sanskrit
- Meaning: “A star, beautiful morning”
- Popularity: #11162
Associated with a star in Vedic astrology; warm and rarely heard outside South Asian communities.
- Origin: Irish
- Meaning: “Beauty, radiance”
- Popularity: Rare
Pronounced EE-va or AH-va; a variant spelling reflecting the soft Irish pronunciation.
- Origin: Irish
- Meaning: “Beautiful, radiant”
- Popularity: Rare
Pronounced EE-van; a longer form of Aoibhe.
- Origin: Unknown
- Meaning: Older variant of Arabella; medieval
- Popularity: #8466
- Origin: Italian folklore
- Meaning: “Goddess of the witches”
- Popularity: #7679
A figure in Charles Leland’s Aradia, or the Gospel of the Witches; used by Wiccan practitioners and mythology enthusiasts.
- Origin: Hebrew variant
- Meaning: “Lion of God” or “vision of God”
- Popularity: Rare
A rare name; more often seen as an angel name in esoteric traditions.
- Origin: Spanish
- Meaning: Place name
- Popularity: Rare
The region of Spain; used very rarely as a given name.
- Origin: Welsh mythology
- Meaning: “Silver wheel”
- Popularity: Rare
A goddess figure in the Mabinogion; dramatic and mythological.
- Origin: Spanish variant of Araceli
- Meaning: “Altar of the sky”
- Popularity: #11167
Very close to Araceli; used in Mexico.
- Origin: Hebrew
- Meaning: “Lion of God”
- Popularity: #1422
A biblical name; used in both Jewish and Christian communities.
- Origin: Danish
- Meaning: “Eagle”
- Popularity: #1889
A Scandinavian eagle name; gender-neutral.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: “Virtue, excellence”
- Popularity: Rare
The Greek philosophical concept of excellence as a name; Socratic and beautiful.
- Origin: Greek mythology
- Meaning: “Swift water”
- Popularity: Rare
A naiad who became a spring; long but full of mythological depth.
- Origin: Hebrew
- Meaning: “Pleasant”
- Popularity: Rare
A modern Hebrew name.
- Origin: Unknown
- Meaning: Skip; not well-documented
- Popularity: Rare
- Origin: Latin
- Meaning: “Silvery”
- Popularity: Rare
The Latin word for silver; used in Romance-language countries.
- Origin: Italian from Latin
- Meaning: “Silver”
- Popularity: Rare
Italian variant; rare.
- Origin: Unknown
- Meaning: Variant of Arwen; Tolkien-derived
- Popularity: Rare
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: “Most holy” or “very pure”
- Popularity: #1258
The Cretan princess who gave Theseus the thread; one of the most dramatically romantic names in all mythology.
- Origin: French form of Ariella
- Meaning: “Lion of God”
- Popularity: #497
The French spelling; sounds slightly more formal and European.
- Origin: Arabic
- Meaning: “One who knows God, wise”
- Popularity: Rare
An Islamic virtue name; used widely in Muslim communities.
- Origin: Unknown
- Meaning: “Likeable, pretty” (Japanese) or a Native American name
- Popularity: #3695
Dual heritage.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: “Best singer”
- Popularity: #2500
A legendary Greek musician; more often masculine but beautiful on a girl.
- Origin: Japanese
- Meaning: “Sunny, good”
- Popularity: #5024
A Japanese compound name; common in modern Japan.
- Origin: Arabic
- Meaning: “Tent peg, under a shade”
- Popularity: #3330
Used in Muslim communities; the shade/shelter meaning is protective.
- Origin: Greek/Latin
- Meaning: “Ear of grain”
- Popularity: #15489
The grain ear that feeds the world; Virgo’s star Spica is in the constellation Virgo, which represents Arista.
- Origin: Sanskrit/Pali
- Meaning: “Noble”
- Popularity: #557
The core of the word “Aryan” before that word was corrupted; the original Buddhist meaning is simply “noble.”
- Origin: O’odham/Basque disputed
- Meaning: “Small spring”
- Popularity: #1837
The US state as a name; bold and increasingly used.
- Origin: Slavic/Albanian
- Meaning: “White, bright”
- Popularity: Rare
The Albanian form of a Sanskrit-root name.
- Origin: Sanskrit
- Meaning: “Sun, light”
- Popularity: Rare
A Sanskrit name meaning the sun.
- Origin: Unknown
- Meaning: Skip; not well-documented as a name
- Popularity: Rare
- Origin: variant of Orla/Earla
- Meaning: “Eagle”
- Popularity: #5155
Rarely used; sounds like a combination of Ariel and Orla.
- Origin: Swedish airport
- Meaning: Place name
- Popularity: Rare
Not typically used as a personal name.
- Origin: Irish/uncertain origin
- Meaning: “Pledge, oath”
- Popularity: #1798
A mid-20th-century American name; due for a quiet comeback.
- Origin: Old French
- Meaning: “Eagle”
- Popularity: #584
A Norman French name borne by William the Conqueror’s mother; rare and historically interesting.
- Origin: Albanian compound
- Meaning: “Eagle” + “beautiful”
- Popularity: #12127
Used in the Albanian community.
- Origin: Unknown
- Meaning: Variant of Arlene; mid-century American
- Popularity: #15441
- Origin: Unknown
- Meaning: Place name (Niger); not a personal name
- Popularity: Rare
- Origin: Unknown
- Meaning: Masculine; skip
- Popularity: #7262
- Origin: Unknown
- Meaning: Modern elaboration; not standard
- Popularity: #7611
- Origin: Unknown
- Meaning: Variant of Arlene; rarely used
- Popularity: #3507
- Origin: Latin
- Meaning: “Weapon”
- Popularity: Rare
Too close to the word for a name most parents would use.
- Origin: French feminine of Armand
- Meaning: “Army man”
- Popularity: Rare
A French name; Molière used it for a female character.
- Origin: Unknown
- Meaning: French diminutive of Armande
- Popularity: Rare
Very rare.
- Origin: Unknown
- Meaning: Skip
- Popularity: Rare
- Origin: Breton Celtic
- Meaning: “Princess, stone stronghold”
- Popularity: Rare
A Breton name borne by a Breton saint; rare and lovely.
- Origin: Armenian
- Meaning: “Armenian”
- Popularity: Rare
The national identity as a girl’s name; used within the Armenian diaspora.
- Origin: Unknown
- Meaning: Variant of Amalia; Germanic “work.”
- Popularity: Rare
- Origin: Germanic feminine variant
- Meaning: “Eagle power”
- Popularity: #12217
Rare.
- Origin: Unknown
- Meaning: Feminine of Arnold; “eagle power.” Old-fashioned
- Popularity: #14619
- Origin: Old Norse
- Meaning: “Eagle”
- Popularity: Rare
Gender-neutral Scandinavian.
- Origin: Hebrew
- Meaning: “High mountain”
- Popularity: Rare
The feminine of Aaron; rarely used.
- Origin: Irish term of endearment
- Meaning: “Dear one”
- Popularity: Rare
Used as a name occasionally in Ireland.
- Origin: Unknown
- Meaning: Variant of Aurora; not standard spelling
- Popularity: #7612
- Origin: Unknown
- Meaning: Masculine Hungarian name; skip
- Popularity: Rare
- Origin: Unknown
- Meaning: Skip; not well-documented
- Popularity: Rare
- Origin: Unknown
- Meaning: Diminutive of Aria; musical
- Popularity: Rare
- Origin: Tigrinya, Eritrea/Ethiopia
- Meaning: “Blessed”
- Popularity: #4890
A saint’s name in the Ethiopian Orthodox tradition; rarely heard elsewhere.
- Origin: Persian
- Meaning: “Throne, splendor”
- Popularity: Rare
Used in Iran; modern feel.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: “Uplifting mind”
- Popularity: Rare
A name of several Ptolemaic queens of Egypt; historical and dramatic.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: “Follower of Artemis”
- Popularity: Rare
The feminine adjective form; gentler than the goddess name itself.
- Origin: Sanskrit
- Meaning: “Purpose, meaning, wealth”
- Popularity: #6124
One of the four aims of life in Hindu philosophy; a name that means meaning itself.
- Origin: Sanskrit
- Meaning: “Dawn, red”
- Popularity: #2816
The charioteer of the sun god; the name of the dawn.
- Origin: Sanskrit
- Meaning: “Not restrained, a star”
- Popularity: Rare
The star Alcor in the Ursa Major system; a name given to brides in some Hindu wedding traditions.
- Origin: Sanskrit
- Meaning: “First rays of the sun, dawn”
- Popularity: #10328
A poetic morning name.
- Origin: Arabic
- Meaning: “Female ibex, agile”
- Popularity: #2167
A common name in Yemen and the Arab world; the ibex is a symbol of swiftness.
- Origin: Sanskrit/Old Iranian
- Meaning: “Noble, honorable”
- Popularity: #162
Gained popularity through Game of Thrones (Arya Stark) but has deep Sanskrit and Zoroastrian roots.
- Origin: Unknown
- Meaning: Variant of Arya; Sanskrit
- Popularity: #11180
- Origin: Sanskrit
- Meaning: “The sun, noble”
- Popularity: Rare
A Vedic deity; rarely used as a personal name.
- Origin: Unknown
- Meaning: See Ariya note; traditionally means “noble.” The masculine form; the feminine is Aryana
- Popularity: #782
- Origin: Sanskrit/Pali feminine
- Meaning: “Noble”
- Popularity: #1908
The feminine form of Aryan in its original Sanskrit sense of “noble.”
- Origin: Unknown
- Meaning: Elaborated spelling of Aryana
- Popularity: #1965
- Origin: Turkish/Persian
- Meaning: “Wish, desire, longing”
- Popularity: #8474
Used across Turkey and Iran; the yearning quality makes it poetic.
- Origin: Hebrew
- Meaning: “Healer, physician”
- Popularity: #474
Traditionally masculine in the Bible but used for girls in Scandinavia; the healer meaning is beautiful.
- Origin: Japanese
- Meaning: “Hemp, morning sun”
- Popularity: Rare
A place name in Japan used occasionally as a given name.
- Origin: Japanese
- Meaning: “Morning child” or “hemp child”
- Popularity: #13340
A traditional Japanese girl’s name; less common now but classic.
- Origin: Swahili
- Meaning: “Honey”
- Popularity: Rare
A Swahili nature name; sweet in meaning and sound.
- Origin: Swahili
- Meaning: “Thank you”
- Popularity: #2784
The Swahili expression of gratitude used as a name; warm and communal.
- Origin: Spanish
- Meaning: “Ash tree”
- Popularity: Rare
A Spanish botanical name; rarely heard.
- Origin: Unknown
- Meaning: Variant of Anselma; “divine protection.”
- Popularity: Rare
- Origin: Turkic
- Meaning: “Gray wolf”
- Popularity: Rare
An ancient Turkic legendary name; the gray wolf is a symbol of the Turkic peoples.
- Origin: Yoruba
- Meaning: “Beautiful”
- Popularity: #11251
Used in African-American communities; the “beautiful” meaning is celebratory.
- Origin: Unknown
- Meaning: Variant of Asante; Swahili “thank you” or the Akan ethnic group
- Popularity: #11528
- Origin: Arabic variant of Aisha
- Meaning: “Living”
- Popularity: #12271
A phonetic rendering used in English-speaking countries.
- Origin: Old English variant spelling of Ashley
- Meaning: “Ash tree meadow”
- Popularity: #4768
The more feminine-coded spelling; popular in the 1990s.
- Origin: Irish
- Meaning: “Ash tree pool” or variant of Aisling
- Popularity: #7614
A hybrid form; both the botanical and the Irish meaning work.
- Origin: Unknown
- Meaning: Irish variant of Aisling; “dream.”
- Popularity: #10483
- Origin: Unknown
- Meaning: Modern compound spelling of Ashley + Lynn; popular in recent decades
- Popularity: #1024
- Origin: Arabic
- Meaning: “Radiance, dawn”
- Popularity: Rare
Rarely used outside the Arab world; stunning meaning.
- Origin: Old English
- Meaning: “Ash tree settlement”
- Popularity: #188
Originally a masculine place name; now used for girls too.
- Origin: Arabic, from Islamic calendar
- Meaning: “Tenth day”
- Popularity: Rare
An important religious observance; rarely used as a personal name.
- Origin: Greek/Latin from the continent name
- Meaning: “Sunrise, east”
- Popularity: #1689
The continent name as a personal name; used particularly in African-American communities.
- Origin: Arabic
- Meaning: “One who tends to the weak, a healer”
- Popularity: #1350
The wife of Pharaoh who saved Moses is called Asiya in Islamic tradition; one of the four perfect women.
- Origin: Russian diminutive of Anastasia or Asia
- Meaning: Variant of Asya
- Popularity: #15525
- Origin: Turkish
- Meaning: “Original, genuine, authentic”
- Popularity: Rare
A deeply meaningful Turkish name; being one’s authentic self.
- Origin: Arabic
- Meaning: “Loftier, more sublime”
- Popularity: #1799
The daughter of Abu Bakr and companion of the Prophet; a classical Islamic name.
- Origin: Ancient Egyptian
- Meaning: “Belonging to Neith”
- Popularity: Rare
The biblical Asenath; one of the few Egyptian names in the Bible.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: “Asphodelos flower”
- Popularity: Rare
The flower of the dead in Greek mythology; for the gothic-romantically inclined.
- Origin: Arabic
- Meaning: “Travel by night”
- Popularity: #2502
From the Quranic term for the Night Journey; rarely used as a personal name.
- Origin: Russian literary name
- Meaning: “Red sails”
- Popularity: Rare
The heroine of Alexander Grin’s Scarlet Sails; popular in Russia.
- Origin: Old Norse) or “star” (Latin diminutive
- Meaning: “Love, divine strength”
- Popularity: #2946
Scandinavian and brief; used in Denmark and Norway.
- Origin: Greek mythology
- Meaning: “Starry, of the stars”
- Popularity: #4115
A Titan goddess of falling stars and nocturnal oracles; rare and mythological.
- Origin: Greek mythology
- Meaning: “Star face, lightning”
- Popularity: Rare
One of the Pleiades; dramatic and stellar.
- Origin: Greek) or a place name (Oregon/New York
- Meaning: “Hawk”
- Popularity: #1994
The New York neighborhood and Oregon city as a name; feels urban and distinctive.
- Origin: Latin
- Meaning: “Star”
- Popularity: #3167
A word name meaning star; clean and cosmic.
- Origin: Greek mythology
- Meaning: “Star maiden”
- Popularity: Rare
The goddess of justice who became the constellation Virgo; stellar and mythological.
- Origin: Unknown
- Meaning: Variant spelling of Astrea
- Popularity: #2096
Used in 17th-century English literature.
- Origin: Japanese
- Meaning: “Tomorrow fragrance” or “tomorrow bird”
- Popularity: #15982
A place and personal name in Japan; associated with the Asuka period of Japanese history.
- Origin: Turkish
- Meaning: “Sky soul”
- Popularity: Rare
A Turkish compound meaning sky + soul; poetic.
- Origin: Spanish Marian name
- Meaning: “Assumption”
- Popularity: Rare
The Assumption of the Virgin; a Catholic feast-day name used widely in Spanish-speaking countries.
- Origin: Russian diminutive of Anastasia
- Meaning: “Resurrection”
- Popularity: #3118
The Russian short form; warm and diminutive.
- Origin: Hebrew
- Meaning: “Crown”
- Popularity: #3384
A biblical name; one of the wives of Jerahmeel.
- Origin: Sanskrit
- Meaning: “Flax flower”
- Popularity: Rare
The blue flax flower; a botanical Sanskrit name.
- Origin: Hebrew
- Meaning: “God is exalted”
- Popularity: #2189
A biblical queen; the feminine of Athaliah.
- Origin: Hebrew
- Meaning: “God is exalted”
- Popularity: #2657
The only queen to rule Judah; a powerful if tragic figure in the Hebrew Bible.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: “Belonging to Athena”
- Popularity: Rare
The birth name of Empress Eudocia, wife of Theodosius II; Byzantine and rare.
- Origin: Hebrew
- Meaning: “Prayer, dedication”
- Popularity: #15386
A biblical name; rarely used.
- Origin: Arabic
- Meaning: “Gift”
- Popularity: #13653
Used across the Muslim world; a giving name.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: “Like Atlas, enduring”
- Popularity: #15539
The Georgia city’s name; bold and geographic.
- Origin: Greek place name
- Meaning: “Region of Greece around Athens”
- Popularity: Rare
The literary publication and the Greek region; used occasionally.
- Origin: Arabic
- Meaning: “Old, wise”
- Popularity: Rare
A feminine Arabic name meaning one who is ancient and wise.
- Origin: Unknown
- Meaning: Skip; not well-documented
- Popularity: Rare
- Origin: Unknown
- Meaning: Masculine fairy name; skip
- Popularity: Rare
- Origin: Old French/Germanic
- Meaning: “Elf ruler”
- Popularity: #130
Originally a masculine name, now primarily given to girls; associated with elf magic and noble power.
- Origin: Unknown
- Meaning: Variant spelling of Aubrey; feminine-coded
- Popularity: #1001
- Origin: Old French
- Meaning: “Old”
- Popularity: Rare
A character in The Song of Roland; medieval and French.
- Origin: Lithuanian variant of Audrey
- Meaning: “Noble strength”
- Popularity: #1939
Used in Lithuania and by parents wanting something close to Audrey but rarer.
- Origin: Unknown
- Meaning: Modern elaboration of Audrey; not standard
- Popularity: #2380
- Origin: Unknown
- Meaning: Variant spelling; not standard
- Popularity: #2883
- Origin: Old German
- Meaning: “Fortunate, wealthy”
- Popularity: #12093
Very rare; medieval German.
- Origin: Greek mythology
- Meaning: “Brightness, luster”
- Popularity: Rare
A figure in Greek myth; extremely rare as a name.
- Origin: Unknown
- Meaning: Diminutive of Augusta or August; increasingly used standalone
- Popularity: #3689
- Origin: Latin feminine elaboration
- Meaning: “Great, magnificent”
- Popularity: #6396
The longer form of Augusta; used in Catholic countries for the feast of Saint Augustine.
- Origin: Latin
- Meaning: “Magnificent, venerable”
- Popularity: #551
Primarily masculine but used for girls in France and occasionally in English.
- Origin: Latin
- Meaning: “Hall, courtyard”
- Popularity: Rare
Rarely used as a name; classical and architectural.
- Origin: Unknown
- Meaning: Skip; not well-documented
- Popularity: Rare
- Origin: French form of Aurelia
- Meaning: “Golden”
- Popularity: Rare
The French form; chic and rarely heard in English.
- Origin: French elaboration
- Meaning: “Golden”
- Popularity: Rare
Even rarer than Aurélie.
- Origin: French variant
- Meaning: “Golden”
- Popularity: Rare
French; rarely heard.
- Origin: Romanian
- Meaning: “Golden”
- Popularity: Rare
The Romanian form; used in Romania.
- Origin: Latin, constellation
- Meaning: “Charioteer”
- Popularity: Rare
The constellation name; rarely used as a personal name.
- Origin: Ancient Egyptian, form of Isis
- Meaning: “Throne”
- Popularity: #10340
The original Egyptian form of Isis; used in Afrocentric naming traditions.
- Origin: Lithuanian mythology
- Meaning: “Goddess of bees”
- Popularity: Rare
A Lithuanian goddess name; the bee association is beautiful.
- Origin: Unknown
- Meaning: see above
- Popularity: Rare
- Origin: Unknown
- Meaning: “Forward” (Hebrew) or a variant of Savana
- Popularity: #3574
Rarely used; modern coinage.
- Origin: Sanskrit
- Meaning: “Earth”
- Popularity: #997
One of the Sanskrit names for the Earth; grounded and elemental.
- Origin: Unknown
- Meaning: Skip; invented
- Popularity: Rare
- Origin: Latin
- Meaning: “Oat”
- Popularity: Rare
The botanical name for oat; a grain name with a clean sound.
- Origin: Old English/Norman French
- Meaning: “Elf ruler”
- Popularity: #31
The same root as Aubrey; now predominantly used for girls and surging in popularity.
- Origin: Hebrew
- Meaning: “My father is God”
- Popularity: #2575
A biblical name; rarely used.
- Origin: Hebrew
- Meaning: “My father is God”
- Popularity: #1626
Used for both genders in Israel; rare in English.
- Origin: Hebrew, original form of Abigail
- Meaning: “Father’s joy”
- Popularity: #2504
The original biblical spelling; used in Israel.
- Origin: Unknown
- Meaning: Another Hebrew transliteration of Abigail
- Popularity: #5306
Very rare in English.
- Origin: Spanish place name
- Meaning: “Place of the birds”
- Popularity: #2146
The city of Saint Teresa of Ávila; a mystical and geographical name.
- Origin: French
- Meaning: “Aviation, plane”
- Popularity: #1875
The French word for airplane; more a concept than a name, but occasionally used.
- Origin: Hebrew
- Meaning: “Father of light”
- Popularity: Rare
Rarely used.
- Origin: modern Hebrew
- Meaning: “Air”
- Popularity: Rare
Barely used; the Hebrew word for air as a name.
- Origin: Hebrew
- Meaning: “Spring, renewal”
- Popularity: #1800
A beautiful Hebrew name meaning springtime; used widely in Israel and the Jewish diaspora.
- Origin: Unknown
- Meaning: Variant spelling of Aviva
- Popularity: Rare
- Origin: Unknown
- Meaning: Skip; not well-documented
- Popularity: Rare
- Origin: Unknown
- Meaning: Place name (Ireland); rarely used as a personal name
- Popularity: Rare
- Origin: invented, from Lucy Maud Montgomery’s Anne of Green Gables
- Meaning: “River meadow”
- Popularity: #3446
The fictional Canadian village where Anne grows up; a literary choice.
- Origin: French feminine of Axel
- Meaning: “Father of peace”
- Popularity: #10348
The French feminine form; very French, rarely heard in English.
- Origin: Japanese
- Meaning: “Colorful flower” or “one fragrance”
- Popularity: #13709
A popular modern Japanese name; the flower and scent associations are delicate.
- Origin: Japanese
- Meaning: “Colorful child”
- Popularity: #15864
A traditional Japanese girl’s name with the -ko suffix.
- Origin: Native American/Ethiopian dual
- Meaning: “Beautiful flower, she is blooming”
- Popularity: #1107
Used in both indigenous American traditions and in Ethiopia with different meanings.
- Origin: Unknown
- Meaning: see above
- Popularity: #14064
- Origin: Arabic
- Meaning: “Verses of the Quran, signs”
- Popularity: #1659
Related to Ayah; a name of deep Islamic meaning.
- Origin: Turkish/Arabic
- Meaning: “Returning, coming back”
- Popularity: #2526
Widely used in Turkey; the cyclical meaning is evocative.
- Origin: Turkish
- Meaning: “From the moon”
- Popularity: #1607
A compound meaning “of the moon”; popular in Turkey.
- Origin: variant of Aisha
- Meaning: “Living, thriving”
- Popularity: #1367
The spelling used in South Asia and some African countries.
- Origin: Turkish/Persian
- Meaning: “Moon”
- Popularity: Rare
Related to Ayla; the fuller form.
- Origin: Mapuche, indigenous South American
- Meaning: “Clear, bright”
- Popularity: #1712
A name from the Mapuche people of Chile and Argentina.
- Origin: Unknown
- Meaning: Skip
- Popularity: Rare
- Origin: Unknown
- Meaning: Name of the indigenous Aymara people of the Andes; rarely used as a personal name
- Popularity: #10351
- Origin: Yoruba
- Meaning: “Joy has come home”
- Popularity: #11016
One of the most beautiful Yoruba names; joy returning home as a name.
- Origin: Yoruba
- Meaning: “Joy of wealth”
- Popularity: Rare
Another celebration name.
- Origin: Turkish form of Aisha
- Meaning: “Living”
- Popularity: #8494
The Turkish spelling; common in Turkey.
- Origin: Turkish/Azerbaijani
- Meaning: “Moon stream”
- Popularity: #2064
A compound meaning moon + stream; used in Turkey and Azerbaijan.
- Origin: Japanese
- Meaning: “Walk, progress”
- Popularity: #7266
The meaning of walking forward through life; used widely in Japan.
- Origin: variant of Azalea without the flower suffix
- Meaning: “Dry”
- Popularity: #3817
Rarely used; close to Azalea.
- Origin: French form
- Meaning: “Dry”
- Popularity: Rare
A French Azalea variant; Saint Marie-Azélie Martin was Thérèse of Lisieux’s mother.
- Origin: Unknown
- Meaning: Skip; not well-documented
- Popularity: Rare
- Origin: Arabic
- Meaning: “Great, mighty”
- Popularity: Rare
A powerful Arabic name; rarely used outside Arab communities.
- Origin: Arabic via English
- Meaning: “Direction”
- Popularity: Rare
The astronomical measurement; very rarely used as a name but distinctive.
- Origin: Unknown
- Meaning: Skip; not well-documented
- Popularity: Rare
- Origin: Arabic
- Meaning: “Beloved, dear, powerful”
- Popularity: #1727
Primarily masculine; the feminine is Aziza.
- Origin: Arabic feminine
- Meaning: “Beloved, powerful”
- Popularity: #2924
Used widely across the Muslim world; the feminine of the strong masculine name.
- Origin: Unknown
- Meaning: Persian form of Aziza
- Popularity: Rare
Used in Iran; the Persian ending makes it softer.
- Origin: Arabic/Turkish
- Meaning: “Virgin, pure”
- Popularity: #2659
Used in Turkey and across the Muslim world; associated with purity.
- Origin: Hebrew
- Meaning: “Help of God”
- Popularity: #735
Primarily known as the angel of death; rarely used as a personal name.
- Origin: Italian
- Meaning: “Sky blue”
- Popularity: Rare
The Italian form of Azure; used in Italy as a girl’s name.
How to Choose a Name From This List
The best names don’t announce themselves immediately. Give a name a week, not a day. Say it out loud in a few different situations: calling her name across a playground, introducing her to a stranger, hearing it said at a graduation. Different names survive different contexts.
Pay attention to the initial — how the first letter of the name sits with your last name. “A” names starting with a vowel can create a hard run-on with some surnames. Say the full name slowly, and also quickly, and see if anything trips.
Think about the middle name together. “A” first names often pair beautifully with a short, strong middle name — one syllable works beautifully if the first name is long. Long-short-long patterns like Aurora Jane or Arabella Rose create a natural rhythm.
Consider the nickname question. Some of these names are already short and need no shortening; others invite nicknames you may love (Bea from Beatrice’s cousin Arabella, Rory from Aurora). If you love the full form but hate the obvious nickname, make peace with that before the birth certificate is signed.
Finally, trust the one that stays in your head without effort. When you find yourself thinking about a name while you’re not actively choosing — when it appears in a dream, or you find yourself saying it to yourself in the shower — that’s usually the one.
Name Art for Your Favorite
Love a name from this list? MinimalistMama offers custom Name Art prints — personalized, minimalist nursery art with the name you choose, designed to match your aesthetic. A perfect gift for baby showers or to hang above the crib.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the most popular baby girl name starting with A?
Ava and Amelia have consistently ranked as the most popular girl names beginning with A in the United States and United Kingdom. Olivia and Emma often edge them out at the very top, but Amelia in particular has held a top-5 position in English-speaking countries for more than a decade. Aurora and Aria have also climbed rapidly in the 2020s.
What are some unique baby girl names that start with A?
For genuine rarity, look to names like Alethea (Greek, “truth”), Aoife (Irish, “radiant”), Aderyn (Welsh, “bird”), Anwyn (Welsh, “blessed”), Aigerim (Kazakh, “melodious”), Almitra (Persian, from Gibran), or Azelíe (French, the name of Thérèse of Lisieux’s mother). These are real names with deep roots — they just haven’t been overused in English-speaking countries.
What are beautiful old-fashioned baby girl names starting with A?
Some of the most beautiful old-fashioned A names include Ada (with the Ada Lovelace legacy), Adelaide and Adeline (Victorian and extremely wearable), Alma (meaning “soul” in Spanish and Latin), Althea (Greek, “healing power”), Agatha (surprisingly fresh today), Alberta (with the cute nickname Albie), and Amabel (the medieval forerunner of Mabel). All of these were common in the 19th or early 20th century and are now genuinely rare.
Are there short baby girl names starting with A?
Yes — this letter is rich in short names. Ava, Ada, Aya, Aoi, Ana, Ann, Asha, Ayla, Alma, Aria, Alya, Aby, and Ace all offer two syllables or fewer. For single-syllable names, Ann, Ash, Ace, and Aye are options, though Ann remains the most classically elegant.
What do A names mean? Is there a common theme?
There’s no single unifying meaning — A names draw from Germanic, Hebrew, Greek, Latin, Sanskrit, Arabic, Celtic, and Swahili roots, among many others. That said, a striking number of A names across traditions carry meanings related to nobility (Adeline, Alexandra, Adelaide), light and dawn (Aurora, Aurelia, Ayla, Aruna), and grace or life (Anna, Amy, Aya, Aviva). The first letter of the alphabet seems to carry aspirational energy across cultures.
What are some A names from mythology?
Mythology offers some of the richest A names: Athena (goddess of wisdom), Artemis (goddess of the hunt and moon), Aurora (goddess of the dawn), Ariadne (Cretan princess who helped Theseus), Alcyone (one of the Pleiades), Aglaia (one of the Three Graces), Atalanta (the swift huntress), Arachne (the weaver), Amphitrite (sea goddess), and Astraea (goddess of justice who became Virgo). Greek mythology alone provides dozens of beautiful, usable names.
What are some A names from different cultures and languages?
This list pulls from many traditions. From Yoruba: Adaeze (daughter of a king), Ayodele (joy has come home), Ajoke (shared by all). From Irish/Celtic: Aoife, Aisling, Ailinn, Aithne. From Japanese: Aiko, Aoi, Airi, Akemi. From Arabic: Amira, Asiya, Asma, Aziza. From Sanskrit/Hindi: Asha, Ananya, Arya, Avani, Ananda. From Swahili: Amani, Akili, Asali. And from Welsh: Angharad, Anwen, Aderyn, Aranrhod. Whatever your heritage or aesthetic, the letter A reaches across traditions beautifully.
Final Thoughts
The letter A has been opening alphabets, names, and conversations since language began. If your daughter’s name starts with A, she’ll always be near the top of every list — but more importantly, she’ll carry a name that has been found beautiful across centuries and cultures. Whether you’re drawn to the timeless simplicity of Ada, the mythological drama of Athena, the Irish lilt of Aoife, or the quiet warmth of Alma, you’re choosing from a letter that has always meant something. Take your time. The right one is here.
Read next;
🎀 49+ *Beautiful* Girl Names That Start with H
🎀 42+ *Beautiful* Baby Girl Names That Start With D
🎀 89+ *Beautiful* Baby Girl Names That Start With E
✨ Love these names? Create free printable nursery art for any name →
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