There is a particular kind of name that arrives with something already inside it. Not just a meaning, not just a sound, not just a cultural origin, but a quality of accumulated human experience, the layered warmth of every woman who has ever carried it through a life, every child who has answered to it in a schoolroom or a kitchen or a field or a drawing room, every grandmother who has heard it spoken by a grandchild and felt the whole weight of her life compress into the moment of recognition. Old fashioned girl names carry this quality with a completeness that no invented name and no recently coined name can replicate, because the quality requires time, and time is the one thing that cannot be manufactured.
This list is organized to help you find exactly the kind of old fashioned name you are looking for, whether that is the sweet, slightly melancholy Victorian name that sounds like it belongs in a Brontë novel, the crisp Edwardian name that sounds like it belongs in a Jane Austen letter, the strong Puritan virtue name that carries its entire philosophy in a single word, the warm medieval name that sounds like it belongs in a tapestry, or the rare, almost forgotten name that was once beloved and is now waiting for the right family to bring it back.
Quick Note: Popularity rankings where noted are based on SSA data. Names ranked above 1000 are genuinely rare. The old fashioned names closest to rank 1 have been successfully revived by modern parents. Names without rankings are either non-English in origin or too rare to have been assigned a ranking.
Sweet Victorian Girl Names
Adelaide Origin: Germanic Meaning: Noble kind, of noble character SSA Popularity: #263
The great Germanic name of the Victorian era whose meaning of noble kind carries the full weight of the Victorian understanding of nobility as a quality of character rather than merely of birth, Adelaide has a warm, flowing quality and a beautiful sound that has been reviving strongly in modern use and carries the particular sweetness of a name that was beloved by Queen Victoria herself.
Cordelia Origin: Latin/Celtic Meaning: Heart, daughter of the sea SSA Popularity: #390
The name of King Lear’s most loyal daughter in Shakespeare’s greatest tragedy, Cordelia carries a warm, slightly melancholy quality and a flowing beauty that the Victorians loved and that modern parents are rediscovering with genuine enthusiasm, a name that carries both literary depth and a sound of extraordinary, heartbreaking loveliness.
Eugenia Origin: Greek Meaning: Well born, noble SSA Popularity: >1000
The great Victorian feminine form of Eugene whose meaning of the well born carries the full weight of the Victorian social world’s preoccupation with the intersection of birth, character, and destiny, Eugenia has a warm, slightly formal quality and a flowing sound that belongs to the tradition of Victorian names that expressed the era’s most fundamental values.
Hortensia Origin: Latin Meaning: Garden, from the garden SSA Popularity: >1000
Named after the garden in the Latin tradition, Hortensia carries a warm, slightly unusual quality and a deep Victorian heritage associated with the great tradition of Victorian women gardeners whose cultivation of beauty was understood as a genuinely significant artistic and intellectual achievement.
Letitia Origin: Latin Meaning: Joy, happiness, gladness SSA Popularity: >1000
Carrying the warm, joyful Latin meaning of happiness and gladness, Letitia has a flowing, beautiful quality and a deep Victorian heritage and was the name of the mother of Queen Victoria’s great rival Napoleon Bonaparte, carrying both a warmth of meaning and a remarkable historical association.
Millicent Origin: Germanic Meaning: Strong worker, industrious strength SSA Popularity: >1000
Carrying the warm, slightly surprising Germanic meaning of the strong worker and the industrious one, a meaning that sits interestingly against the ethereal, slightly delicate Victorian feminine ideal, Millicent has a beautiful, flowing quality and a deep Victorian heritage that makes it one of the most genuinely characterful of all Victorian names.
Sophronia Origin: Greek Meaning: Self-controlled, of sound mind SSA Popularity: >1000
Carrying the warm, slightly philosophical Greek meaning of the self-controlled and the sound-minded one, Sophronia was a beloved Victorian name that carries the era’s deep faith in rational self-discipline as one of the highest feminine virtues and has a beautiful, flowing quality that makes its rarity genuinely puzzling.
Winifred Origin: Welsh Meaning: Blessed peace, holy reconciliation SSA Popularity: >1000
The Welsh name meaning blessed peace that was beloved across the Victorian era and that carries the name of the great Welsh saint whose miraculous story of decapitation and restoration to life made her one of the most celebrated pilgrimage destinations in medieval Britain, Winifred has a warm, slightly unusual quality and a genuinely beautiful sound.
Rosalind Origin: Germanic/Spanish Meaning: Beautiful rose, gentle horse SSA Popularity: #518
The great Shakespearean name of the heroine of As You Like It whose intelligence, wit, and complete self-possession made her one of the most beloved female characters in English literature, Rosalind carries a warm, flowing quality and a beautiful sound that has been reviving with genuine momentum.
Clementine Origin: Latin Meaning: Mild, merciful, the gentle one SSA Popularity: #584
Carrying the warm, slightly gentle Latin meaning of the mild and merciful one, Clementine has the sweet, slightly melancholy beauty of a name that belonged to the world before everything became so complicated and carries a flowing, musical quality that has made it one of the most beloved Victorian revival names of recent years.
Dorothea Origin: Greek Meaning: Gift of God SSA Popularity: >1000
The Greek name meaning gift of God that was beloved across the Victorian era and that carries both the theological depth of its meaning and the warm, flowing quality of a name that sounds like a long afternoon in a garden in summer, Dorothea has been reviving through its literary associations with George Eliot’s great heroine of Middlemarch.
Evangeline Origin: Greek Meaning: Bearer of good news, the evangelist SSA Popularity: #315
The great name meaning bearer of good news that was beloved in the Victorian era and is associated with Longfellow’s great romantic poem of the same name, Evangeline has a warm, flowing quality and a beautiful sound that carries both the literary and the theological legacies with equal grace.
Isadora Origin: Greek Meaning: Gift of Isis SSA Popularity: >1000
Named after the gift of the Egyptian goddess Isis, Isadora carries a warm, slightly exotic quality and a deep Victorian heritage, associated with Isadora Duncan whose revolutionary approach to dance made her one of the most significant artistic figures of the early twentieth century and whose name carries both the divine gift meaning and the artistic legacy.
Josephine Origin: Hebrew/French Meaning: God will add, the gracious addition SSA Popularity: #92
The great French feminine form of Joseph whose meaning of God will add carries the promise of divine generosity, Josephine has been one of the most successful Victorian name revivals of recent years and carries the extraordinary historical legacy of Napoleon’s great empress alongside a warm, flowing beauty.
Lavinia Origin: Latin Meaning: Woman of Lavinium, purity SSA Popularity: >1000
The Roman name of great classical antiquity that was beloved across the Victorian era, Lavinia carries a warm, slightly classical quality and a flowing sound that belongs to the tradition of Victorian names that reached back to the ancient world for their models of feminine excellence.
Leonora Origin: Greek/Italian Meaning: Light, the shining one SSA Popularity: >1000
The Italian form of Eleanor whose meaning of light carries the warm, slightly luminous quality of a name that the Victorians loved for its combination of classical depth and musical Italian beauty, Leonora has a flowing, beautiful quality and a genuine Victorian heritage that makes it one of the most naturally distinguished of all Victorian revival names.
Matilda Origin: Germanic Meaning: Battle mighty, strength in battle SSA Popularity: #190
Carrying the surprisingly fierce Germanic meaning of the battle mighty one, Matilda has a warm, slightly paradoxical quality that combines the softness of its Victorian associations with the genuine warrior energy of its meaning, and has been one of the most successful Victorian name revivals of the modern era.
Octavia Origin: Latin Meaning: Eighth, the eighth one SSA Popularity: #593
The Latin name of the eighth child that was beloved in the Victorian era for its classical authority and its warm, flowing sound, Octavia has been reviving strongly in modern use and carries the quality of a name that sounds simultaneously ancient and completely contemporary.
Penelope Origin: Greek Meaning: Weaver, the faithful wife SSA Popularity: #24
The name of Odysseus’s faithful wife who wove and unwove her tapestry for twenty years waiting for his return, Penelope has been one of the great success stories of the Victorian name revival and carries a warm, flowing quality and a beautiful sound alongside the most celebrated legend of feminine faithfulness in all of Western literature.
Rosemary Origin: Latin/English Meaning: Dew of the sea, the fragrant herb SSA Popularity: #506
Named after the fragrant herb whose Latin meaning of the dew of the sea carries both the natural world’s beauty and the botanical tradition’s precision, Rosemary has a warm, slightly herbal quality and a beautiful sound that carries the particular sweetness of a name that smells like the garden it came from.
Thomasina Origin: Aramaic/English Meaning: Twin, the female Thomas SSA Popularity: >1000
The feminine form of Thomas carrying the twin meaning in a warm, slightly unusual English form, Thomasina has a flowing, beautiful quality and a deep Victorian heritage and carries the particular charm of a name that takes a thoroughly masculine name and transforms it into something entirely feminine without losing any of the original’s strength.
Victorine Origin: Latin/French Meaning: Victor, the little conqueror SSA Popularity: >1000
The French diminutive of Victoria carrying the victorious meaning in a warm, slightly intimate form that the Victorians loved, Victorine has a clean, flowing quality and a beautiful sound that belongs to the tradition of Victorian names that expressed the era’s faith in the power of feminine character to overcome all obstacles.
Wilhelmina Origin: Germanic Meaning: Resolute protection, the female Wilhelm SSA Popularity: >1000
The great Germanic feminine form of William carrying the meaning of resolute protection, Wilhelmina was beloved in the Victorian era and carries a warm, slightly magnificent quality and a flowing sound whose apparent unwieldiness is entirely overcome by its extraordinary character and the warmth of its nicknames Mina and Willie.
Elegant Edwardian Girl Names
Agnes Origin: Greek Meaning: Pure, holy, the sacred one SSA Popularity: >1000
The great Edwardian name meaning pure and holy that was beloved across the English-speaking world at the turn of the twentieth century and that carries a clean, slightly austere quality and a genuine ancient heritage that is perfectly positioned for the kind of brave revival that only parents with genuine naming courage will attempt.
Beatrice Origin: Latin Meaning: She who brings happiness, the blessed one SSA Popularity: #303
The great name of Dante’s eternal beloved and Shakespeare’s sharpest comic heroine, Beatrice carries a warm, flowing quality and an extraordinary literary legacy and has been reviving steadily and will continue to rise because it is simply one of the most beautiful and most completely satisfying names in the English language.
Cecily Origin: Latin Meaning: Blind, from Saint Cecilia SSA Popularity: >1000
The Edwardian form of Cecilia carrying the same patron saint of music legacy in a slightly crisper, more English form, Cecily has a clean, slightly unusual quality and a warm Edwardian heritage, associated with Oscar Wilde’s great comedy The Importance of Being Earnest whose Cecily Cardew is one of the most delightfully self-possessed characters in English drama.
Clara Origin: Latin Meaning: Clear, bright, famous SSA Popularity: #117
The great Edwardian name whose meaning of clear and bright carries the particular quality of a name that expresses a simple, profound truth without any ornament or elaboration, Clara has been reviving strongly and carries a warm, clean quality that works with equal grace in formal and informal contexts.
Edith Origin: Anglo-Saxon Meaning: Prosperous in war, the blessed warrior SSA Popularity: #510
Carrying the slightly surprising Anglo-Saxon meaning of the prosperous warrior, the woman who thrives in battle, Edith has a warm, slightly unusual quality and a deep Edwardian heritage that is perfectly positioned for the kind of bold revival that a name of genuine character deserves.
Eleanor Origin: Greek/Old French Meaning: Bright, shining one SSA Popularity: #35
One of the great names of the English-speaking world whose meaning of the shining one carries the full weight of the tradition from Eleanor of Aquitaine to Eleanor Roosevelt, Eleanor has been reviving strongly and carries a warm, flowing quality and a beautiful sound that makes it one of the most completely satisfying of all old fashioned revivals.
Flora Origin: Latin Meaning: Flower, the flower goddess SSA Popularity: #507
Named after the Roman goddess of flowers and spring whose festival Floralia was one of the most joyful of the Roman year, Flora has a warm, slightly botanical quality and a clean, beautiful sound that carries both the natural world’s beauty and the classical tradition’s depth.
Frances Origin: Latin/Germanic Meaning: Free, from France SSA Popularity: #445
Carrying the warm, slightly independent meaning of the free one and the French one, Frances has a clean, slightly crisp Edwardian quality and a warm heritage that carries the particular authority of a name that has been borne by women of genuine distinction across every generation of the English-speaking world.
Harriet Origin: Germanic/French Meaning: Home ruler, estate ruler SSA Popularity: #434
The name of the extraordinary Harriet Tubman who led hundreds of enslaved people to freedom, Harriet carries one of the most powerful historical legacies in American history alongside a warm, slightly crisp Edwardian quality that has been reviving strongly and with complete justification.
Hilda Origin: Germanic Meaning: Battle, the battle woman SSA Popularity: >1000
Carrying the fierce, clean Germanic meaning of the battle woman, Hilda has a warm, slightly unusual quality and a deep Edwardian heritage that is positioned for the kind of bold, brave revival that only parents with genuine naming courage and genuine confidence in their own taste will attempt first.
Louisa Origin: Germanic Meaning: Renowned warrior, famous in battle SSA Popularity: >1000
The graceful feminine form of Louis carrying the renowned warrior meaning in a name of warm, flowing Edwardian beauty, Louisa carries the literary legacy of Louisa May Alcott whose Little Women is one of the most beloved works of American fiction and whose own name carried the full romantic quality of the Edwardian aesthetic.
Mabel Origin: Latin Meaning: Lovable, the beloved one SSA Popularity: #494
Carrying the warm, direct Latin meaning of the lovable and the beloved one, Mabel has a sweet, slightly unusual Edwardian quality and a genuine heritage that is perfectly positioned for the kind of sweet, brave revival that parents who love old fashioned names dream about.
Maud Origin: Germanic Meaning: Battle mighty, powerful in battle SSA Popularity: >1000
The Edwardian form of Matilda carrying the same battle mighty meaning in a shorter, slightly more striking form, Maud has a clean, slightly unusual Edwardian quality and a warm heritage associated with Tennyson’s great romantic poem and with the Queen of Norway whose elegant bearing made her one of the most admired figures of the early twentieth century royal world.
Miriam Origin: Hebrew Meaning: Wished-for child, beloved SSA Popularity: #214
The great Hebrew name of Moses’s sister who led the women in singing after the crossing of the Red Sea, Miriam carries a warm, flowing quality and a beautiful sound that has been beloved in the Jewish tradition for three thousand years and in the broader English-speaking world for several centuries.
Nora Origin: Irish/Greek Meaning: Honor, from Honora SSA Popularity: #30
The great Irish form of Honora carrying the meaning of honor in a name of clean, warm beauty, Nora has been one of the great success stories of the Edwardian revival and carries a quality of quiet, absolute self-possession that suits the particular kind of woman the name has always seemed to attract.
Olive Origin: Latin Meaning: Olive tree, the olive branch SSA Popularity: #166
Named after the olive tree whose branches are the universal symbol of peace and whose fruit was the foundation of Mediterranean civilization, Olive has a warm, clean Edwardian quality and a beautiful sound that has been reviving steadily and carries a genuine sweetness alongside a quiet, completely natural authority.
Ruth Origin: Hebrew Meaning: Friend, companion SSA Popularity: #255
The great Hebrew name of the biblical heroine whose declaration of loyalty to her mother-in-law Naomi is one of the most beautiful expressions of committed friendship in world literature, Ruth carries a warm, clean quality and a beautiful simplicity that the Edwardian era loved and that modern parents are rediscovering.
Sylvia Origin: Latin Meaning: Forest, the forest woman SSA Popularity: #369
Named after the forest in the Latin tradition, Sylvia has a warm, slightly arboreal quality and a flowing sound that carries the literary legacy of Sylvia Plath whose fierce, brilliant, devastatingly honest poetry gave this gentle name an unexpected edge that makes it one of the most interesting old fashioned names available.
Vera Origin: Russian/Latin Meaning: Faith, truth SSA Popularity: #118
Carrying the warm, slightly profound Russian-Latin meaning of faith and truth, Vera has a clean, minimal Edwardian quality and a beautiful sound that has been reviving strongly and carries the particular authority of a name that means exactly what it says and says exactly what it means.
Violet Origin: Latin Meaning: Purple flower, the violet SSA Popularity: #64
Named after the small, sweet, slightly melancholy purple flower that blooms in the English spring, Violet has been one of the great success stories of the Edwardian revival and carries a warm, slightly dark beauty that suits the particular kind of girl who combines fragility and fierceness in the most interesting possible proportion.
Classic Biblical and Puritan Girl Names
Abigail Origin: Hebrew Meaning: Father’s joy, source of joy SSA Popularity: #11
One of the great biblical names whose meaning of the father’s joy carries the full weight of the Hebrew tradition’s understanding of a daughter as a source of genuine delight, Abigail has been a consistent top twenty name in recent years and carries both the biblical depth and a warm, flowing quality that makes it genuinely irresistible.
Bathsheba Origin: Hebrew Meaning: Daughter of the oath, the seventh daughter SSA Popularity: >1000
The biblical name of the great beauty who became King David’s wife and Solomon’s mother, Bathsheba carries a warm, flowing quality and a deep biblical heritage that is far too beautiful and too historically significant to remain as unused as it currently is, a name waiting for the right brave family to bring it back.
Deborah Origin: Hebrew Meaning: Bee, the bee SSA Popularity: >1000
The name of the great biblical prophet and judge who led the armies of Israel to victory and whose song of triumph is one of the oldest poems in the Hebrew tradition, Deborah carries a warm, slightly fierce quality and a deep biblical heritage that deserves far more modern use than it currently receives.
Dinah Origin: Hebrew Meaning: Judged, vindicated SSA Popularity: >1000
The biblical name of Jacob’s daughter whose story is one of the most complex and most discussed narratives in the entire Torah, Dinah carries a warm, clean quality and a beautiful sound and a deep biblical heritage that makes it one of the most naturally distinctive of all the currently underused biblical girl names.
Esther Origin: Hebrew/Persian Meaning: Star, hidden SSA Popularity: #218
The name of the great biblical queen whose courage saved her people from destruction and whose Book of Esther is one of the most dramatically compelling narratives in the Hebrew Bible, Esther carries a warm, clean quality and a beautiful sound that has been reviving steadily and deserves to continue.
Hephzibah Origin: Hebrew Meaning: My delight is in her, the beloved SSA Popularity: >1000
Carrying the extraordinary Hebrew meaning of my delight is in her, the declaration that the child is the source of the parent’s deepest joy, Hephzibah is one of the most beautiful and most meaningful of all the Puritan names and carries a flowing, slightly unusual quality that makes it genuinely distinctive.
Kezia Origin: Hebrew Meaning: Cassia, the fragrant spice SSA Popularity: >1000
The biblical name of one of Job’s daughters, born after his restoration to prosperity, Kezia carries a warm, slightly fragrant quality and a beautiful sound and a deep biblical heritage that the Puritans loved and that modern parents are beginning to rediscover.
Leah Origin: Hebrew Meaning: Weary, wild cow SSA Popularity: #52
The name of Jacob’s first wife whose deep love for her husband was never fully reciprocated but whose sons founded most of the twelve tribes of Israel, Leah carries a warm, clean quality and a beautiful simplicity that has kept it in consistent use across the centuries.
Martha Origin: Aramaic Meaning: Lady, mistress of the house SSA Popularity: #700
The name of the practical, hardworking sister of Mary in the Gospels whose complaint that her sister left all the work to her is one of the most relatable moments in the New Testament, Martha carries a warm, slightly domestic quality and a clean, beautiful sound that is far more elegant than its current modest popularity suggests.
Mercy Origin: English/Latin Meaning: Mercy, compassion SSA Popularity: >1000
One of the great Puritan virtue names carrying the meaning of mercy and compassion, the quality of responding to human failing with understanding rather than judgment, Mercy has a warm, clean quality and a beautiful sound that suits the kind of woman who genuinely possesses the quality the name describes.
Patience Origin: English/Latin Meaning: Patient endurance, calm suffering SSA Popularity: >1000
One of the great Puritan virtue names carrying the meaning of patient endurance, the quality of accepting difficulty with grace and waiting for the right outcome without demanding it immediately, Patience has a warm, slightly unusual quality and a beautiful sound that suits the kind of woman who understands that the most important things take time.
Prudence Origin: Latin Meaning: Prudent, wise in practical affairs SSA Popularity: >1000
The great Puritan virtue name carrying the meaning of practical wisdom, the quality of making good decisions consistently over time rather than occasionally spectacular ones, Prudence has a warm, slightly unusual quality and a beautiful sound that suits the kind of woman who is always quietly right about everything.
Rachel Origin: Hebrew Meaning: Ewe, the beloved wife SSA Popularity: #178
The name of the great biblical beauty who was loved by Jacob with an intensity that made him serve her father fourteen years to win her, Rachel carries a warm, clean quality and a beautiful simplicity that has kept it in consistent use across three millennia of Jewish and Christian naming tradition.
Rebecca Origin: Hebrew Meaning: To bind, captivating SSA Popularity: #209
The name of the great biblical matriarch whose intelligence and determination shaped the entire subsequent history of the Jewish people, Rebecca carries a warm, flowing quality and a beautiful sound that has been beloved across every generation of the English-speaking world.
Susannah Origin: Hebrew Meaning: Lily, the graceful lily SSA Popularity: >1000
The Hebrew name meaning lily that appears in the biblical Apocrypha as the heroine of the great story of unjust accusation and ultimate vindication, Susannah carries a warm, flowing quality and a beautiful sound that is far too beautiful and too historically significant to remain as underused as it currently is.
Temperance Origin: Latin Meaning: Moderation, the temperate one SSA Popularity: >1000
The great Puritan virtue name carrying the meaning of moderation and the temperate spirit, the quality of knowing when enough is enough and having the self-discipline to act on that knowledge, Temperance has a warm, flowing quality and a beautiful sound that suits the kind of woman who carries her virtue without making a fuss about it.
Thankful Origin: English Meaning: Grateful, the thankful one SSA Popularity: >1000
One of the more unusual Puritan virtue names carrying the meaning of gratitude, the quality of recognizing and acknowledging the good things in one’s life with genuine appreciation, Thankful has a warm, slightly unusual quality and a genuine Puritan heritage that makes it one of the most distinctively American of all the old fashioned names.
Medieval and Tudor Girl Names
Alienor Origin: Old French/Provençal Meaning: Foreign, the other SSA Popularity: >1000
The medieval form of Eleanor carried by Eleanor of Aquitaine herself, the greatest queen of the medieval world whose troubadour culture and political genius shaped the entire subsequent history of both France and England, Alienor carries an extraordinary historical legacy and a warm, flowing quality.
Alys Origin: Welsh/Old French Meaning: Noble, from Alice SSA Popularity: >1000
The medieval Welsh and Old French form of Alice carrying the noble meaning in a slightly different orthographic form, Alys has a clean, slightly unusual quality and a warm medieval heritage that suits any family who wants the substance of Alice in a form that is distinctly less common.
Bess Origin: English/Hebrew Meaning: God is my oath, from Elizabeth SSA Popularity: >1000
The great Tudor nickname for Elizabeth that was Queen Elizabeth I’s own preferred form of her name, Bess carries a warm, slightly fierce quality and an extraordinary historical legacy as the name of the greatest queen in English history, a name that was both intimate and commanding.
Cecilia Origin: Latin Meaning: Blind, the patron saint of music SSA Popularity: #159
The name of the great Christian martyr who became the patron saint of music, Cecilia carries a warm, flowing quality and a beautiful sound that has been beloved across every era of English naming and that carries both the spiritual legacy and the musical association with equal grace.
Constance Origin: Latin Meaning: Constant, steadfast SSA Popularity: >1000
Carrying the warm, slightly magnificent Latin meaning of the constant and steadfast one, the person whose reliability and faithfulness are as absolute as the laws of mathematics, Constance has a clean, slightly unusual quality and a deep medieval and Tudor heritage that is perfectly positioned for a brave revival.
Elinor Origin: Greek/Old French Meaning: Bright, shining one SSA Popularity: >1000
The medieval spelling of Eleanor carrying the same bright meaning in a form that is slightly more distinctive and slightly more historically precise, Elinor has a warm, clean quality and a beautiful sound that carries the full weight of the medieval naming tradition’s most beloved feminine name.
Emmeline Origin: Germanic Meaning: Work, strength SSA Popularity: >1000
The medieval Germanic name meaning work and strength that was beloved across the medieval and Tudor periods and that carries the extraordinary historical legacy of Emmeline Pankhurst whose leadership of the British suffragette movement was one of the most courageous acts of civil disobedience in modern history.
Griselda Origin: Germanic Meaning: Gray battle maid, the patient one SSA Popularity: >1000
The name of the legendary patient wife of Boccaccio and Chaucer whose endurance of her husband’s increasingly unreasonable tests of her loyalty became the great medieval exemplar of wifely patience, Griselda carries a warm, slightly unusual quality and an extraordinary literary legacy.
Isolde Origin: Celtic/Germanic Meaning: Ice ruler, beautiful SSA Popularity: >1000
The name of the great Celtic heroine of the Tristan and Isolde legend whose tragic love story is one of the founding narratives of European romantic tradition, Isolde carries a warm, flowing quality and an extraordinary literary and musical legacy through Wagner’s great opera and the entire tradition of Arthurian romance.
Jehanne Origin: French/Hebrew Meaning: God is gracious, the French Joan SSA Popularity: >1000
The medieval French form of Joan, the name carried by Jehanne d’Arc herself, the great French national heroine who heard divine voices and led the French armies to victory before being burned as a heretic at nineteen years old, Jehanne carries one of the most extraordinary historical legacies of any name in any tradition.
Joanna Origin: Greek/Hebrew Meaning: God is gracious SSA Popularity: >1000
The great medieval form of Joan carrying the God is gracious meaning in a warm, flowing form that was beloved across the medieval period and that carries both the biblical depth of its meaning and the warm, slightly formal quality of a name that has been carried with complete, unhurried dignity across many centuries.
Margery Origin: Greek/French Meaning: Pearl, from Margaret SSA Popularity: >1000
The medieval form of Margaret carrying the pearl meaning in a warm, slightly informal English form, Margery was beloved across the medieval period and carries both the classical pearl meaning and the warm, slightly unusual quality of a name that is thoroughly English in its sound and thoroughly medieval in its heritage.
Matilda Origin: Germanic Meaning: Battle mighty SSA Popularity: #190
Already celebrated in the Victorian section, Matilda belongs here equally as one of the great medieval names, the name of the Empress who fought for the English throne in the civil war known as the Anarchy and whose fierce, uncompromising determination makes her one of the most remarkable figures in medieval English history.
Philippa Origin: Greek Meaning: Horse lover, the one who loves horses SSA Popularity: >1000
The great medieval and Tudor feminine form of Philip carrying the warm, slightly unusual meaning of the horse lover, Philippa was beloved in the medieval period and carries the extraordinary historical legacy of Philippa of Hainault, Queen of England, whose intercession for the Burghers of Calais is one of the most celebrated acts of queenly mercy in medieval history.
Rosamund Origin: Germanic/Latin Meaning: Horse protection, pure rose SSA Popularity: >1000
The great medieval name whose Germanic meaning of horse protection was transformed by folk etymology into the beautiful Latin meaning of pure rose, Rosamund carries a warm, flowing quality and a beautiful sound and the extraordinary historical legacy of Rosamund Clifford, the beloved of Henry II, whose story has been told in poetry and drama across eight centuries.
Sybil Origin: Greek Meaning: Prophetess, the sibyl SSA Popularity: >1000
The name of the great ancient prophetesses whose oracles guided the ancient world, Sybil carries a warm, slightly mysterious quality and a deep medieval heritage and is associated with the great fictional character Sybil Vane in Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray.
Ursula Origin: Latin Meaning: Little bear, the small bear SSA Popularity: >1000
The name of the great Christian martyr Saint Ursula who according to legend was martyred with eleven thousand virgins, Ursula carries a warm, slightly unusual quality and a deep medieval heritage and has the particular charm of a name that has been unfairly neglected and is waiting for the right brave family to restore it.
Yseult Origin: Celtic Meaning: Beautiful, the fair one SSA Popularity: >1000
The Celtic form of Isolde carrying the same beautiful meaning in a slightly more authentically Celtic orthographic form, Yseult has a clean, flowing quality and an extraordinary literary legacy through the great tradition of Celtic romantic narrative and deserves far more attention than it currently receives.
Romantic Literary Girl Names
Arabella Origin: Latin/Arabic Meaning: Beautiful altar, lovable SSA Popularity: #513
The great romantic name beloved by every generation of novelists and poets, Arabella carries a warm, flowing quality and a beautiful sound that suits any girl born with the particular combination of beauty and character that the name’s long literary career has associated with it.
Araminta Origin: English Meaning: Uncertain, possibly defender SSA Popularity: >1000
The name chosen by Harriet Tubman at her birth before she renamed herself, Araminta carries an extraordinary historical legacy and a warm, flowing quality and a beautiful, slightly unusual sound that makes it one of the most genuinely distinctive of all the romantic literary names.
Bathsheba Origin: Hebrew Meaning: Daughter of the oath SSA Popularity: >1000
Already celebrated in the biblical section, Bathsheba belongs here equally for its literary legacy through Thomas Hardy’s great heroine of Far From the Madding Crowd whose fierce independence and complex romantic life made her one of the most compelling female characters in Victorian fiction.
Clarissa Origin: Latin Meaning: Clear, bright, famous SSA Popularity: #879
The name of Richardson’s great tragic heroine whose epistolary novel was one of the founding texts of the English novel tradition and one of the most sustained explorations of feminine virtue and its violation ever written, Clarissa carries an extraordinary literary legacy and a warm, flowing quality.
Elspeth Origin: Scottish/Hebrew Meaning: God is my oath, from Elizabeth SSA Popularity: >1000
The great Scottish form of Elizabeth carrying the God is my oath meaning in a distinctly Highland form, Elspeth has a warm, slightly unusual quality and a deep Scottish literary heritage that makes it one of the most naturally distinguished of all the romantic literary names.
Ermengarde Origin: Germanic Meaning: Entire strength, the complete warrior SSA Popularity: >1000
The great Germanic name carrying the meaning of entire strength and the complete warrior, Ermengarde has a warm, flowing quality and a deep medieval and literary heritage that makes it one of the most genuinely unusual and characterful of all the romantic names and one that rewards the courage of any parent willing to give it to a daughter.
Georgiana Origin: Greek/English Meaning: Farmer, from George SSA Popularity: >1000
The great English feminine form of George beloved in the Regency period and associated with Jane Austen’s use of it in Pride and Prejudice for Darcy’s gentle, talented sister, Georgiana carries a warm, flowing quality and a beautiful sound that suits any girl of quiet, deep musical talent and genuine sweetness.
Guinevere Origin: Welsh Meaning: White phantom, fair lady SSA Popularity: >1000
The great Arthurian queen whose name means the white phantom or the fair lady and whose complex role in the Arthurian tradition as both the most beautiful queen and the agent of the Round Table’s destruction makes her one of the most fascinatingly contradictory figures in literary history.
Hester Origin: Greek/Hebrew Meaning: Star, from Esther SSA Popularity: >1000
The great literary form of Esther whose most famous bearer is Hester Prynne the heroine of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, the woman whose public punishment for a private sin became the great American meditation on guilt, redemption, and the violence of social judgment.
Imogen Origin: Celtic/Shakespearean Meaning: Maiden, the innocent one SSA Popularity: #876
The name Shakespeare created or found for the heroine of Cymbeline, one of his most complex and most touching female characters, Imogen carries a warm, slightly unusual quality and a flowing sound and the extraordinary literary legacy of one of Shakespeare’s most complete heroines.
Lavinia Origin: Latin Meaning: Woman of Lavinium SSA Popularity: >1000
Already celebrated in the Victorian section, Lavinia belongs here equally as one of the great romantic literary names, associated with the heroines of Richardson and Fielding and the Roman founding mythology that gave the English literary tradition its deepest roots.
Lorelei Origin: German Meaning: Luring rock, the alluring one SSA Popularity: #692
Named after the legendary German siren whose singing lured sailors to their deaths on the Rhine rocks, Lorelei carries a warm, slightly dangerous quality and a flowing sound that suits any girl born with the particular combination of beauty and unconscious power that the legend describes.
Lydia Origin: Greek Meaning: From Lydia, the beautiful one SSA Popularity: #95
The name of the ancient kingdom of Asia Minor and the great Lydian woman of the New Testament who was the first European convert to Christianity, Lydia carries a warm, flowing quality and a beautiful sound that has kept it in consistent use across every generation of the English-speaking world.
Ophelia Origin: Greek Meaning: Help, the helpful one SSA Popularity: #453
The name of Hamlet’s tragic beloved whose madness and drowning is one of the most moving episodes in Shakespeare’s great tragedy, Ophelia carries a warm, flowing quality and a beautiful sound that has been reviving strongly and whose literary legacy is simultaneously devastating and irresistibly beautiful.
Perdita Origin: Latin/Shakespearean Meaning: Lost, the lost one SSA Popularity: >1000
The name Shakespeare gave to the heroine of The Winter’s Tale, the princess raised as a shepherd’s daughter who is eventually restored to her royal identity, Perdita carries a warm, slightly melancholy quality and a beautiful sound and the literary legacy of one of Shakespeare’s most touching heroines.
Portia Origin: Latin/Shakespearean Meaning: From the Portius family, the pig farmer SSA Popularity: >1000
The name of Shakespeare’s great lawyer heroine of The Merchant of Venice whose disguise as a male lawyer and brilliant legal argument saved her husband’s friend from death, Portia carries an extraordinary literary legacy of feminine intelligence deployed in the service of justice and a warm, flowing quality.
Rosaline Origin: Germanic/Latin Meaning: Beautiful rose, gentle horse SSA Popularity: >1000
The Shakespearean form of Rosalind carried by the witty, elusive object of Romeo’s first love before Juliet and by the brilliant young woman who defeats Berowne’s wit in Love’s Labour’s Lost, Rosaline carries a warm, flowing quality and a beautiful sound and a complex Shakespearean legacy.
Seraphina Origin: Hebrew Meaning: Burning one, the seraph SSA Popularity: #851
The name of the highest order of angels in Jewish theology who stand closest to the divine fire and whose six wings and continuous singing of holy, holy, holy is the closest any created being can come to the divine presence, Seraphina carries a warm, flowing quality and a beautiful sound.
Thessaly Origin: Greek Meaning: From Thessaly, the northern kingdom SSA Popularity: >1000
Named after the ancient Greek region of Thessaly whose plains were the setting for some of the most significant battles in Greek history, Thessaly carries a warm, slightly unusual quality and a flowing sound that suits any girl born with the particular quality of ancient, slightly knowing presence that the great old places of the world seem to confer on their names.
Colonial American Girl Names
Abiah Origin: Hebrew Meaning: God is my father SSA Popularity: >1000
The name of Benjamin Franklin’s mother, Abiah Folger Franklin, whose intelligence and character her son credited with much of his own success, Abiah carries a warm, slightly unusual quality and a deep colonial American heritage that makes it one of the most genuinely distinctive of all the colonial names.
Bethia Origin: Hebrew Meaning: Daughter of God SSA Popularity: >1000
Carrying the beautiful Hebrew meaning of the daughter of God, Bethia was beloved in the Puritan New England tradition and carries a warm, clean quality and a beautiful sound and a deep colonial American heritage that makes it one of the most genuinely significant of all the underused biblical names.
Chloe Origin: Greek Meaning: Blooming, the green shoot SSA Popularity: #25
The name used by Saint Paul in his letter to the Corinthians and beloved in colonial America for its combination of classical Greek beauty and New Testament authority, Chloe carries a warm, clean quality and a beautiful sound that has been one of the great successes of the modern classical revival.
Damaris Origin: Greek Meaning: Calf, the gentle one SSA Popularity: >1000
The name of the Athenian woman who became a Christian after hearing Paul’s speech at the Areopagus, Damaris carries a warm, slightly unusual quality and a deep colonial American heritage rooted in the Puritan tradition’s love of the New Testament’s minor but significant female figures.
Experience Origin: English Meaning: Experience, the experienced one SSA Popularity: >1000
One of the most unusual of the Puritan virtue and concept names, Experience carries the meaning of accumulated wisdom through lived life and has a warm, slightly unusual quality and a genuine colonial American heritage that makes it one of the most distinctively American of all the old fashioned names.
Freelove Origin: English Meaning: Free love, unrestricted affection SSA Popularity: >1000
One of the more philosophically daring of the Puritan concept names, Freelove carries the meaning of love that is freely given rather than coerced and has a warm, slightly unusual quality and a genuine colonial American heritage that makes it genuinely, completely unlike anything else in the naming world.
Hopestill Origin: English Meaning: Hope still, continuing hope SSA Popularity: >1000
One of the most poignant of the Puritan concept names, Hopestill carries the meaning of the hope that persists through difficulty and continues even when circumstances seem to argue against it, and has a warm, slightly unusual quality and a genuine colonial American heritage.
Mehitable Origin: Hebrew Meaning: God does good SSA Popularity: >1000
The colonial American form of the biblical Mehetabel carrying the warm, confident Hebrew meaning of the declaration that God does good, Mehitable has a flowing, slightly unusual quality and a genuine colonial American heritage that makes it one of the most characterful of all the underused Puritan names.
Preserved Origin: English Meaning: Preserved, the one who has been kept safe SSA Popularity: >1000
One of the most unusual of the Puritan concept names, Preserved carries the meaning of the one who has been kept safe, usually understood as kept safe by divine providence for a purpose not yet revealed, and has a warm, slightly unusual quality and a genuine colonial American heritage.
Silence Origin: English/Latin Meaning: Silence, the quiet one SSA Popularity: >1000
One of the most distinctive of the Puritan virtue names, Silence carries the meaning of the quiet spirit that observes and understands rather than speaking and performing and has been given to daughters in the colonial American tradition as an expression of the Puritan value of inward contemplation over outward display.
Tryphena Origin: Greek Meaning: Delicate, the dainty one SSA Popularity: >1000
The New Testament name of a woman greeted by Paul in his letter to the Romans, Tryphena was beloved in the colonial American tradition and carries a warm, flowing quality and a beautiful sound and a genuine biblical and colonial heritage that makes it one of the most interesting of all the underused names.
Waitstill Origin: English Meaning: Wait still, patient waiting SSA Popularity: >1000
One of the most poetic of the Puritan concept names, Waitstill carries the meaning of the patient waiting that the Puritan tradition understood as one of the highest spiritual virtues, the willingness to wait for divine timing rather than forcing one’s own agenda on events.
Zeruiah Origin: Hebrew Meaning: Balm, the healing one SSA Popularity: >1000
The biblical name of King David’s sister and the mother of the great military commander Joab, Zeruiah carries a warm, flowing quality and a beautiful sound and a deep biblical heritage that the colonial American tradition loved and that modern parents have almost entirely forgotten.
Gentle Nature Old Fashioned Names
Amaryllis Origin: Greek Meaning: Sparkling, the shining flower SSA Popularity: >1000
Named after the great lily-like flower whose name comes from the Greek word for sparkling, Amaryllis carries a warm, flowing quality and a beautiful sound that belongs to the pastoral poetic tradition of classical and Renaissance literature where it was one of the most beloved names for the idealized country girl.
Anemone Origin: Greek Meaning: Windflower, the daughter of the wind SSA Popularity: >1000
Named after the windflower that blooms in early spring before any other flower and whose name means daughter of the wind in Greek, Anemone carries a warm, slightly unusual quality and a flowing sound that belongs to the tradition of nature names drawn from the most beautiful and most transient of the spring flowers.
Arbor Origin: Latin Meaning: Tree, the tree SSA Popularity: >1000
Named after the tree in the Latin tradition, Arbor carries a warm, slightly unusual quality and a clean, beautiful sound that suits any girl whose parents want to give her the deep rootedness and the reaching upward quality of the tree as her defining image.
Aster Origin: Greek Meaning: Star, the star flower SSA Popularity: >1000
Named after the star-shaped flower whose name means star in Greek, Aster carries a warm, slightly unusual quality and a clean, beautiful sound that belongs to the tradition of flower names that connect the natural world’s beauty to the celestial world’s grandeur in a single perfect image.
Briar Origin: English Meaning: Thorny plant, wild rose SSA Popularity: #398
Named after the thorny wild rose plant, Briar carries a warm, slightly wild quality and a clean, beautiful sound that combines the beauty of the wild rose with the fierce, protective energy of its thorns and has been reviving strongly as parents rediscover its perfect combination of sweetness and strength.
Clover Origin: English Meaning: The clover plant, the lucky one SSA Popularity: >1000
Named after the clover plant whose four-leaf form has been considered lucky across the English-speaking world for centuries, Clover carries a warm, slightly playful quality and a beautiful sound that suits any girl born with the particular combination of sweetness and good fortune that the clover has always represented.
Daffodil Origin: Dutch/English Meaning: The daffodil flower SSA Popularity: >1000
Named after the great yellow spring flower whose arrival announces the end of winter, Daffodil carries a warm, slightly unusual quality and a beautiful sound that suits any girl born in spring or whose parents want to give her the quality of joyful, unstoppable arrival that the daffodil embodies.
Eglantine Origin: Old French Meaning: Sweet briar, the wild rose SSA Popularity: >1000
Named after the sweet briar or wild rose in the Old French tradition, Eglantine carries a warm, slightly unusual quality and a flowing sound that belongs to the medieval and Renaissance tradition of botanical naming that connected the natural world’s most beautiful plants to the feminine ideal.
Fern Origin: English Meaning: The fern plant SSA Popularity: >1000
Named after the ancient fern plant whose fronds have been growing in the world’s damp places since before the dinosaurs, Fern carries a warm, slightly ancient quality and a clean, beautiful sound that suits any girl born with the particular combination of green, slightly wild, deeply rooted quality that the fern embodies.
Fleur Origin: French Meaning: Flower, the blossom SSA Popularity: >1000
The French word for flower, Fleur carries a warm, clean quality and a beautiful sound that belongs to the French tradition of flower naming and that works with particular grace in English contexts where its French origin gives it a slight but entirely pleasant quality of distinction.
Hazel Origin: English Meaning: The hazel tree SSA Popularity: #37
Named after the hazel tree whose wood was traditionally used for divining rods and whose nuts were associated with wisdom and hidden knowledge in the Celtic tradition, Hazel has been one of the great successes of the nature name revival and carries a warm, clean quality and a beautiful sound.
Heather Origin: English Meaning: The heather plant SSA Popularity: >1000
Named after the heather that covers the Scottish and English moors with its purple bloom in late summer, Heather carries a warm, slightly wild quality and a clean, beautiful sound that was enormously popular in the mid-twentieth century and is positioned for the kind of revival that happens when a name has been out of fashion long enough to become interesting again.
Iris Origin: Greek Meaning: Rainbow, the rainbow goddess SSA Popularity: #120
Named after both the rainbow and the goddess who personified it in Greek mythology, Iris carries a warm, slightly luminous quality and a clean, beautiful sound that has been reviving strongly and carries the natural world’s most beautiful atmospheric phenomenon in its name.
Ivy Origin: English Meaning: The ivy plant SSA Popularity: #45
Named after the climbing ivy plant whose tenacious hold on walls and trees has made it a symbol of both fidelity and persistent growth, Ivy has been one of the great successes of the plant name revival and carries a warm, clean quality and a beautiful sound alongside the genuine sweetness of a name that has always been given with great love.
Jessamine Origin: Persian/French Meaning: Jasmine, the fragrant flower SSA Popularity: >1000
The Old English and French form of jasmine carrying the warm, slightly fragrant meaning of the most sweetly scented of all the climbing flowers, Jessamine has a warm, flowing quality and a beautiful sound that is slightly more unusual and slightly more historically resonant than the more common jasmine.
Lavender Origin: Latin/English Meaning: The lavender plant, blue-purple SSA Popularity: >1000
Named after the lavender plant whose grey-purple blooms and extraordinary scent have made it one of the most beloved of all the garden herbs, Lavender carries a warm, slightly fragrant quality and a beautiful sound that suits any girl born with the particular combination of beauty, calm, and gentle healing that the lavender has always represented.
Marigold Origin: English Meaning: Mary’s gold, the golden flower SSA Popularity: >1000
Named after the golden flower that has been dedicated to the Virgin Mary in Christian tradition and that brings its warm, slightly golden presence to every garden it inhabits, Marigold carries a warm, slightly unusual quality and a beautiful sound that makes it one of the most genuinely sweet of all the flower names.
Meadow Origin: English Meaning: The meadow, open grassland SSA Popularity: >1000
Named after the open meadow, the field of grass and wildflowers that the English countryside tradition has always associated with the most beautiful and most free aspects of the natural world, Meadow carries a warm, slightly unusual quality and a beautiful sound.
Myrtle Origin: Greek Meaning: The myrtle tree SSA Popularity: >1000
Named after the myrtle tree whose fragrant white flowers were sacred to Aphrodite and were used in wedding garlands in the ancient world, Myrtle carries a warm, slightly unusual quality and a genuine Victorian and Edwardian heritage that is positioned for the kind of brave revival that brings back genuine characters from the naming past.
Pansy Origin: French/English Meaning: Thought, the thinking flower SSA Popularity: >1000
Named after the pansy flower whose name comes from the French word for thought, pensée, making it one of the very few flowers whose name carries a philosophical meaning, Pansy carries a warm, slightly unusual quality and a genuine Victorian and Edwardian heritage.
Peony Origin: Greek Meaning: The peony flower, healing SSA Popularity: >1000
Named after the great flowering peony whose enormous, fragrant blooms represent one of the most spectacular expressions of the garden’s generosity, Peony carries a warm, slightly magnificent quality and a beautiful sound that suits any girl born with the particular combination of abundance and fragrance that the peony embodies.
Primrose Origin: English/Latin Meaning: First rose, the spring flower SSA Popularity: >1000
Named after the primrose, the first flower of the English spring whose pale yellow blooms appear before almost anything else has dared to emerge from the winter ground, Primrose carries a warm, slightly unusual quality and a beautiful sound that suits any girl born in early spring or whose parents want to give her the quality of earliest, freshest arrival.
Rue Origin: English Meaning: The herb rue, regret SSA Popularity: >1000
Named after the herb rue whose bitterness has made it a symbol of regret in the English poetic tradition, Rue carries a warm, slightly melancholy quality and a clean, beautiful sound that suits any girl born with the particular combination of sweetness and depth that the name’s double meaning of herb and regret suggests.
Wren Origin: English Meaning: The wren bird SSA Popularity: #359
Named after the small, fierce, surprisingly loud brown bird whose song is one of the most powerful in the English countryside, Wren carries a warm, clean quality and a beautiful sound that suits any girl born with the particular combination of small size and disproportionate presence that the wren embodies.
Old Fashioned Names From Mythology and Legend
Andromeda Origin: Greek Meaning: Ruler of men, the chained princess SSA Popularity: >1000
The name of the Ethiopian princess who was chained to a rock as a sacrifice to a sea monster and rescued by Perseus in Greek mythology, Andromeda carries a warm, flowing quality and a beautiful sound and the extraordinary literary and astronomical legacy of a name that was given both to a great mythological heroine and to the nearest large galaxy to our own.
Antigone Origin: Greek Meaning: Against birth, worthy of one’s parents SSA Popularity: >1000
The great Greek tragic heroine who defied the command of a king to give her brother a proper burial and accepted death rather than betray her principles, Antigone carries one of the most powerfully principled and genuinely courageous legacies in world drama and a warm, flowing quality.
Atalanta Origin: Greek Meaning: Balanced, the equal-weight one SSA Popularity: >1000
The great Greek heroine who could outrun any man in the world and who was only defeated in her famous foot race because her opponent cheated by rolling golden apples across her path, Atalanta carries a fierce, independent quality and a flowing sound that suits any girl born with the particular combination of physical excellence and proud self-sufficiency.
Calliope Origin: Greek Meaning: Beautiful voice, the muse of epic poetry SSA Popularity: >1000
The name of the greatest of the nine Muses, the divine patron of epic poetry whose beautiful voice inspired Homer and Virgil to their greatest works, Calliope carries a warm, flowing quality and a beautiful sound that suits any girl born with the particular combination of voice, vision, and the ambition to tell the largest possible stories.
Cassandra Origin: Greek Meaning: Shining on men, the prophetess SSA Popularity: >1000
The Trojan princess whose curse was to speak true prophecies that no one would believe, Cassandra carries a warm, flowing quality and a complex, slightly tragic quality that suits any girl born with the particular combination of genuine insight and the frustration of being consistently underestimated by those who should know better.
Daphne Origin: Greek Meaning: Laurel, the laurel tree SSA Popularity: #293
The nymph who was transformed into a laurel tree to escape Apollo’s pursuit and whose name has been given to the most fragrant of the winter-blooming shrubs, Daphne carries a warm, clean quality and a beautiful sound that has been reviving strongly.
Galatea Origin: Greek Meaning: Milk-white, the ivory statue SSA Popularity: >1000
The name of the ivory statue carved by Pygmalion who fell in love with his own creation and prayed to Aphrodite to bring her to life, Galatea carries a warm, slightly unusual quality and a flowing sound that suits any girl born with the particular combination of beauty and the quality of being more alive and more real than anything around her.
Iphigenia Origin: Greek Meaning: Strong-born, of mighty birth SSA Popularity: >1000
The name of the great Greek tragic heroine who was sacrificed by her father Agamemnon to obtain favorable winds for the Greek fleet sailing to Troy and whose story is one of the most powerful meditations on the abuse of parental power in world drama.
Medea Origin: Greek Meaning: Cunning, the planner SSA Popularity: >1000
The great tragic heroine of Greek mythology whose magical gifts helped Jason win the Golden Fleece and whose terrible revenge on him after his betrayal is one of the most devastating explorations of love transformed into destruction in world literature.
Minerva Origin: Latin Meaning: Mind, intellect SSA Popularity: >1000
The Roman goddess of wisdom, craft, and strategic warfare whose identification with the Greek Athena made her one of the most complex and most powerful female figures in the Roman divine world, Minerva carries a warm, slightly unusual quality and a flowing sound.
Persephone Origin: Greek Meaning: Bringer of destruction, she who destroys the light SSA Popularity: >1000
The Greek goddess whose kidnapping by Hades and annual return from the underworld causes the cycle of the seasons, Persephone carries a warm, flowing quality and a beautiful sound and the extraordinary mythological legacy of a name that contains the entire mystery of winter and spring in its story.
Proserpina Origin: Latin Meaning: To emerge, the Roman Persephone SSA Popularity: >1000
The Roman form of Persephone carrying the same seasonal mystery in a slightly more unusual Latin form, Proserpina has a warm, flowing quality and a beautiful sound that belongs to the Latin mythological tradition and carries the full weight of the Roman understanding of the underworld and the return of spring.
Psyche Origin: Greek Meaning: Soul, the butterfly SSA Popularity: >1000
The name of the mortal woman who became Eros’s beloved and who underwent a series of impossible tasks to prove her worthiness and was eventually granted immortality, Psyche carries a warm, slightly unusual quality and a beautiful sound and the extraordinary legacy of one of the most beautiful love stories in the ancient world.
Sophisticated French Old Fashioned Names
Adèle Origin: Germanic/French Meaning: Noble, the noble one SSA Popularity: >1000
The great French form of the noble name that was beloved in both the Victorian and the Edwardian eras, Adèle carries a warm, clean quality and a beautiful sound that works with equal grace in French and English contexts and carries the full weight of the French aristocratic naming tradition.
Amélie Origin: Germanic/French Meaning: Work, industrious SSA Popularity: #539
The great French form of Amelia whose meaning of industrious work carries the French understanding of effort as a virtue in a name of warm, flowing beauty, Amélie has been reviving strongly and carries both the French cultural legacy and the warm, slightly whimsical quality of the great French film that gave it international recognition.
Camille Origin: Latin/French Meaning: Young ceremonial attendant SSA Popularity: #254
The great French name of classical Latin origin whose young ceremonial attendant meaning carries the full weight of the Roman religious tradition in a name of warm, flowing French beauty, Camille has been reviving strongly and carries a quality of complete, natural elegance that suits the particular kind of woman who carries distinction without effort.
Céleste Origin: Latin/French Meaning: Heavenly, of the sky SSA Popularity: #277
Carrying the warm, slightly elevated Latin meaning of the heavenly and the celestial, Céleste has a warm, clean quality and a flowing sound that works with particular grace in both French and English contexts and carries the full weight of the French Catholic tradition’s understanding of heaven as the proper aspiration of a beautiful feminine soul.
Colette Origin: French/Greek Meaning: People’s victory, from Nicole SSA Popularity: #361
The great French name beloved for its association with the extraordinary French novelist Colette whose frank, sensuous, psychologically penetrating fiction remains some of the most alive and most contemporary writing of the early twentieth century, Colette carries a warm, clean quality and a beautiful sound.
Delphine Origin: Greek/French Meaning: From Delphi, the dolphin SSA Popularity: >1000
The French form of the Greek name connected to both the oracle at Delphi and the dolphin whose intelligence and grace have always made it one of the most beloved creatures in the natural world, Delphine carries a warm, flowing quality and a beautiful sound that belongs to the French tradition of classical naming at its most elegant.
Félicité Origin: Latin/French Meaning: Happiness, great joy SSA Popularity: >1000
Carrying the warm, joyful Latin meaning of happiness and great joy in a French form of particular flowing beauty, Félicité has a warm, slightly unusual quality and a deep French heritage, associated with Gustave Flaubert’s great story A Simple Heart whose heroine Félicité is one of the most moving portraits of humble virtue in French literature.
Geneviève Origin: Celtic/French Meaning: Tribe woman, of the people SSA Popularity: #261
The name of the great patron saint of Paris who famously stayed in the city when Attila the Hun threatened it and whose prayers were credited with turning the invasion away, Geneviève carries a warm, flowing quality and a beautiful sound that carries both the hagiographical legacy and the warm, distinctively French quality.
Hortense Origin: Latin/French Meaning: Garden, the gardener SSA Popularity: >1000
The French form of Hortensia carrying the garden meaning in a slightly more familiar French form, Hortense carries a warm, slightly unusual quality and a deep French heritage and was the name of Napoleon’s stepdaughter who became Queen of Holland and the mother of Napoleon III.
Madeleine Origin: Hebrew/French Meaning: From Magdala, of the tower SSA Popularity: #315
The great French form of Magdalene whose meaning of the tower woman connects it to both the biblical Mary Magdalene and the most famous cake in French literature, the madeleine of Proust whose dipping in tea unlocked the entire architecture of À la Recherche du Temps Perdu.
Marguerite Origin: Greek/French Meaning: Pearl, the daisy SSA Popularity: >1000
The great French form of Margaret whose pearl meaning has been supplemented by its identification with the daisy flower in the French tradition, Marguerite carries a warm, flowing quality and a beautiful sound that belongs to the French literary and floral tradition at its most elegant.
Mathilde Origin: Germanic/French Meaning: Battle mighty, strength in battle SSA Popularity: >1000
The French form of Matilda carrying the battle mighty meaning in a slightly more elegant French orthographic form, Mathilde carries a warm, flowing quality and a beautiful sound and the extraordinary historical legacy of the most celebrated French-speaking queens of the medieval period.
Micheline Origin: Hebrew/French Meaning: Who is like God, the feminine Michel SSA Popularity: >1000
The French feminine form of Michel carrying the theological question who is like God in a warm, flowing French form, Micheline has a clean, slightly unusual quality and a deep French heritage that makes it one of the most naturally distinguished of all the sophisticated French names.
Odette Origin: Germanic/French Meaning: Wealth, fortune SSA Popularity: >1000
The great French name beloved for its association with the swan lake heroine of Tchaikovsky’s great ballet, Odette carries a warm, clean quality and a beautiful sound that suits any girl born with the particular combination of grace, vulnerability, and underlying strength that the great swan princess embodies.
Solange Origin: Latin/French Meaning: Solemn, dignified SSA Popularity: >1000
The name of a French saint whose dignity and grace made her one of the most celebrated holy women of the French tradition, Solange carries a warm, slightly unusual quality and a flowing sound that belongs to the tradition of French names that combine classical Latin gravity with French natural elegance.
Thérèse Origin: Greek/French Meaning: To harvest, the reaper SSA Popularity: >1000
The great French form of Teresa whose meaning of the harvest connects it to the agricultural cycle and to the two great saints of the Catholic tradition, Teresa of Ávila and Thérèse of Lisieux, the Little Flower whose simple, direct spirituality made her one of the most beloved saints of the modern era.
Vivienne Origin: Latin/French Meaning: Alive, the living one SSA Popularity: #532
The great French form of Vivian carrying the alive meaning in a warm, flowing French form, Vivienne carries both the classical legacy and the literary association with the Lady of the Lake in the Arthurian tradition and has been reviving strongly as parents rediscover its combination of warmth, elegance, and genuine depth.
Old Fashioned Names From Celtic Traditions
Aoife Origin: Irish Gaelic Meaning: Beautiful, radiant SSA Popularity: >1000
Pronounced EE-fah, Aoife is one of the greatest warrior women of Irish mythology whose skill in battle surpassed almost every warrior she faced and who carries a genuinely fierce and beautiful Gaelic character that is virtually unknown outside Ireland but deserves far wider use.
Brigid Origin: Irish Gaelic Meaning: Exalted one, the bright one SSA Popularity: >1000
The name of Ireland’s great female saint and goddess whose tradition of fire and poetry and healing has been celebrated at the spring festival of Imbolc since before the Christian era, Brigid carries an extraordinary spiritual and mythological legacy and a warm, clean quality.
Caoimhe Origin: Irish Gaelic Meaning: Gentle, beautiful, precious SSA Popularity: >1000
Pronounced KEE-vah, Caoimhe carries the warm, slightly gentle Irish meaning of the precious and beautiful one and has a clean, flowing quality and a genuine Irish heritage that belongs to the tradition of Irish names whose pronunciation is a small gift to those who take the trouble to learn it.
Deirdre Origin: Irish Gaelic Meaning: Broken-hearted, the raging one SSA Popularity: >1000
The name of the great tragic heroine of Irish mythology whose story of love, flight, and ultimately broken faith is one of the three sorrows of Irish storytelling, Deirdre carries a warm, slightly melancholy quality and a flowing sound that suits any girl born with the particular combination of fierce passion and devastating vulnerability that the name’s legend embodies.
Emer Origin: Irish Gaelic Meaning: Swift, the fleet one SSA Popularity: >1000
The name of the great hero Cuchulainn’s wife in Irish mythology, Emer was chosen by Cuchulainn because she possessed the six gifts of womanhood: beauty, voice, sweet speech, needlework, wisdom, and chastity, and carries a warm, clean quality and a genuine Irish mythological legacy.
Fionnuala Origin: Irish Gaelic Meaning: Fair shoulder, the white-shouldered one SSA Popularity: >1000
The name of the great Irish mythological figure who was transformed into a swan with her brothers by her jealous stepmother and who spent nine hundred years wandering the lakes and rivers of Ireland, Fionnuala carries one of the most beautiful and most melancholy stories in Irish mythology.
Grainne Origin: Irish Gaelic Meaning: Sun-like, grain goddess SSA Popularity: >1000
Pronounced GRAWN-ya, Grainne is the great Irish heroine who fell in love with Diarmuid at her own betrothal feast and fled with him across Ireland pursued by the jealous Fionn mac Cumhaill in one of the great pursuit tales of Irish mythology.
Maeve Origin: Irish Gaelic Meaning: Intoxicating, she who intoxicates SSA Popularity: #56
The great warrior queen of Connacht who commanded armies, owned lands, and answered to no man, Maeve carries a fierce, beautiful, deeply Celtic energy that has been reviving strongly and carries both the authentic Irish mythological legacy and a warm, clean sound.
Niamh Origin: Irish Gaelic Meaning: Bright, the lustrous one SSA Popularity: >1000
Pronounced NEEV, the name of the great Irish fairy queen who carried the hero Oisín to the land of youth, Niamh carries a warm, luminous quality and a genuinely beautiful sound that belongs to the oldest layer of Irish mythological naming.
Saoirse Origin: Irish Gaelic Meaning: Freedom, beautiful liberty SSA Popularity: >1000
Carrying the fierce meaning of freedom and resistance, Saoirse is one of the most powerfully meaningful names in the Celtic tradition, a name that was literally forbidden under British rule in Ireland and whose every utterance was an act of defiance.
Siobhán Origin: Irish Gaelic/Hebrew Meaning: God is gracious, from Joan SSA Popularity: >1000
Pronounced shih-VAWN, the great Irish form of Joan carrying the God is gracious meaning in a distinctly Irish form, Siobhán has a warm, clean quality and a flowing sound and a genuine Irish heritage that rewards the effort of learning its surprising pronunciation.
Sorcha Origin: Irish Gaelic Meaning: Bright, radiant SSA Popularity: >1000
Pronounced SOR-uh-khah, the Irish name meaning bright and radiant that carries a warm, luminous quality and a genuine Irish heritage and belongs to the tradition of Irish names whose beauty is slightly hidden behind a pronunciation that requires a moment’s learning.
Sweet and Simple Short Old Fashioned Names
Ada Origin: Germanic/Hebrew Meaning: Noble, adorned SSA Popularity: #197
The name of Ada Lovelace, the nineteenth-century mathematician who wrote the first algorithm intended to be processed by a machine and is considered the world’s first computer programmer, Ada carries both a warm, clean simplicity and one of the most extraordinary intellectual legacies of any woman’s name.
Bea Origin: Latin Meaning: Blessed, from Beatrice SSA Popularity: >1000
The beloved short form of Beatrice carrying the blessed meaning in a warm, minimal package, Bea has a clean, sweet quality and a genuine Victorian and Edwardian heritage and carries the particular charm of a name that is simultaneously intimate and distinguished.
Cora Origin: Greek Meaning: Maiden, the girl SSA Popularity: #95
The simple Greek name meaning the maiden that was beloved across the Victorian era and that carries a warm, clean quality and a beautiful sound that has been reviving strongly and carries the particular sweetness of a name that says something simple and true about its bearer.
Dot Origin: Greek Meaning: Gift of God, from Dorothy SSA Popularity: >1000
The beloved short form of Dorothy carrying the gift of God meaning in a warm, minimal package, Dot has a clean, sweet quality and a genuine Edwardian heritage and carries the particular charm of a name that is simultaneously entirely unpretentious and genuinely characterful.
Effie Origin: Greek Meaning: Well-spoken, from Euphemia SSA Popularity: >1000
The beloved short form of Euphemia carrying the well-spoken meaning in a warm, sweet package, Effie has a clean, slightly unusual quality and a genuine Victorian and Edwardian heritage and carries the particular sweetness of a name that was beloved in the era when diminutives were given with genuine affection.
Els Origin: Germanic/Dutch Meaning: Noble, from Elizabeth SSA Popularity: >1000
The Dutch short form of Elizabeth carrying the noble meaning in a clean, minimal form, Els has a cool, slightly unusual quality and a genuine Dutch and Flemish heritage and carries the particular authority of a name that achieves genuine distinction through complete simplicity.
Etta Origin: Germanic Meaning: Estate ruler, from Henrietta SSA Popularity: >1000
The beloved short form of Henrietta carrying the estate ruler meaning in a warm, sweet package, Etta has a clean, slightly unusual quality and a genuine Victorian heritage, associated with the great jazz singer Etta James whose name carries both the Victorian sweetness and a fierce, magnificent musical legacy.
Flossie Origin: Latin Meaning: Flourishing, from Florence SSA Popularity: >1000
The beloved Victorian diminutive of Florence carrying the flourishing meaning in a warm, sweet package, Flossie has a clean, slightly playful quality and a genuine Victorian heritage and carries the particular charm of a diminutive that was given with genuine warmth and genuine affection.
Hattie Origin: Germanic Meaning: Home ruler, from Harriet SSA Popularity: #469
The beloved diminutive of Harriet carrying the home ruler meaning in a warm, sweet package, Hattie has been reviving strongly and carries the particular charm of a Victorian diminutive that sounds simultaneously sweet and genuinely authoritative.
Ida Origin: Germanic Meaning: Industrious, the hardworking one SSA Popularity: >1000
The great Germanic name of industrious meaning that was beloved across the Victorian era, Ida carries a warm, clean quality and a beautiful sound and a genuine industrial-era heritage that suits any girl born with the particular combination of quiet, persistent, completely reliable hard work that the name has always described.
Kitty Origin: Greek Meaning: Pure, from Katherine SSA Popularity: >1000
The beloved diminutive of Katherine carrying the pure meaning in a warm, sweet package, Kitty has a clean, slightly playful quality and a genuine Victorian and Edwardian heritage, associated with Kitty Bennet in Pride and Prejudice and carrying the particular sweetness of a name that the era gave to its most affectionately regarded daughters.
Lottie Origin: Germanic/French Meaning: Free woman, from Charlotte SSA Popularity: #694
The beloved diminutive of Charlotte carrying the free woman meaning in a warm, sweet package, Lottie has been reviving strongly and carries the particular charm of a Victorian diminutive that sounds simultaneously playful and completely sophisticated.
Lou Origin: Germanic Meaning: Renowned warrior, from Louise SSA Popularity: >1000
The beloved short form of Louise carrying the renowned warrior meaning in a warm, minimal package, Lou has a clean, slightly unusual quality and a genuine Victorian and Edwardian heritage and carries the particular authority of a name that achieves complete distinction through complete simplicity.
Millie Origin: Germanic/Latin Meaning: Strong worker, from Millicent or Mildred SSA Popularity: #73
The beloved Victorian diminutive carrying the strong worker meaning in a warm, sweet package, Millie has been one of the great success stories of the Victorian revival and carries the particular charm of a name that sounds simultaneously sweet and genuinely characterful.
Nell Origin: Greek Meaning: Bright, from Eleanor SSA Popularity: >1000
The great English diminutive of Eleanor and Helen carrying the bright meaning in a warm, minimal package, Nell has a clean, sweet quality and a deep English heritage and carries the particular literary legacy of Nell Gwyn, the great orange seller who became one of Charles II’s most beloved mistresses and whose warmth and wit made her one of the most popular public figures of the Restoration.
Tess Origin: Greek Meaning: To harvest, from Teresa SSA Popularity: #726
The great literary short form of Teresa whose most famous bearer is Thomas Hardy’s tragic heroine Tess of the d’Urbervilles, the woman whose fall from grace is one of the most sustained indictments of Victorian sexual double standards in English fiction.
Willa Origin: Germanic Meaning: Resolute protection, from Wilhelmina SSA Popularity: #534
The beloved short form of Wilhelmina carrying the resolute protection meaning in a warm, sweet package, Willa has been reviving strongly and carries the literary legacy of Willa Cather whose novels of the American frontier are among the most beautiful pieces of American prose writing.
Old Fashioned Names With Powerful Meanings
Alexandra Origin: Greek Meaning: Defender of men, the protector SSA Popularity: #67
Carrying the fierce, protective Greek meaning of the defender of men, Alexandra has been one of the great consistent names of the English-speaking world and carries the extraordinary historical legacy of every great queen and warrior who has borne a form of this name across three thousand years.
Berenice Origin: Greek Meaning: Bearer of victory, the victorious SSA Popularity: >1000
Carrying the clean, powerful Greek meaning of the bearer of victory, Berenice was the name of the Macedonian queens of the Hellenistic world and of the great Egyptian Jewish princess who was the beloved of the Emperor Titus, and carries a warm, flowing quality and an extraordinary historical legacy.
Bertha Origin: Germanic Meaning: Bright, the brilliant one SSA Popularity: >1000
Carrying the warm, slightly surprising Germanic meaning of the bright and brilliant one, Bertha has a clean, slightly unusual quality and a deep Germanic heritage that has been unfairly overshadowed by its association with Big Bertha and that deserves the kind of brave revival that would restore its genuine character and genuine beauty.
Brunhilde Origin: Germanic/Norse Meaning: Battle armor, ready for battle SSA Popularity: >1000
The great Valkyrie and warrior queen of Germanic and Norse mythology, Brunhilde carries a fierce, dramatic, deeply powerful energy and a legendary legacy that makes it one of the most commanding rare names available and one that would require considerable courage to give but would be entirely, completely worth it.
Clotilde Origin: Germanic/French Meaning: Famous battle, the renowned warrior SSA Popularity: >1000
The name of the great Frankish queen who converted her husband Clovis to Christianity and thereby shaped the entire subsequent religious history of France, Clotilde carries a warm, flowing quality and an extraordinary historical legacy that makes it one of the most genuinely significant of all the underused old fashioned names.
Gertrude Origin: Germanic Meaning: Spear of strength SSA Popularity: >1000
Carrying the fierce, clean Germanic meaning of the spear of strength, Gertrude has a warm, slightly unusual quality and a deep Germanic heritage and the extraordinary literary legacy of Shakespeare’s Queen Gertrude in Hamlet and Gertrude Stein whose transformation of the English prose sentence remains one of the most significant literary achievements of the twentieth century.
Hildegard Origin: Germanic Meaning: Battle enclosure, the warrior’s garden SSA Popularity: >1000
The name of the great twelfth-century German abbess and polymath Hildegard of Bingen whose music, medicine, theology, and visionary writings made her one of the most remarkable intellectual figures of the entire medieval period, Hildegard carries an extraordinary legacy and a warm, flowing quality.
Mathilda Origin: Germanic Meaning: Battle mighty, strength in battle SSA Popularity: #190
Already celebrated multiple times, Mathilda belongs here as the definitive old fashioned name with a powerful meaning, a name that combines the sweetness of its Victorian associations with the genuine warrior energy of its meaning in the most complete and most satisfying possible way.
Theodora Origin: Greek Meaning: Gift of God SSA Popularity: #559
The feminine form of Theodore carrying the gift of God meaning in a warm, flowing Greek form, Theodora carries the extraordinary historical legacy of Empress Theodora of Byzantium who rose from the circus to the imperial throne through her own extraordinary intelligence and determination and who proved to be one of the most capable rulers in Byzantine history.
Valentina Origin: Latin Meaning: Strong, healthy, brave SSA Popularity: #32
One of the fastest-rising names in recent years, Valentina carries a sweeping romantic confidence and a strong, brave meaning that has made it one of the most commanding and beautiful girl names of this generation and carries the extraordinary legacy of Valentina Tereshkova, the first woman in space.
Rare and Almost Forgotten Old Fashioned Names
Almeria Origin: Spanish/Arabic Meaning: Mirror of the sea, the watchtower SSA Popularity: >1000
Named after the Spanish city whose Arabic name means mirror of the sea or watchtower, Almeria carries a warm, flowing quality and a beautiful sound that belongs to the tradition of Spanish place names used as personal names and that carries both the Arabic heritage and the warm Mediterranean atmosphere of the Andalusian coast.
Ambrosine Origin: Greek/French Meaning: Immortal, the divine one SSA Popularity: >1000
The French feminine form of Ambrose carrying the immortal meaning in a warm, flowing form, Ambrosine has a clean, slightly unusual quality and a deep French heritage and carries the particular charm of a name that sounds like it belongs in a nineteenth-century French novel and that would be genuinely and completely distinctive in any modern context.
Apollonia Origin: Greek Meaning: From Apollo, the sun’s daughter SSA Popularity: >1000
The feminine form of Apollo carrying the solar connection in a warm, flowing Greek form, Apollonia was the name of a third-century Christian martyr who is the patron saint of dentistry and carries an extraordinary ancient legacy alongside a genuinely beautiful sound.
Araminta Origin: English Meaning: Uncertain, possibly eagle SSA Popularity: >1000
Already celebrated in the literary section, Araminta belongs here as one of the rarest and most extraordinary of all the old fashioned names, a name whose sound is pure poetry and whose historical association with Harriet Tubman gives it a genuine human legacy to match its musical beauty.
Azalea Origin: Greek/English Meaning: Dry, the azalea flower SSA Popularity: >1000
Named after the great flowering shrub whose spectacular spring blooms make it one of the most dramatic of all the garden plants, Azalea carries a warm, flowing quality and a beautiful sound that belongs to the tradition of flower names that express their bearer’s beauty through the particular flower they are named for.
Cordula Origin: Latin/Celtic Meaning: Little heart, the small heart SSA Popularity: >1000
The Latin diminutive form of heart, Cordula carries a warm, slightly unusual quality and a beautiful sound and the extraordinary legendary legacy as one of the eleven thousand virgins martyred with Saint Ursula in the great medieval legend.
Dorinda Origin: Greek Meaning: Gift, from Doris SSA Popularity: >1000
The literary name created in the eighteenth century from the Greek Doris, Dorinda carries a warm, flowing quality and a beautiful sound that belongs to the tradition of literary names invented by playwrights and novelists that were then taken up as genuine names and carried for generations.
Euphemia Origin: Greek Meaning: Well-spoken, of good repute SSA Popularity: >1000
Carrying the beautiful Greek meaning of the well-spoken and the one of good repute, Euphemia has a warm, flowing quality and a beautiful sound and a genuine Victorian heritage that makes it one of the most naturally distinguished of all the almost forgotten names, a name waiting for the right brave family to restore it.
Eustacia Origin: Greek Meaning: Fruitful, the productive one SSA Popularity: >1000
The feminine form of Eustace carrying the fruitful meaning in a warm, flowing form, Eustacia is associated with Thomas Hardy’s magnificent heroine of The Return of the Native whose fierce, frustrated ambition makes her one of the most compelling female characters in Victorian fiction.
Keziah Origin: Hebrew Meaning: Cassia, the fragrant spice SSA Popularity: >1000
The biblical name of one of Job’s daughters that was beloved by the Puritans and carried by the great abolitionist Harriet Tubman as one of her family names, Keziah carries a warm, flowing quality and a beautiful sound and a deep biblical and American heritage.
Lavinia Origin: Latin Meaning: Woman of Lavinium SSA Popularity: >1000
Already celebrated multiple times, Lavinia belongs here as one of the most genuinely rare of all the currently underused old fashioned names, a name of extraordinary classical beauty and flowing sound that deserves far more modern use than it currently receives.
Mehitabel Origin: Hebrew Meaning: God does good SSA Popularity: >1000
The full biblical form of Mehitable carrying the warm, confident Hebrew meaning of the declaration that God does good, Mehitabel has a flowing, slightly unusual quality and a genuine biblical and colonial American heritage and was immortalized as the name of the great dancing cockroach in Don Marquis’s archy and mehitabel, one of the strangest and most beloved works in American literature.
Mirabel Origin: Latin Meaning: Wonderful, the admirable SSA Popularity: >1000
Carrying the warm, slightly magnificent Latin meaning of the wonderful and the admirable, the one whose qualities command genuine admiration, Mirabel has a flowing, beautiful quality and a deep medieval and Renaissance heritage and carries the particular charm of a name that means exactly what the most loving parent feels about their child.
Octavie Origin: Latin/French Meaning: Eighth, from Octavia SSA Popularity: >1000
The French form of Octavia carrying the eighth meaning in a warm, flowing French form, Octavie has a clean, slightly unusual quality and a deep French heritage and carries the particular sophistication of a French feminine form applied to an already beautiful Latin name.
Orinthia Origin: Greek Meaning: Mountain bird, the eagle SSA Popularity: >1000
The name of the great heroine of George Bernard Shaw’s play The Apple Cart, Orinthia carries a warm, flowing quality and a beautiful sound and the literary legacy of one of Shaw’s most complex and most fascinating female characters.
Perpetua Origin: Latin Meaning: Perpetual, the everlasting SSA Popularity: >1000
The name of the great early Christian martyr Vibia Perpetua whose prison diary written in 203 AD is the earliest surviving text by a Christian woman and one of the most remarkable documents of personal faith under pressure in all of world literature.
Rosamund Origin: Germanic/Latin Meaning: Pure rose SSA Popularity: >1000
Already celebrated in the medieval section, Rosamund belongs here as one of the rarest and most beautiful of all the almost forgotten names, a name of extraordinary flowing beauty and deep historical significance that deserves a genuine revival.
Seraphina Origin: Hebrew Meaning: Burning one, the seraph SSA Popularity: #851
Already celebrated in the literary section, Seraphina belongs here equally as one of the most beautiful of the rare old fashioned names, a name that carries the full weight of the highest angelic order in a form of extraordinary flowing beauty.
Sophronia Origin: Greek Meaning: Self-controlled, of sound mind SSA Popularity: >1000
Already celebrated in the Victorian section, Sophronia belongs here as one of the rarest and most genuinely unusual of all the old fashioned Greek names, a name of extraordinary philosophical depth and flowing beauty that deserves far more modern use than it currently receives.
Sylvestra Origin: Latin Meaning: Forest, of the wild wood SSA Popularity: >1000
The feminine form of Sylvester carrying the forest meaning in a warm, flowing Latin form, Sylvestra has a clean, slightly unusual quality and a deep Latin and medieval heritage and carries the particular charm of a name that sounds entirely unexpected and entirely beautiful in the same moment.
Theodelinda Origin: Germanic Meaning: People’s serpent, noble people SSA Popularity: >1000
The name of the great Lombard queen who converted her people to Catholicism and whose treasury is one of the great surviving collections of early medieval art, Theodelinda carries an extraordinary historical legacy and a warm, flowing quality that makes it one of the most genuinely distinctive of all the almost forgotten names.
Wilhelmine Origin: Germanic Meaning: Resolute protection, the female Wilhelm SSA Popularity: >1000
The German and Scandinavian form of Wilhelmina carrying the resolute protection meaning in a slightly more elegant European form, Wilhelmine carries a warm, flowing quality and a deep Germanic heritage and was the name of Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands whose extraordinary leadership during the Nazi occupation of her country made her one of the most respected figures of the Second World War.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What makes old fashioned girl names so appealing to modern parents? A: Old fashioned girl names appeal to modern parents for several converging reasons. They have survived the test of time, which means they carry a quality of genuine character that invented names and recently coined names cannot replicate. They tend to have clear, beautiful meanings rooted in actual words and actual traditions rather than in phonetic assembly. They carry human stories inside them, the stories of the women who bore them across history, and those stories give a child an immediate connection to something larger than their own individual life. And they tend to sound beautiful in a way that is entirely independent of fashion, the kind of beauty that belongs to something genuinely well-made rather than to something temporarily popular.
Q: Which old fashioned girl names are most likely to become popular soon? A: Based on current trends, the old fashioned names most likely to see significant rises in the coming years include Cordelia, Dorothea, Emmeline, Eustacia, Josephine which is already rising strongly, Louisa, Millicent, Octavia, Rosalind, Seraphina, Theodora, and Winifred. The pattern of Victorian revivals suggests that names which sound beautiful, carry clear meanings, and have significant literary or historical associations are most likely to be successfully revived by the current generation of parents.
Q: Are old fashioned girl names too unusual for everyday use? A: The genuinely rare old fashioned names on this list, the Araminthas and Hephzibahs and Mehitabels, require a degree of confidence and commitment from the families who choose them. But the majority of old fashioned girl names on this list are entirely wearable in everyday contexts. Names like Adelaide, Eleanor, Harriet, Josephine, Matilda, Penelope, and Violet have all been successfully revived and are now familiar to most people who encounter them. The key is to distinguish between names that are simply old fashioned and names that are genuinely rare, and to choose based on your family’s particular combination of taste and confidence.
Q: What nicknames work best for old fashioned girl names? A: Old fashioned girl names tend to have particularly beautiful nickname traditions. Adelaide becomes Addie or Della. Beatrice becomes Bea or Trix. Clementine becomes Clem or Clemmie. Cordelia becomes Cordy or Delia. Dorothea becomes Dot or Thea. Eugenia becomes Genie or Gina. Josephine becomes Jo or Josie or Posy. Matilda becomes Tilly or Mattie. Penelope becomes Penny or Nell. Rosalind becomes Ros or Lindy. Theodora becomes Teddy or Thea. The nickname tradition for old fashioned names is one of the most charming aspects of the revival, because these names have nicknames that are themselves sweet and slightly unusual and entirely irresistible.
Q: How do I choose between so many beautiful old fashioned girl names? A: The best approach is to narrow your list by sound first, then by meaning, then by association. Sound is the most immediate and most persistent quality of a name because it is what you will say aloud thousands of times. Meaning is the quality that deepens with familiarity and that will matter more as the child grows. Association is the quality of historical and literary resonance that connects the name to the tradition it comes from. If a name sounds beautiful to you, carries a meaning you genuinely love, and is associated with a woman or a tradition you admire, it is the right name. Trust your instincts, give yourself time, and know that the right old fashioned name will find you.
Conclusion
Old fashioned girl names carry something that no newly invented name and no recently coined name can replicate, the full, accumulated weight of every woman who has ever carried them through a life, the warmth of every grandmother who has heard her name spoken by a grandchild, the sweetness of every child who has answered to it in a schoolroom or a garden, the strength of every woman who has carried it through difficulty and emerged on the other side still entirely, completely herself.
Olivia Lane is a devoted Christian writer and faith blogger at PrayerPure.com, where she shares heartfelt prayers, Bible verses, and spiritual reflections to inspire believers around the world. Her gentle words help readers find peace, purpose, and strength in God’s presence every day. When she’s not writing, Olivia enjoys reading devotionals, spending time outdoors, and connecting with her church community.