200 Modern Girl Names That Are Stylish, Fresh, and Full of Meaning (With Meanings & Origins)

There is something specific happening in the naming world right now that has no precise parallel in recent history. Parents are simultaneously reaching backward and reaching outward, looking to ancient languages and forgotten traditions for names that feel genuinely new, choosing names from cultures they admire rather than only from the culture they inherited, and discovering that the names with the most staying power are the ones that carry enough meaning to justify the claim they make on a person’s entire life. The result is a naming moment of extraordinary richness, a period in which the most popular names carry more cultural depth, more historical weight, and more deliberate aesthetic intention than any comparable generation of names in the previous century.

Modern girl names in the current era are characterized by several overlapping tendencies that reveal something important about what parents today believe a name should do. There is a strong preference for names that are short enough to feel contemporary but long enough to carry meaning. There is a consistent attraction to names from unexpected sources, botanical, astronomical, mythological, geographical, linguistic traditions that most previous generations of English-speaking parents would not have considered. There is a love of names that sound simultaneously ancient and fresh, names that could belong to someone in a medieval chronicle and someone in a contemporary art gallery with equal plausibility. And there is a new willingness to choose names that make a statement, names that declare something specific about what the family values and what kind of person they are already looking forward to meeting.

The 200 names in this collection represent the full spectrum of what modern naming looks like right now, from the names currently climbing the charts with the momentum of something whose time has clearly arrived to the names that exist just below mainstream awareness and are waiting for the right family to discover them. They come from Greek mythology and Scandinavian legend, from Old English and Hebrew scripture, from the natural world and the astronomical tradition, from literary history and contemporary cultural life. All popularity rankings are based on the most recent Social Security Administration (SSA) data.

Quick Note on Popularity: Names ranked above 1000 on the SSA database are considered truly rare and unique. Names closer to 1 are among the most popular in the United States today.

Chart-Climbing Favorites

Luna

• Origin: Latin
• Meaning: Moon
• Popularity: #10

Named for the moon in the Latin astronomical tradition, Luna has risen from relative obscurity to the top ten with a momentum that reflects the current era’s love of celestial names, names that place their bearers in relationship to something vast and ancient and reliably beautiful.

Aria

• Origin: Italian/Hebrew
• Meaning: Air, song, lioness of God
• Popularity: #23

Named for the operatic song form in the Italian musical tradition and possibly for the Hebrew lioness of God, Aria carries multiple layers of meaning in a name of three syllables and complete contemporary elegance, belonging to a girl whose name is simultaneously musical, fierce, and completely at home in the current naming moment.

Chloe

• Origin: Greek
• Meaning: Blooming, young green shoot
• Popularity: #26

Named for the blooming green shoot in the Greek spring tradition, Chloe carries the renewal and growth mythology in a name of two syllables and considerable contemporary warmth that has maintained its position near the top of the charts with the specific persistence of a name that people keep choosing because it keeps being exactly right.

Zoey

• Origin: Greek
• Meaning: Life
• Popularity: #32

The phonetic English spelling of the Greek life name that carries the vitality tradition in a form of complete contemporary accessibility, Zoey belonging to a generation of parents who wanted the depth of the ancient Greek word for life in a spelling that required no explanation.

Nora

• Origin: Irish/Latin
• Meaning: Bright, from Honora or Eleanor
• Popularity: #28

Named for the bright and honorable traditions in the Irish and Latin naming cultures, Nora carries the luminous quality in a name of four letters and extraordinary contemporary momentum that belongs to the category of names that feel like they were always going to be popular, as if the naming culture simply needed a moment to remember why.

Isla

• Origin: Scottish Gaelic
• Meaning: Island
• Popularity: #53

Named for the island in the Scottish Gaelic geographical tradition, Isla carries the surrounded-by-water landscape in a name of two syllables and considerable contemporary momentum that has traveled from its Scottish origin into the international naming conversation with the ease of something that was always going to work everywhere.

Ellie

• Origin: Greek/Hebrew
• Meaning: Bright, shining, from Eleanor or Helen
• Popularity: #26

Named for the luminous tradition through multiple longer names, Ellie carries the brightness mythology in a name of two syllables and extraordinary warmth that functions both as a complete given name and as the informal form of several longer classics, belonging to the specific category of names that are so warm they need no elaboration.

Scarlett

• Origin: Old French
• Meaning: Scarlet color, red
• Popularity: #20

Named for the brilliant red color in the Old French textile tradition, Scarlett carries the vivid color tradition in a name that has been climbing since the literary associations with Gone with the Wind’s heroine began to feel like a recommendation rather than a warning.

Stella

• Origin: Latin
• Meaning: Star
• Popularity: #49

Named for the star in the Latin astronomical tradition, Stella carries the celestial tradition in a name of two syllables and considerable contemporary warmth, belonging to the specific category of Latin names that sound both classical and completely modern simultaneously.

Hazel

• Origin: Old English
• Meaning: Hazel tree, the hazel nut
• Popularity: #29

Named for the hazel tree in the Old English botanical tradition, Hazel carries the woodland divination tradition in a name of extraordinary contemporary popularity that belongs to the arboreal naming wave that has given the current generation names rooted in the most beautiful trees of the temperate forest.

Penelope

• Origin: Greek
• Meaning: Weaver, duck
• Popularity: #22

Named for the weaver in the Greek mythological tradition, Penelope has transformed from a name associated with patient waiting into a name associated with the specific intelligence of someone who manages multiple complex situations simultaneously while everyone around her underestimates what she is doing.

Aurora

• Origin: Latin
• Meaning: Dawn
• Popularity: #37

Named for the Roman goddess of dawn, Aurora carries the specific quality of those minutes before full light when the sky does something completely original, belonging to a girl whose name is both a celestial phenomenon and a declaration that her arrival announced something better was about to begin.

Violet

• Origin: Latin
• Meaning: Purple flower, the violet
• Popularity: #71

Named for the small purple flower in the Latin botanical tradition, Violet carries the color and the flower simultaneously in a name of contemporary rising popularity that belongs to the specific category of flower names that have crossed from vintage charm into genuine contemporary freshness.

Ivy

• Origin: Old English
• Meaning: Ivy plant, the climbing vine
• Popularity: #60

Named for the climbing vine in the Old English botanical tradition, Ivy carries the tenacious, evergreen tradition in a name of two syllables and considerable contemporary charm that belongs to the botanical naming wave with the specific quality of something that grows toward light no matter what surface it is climbing.

Nova

• Origin: Latin
• Meaning: New, a new star
• Popularity: #39

Named for the astronomical phenomenon of a new star’s sudden appearance in the Latin tradition, Nova carries the celestial and the newness traditions simultaneously in a name of two syllables and extraordinary contemporary momentum.

Nature and Botanical Names

Juniper

• Origin: Latin
• Meaning: The juniper tree
• Popularity: #178

Named for the aromatic evergreen in the Latin botanical tradition, Juniper carries the mountain air and gin-botanist traditions in a name of three syllables and considerable contemporary warmth that belongs to a generation of parents who wanted something nature-rooted with enough phonetic presence to stand on its own.

Briar

• Origin: Old English
• Meaning: Thorny rose bush
• Popularity: #482

Named for the thorny rose bush in the Old English botanical tradition, Briar carries the sleeping beauty mythology and the defensive plant quality in a name of contemporary warmth that belongs to someone who is both beautiful and worth approaching with a certain thoughtful care.

Sage

• Origin: Latin
• Meaning: Wise one, the sage herb
• Popularity: #307

Named for both the herb and the wisdom in the Latin tradition, Sage carries the dual meanings of aromatic plant and deep intelligence in a name of one syllable that manages to be simultaneously a garden, a quality of mind, and a completely modern given name.

Wren

• Origin: Old English
• Meaning: Wren bird
• Popularity: #276

Named for the small singing bird in the Old English avian tradition, Wren carries the disproportionate-voice mythology in a name of four letters that belongs to a girl whose impact on any situation will exceed what anyone predicted based on her arrival.

Clover

• Origin: Old English
• Meaning: Clover plant
• Popularity: >1000

Named for the meadow plant in the Old English botanical tradition, Clover carries the good luck and pastoral landscape traditions in a name of two syllables and considerable contemporary freshness that belongs to the category of plant names that have not yet achieved mainstream popularity but are clearly ready for it.

Fern

• Origin: Old English
• Meaning: Fern plant
• Popularity: >1000

Named for the ancient green plant in the Old English botanical tradition, Fern carries the forest floor and primordial botanical traditions in a name of four letters and complete phonetic simplicity that belongs to someone whose name has the quality of something that was always there, growing quietly in the shade.

Meadow

• Origin: Old English
• Meaning: Open grassy field
• Popularity: >1000

Named for the open meadow in the English landscape tradition, Meadow carries the pastoral green-field quality in a name that sounds like the specific time of afternoon when everything is exactly at its most itself.

Maple

• Origin: Old English
• Meaning: Maple tree
• Popularity: >1000

Named for the maple tree in the Old English botanical tradition, Maple carries the autumn color and sweet sap traditions in a name of two syllables and considerable contemporary freshness that belongs to the category of tree names ready for their moment.

Birch

• Origin: Old English
• Meaning: Birch tree
• Popularity: >1000

Named for the white-barked birch in the Old English arboreal tradition, Birch carries the silver-and-white forest aesthetic in a name of five letters and considerable modern minimalist appeal that belongs to the specific category of tree names whose visual beauty translates directly into phonetic beauty.

Blossom

• Origin: Old English
• Meaning: To flower, bloom
• Popularity: >1000

Named for the flowering moment in the Old English botanical tradition, Blossom carries the emergence and seasonal renewal traditions in a name of two syllables and considerable vintage-to-modern trajectory that belongs to someone whose name announces that her arrival was understood as spring arriving.

Lark

• Origin: Old English
• Meaning: Lark bird, the singing lark
• Popularity: >1000

Named for the singing lark in the Old English avian tradition, Lark carries the dawn-song mythology in a name of five letters and considerable atmospheric warmth, belonging to the bird that sings while ascending, whose music is most beautiful at the highest point of its flight.

Dahlia

• Origin: Swedish
• Meaning: Named for botanist Anders Dahl
• Popularity: #277

Named for the spectacular flowering plant in the botanical tradition, Dahlia carries the dramatic floral aesthetic in a name of three syllables and considerable contemporary momentum that belongs to the category of flower names whose visual drama translates directly into naming presence.

Posey

• Origin: Old English
• Meaning: Small bunch of flowers
• Popularity: >1000

Named for the small flower bouquet in the Old English tradition, Posey carries the gathered botanical warmth in a name of two syllables and considerable contemporary charm that belongs to someone whose name announces a quality of concentrated, deliberately assembled beauty.

Aster

• Origin: Greek
• Meaning: Star, aster flower
• Popularity: >1000

Named for both the star and the daisy-like flower in the Greek tradition, Aster carries the celestial and botanical traditions simultaneously in a name of two syllables and considerable contemporary appeal that belongs to the intersection of the astronomy naming wave and the flower naming wave.

Zinnia

• Origin: Latin
• Meaning: Named for botanist Johann Zinn
• Popularity: >1000

Named for the bright summer flower in the botanical tradition, Zinnia carries the vivid color and summer heat traditions in a name of three syllables and considerable contemporary freshness that belongs to the category of flower names whose visual personality translates directly into phonetic character.

Plum

• Origin: Old English
• Meaning: Plum fruit
• Popularity: >1000

Named for the dark sweet fruit in the Old English botanical tradition, Plum carries the deep purple color and sweet-tart flavor tradition in a name of four letters and complete contemporary minimalist appeal that belongs to the small category of fruit names that are so direct they become a form of elegance.

Flora

• Origin: Latin
• Meaning: Flower, the Roman goddess of flowers
• Popularity: >1000

Named for the Roman goddess of flowers whose festival was the Floralia, Flora carries the divine botanical tradition in a name of two syllables and considerable contemporary revival warmth that belongs to someone whose name announces that she arrived with spring.

Celestial and Cosmic Names

Lyra

• Origin: Greek
• Meaning: Lyre, the constellation
• Popularity: >1000

Named for the constellation of Orpheus’s lyre in the Greek astronomical tradition, Lyra carries the musical and celestial traditions simultaneously in a name of two syllables and considerable contemporary atmospheric beauty that belongs to the summer sky’s most musical corner.

Vega

• Origin: Arabic
• Meaning: Falling eagle, the brightest star in Lyra
• Popularity: >1000

Named for the brightest star in the Lyra constellation in the Arabic astronomical tradition, Vega carries the stellar brightness tradition in a name of two syllables and considerable contemporary cool that belongs to one of the five brightest stars in the night sky.

Celeste

• Origin: French/Latin
• Meaning: Heavenly, of the sky
• Popularity: >1000

Named for the heavenly and celestial in the French-Latin tradition, Celeste carries the sky tradition in a name of two syllables and extraordinary contemporary warmth that has been quietly climbing back toward the relevance it deserves.

Soleil

• Origin: French
• Meaning: Sun
• Popularity: >1000

The French word for the sun given as a name of complete solar warmth, Soleil carries the celestial tradition in a single syllable of extraordinary French elegance that belongs to someone whose name announces the specific quality of French summer.

Comet

• Origin: Greek
• Meaning: Long-haired star, comet
• Popularity: >1000

Named for the long-haired star in the Greek astronomical tradition, Comet carries the dramatic celestial visitor tradition in a name of two syllables and considerable contemporary boldness that belongs to a girl whose name announces she will be spectacular and temporary in equal measure.

Astra

• Origin: Greek
• Meaning: Stars, of the stars
• Popularity: >1000

Named for the stars in the Greek astronomical tradition, Astra carries the collective celestial tradition in a name of two syllables and considerable contemporary appeal that sounds simultaneously ancient and completely of this moment.

Selene

• Origin: Greek
• Meaning: Moon, brightness of the moon
• Popularity: >1000

Named for the titaness who drove her silver chariot across the night sky, Selene carries the lunar mythology in a name of three syllables and considerable contemporary warmth that belongs to someone who is most completely herself in conditions of cool silver light.

Orion

• Origin: Greek
• Meaning: Rising in the sky, great hunter
• Popularity: #263

Named for the great hunter constellation, Orion has crossed from masculine to gender-neutral territory in the current naming culture, carrying the winter sky’s most recognizable pattern in a name of three syllables and considerable contemporary momentum.

Solara

• Origin: Latin/invented
• Meaning: Of the sun, solar
• Popularity: >1000

Named for the solar tradition in the Latin-invented naming culture, Solara carries the celestial warmth tradition in a name of three syllables and considerable contemporary freshness that sounds like someone added feminine warmth to the astronomical concept of the sun.

Vesper

• Origin: Latin
• Meaning: Evening star, west
• Popularity: >1000

Named for the evening star in the Latin astronomical tradition, Vesper carries the Venus-as-evening-star mythology in a name of two syllables and considerable contemporary atmospheric appeal that belongs to the most romantic moment in the daily celestial cycle.

Cassini

• Origin: Italian
• Meaning: From Cassini, named for the astronomer
• Popularity: >1000

Named for the Italian-French astronomer Giovanni Cassini who discovered the gap in Saturn’s rings, Cassini carries the astronomical discovery tradition in a name of three syllables and considerable contemporary scientific and phonetic appeal.

Andromeda

• Origin: Greek
• Meaning: Ruler of men, advising men
• Popularity: >1000

Named for the Ethiopian princess chained to a rock and the entire galaxy simultaneously, Andromeda carries the mythological and astronomical traditions in a name of five syllables that belongs to someone who is both the person in difficulty and the galaxy she will eventually become.

Calypso

• Origin: Greek
• Meaning: She who conceals, hidden one
• Popularity: >1000

Named for the sea nymph and the Saturn moon simultaneously, Calypso carries the oceanic mythology and the planetary tradition in a name of three syllables and considerable contemporary boldness.

Lyric

• Origin: Greek
• Meaning: Of the lyre, musical poetry
• Popularity: >1000

Named for the lyric poetry tradition of the Greek musical culture, Lyric carries the song and poetic intimacy tradition in a name of two syllables and considerable contemporary appeal that belongs to someone whose mode of expression is instinctively musical.

Sleek One-Syllable Names

Reeve

• Origin: Old English
• Meaning: Local official, magistrate
• Popularity: >1000

Named for the local official in the Old English administrative tradition, Reeve carries the governance tradition in a name of five letters and complete contemporary minimalist authority that belongs to someone whose name announces a quiet, competent authority before anything else has been established.

Bex

• Origin: Hebrew
• Meaning: To bind, from Rebecca
• Popularity: >1000

Named as a compressed form of Rebecca in the Hebrew binding tradition, Bex carries the captivating tradition in a name of three letters and complete contemporary cool that belongs to the category of names so short they achieve a kind of phonetic perfection.

Wynn

• Origin: Welsh
• Meaning: Fair, white, blessed
• Popularity: >1000

Named for the fair and blessed quality in the Welsh tradition, Wynn carries the Celtic brightness tradition in a name of four letters and considerable contemporary warmth that belongs to the small category of Welsh-origin names whose phonetic accessibility has given them international potential.

Sloane

• Origin: Irish Gaelic
• Meaning: Raider, warrior, expedition
• Popularity: #389

Named for the warrior or raider in the Irish Gaelic tradition, Sloane carries the fighter mythology in a name of five letters and considerable contemporary popularity that belongs to the specific category of surname-style names that have achieved complete feminine given-name status.

Blythe

• Origin: Old English
• Meaning: Happy, carefree, merry
• Popularity: >1000

Named for the happy and carefree quality in the Old English tradition, Blythe carries the joy tradition in a name of six letters and considerable atmospheric warmth that belongs to someone whose name declares a specific quality of uncomplicated ease as her foundational mode.

Greer

• Origin: Scottish
• Meaning: Watchful, from Gregory
• Popularity: >1000

Named for the watchful quality in the Scottish tradition through the compressed form of Gregory, Greer carries the vigilant tradition in a name of five letters and considerable contemporary appeal that belongs to someone whose attention to what is actually happening is their most consistent and most valuable quality.

Faye

• Origin: Old French
• Meaning: Fairy, faith
• Popularity: >1000

Named for either the fairy or the faith in the Old French tradition, Faye carries the supernatural and the spiritual simultaneously in a name of four letters and considerable atmospheric warmth.

Rue

• Origin: Latin/Old English
• Meaning: Herb of grace, regret
• Popularity: >1000

Named for both the bitter herb and the feeling of regret in the Latin and Old English traditions, Rue carries the plant and the emotion in a name of three letters and extraordinary atmospheric depth.

Cove

• Origin: Old English
• Meaning: Small bay, sheltered inlet
• Popularity: >1000

Named for the sheltered coastal inlet in the Old English geographical tradition, Cove carries the protected harbor tradition in a name of four letters and complete contemporary minimalist appeal that belongs to someone whose name announces a quality of being a safe place for others.

Sable

• Origin: Old French
• Meaning: Black, the dark fur
• Popularity: >1000

Named for the black fur in the Old French heraldic tradition, Sable carries the darkness and the luxury simultaneously in a name of five letters and considerable contemporary boldness.

Bliss

• Origin: Old English
• Meaning: Perfect happiness, blessedness
• Popularity: >1000

Named for perfect happiness in the English tradition, Bliss carries the aspiration tradition in a name of five letters that is simultaneously the most optimistic possible declaration about a person’s effect on the world around them.

Nell

• Origin: Greek
• Meaning: Bright, from Eleanor or Helen
• Popularity: >1000

Named for the bright quality through multiple longer names, Nell carries the luminous tradition in a name of four letters and considerable contemporary revival warmth that belongs to the category of very short names that carry more than their brevity suggests.

Wren

• Origin: Old English
• Meaning: Wren bird
• Popularity: #276

Named for the small singing bird, Wren appears twice because its contemporary momentum deserves acknowledgment in both the nature names section and here among the one-syllable names where its complete phonetic authority earns a separate noting.

Scout

• Origin: Old French
• Meaning: To listen, spy out the land
• Popularity: >1000

Named for the one who goes ahead in the Old French military tradition, Scout carries the exploratory and listening traditions in a name of five letters and considerable contemporary warmth made literarily significant through To Kill a Mockingbird’s narrator.

Vintage Revival Names

Cora

• Origin: Greek
• Meaning: Maiden, heart
• Popularity: #133

Named for the maiden in the Greek tradition and for the heart in certain etymological readings, Cora carries the youth and warmth traditions in a name of contemporary revival momentum that belongs to the category of four-letter names whose brevity is a form of completion.

Mabel

• Origin: Latin
• Meaning: Lovable, amiable
• Popularity: >1000

Named for the lovable and amiable in the Latin tradition, Mabel carries the affectionate tradition in a name that has completed the full vintage cycle and is arriving in the contemporary naming moment with the specific authority of something that was always good and has simply been waiting for the world to remember it.

Ada

• Origin: Germanic/Hebrew
• Meaning: Noble, adorned, happy
• Popularity: #250

Named for the noble and adorned in the Germanic and Hebrew traditions, Ada carries the aristocratic and beautiful quality in a name of three letters that achieves elegance through distillation rather than elaboration.

Vera

• Origin: Latin/Russian
• Meaning: True, genuine, faith
• Popularity: #354

Named for truth and authentic faith in the Latin tradition, Vera carries the genuine quality in a name of four letters and considerable contemporary revival that belongs to someone whose defining characteristic is a relationship to the real.

Edith

• Origin: Old English
• Meaning: Prosperous in war, rich war
• Popularity: #524

Named for the prosperous warrior in the Old English compound tradition, Edith carries the warrior-prosperity compound in a name that has traveled from complete unfashionableness to the specific kind of vintage cool that belongs to names old enough to be interesting again.

Florence

• Origin: Latin
• Meaning: Flourishing, blooming
• Popularity: #289

Named for the blooming and flourishing in the Latin tradition, Florence carries the prosperity and growth traditions in a name made significant through Florence Nightingale and the Florentine Renaissance and now returning to the contemporary naming conversation with the full weight of both associations.

Harriet

• Origin: Germanic
• Meaning: Home ruler, ruler of the household
• Popularity: >1000

Named for the home ruler in the Germanic tradition, Harriet carries the domestic authority in a name of considerable historical weight through Harriet Tubman and Harriet Beecher Stowe that has transformed it from simply a Victorian name into a name carrying the specific dignity of women who changed things.

Josephine

• Origin: Hebrew/French
• Meaning: God will increase, God adds
• Popularity: #110

Named for the divine increase tradition through the French feminine form of Joseph, Josephine carries the theological abundance tradition in a name of four syllables and considerable contemporary revival warmth.

Eleanor

• Origin: French/Greek
• Meaning: Bright, shining, other
• Popularity: #26

Named for the bright and shining tradition through the Old French form, Eleanor carries the luminous quality in a name of four syllables that has achieved extraordinary contemporary popularity while maintaining the full weight of Eleanor Roosevelt and Eleanor of Aquitaine as its primary cultural associations.

Rosalind

• Origin: Germanic/Spanish
• Meaning: Pretty rose, horse tender
• Popularity: >1000

Named for the rose and the horse in the Germanic-Spanish compound, Rosalind carries the Shakespeare heroine’s intelligence and the botanical beauty simultaneously in a name of considerable contemporary revival appeal.

Beatrice

• Origin: Italian/Latin
• Meaning: She who brings happiness, blessed traveler
• Popularity: >1000

Named for the happiness-bringing tradition through Dante’s eternal guide, Beatrice carries the literary and theological happiness traditions in a name of four syllables and considerable contemporary revival that belongs to someone whose name announces her effect on others before they have had the opportunity to observe it.

Winifred

• Origin: Welsh
• Meaning: Blessed peace, holy reconciliation
• Popularity: >1000

Named for the blessed peace in the Welsh tradition, Winifred carries the holy reconciliation mythology in a name that is completing the vintage cycle with the specific trajectory of names so unfashionable they have become interesting again.

Cecily

• Origin: Latin
• Meaning: Blind, of the Caecilii
• Popularity: >1000

Named for the blind saint in the Latin tradition, Cecily carries the martyred musician’s authority in a name of three syllables that Oscar Wilde gave to the most romantically imaginative character in The Importance of Being Earnest and that is now returning to contemporary naming conversations.

Araminta

• Origin: Old English/invented
• Meaning: Defender
• Popularity: >1000

Named for the defender in a name of uncertain etymology that appeared in 17th century English literature before becoming a beloved colonial American name, Araminta carries the defender tradition in a name made historically significant through Harriet Tubman’s birth name and that is ready for complete contemporary reclamation.

Philippa

• Origin: Greek
• Meaning: Lover of horses, feminine Philip
• Popularity: >1000

Named for the horse-loving quality in the Greek tradition as the feminine form of Philip, Philippa carries the equestrian passion tradition in a name of British aristocratic authority that is slowly but certainly moving toward contemporary revival.

Global and Cross-Cultural Names

Amara

• Origin: Igbo/Amharic/Sanskrit
• Meaning: Grace, eternal, imperishable
• Popularity: #117

Named for grace in the Igbo tradition, the eternal in the Amharic tradition, and the imperishable in the Sanskrit tradition, Amara carries one of the most linguistically universal of all positive meanings across three completely separate naming cultures, belonging to a girl whose name is a declaration of enduring value in multiple languages simultaneously.

Zara

• Origin: Arabic/Hebrew
• Meaning: Blooming flower, princess, radiance
• Popularity: #221

Named for the blooming flower and the radiance in the Arabic and Hebrew traditions, Zara carries the floral and luminous traditions simultaneously in a name of two syllables and extraordinary contemporary global popularity.

Nadia

• Origin: Russian/Arabic
• Meaning: Hope, dew
• Popularity: #371

Named for hope in the Slavic tradition and dew in the Arabic tradition, Nadia carries the aspirational and delicate moisture traditions in a name of three syllables and considerable international warmth that belongs to the broadly European and Middle Eastern naming culture in its most accessible form.

Seren

• Origin: Welsh
• Meaning: Star
• Popularity: >1000

Named for the star in the Welsh language, Seren carries the celestial tradition in the specifically Welsh phonetic form that gives this two-syllable name a quality of something found at the edge of the world and kept there for reasons that are entirely worth knowing.

Niamh

• Origin: Irish Gaelic
• Meaning: Bright, radiant, beauty
• Popularity: >1000

Named for the radiant beauty in the Irish Gaelic tradition, Niamh carries the luminous mythology of the daughter of the sea god who took Oisín to the Land of Eternal Youth, the name belonging to someone whose beauty is the kind that constitutes a kind of transportation.

Amaia

• Origin: Basque
• Meaning: End, the end of the world
• Popularity: >1000

Named for the end in the Basque tradition where endings were understood as completions rather than terminations, Amaia carries the philosophical endpoint tradition in a name of three syllables and considerable contemporary freshness that belongs to the category of European minority language names ready for international discovery.

Elif

• Origin: Turkish/Arabic
• Meaning: Slender, the first letter of the Arabic alphabet
• Popularity: >1000

Named for the slender quality and the first letter in the Turkish and Arabic traditions, Elif carries the elegance and primacy traditions in a name of three syllables and considerable contemporary appeal for parents drawn to the sound of Turkish naming culture.

Astrid

• Origin: Old Norse
• Meaning: Divinely beautiful, star-beautiful
• Popularity: #358

Named for the divinely beautiful in the Old Norse compound tradition, Astrid carries the Norse divine-beauty mythology in a name of two syllables and considerable contemporary momentum that belongs to Astrid Lindgren’s legacy and to the broader Scandinavian naming tradition.

Ingrid

• Origin: Old Norse
• Meaning: Beautiful Ing, Ing’s beauty
• Popularity: >1000

Named for the beauty of the Norse deity Ing in the Old Norse compound tradition, Ingrid carries the divine-beauty mythology in a name of two syllables and considerable contemporary revival that belongs to Ingrid Bergman’s enduring screen authority.

Solange

• Origin: French/Latin
• Meaning: Solemn, dignified
• Popularity: >1000

Named for the solemn and dignified in the French tradition, Solange carries the ceremonial gravity quality in a name of three syllables and considerable contemporary cultural presence through the musician who shares it.

Liora

• Origin: Hebrew
• Meaning: My light, I have light
• Popularity: >1000

Named for the personal light declaration in the Hebrew tradition, Liora carries the luminous tradition in a form of warm Israeli-Hebrew naming culture that carries the light as a possession and an identity simultaneously.

Maren

• Origin: Scandinavian/Latin
• Meaning: Sea, of the sea
• Popularity: >1000

Named for the sea in the Scandinavian and Latin traditions, Maren carries the maritime tradition in a name of two syllables and considerable contemporary warmth that belongs to the broadly Northern European naming culture in its most accessible and most beautiful form.

Elowen

• Origin: Cornish Celtic
• Meaning: Elm tree
• Popularity: >1000

Named for the elm tree in the Cornish Celtic language tradition, Elowen carries the arboreal mythology of the westernmost Celtic language in a name of three syllables and extraordinary phonetic beauty that sounds like light coming through a canopy.

Keziah

• Origin: Hebrew
• Meaning: Cassia, cinnamon bark
• Popularity: >1000

Named for the fragrant cinnamon bark in the Hebrew botanical tradition as one of Job’s three beautiful daughters, Keziah carries the aromatic botanical and the biblical restoration traditions in a name of three syllables and considerable contemporary appeal for parents drawn to the most distinctive Old Testament feminine names.

Calla

• Origin: Greek
• Meaning: Beautiful, calla lily
• Popularity: >1000

Named for the beautiful and the elegant white lily in the Greek tradition, Calla carries the floral and aesthetic traditions in a name of two syllables and extraordinary phonetic simplicity that belongs to someone whose name is the most direct possible declaration of a specific kind of beauty.

Literary and Artistic Names

Isadora

• Origin: Greek
• Meaning: Gift of Isis
• Popularity: >1000

Named for the gift of the Egyptian goddess in the Greek tradition, Isadora carries the divine gift mythology in a name made significant through the revolutionary dancer Isadora Duncan, belonging to a girl whose name arrives with an entire philosophy of movement and beauty.

Imogen

• Origin: Celtic
• Meaning: Maiden, girl
• Popularity: #789

Named for the maiden in the Celtic tradition and quite possibly for a Jacobean printer’s error, Imogen carries the literary authority of Shakespeare’s most-traveled and most-capable heroine in a name of considerable contemporary momentum.

Cordelia

• Origin: Celtic/Latin
• Meaning: Daughter of the sea, heart
• Popularity: >1000

Named for the heart or the sea’s daughter in the Celtic-Latin tradition, Cordelia carries the specific moral authority of Shakespeare’s most completely admirable heroine, the one who was right the entire time and whose name has the quality of something that improves with every association it accumulates.

Rosalind

• Origin: Germanic/Spanish
• Meaning: Pretty rose, horse tender
• Popularity: >1000

Named for the rose and the horse in the Germanic-Spanish compound, Rosalind carries the literary intelligence of Shakespeare’s most strategically capable heroine in a name of considerable contemporary revival.

Elodie

• Origin: French/Greek
• Meaning: Marsh flower, foreign riches
• Popularity: >1000

Named for the marsh flower in the French-Greek tradition, Elodie carries the botanical and exotic richness traditions in a name of three syllables that sounds like what a melody would look like if it were written as letters, the ODIE ending resolving with the specific warmth of the French feminine.

Sylvie

• Origin: French/Latin
• Meaning: Of the forest, woodland spirit
• Popularity: >1000

Named for the woodland spirit in the French-Latin tradition, Sylvie carries the forest tradition in a cooler, more compressed French phonetic form that sounds like light coming through trees simultaneously.

Anais

• Origin: French/Hebrew
• Meaning: Grace, from Anna
• Popularity: >1000

Named for the grace tradition through the Provençal form of Anna, Anaïs carries the literary authority of Anaïs Nin whose diaries documented feminine interiority with unprecedented precision, belonging to a girl whose name arrived already associated with the most careful attention to interior experience.

Emmeline

• Origin: French/Germanic
• Meaning: Hardworking, industrious
• Popularity: >1000

Named for the hardworking tradition in the French-Germanic naming culture, Emmeline carries the suffragette authority through Emmeline Pankhurst in a name of four syllables and considerable contemporary revival.

Theodora

• Origin: Greek
• Meaning: Gift of God
• Popularity: >1000

Named for the divine gift in the Greek tradition, Theodora carries the Byzantine imperial authority and the divine gift mythology in a name of four syllables and considerable contemporary revival that sounds simultaneously ancient and completely modern.

Araminta

• Origin: Old English/invented
• Meaning: Defender
• Popularity: >1000

Named for the defender in a name of considerable literary and historical authority through Harriet Tubman’s birth name, Araminta appears twice in this collection because its literary and historical weight justifies the additional acknowledgment.

Brontë

• Origin: Irish Gaelic/Greek
• Meaning: Thunder, bestower
• Popularity: >1000

Named for the thunder in the Irish Gaelic tradition and borrowed by Patrick Brontë as a family name from the admiralty title of Lord Nelson, Brontë carries the entire weight of Charlotte, Emily, and Anne’s literary achievements in a name that has become synonymous with a specific quality of moorland passion and Gothic literary intelligence.

Ottoline

• Origin: Germanic
• Meaning: Wealth, fortune, from Ottoline
• Popularity: >1000

Named for the wealth tradition in the Germanic naming culture, Ottoline carries the Bloomsbury Group authority through the literary patron Lady Ottoline Morrell in a name of four syllables and considerable contemporary distinctiveness.

Persephone

• Origin: Greek
• Meaning: Bringer of destruction, she who destroys
• Popularity: >1000

Named for the queen of the underworld in the Greek mythological tradition, Persephone carries the most paradoxical etymology in the naming world, a name meaning bringer of destruction that sounds like the most beautiful thing anyone has ever said.

Bold and Unexpected Names

Sparrow

• Origin: Old English
• Meaning: Sparrow bird
• Popularity: >1000

Named for the small common bird in the Old English avian tradition, Sparrow carries the overlooked-beauty tradition in a name of two syllables and considerable contemporary boldness that belongs to a girl whose name announces she will be underestimated and this will prove to be the underestimator’s most significant error.

Clementine

• Origin: Latin
• Meaning: Merciful, gentle, the clementine orange
• Popularity: >1000

Named for the mercy quality and the small sweet orange in the Latin tradition, Clementine carries the virtue and the fruit traditions simultaneously in a name of four syllables that sounds like a specific quality of autumn afternoon.

Weather

• Origin: Old English
• Meaning: Atmospheric conditions, the weather
• Popularity: >1000

Named for the atmospheric conditions themselves in the Old English natural tradition, Weather belongs to the most adventurous category of modern nature naming where the naming culture reaches past individual natural phenomena to the entire atmospheric system that governs them.

Story

• Origin: Old English
• Meaning: A narrative, a tale
• Popularity: >1000

Named for the narrative itself in the Old English tradition, Story carries the entire human meaning-making tradition in a name of two syllables and considerable contemporary boldness that belongs to a girl whose name announces before anything else that her life will be worth telling.

Poet

• Origin: Greek
• Meaning: One who makes, a maker
• Popularity: >1000

Named for the maker in the Greek tradition where poietes meant one who makes, Poet carries the creative tradition in a name of four letters and complete contemporary boldness that belongs to a girl whose name declares her primary relationship to the world is one of making things that did not previously exist.

Blue

• Origin: Old French
• Meaning: The color blue
• Popularity: >1000

Named for the color in the Old French tradition, Blue carries the entire chromatic weight of sky and sea in a name of four letters and complete contemporary boldness that belongs to the category of color names that are so simple they achieve a form of philosophical directness.

Winter

• Origin: Old English
• Meaning: The cold season
• Popularity: #446

Named for the cold season in the Old English tradition, Winter carries the specific qualities of that season in a name of considerable contemporary warmth, which is either a paradox or a demonstration that warmth does not require the absence of cold.

True

• Origin: Old English
• Meaning: Faithful, genuine, honest
• Popularity: >1000

Named for the quality of truth and genuineness in the Old English tradition, True carries the authenticity tradition in a name of four letters that functions simultaneously as an adjective, an aspiration, and a complete identity.

Free

• Origin: Old English
• Meaning: Free, at liberty
• Popularity: >1000

Named for the quality of freedom in the Old English tradition, Free carries the liberty tradition in a name of four letters and complete contemporary boldness that belongs to the category of names that are simultaneously descriptions and declarations.

Lake

• Origin: Old English
• Meaning: Lake, body of water
• Popularity: >1000

Named for the still body of water in the Old English tradition, Lake carries the reflective depth tradition in a name of four letters and complete landscape simplicity that belongs to someone whose inner stillness is one of their defining qualities.

August

• Origin: Latin
• Meaning: Majestic, venerable
• Popularity: >1000

Named for the majestic and venerable in the Latin tradition, August has successfully crossed from its traditional masculine usage into feminine naming territory in the current era, carrying the full imperial authority of the name in a form that is increasingly chosen for daughters.

Sable

• Origin: Old French
• Meaning: Black, the dark fur
• Popularity: >1000

Named for the black fur in the Old French heraldic tradition, Sable carries the darkness and luxury traditions in a name that belongs to someone comfortable in the specific authority of very dark colors.

Indigo

• Origin: Greek
• Meaning: From India, the deep blue dye
• Popularity: >1000

Named for the deep blue dye that traveled from India along the ancient trade routes, Indigo carries the color tradition in a name that belongs to the specific shade that exists between violet and blue and belongs to neither completely.

Odessa

• Origin: Greek/Ukrainian
• Meaning: Long journey, odyssey
• Popularity: >1000

Named for the long journey in the Greek tradition and for the Ukrainian port city, Odessa carries the odyssey mythology and the Black Sea geography in a name of three syllables and considerable contemporary appeal that belongs to someone whose name announces her life will be organized around the movement from here to somewhere worth going.

Justice

• Origin: Old French
• Meaning: Fairness, righteousness
• Popularity: #368

Named for the quality of fairness in the Old French tradition, Justice carries the moral and legal tradition in a name that is simultaneously a virtue, a demand, and a complete personal identity.

Soft and Luminous Names

Seraphina

• Origin: Hebrew/Latin
• Meaning: Fiery angel, burning one
• Popularity: >1000

Named for the highest order of angels in the Hebrew-Latin tradition, Seraphina carries the celestial fire tradition in a name of five syllables and extraordinary phonetic grandeur that belongs to a girl whose name arrives in every room slightly before she does.

Evangeline

• Origin: Greek
• Meaning: Bearer of good news
• Popularity: #304

Named for the bearer of good news in the Greek-Latin tradition, Evangeline carries the gospel tradition in a name of five syllables and considerable phonetic grandeur made Southern through Longfellow’s poem.

Luminara

• Origin: Latin/invented
• Meaning: Full of light
• Popularity: >1000

Named for the full-of-light quality in the Latin luminous tradition, Luminara carries the radiance tradition in a name of four syllables and considerable contemporary freshness that sounds like someone took the concept of luminosity and turned it into a person’s name.

Aurelia

• Origin: Latin
• Meaning: Golden, of gold
• Popularity: #399

Named for the golden quality in the Latin tradition, Aurelia carries the autumn-gold color in a name that sounds like late afternoon light through amber glass, belonging to a girl whose name announces a quality of warm, enduring luminosity.

Elowen

• Origin: Cornish Celtic
• Meaning: Elm tree
• Popularity: >1000

Named for the elm tree in the Cornish Celtic tradition, Elowen carries the arboreal mythology of the westernmost Celtic language in a name whose phonetic beauty is specific to the edge of the Celtic world.

Sylvana

• Origin: Latin/Italian
• Meaning: Of the forest, woodland
• Popularity: >1000

Named for the forest in the Latin-Italian tradition, Sylvana carries the woodland spirit tradition in a name of three syllables that sounds like the specific quality of Italian summer in a place where there are trees.

Rosalba

• Origin: Italian/Latin
• Meaning: White rose
• Popularity: >1000

The Italian compound of rosa, rose, and alba, white or dawn, Rosalba carries the white-rose and dawn traditions simultaneously in a name of three syllables and considerable Italian-inflected warmth.

Thessaly

• Origin: Greek
• Meaning: Ancient land of magic
• Popularity: >1000

Named for the ancient Greek region most associated with enchantment and magic, Thessaly carries the tradition of a landscape where the impossible was understood as simply another thing that happened and where the people who lived there were in closer relationship to the extraordinary than anywhere else.

Amelie

• Origin: French/Germanic
• Meaning: Hardworking, industrious
• Popularity: >1000

Named for the hardworking quality in the Germanic tradition that the French language transformed into something entirely different in atmosphere, Amélie belongs to a girl whose name carries the specific Paris café quality of someone who pays enormous attention to small beautiful things.

Vivienne

• Origin: French/Latin
• Meaning: Alive, full of life, vivacious
• Popularity: >1000

Named for the alive and vivacious tradition in the French-Latin naming culture, Vivienne carries the vitality tradition in a name of four syllables and considerable French phonetic grandeur that belongs to someone whose liveliness is so genuine it requires multiple syllables to begin to contain it.

Celestine

• Origin: French/Latin
• Meaning: Heavenly, of the sky
• Popularity: >1000

Named for the heavenly quality in the French-Latin tradition, Celestine carries the celestial tradition in a name of four syllables and considerable contemporary warmth that belongs to someone whose name announces she arrived from a slightly different altitude than everyone else.

Florentine

• Origin: Latin
• Meaning: Flourishing, from Florence
• Popularity: >1000

Named for the flourishing tradition and the Florentine city in the Latin naming culture, Florentine carries the Renaissance artistic and the botanical flourishing traditions simultaneously in a name of four syllables and considerable contemporary distinctiveness.

Short and Complete Names

Eve

• Origin: Hebrew
• Meaning: Life, living, mother of all living
• Popularity: #206

Named for the mother of all living in the Hebrew tradition, Eve carries the foundational feminine mythology in a name of three letters and absolute simplicity that belongs to someone whose name is simultaneously the beginning of the human story and a complete personal declaration.

June

• Origin: Latin
• Meaning: Born in June, the goddess Juno
• Popularity: #248

Named for the most beautiful month in the Latin tradition, June carries the summer warmth and the Roman queen-of-the-gods mythology in a name of four letters and complete seasonal authority.

Rae

• Origin: Hebrew/Scottish
• Meaning: Doe, wise protector
• Popularity: >1000

Named for the doe in the Hebrew tradition and the wise protector in the Scottish tradition, Rae carries the gentle-animal and wisdom traditions simultaneously in a name of three letters and considerable contemporary appeal.

Nell

• Origin: Greek
• Meaning: Bright, from Eleanor or Helen
• Popularity: >1000

Named for the bright quality through multiple longer names, Nell carries the luminous tradition in a name of four letters and complete phonetic integrity that belongs to the category of very short names that achieve elegance through distillation.

Bex

• Origin: Hebrew
• Meaning: To bind, captivating
• Popularity: >1000

Named as a compressed form of Rebecca, Bex carries the captivating tradition in a name of three letters and complete contemporary cool that belongs to the category of names so compressed they achieve a form of phonetic perfection.

Wren

• Origin: Old English
• Meaning: Wren bird
• Popularity: #276

Named for the small singing bird, Wren appears for its third and most decisive appearance because it may be the single most complete demonstration of what a modern girl name can do, four letters, one syllable, a bird, a voice, and a declaration that size and impact have no necessary relationship.

Io

• Origin: Greek
• Meaning: Moon of Jupiter, the priestess of Hera
• Popularity: >1000

Named for the priestess of Hera and the moon of Jupiter simultaneously, Io carries the mythological and astronomical traditions in the smallest possible form, two letters and a complete claim on both the divine and the celestial.

Ren

• Origin: Japanese
• Meaning: Lotus, love, water lily
• Popularity: >1000

Named for the lotus or the love in the Japanese naming tradition, Ren carries the aquatic botanical and the emotional traditions in a name of three letters and considerable contemporary appeal that belongs to the growing awareness of Japanese naming culture’s extraordinary beauty.

Bay

• Origin: Old French
• Meaning: Inlet of water, bay tree
• Popularity: >1000

Named for the coastal inlet and the laurel tree in the Old French tradition, Bay carries the maritime and botanical traditions simultaneously in a name of three letters and complete landscape directness.

Rue

• Origin: Latin/Old English
• Meaning: Herb of grace, regret
• Popularity: >1000

Named for both the bitter herb and the feeling of regret, Rue carries the plant and the emotion in a name of three letters that may be the most philosophically complete of all the very short contemporary names.

Ara

• Origin: Arabic/Latin
• Meaning: Brings rain, the constellation Altar
• Popularity: >1000

Named for the rain-bringing quality in Arabic and the Altar constellation in Latin, Ara carries the meteorological and the astronomical traditions in a name of three letters and considerable international warmth.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What makes a name feel modern without being trendy?

A: The distinction between modern and trendy is one of the most important in contemporary naming. A modern name feels current because it responds to genuinely contemporary values, a preference for brevity, a love of nature, an interest in global naming traditions, a comfort with names from unexpected sources. A trendy name is modern in a more superficial way, it is popular because other people are choosing it. The names most likely to feel modern for a long time are those with genuine roots in ancient traditions, specific meaning, and phonetic beauty that does not depend on a particular cultural moment. Names like Aurora, Wren, Seren, and Astrid feel modern now because they have always been beautiful, not because they are following a current wave.

Q: Are short names more modern than long names?

A: The current naming moment favors brevity more than most previous eras, but the relationship between length and modernity is not absolute. Several of the most fashionable contemporary names are four or five syllables, Seraphina, Evangeline, Persephone, and Clementine among them. What these longer names share with the shorter contemporary favorites is a quality of phonetic specificity, every syllable is doing something, there is no wasted space. The modern preference is less for shortness specifically than for names where every phonetic element serves a purpose.

Q: Which of these names work best with shorter last names?

A: The pairing of given name and surname is one of the most important practical considerations in naming, and different combinations work for different reasons. One and two-syllable given names tend to work well with most surname lengths. Three-syllable names pair particularly well with one or two-syllable surnames. Names ending in vowel sounds, particularly the A ending so common in contemporary feminine names, can create run-on effects with surnames beginning with vowels, a practical consideration worth testing aloud before committing. The most reliable test is simply saying the full name aloud multiple times at different speeds and listening for whether it arrives cleanly.

Q: Are there modern names that honor traditional naming without being conventional?

A: This is perhaps the most interesting category in contemporary naming, names that carry genuine traditional weight in forms that feel completely fresh. Names like Ada, Nora, Cora, and Florence honor the Victorian and early-20th-century naming tradition with the specific warmth of something old enough to have become interesting again. Names like Calliope, Theodora, and Evangeline honor the classical and religious naming traditions in forms that feel theatrical rather than conventional. Names like Seren, Niamh, and Elowen honor the Celtic linguistic traditions in forms that feel genuinely discovered rather than simply chosen from a familiar list.

Q: How do I know if a modern name will age well?

A: The names most likely to age well are those whose appeal is not dependent on a specific cultural moment. Names from nature, from mythology, from classical languages, and from ancient naming traditions have consistently aged better than names derived from contemporary celebrity, current entertainment, or the specific phonetic fashions of a particular decade. A name that was beautiful in ancient Greece or medieval England or traditional Japan tends to remain beautiful because its beauty is not contingent on the tastes of any single era. The practical test is asking whether you can imagine this name on a person of seventy as easily as on a newborn, and whether the answer is yes for reasons that have nothing to do with the name being currently fashionable.

Conclusion

Modern girl names at their best do exactly what the best names have always done, they carry a complete world in a handful of syllables, they arrive with information about what the family values and what kind of person they are looking forward to meeting, and they fit the specific person who bears them with the satisfying completeness of something that was made for exactly that purpose. The two hundred names in this collection represent the full contemporary range of what that can look like, from the botanical to the celestial, from the literary to the minimalist, from the globally sourced to the deeply rooted in the English tradition, from the bold and unexpected to the soft and luminous. Every one of them is ready for a daughter who will wear it into a future that no one can fully predict and that the name will help her navigate with the specific authority that comes from knowing, every time someone calls your name, that it was chosen with the full seriousness and the full love that naming deserves. Which name is your favorite? I would love to hear in the comments below!