Tiny Jewel Box

Does Fay really need that e at the end? We vote no, but modern parents disagree: The Faye spelling was used for nearly 300 girls in 2014, vaulting the name back onto the Top 1000 after a 35-year absence, nearly ten times as many babies as received the Fay spelling.

Grace, a simple and pure virtue name which originally referred to divine grace, is a fashionable classic. In the early 2000s, it seemed headed for the Top 10 but pulled back from the upward trajectory, which you may consider a very good thing.

Though it may not be as sweet and gentle as, say, Violet, the purple-hued Hyacinth still might hold some appeal for the parent seeking a truly unusual flower name.

Idony was the Norse goddess of spring and eternal youth, and variants of her obscure name could come under consideration with the rest of the fashionable I pack.

The Scottish spelling of Isabel has a definite character of her own, the 'o' giving her an extra infusion of strength but also an element of confusion. How do you pronounce that? Answer: Exactly like Isabel or Isabelle.

Though this name of a sturdy tree that can live for centuries was quite popular for boys in the first half of the twentieth century, at this point in time we can see Linden as a fresh-sounding possibility for a little girl named to honor an Aunt Linda. Early pagans and Christians embraced the Linden as a holy tree, thought to aid healing and often planted near churches. The Linden is the mythological symbol of truth, peace, and justice; court cases and marriage ceremonies were often held beneath Linden trees. The Linden tree is associated with the goddess Freya.

Madrigal might be a pretty and highly distinctive choice for a child of a musical family--or for the parent looking for a less conventional path to the nickname Maddie than Madeline or Madison . Definitely more striking than Cadence or even the increasingly popular Aria.

Maeve is a short and sweet name that has become one of the most stylish Irish names for girls in the modern US. Maeve would make an excellent first or middle name choice, with more heft than Mae/May and more modern charm than Mavis.

Old English name as outmoded as the use of the word maid for a young girl.

Paloma is vibrant and ruby-lipped a la jewelry designer Paloma Picasso, but it also suggests peace, as symbolized by the dove. Paloma is a highly recommended striking but soft name, one of the best of the names that mean peace and girls' names starting with P.

A strong Greek name with pan-European charm, Petra is a relatively recent feminization of Peter, though it relates back to an incredible ancient city in Jordan that was rediscovered in the early nineteenth century.

This name of a tragic figure in Greek mythology, the daughter of King Minos, sister of Ariadne and wife of Theseus, has a mysterious and intriguing appeal, and would make a dramatic choice.

Rosaline, which can be pronounced to rhyme with mine or mean in its final syllable, has a deeper, richer pedigree than it might seem. Rosaline was used twice by Shakespeare and was also used in the poetry of Edmund Spenser. While we prefer the stronger-sounding Rosalind or Rosamund, Rosaline deserves another contemporary look.

This lovely, quintessentially British appellation, also spelled Rosamond, is the name of a legendary twelfth-century beauty. Rare on these shores, it is more than worthy of importation.

Sidra is an uncommon name shared by a gulf off the coast of Libya. Popular in the Jewish community of North Africa, its Hebrew meaning refers to a weekly reading portion of the Torah. In Arabic, it's the name of a tree, which is an Islamic symbol of the upper limit of heaven.

Signe could make an offbeat, more unusual alternative to Sydney or Sigrid. In Norse mythology, Signe was the twin sister of Sigmund. Can also be spelled Signy.