Names Ending in -a more preferable?

Girl Names
1

Looking through the Top 1000 baby names In the US, I begin to notice that names ending in a pretty, girly -a are much higher up that their equilivant non-a-ending names.
[name]Even[/name] looking at the Top 4 for girls’. [name]Isabella[/name], [name]Sophia[/name] and [name]Olivia[/name] are much higher in the list than their relatives [name]Isabelle[/name], [name]Sophie[/name] and [name]Olive[/name]. The trend continues down the list:

[name]Isabella[/name] [1] - [name]Isabelle[/name] [105]
[name]Sophia[/name] [2] - [name]Sophie[/name] [59]
[name]Olivia[/name] [4]- [name]Olive[/name] [546]
[name]Alyssa[/name] [20] - [name]Alice[/name] [172]
[name]Julia[/name] [55] - [name]Julie[/name] [389]
[name]Maria[/name] [86]- [name]Marie[/name] [575]
[name]Adriana[/name] [129]- [name]Adrienne[/name] [696]
[name]Daniella[/name] [150]- [name]Danielle[/name] [195]
[name]Elena[/name] [163] - [name]Elaine[/name] [799]
[name]Diana[/name] [191]- [name]Diane[/name]

[name]Do[/name] you Berries agree?
I personally much prefer [name]Louisa[/name] to [name]Louise[/name] and [name]Diana[/name] to [name]Diane[/name], however, on the other hand, prefer [name]Olive[/name] to the over used [name]Olivia[/name].
I think that Parents see names ending in -a to be much more feminine as can see more Nickname possibilities.
You Thoughts?

2

I used to want to tack -a or -ana on the end of everything to make it uber feminine. I’m sort of over that now, though [name]Carolina[/name] as opposed to [name]Caroline[/name] is still something I prefer.

I feel like 50 years ago there may have been a slight trend toward de femmeing names. So our mothers were called [name]Diane[/name] and [name]Sheryl[/name] and [name]Susan[/name]… and now we (named [name]Jennifer[/name], [name]Ashley[/name] and [name]Jessica[/name]) won’t pick names that remind us of middle aged women for our daughters. Instead we look farther back (following the hundred year rule) and find pretty, uber feminine victorian names. Or we try to update our mothers names into [name]Diana[/name] or [name]Susannah[/name] or something similar.

Or there’s just something in the water that makes us want to tack -ana on the back of everything. Lol.

3

It seems that names ending in A are more preferable, I’m not exactly sure why, maybe people feel it makes them more flowy and complete. On my list, the ones that end in a are; [name]Aerica[/name], [name]America[/name], [name]Aquila[/name], [name]Arabella[/name], [name]Araminta[/name], [name]Athena[/name], [name]Azalea[/name], Caribba, [name]Cassia[/name], [name]Cinna[/name], [name]Flora[/name], [name]Gwyneira[/name], [name]India[/name], [name]Jaquetta[/name], [name]Luna[/name], [name]Lyra[/name], [name]Marina[/name], [name]Masha[/name], [name]Pandora[/name], [name]Rayna[/name], and [name]Vera[/name]. So I’ve got quite a few. But on your list of comparisons, I prefer the right side, the ones that end in -e or -ie. And on my list I prefer [name]Sylvie[/name] to [name]Sylvia[/name]. Hmm.

4

To me, most of the names not ending in -a could be nicknames for those that do. Like [name]Sophia[/name] nn [name]Sophie[/name]. That being said, I much prefer [name]Alice[/name], [name]Marie[/name], and [name]Elaine[/name] to their -a ending counterparts. Of course, that could be because the seem more classic to me. I also think popularity has an effect. If [name]Olivia[/name] were further down the list than [name]Olive[/name], would you prefer it? I would.

5

A large part of this seems to be a shift away from French forms, sometimes to Spanish or Italian forms.

In recent years, I’ve noticed myself drifting away from A endings, though more often to names that don’t have familiar A-ending versions.

6

Honestly, I’m the opposite on most names. The only names I really love that end in a are [name]Serena[/name] and [name]Cordelia[/name]. I prefer [name]Isabel[/name], [name]Olive[/name], [name]Caroline[/name], [name]Natalie[/name], [name]Adrienne[/name], etc over their a ending counterparts. I’ve pretty much always been that way. But then again I’ve never been a huge fan of most belle/bella names.

7

I’ve always wondered about this, too! It does seem that most -a endings are a lot more popular than the non-“A” endings, but after reading a few of the comments, I’ve thought of some that don’t fit the rule! [name]Natalie[/name] is more popular than [name]Natalia[/name], and [name]Lily[/name] and [name]Lillian[/name] are more popular than [name]Liliana[/name]…

I honestly go back and forth on which I prefer… sometimes I think I lean more toward the non-a endings, as [name]Isabelle[/name] and [name]Arianne[/name] are my top two, and [name]Isabella[/name] and [name]Ariana[/name] aren’t. [name]Olivia[/name] is on my top 3, though, and [name]Olive[/name] isn’t (although I would consider [name]Olive[/name] as a nn for [name]Olivia[/name], as well as [name]Liv[/name], [name]Livy[/name], and [name]Via[/name]!)… [name]Liliana[/name] has been on my list but I’m seriously thinking of giving it up for [name]Lillian[/name]. I prefer [name]Aurelie[/name] to [name]Aurelia[/name], but [name]Emilia[/name] to [name]Emily[/name]/[name]Emilie[/name]… I like [name]Julia[/name] more than [name]Julie[/name], but [name]Sophie[/name] more than [name]Sophia[/name]… I honestly don’t know why for some names I prefer the “A” ending and others I prefer the other ending… I seem to be a bit hodge-podge in that area, haha.

8

Spanish-Italian version? To me, both version is beautiful by their own.
It depends on what you need.
But maybe the a-ending is more popular because it sounds more delicate and feminin.

9

In a lot of eastern european countries, all girls names end in -a (as a caroline who married into a polish family, my inlaws usually say it carolina/carolinka just because it sounds strange to them otherwise).

I’m not sure just how many other cultures it’s the same, but I’m guessing many.

10

In my opinion, [name]Julie[/name] sounds fresher and younger than [name]Julia[/name].
No offence meant, my name is [name]Julia[/name]!
I like a lot of names that don’t end in -a, like [name]Eulalie[/name], [name]Valerie[/name], [name]Rosalie[/name], [name]Josephine[/name], [name]Rose[/name], etc.
But I also prefer [name]Arabella[/name] to [name]Annabel[/name], [name]Brianna[/name] to [name]Brianne[/name] and [name]Roxanna[/name] to [name]Roxanne[/name].

11

[name]Isabella[/name] [1] - [name]Isabelle[/name] [105] - both names are fresh and pretty to my ears. I think part of [name]Isabella[/name]'s rise is the desire for [name]Bella[/name]'s because of Twilight. But that’s not all. I’m sure it’s partly just generally -a love. Also, I bet that if you totaled up all the Isabels and Isobels, [name]Isabelle[/name] would rise a little (I mean, [name]Isabella[/name] would also have Izzabela and whatever, but, it’s already in first spot!)

[name]Sophia[/name] [2] - [name]Sophie[/name] [59] - both are fresh and lovely to me. I think maybe to some [name]Sophia[/name] feels more complete, and [name]Sophie[/name] is more of a nickname? I don’t necessarily agree with that, but I can imagine others feel that way.

[name]Olivia[/name] [4]- [name]Olive[/name] [546] - to me, [name]Olive[/name] is held back by feeling “old” (not even dated, just “old” - which is part of why it’s having a mini-revival) AND [name]Olive[/name] Oyl. [name]Olivia[/name] both feels prettier, more feminine, and I think at least a small amount of its popularity must be due to the [name]Olivia[/name] [name]Benson[/name] character on [name]Law[/name] and Order, SVU, that show’s been on forever, is hugely popular, and she’s a very likeable main character.

[name]Alyssa[/name] [20] - [name]Alice[/name] [172] - this is one I can see tipping in the next few years. [name]Alyssa[/name] is lovely but is feeling very much like an 80s name, and [name]Alice[/name], while kind of “old”, is moving rapidly toward vintage charm, and [name]Tina[/name] [name]Fey[/name] named her baby this. They’re really quite different names. [name]How[/name] is the comparison for [name]Alicia[/name] and [name]Alice[/name]? To me those are also quite different.

[name]Julia[/name] [55] - [name]Julie[/name] [389] - to me, [name]Julia[/name] is a classic, whereas [name]Julie[/name] feels dated from the 1970s.

[name]Maria[/name] [86]- [name]Marie[/name] [575] - ditto, [name]Maria[/name] feels classic, [name]Marie[/name] feels like it was everyone’s middle name for the 1960s-1980s for a while.

[name]Adriana[/name] [129]- [name]Adrienne[/name] [696] - I think [name]Adrienne[/name] is the more attractive name here, but I think people pick [name]Adriana[/name] for additional distance and clarity over [name]Adrian[/name].

[name]Daniella[/name] [150]- [name]Danielle[/name] [195] - these are really quite close in ranking the grand scheme of things. [name]How[/name]'s [name]Daniela[/name]? I’m sure 20 years ago [name]Danielle[/name] was way ahead. [name]Danielle[/name] feels dated now like [name]Michelle[/name], [name]Daniella[/name] in comparison is fresher. I wonder if this is mildly influencing [name]Isabella[/name]/[name]Isabelle[/name]?

[name]Elena[/name] [163] - [name]Elaine[/name] [799] - I think at least a small part of this is Spanish-speaking families using [name]Elena[/name] a lot. I’m sure Anglo families do too, but I’d think they might be more likely to go with [name]Eliana[/name] or [name]Helena[/name]. [name]Elaine[/name] is definitely dated, again, if you go back in time, this would be totally reversed. To me, these names are pretty different. [name]How[/name]'s [name]Elaina[/name] doing?

[name]Diana[/name] [191]- [name]Diane[/name] - [name]Diane[/name] is definitely a name for a woman in her 40s or 50s to me, whereas [name]Diana[/name] feels relatively timeless.