Unique Girl Names

My son has a name that is not in the top 1000 names, and I’d really like to find a unique feminine name for his little sister. I won’t consider any top 100 names. I went through school with several other girls with the same name & hated always having to use my last initial.

I want my daughter to have a unique name, but not one that seems made up. I also prefer names that end in ‘A’, although I’m not dead set on it.

Here are a few I’ve come up with. Please let me know your impressions & share any you think I might be missing. Thanks for your help!

[name_f]Arela[/name_f], [name_f]Arista[/name_f], [name_f]Caia[/name_f], [name_f]Carissa[/name_f], [name_f]Chiara[/name_f], [name_f]Cora[/name_f], [name_f]Mireia[/name_f], [name_f]Noemi[/name_f], [name_f]Nydia[/name_f]

[name_m]Just[/name_m] an FYI for flow our last name is one syllable & starts with ‘W’.

I love your naming style!

Some notes on the ones you’ve listed-
[name_f]Arela[/name_f]- I like the sound but this sound looks kind of like a misspelled word to me. Maybe [name_f]Arella[/name_f]?
[name_f]Arista[/name_f]- love it!
[name_f]Caia[/name_f]- I like it! I think personally I prefer [name_f]Kaya[/name_f]/[name_f]Kaia[/name_f]/[name_f]Kaija[/name_f]/[name_u]Kiah[/name_u] but I do like this spelling as well! That’s just my personal preference
[name_f]Carissa[/name_f]- Very elegant!
[name_f]Chiara[/name_f]- Great name! Very underused
[name_f]Cora[/name_f]- pretty :slight_smile:
[name_f]Mireia[/name_f]- pretty as well!
[name_f]Noemi[/name_f]- lovely
[name_f]Nydia[/name_f]- Also a fantastic underused name!

Here are some suggestions :slight_smile:
[name_f]Acacia[/name_f]
[name_f]Adara[/name_f]
[name_f]Adela[/name_f] or [name_f]Adelia[/name_f]
[name_u]Adria[/name_u]
[name_f]Aida[/name_f]
Aileena
[name_f]Alessia[/name_f]
[name_f]Amalia[/name_f]
[name_f]Amara[/name_f]
[name_f]Amaranta[/name_f]
[name_f]Anaia[/name_f]
[name_f]Andra[/name_f]
[name_f]Annetta[/name_f]
[name_f]Ariela[/name_f] or [name_f]Ariella[/name_f]
Arisa or [name_f]Arissa[/name_f]
[name_f]Asha[/name_f]
[name_f]Carina[/name_f]
[name_f]Carita[/name_f]
[name_f]Catarina[/name_f]/[name_f]Caterina[/name_f] or [name_f]Katerina[/name_f]/[name_f]Katarina[/name_f]
[name_f]Catriona[/name_f]
[name_f]Christiana[/name_f]/[name_f]Christiane[/name_f] or [name_f]Kristiana[/name_f]
[name_f]Corinna[/name_f]
[name_u]Damaris[/name_u]
Dayla
[name_f]Edana[/name_f]
[name_f]Eris[/name_f]
[name_f]Evelia[/name_f]
[name_f]Jacinda[/name_f] or [name_f]Jacinta[/name_f]/[name_f]Jacintha[/name_f]
[name_f]Jana[/name_f]
Kalissa or Calissa
[name_f]Katia[/name_f]/[name_f]Katya[/name_f]
[name_f]Kina[/name_f]
[name_f]Laia[/name_f]
[name_f]Lenora[/name_f]
[name_f]Liana[/name_f] or [name_f]Lianna[/name_f]
[name_f]Lisandra[/name_f] or Lysandra
[name_f]Lita[/name_f] or [name_f]Leta[/name_f] or [name_f]Leda[/name_f] or [name_f]Lida[/name_f]
[name_f]Lyra[/name_f] or Lyria
[name_f]Marika[/name_f]
[name_f]Marta[/name_f] or [name_f]Marita[/name_f]
[name_f]Milana[/name_f]
[name_f]Mira[/name_f]
[name_f]Nerissa[/name_f] or [name_f]Narissa[/name_f]
[name_u]Nikita[/name_u]
[name_f]Rhea[/name_f] or [name_f]Raya[/name_f]
[name_f]Rina[/name_f]
[name_f]Rosaria[/name_f]
[name_f]Sabina[/name_f] or [name_f]Savina[/name_f]
[name_f]Safira[/name_f]
[name_f]Samira[/name_f]
[name_f]Sanna[/name_f] or Sannah
[name_f]Sarita[/name_f]
Senia
[name_f]Shasta[/name_f]
Shiana or [name_f]Shana[/name_f]
[name_f]Sinda[/name_f]
[name_f]Stefania[/name_f]
[name_f]Trina[/name_f]
[name_f]Trista[/name_f]
[name_f]Vera[/name_f]
[name_f]Verena[/name_f]
[name_u]Vida[/name_u] or [name_f]Veda[/name_f] or [name_f]Vada[/name_f]
[name_f]Zarina[/name_f]
[name_u]Zia[/name_u] or [name_f]Zina[/name_f]

Woo, that’s a lot! There ya go; hope some of those catch your eye!

[name_m]Hi[/name_m]! I understand your impulse. Your surname sounds relatively easy to find first names for, too.

My thoughts:

[name_f]Arela[/name_f]- this name is one letter away from the word “areola”. I would say don’t do it!
[name_f]Arista[/name_f]- this one has a sci fi quality but also seems sort of like it could be misheard a lot.
[name_f]Caia[/name_f]- very simple and sweet! One drawback: there are many spellings which mask its popularity. A celebrity baby [name_f]Kaya[/name_f] was just born.
[name_f]Carissa[/name_f]- cute, but the -issa/-rissa ending is very 1990s. [name_m]Will[/name_m] seem more popular because of the [name_f]Marisa[/name_f] and [name_f]Larisa[/name_f] boom of a decade ago.
[name_f]Chiara[/name_f]- excellent! Classic and uncommon, very elegant and pretty
[name_f]Cora[/name_f]- also very pretty, but check the SSA stats as this one is moving up the charts.
[name_f]Mireia[/name_f]- very tough to spell. Would not want to have to spell this over and over my whole life.
[name_f]Noemi[/name_f]- beautiful and underused
[name_f]Nydia[/name_f]- offbeat, seems unusual

It seems like you really like c- sounds, s- sounds, and names that end in -a. Also, some Italian influences ([name_f]Chiara[/name_f], [name_f]Noemi[/name_f]) and a sort of Romantic feeling.

Have you considered:

[name_f]Nerissa[/name_f] (much less common than [name_f]Carissa[/name_f]-- and it’s Shakespearean)
[name_f]Cosima[/name_f]
Nimue (the Lady of the [name_u]Lake[/name_u] in Arthurian myth, VERY rare now)
[name_f]Naia[/name_f]
Myrrha
[name_f]Clea[/name_f]
[name_f]Ondine[/name_f]
[name_f]Atria[/name_f]
[name_f]Nephele[/name_f]
[name_f]Eos[/name_f]
[name_f]Aura[/name_f]

A few that come to mind are [name_f]Calla[/name_f], [name_f]Leona[/name_f], and [name_f]Vera[/name_f]. They are all names that are unlikely to go by their last initial.

I really like [name_f]Carissa[/name_f]! And -rissa names in general: [name_f]Clarissa[/name_f], [name_f]Larissa[/name_f], [name_f]Laurissa[/name_f], [name_f]Nerissa[/name_f] (none of which have reached above #100 on the SSA name list in the past 50 years).

Some of my own favourites that haven’t hit the SSA #1k in the past 50 years…
[name_f]Amity[/name_f]
[name_u]Artemis[/name_u]
Hiraani (strong pop culture association, however)
Illara
[name_f]Indie[/name_f]
[name_f]Lulu[/name_f]
[name_f]Romilly[/name_f]
[name_f]Serendipity[/name_f]
[name_f]Tallulah[/name_f]
[name_f]Tigerlily[/name_f]

Nimue is not completely unknown - witness the philosopher [name_f]Felicia[/name_f] Nimue Ackerman.:slight_smile:

Vayda
[name_f]Eila[/name_f]
[name_f]Isla[/name_f]
[name_f]Renia[/name_f]
[name_f]Nahla[/name_f]
[name_f]Melora[/name_f]
[name_f]Luella[/name_f]
Irelyn
Gracin
[name_f]Ottilie[/name_f]
[name_f]Atalie[/name_f]

Beautiful options that you’ve listed. I’m partial to [name_f]Chiara[/name_f]. A beautiful, Italian name that is completely underused. I think you’ll find that [name_f]Cora[/name_f] is going to jump. If you want to avoid top 100 I’d avoid that one.

Your list seems to have an ethereal feel. Other options that end in ‘a’:

[name_f]Paloma[/name_f]
Orietta
[name_f]Veda[/name_f]
[name_f]Thalia[/name_f]
Voula
[name_f]Azura[/name_f]
[name_f]Milania[/name_f]

I love your names though I agree with the first reply that it should be [name_f]Arella[/name_f] with two ls.

I think you would also like Cliora.

[name_f]Azalea[/name_f]
[name_f]Zalia[/name_f] (ZAY-lee-ah)
[name_f]Cerelia[/name_f]
[name_f]Chandra[/name_f]
[name_f]Noelani[/name_f]
[name_f]Karina[/name_f]
Lysandra
[name_f]Ariella[/name_f]
[name_f]Mirabel[/name_f]
[name_f]Mirabella[/name_f]
[name_f]Sylvine[/name_f]
[name_f]Sylvina[/name_f]
[name_f]Eliora[/name_f]/[name_f]Eleora[/name_f]
[name_f]Arietta[/name_f]
[name_f]Aurelia[/name_f]
[name_f]Oriana[/name_f]

Of the names on your list, I like [name_f]Chiara[/name_f] and [name_f]Mireia[/name_f] the best! If you live in [name_u]North[/name_u] [name_u]America[/name_u], I’d guess that [name_f]Chiara[/name_f] would be the easier name to live with in terms of people pronouncing and spelling it correctly (though I don’t think it would be super intuitive across the board). Both are gorgeous.

[name_f]Nydia[/name_f] is lovely, but I would worry that most people would think I’d loved both [name_f]Lydia[/name_f] and another name that started with N and decided that I couldn’t pick just one so I put an N on the beginning of [name_f]Lydia[/name_f]. (Also, I prefer the [name_f]Nidia[/name_f] spelling - it feels more versatile to me, but that’s very subjective.)

I also think that in real life, [name_f]Noemi[/name_f] would be called [name_f]Naomi[/name_f] about 85% of the time. And as hard as this kind of thing is to predict, I agree with a PP that [name_f]Cora[/name_f] is probably increasing in popularity.

You may also like (sorry for repeats here - I’m feeling a lot of C names and S sounds for you):

[name_f]Cressida[/name_f]
[name_f]Carina[/name_f] (for whatever reason, this feels more classic to me than [name_f]Carissa[/name_f])
[name_f]Clea[/name_f] or [name_f]Cleo[/name_f]
[name_f]Calista[/name_f] (great, uncommon name; possible nicknames of [name_f]Calla[/name_f], [name_f]Callie[/name_f], [name_f]Lissie[/name_f], etc.)
[name_f]Cosima[/name_f]
[name_f]Celeste[/name_f]
[name_f]Mariska[/name_f]
[name_f]Amina[/name_f]
[name_f]Zara[/name_f]
[name_f]Serena[/name_f]

I really like [name_f]Arella[/name_f] and [name_f]Noemi[/name_f]. Others you may like are

[name_f]Salome[/name_f]
[name_f]Jordana[/name_f]
[name_f]Riona[/name_f]
[name_f]Sorcha[/name_f]
[name_u]Damaris[/name_u]
Rachana
Johna
[name_f]Gemma[/name_f]

I like [name_f]Caia[/name_f], [name_f]Carissa[/name_f] and [name_f]Noemi[/name_f] from your list.

suggesting:

[name_f]Cordelia[/name_f] (nn [name_f]Cora[/name_f]?)
[name_f]Cornelia[/name_f]
[name_f]Ophelia[/name_f]
[name_f]Olympia[/name_f]
[name_f]Matilda[/name_f]

I love [name_f]Arista[/name_f]! [name_f]Chiara[/name_f] and [name_f]Mireia[/name_f] are beautiful too.

Loredana
[name_f]Cassia[/name_f]
[name_f]Elysia[/name_f]
[name_f]Vianna[/name_f]
[name_f]Isannah[/name_f]
[name_f]Samara[/name_f]
[name_f]Petra[/name_f]
[name_f]Mattea[/name_f]
[name_f]Andriana[/name_f]
[name_f]Ilaria[/name_f]

[name_m]Just[/name_m] want to say I love [name_f]Noemi[/name_f]! (My daughter’s name) Like you, I shared the name [name_f]Jennifer[/name_f] with a lot of people in school and wanted something uncommon for my daughter. Like pp said, she is called [name_f]Naomi[/name_f] most of the time at first, but after I correct people, they get it right.

[name_f]Arela[/name_f]- It seem incomplete to me?
[name_f]Arista[/name_f]- Makes me think of Aristocrats
[name_f]Caia[/name_f]- [name_f]Adore[/name_f] this name, but I think the K version is becoming somewhat trendy
[name_f]Carissa[/name_f]- Prefer [name_f]Cassia[/name_f]
[name_f]Chiara[/name_f]- nms
[name_f]Cora[/name_f]- My favorite of your choices. It could be higher than 1000 on the SSA though. [name_f]Coraline[/name_f] wouldn’t be.
[name_f]Mireia[/name_f]- I don’t know what it sounds like?
[name_f]Noemi[/name_f]- nice
[name_f]Nydia[/name_f]- I’m sure it’s not made up, but it kind of sounds it to me.

Random but I just wanted to add that [name_f]Arista[/name_f] makes me think of the record label and [name_u]Whitney[/name_u] [name_m]Houston[/name_m]. Am I the only one?!

But I do think it makes for an awesome name. I suggested it to a friend but alas she just found out she’s having a boy.

I love a pp’s suggestion of [name_f]Calista[/name_f]. And I’d add [name_u]Calypso[/name_u], [name_f]Orla[/name_f], Solara, [name_f]Demi[/name_f], [name_f]Persephone[/name_f].

[name_f]Clarinda[/name_f], [name_f]Magdalena[/name_f], [name_f]Vala[/name_f], Gloriana

From what I’ve heard, [name_f]Noemi[/name_f] is fairly popular in other countries. I don’t know if that matters to you or not; just thought I’d let you know :slight_smile:

I love [name_f]Cora[/name_f]!

Suggestions:

[name_f]Lucia[/name_f]
[name_f]Adele[/name_f]
[name_f]Petra[/name_f]
[name_f]Xanthe[/name_f]
[name_f]Ramona[/name_f]
[name_f]Tabitha[/name_f]
[name_f]Leonie[/name_f]
[name_f]Gwendolyn[/name_f]
[name_f]Laurel[/name_f]