I love talking about baby names!
Naming our daughter was stressful, but also fun. We’re spiritual people, and many people thought our daughter’s name would be biblical and full of meaning. Well, we basically went the exact opposite of that. Her name actually means “red headed.”
I want my kids to have creative names. I want them to be unique and imaginative. (I actually felt like God, who sees eternity, knew her name and I just needed him to tell me what it was. Like the angel appearing to Mary and telling her she would give birth to a baby boy and his name would be Jesus, only on a slightly smaller scale.) You can read the story behind her name here.
20 Hipster Baby Girl Names
Here are a few of my current favorites that are in the running for our next baby, if it’s a girl!
- Fern. Charlotte’s Web was one of my favorite books/movies growing up, so I love this literary and nature-inspired name. (Charlotte is cute, too!)
- Scout. I’m still trying to talk my husband into this one. I like it but I have a hard time thinking of a middle name that would add a feminine touch. It’s also literary, from To Kill a Mockingbird.
- Penny. Short for Penelope, Penny is a sweet name for a little girl. If my maiden name had been Penny, I’d totally go for it.
- Pippa. The one was actually suggested to me by my mother (who takes a while to get used to “unconventional” names), and I think it’s adorable. It kind of reminds me of Pippi Longstocking.
- Milla. Pronounced me-luh. Pretty, but I think it would get mispronounced as mill-uh a lot.
- Eisley. This was a runner-up for our daughter, and I still like it. However, in my field research, people didn’t know what letter it started with or how to spell it, and I don’t want to have to explain it every time.
- Olive. Olivia is very popular right now, but I love this variation. My husband and I both like it, so it’s a top contender!
- Zara. I don’t know anyone named Zara, but it’s gaining popularity. It’s also the name of a lovely Spanish clothing store, so her name could be on all her clothing tags.
- Roxy. Very surfer-girl-ish, but edgy and cute at the same time. Also a clothing brand, now that I think of it.
- Lulu. My parents often call me “Lou,” and I always loved it so I’d like to pass it on. This could also be a middle name.
- Blaire. This is a newcomer for me, but something about it is really cute to me.
- Wren. This is a top runner, although I haven’t told my husband yet. I like that it sounds good with Rooney but it doesn’t start with the same letter. I’ve also had people tell me that I look like the actress who played Ren on Even Stevens and always thought it was a cool name.
- Luna. We have friends with a baby named Luna, so it’s probably off limits for us, but it’s fun. Harry Potter fans, unite.
- Campbell. I am surprised by how popular Campbell has become in the past year since I first heard it. I’m a big fan.
- Goldie. Such a cute, whimsical name for a girl.
- Joa. One of my best friends is named Joa, and I’ve always loved her name.
- Monet (pronounced like the painter). I know a girl named Monet Belle and think it is one of the prettiest names I’ve ever heard.
- Willa. I’ve seen this name climbing the charts lately, too. If our last name wasn’t Williams, I might be more serious about it.
- Nora. I think this name is too mainstream to sound good with Rooney, but it’s super cute!
- Gemma. Reminds me of Jenna, but the updated, improved version.
Who knows! Maybe the right name for our next baby (if it’s a girl) isn’t even on this list!
What are your favorite baby girl names? I’d love to hear them!
Love your daughter’s name, and your future name list. One name that I wanted to use (but couldn’t get my husband on board) is Esme. I submit this for your consideration. 🙂
My own girls are named Genevieve Sloane (goes by Gigi frequently), and Eliza Blake (nickname yet TBD…Liza and Lulu stand out as possibilities).
Happy naming!
Very, very cute names (and nicknames)! I really love Blake for a female middle name!
No! Not Blake! Selfishly want this to stay primarily a boy name :-). My oldest is William Blake. He goes by Blake because he is the 8th william in my husband’s family. It is SO hard to come up with a distinctly male name these days – the girls always start snagging the boy names. Besides our 1st born, we came up with Clayton Thomas, and Ethan James. They are teenagers and Ethan was not a popular name when we used it. Our daughters are Claire Victoria and Paige Marie. No nick names and not trendy or out of the ordinary was our plan – and all middle names are family names (besides William – I was told even before marriage that we had to have a William or this generation of the fam 🙂
I do agree that the girls are stealing boy names! Especially for middle names. I have heard of James, Joel, Cole, etc. being used as female middle names lately.
I just have to say as a mom of boys when we were pregnant (didn’t find out the gender either time) my one requirement was that a boy name had to be a boy name – so others would know 99.9% of the time that when they saw my son’s name it was a boy. Call me old fashioned and not trendy I am totally okay with that.
Our daughter’s name is Draven Koh. Draven is from the movie The Crow and Kohnis her dad’s last name from when he was adopted from South Korea at the age of 2. It’s hard to think of another girl name for if that happens in the future but I love Berlin, Atera and Sayla. We just had our second son Sullivan (Sully), our third child, two weeks ago so thinking about another pregnancy and child is not even on my mind necessarily. (Our oldest son/child is Brixton) I just love thinking about baby names!
Congrats on your little guy! Sullivan is on my boys’ name list, which I will share here next month! I have never heard of Draven. Berlin is cute, too – I haven’t heard that one! It reminds me of a couple more names I like for girls: Anberlin and Holland.
I like Olive, too, after hearing it in Little Miss Sunshine! 🙂 I’ve always liked Brielle as a first or middle name, as well as my middle name, Noelle. Considering I’m a sports fan, I think Jersey (maybe spelled differently) is cool too. Thanks for sharing!
Jersey is great! I love that.
Oh yeah, I also love my nieces names, Elsie & Emerson (Emmy)!
So cute! Elsie is a family name, but I think it might be confusing since it rhymes with my name! 🙂
If Charlie would have been a girl Charlotte would have been our name. I also really like Stella. I am keeping my top girls name to myself for now just incase we ever need to use it.;)
Katie-If Finnean was a girl-he would have been named Stella. 🙂 Fun list, Kelsey-I love Wren and your sweet, Rooney-such a great name!
My daughter Wren was born in August 2012. I first heard the name Wren many years ago from a friend and couldn’t get the name out of my head and no other name compared to it. 🙂 I love this list of names!
Wren is so cool! I also loved Sullivan. If you need more inspiration for baby names in 2014, you can also consider the K- starting names like King or Kendrick (source: http://www.babynameslog.com/popular-baby-names-2014/ ) hope you like them, love Amanda xx
Luna was the most suggested name for our second daughter, since our first is named Soleil (French for “sun”). It’s a great name, but a bit too matchy and would make naming additional children tough! We chose Annika, nickname Nika.
Both girls have traditional middle names just like your daughter — Soleil Corinne, Annika Claire — to provide some balance.
I LOVE talking names as well!
Love a lot of these names!
However I have always heard Milla be pronounced “mill-uh” and Mila is mee-lah. Interesting. Most people and baby name websites say the same. Just something to think about. 🙂
Regardless, it’s a beautiful name! Thanks for the list!
You should add Clover to the list! I only know one little girl w that name. I think it’s so cute, but our first daughter has a flower name (Magnolia), so I don’t think I’d use Clover for a second….
My children’s names are Ryder joshua,Rhowynn Juliana,Harlow Jayde
I loveeeee their names and the balance of a unique first and a traditional middle name.
Oh boy, what a cute cute list. We love Betty and Birdie, and not to be forgotten Dot Lorraine. Swoon, I love the name Dot. Our friends daughter is named Tomillia, they call her Milla, (Pronounced mill-ah) and also Tomi of course.
Birdie is so great! My cousin named her daughters Kit and Dottie after the characters in A League of Her Own!
I like Claire instead of Blair
I think Claire could use Scout as a nick name, best of both worlds 🙂