Once Upon a Time Baby Names

Morgan le Fay by Frederik Sandys Morgana is one of those names a good majority of people have heard of, yet rarely, if ever, see on a real person. It might really be the perfect “beautiful-dark” name, as it conjures the same imagery of sorcery, a dark haired maiden, and ancient magic in almost everyone’s mind, seeing how the most well known namesake was the legendary Morgan le Fay of Arthurian tales. She’s seen many variants over time, including Morganna, Morgen, Morgaine, Argante, Feimurgen, and her sister is similar-sounding Morgause. Morgana, half-sister of King Arthur, is a sorceress who shows signs of being both good and evil (here’s a nod to feminine duality in literature) and she undeniably has healing abilities along with several other magical abilities. In early versions of Arthurian legend, Morgana was called Queen of Avalon. Morgana is an Old Welsh name meaning “sea-born,” the earliest form being Morgen. The male version is Morien in Old Welsh. The name Morgen is ...

Caprice is derived from the Italian musical word capriccio (kah-PREE-chee-oh), "on a whim," which can also be translated as "a sudden motion," and "a fantastical thing." However, the etymology of the word is  capo riccio , "curly head," and it was influenced by capra , "goat." When it applies to the given name, meanings such as "fanciful," "whimsical," and "curly hair" are acceptable. Caprice is the French take on the Italian word. It is where the English word capricious comes from, which means "impulsive, unpredictable." Capricia (kah-PREE-shuh) has been found as a variant. Caprice is one of only a few ways to get Capri as a nickname. While the Italian island Capri is pronounced KAH-pree, as a nickname for Caprice it can be pronounced kuh-PREE. Caprice was a 1913 film, Caprices a 1942 French film, the 1967 film Caprice , 2013 independent film Blue Caprice , 2015 French film Caprice , as w...

Caterina Sforza Caterina/Catarina is a stunning, classy name that is surprisingly rare. It seems like Katherine/Catherine has won the hearts of most parents, leaving this gem to be found by those looking for something beautiful and underused. Caterina was given to 43 girls in 2016, with data since at least 1904 (with 5 births that year). Catarina was given a bit more in 2016 with 60 births. Also, Catherina and Catharina were each given a mere 5 times in 2016. This name definitely falls into the "familiar but rare" category. Caterina is an Italian and Catalan variant of the Greek name Katherine, which is generally accepted to mean "pure," from the word katharos . However, that meaning was largely a Christian take-over of sorts, and it could just as easily be from hekateros , "each of the two," or, slightly less likely, from the goddess Hecate, meaning "far off." For famous namesakes, there's Italian noblewoman Caterina Sforza, born in...

Saint Sunniva via http://bergen.katolsk.no/?p=5824 Sunniva (SOON-ee-vah) has a beautiful meaning, "sun gift," from its Anglo-Saxon form Sunngifu. It can be found recorded as the variant forms Suniva, Sunneva, Sunnifa, Sunnefa, Syneva, Synna, Synne (which became very popular), Synnev, Synneva, Synneve, Synnevi, Synniva, Synva, and more. The earliest recorded use was Sweden in 1353 but the name is attested to Saint Sunniva from the 10th century, who was an Irish princess. Unfortunately she died from a cave collapsing in Norway after fleeing an invading king who wanted to marry her. Miracles were reported on the little island she escaped to, Selja, with her followers. Her brother became Saint Alban. Their tales were written about in Latin and Icelandic. This Scandinavian name has been used in Norway (most usage, rank #66 in 2015, also common there in Middle Ages), Sweden, Denmark, Iceland, the Faroe Islands and Finland, hitting the U.S. charts in 2005 with only 5 births....

Here are the 2016 statistics for all girl names starting with Cat, in order of appearance. Catherine, 1660, #195 Catalina, 1024, #314 Cataleya, 606, #510 Cattleya, 119 Catarina, 60 Cathy, 53 Catalaya, 51 Caterina, 43 Cathryn, 39 Cate, 37 Cattaleya, 29 Catelyn, 27 Catelynn, 18 Cataleyah, 16 Catalyna, 16 Cathleen, 16 Catrina, 15 Catriona, 15 Catalea, 12 Catalia, 12 Catharine, 12 Catie, 12 Catalena, 10 Cathalina, 10 Cataleia, 8 Cateleya, 8 Cataleah, 7 Catalya, 7 Catori, 7 Catalayah, 6 Catia, 6 Cataliya, 5 Cathaleya, 5 Catharina, 5 Catherina, 5 0 births in 2016 include Catriana, Catrin, Catrinella, Catharinella, Catrine, Cathrine, Catina, Cateline, and Cato.

Sibylla Palmifera by Dante Gabriel Rossetti Sibyl, from Greek sibylla , meaning "prophetess," was originally a word referring to one of the ten female oracles, and they were so mystically respected that even in early Christian theology their gifts were highly regarded, or at least intriguing, and Sibyl began being used as a given name in the Middle Ages. Sibyl also comes with a delightful list of variants, each quite beautiful. The spelling Cybil/Cybill has been used, as well as English Sybella and sometimes versions starting with a Z, such as Zibylla. Both Sibylle and Sybille have been used in France, Sibylla in Sweden, Sybille and Sibylle in German, Sibylla in Greek, Sibilla in Italian, Sybill a in Late Roman, Sébire   in Norman, and my favorite - Sibyllina, as in Blessed Sibyllina Biscossi (although she may have been known as Sibila, Sibilina or Sybil). This name has not ranked in the U.S. since 1929. In 2016 it was only given to 19 baby girls. Sybella was give...

Damiana herb Damiana (dah-mee-AH-nah) is a girl's baby name meaning "to tame" in Greek, making it the female version of Damian. It was given to 22 girls in 2016, and although it has been used since 1915, the most it was ever given was 33 times in a year, making it very rare. This is a little hard to believe considering the popularity of Damian, which currently sits pretty at #123, with Damien at #279. Damia (DAH-mee-uh) is another girl's option, except she was a Greek nature goddess - a "Hora," which meant a season personified. Damia is used a little bit more, given to 40 girls in 2016, but she's only been used since 1971. In Greek, Damia comes from da , "earth," and maia , "nursing mother." Damia was another name for the goddess Demeter. Damia is a place in Jordan, the stage name of Marie-Louise Damien, and a 1992 novel by Anne McCaffrey. Damiana is a plant, Turnera diffusa, with pretty yellow blooms. It is native to Texas,...

Knights of the Round Table Lucan (LUU-kahn) is a boy's baby name from Arthurian legend. Sir Lucan was a Knight of the Round Table, son of Duke Corneus, brother of Sir Bedivere and cousin of Sir Griflet. He was in charge of the royal court as part of his duties in Camelot. In these stories, Lucan stays by Arthur's side until the very end of their lives, and he was consider endlessly loyal and reliable. Ironically, Arthur Lucan was an English actor (1885 - 1954). Another namesake was known as Lucan in English, but his full name was Marcus Annaeus Lucanus, grandson of Seneca the Elder. In Latin, Lucan is simply a version of Luke and Lucas, from the Roman cognomen Lucanus. Lucanus means "from Lucania," an ancient Roman city, the name of which derived from Greek loukas , meaning "white," cognate with the Latin word lux , meaning "light."  Lucania itself has been used a few times as a girl's baby name, as have the personal names Lucano and L...

Rochester Castle in Kent Place-name meets preppy bookworm, the Old English name Rochester is a bit of Chester and a bit of a handsome classic like Robert, Rockwell or Roderick. In England, -chester/cester is a suffix meaning "fort, soldier camp." It comes from Latin castrum , dating back to ancient Roman times. Therefore the boy's name Chester means "soldier camp," and Rochester means "stone fortress." It seems like using Rochester is a perfect way to honor a Chester in the family tree, or Chester or Chet could be Rochester's nickname. Most are familiar with the city of Rochester, NY or Rochester, MI, but there are several more place names in the U.S. and abroad. Namesakes include Rochester Van Jones in "The Jack Benny Program," Rochester Neal of "The Dixie Nightingales" band, musician Rochester Fosgate, and four songs with Rochester in the title. As a surname it is not uncommon. There are also the titles Baron and Earl ...

Rodion, a  musician  from Rome ( pic source ) A Slavic boy's name of Greek origin, Rodion (ROW-dee-on except for Russia, where it is ROD-ee-own) sounds a bit like a high-fashion design house, a bit like a type of metal or element, and a lot like it has a deep history. Rodion comes from Herodion, Herod, Heroides, meaning "hero's song." A few rulers of ancient Judea were named Herod, at least one of whom was also known by Rodion, and there's Saint Herodion of Patras, a Holy Apostle, who has been known as Rodion. There are several Russian, Croatian, Austrian, Hungarian, Ukrainian, Antillean and Romanian namesakes, and at least one fictional character - the protagonist of Crime and Punishment by world-renowned author Fyodor Dostoyevsky. However, the name has only been seen in U.S. data twice. It was given to 6 boys in 2009 and 5 in 2011. Rodya is a Russian variant.

Napoleon III, Eugenie, and their Son for Adoption Siamese Ambassadors , by Jean-Leon Gerome Eugene is a boy's baby name of Greek origin, coming from the word eugenes , meaning "well-born," as in "noble." In my little corner of the world this name was regarded the same way the character Eustace acted in C. S. Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia - a bit of a dweeb, a dated name, and very annoying. But there is always more to a person than meets the eye, and name judgement can be unnecessarily harsh. That is why I was thrilled to hear the love interest's real name in Disney's Tangled (2010) animated film: he goes by Flynn Rider, but he reveals his birth name Eugene. He expressed a sort of embarrasement that his name was Eugene, much the same way actor Jim Carrey did when revealing his middle name was Eugene. While Flynn went from almost rare and 81 boys given the name in 2010, to 212 the next year and still rising, Rider only went up a little bit and...

www.plantillustrations.org  The baby name Celandine may sound a bit like celery, but it is a perennial wildflower herb known as Chelidonium. In that category are greater celandine, belonging to the poppy family, and lesser celandine, belonging to the buttercup family. The name celandine derives from Latin word celidonia , therefore Celandine and Chelidonium have cognate etymologies, both ultimately coming from Greek chelidon , meaning "swallow." This plant is native to Northern Africa, Western Asia, and Europe. In North America it is considered invasive. It is pronounced sel-an-DEEN. This plant has uses in herbalism, known as far back as Pliny the Elder's time, when it was considered detoxifying, used to relieve toothaches, and clear the eyes. Pliny connected the herb to the swallow bird using it for eye film, and that may be where the name came from, but it was also widely believed that the herb flowered at the same time the swallows came out in spring. Today we s...

You might be thinking this baby name is made-up, obviously the combination of girls names Raven and Sara, and you wouldn't be too far off. Ravensara (rah-ven-SAHR-uh) is actually not a baby name at all - rather, it is a botanical name. This is the genus of evergreen trees and shrubs native to Madagascar, prized today for the pure essential oils made from it. All of the parts of this tree are aromatic, and the meaning of its native name, Hazomanitra, is "tree that smells." The (new) Latin name Ravensara means "good leaf," from the Malagasy word ravendsara , ravin'tsara . Ravensara retains all the mysterious, dark-forest charm of Raven, and the elegant familiarity of Sara, while being infinitely less popular than both (zero data), having the option of either as a nickname, and it is a legit nature name. Rassa, Ren, Ravy, Ray, and Venna are other nickname options.

Lyle is a very familiar boys name that is not heard often today, providing a nice alternative to Kyle, which is becoming outdated.  It was given to 183 boys in 2015, increasing to 207 and a tank of #981 in 2016.  From Norman French l'isle , meaning "the island," it can be grouped with other "island" names like Isla, Avalon and Isola. There's no shortage of Lyle namesakes, both given and surnames. In other uses, there's a children's book by Bernard Water called Lyle , Lyle , Crocodile , a Lyle gun which shoots out a rescue rope, and Lyle guitars. As a title, there is Lord Lyle, an extinct lordship from Scotland, and the Lyle Baronets which existed in England.

These watery baby girl names are almost the same, but Undine is a mythology word-name referring to the spirit of the waters, meaning "little wave" in Latin, first called so by Paracelsus in the 16th century, and Ondine is the same etymology but used in French. The defining characteristic of an undine is that she lacks a soul, but can gain one through marriage of love. These water spirits have been written about through the ages, sometimes called mermaids and other times water nymphs. Ondine appears in poem, plays, novels, songs, films, ballet and piano pieces. Undine appears in art, poems, novels, operas, piano and a silent film, as well as being an asteroid. It is also a popular name in comics and video games. Undine first popped into the SSA in 1912, and hasn't been seen since 1935. Undina is even more rare, never appearing in the data. Ondine jumped in later, in 1961, and is still used. In 2016 it was given to 13 girls, and Ondina was seen only once, in 1968,...

The cover of E. Nesbit's Melisande Melisande (MAY-lee-sahnd French, English tend to say MELL-iss-ahnd)  is the French variant of Amalswintha, and the inspiration for the English name Millicent, meaning "strong worker." There has been some confusion on the name's connection to Melissa, meaning "honey bee." There's a possibility that each spelling variation has a different origin - Melisande from Melissa and perhaps Melisande as cognate with Millicent, but that is speculation, and there could be absolutely no connection to Melissa at all. Melisende was a popular name in France in the Middle Ages. This name has quite the list of credentials, including a play, opera, and fairy tale. Besides the play  Pelléas and Mélisande  by Maeterlinck, the opera by Debussy, and the fairy tale mentioned above, Melisande was the alias of a character in the Broadway show Bells are Ringing , a handmaid in the book Zuleika Dobson by Max Beerbohm, a character in The G...

Say it isn't so! This drop-dead gorgeous name is so rare it was only given to 6 girls in 1998, and that's it. And yes, she's legit. As is the case with Katherine/Catherine, Katriana is another option, both a variant spelling of Catriona. Catriona is the Irish and Scottish way to spell Catrina, from Katherine, meaning "pure." Catriona is pronounced kuh-TREE-nah. Caitria is another version of the name used in Ireland. Catriana can be found at least once in a published work -  The Celtic Monthly . What isn't so clear is the intended pronunciation of Catriana. Did someone see Catriona in Ireland and mistake the pronunciation for kah-tree-ON-uh, then take the name elsewhere as Catriana (kah-tree-AH-nah)? Is it just a case of name typo? Or down another path, did someone first intend it as a different spelling for Catrina, independently of Catriona? Similar events led to the family of Caterina/Catarina, Catherina/Catharina, Cathryn/Kathryn etc. If you take a look...

Sweet Cicely Cecily (SESS-ih-lee) is the female variant of the Latin name Cecil, meaning "blind." This name can be found  as early as 1246 with that spelling, and as early as 1210 as Cecilie. Going back further, Sisley is recorded in 1154. Cicely (SISS-eh-lee), however, is the later version of Cecilia (from Cecil, originally spelled Caecilia). Both of these sweet names can have the nickname Cece, although some might prefer the unusual nickname Celly. Or maybe you can borrow the Slavic name for Cecilia, Cilka. Cicely ranked twice 1973 & 1974 but was only given to 16 girls in 2016, and Cicily to 5 girls. Cecily is much more popular - given to 194 girls in 2016, just below the top 1000 (but still far enough removed from it to classify as uncommon, perhaps even unusual). Most notably there is King Richard III and Edward IV's mother Cecily Neville aka the "Rose of Raby." Cecily of York, the Viscountess Welles, was King Edward IV's daughter. There...

15th c. Illuminated manuscript, Cloelia crossing the Tiber Cloelia (clo-AY-lee-uh modern, CLAY-lee-uh original) is the perfect rare alternative for parents who love Claudia (which used to be #200 in 2000 and fell to #761 in 2016) or Chloe (#20 in 2016 and the spelling Khloe #125), but can't come to terms with how popular both of those names have been. If Cloelia isn't quite what you're looking for, Clelia (CLAY-lee-uh) is her twin sister, which in sound is a little bit like Claudia or Kaylee (#70) and a little like Leila (#230 and the spelling Laila #164). Internationally the name Cloelia is not really used, but 19th century Clelia still has a place. Clelia was #187 in Italy in 2015, and was not on the list a few years beforehand, so it seems it's having a bit of a resurgence. In France it was #378 in 2015 and has been on their list of top names since 1982. The height of Clelia's popularity in the U.S. was in 1920 when it was given to a mere 20 girls, and...

Brianda is a Spanish feminization of the Gaelic boy's name Brian. Brian, and possibly Briana, made his way to Spain during Christian religious wars, where he may have been "Briandus," which was found as early as 1282 if not earlier. It has also seen some use in Italy. Briana, used in 1590 by Edmund Spenser for The Faerie Queene,  is a more common variant of Brian today, which means "high, noble." Brianda has been found in real use as early as 1487 in Spain, and 1250 in France (where Briande de Septeme was noted as the wife of Guillaume de Beauvoir) in the Regesta comitum sabaudiae . Brianda became much more common in the 1500's. Similar-sounding Brianza is an Italian place name that could work well for place-name lovers. Two namesakes for Brianda include Azorean (Portugal) Brianda Pereira, who became a popular heroine figure in the late 19th century and may be a mostly mythical figure associated with the Battle of Salga, and Brianda Domecq, a Spanish-Mex...