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The perfect name is out there — we're here to help you find it.
In this article
Choosing a name for your daughter is one of the most meaningful decisions you'll make before she arrives. We've combed through 144 years of SSA birth data and traced etymologies across 48 languages to bring you this complete guide — every entry has the full story in a single line.
Quick facts: Girl names in 2025
- Olivia has held #1 for 5 consecutive years — a modern record
- Nature names (Luna, Ivy, Hazel, Aurora) are the fastest-rising category
- The 100-year revival rule: 1920s names like Dorothy are trending up now
- Two-syllable names with soft endings (-a, -ie, -ella) dominate the top 50
Most Popular Girl Names Right Now
Ranked by 2025 SSA data — popular doesn't mean ordinary
#1
From oliva — olive tree, symbol of peace; Shakespeare's Twelfth Night heroine; the most popular US girl name since 2019.
#2
Means "whole, universal"; Jane Austen's most famous heroine; in the US top 5 continuously since 2002.
#3
Feminine of Charles — "free woman"; royal associations with Brontë, Queen Charlotte, and Princess Charlotte of Wales.
#4
From amal — work, purposeful effort; Amelia Earhart made it a name of courage and ambition in the 1930s.
#5
Simply "wisdom" in Greek — the name of Byzantine empresses, early martyrs, and a core concept in philosophy for 2,500 years.
#6
Devoted to God; Spanish form of Elizabeth; Bella is the most loved nickname in a generation of young parents.
#7
Life; birdlike; two letters that deliver total elegance — brief, clear, and impossible to mispronounce.
#8
Mine; beloved — carries effortless cool and works identically in English, Spanish, Italian, and Scandinavian cultures.
#10
Simply the Latin word for moon; Roman goddess, Harry Potter's Luna Lovegood — short, elegant, and celestial.
#11
Harp player; literary thanks to Harper Lee; modern and gender-versatile without being trendy.
#12
Attendant at a religious ceremony; lyrical four-syllable flow with Cami as a breezy nickname.
#13
God is gracious; Italian form of Jane; climbed dramatically after Kobe Bryant's daughter brought it into mainstream consciousness.
#14
Father's joy; strong Old Testament roots; Abby remains one of the most beloved nicknames in American naming.
#15
All, completely — short, melodic, globally beloved; works beautifully as both a standalone name and a nickname.
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Rising Girl Names to Watch in 2025
Climbing faster than any others — current without chasing trends
#22
Roman goddess of the dawn; the Northern Lights; jumped from #100 to #22 in five years — ancient and completely of-the-moment.
#28
My God has answered — warm biblical meaning; Ellie, Eli, or Ana all work beautifully as nicknames.
#31
Island; named for a Scottish river; has a breezy, effortless quality that has made it a breakout name across the English-speaking world.
#35
New; a star explosion — short, powerful, celestial; one of the fastest-climbing names of the 2020s.
#38
Climbing evergreen — fidelity, eternity; Beyoncé's daughter accelerated its rise in 2012 and it hasn't stopped since.
#41
The weeping willow — grace, flexibility, quiet resilience; bends in the storm but never breaks.
#44
Delicate, languishing — carried a scandalous biblical reputation for centuries but has fully rehabilitated into soft elegance.
#47
Honor; light — short, clean, and quietly beloved; works in every culture and ages from baby to grandmother flawlessly.
#52
The lily flower — purity, innocence; eternally popular because it is simply beautiful to say and hear.
#55
Star — luminous, classic, and eternally beautiful; Philip Sidney coined it as a name in 1591 and it never left.
“Parents in 2025 are drawn to names with 'earned meaning' — nature names and classical mythology names dominate because they carry genuine weight without feeling try-hard.”
Dr. Sarah Birkland, Naming Researcher, University of Edinburgh
Vintage Revival Names
The 80–100 year naming cycle is real — these peaked with your great-grandparents
#14
Bright, shining one; Eleanor Roosevelt made it a name of moral courage; Ellie, Nora, Nell, or Lena all work as nicknames.
#16
The violet flower — royalty, creativity, quiet strength; top-50 in the 1920s, back in the top 20 today after Jennifer Garner chose it.
#18
The hazel tree — wisdom and Celtic protection; peaked in 1897, vanished, then roared back after Julia Roberts chose it in 2004.
#42
God shall add; Jo March's full name in Little Women; Napoleon's Empress; Josie is the perfect modern nickname.
#58
Flourishing; the Italian city; Nightingale made it noble — Flo or Florrie are its charming short forms.
#63
Battle-mighty — Roald Dahl's bookish heroine; Tilly or Mattie give it a playful side without losing any strength.
#71
She who brings happiness; Dante's muse, Shakespeare's Much Ado heroine; Bea is wonderfully brief and bright.
#74
Home ruler; Harriet Tubman gave the name heroic resonance; Hattie is a delightful nickname comeback.
#88
Patron saint of music; blind — the etymology is odd, the name is utterly melodic; Cece is a wonderful nickname.
#95
Rainbow — Greek goddess of the rainbow; perfectly short, sharp, and pretty; peaked in 1920 and is climbing again.
#102
Gem of the sea — quietly magnificent; one-syllable, zero ambiguity, and feeling genuinely fresh again after decades away.
#108
Mild, merciful; Churchill's wife; zesty and wonderfully quirky — Clem or Clemmie for a nickname.
#115
Lovable — sweet, short, and utterly underused; peaked in 1900 and ready for a full comeback.
#121
Blessed peacemaking; Winnie is pure joy as a nickname — warm, playful, and carrying very little of Winifred's stiffness.
#134
Prosperous in war; Edie Sedgwick made it bohemian and cool; ready for the same revival Florence and Harriet already achieved.
Nature-Inspired Girl Names
The fastest-growing naming category — grounded, real, and beautiful at every age
#118
Of the sea — breezy, romantic, melodic; works beautifully across English, Spanish, and Italian.
#124
Tiny bird — one syllable of quiet strength; rising fast as parents seek short, nature-grounded names.
#142
Tempest — wild, powerful, and boldly different; for parents who want something genuinely striking.
Rare & Unique Girl Names
Under 500 US births a year — truly one of a kind
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Freedom (SEER-sha) — bold, beautiful, and virtually unused outside Ireland; Saoirse Ronan brought it to global attention.
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Ice ruler — the legendary Celtic heroine of the Tristan story; romantic, striking, and genuinely rare.
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Evening star — cool, literary, mysterious; James Bond made it famous but it remains under 200 US births a year.
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Beautiful voice — the muse of epic poetry; Cal or Callie make wonderful, grounded nicknames.
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Golden princess — short, strong, and elegant; hugely popular in Ireland but rare everywhere else.
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Star — the most popular girl name in Wales, virtually unknown elsewhere; soft and utterly beautiful.
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A bright, cheerful flower named for botanist Johann Zinn — vivid, unusual, and almost completely unused.
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Coral — feminine, French, and utterly charming; Coraline made the Coral- prefix feel magical again.
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Little girl — spoken by Jesus in the Gospel of Mark; biblical and completely unexpected in the best way.
Short & Sweet Names
One or two syllables — big impact, zero fuss
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Bright, shining — Eleanor's adorable short form; now standing alone and feeling completely fresh.
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To harvest — Thomas Hardy's tragic heroine gave it literary weight; strong, no-nonsense, and beautiful.
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Happy, carefree — rare and genuinely joyful; one of the best meanings of any name on this list.
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Light — widely used across the Middle East; feels fresh and distinctive in English-speaking countries.
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An herb; regret — literary, spare, and very now; The Hunger Games and Euphoria both raised its profile.
Strong Girl Names
Power, purpose, and presence in a name
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Strong, vigorous — romantic and powerful; the long Latin form with Val or Tina as options.
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Gift of God — majestic and full of nickname options: Thea, Teddy, Dora, or Theo all work beautifully.
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Lion-hearted — operatic, elegant, and rarely heard; Leo or Nora as short forms keep it grounded.
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Exalted, strength — patron saint of Ireland; carries real power and history without feeling heavy.
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Gift of Isis — Isadora Duncan made it a name of artistic passion; Izzy or Dora make wonderful nicknames.
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Life of Zeus — warrior queen of Palmyra who defied Rome; bold, beautiful, and extremely rare.
Celestial & Mystical Names
Stars, moons, and mythology — names that carry the whole universe
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Bright, radiant — Titan goddess of the moon; Friends made it charming, mythology makes it timeless.
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Divine beauty — strong, Scandinavian, and celestial; Pippi Longstocking's creator Astrid Lindgren made it beloved.
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Solemn — rare French saint's name with a solar warmth; Beyoncé's sister brought it into modern view.