57+ Unique Baby Girl Names (Rare, Pretty & Easy to Say)
Published on September 11, 2026
Finding the perfect middle name for your baby girl can be even harder than picking the first name. This list of 65+ middle names for girls includes short, classic middle names like Rose, Grace, and Pearl that let the first name shine, plus unique girl middle names like Juniper, Storm, and Wynn that add a little personality of their own. Whether you want something timeless, meaningful, or a little unexpected, you’ll find baby girl middle names here that flow with almost any first name.
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Naming your new little baby may actually be one of the hardest things! I mean seriously, once it’s done, it’s done, so of course it takes some time to find just the right one and we understand!
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Wren
- Origin: Old English
- Meaning: small bird
- Popularity: #231 in 2025
Wren started as a straightforward nature name, the little bird that shows up in every backyard, and somewhere along the way parents decided it worked just as well on a birth certificate as it does on a fence post. It sits at #231 for girls in 2025, up from #707 a decade ago, and its best year was 2022 at #184, so it has been climbing steadily rather than spiking and fading. Wren is the pick for the parent who wants something short and a little wild sounding without spelling it out at every pediatrician visit. Boys get it too, just under 200 babies in 2025, so know going in you might meet a baby Wren of either gender at daycare.
Marlowe
- Origin: Old English
- Meaning: driftwood, remnant of a lake
- Popularity: #523 in 2025
Marlowe traces back to an English surname, the kind that shows up on old maps tied to a spot near a lake or a stretch of dried up water, long before anyone thought to hand it to a baby girl. It ranked #523 in 2025, its best showing ever, after sitting at #1140 just ten years ago, so this is a name still finding its footing rather than one already worn in. I’d reach for Marlowe in the nursery that wants a little literary weight without going full Shakespeare, and the nickname you’ll actually hear is Marl or just Marlowe in full, since it is too short to shrink much further. My honest thought: it reads more like a name for a kid who negotiates her bedtime than one who naps through it.
Odessa
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: long journey
- Popularity: #1,197 in 2025
Odessa comes from the port city on the Black Sea, itself named for an ancient Greek settlement, so this is a place name before it is a person name. The data shows it outside the top 1000 in 2025 at #1197 with 193 babies, but that is a real jump from #1587 the year before, and its actual peak was back in 1908 at #278. This is the name for the parent who wants a passport stamp built into the birth certificate, better suited to a family with real ties to the region than one grabbing it just for the sound. Nickname wise you are looking at Dess or Odie.
Zora
- Origin: Slavic
- Meaning: dawn
- Popularity: #969 in 2025
Zora comes from Slavic roots meaning dawn, and it has quietly built momentum without ever cracking the very top of the charts. In 2025 it sat at #969, technically its softest showing in the last five years even though the long term direction is rising, up from #1575 a decade ago.
Ivy
- Origin: English
- Meaning: plant name, the climbing vine
- Popularity: #39 in 2025
Ivy has been sitting in the SSA data since 1880, but it only really took off in the last decade, climbing from #130 in 2015 to #39 in 2025 with over 5,000 babies given the name that year. Its best year on record was 2024 at #36, so at this point it is barely holding onto unique status, more like the plant that took over the whole trellis. I would not put Ivy on a truly rare name list, but for a shower of sixty guests where half the room already knows a baby Olivia, it still reads fresh enough to stand apart.
Thea
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: goddess
- Popularity: #353 in 2025
Thea traces back to Greek, tied to the word for goddess, and it has worked both as its own name and as the nickname a Theodora ends up keeping for life. It ranked #353 in 2025, down slightly from its 2017 peak at #268, but still well ahead of where it sat in 2015 at #464. This is the name for the parent who wants something that sounds established without actually being common, the kind of thing that fits on a big nursery wall or a small studio door either way. My honest take: it is one of the easiest two syllable names to say out loud in a room full of people, which after nine months of overthinking might be the whole selling point.
Marigold
- Origin: English
- Meaning: golden flower
- Popularity: #590 in 2025
Marigold sat under rank #2674 back in 2015 and now it is at #590 with 498 babies in 2025, its best year on record. That climb is real, not a fluke year, and you can feel why once you say it out loud next to a nursery painted in mustard and rust. This one is for the parent who wants color in the name even if the walls stay neutral, and I would grab it over something like Poppy if you already have a Rose or a Daisy in the family and need to stand apart. Goldie is the nickname everyone will land on whether you planned for it or not.
Saoirse
- Origin: Irish
- Meaning: freedom
- Popularity: #1,089 in 2025
Saoirse is one of those names that people assume just showed up with a certain actress, but it was already climbing before that, sitting at #1451 in 2015. It peaked at #735 in 2020 and has drifted back down to #1089 in 2025 with 222 babies, which still counts as steady interest even if it slipped outside the top 1000. I would pick this for a family with an Irish surname where you want the name to actually mean something at the christening, not just sound pretty. The catch is the pronunciation guide you will be giving out for eighteen years, so know that going in.
Wilhelmina
- Origin: German
- Meaning: resolute protector
- Popularity: #1,517 in 2025
Wilhelmina peaked way back in 1884 at #215 and then spent a century mostly forgotten before creeping back up, from #1608 in 2015 to #1517 in 2025 with 141 babies. It is a name for the parent who wants something with real weight on the birth certificate but plans to call her Minnie or Willa every single day. I would pick this over Wilhelimina’s shorter cousins if you want the option to grow into something serious later, a judge or a professor, while still having a soft nickname for preschool. Honestly it reads more grandmother than trend right now, which might be exactly the point.
Vesper
- Origin: Latin
- Meaning: evening star
- Popularity: #2,482 in 2025
Vesper never cracked the top 1000 even in its best year, 1902 at #2026, but it has been quietly rising since 2015 when it sat at #3529, up to #2482 in 2025 with 72 babies. This is a small apartment nursery kind of name, one syllable of nickname built right in since Vesper already sounds complete on its own. I would choose it for the parent who likes a little edge, something that reads moody in a good way next to a name like Cassius or Rome for a sibling. It will get compared to a certain spy movie character at least once and you should just make peace with that now.
Junia
- Origin: Latin
- Meaning: youthful
- Popularity: #1,998 in 2025
Junia goes back to a Roman family name and has had the strangest path in the data, from #981 in 1883 down into the thousands and now climbing hard again, sitting at #1998 in 2025 with 96 babies after jumping from #4185 just ten years ago. It works for the parent who already loves June or Juno but wants something that reads a little less obvious at pickup time. I would pick this one for a shower list of twenty where everyone already knows three Junes, since Junia lets you keep the sound without the repeat. The honest thought is that it still gets read as a typo more often than it should.
Briar
- Origin: English
- Meaning: thorny patch
- Popularity: #400 in 2025
Briar jumped from #836 in 2015 all the way to #400 in 2025 with 778 babies, its best year yet, and it is also showing up for boys now with 397 given in 2025, so it reads properly unisex at this point. That crossover use is exactly why I would put it on a list of unique baby girl names for the parent who wants something nature based but not delicate, more bramble than blossom. Pick this over Rose or Ivy if you want a name that can carry a tomboy toddler and a bridesmaid dress with equal ease. Just know she may correct people who assume it is short for something else, because it already stands complete on its own.
Coraline
- Origin: Literary invention
- Meaning: blend of Coral and Caroline
- Popularity: #683 in 2025
Coraline got its foothold from Neil Gaiman’s book and then the stop motion movie, so most people who hear it now picture a girl with blue hair and a talent for finding trouble in the walls. In the data it sits at #683 for 2025 with 414 babies, actually up a bit from 2022’s #678, though it’s still below its best year of 2015 when it hit #579. This is the pick for the parent who wants something with a little edge instead of straight sweetness, and the nickname is almost always Cora unless the kid fights for the whole thing. My honest thought: I’d worry less about the movie being creepy and more about the fact that everyone’s cousin named a cat Coraline first.
Elowen
- Origin: Cornish
- Meaning: elm tree
- Popularity: #798 in 2025
Elowen only showed up in the data in 2008, which tells you it’s not some ancient family name, it’s a name people started reaching for when they wanted something soft and leafy without going full Willow. It sat outside the top 4000 back in 2015 and has climbed every single year since, landing at #798 in 2025 with 341 babies, which is its best year yet. That climb is steady, not a spike, so it doesn’t feel trendy in a way that’ll age badly by kindergarten. I’d pick this over Wren or Ivy if you want something that still reads soft and outdoorsy but almost nobody in the carpool line will have heard it, and the nickname just falls out naturally as Ellie or Lo.
Fable
- Origin: English
- Meaning: story, tale
- Popularity: #3,177 in 2025
Fable is a word name, plain and simple, the kind of choice you make because you like what the word means more than any history behind it. It’s still tiny in the data, only 50 babies in 2025 and ranked #3177, but it’s more than doubled since 2023 and every year since 2008 has nudged it up. This is for the parent who already has a Story or a Wren on the sibling list and wants something that matches in spirit without matching in sound. Just know that at this size you’re basically guaranteed to be the only Fable in her whole school district, for better or worse.
Anouk
- Origin: Dutch
- Meaning: grace
- Popularity: #13,640 in 2024, fewer than 5 babies in 2025
Anouk has been quietly present in U.S. data since 1969, never breaking into anything close to mainstream, and its best year was way back in 2007 when it hit #5109. Since then it’s actually drifted further off the charts, down to fewer than 5 babies in 2025, so calling it rising would be a stretch, it’s more of a slow fade with a devoted handful of parents still finding it. I’d reach for this one if you’ve got European family ties and want a name that sounds effortless said out loud but that almost nobody stateside will spell correctly on the first try. It’s a bold pick for a nursery name plaque, but a beautiful one if you don’t mind spelling it out at every pediatrician visit.
Isla
- Origin: Scottish
- Meaning: island
- Popularity: #28 in 2025
Scottish surname roots and that River Isla connection turned this into a first name, and it hopped over to the US in a big way once people saw it as the softer, sea-glass alternative to Isabella. It sat at #142 back in 2015 and has climbed since, landing at #28 in 2025 with 6,012 babies, its best year on record. That is not a fringe pick anymore, it is a top 100 name, so I would not call this unique so much as unique-adjacent at this point, more like the name three other moms at your pediatrician’s office already picked.
I still get why it lands on unique baby girl names lists, because it reads quiet and coastal instead of loud, and the nickname situation stays simple since almost nobody shortens Isla to anything else. Good pick if you want something that sounds established without being an actual top ten name, less good if your whole goal is avoiding repeats at the birthday party.
Rumi
- Origin: Japanese
- Meaning: beauty, flowing
- Popularity: #1,283 in 2025
Rumi didn’t really start moving in the data until the last few years, jumping from #2116 in 2021 to #1283 in 2025 with 175 babies, and that kind of jump usually means a celebrity baby did some heavy lifting. It’s also genuinely unisex right now, with 81 boys given the name in 2025 too, so don’t expect it to read as instantly girl-coded to everyone who hears it. This is the pick for a parent who wants something short and easy to say across languages, and who’s fine with people asking if it’s after the poet. No real nickname needed here, which honestly is half the appeal.
Zinnia
- Origin: Latin
- Meaning: flower named for botanist Johann Zinn
- Popularity: #1,290 in 2025
Named for the flower, which was named for a German botanist, so this one is basically two layers of nerdy naming history before it ever landed on a birth certificate. It sat at #1757 back in 2015 and has climbed steadily since, hitting its best year yet in 2025 at #1290 with 174 babies, so it is still rare enough that you probably will not meet a second one at the park. I like it for the parent who wants a flower name but is tired of Lily and Violet showing up on every class list. Nickname wise you get Zinny whether you plan for it or not, and honestly that is half the charm.
Ottilie
- Origin: German
- Meaning: fortune, wealth
- Popularity: #2,951 in 2025
Grandma names are having a moment, and Ottilie is the German cousin nobody in your playgroup has met yet. It sat outside the top 1,000 in 2025 at #2951 with 57 babies, still climbing after jumping to #2323 in 2024, and its best year on record was all the way back in 1882. I’d pick it for the nursery that leans soft and vintage, gold frames and dried flowers, not primary colors and a wall decal.
The kid gets called Tillie on the playground whether you plan for it or not, so make peace with that now.
Perpetua
- Origin: Latin
- Meaning: perpetual, continuous
- Popularity: #5,668 in 2025
Perpetua only shows up in the SSA data starting in 2007, which tells you this is a name parents chose on purpose, not one drifting down from a great aunt. It ranked #5668 in 2025 with 22 babies, its best year ever, after some real up and down years in between. This is a shower for twenty people, not sixty, because you will spend half the party explaining the saint story and want time left for cake.
Perpetua the woman, Petra or Pep the toddler, and honestly Pep might be the better party favor.
Calla
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: beautiful
- Popularity: #1,397 in 2025
Flower names never really left, and Calla is the one quietly climbing instead of spiking and crashing. It sits at #1397 for 2025 with 156 babies, up from #1568 a decade ago, steady in a way that feels almost boring in the best sense. Pick this one when you want something that reads unique on the birth certificate but nobody stumbles over it at the pediatrician’s office.
Cal or Callie is what you’ll actually yell across the yard by age three.
Solveig
- Origin: Norwegian
- Meaning: house of strength
- Popularity: #6,791 in 2025
Solveig peaked back in 1916 at #1860 and has been sliding ever since, down to #6791 in 2025 with just 17 babies. That falling line might actually be the selling point if you want something that isn’t about to show up on three other cubbies at story time. This is the pick for the parent building a whole nursery around Nordic quiet, pale wood and linen, not one corner of a small apartment.
Say it Sol-vay and let people ask, because they will, every time.
Wynne
- Origin: Welsh
- Meaning: fair, white
- Popularity: #4,456 in 2025
Welsh surnames make surprisingly good first names, and Wynne is proof, short and soft with real roots behind it. It climbed from #5448 in 2015 to #4456 in 2025, given to 32 babies, a slow steady rise instead of a spike, and its best year on record goes all the way back to 1943. Grab this for the small apartment nursery where you want one word on the wall and nothing fussy layered on top.
The nickname problem barely exists here, since Wynne already sounds like the nickname.
Islay
- Origin: Scottish
- Meaning: island
- Popularity: #5,307 in 2025
Scotch drinkers will recognize this one before baby name people do, since Islay is also the island the whisky gets named for. It didn’t enter the SSA data until 1999, jumped to its best rank ever in 2021 at #3176 with 51 babies, then settled back to #5307 in 2025 with 24. That dip and recovery pattern usually means word of mouth, not a trend piece pushing it along.
Pick this for the shower where the parents already have a Scotland honeymoon photo on the registry table, because the story writes itself from there.
Marisol
- Origin: Spanish
- Meaning: sea and sun
- Popularity: #667 in 2025
Marisol blends two Spanish words, mar and sol, so you get sea and sun in one name without even trying. It sat at #840 back in 2015 and has been climbing steadily since, landing at #667 in 2025 with 423 babies, and its best year ever was 1996 at #235, so it’s had its moment before. This is one of those unique baby girl names that still reads warm and familiar instead of invented, which is exactly why I keep coming back to it for friends who want something with a story but nothing weird to spell out over the phone. The nickname is obvious: Mari, and Sol works fine too when the mood strikes.
Cressida
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: gold
- Popularity: #8,987 in 2025
Cressida comes from Chaucer’s retelling of the Trojan war, the daughter figure caught between two lovers, and Shakespeare kept her name alive centuries later in his own play. The data barely registers her: 11 babies in 2025, ranked #8987, up from #10309 in 2015, with a grand total of only 162 babies ever given the name since 1880. That’s about as rare as unique baby girl names get without tipping into made-up territory, and it’s the pick for a parent who wants a literary name nobody else in the pediatrician’s waiting room will have. Cressi is the nickname I’d bet on, softer than the full name and easy for a toddler to say back.
Delphine
- Origin: French
- Meaning: of Delphi / dolphin
- Popularity: #3,592 in 2025
Delphine traces to the Greek city of Delphi by way of France, where it settled in as a proper first name generations ago. It peaked way back in 1930 at #427 and has been sliding since, sitting at #3592 in 2025 with 42 babies, the kind of slow fade that still keeps a name from disappearing. I like it for the parent who wants old European weight but doesn’t want the attention a top 500 name brings at daycare pickup. Delphie is the nickname that sneaks up on you, softer than the original and impossible not to use once she’s two.
Freya
- Origin: Old Norse
- Meaning: lady
- Popularity: #176 in 2025
Freya was the Norse goddess of love and fertility long before it landed on American birth certificates, and the name only entered SSA data in 1931. It’s one of the unique baby girl names that quietly became not so unique, climbing from #416 in 2015 to #176 in 2025 with 1,746 babies, after peaking at #129 in 2022. I’d still pick it for a smaller shower or a first-name-only nursery sign, since it reads bold without needing a whole theme built around it. Freya barely shortens, honestly, which might be the point, you get the whole name every time someone calls her in for dinner.
Halcyon
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: calm, peaceful
- Popularity: #16,117 in 2021, fewer than 5 babies in 2025
Halcyon comes from the Greek myth of a kingfisher that could calm the sea, which is a lot of pressure to put on a birth certificate. The SSA barely has a record of it: 85 babies total since 1880, fewer than 5 in 2025, and its best year was 1915 at #2986, so this one has never really had a run. Word names this rare work best in a big room with a whole nursery theme built around calm and quiet, not a small apartment where everyone will just ask you to repeat it three times. Cyon isn’t really a nickname anyone uses, so plan on saying Halcyon in full for the rest of your life.
Indra
- Origin: Sanskrit
- Meaning: possessor of raindrops / king of gods
- Popularity: #9,713 in 2025
Indra is the name of the Hindu king of the gods, ruler of thunder and rain, and it showed up in the SSA data as early as 1951. It’s been falling for a decade, from #4905 in 2015 down to #9713 in 2025 with just 10 babies, even though it hit #3389 back in 1967. This one is for a parent with a real connection to the mythology, not someone shopping a list for something that sounds exotic, because it deserves the context. Indie is the nickname you’ll actually hear on the playground, which might surprise people who only know the full name from a textbook.
Juniper
- Origin: English
- Meaning: evergreen shrub
- Popularity: #100 in 2025
Juniper crossed over from the plant world into the nursery the way Willow and Hazel did before it, and now it is sitting at #100, officially a top 100 name for 2025 with 2,618 babies. It has been climbing steadily since 2015 when it ranked #427, and this year is its best year on record. That climb is exactly why I hesitate to call it unique anymore, it is the kind of name that feels like a personal discovery until you meet three at the same toddler gym class, all going by June.
Pick it if you want something that still reads as fresh on paper but won’t get you a raised eyebrow from grandma, it has enough history behind it to feel settled. Just know you’re not the only one who found it.
Kestrel
- Origin: English
- Meaning: small falcon
- Popularity: #6,985 in 2025
Kestrel comes from the little falcon, the kind of bird name that sounds sharp and a little fierce instead of soft and floral. In the SSA data it sits at #6985 for 2025 with just 16 babies, which puts it firmly outside the top 1,000, though it’s been drifting upward since 2015 when it barely registered at #9820. Total babies ever given this name since it first showed up in 1985: 312. That’s rare enough that you will genuinely never meet another one at the pediatrician’s office.
This is for the parent who wants a nature name with some edge to it, not another soft syllable ending in a. The nickname problem is real though, Kess is about the only thing you can shorten it to, so make peace with using the whole name constantly.
Liesel
- Origin: German
- Meaning: God is my oath
- Popularity: #4,830 in 2025
Liesel is the pet form of Elisabeth that most people know from a favorite movie musical, and it has quietly been in American use since 1954. It peaked back in 2015 at #2796 and has been falling since, landing at #4830 in 2025 with 28 babies, which is a small enough number that it never really left underground status. I like that it comes with the built-in nickname Lizzie or Liesl already baked in, so you’re not choosing a whole separate name for daycare.
Go with this one if you love a European storybook feel but don’t want the full weight of Elisabeth on a birth certificate. It reads a little grandma, a little Sound of Music, and honestly that combination is charming instead of dated.
Maren
- Origin: Scandinavian
- Meaning: of the sea
- Popularity: #472 in 2025
Maren traces to the same root as Marina, so it carries that of the sea meaning without the extra syllables. It’s been in SSA data since 1916, sat outside the top 1,000 for most of that time, but has been climbing hard, from #1117 in 2015 up to #472 in 2025 with 654 babies, and its best year ever was 2020 at #438. That trajectory tells me this is one of the safer picks on this list if you want something uncommon that still functions like a normal name in a classroom roll call.
It works well in a small apartment nursery where you want a name as clean as the space, one syllable of nickname potential (Mare, if her friends get cute about it) and zero spelling confusion at the pharmacy counter.
Nixie
- Origin: German
- Meaning: water sprite
- Popularity: #5,512 in 2025
Nixie comes from German folklore, a water spirit that lived in rivers and lakes, which gives the name a fairy tale undertone most people won’t catch right away. It first showed up in the SSA data in 1919, actually had its best rank that same year at #4655, and has been sliding since, now sitting at #5512 in 2025 with 23 babies. Total ever given the name: 456, so you are picking from a genuinely tiny pool here.
This one is for the parent who wants something short and playful without going full word-name, it almost functions like a nickname on its own even though it’s the whole thing on the certificate. I’d worry a little about people assuming it’s short for Nicole, so be ready to correct that at every school pickup for eighteen years.
Opaline
- Origin: French
- Meaning: like an opal
- Popularity: #9,312 in 2025
Opaline borrows the shimmer of the gemstone and turns it into something that reads more like a name than an adjective. It first appeared in 1916, had a strange little heyday in 1931 when it hit #1727, then basically vanished until it started popping back up recently, counted as new on the charts with only 11 babies in 2025 at #9312. That gap in the data, no ranking at all in 2024, tells you how thin the numbers are here, this is about as under the radar as a name gets while still technically being used.
Pick this over Coraline or Josephine if you want the same gemstone glow with almost zero chance of overlap at the birthday party. The built-in nickname Poppy or Lina does a lot of the daily lifting so the full name stays special-occasion only.
Poppy
- Origin: English
- Meaning: flower name (poppy)
- Popularity: #292 in 2025
Flower names have been having a moment for a while now, but Poppy is the one that actually made it into the top 300, sitting at #292 in 2025 with 1,054 babies and a steady climb since it was way down at #1027 back in 2015. It peaked in 2023 at #289, so this isn’t a fluke, it’s a name that keeps holding its ground. This is the pick for the parent who wants something bright and a little playful without going full theme nursery, the kind of name that works on a toddler in overalls and a woman running a meeting in twenty years. I’d still call it more spirited-classic than truly rare at this point, but it earns its spot on any unique baby girl names list because it still turns heads at the pediatrician’s office.
Rosalind
- Origin: Old Spanish
- Meaning: pretty rose
- Popularity: #1,521 in 2025
Shakespeare gets the credit for putting Rosalind on the map with As You Like It, though the name itself predates the play by centuries. It’s sat quietly outside the top 1,000 for decades, ranked #1521 in 2025 with 140 babies, basically flat compared to 2015’s #1536, even though it had a real moment back in 1942 at #292. I’d pick this one for a parent who wants a name with weight and a built-in nickname ladder, Ros or Rosie or Lindy depending on the kid’s personality. It reads formal on a birth certificate and completely different on the playground, which is exactly the kind of range I look for.
Seraphina
- Origin: Hebrew
- Meaning: fiery-winged
- Popularity: #600 in 2025
Seraphina comes from the seraphim, the highest order of angels in Hebrew scripture, which gives it a sound that’s soft and a meaning that’s anything but. The data backs up what I’ve been seeing on birth announcements, it jumped from #1217 in 2015 all the way to #600 in 2025 with 489 babies, and 2025 is its best year on record so far. This is the one for the parent who wants a name with real drama for a nursery full of soft pinks and gold accents, not the small apartment situation where you want something that fits on a onesie tag. Everyone ends up calling her Sera or Fina anyway, so just make peace with that before she’s out of diapers.
Talulla
- Origin: Choctaw
- Meaning: leaping water
- Popularity: #14,753 in 2025
Spelling variants like Talulla exist because parents keep reaching for something that sounds like Tallulah without looking exactly like it, and the Choctaw root meaning leaping water still holds either way. It’s about as rare as rare gets, only 6 babies got it in 2025 and it’s ranked #14753, down hard from its best showing in 2021 at #6151. I’d only recommend this spelling for a parent who has already made peace with correcting the DMV for the rest of her life, because Tallulah itself is more recognizable and just as unusual. If you’re set on this exact version, know you’re picking from a pool of about 119 babies total since 1880, so she really will be the only one in her class.
Ursa
- Origin: Latin
- Meaning: she-bear
- Popularity: #10,057 in 2025
Stargazers will recognize Ursa from Ursa Major and Minor, the bear constellations, and that celestial pull is exactly why it’s starting to show up as a first name instead of just a middle. It’s brand new on the charts, technically, with only 10 babies in 2025 at rank #10057, though it did have an odd little spike back in 1924 at #4408 before disappearing for decades. This is a name for the parent who wants something cosmic without going full Luna or Nova, and who’s fine with explaining the constellation thing at every single introduction. I wouldn’t put this on a baby shower banner expecting people to get it right away, but that’s kind of the point of a unique baby girl names list.
Vashti
- Origin: Persian
- Meaning: beautiful
- Popularity: #8,823 in 2025
Scripture readers will know Vashti as the queen in the Book of Esther who refused to be summoned, which gives the name a backbone that a lot of soft, floral options don’t have. It had a real run in 1902 at #793 but has been sliding since, down to #8823 in 2025 with just 12 babies, and even ten years ago in 2015 it was already fading at #8415. This is the pick for a parent who wants something Biblical but not Sarah or Rebecca, something with a story attached that she’ll actually want to tell at eight years old. It won’t get mistaken for anything else on a class roster, and honestly, that’s the whole appeal.
Winter
- Origin: English
- Meaning: winter season
- Popularity: #426 in 2025
December babies get all the credit for this one, but Winter works for any birthday since it reads as a mood more than a month. It sat at #547 back in 2015, climbed to its best year in 2022 at #305, and landed at #426 in 2025 with 732 girls, so it is still rising even after that peak. Seventy seven boys got it too in 2025, so it reads unisex if that matters to you.
This is the pick for the parent who wants something a little wintry and moody without going full nature-name, and the nickname is basically just Winter, nobody shortens it.
Xiomara
- Origin: Visigothic/Spanish
- Meaning: ready for battle
- Popularity: #463 in 2025
Battle-ready is the widely accepted meaning behind Xiomara, which traces to Visigothic roots by way of Spanish naming tradition. It has been climbing hard, from #1145 in 2015 to #463 in 2025 with 665 babies, and its best year on record was 2023 at #402.
I know a Xiomara who goes by Xio with her whole soccer team and it fits her completely. This is the one for parents who want a name with some weight to it, syllables that feel important when a teacher calls roll, and who are not scared off by having to spell it out over the phone a few times.
Yara
- Origin: Arabic/Brazilian
- Meaning: small butterfly (or water lady)
- Popularity: #507 in 2025
Butterfly is one meaning tied to Yara depending on which tradition you follow, Arabic or Brazilian, and both get cited often enough that I’d call it settled either way. The data backs up what feels like a slow build, from #1237 in 2015 to #507 in 2025 with 585 babies, and 2025 is actually its best year yet.
This is a name for the parent who wants something short and soft that still reads as unfamiliar at the pediatrician’s office. The nickname situation is easy because there isn’t one, Yara just stays Yara.
Zephyrine
- Origin: French/Greek
- Meaning: west wind
- Popularity: #17,976 in 2019, fewer than 5 babies in 2025
Nobody was using Zephyrine before 2019, when five babies got it and it ranked #17976, which is basically as rare as a first name gets while still showing up in federal data at all. It traces to the Greek word for the west wind, filtered through French naming style.
This is not a name for the parent who wants something recognizable at pickup, it is for the one who wants a name nobody else in the state has, and who is fine explaining the pronunciation for the rest of that kid’s life. I’d expect Zephy or Rina as the everyday version, since Zephyrine in full is a lot for a toddler to answer to.
Adaline
- Origin: Old German/English
- Meaning: noble
- Popularity: #208 in 2025
Adeline’s softer cousin, Adaline picked up steam once movies started using the spelling, and it has actually been in SSA data since 1880 despite feeling new. It ranked #365 in 2015, hit its best year in 2016 at #172, dipped a little, then came back to #208 in 2025 with 1,446 babies.
This is the name for the parent who wants something that feels established without being a top 50 name, the kind of pick that works in a nursery full of neutral linen and also in a bright yellow one. Everyone will call her Ada whether you plan for it or not.
Bellamy
- Origin: Old French
- Meaning: beautiful friend
- Popularity: #797 in 2025
Beautiful friend is the meaning behind Bellamy, an Old French surname that moved into first-name territory the way a lot of these have. It ranked #1293 back in 2015, hit #718 in its best year of 2022, and sits at #797 in 2025 with 341 girls, plus 374 boys, so it reads unisex too.
This is the pick for the parent who wants something with a little edge, works for a smaller shower where you don’t need everyone to already know the name, and want a nickname built in since Bel or Bella happens without you asking for it.
Cosima
- Origin: Italian
- Meaning: order, harmony
- Popularity: #6,171 in 2025
Cosima has that European art-house feel, the kind of name you’d expect on a violinist or the daughter of someone who names her cat after a philosopher. The SSA data backs up how under the radar it still is: only 19 babies in 2025, ranked #6171, and it’s never come close to the top 1,000 since it first showed up in 1985. Its best year was 2017 at #4084, so even at its peak it stayed rare. This is for the parent who wants something that sounds established without a single classmate sharing it, and the nickname is obviously Cozy, which honestly might be the best part.
Dashiell
- Origin: French
- Meaning: page boy
- Popularity: #17,107 in 2015, fewer than 5 babies in 2025
Sixteen girls total have ever been given the name Dashiell since 1880, and in 2025 it stayed so rare the SSA won’t publish an exact number, just fewer than five. It first showed up in the data back in 1979, had a small run, and has mostly disappeared for girls while hanging on a little for boys, 61 of them last year at rank #2291. This one is for the parent who found it through detective novels and doesn’t mind that it reads masculine, because Dash ends up on the cubby label either way. Pick it knowing you’re basically the only family trying this for a daughter this year.
Eulalie
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: sweetly speaking
- Popularity: #11,425 in 2024, fewer than 5 babies in 2025
Eulalie sounds like something out of a New Orleans birth announcement from 1900, and it kind of is, since 1893 was its actual best year in the data at rank #696. It’s fallen a long way since, sitting outside the top 1,000 in 2025 with fewer than five babies given the name, though it’s held steady in the single digits and low teens most years this decade. I’d pick this over something like Ottilie if you want a name nobody in your mom group has heard, let alone met. The nickname is Lulu, no debate, and honestly that’s reason enough to consider it.
Guinevere
- Origin: Welsh
- Meaning: white phantom, fair one
- Popularity: #899 in 2025
Every generation rediscovers Guinevere through whichever King Arthur retelling is popular that decade, and right now it’s actually working, up from #1350 in 2015 to its all-time best year in 2025 at #899 with 295 babies. That puts it just inside the top 1,000, which still feels rare at a birthday party but won’t raise eyebrows on a preschool roster. This is the pick for parents who want something a little dramatic but with actual staying power behind it, not a one-year spike. Gwen is the built-in nickname, and it’s the kind of trade that makes the full name worth using for anything official.
Hyacinth
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: purple flower, from the mythological youth
- Popularity: #4,294 in 2025
Hyacinth comes from Greek myth, the boy whose blood turned into the flower, but on a baby girl it reads more Victorian garden than tragedy. The data shows real movement here, climbing from #11253 in 2015 to #4294 in 2025 with 33 babies, its highest count on record even though its actual best rank was way back in 1909 at #1177. This is one for the parent who already has a Violet or an Iris in the family and wants the next flower name over, one nobody else picked yet. I’d stay away from the nickname Cynthia unless that’s genuinely what you want people calling her by kindergarten.
Ines
- Origin: Spanish
- Meaning: pure, chaste
- Popularity: #1,111 in 2025
Ines is the Spanish shorthand version of Agnes, and it wears that history lightly, no extra syllables, no fuss. It’s been climbing steadily too, from #2019 in 2015 up to #1111 in 2025 with 213 babies, just brushing the outside of the top 1,000 the way Guinevere sits just inside it. Among the unique baby girl names on this list it’s the easiest to say out loud to a stranger without spelling it twice, which matters more than people admit when they’re picking a name at 2am with a hospital bracelet on. No real nickname needed here, it’s already short, and that’s the whole appeal.
Josephine
- Origin: French
- Meaning: God will add
- Popularity: #53 in 2025
Napoleon’s wife wore this one first as far as most people know, and it’s been quietly working ever since, currently sitting at #53 with 4,126 baby girls in 2025, up from #131 just a decade ago. This is the name for the parent who wants something with weight and history but doesn’t want to explain it at every playground, since it’s been in the data since 1880 and peaked way back in 1916 at #21. The nickname is Josie every single time, no negotiation, and honestly if you’re chasing unique baby girl names this one might be a stretch now that it just cracked the top 100 again.
Kalinda
- Origin: Sanskrit
- Meaning: sun
- Popularity: #10,981 in 2018, fewer than 5 babies in 2025
Television gave Kalinda its only real bump, a legal drama character sending it up to #3580 back in 1982, but the total count of just 404 babies ever tells you it never really caught on past that moment. By 2015 it had fallen to #15406 and it’s stayed under five babies most years since, off the charts by any normal measure. This one is for the parent who wants a name nobody in the class will share, ever, and doesn’t mind spelling it out on the phone every single time.
Lior
- Origin: Hebrew
- Meaning: my light
- Popularity: #7,353 in 2025
Hebrew gives this one its meaning, my light, and it reads as easily on a boy as a girl right now with 78 boys given the name in 2025 against just 15 girls. It’s been climbing since it first showed up in 1990, hitting its best year yet in 2024 at #5096 before dipping back to #7353 this year. This is the pick for the parent who wants something short and modern without a nickname attached, since Lior stays Lior at drop off and at graduation both.
Mireille
- Origin: Provençal
- Meaning: to admire
- Popularity: #8,698 in 2025
Provence gets the credit for this one, a French form tied to the word for admire, and it has spent most of its life hovering in the low thousands without ever breaking through. It peaked in 1969 at #3072 and has been sliding since, down to #8698 in 2025 with just 12 babies, even though 2015 had it noticeably higher at #6393. This is a name for the parent who wants French without going full Amelie, and the honest truth is most people will hear it once and ask you to repeat it twice.
Nell
- Origin: English
- Meaning: bright, shining one
- Popularity: #1,628 in 2025
Nell started as the nickname people actually used for Eleanor and Helen, and somewhere along the way parents just started putting it on the birth certificate instead. It’s been rising for a decade, up to #1628 in 2025 from #2879 in 2015, though it’s nowhere near its best year ever back in 1886 when it sat at #144. This is the name for the parent who wants something that sounds like it belongs on a porch swing but still feels fresh, and the nickname problem solves itself since Nell already is one.
There are SO many cute names on this list that work well for a first or second little girl, seriously I have NO idea how you will choose!
