Rafferty

The Rafferty Coat of Arms

Raffterty is an Irish Gaelic surname meaning "prosperity wielder." What a unique meaning! It was originally O'Raighbheartaigh and Rabhartach. There's also a wide range of potential nicknames, from Raff to Rafe to Teddy. There were only 10 baby boys named Rafferty in 2010, and 12 in 2011, which means not a whole lot of parents have discovered Rafferty's "raffish charm." This is also the name of Jude Law's son, but you're likely to find many more people with Rafferty as a surname than a given name. Other than that, I can't find much more on this potential baby name.

Gap Casting Call - Girls Baby Names

This is the first year I've heard about the Gap Casting Call, and I'm always looking for unique name sightings. I finally got around to checking it out and decided to post some of the girls names that stood out among all the repeats of Emily, Ava, Makayla, Elle, Reagan, Chloe, Paisley, Carly, Kaylee, Madison, Madeleine, Brooklyn, Sydney, Olivia, Abigail, Paige, Sierra, Nevaeh, Hannah, Trinity, Isabelle, etc, which are all names that seem boring to me. I crave rare names! It was obvious at least half of all the names total were creatively spelled. Some of the ones I'm about to list appeared more than once, they just seem refreshing or elegant. I feel sorry for whoever has to go through all of these submissions to pick a winner. Wow. Over 1,400 pages of girls. I only got to page 120. I'm thinking about going back to look at popularity, because I'm assuming the ones I listed above rank higher than the ones listed below.

Guinevere
Athena
Claudia
Helena
Sela
Aoife
Penelope
Courtney
Annalisa
Nina
Esmeralda
Eleanor
Adelaide
Orianna
Annika
Nadia
Alexandra
Genevieve
Zia
Marina
Chelsea
Tessa
Caroline
Quiana
Giselle
Charlize
Claire
Erin
Liana
Tatiana
Molly
Emmanuelle
Ocean/Oceane
Azure
Florianne
Kit
Salma
Neve
Valentina
Harper
Jenna
Carina
Juliana
Vanessa
Cora
Jade
Victoria
Lindsay
Elektra
Johanna
Noelle
Samantha
Teresa
Mariana
Yasmina
Eliza
Jillian
Lana
Jacquelyn
Simone
Cyra
Saoirse
Audrey
Christina
Barratou
Sage
Hazel
Elissa
Noa
Delaney
Mabel
Allora
Stella
Jolie
Zeina
Lena
Vivienne
Paola
Alexandria
Ruthie
Sunny
Elsa
Irene
Calista
Evangeline
Silvie
Mallory
Kelsey/Kelsea
Bianca
Gabrielle/Gabriela
Eva
Violet
Kristen
Darla
Amelia
Serena
Carlotta
Greta
Jocelyn
Roco
Celeste
Aaliyah
Allison
Aubrey
Teagan
Ruby
Thalia
Georgia
Elena
Fiorella
Sonia
Halle
Rosalind
Fallon
Serenity
Rhiannon
Eponine
Kaede (rare to see this one on a non-Japanese baby)
April
Sabrina
Regina
Camilla
Gloria
Iris
Olympia
Aurora
Elysia
Estella
Yelena
Dahlia
Miranda
Melaina
Rebecca
Liberty
Thea
Marijke
Reese
Luciana
Adriana
Nikita

Belle

Belle, as we're all aware thanks to Beauty and the Beast, is French for "beautiful." It's an underused, simple yet elegant name. It can be a good alternative to Isabelle, which is seeing extreme popularity, and can be a nickname for any number of names ending in -belle, such as Rosabelle, Claribelle, Bluebell, Amabel or Arabelle. She can be a Southern Belle or Belle of the Ball. She is close to Bella yet miles away. The name ages well and gets rave reviews. There was also a Confederate spy named Belle Boyd, a World War II bomber plane called the Memphis Belle, and a character from Gone with the Wind.

Belle has not ranked in the past decade. In 2010 there were 154 baby girls named Belle, and in 2011 there were 139. I see a lot of people passing this name up because of Isabella, thinking Belle is more popular than it is. Maybe they're getting it confused with Bella, which was #60 in 2011.

Peter

Peter isn't just for Peter Pan, Peter Cottontail and Peter Rabbit anymore. This Greek name meaning "rock" is also Biblical, one of the twelve apostles (originally named Cephas or Simon, and the first pope), and the name of a Russian emperor - Peter the Great, who built St. Petersburg. There's lots of Saint Peters. There are tons of famous namesakes. There's also the children's nursery rhyme, "Peter Peter Pumkin Eater" and Spider Man, Peter Parker. Petra is the female version. Nicknames include Pete, Petey and PJ.

In 2010 there were 1,918 baby boys named Peter, ranking at #192, slightly down since years before.

Regina

Regina Cordium or Queen of Hearts by Dante Gabriel Rossetti

Regina sounds regal for a reason - it means "queen," from Latin, was the name of a saint (whose day is September 7), and one of the other names of the goddess Juno. Raina/Raine and Reina/Reine are variants of the same meaning. Nicknames include Gina, Ginny and Reggie. There are a few well known actresses and singers with this name, and it is the name of a city in Saskatchewan. Regina can be used in reference to the Virgin Mary, but also Queen Victoria. More recently, Regina is the name of the evil queen in a new TV show called Once Upon a Time.

In 2010 there were 493 baby girls named Regina, ranking at #588, jumping from 713 the year before. There were also 97 Reginae, 8 Regginae, and 5 Reginea, however the heck they intend you to pronouce those. Both Reina and Raina also ranked. If you want to take it up a step further, Rhiannon, a Welsh name that sounds similar, means "great queen." Rhiannon was a legendary goddess.

Juno Regina

Dorian

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde is a very well studied novel, and people can recognize the story even if they've never read the book. The base of the plot: a picture that is painted of Dorian ages in place of himself. In the end, he kills himself by stabbing the painting with a knife, the curse/wish being reversed. Now, that doesn't make Dorian an awful choice for a baby name, it is Greek, meaning "descendant of Dorus/Doris (a sea nymph)/Dorianus," although it is possible Oscar Wilde coined the name based on something very similar. It is also a tribal Greek name and a Greek place name, and the name of a musical mode, so it was used long before the book. Besides, it's quite dashing and sophisticated. The literary Dorian was, after all, handsome. Be sure to see the movie or read the book.

In 2010 Dorian ranked #500 and there were 512 baby boys born with this name. So, not too popular, but very well recognized, and apparently most people can get over any negative literary association.

Flora

Today's name, Flora, is one I would have guessed would be more popular, but there were only 113 baby girls with this name born in 2010, and 119 in 2011. It was last on the charts in 1972. It seems F- names in general are not very popular.

Flora, the Roman goddess of flowers and spring, is Latin, meaning "flower," and its spelling is one letter away from "floral," making it undeniably feminine and flowery, yet it can be considered more womanly than girlish with its vintage charm, as I think it would age well. Flora doesn't make you think of vain pretty-girls who wear floral prints, it somehow makes you think of a traditional, nurturing woman who is kind. Also, what better name for a springtime baby?

I'm not a big fan of nicknames for Flora, which usually include Flo, Flor, and Flossie, so I suggest getting creative. Not all nicknames have to be a shortened version of the full name. Her nickname could very well be Flower or Florie. Famous namesakes include Flora Tristan, a socialist/writer/feminist, and Flora MacDonald, a Scottish folk hero, and a Spanish saint of 851 whose name day is November 24.

The Prettiest Female Baby Names

I consider these to have the prettiest sounds and most pleasing appearance

You’ll notice almost all of them either end in –a, have an “eh” or “elle” sound, or an “ee” sound in the form of an I, and most of them are long (there are only three one syllable names). I have not taken into account popularity, meaning or origin. This is also just my personal opinion.

Guinevere

Seraphina

Saskia

Nightingale

Silveria

Cecelia

Lavinia

Vesper

Alexandra

Wilhelmina

Isis

Luna

Gwendolen

Raina

Arrietty

Letty

Emmaline

Adriana

Belina

Belicia

Bettina

Bianca

Verbena

Belle

Alessandra

Alicia

Aquilina

Alvina

Avery

Antonia

Arista

Astoria

Andrina

Audriana

Audrina

Araminta

Angela

Jessamine

Anastasia

Sophie

Aviana

Juliana

Valentina

Graciella/Graziella

Gisele

Celestina

Cassiopeia

Cassia

Esperanza

Cosima

Chelsea

Cicely

Charlize

Celandine

Catalina

Cascada

Calista

Gioia

Gianna

Geneva

Genevieve

Claire

Isla

Lina

Georgina

Perdita

Juliet

Priya

Jewel

Gemma

Arielle

Francesca

Sabrina

Venetia

Valencia

Tira

Sephora

Stephanie

Summer

Sophie-Anne

Serena

Sapphira

Season

Cherie

Chantal

Siobhan

Rebecca

Regina

Persephone

Penelope

Pearla

Pomeline/a

Plumeria

Portia

Ophira

Aviva

Orlena

Elena

Ophelia

Octavia

Ottylia/Ottilia

Ovidia

Oceana

Odessa

Nadia

Noelle

Tatiana

Mira

Mina

Mariana

Mercedes

Marina

Milena

Magdalena

Marcheline

Marguerite

Mariela

Milana

Lana

Maia

Mirabelle

Melisande

Melusine

Lavie

Lucy

Lumina

Lucinda

Laina/Lena

Lamia

Lily

Lilliana

Luciana

Lilia

Lilika

Liberty

Livia

Ekaterina

Kimberly and Kimberlina

Kira

Jessica

Jemima

Jemma

Julina

Juna

Jasmina

Irina

Isolda

Isla

Astoria

Halina

Eloise/Eloisa

Louisa

Gabrielle

Gina

Evelina

Emiliana

Estelle and Estella

Esprite

Eliana

Evangeline

Elsa

Faustina

Felicity

Felina

Falena

Delphine

Leif

Some of you may recognize Leif as a Viking name, Leif Erikson, one of the first explorers to North America. He did so 500 years before Christopher Columbus, and was written about in the Sagas of Icelanders. He was born about 970 AD. Leif is Norse, Scandinavian, meaning "heir," but it is possible it means "relic." There are a few other famous namesakes, including Leif Garrett, 70s teen idol, which made the name appear on the charts, but it dropped off soon after. Leif can be pronounced the American way, LEEF, or the Norse way, LAYF.

In 2010 there were 172 baby boys named Leif, and in 2011 there were 183.

April

Happy April, and don't forget to consider it as a baby name! April is Latin, meaning "to open," and wasn't used as a given named until the 20th century. It could have been inspired by usage of the French name Avril, a variant of the Old English name Averil, meaning "boar battle." Originally, April came from the Latin word for "second," because at first it was the second month in the year. April symbolizes spring and the freshness and florals that mark this time.

This was very popular since about the 70s, and is still slowly decreasing in popularity. In 2010 there were 832 baby girls named April, ranking #378, and in 2011 it was #395. Be sure to get creative with nicknames for April, as the obvious choice is "ape." Perhaps Rilla?

"April showers bring May flowers"