Charity comes from the word charity meaning "generous love" from the Late Latin
caritas, or "dear, beloved" from the Latin
carus. It's known as a virtue name and was used by the Puritans. Surprisingly, Charity has been consistently -- albeit uncommonly -- used since records began in the US in 1880. It peaked from 1974-1980 or so, ranking as high as #183 in 1975. It left the Top 1000 in 2013. In 2017, there were 192 girls named Charity.
Andrea is the Italian form of Andreas, which comes from the Greek name Ανδρεας (
Andreas), meaning "manly", and related to Andrew. Andrea can be both masculine and feminine. As a female name, it gained usage in the 17th century before becoming common more recently. It started climbing the charts in the 1940s for girls and continued to steadily climb, peaking in 1981 at #24 and over 11,600 births. Today it ranks at #128.
Rose may seem like a filler name now but it is truly an underrated classic with many longer variations and related names from Rosalie and Róisín to Rosabella and Rosette. It comes from Germanic elements referring to a kind of fame. Of course it is also derived from the Latin
rosa in association with the flower. Always popular, Rose peaked in 1917 with 9,783 births. It declined after the 1950s, but is currently upticking again, ranking at #141 with 2,059 births in 2017.
Bridget is the Anglicized form of the Irish name
Brighid meaning "exalted one". It has usage in Irish mythology as the goddess of fire, poetry and wisdom. It has also been used by several saints. Bridget has been used in the US since the 1880s on record, and has always ranked within the Top 1000. It wasn't until the 1960s that it began rising in popularity. It peaked in 1973 with 2,765 births for the year. It has slowly declined since then, receiving 432 births in 2017 for a rank of #674.
Aberdeen is a Scottish Gaelic name meaning "mouth of the Don" which is a river. It's a nature name and also a city in Scotland. This could be both masculine and feminine, but it only has US usage for females. However, births are very rare. There were two listings way back in 1919 and 1923 for a handful of births, but it wasn't heard from again until 1997. It has had regular usage since 2010, even as many as 25 births in 2017!
Aurora is a triple threat. She was the Roman goddess of the morning, meaning "dawn" in Latin; she is a Disney Princess; and is also relevant to the Northern Lights from the term "Aurora Borealis", which makes her a celestial phenomenon. This name gives you a lot of bang for your buck! No wonder it is skyrocketing in popularity! It has always managed to remain within the Top 1000 since the 1880s, but it has been climbing mostly since 2006, joining the Top 100 in 2015 and ranking at a high of #51 in 2017!
Ellie dates back in standalone usage to the 1880s, but it wasn't until the 2000s rolled in that it really started to shine! It joined the Top 1000 in 1992, and made it into the Top 100 by 2011, which is a pretty fast pace. Now it ranks as the 44th most popular name in the country in 2017. This is quite impressive for a diminutive, nickname name whose modest beginnings come longer names such as Eleanor, Elizabeth and Ellen.
Tracy comes from an English surname meaning "domain belonging to Thracius", originally from a Norman French place name. It is also sometimes used as a nickname for Theresa. It has always been unisex, starting near the same time in the US for both genders in the 1880s. However, this name skyrocketed for females in the 1960s, peaking in 1970 with 18,467 births and a high ranking of #10 in the country. At the same time there were 1,774 male births.
Madeline is the English form of Magdalene, which comes from a title referring to someone from Magdala. Madeline had a nice popularity boost in the 1910s, then peaked at its highest in 1998 at #50. While Madeline with this spelling has always been around since the 1880s, Madelyn is currently more popular. Madelyn surpassed Madeline between 2008 and 2009. Both spellings remain popular in 2017 with Madeline at #100 and Madelyn at #63.
Maria is related to Mary from the Greek
Μαρια and the Hebrew
מִרְיָם. Mary's meaning isn't certain, but it could be either "sea of bitterness", "rebelliousness", or "wished for child". While Mary has obviously been extremely popular, perhaps the most-used female name over time, Maria is slightly less popular. It still ranks well, peaking in 1964 with 10,140 births; and as of 2017, it still received 2,700 births for a rank of #111.
Penelope may come from the Greek πηνελοψ (
penelops) which is actually a kind of duck. Another possibility is that
pene means "threads" and
ops means "face, eye" which could refer to a weaver. Penelope was famously the name of the wife of Odysseus from Homer's epic The Odyssey. This name wasn't consistently used until the 1910s in the US, and it had a small peak in usage in the 1940s. By the new millennium, Penelope was on her way up. It entered the Top 1000 in 2001 and the Top 100 in 2013. It was #24 in 2017.
Daisy is directly related to the flower. However, it also derives from the Old English word
dægeseage meaning "day eye". Sometimes Daisy is used as a nickname for Margaret due to the French name Marguerite becoming associated with the daisy in French. Margaret means "pearl" in Greek, and daisies were considered "pearls of the field" or "marguerites". In the US, Daisy has been used as a given name since records began in the 1880s. It was well used around the 1920s before declining to its lowest point in the 1970s. It rose again after that, reaching a popularity peak in 1996 with 2,514 female births for the year and a rank of #124. It ranked at #170 in 2017.
Vivienne is the French feminine form of the Latin Vivianus, which comes from the word
vivus meaning "alive". The spelling "Vivian" has always been much more common. It peaked in 1920 with over 4,100 births for the year. It declined between the 1960s and the 1990s, but it is climbing again in recent years, ranking as high as #97 in 2017. Whereas, Vivienne didn't pop up until 1895 in the US. It remained rare and ranked outside the Top 1000 until it suddenly leapt on the scene in 2009 with a ranking of #531. In 2017, it climbed up to #252.
Elodie is the French form of Alodia which may be derived from a Visigothic name with Germanic elements such as
alja meaning "foreign" and
aud meaning "wealth". Talk about a name plucked from obscurity! It only ever received handfuls of births over the years since the 1880s, (anywhere from 5 to a high of 19 births in 1917); it wasn't used at all from the 1960s up until 1987 when it regained usage. It hasn't cracked the Top 1000 yet, but it is certainly on its way up the charts! It scored 251 births in 2017 for a rank of #1,025.
Juniper is derived from the Latin word
iuniperus or
juniperus which is a combination of the word
junio which means "young" and
parere which means "to produce". These put together equal "youth producing" or "evergreen". Of course, a Juniper is a type of evergreen tree. Beyond this, Juniper could also be a derivation of the Welsh name Guinevere. Juniper was unused in the US until 1969, and it wasn't until 2011 that it entered the Top 1000. By 2017, it reached new heights of #314 for the year.
Veronica is taken from the name Berenice which comes from the Greek name Φερενικη (
Pherenike) meaning "bringing victory". Veronica was also influenced by the Latin phrase
vera icon which gives it the alternate meaning "true image". Even dating back to 1880, Veronica has always ranked within the Top 500. It was most popular between the 1960s and the 1990s. It's on the downslope now, but still ranked at #378 in 2017.
Lillian is likely a diminutive of Elizabeth, which means "my God is an oath" in Hebrew. Lillian is also considered an elongation of Lily, which comes from the flower and the Latin
lilium. Lillian has always been common but it was super popular 100 years ago. In 1920, it received a peak of 10,049 female births for the year. By the 1960s it declined again to receiving 1000 or less births a year. However, starting around the early 1990s, it regained popularity, hitting a modern high of 7,156 births in 2012 for a rank of #26. It now ranks at #27 in 2017.
Meredith comes from the Welsh name
Maredudd or
Meredydd which may mean "great lord" or "sea lord". It was originally a masculine name, but sometime around the 1920s it gained more usage for females, however, it remains masculine in Wales. In the US, it continued to have male usage as recently as 2011. Overall, it is most common for girls, especially peaking between the 1970s and 1990s. In 2017, there were 626 girls named Meredith for a ranking of #496.
Adelaide has been around since the SSA began recording names in 1880. It comes from the German
Adalheidis which is composed of the elements
adal meaning "noble" and
heid meaning "kind, sort, type." Before the name's modern spike in popularity, the year with the most number of births was 1917 with 537. Adelaide has only had two popularity spikes, the first starting around 1912 and lasting until it declined in the mid 1920s. From the 1950's to the 1990's, Adelaide was rarely used. However, starting just before the year 2000, Adelaide gained more usage. In 2005, it landed in the top 1000 and has been climbing in popularity. It ranked at #276 in 2017.
Which of these names do you like the most? Would you use any?
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