Alternatives to Top 15 Girl Names

Many parents search through the Top Baby Names list each year, desperately hoping that their favorite name hasn’t jumped up in the popularity list — especially not into the Top 10, which basically guarantees that there’ll be at least one or two (or a dozen) other Sophias or Jacobs in their class.

But it’s not like the days where newly trendy names like Jessica and Amanda topped the charts. Most current chart-toppers are lovely classic names — Sophia, Emma, Abigail, Natalie — shared by generations of women past. Classic names will always be classic — and if you really love a name, ranking shouldn’t matter — but you still might feel uneasy about choosing such a popular name right now.

So I searched through the Top 15 most popular girl names for 2011 and researched other less common names that have similar histories, meanings, nicknames, and/or sounds. Of course nothing can replace a family name or a certain association in your mind, but you just might love one of these possible alternatives for your baby girl:

1. Sophia - Louisa, Sonia, Serena, Josephine, Athena, Seraphina.

(If you prefer Sophie, alternatives names could be Sylvie, Daphne, or Sadie)

2. Isabella - Mirabella, Arabella, Estella, Annabel, Adela, Belinda, Isadora (nickname: Izzy), Isis, Anastasia, Francesca

3. Emma - Elsa, Etta, Esme, Gemma, Emmy, Clara, Emilia (although close to #30 Amelia), Emmeline, Alice

4. Olivia - Olive (spunkier!), Ophelia, Odelia, Louisa

5. Ava - Ada, Isla, Eve/Eva, Evelyn, Wren, Paloma, Alouette, Avis, Ivy, Greta, Maya

6. Emily - Cecily, Emery, Ember, Emmy, Millie, Beverly, Emmeline, Elodie, Leigh

7. Abigail - Lydia, Eliza, Tabitha, Priscilla

8. Madison - Madeline, Madeleine, Maisy/Maisie, Emerson, Marley

9. Mia - Mara, Esme, Mira, Pia, Eve, Isa, Rue

10. Chloe - Phoebe, Sadie, Clara, Daisy, Posey, Lola

11. Elizabeth - Elsa, Eliza, Beatrice, Margaret, Bethia, Libby

12. Ella - Isla, Elsa, Esme, Eliza, Eden

13. Addison - Adelaide, Adeline, Adair, Alice

14. Natalie - Coralie, Elodie, Nora, Matilda, Eleanor

15. Lily – Iris, Daisy, Poppy, Lila, Leila, Lilac, Flora, Libby

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