Baby Girl Vahsstill

Jane writes:

Hello! We’ve been narrowing down names for our soon-to-be-born little girl. The last name is Germanic/Dutch and sounds like VAHSS-till. I don’t want to give too many specifications because we’d like to be surprised. I’m kind of hoping for a “never once considered” suddenly blooming as The Ultimate Choice. Suggestions?

Boy names are difficult because there are so few; girl names are tricky because there are so MANY. There are so many STYLES: there are the gender neutral ones like Cameron and Bailey, or you can go ultra-feminine like Alissandra and Arabella. There are the modern names like McKenna and Cadence, and there are the old names like Margaret and Victoria. Ack! It can be overwhelming!

Since you aren’t giving any hints about where your preferences lie, what I’ll do is give you a list of my own current favorite girl names. And then I hope readers will do the same, so you’ll have a nice broad spectrum to consider.

This isn’t a complete list of my favorites. These are more the names that jump out at me when I go through The Baby Name Wizard. There are many other names that, if I were to give them a moment’s thought, would be on this list in a heartbeat. My own daughter’s name NEVER CAUGHT MY EYE in a million perusals of baby name books; I never noticed it until I saw it in a magazine when I was pregnant. So, anyway, my partial list:

Anastasia
Angela
Anna
Annabel
Audrey
Beatrix
Bridget
Camilla
Celeste
Clara
Clarissa
Cora
Eliza
Ellen
Elsa
Emily
Eva
Felicity
Fiona
Florence
Genevieve
Georgia
Helen
Hope
Jillian
Joy
Liana
Margaret
Millicent
Minerva
Penelope
Rose
Ruth
Stella

Hm. I seem to prefer the first half of the alphabet.

All right, now your turn, commenters! Leave a list of your favorite girl names for Jane to search through.

49 thoughts on “Baby Girl Vahsstill

  1. verygoodyear

    I still have this short list floating around from before I managed to convince my husband to go with my #1 choice, Maia:

    Claire
    Sylvie
    Sophie
    Juliet
    Scarlet
    Scout
    Jolie
    Tegan
    Kiran
    Bailey
    Keira
    Bianca
    Carmen
    Ivy
    Evie / Eve / Evangeline
    Norah
    Fiora/Fiona
    Gwyneth

    Reply
  2. Erika

    My current favorites for girls:
    Ramona
    Saskia
    Phillipa (nn Pippa)
    Matthea
    Thisbe
    Sylvia
    Mira
    Marisol
    Solveig
    Astrid
    Mae
    Carmen
    Elena

    for boys:
    Theodore (nn Theo)
    Edward
    Edmund
    Louis
    Karl
    Charles
    Oscar
    Joseph
    Jonah

    Reply
  3. Lisa

    First off, my girls’ names that I love:
    Morgan, Reagan, Camryn (I call her Cami)

    Other names I love:
    Paige
    Cara
    Aubrey
    Lauren
    Jocelyn
    Sydney
    Whitney
    Riley
    Delaney
    Emery

    Reply
  4. JANE

    This is so fun! There are so many I hadn’t thought of, and of course some we were considering already. Thank you!

    Reply
  5. Clare

    Speaking as someone who has an ethnic, hard to pronounce last name, and a first name that everyone misspells (Clare — no “i”), I say go simple on the first name with your last name. Nothing creatively spelled to terribly unusual. I don’t have specific suggestions, though, but I do like the names Swistle suggested.

    Reply
  6. Anonymous

    Many of these have already been vetoed, but names I like:

    1. Amelia
    2. Anne
    3. Ariana
    4. Athena
    5. Caroline
    6. Catherine/Katherine
    7. Carys
    8. Damara/Damaris
    9. Fiona
    10. Freya
    11. Gabriella
    12. Gretchen
    13. Harley
    14. Jane
    15. Joanna
    16. Juliana (Jules)
    17. Junia
    18. Juno
    19. Kathleen (Kate)
    20. Lucy
    21. Luna
    22. Madeleine
    23. Mae
    24. Nora
    25. Phoebe
    26. River
    27. Sophia
    28. Stella

    Reply
  7. Anonymous

    I want to play!!!! I have no kiddies yet but I was born to be a mom I swear! I have had an ever growing baby name list since I was a wee lass!
    Here are some of my favs:)
    Good luck and PLEASE let us know what you choose when the time comes:)

    Alida (A-LIE-DA)
    Emery
    Verity
    Renata
    Avelyn
    Emerson
    Avaya
    Peyton
    Harper
    Finlay
    Moira
    Sloan
    Liniea (Lyn-Nye-ya)
    Rowan
    Neve
    Auden
    Ainsley
    Jannaea
    Ashlyn
    Emlyn
    Veanna
    Brylee
    Isla
    Esme
    Zealand
    Brynlee
    Raisa

    I like different but not UGLY names:)
    I hope you do too:)

    Reply
  8. Baby B

    Oh no! It appears my comment has been eaten by Blogger! Oh well… hope this is all of them I had listed…

    Girl names (mostly old-fashioned):
    Adeline/Adelaide
    Alice
    Eleanor
    Emeline
    Lydia
    Rosalind
    Rosamund

    I will post any more that come to me!

    Reply
  9. Anonymous

    Julia
    Elizabeth
    Leah
    Nora
    Shannon
    Gabriella
    Emma
    Luciana
    Cara
    Tara
    Megan
    Tegan
    Gwendolyn
    Ashlyn/Aisling
    Eva
    Audrey

    Those have been my top for awhile, but some are too popular to use probably.

    Its funny to see some of the names people have liked or loved and how similar they are to swistle’s list – I wonder if we are influenced by the blog, or the blogger by us, but there are a lot of similar strains.

    Good luck!

    Reply
  10. Spiff

    Love, love, love the name Millicent (Millie). That’s the name I wanted if we were having another girl…alas, we are having a boy.

    Reply
  11. Anonymous

    These are my current favorites in no particular order;

    Audrey
    Sophia
    Coraline
    Rebecca
    Amelia
    Vanessa
    Laura
    Charlotte
    Olivia
    Eleanor
    Sylvia
    Victoria
    Tessa

    What about some nature inspired names;

    Willow
    Briarly
    Fern
    Laurel
    Tansy
    Fawn
    Laurel
    Aspen
    Nova
    Wren

    Or, if you’re looking for something more unusual;

    Adara
    Brea
    Kadira
    Thea
    Zara
    Keturah

    And if you’re looking for something more gender neutral;

    Waverly
    Greer
    Fallon
    Finley
    Emerson
    Kendall
    Peyton
    Harper

    Hope this helps!

    Reply
  12. Anonymous

    Electra
    Allegra
    Athena
    Daphne
    Phoebe
    Iris
    Juliet
    Simone
    Lucia
    Ursula
    Thalia
    Zoya
    Elena
    Nadia
    Sandrine
    Astrid
    Cassandra
    Olive
    Celia

    Reply
  13. Steph the WonderWorrier

    A lot of my favourite names have been listed, but I’ll just toss in a list for your perusal…

    Sophia / Sophie
    Isabelle / Isabella
    Natalie / Natalia
    Claire
    Meghan
    Coralie
    Hannah
    Rebecca
    Olivia
    Claudia
    Cecelia (or just Celia)
    Peyton
    Adriana or Adrienne
    Arianna
    Rianne (pron. “Ree-Anne”)
    Aislin / Aislyn (pron. “Ashlyn”)
    Sierra
    Emmaline / Emily / Emma
    Sarah
    Quinn / Quinne
    Ava
    Leigh (“Lee”)
    Danielle / Daniella

    Reply
  14. Melissa H

    Names I like
    Meredith
    Julia
    Katherine (Kate).

    I see that commenter Lisa has been peering in on our family listing both Emery and Paige which are the names of young cousins in our family. Emery took some getting used to but now I love it. I also saw Laura on someone’s list which is my sister’s name and I still love it (I was jealous she got it when she was born). She is Laura Renee which is quite pretty and Laura is a beautiful name to write in cursive.

    You could always use my word verification as a name ;) Distacan!

    Reply
  15. Frazzled Mom

    A word on Fiona – it’s my daughter’s name, and while I still like it, it is one of those names that was exciting during the pregnancy, but has since become disappointing in it’s unusualness. However, you may not be looking for unusual, and sometimes unusual is not what it’s cracked up to be. And while I admit I’m being completely unreasonable, since I can’t copy write a name, Swistle often recommends it, and every time I silently protest – “It’s MY name.” Yes, I know I should be flattered, and I’m not just hearing Fiona floated around by Swistle. I think I inadvertently picked the next Olivia. Regardless of how petty it may be, I’m keeping most of my favorite names close to my chest in case I have another kid (I’m so selfish), but here are the ones I love but can’t use:

    Girls
    Delia
    Delphine
    Dulcinea “Dulce”
    Elaine “Lainey”
    Eudora
    Euphemia “Effie”
    Fedora
    Giada
    Greta
    Imogen
    Ione
    Lucy
    Mabel
    Millicent “Milla” or “Millie”
    Nora
    Odelia
    Odessa
    Oona
    Opal
    Petra
    Serafina “Fina”
    Silvestra “Silvie” LOVE this, but it’s too long. I think this should be the next Alexandra
    Verena
    Viola
    Zoe
    Noor

    Boys
    Axel
    Calvin
    Dexter
    Duncan
    Felix
    Frank (1)
    Hank
    Linus
    Marcellus
    Maxwell
    Owen (1)
    Paolo
    Paul
    Ramón
    Rex
    Roderick
    Russell
    Simon
    Sylvester

    Reply
  16. JANE

    I thought this might make things easier, but in fact now it’s harder because of all the great suggestions! Thank you all!

    Reply
  17. Susan

    I’m so surprised to see the name Phoebe mentioned several times. I’d have never considered it. But … I think I like it! Would it work for a lawyer or business woman, or is it only perfect for a kissable plump adorable baby? I THINK it would work for an adult, though it strikes me as a particularly warm and friendly name, not a “power name.” I’d love to hear other opinions on Phoebe.

    Continuing with my list:

    Esmée (Like a person who wrote to Swistle a while back, I also think this is pretty much a perfect name.)

    Georgia (Another surprising name … warm, fun to say, but could slip very easily into the board room without anyone batting an eye.)

    Lucy (I admit I’m HUGELY influenced by the character Lucy in the Chronicles of Narnia.)

    I reluctantly DON’T put “Lucienne” on the list. I love it perhaps more than any other name, but I’m afraid it’s awfully French looking with your totally un-French-looking last name.

    Ivy Louise (Please, please, somebody tell me that a little Ivy would have no trouble, no trouble at all, with children saying “poison ivy” and “don’t touch her, or you’ll get poison ivy” and so on. I want to hear from someone who KNOWS that little grade-school boys will NOT assault this wonderful name.)

    Beatrix (I LOVE the nickname Bee and wish I could have a baby girl just to call her Bee. I also think the “trix” ending has some fun nickname potential — and I don’t THINK anything embarrassing.)

    Audrey (I had a darling, smart student named Audrey, and I’ve loved the name ever since.)

    Paige (This name seems so elegant, and my only fear is I’m not sure I could ever use a name so nickname-proof with a baby. Not even my usual trick “Miss Paige” works at all. But … I love the name every time I hear it or see it.)

    Best of luck choosing the perfect name for Little Cute-stuff Vahsstill, and be sure to tell us what you pick and if anyone influenced you!

    Reply
  18. Emilie

    I’m surprised at how many times I’ve seen Georgia listed. It’s my new fave, but somehow I thought I was original. ;-)
    My daughter’s name is Charlotte and I still love it, although it’s way popular here in New England.
    Another favorite of mine is Annabel. I grew up with a girl named Annabelle who is a wonderful person, so it has a very good connotation for me.

    Reply
  19. Anonymous

    Here are some of my favorites that sound pretty when paired with Vahstill:

    Amelia Vahstill
    Ruby Vahstill
    Caroline Vahstill
    Claire Vahstill
    Veronica Vahstill
    Julia Vahstill
    Mia Vahstill
    Bridget Vahstill
    Isla Vahstill
    Ellery Vahstill
    Lila Vahstill
    Sophia Vahstill
    Acacia Vahstill
    Georgina Vahstill “Georgie”
    Katrina Vahstill
    Meredith Vahstill

    Reply
  20. Jodi

    I just love girls’ names. I think I could name 10 girls more easily than one boy!

    Our three girls (and still my three favorite girls’ names) are Philippa (Pippa)
    Romilly and
    Beatrix
    Baby #4 coming soon (if it’s a girl) will be Juniper nn Junie. Probably.

    Here’s the rest of our combined list from 4 pregnnacies (as well as I can remember it off the top of my head). Hope you see something you like (and sorry if you’re already overwhelmed with wonderful suggestions and didn’t want any more!)

    Imogen
    Violet
    Alice
    Felicity
    Verity
    Cecily
    Coralie
    Honor/Honora
    Georgina/Georgiana nn Georgie
    Cornelia/Cordelia nn Cora
    Seraphina
    Sibyl
    Theodora/Theodosia/Anthea nn Thea
    Clementine
    Matilda nn Tilly
    Augusta nn Gussie

    Good luck!

    Reply
  21. Hope

    I tend to like ultra-feminine names, and a lot of mine have already been mentioned, but here goes…

    Alea
    Caroline
    Cosette
    Delia
    Elsa
    Evangeline
    Iris
    Isla
    Julianna
    June
    Layla
    Lila
    Lily
    Olivia
    Stella
    Susannah
    Violet

    Reply
  22. R

    Girl names that were on our list, but that we didn’t use are:

    Maggie
    Mara
    Olivia
    Sophie
    Aubrey
    Bailey
    Kaitlyn
    Annalise

    Wishing you the best of luck!!

    Reply
  23. Anonymous

    A couple ideas not mentioned….

    Althea (nickname Allie or Thea)
    Geneva (nn Genny or Eva)
    Antonia (nn Anna or Toni)
    Tabitha (nn Tabby)

    and two classics that aren’t very popular (yet!):
    Marianne
    Caroline

    Reply
  24. Frazzled Mom

    Not that you need more options, but I just thought of some other names that I like but only on other people’s babies. My first list was actually from a list I saved at behindthename.com. Here are some other names, I feel are pretty solid:

    Deborah – would love to see this come back, but only this spelling, and with the nickname Debs instead of Deb or Debbie.

    Miriam – may have been mentioned before but I’m not sure

    Francesca – love this but wouldn’t go with Fiona

    Mary – like Swistle’s case for John, I feel Mary is more interesting and less common than publicly perceived, and while not exciting during the pregnancy, satisfying in the long term. Plus you can use some very creative middle names. I like Mary Temperance, Mary Genevieve, and Mary Euphemia.

    Beverly – I think this is due for a comeback sooner than the typical 80-100 year cycle because of the “v” (think of Ava, Olivia, Evelyn, Genevieve and others fashion favorites with “v”) and the chic nickname Bev.

    I also second Tabitha. This is a solid Biblical name that hardly every gets used.

    Let us know what you decide please! Good luck.

    Reply
  25. Tracy H

    Here are some of my favorites:
    Addison
    Anna
    Avery
    Chloe
    Delaney
    Emerson
    Finley
    Harper
    Lily
    Meadow
    Ruby
    Wow, there’s a lot of suggestions!

    Reply
  26. Anonymous

    Frazzled – I want to reassure you about Fiona. I live in an urban area where people like to choose interesting, less-popular names for their children. There is one preschool-aged Fiona that I know. That’s it – and I feel as though I know a zillion preschoolers. I don’t think you have to worry; I would bet a lot of money Fiona won’t be in the top 100 any time soon, if ever. It’s a beautiful name, I just don’t see it taking off.

    Susan – I think Ivy Louise is a gorgeous name, and I really and truly do not think an Ivy would get teased horribly about her name. In the scheme of things, “poison ivy” is pretty tame as far as schoolyard names go. (I wish I could say the same for Astrid, which has been ruined a little bit for me by the joke from The Office.) I would use Ivy myself if it didn’t clash with our last name.

    Now if someone could assure me that a boy named Duncan wouldn’t hear Duncan Hines or Dunkin’ Donuts for the rest of his life, I could perhaps settle on a boy name.

    Reply
  27. Karen

    Frazzled Mom, I totally agree with your take on Mary but I forgot to add it to my list of suggestions.

    Mary would be at the top of my own list if it didn’t sound RIDICULOUS our lastname, which sounds like “Lou”. Mary-Lou isn’t a terrible name (though not my style) but when Mary Lou is your whole name? confusing to say the least. By the way, a surname that sounds like Lou is a curse when trying to choose a girl’s name. Try it.

    Luckily I have a family name tradition to continue and it’s a longer stronger name so it sounds fine.

    Reply
  28. Monkey McWearingChaps

    My favourite American names:

    Thomasina
    Honor
    Rosalind
    Roxanne/Roxanna
    Veronica
    Georgiana
    Josephine
    Beatrice
    Alice
    Megan
    Susanna
    Eleanor
    Anastasia
    Scarlet
    Phillipa (with Pippa as a nickname)
    Emilia
    Margot/Margo/Margaux (hands down the most popular name in my high school after “Jennifer” but you hardly see it anymore)
    Ingrid
    Dagmar (I like Swedish names, so sue me!)
    Freya
    Vivian
    Agnes

    and in case you never ever ever want to see another baby with the same name, I offer the “Final Four”

    Wilhelmina, nicknamed “Billy”
    Mildred, nicknamed “Milly”
    Gertrude, nicknamed “Trudy”
    Agatha…well…uh, Agatha

    Heh. Now keep in mind I have a very very uncommon and oldfashioned name much like the last four, except mine also happens to be Indian, which lends an added dimension of “How unfortunate” to the whole proceedings (and a long ethnic last name to boot).

    And I am quite hale and hearty…so don’t worry too much! :D

    Reply

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