Start your little girl off right with a strong name that will make her proud! Here are some suggestions on how to choose a strong female name.
Looking for a name for a little girl that conveys confidence, assertiveness, and strength? When choosing a name for your little warrior princess, find a name that that will suit her for life-- for the cute little girl stage and the adult years. When looking at names, ask yourself how the name will look on a resume, or on a law school application, or on a presidential ballot. If the name sounds too sweet and cute to image her name with a title (other than Mrs.) before it-- like Dr. or President-- the name might not be all that strong.
If you're looking for a strong baby girl name, here's some tips for things to avoid and things to try.
Strong Baby Girl Names: What to Avoid
Cutesy endings. Ending a name with a diminutive suffix-- like I or IE or EE-- can make an otherwise strong name hard to take seriously. Can you imagine a business woman named Natalie? Probably. But can you imagine a business woman named Natalee? Or Traci? Sure there are exceptions to this; for example, old-fashioned names like Carrie and Annie are traditionally spelled with an IE ending, and don't look particularly cutesy. But avoid making an otherwise solid name "original" by adding a frilly ending.
Cutesy misspellings. It's in vogue to give girls (and boys) unique spellings of common names. Not only will this ensure your child a lifetime full of misspellings, but you'll be giving your child a name that's hard to take seriously. Would you elect a candidate named MaShell, Izzabella, Abbagale, or Aevah?
"Word" names Most established word names are easy to take seriously, like Joy or Grace or Faith or Rose. But newer and trendier word names seem a little young and flaky for a powerful woman. Imagine a governor named Destiny-- or worse yet, Destinee? Or imagine a professor named Precious, Heaven, or Princess?
Ultra-trendy names. Avoid names that came out of nowhere to suddenly become super hot. The names sound dated quickly and not particularly professional. This doesn't include classic names that are popular-- like Emma or Hannah-- as these names are well-established and easy to take seriously. But today's hot trendy names, like Madison or Riley or Jaelyn or Nevaeh-- just don't sound like great choices for a resume.
Strong Baby Girl Names: Things to Try
Classic names Some old-fashioned names never go completely out of style and convey a sense of timelessness. These names are good ones to attach to a resume. Some examples:
- Elizabeth
- Margaret
- Katherine
- Jane
- Anne/Anna
- Frances
- Julia
- Mary/Maria/Marie
- Laura
- Carolyn
Versatile names with nicknames. To give your girl options, give her a solid name with a cute nickname. Alexandra, Katherine, and Gwendolyn can go as Allie, Katie, and Gwen in third grade, but have the option to use their full names in the future.
Androgynous names. A name with a masculine sound may convey more authority than a more feminine name-- sad, but true. Androgynous names have become fairly popular, so you won't have trouble finding lots to choose from. A word of warning; don't try to feminize an androgynous name too much, or the name loses its strength. Jordan, Morgan, Cameron, and Carson are great names, so why ruin them with Jordyn, Morganne, Kamryn, or Karsyn?
Choose the name of a strong woman. For inspiration, look to women you admire. You may want to choose a somewhat unusual name that's associated with a particular woman so that others will get your point. Here's a few suggestions to get you thinking.
- Eleanor-- for Eleanor Roosevelt
- Maya-- for Maya Angelou
- Serena or Venus-- for Serena or Venus Williams
- Condoleeza-- for Condoleeza Rice
- Hillary-- for Hillary Clinton
- Nancy-- for Nancy Pelosi
- Benazir-- for Benazir Bhutto
- Golda-- for Golda Mair
- Indira-- for Indira Ghandi
- Rosa-- for Rosa Parks
- Coretta-- for Coretta Scott King
- Ani-- for Ani DiFranco
- Simone-- for Simone de Beauvoir
- Louisa-- for Louisa May Alcott
Best of luck finding a fabulous name for your strong little girl!
