Baby name needed: Girl name for Ethan’s sister

A reader named Kathy is expecting a baby girl in December. She’d like some help coming up with a name. She writes:

I have a 25 month old named Ethan. I have loved that name but am sad to see it’s become so popular. I would like suggestions for a feminine, unique girl name if you have some.

Kathy does like the name Ava, but feels it’s too popular to use.

She also mentions that the baby will be of German/Irish extraction and have a 2-syllable surname that starts with an h (think Hofler).

Ethan and Ava are short, simple, traditional names. But they both happen to be very popular right now. So I looked for girl names that have a similar profile, but that aren’t quite as popular (i.e. none are top 20).

Alice
Amy
Anna
Clara
Cora
Elsa
Gemma
Heidi
Ivy
Laura
Leah
Lucy
Lydia
Marie
Mary
Naomi
Paula
Ruth
Sarah
Susan

Now, Kathy did use the word “unique” in her e-mail. None of the above names could be described as unique. In fact, I don’t think any baby name is unique in a literal sense. But here are some names that weren’t popular enough to make the top 1,000 in 2009.

Anja
Audra
Flora
Jill
Judy
Marla
Petra
Sonja

Which of these names do you like best with Ethan? What other names would you suggest to Kathy?

8 thoughts on “Baby name needed: Girl name for Ethan’s sister

  1. Evelyn (Evie is the cutest nickname), Beatrice (just popped to mind as unique), or Glencora (always wanted to use this one, from The Pallisers). Cora from your list is wonderful as well.

  2. Carmen, Julia, Bevin, Maura, Maire, Dara, Amelia, Edith (Edie, on the same lines as Evie), Joelle or other Jo-derivatives, Janine, Ivy…

    Of yours, I like Sonja the best. But I also don’t think that names have to go together–my family of origin is Bridgett, Ian, Bevin, Colleen (obviously Irish-Americanish) but my own children are Sophia, Maeve, and Leo, which doesn’t have much in common except lots of vowels…

  3. I like Anja with Ethan, and there’s the Irish spelling Aine, if you were feeling adventurous. :)

  4. Sorry, meant to write that ‘Anja’ with a ‘Y’… Anya.

    Even if it is pronounced the same, the ‘j’ could be confusing, and I think the simpler spelling better compliments ‘Ethan’. :)

  5. I LOVE Audra with Ethan.

    Audra and Lydia were great suggestions.

    What about:

    Elena
    Clara
    Zara
    Lia
    Annalise
    Norah
    Cora
    Dahlia
    Amara

  6. I realize this is an old post but I had to comment. My son’s name is Ethan and I’m looking at sister names. For years I loved Elsa, but Disney has taken that choice from me. My two dogs are named Gemma and Lucy. So I would say you hit the nail on the head with your suggestions, lol!

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