the name collector // part i

"I read in a book once that a rose by any other name would smell as sweet, but I've never been able to believe it. I don't believe a rose would be as nice if it was called a thistle or a skunk-cabbage."
- Anne Shirley,  Anne of Green Gables

//

 Name-collecting is my newest weirdest hobby. It's amazingly fun. Most of the time it consists of just hearing an interesting name anywhere and jotting it down - but sometimes I go so far as looking through baby-name books or websites. It may come in useful someday for future fictional characters, or future children, or future pet goldfish. Of course, there are some names that stand out among all names as being the loveliest in the whole world. So here are:

 my current favorite names

part I - girl names

 Note: "Current" because I keep finding new favorites. Some (most) are extremely old-fashioned, and you may notice that a lot of them are literary characters...

Emilie

Another spelling for "Emily" (I love both spellings) - Latin, meaning "admiring"

Violet

French, meaning "purple flower"

Eleanor/Ella

Greek, meaning "light" - Ella can totally be a name on it's own, but I've loved it as a nickname for Eleanor ever since I read Ella Enchanted :)

Enna

[pronounced like 'Jenna' without the 'j'] Irish, meaning either "light" or "bird-like"

Diana

Latin, meaning "heavenly, divine"

Emeline

French, meaning "hardworking"

Danielle

[dan-YEL or dan-yel-UH] French feminine form of the Hebrew name 'Daniel' which in means "God is my judge"

Alina

[ah-LEE-nah] Arabian, meaning "noble".

Mollie

A form of 'Mary' which means "bitter" (well that's not very nice!)

Lea

Another spelling for 'Leah' - Hebrew, for "weary" or "delicate"

Elaine

French, meaning "light", from the legends of King Arthur :)

Emma

Latin, meaning "universal"

Brielle

French, meaning "exalted goddess" or short for Gabrielle...and also it's the title of this lovely song :)

Adelaide

German, meaning "noble, kind"

Charlotte

French, meaning "feminine"

Lila

Arabic, meaning "night" (ohhh wait a second...Lila means Arabian Nights!?)

Anastasia

Feminine form of the Greek name 'Anastasius', meaning "Resurrection"

Bella

Latin, meaning "beautiful"  

Fiona

Irish, meaning "fair"

December

Dead serious about this one! So I might not ever name my future child this, but for a book-character I think it's lovely :)

 And one more Anne quote (she had a lot to say about names. I think she shared this hobby...)

"That's a lovely idea, Diana," said Anne enthusiastically. "Living so that you beautify your name, even if it wasn't beautiful to begin with. . .making it stand in people's thoughts for something so lovely and pleasant that they never think of it by itself." 

-Anne of Avonlea 

Name-meaning info came from behindthename.com and name-meanings.com. 
'Part II - boy names' coming in the near future :)