D-Dun-Dun-Dun-Duuuuunn

Did you know there're no D-names for girls in the Top 100? Destiny is the highest-ranked, at #113, followed by Delilah, Daniela, Daisy, & Delaney also in the Top 250.
In the past, a few different D-names have been common for girls (several currently are for boys!), but I guess most must be 'unstylish' right now.

• Daciana (dah-chee-AH-nah, Romanian)
• Dagny (DAHG-nee, Norwegian; DAHNG-nee, Swedish; DAG-nee, English)--from Old Norse, "new day". Latvian form is Dagnija (DAHG-nee-yah).
• Dahlia (DAH-lee-ah or DAY-lee-ah, English)--Spanish form is Dalia (DAHL-yah)
• Daina (DAY-nah, Lithuanian; DYE-nah, Latvian)--"song"
• Dáiríne (DAH-rin-yeh, Irish)--Anglicized as Darina. 
• Damaris (DAM-ah-ris, English; DAH-mah-ris, German; dah-MAH-rees, Spanish)
• Damhnait (DAV-nat, DOW-nat, Irish)--"fawn". Anglicized as Devnet or Dymphna (DIMF-nah)
• Damiana (dah-mee-AH-nah, Italian)--feminine of Damian. 
• Danaë (dah-NAH-ee, Greek)
• Danica (DAN-ik-ah, English; DAH-nee-kah, Slavic)--"morning star"
• Daniyah (DAN-ee-ah, Arabic)
• Daphne (DAF-nee, English; DAHF-neh, Dutch & German)--from Greek, "laurel". Other forms include Dafna (Hebrew), Dafne (Italian), & Dafina (Albanian & Macedonian)
• Dara (DAH-rah, Slavic)--"gift". Other forms include Darinka, Darina & Daryna.  [masculine in other languages/origins]
• Darcy (DAR-see, English)
• Daria (DAH-ree-ah, Italian, Polish)--feminine of Darius. Other forms include Dareia (Greek), Darija (Croatian, Serbian), Darja (Czech), and Darya (Russian)
• Darya (dahr-YAH, Persian)--"sea"
• Davina (dah-VEE-nah, English)--feminine of David
• Deirdre (DEER-dreh, English; DEHR-dreh, Irish)
• Delphine (del-FEEN, French)--other forms include Delphina (Latin), Delfina (Italian, Spanish), & Delphia (English)
• Delwen (DEL-wen, Welsh)--"pretty & blessed"
• Delyth (DEL-ith, Welsh)--"pretty"
• Demeter (deh-MEE-ter, English; deh-MEH-tehr, Greek)--"earth mother"
• Demetria (deh-MEE-tree-ah, English; deh-MEH-tree-ah, Greek, Italian)
• Denica (deh-NEETZ-ah, Macedonian, Bulgarian)--"day, morning"
• Despina (DES-pee-nah, Greek, Russian, Macedonian)
• Desta (DEH-stah, Amharic)--"joy"
• Devi (DEV-ee, Hindi)--"goddess"
• Devika (DEV-ee-kah, Hindi)--"little goddess"
• Diantha (dee-AHN-thah, Dutch, English)--from Greek, "heavenly flower"
• Dilan (dee-LAHN, Turkish)--"love"
• Dinah (DYE-nah, English; dee-NAH, Hebrew)
• Dionisia (dee-oh-NEE-see-ah, English, Portuguese, Spanish, Italian)--form of Denise. 
• Doina (DOH-ee-nah, Romanian)--"folk song"
• Domenica (doh-MEH-nee-kah, Italian)--feminine of Dominic. Other forms include Dominga (Spanish), Dominica (Latin), Dominika (Czech, Russian, Polish, Slovak), and Domnika (Macedonian)
• Donata (doh-NAH-tah, Italian)
• Dorothea (doh-roh-THEE-ah, English; doh-roh-TE-ah, German)--other forms include Dorete (doh-REH-teh, Danish, Swedish), Dorotea (doh-roh-TEH-ah, Italian, Spanish, Croatian) & Dorit (DOHR-it, Scandinavian). 
• Drusa (DROO-sah, Latin)--another (Latin) form is Druscilla.
• Dua (DOO-ah, Arabic)--"prayer"
• Dulcinea (dool-sin-EH-ah, Spanish, English)
• Dunja (DOON-yah, Slavic)
• Dušana (doo-SHAH-nah, Slavic)--"soul"

Same Name?!?--Agnes

Oh, poor Agnes. Once one of the most popular girls names in all the English-speaking world, she fell off the charts in the early 70s, and has hardly been seen since. If the "hundred-year rule" holds true, we may be seeing more of her soon, but thanks to a celebrated saint, you can already find a different version in nearly every language in the Western world.

Original Greek form: Hagne [Άγνη] (HAHG-nee)
Latin form: Agnes (AHG-nes)

Other forms:

• Agnė (AHG-nay)--Lithuanian
• Agnese (ahn-YEH-zeh)--Italian
• Agnese (AHG-neh-seh)--Latvian
• Agnessa (ahg-NYEH-sah)--Russian
• Agneta (ang-NEH-tah)--Scandinavian. Also spelled Agnetha.
• Agneza (ahg-NEH-zah)--Croatian
• Agnieszka (ag-NYESH-kah)--Polish
• Agnija (AHG-nee-ah)--Macedonian, Serbian
• Annis (AN-nis)--English
• Aune (OW-neh)--Finnish
• Inès (ee-NEZ)--French
• Inês (EE-nez)--Portuguese
• Inés (ee-NES)--Spanish
• Inez (ee-NEZ, EYE-nez)--English
• Jagusia (yah-GOO-shah)--Polish
• Nancy (NAN-see)--English
• Nesta (NES-tah)--Welsh
• Neža (NEH-zhah)--Slovene
• Oanez (WAHN-ez)--Breton

Usual Name, Unexpected Nickname--Alexander

For such a long time, Alex was the favored nickname for Alexander, but in recent years, you're just as likely to hear Xander. Thanks to Alexander the Great, his name spread throughout Europe and the Middle East, and while the variants of Alexander all bear strong resemblance to the original (Eskandar, Alistair, Oleksander, to name a few), the nicknames have surprising variety.

• Ace (AYS)--English
• Ace/Atse (ATS-eh)--Macedonian
• Aleš (AH-lesh)--Czech & Slovak
• Lekso (LEK-so)--Serbian
• Sandy (SAN-dee)--English
• Santeri (SAHN-teh-ree)--Finnish
• Sasha (SAH-shah)--Russian
• Sawney (SAW-nee)--Scottish
• Shurik (SHOOR-eek)--Russian
• Skender (SKEN-der)--Albanian

Although it's technically a full name in its own right, the related Alexis and variant forms are sometimes used as a nickname for Alexander and company. While Alexander means "defender of man", Alexis is simply "defender". 

• Aleix (ah-LAYSH)--Catalan
• Alejo (ah-LEH-hoh)--Spanish
• Aleksei (ah-lyek-SAY)--Russian
• Alessio (ah-LES-syoh)--Italian

If you saw this post when it first went up, I apologize! I'm not sure how I managed to only publish part of it, but I've added in the missing Alexis segment. :)

Same Name?!--John

What can you say about John? Thanks to a pair of admirable Bible characters, it's one of the most popular boys' names of all time, extremely common in all three major branches of Christianity (Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholic, & Protestant). It didn't lose its hold in America until the 80s, and even then, it's still in the top 25. It's also one of the few traditional names with a comparable range of both male and female versions.
For some, John is a solid classic, for others, it's bland and tired.
And despite the similarity in English, it's actually unrelated to Jonathan.

Original Hebrew form: Yochanan [יוֹחָנָן] (yoh-kha-nahn)
Greek transliteration: Yoannes (yoh-AHN-nehs)
Latin form: Iohannes (yoh-AN-nes)

Modern versions:

• Evan (EV-an)--Welsh. Anglicized from Iefan. Other forms include Ifan (EE-van), Ieuan (YAY-an), Ioan (YOH-an), Iwan (EE-wan), and Sion (SHON [via Jehan]).
• Ganix (JAHN-eesh)--Basque
• Giovanni (joh-VAHN-nee)--Italian
• Hank (HANK)--Medieval English (via Hann)
• Hann (HAHN)--Medieval English (via Johannes). Diminutive is Hankin.
• Hans (HAHNS)--Dutch, German, Scandinavian (via Johannes)
• Honza (HON-zah)--Czech (via Hans)
• Ian (EE-an)--Scottish. Older form is Iain.
• Ion (YON)--Romanian
• Ivan (ee-VAHN or EYE-van)--Slavic
• Jack (JAK)--English (via Jankin) 
• Jan (YAHN, JAN)--Czech, Dutch, German, Medieval English. English diminutive is Jankin.
• Janez (YAHN-ez)--Slovene
• Jehan (zheh-han)--Medieval French
• Jens (YENS)--Dutch
• João (ZHOO-ow)--Portuguese
• Johan (YOH-han)--German, Scandinavian
• Johannes (yo-HAN-nes)--Late Latin
• Jovan (YOH-van)--Macedonian, Serbian
• Juan (HWAHN)--Spanish
• Keoni (keh-oh-nee)--Hawaiian
• Sean (SHAHN)--Irish. Sometimes anglicized to Shane.
• Xoan (SHOH-awn)--Galician
• Yann (YAHN)--Breton. Diminutive is Yannick.

Feminine forms:

• Gianna (JAHN-nah)--Italian
• Ioanna (yoh-AHN-nah)--Greek
• Ionela (yoh-NEL-lah)--Romanian
• Ivana (ee-VAH-nah)--Slavic
• Jana (YAH-nah)--Dutch, German
• Jane (JAYN)--English (via Jehanne). Diminutives are Janet, Janice, and Jenny.
• Janneke (YAH-neh-keh)--Dutch
• Jean (JEEN)--English, Scottish (via Jehanne). Scottish diminutive is Jessie.
• Jeanne (ZHAHN)--French (via Jehanne). Diminutives are Jeannine and Jeannette.
• Jehanne (zheh-hahn)--Medieval French
• Joan (JONE)--English (via Johanne)
• Joana (zhoo-AH-nah)--Portuguese
• Joanna (joh-AN-nah)--English
• Johanne (zhoh-ahn)--Medieval French
• Jovana (yoh-VAH-nah)--Macedonion, Serbian
• Seona (SHOH-nah)--Scottish (via Joan)
• Sheena (SHEE-nah)--Scottish (via Jeanne)
• Sian (SHAHN)--Welsh
• Siobhan (shi-VAWN)--Irish (via Jehanne). Anglicized to Shevon or Chevonne.
• Zana (ZHAH-nah)--Slovene

Same Name?!--Katherine

Ah, Katherine. Literally one of the oldest names on earth. It's so old that it's original meaning has been lost to time. Many baby books & websites will tell you it means "pure", but that's only partially true. The original recorded form was Aikaterine, which has several possible origins. But when Christianity became really big in ancient times, it was altered because of its "heathen" roots, and thus became Katharina--closely resembling the Greek word for "pure".

Oldest known form (Greek): Aikaterine [Αικατερινη] (eye-kat-ehr-EEN-ee)
Original Latin form: Katerina (kaht-er-EEN-ah)

Modern versions:

• Cadi (KAH-dee)--Welsh
  
• Caitlin (KAHT-leen)--Irish
• Catalina (kah-tah-LEE-nah)--Romanian & Spanish
• Cateline (kah-tel-een)--medieval French
• Cato (ka-TOH)--Dutch
• Catrin (KAHT-reen)--German
• Catrin (KAT-rin)--Welsh
• Catriona (kah-TREE-uh-nah)--Irish & Scottish
• Kadri (KAH-dree)--Estonian
• Kaia/Kaja (KAH-ya)--Scandinavian
• Kaisa (KYE-sah)--Estonian & Finnish
• Kalena (kah-leh-nah)--Hawaiian
• Karen (KEHR-en or KAHR-en)--Danish
• Katell (KAH-tel)--Breton
• Katina (kah-TEE-nah)--Greek & Macedonian
• Katrina (kah-TREEN-ah)--Dutch, German, & Swedish
• Katya (KAHT-ya)--Russian
• Kotryna (koh-TRIN-ah)--Lithuanian
• Nienke (NEEN-keh)--Frisian