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$Title{Names for Girls:  I}
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Editors of Consumer Guide
Harder, Kelsey}
$Subject{Names Girls I}
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The Ultimate Baby Name Book


Names for Girls:  I


Iantha             Greek "violet."

lb (see Isabel)

Ida                Old German "work, labor."  The Normans brought this name
                   with them to the British Isles when they invaded in 1066.
                   But the name really came into its own in the nineteenth
                   century when it was very popular, partly because of "The
                   Princess" by Alfred, Lord Tennyson, and especially because
                   of Gilbert and Sullivan's operetta Princess Ida.
    Famous names:  Ida Lupino (actress)
                   Ida B. Wells (educator)
      Variations:  Idalia, Idalina, Idaline, Ide (Irish), Idelle (German),
                   Idette (German)

Idalia (see Ida)

Idalina (see Ida)

Idaline (see Ida)

Ide (see Ida)

Idelle (see Ida)

Idette (see Ida)

Ifetayo            Yoruba (Nigeria) "love brings happiness."

Ilaria (see Hilary)

Ilaris (see Hilary)

Ileana (see Helen)

Ilene (see Helen)

Ilka               Variation of Emily; also, possibly Middle English ilke,
                   "of the same class or group."
     Famous name:  Ilka Chase (actress and columnist)
      Variations:  Ilke, Milka

Ilke (see Ilka)

Ilona (see Helen)

Ilsa               German form of Elizabeth.
      Variations:  Ilse, Elsa, Else

Ilse (see Elizabeth, Ilsa)

Ilvira (see Elvira)

Imagina (see Imogene)

Iman               Possibly a form of Emanuel, Hebrew "the Lord is with us."

Imelda             Variation of Imogene.  For a while at least, this name will
                   be associated with Imelda Marcos, the wife of the
                   Philippine dictator who was removed from power by a popular
                   uprising against his corrupt government in the 1980s.

Imogen (see Imogene)

Imogene            From Latin imaginis, "image."  This unusual name has
                   never appealed to many new parents.
    Famous names:  Imogene Coca (comedienne)
                   Imogen Cunningham (photographer)
 Other spellings:  Imogine, Imojean
      Variations:  Emogene, Imagina (German), Imelda, Imogen (French)

Imogine, Imojean (see Imogene)

Ina                Greek "pure"; also, an Irish variation of Agnes.  This name
                   is also a Latin feminine suffix that was used to form a
                   diminutive or to change a masculine name to a feminine one.
    Famous names:  Ina Balin (actress)
                   Ina Claire (comedienne)

Indira             Hindi Indra, "India."
     Famous name:  Indira Gandhi (prime minister of India)

Ines (see Agnes, Inez)

Inez               Spanish form of Agnes.  When Inez de Castro married Don
                   Pedro, her father-in-law, the king of Portugal, Alfonso I,
                   was so displeased that he had her killed.  The distraught
                   bridegroom never forgave his father, and when he became
                   king, he crowned his dead wife queen.  This romantic tale
                   has made the name Inez consistently popular in Europe and
                   the Americas.  In his epic poem Childe Harold's Pilgrimage,
                   George Gordon, Lord Byron, used the name Inez of Cadiz for
                   his heroine.
  Other spelling:  Ines

Ing (see Ingrid)

Ingaberg (see Ingrid)

Ingar (see Ingrid)

Inge (see Ingrid)

Inger (see Ingrid)

Ingra (see Ingrid)

Ingrid             Old Norse Ingrida possibly from Ing [a Norse hero] + rida
                   [ride]; also, "Ing's daughter."  Ing was the powerful god
                   of the harvest in Norse mythology.  The name Ingrid honors
                   the god and also blesses the child to whom the name is
                   given.
     Famous name:  Ingrid Bergman (actress)
      Variations:  Inga (German and Swedish), Ingar, Inge, Inger, Ingra,
                   Ingunna, Ingaberg

Ingunna (see Ingrid)

Iola               Greek "cloud at dawn."

Iolanda (see Yolanda)

Iolande (see Yolanda)

Iolanthe (see Velvet, Violet)

Iona               Greek "violet"; also, "one from Ionia," which is the
                   ancient name for the western part of Asia Minor bordering
                   the Aegean Sea.
      Variations:  Ione, Ionia

Ione (see Iona)

Ionia (see Iona)

Ira (see Irene)

Irena (see Irene)

Irene              Greek eirene, "peace."  Eirene was the Greek goddess of
                   peace, and Greek queens took the name at their coronations,
                   as did some of the Russian empresses.  In England, this
                   name used to be pronounced with three syllables, as in the
                   name of the beautiful heroine Irene of John Galsworthy's
                   Forsyte novels.
    Famous names:  Irene Cara (actress)
                   Irene Dunne (actress)
                   Irene Worth (actress)
       Nicknames:  Rene, Renee, Renie, Rennie, Renny
      Variations:  Eereena (Russian), Eir, Eirena, Erena, Erinia, Hirena,
                   Ira, Irena (Polish), Irina, Rena (Greek), Rina, Yrenia

Irina              Variation of Irene.
     Famous name:  Irina Ratushinskaya (poet)

Iris               Greek "rainbow."  This "flower" name is a less-likely
                   choice for new parents than Rainbow, which enjoyed a
                   temporary vogue in the late-1960s.
     Famous name:  Iris Murdoch (writer)
      Variations:  Irsa, Irita

Irita (see Iris)

Irma               Feminine form of Herman, Old German "soldier."  Shirley
                   MacLaine's high-stepping portrayal of Irma La Douce may
                   have brought the actress much deserved praise, but the
                   character's occupation may have tainted this name in the
                   minds of many new parents.
      Variations:  Armida, Erma (German), Hermandine, Irme

Irme (see Erma, Irma)

Irsa (see Iris)

Isa (see Isabel)

Isabeau (see Isabel)

Isabel             Variation of Elizabeth.  This variation of Elizabeth came
                   from Ilsabeth, a name that was first used in England during
                   the Middle Ages.
    Famous names:  Isabel Allende (writer)
                   Isabel Bishop (artist)
 Other spellings:  Isabele, Isabell
      Variations:  Bel, Belicia, Belita, Bell, Bella, Belle, Ib, Isa (German),
                   Isabelita, Isabella (Italian and Swedish), Isabelle
                   (German), Isabeau (French), Isbel (Scottish), Iseabail
                   (Gaelic), Iseabal (Scottish), Iseline (French), Ishbel
                   (Irish), Isobel (Scottish), Issie, Issy, Izabel (Polish and
                   Portuguese), Tibbie (Scottish), Ysabel (Spanish)

Isabele, Isabell (see Isabel)

Isabelita (see Isabel)

Isabella           Variation of Elizabeth and Isabel.  Isabella I, Queen of
                   Castile, was so sure that Christopher Columbus knew the
                   quickest route to India that she sold her jewelry to help
                   pay for his voyage.  In Boston, another generous and
                   public-minded woman of this name, Isabella Stewart Gardner,
                   turned her home, which is a reconstructed Venetian palace,
                   into a museum for her magnificent art collection.
     Famous name:  Isabella Rosselini (actress)

Isabelle           Variation of Isabel.

Isadora            Greek "gift of Isis," from Isis [goddess of the Nile] +
                   dorus [gift].  If you want your baby girl to grow up to be
                   a dancer, you might name her after the famous
                   twentieth-century dancer and free spirit, Isadora Duncan.

Isbel (see Isabel)

Iseabail (see Isabel)

Iseabal (see Isabel)

Iseline (see Isabel)

Ishbel (see Isabel)

Isobel (see Isabel)

IsoIda (see Isolde)

Isolde             Celtic "beautiful"; also, Old German "rule."  Isolde is the
                   heroine of an often-told tale of tragic love that was
                   incorporated into the Arthurian legend by Sir Thomas
                   Malory.  Sir Tristram was sent to Ireland to bring Isolde
                   the Fair to Cornwall, where she was to marry his uncle,
                   King Mark.  Unwittingly, she and Tristram swallowed a love
                   potion and fell in love.  After many secret meetings, the
                   lovers became estranged, and Tristram married another
                   Isolde.  But on his deathbed, Tristram called for his true
                   love.  She came to him but arrived too late and found that
                   Tristram had died in despair, believing that Isolde was not
                   coming back to him.  Isolde then died of grief beside
                   Tristram.  Wagner wrote the opera, and Mathew Arnold,
                   Swinburne, and many other modern writers have also retold
                   the sad story of Isolde.
      Variations:  Isolda, Isolt, Yseult, Ysoit, Ysolt, Ysonde

Isolt (see Isolde)

Issie, Issy (see Isabel)

Ivie (see Ivy)

Ivonne (see Yvonne)

Ivy                Old English ifig, "ivy."  This plant was sacred to Bacchus
                   and played a part in the religious ceremonies of the
                   Druids.  In England, it used to be hung as a tavern sign.
     Famous name:  Ivy Compton-Burnett (novelist)
  Other spelling:  Ivie

Izabel (see Isabel)