Cali

Cali tastes like salt air and a convertible top rolled back. Often read as a clipped homage to California, it also pulls from Greek kalli, "beautiful," the prefix behind Calliope and Callista. In Colombia, Cali is the salsa capital, a city that dances until dawn. All of these associations braid together in a name that feels sunny, breezy, and a little bit pop. Ranked 495, it has risen with the wave of short, bright girl names like Remi and Luna. Two syllables, a sandal in the doorway, a surfboard on the roof.