Evangeline

Evangeline descends from the Greek evangelos, "bearer of good news," and first appeared as a first name in Longfellow's 1847 epic poem about an Acadian girl searching for her lost love through a continent's worth of grief. That literary origin gives the name a slightly melancholy glow, like candlelight across water. Evangeline has climbed steadily in the past decade, helped along by Disney's Princess and the Frog, and currently sits in the U.S. top 175. Four lilting syllables, a bright opening vowel, a long soft finish. Romantic, unabashedly feminine, and just old-fashioned enough to feel like a discovery rather than a trend.