Fernanda

Fernanda is the feminine of Fernando, both descended from the Visigothic Fredenandus, a compound of frid "peace" and nand "brave." The name traveled with the Iberian crowns across the Atlantic, flourishing most brilliantly in Portugal, Brazil, and Mexico. Brazilian novelist Fernanda Torres and Mexican actress Fernanda Castillo have given it contemporary wattage. In the United States it now ranks 500, carried largely by Latin American families who prize its elegance and length. Four syllables wrapped in a telenovela glow and centuries of royal ancestors, the name has the carriage of a formal dress and the ease of a first-name-only wave.