Anastasia

Anastasia descends from the Greek anastasis, "resurrection," a name given in the early Christian centuries to girls born near Easter, and later claimed by Russian grand duchesses and a saint beheaded under Diocletian. For most Americans, Anastasia will always carry a faint echo of the lost Romanov princess and the animated film that reimagined her in sweeping shades of blue. Four measured syllables, a long emphasized a, a sibilant that softens the whole line. Anastasia sits in the U.S. top 170s, a favorite of parents who love a long, unmistakably regal name and don't mind a handful of nicknames.