Olivia

Shakespeare invented her — or at least the modern spelling — scribbling Olivia into Twelfth Night in 1601 as a countess in mourning, silver-witted and self-possessed. The Latin root oliva gives her the olive branch, ancient shorthand for peace, and four centuries later she carries that quiet authority into nursery after nursery. Olivia topped the American girls' chart for five years running, a small dynasty of her own. The name moves like cursive: three soft syllables, a vowel-bright ending, a touch of Italian villa light. It belongs equally to a toddler in corduroy overalls and to the countess still reading in a velvet chair somewhere.