40 Strong Girl Names For Your Tough Cookie

We all want to raise strong, resilient, empowered little girls, and that goal can start with the very first thing we give them: their name! Here are some of our favorite strong girl names that reflect power, intelligence, authority, and even fierceness.

Names that mean strength

• Bree: This Irish name means not only “strength,” but “power.” The same root can be found in the name Briana
• Nyathera: This name comes to us from the Kisii region of Kenya and means “she survived.”
• Valen: A gender neutral name that comes from the same root where we get names like Valerie and Valentina, Valen means “healthy and strong.”
• Olori: A title in addition to a name that means “queen consort” in the Yoruba of West Africa.
• Gabriella: This name comes from Hebrew and means “God is my strength.”
• Cassandra: We could not be more obsessed with this name or its meaning— “she who shines and excels over men.” Girl yas.
• Xandra: Like Cassandra, this name also comes from Greek and means “defender of mankind.”
• Hero: This name given to one of the heroines of Much Ado About Nothing speaks for itself!
• Cyrene: This beautiful Persian name means “throne.”
• Adira: “Strong, noble, and powerful” define this lovely Hebrew name.

Names inspired by strong women

• Maya: Angelou; American poet and activist.
• Boudica: Ancient Queen of the Britons who defended her people from invading Romans alongside her daughters. Her name means “victorious woman.”
• Malala: Yousafzai; activist and women’s rights advocate who was the youngest person ever to win a Nobel Peace Prize.
• Eleanor: Whether you’re talking about Roosevelt or Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine, this is a beautiful name given to powerful women. It means “lighthearted.”
• Esther: The Jewish Queen who saved her people from genocide while exiled in Persia.
• Yael: Another heroine of the Bible, Yael single-handedly took out an enemy general and delivered an important victory to the Israelite army.
• Harriet: Tubman; abolitionist, Union spy, and all-around American bad*ss.
• Ruby: Bridges; at just 6 years old this little queen stood up to hatred and racism and desegregated her Louisiana school.
• Amelia: Earhart; the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic ocean, paving the way for generations of female aviators.
• Cleo: As in “Cleopatra,” the last queen of Egypt. You could go with the full name, but we think Cleo is gorgeous; it means “to make famous.”

Names inspired by goddesses

• Athena: The Greek goddess of wisdom and battle strategy.
• Durga: The powerful Hindu mother goddess is associated with strength, protection, motherhood, and more. She has many different names – all good options, TBH – and Durga means “the invincible one.”
• Freya: The Norse goddess of love, beauty, fertility, sex, war, gold, and magic. Her name is also spelled Freyja.
• Artemis: The virginal Greek goddess of the moon and hunting.
• Kali: The Hindu goddess of ultimate power, time, destruction and change.
• Brigid: In Irish mythology, Brigid is the goddess of healing, pottery, and blacksmithing.
• Gaia: The Greek goddess of the earth and mother to many of the great Olympians.
• Lakshmi: The Hindu goddess of wealth, good fortune, youth, and beauty.
• Mayari: In Tagalog mythology, Mayari is the goddess of night and the moon, war and revolution, equality, and strength.
• Nyx: The Greek goddess and personification of the night.

Strong girl names for warrior girls

• Brenna: This variation of the Scandinavian name Brenda means “sword.”
• Bellatrix: Not just the name of the evil witch in Harry Potter! Bellatrix comes from Latin and means “female warrior.”
• Harlow: This English name was originally a surname but has become more popular in recent years as a first name. It means “battle hill.”
• Xiomara: This Spanish/Basque name means “battle ready.”
• Matilda: Given to early queens of England, this name of Germanic origin means “mighty in battle.”
• Valkyrie: In Norse mythology, the valkyrie were a host of supernatural warrior women who would escort those who had fallen in battle into the halls of Valhalla.
• Zelda: Not just the elven princess in a video game! This name derives from the Germanic name “Griselda” and means “dark battle” or “grey fighting maiden.”
• Alessia: This Italian name means “defending warrior.”
• Jasira: In Swahili, this name means “bold and courageous.”
• Hilda: We don’t know why so many rad warrior woman names come from German, but this name means “battle maiden.”

And, of course, another option is to name your girl after a strong woman in your own life. There is an endless supply of women out there to inspire a name for your strong girl.