Adriana
Popularity rank in the U.S.: #177
Meaning: Dark, rich, woman of the sea
Brazilian Adriana Lima is a model and actress, best known as a Victoria's Secret Angel, Guess girl, spokeswoman for Maybelline and runway model for Balmain, Marc Jacobs, Vera Wang, Giorgio Armani and Valentino. She's another of People magazine's Most Beautiful People, and her name is a feminine form of the Roman Hadrian, an identifier for people from a town on the Adriatic Sea.
Gabriel
Popularity rank in the U.S.: #24
Meaning: God is my strong man
Canadian Gabriel Aubry is a go-to model forTommy Hilfiger, Gianni Versace, Calvin Klein, DKNY, Valentino, Nautica, Joop, Massimo Dutti and Next, a L'Uomo Vogue cover guy and a People magazine pick for their Most Beautiful People list. No wonder he's a top earning male model. Gabriel — "Gabe" or "Gabbi" for short — was a luminous biblical archangel. The name comes from Hebrew for "God is my strongman" and only recently caught fire in the English-speaking world.
Elle
Popularity rank in the U.S.: #395
Meaning: Bright one, shining one, God is my perfection
Elle Macpherson, supermodel for Galliano, Valentino, Christian Dior, Ralph Lauren, Azzedine Alaia, Donna Karan, Nicole Miller, Perry Ellis, Todd Oldham and Calvin Klein, can also list Sports Illustrated and Victoria's Secret — and a postage stamp in Antigua and Barbuda — as career highlights. Elle is the English diminutive for the Occitan name of queen and serial heartbreaker Eleanor of Aquitaine, the French word for "she," Old Greek for "shining one," and Hebrew for"God is my perfection."
Georgia May
Popularity rank in the U.S.: #243
Meaning: Earth worker, wished-for child, beloved
Sweet, old-fashioned and future-focused, Georgia May is a lyrical handle worn by Mick Jagger's and supermodel Jerry Hall's little girl. London-based Georgia May Jagger is an up-and-coming clotheshorse for Chanel, Miu Miu, Versace, Viviene Westwood and Hudson jeans, who's already represented British fashion on an Olympic runway with fashion industry legends Kate Moss and Naomi Campbell. Georgia, from Greek for "earth" and "farmer," and May from Hebrew for "wished for child" and Egyptian for "beloved," add up to a melodic tribute to your emerging beauty.
Heidi
Popularity rank in the U.S.: #347
Meaning: Noble person, noble-natured
Heidi Klum is a sunny German model, savvy entrepreneur and perennial stunner whose "Project Runway" keeps her front and center in the public eye. Heidi is the German and Dutch form ofAdelaide — "adal" meaning "noble" and "heid" meaning "kind" or "type." The name migrated to English-speaking countries after the Shirley Temple movie in which a tiny dynamo has her heart in the right place and saves the day. So many role models!
Gisele
Popularity rank in the U.S.: #215
Meaning: Promised daughter
German supermodel Gisele Bundchen has been Forbes' highest paid model for eight years in a row. She made $47 million in 2014 working for H&M, Carolina Herrera, Chanel, the rest of the big houses, and her own product deals and fashion lines. The name comes from the Germanic word "gisil," meaning "hostage" or "pledge," and probably signified the prized noble daughter pledged to a foreign court in marriage. Gisele is the French form of the more common Giselle, the name of a beloved romantic ballet.
Iman
Popularity rank in the US: Not ranked.
Meaning: Faith
Somali-born Iman is a fashion industry legend who is so well-known she goes by her first name. Iman's first modeling assignment was for Vogue, and she was the muse for prominent designers Halston, Gianni Versace, Calvin Klein, Issey Miyake and Donna Karan — Yves Saint-Laurent described her as his "dream woman." Iman developed a successful line of ethnic cosmetics and is as famous for her charitable works as she is for her marriage to singer-songwriter David Bowie. Her name comes from an Arabic word meaning "to be faithful."
Lars
Popularity rank in the US: Not ranked.
Meaning: From a place of laurels
Lars is the Scandinavian version of Laurence, a name from Roman and Latin forms of the laurel plant and wreaths given to victors and heroes in ancient Greece. Lars Burmeister has walked the runway for Hugo Boss, Armani, Versace, Dolce & Gabbana, Michael Kors, Louis Vuitton and more, and his lens-friendly image is a familiar one on fashion rag covers. Short, sexy and uncommon, the name will let your tiny heartthrob stand out almost as much as his inherited good looks.
Tyson
Popularity rank in the U.S.: #282
Meaning: Firebrand, revelry
Tyson Beckford is an American Ralph Lauren Polo model, powerful, elegant and eye-catching, who also hosted the TV program "Make Me a Supermodel." Tyson is English but comes from the Old French "tison" for "firebrand," and from the Greek for Dionysus, the god of wine, dance and fertility. Dionysus was the son of Zeus; tiny Tyson is a divine embodiment of good looks and arresting energy. Wonder where he got those from?
Wen
Popularity rank in the US: Not ranked.
Meaning: Culture, literacy
You won't find Wen on the most popular baby names lists but Liu Wen, the Chinese supermodel who owns the handle, is the best-known model in Asia and a Forbes list "highest paid model." When she's not in front of the camera for Victoria's Secret, Estee Lauder, Burberry, Chanel, Hermes, Jean Paul Gaultier, Oscar de la Renta, Alexander Wang, DKNY and the Gap, Liu is on just about every magazine cover on the planet and dominates more than her share of inside fashion layouts. Her name — last is first in Asian names — is from the Chinese pictograms for "culture" and "literacy."
