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Again not common

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I’ve heard of
Arizona
Arnett – doesn’t seem too weird
Brice – but never heard of it on a girl
Calandra
Jaylene
Jenessa – not uncommon
Kaiya
Kami – variant of Cammie
Karas – I think it is like Care-us
Lynnelle – sounds trendy and made-up but really wouldn’t surprise me to see
Mare
Paradise – haven’t heard but wouldn’t surprise me
Shaleen
Shasta
Stormy – I know 2 girls named this

Arizona - I know one, she's probably 90
Calandra - I read Calandra in a book once and loved it... when I was younger I wanted to use this name.

I had a student named Cameo last year.

Thankfully, the only one on this list that I"ve ever known of was a girl named Crosby. I'm sure there are people that are bearers of the other names, but I haven't met them.

I've come across one BA with a Sahara, and I work with a Stormie. Other than that? Pffft. Again, this author has no clue what they're talking about.

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How does one define an "American" name, anyway? America is a melting-pot made up of many different ethnicities and languages. Seems silly to designate the most god-awful names you can think of as "Amercian".

These are about as American as driving on the left side of the road.

I've seen these used or at least wouldn't be surprised to see them:
Alcinda
Arizona
Calandra - I think it's too close to colander, too
Cozette
Enfinity
Ionia
Javonna
Jaylene
Kaiya
Lynnelle
Paradise
Sahara
Shalana
Shaleen - this and the one above sound like African-American names
Shasta
Stormy

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But these I've never heard of or would be very surprised to see:
Arnett
Artia
Baines
Breqlynn
Brice
Brylieva
Cameo
Canada
Chaplin
Charney
Chezna
Cinnabar
Crosby
Danacia
Darenda
Darlonna
Darsell
Denell
Jatana
Jehessa
Jennara
Joceile
Kami
Karas
Kierce
Lazette
Marcenya
Mare - yeah, that would be weird
Miskaela
Monaco - hasn't quite made the random place name trend!
Neida
Philene
Prairie
Rigel
Sondya
Tauna
Terris
Tivian
Zhané

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Although a few of those would be quite believable African-American names, I think.

In the USA...

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...these names from your list are ones I've seen or heard in use:

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Arizona
Jaylene - used to know one; lovely gal inside and out.
Kaiya
Lynnelle
Mare
Sahara
Shasta
Stormy

This message was edited 8/31/2010, 2:06 PM

Alcinda - pretty rare
Arizona - shows up from time to time
Arnet - never seen this
Artia - never seen this
Baines - ack, nope
Breqlynn - not totally out of the question, but I've never seen it
Brice - occasionally you find one
Brylieva - never seen
Calandra - lovely, but never seen one
Cameo - there are always a few of these born every year
Canada - I don't think so
Chaplin - nope
Charney- never seen one, but doesn't seem too out of the realm of possibility.
Chezna - never seen
Cinnabar - seen once or twice
Cozette - occasionally for Les Mis fans
Crosby - seen it once or twice
Danacia - More common as Danasia
Darenda - never seen
Darlonna - awful, but not out of the realm of possibility
Darsell - ditto Darlonna
Denell - usually Danelle or Donelle
Enfinity - unfortunately, Infinity, Enfinity etc. are becoming more popular.
Ionia - never seen
Jatana - I could see this
Javonna - somewhat popular along with Giovanna, Giavana etc.
Jaylene - yes, this is not uncommon
Jehessa - never seen, maybe a typo for Jenessa?
Jennara - never seen, but it could happen
Joceile - never seen
Kaiya - more often Kaya or Kaia
Kami - more often Cammie or Cami
Karas - never seen
Kierce - huh?
Lazette - Lisette, Lizeth etc. is not unusual in Latin neighborhoods
Lynnelle - shows up from time to time
Marcenya - weird
Mare (- I don't think so
Miskaela - huh?
Monaco - no
Neida - you might find one or two older ones
Paradise - yup, every year a few babies get named this
Philene - never seen
Prairie - rare, but not unheard of
Rigel - never seen
Sahara - pops up from time to time
Shalana - not that unusual
Shaleen - ditto Shalana
Shasta - popped up from time to time in the 90s
Sondya - nope
Stormy - pops up occasionally
Tauna - never seen, but Tana is occasionally used
Terris - never seen, but not out of the realm of possibility
Tivian - never seen
Zhané - there are a zillion spellings of this, Jonay, Shanae etc. There's no good way to spell out the "zh" sound

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Most of the ones that occasionally pop up on this list are most often found in African-American populations.

My cousin's wife is Denelle, which I believe is a var. of Danielle. Mare Winningham is an actress. Made up names ending in lynn and lee are common. So are names with the first syllable Jay (Jaden, Jade, Jada, Jane could maybe fall in this group). Place names are also common, but usually cities or states, not countries.

I've seen these on Americans:

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Arizona -and this is a character on a TV show Grey's Anatomy (as is Addison)
Brice -and Bryce
Chaplin -a celebrity recently used this for a daughter
Cozette -and Cosette
Ionia -this is a place name, as in the Ionian Sea
Jaylene -and Jayllene
Jennara -and Gennara
Kami -spelled Kammy
Prairie -this is a huge GP for me
Sahara
Shasta
Stormy -and Storm on a boy

This message was edited 8/31/2010, 1:49 PM