If you’re a horror movie fan, you’re no doubt a big fan of the Final Girl trope in the genre, and with Halloween right around the corner, let’s see which iconic Final Girls have the coolest baby names for your kiddo.
For those who don’t know, a Final Girl is the girl who survives all the trials of a horror movie, most of the time being the last one standing. She’s all about resilience, resourcefulness, and being a boss, especially in the face of a killer. The most iconic Final Girls to date are Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) in Halloween, Sydney Prescott (Neve Campbell) in Scream, and Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) in Alien, to name a few.
The Final Girl has been a bit of a controversial trope, with the earlier models of it focusing on a woman’s purity and virginity, but in the past 20 years, it’s mostly about women being the badass that ends the horror by herself (or with the help of another Final Girl). So, back to baby names: wouldn’t it be cool to bestow a spooky, Final Girl name to your little badass in the making?
In honor of Halloween coming, check out baby girl names inspired by your favorite Final Girl.
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Abra
Image Credit: © Warner Bros. / courtesy Everett Collection One of the most unique Final Girls had to be Abra from Doctor Sleep, played by Kyleigh Curran. Not only does Abra have a magical feel to it, but it’s Hebrew for “multitudes.”
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Alice
Image Credit: ©Paramount/courtesy Everett Collection No Final Girl list is complete without mentioning Alice Hardy from Friday the 13th, and her name, Alice, means “noble” in German;” which is very Final Girl-esque, no?
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Anita
Image Credit: TM and ©copyright Fox Atomic. All rights reserved./Courtesy Everett Collection While she’s known as “Needy” Lesnicky in the film Jennifer’s Body, Amanda Seyfried’s character’s name is actually Anita, which is Sanskrit for “grace [and] unguided;” and that is seriously the character.
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Dana
Image Credit: ph: Diyah Pera/©Lionsgate/courtesy Everett Collection Kristen Connolly’s character, Dana Polk, in the modern-classic Cabin in the Woods, remains one of our all-time favorite Final Girls. And plus, we love her name, Dana, which actually means “gift, or wise” in multiple languages.
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Dani
Image Credit: © A24 / courtesy Everett Collection It’s unclear if Florence Pugh’s character in Midsommar, Dani’s name is short for something. But the name, Dani, itself means “God is my judge.” Seriously, these Final Girl names are quite fitting.
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Diana
Image Credit: Everett Collection. One Final Girl that doesn’t get talked about enough is Marki Bey’s character, Diana “Sugar” Hill, in the 1974 film Sugar Hill, which follows Diana working with the Lord of the Dead to get revenge on mobsters who killed her boyfriend. And the name Diana means “divine,” for those wondering!
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Erin
Image Credit: ph: Corey Ransberg/©Lionsgate/Courtesy Everett Collection Erin may mean “from the island to the west” in Irish, but it’s also the name of one of the most insanely cool Final Girls in all of horror: Erin (Sharni Vinson) from You’re Next.
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Gale
Image Credit: Photo by:Everett Collection(SCREAM_Scream_ks_09_M) Our first Scream final girl! Courteney Cox’s character Gale Weathers is a badass, take-no-BS journalist who has survived all of the films, and the name Gale is actually a unique unisex name that means “my father is joyful.”
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Grace
Image Credit: © Fox Searchlight Pictures. All rights reserved. / courtesy Everett Collection Ready or Not is one of the most satisfying Final Girl films we’ve ever seen, so it makes us love Samara Weaving’s character Grace even more. It’s an English virtue name, referring to one’s pureness, which actually plays a major part in this film.
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Heather
Image Credit: ph: Justin Lubin/©Lionsgate/courtesy Everett Collection Heather is a floral, English name, but it’s also the name of the complicated Final Girl Alexandra Daddario played in Texas Chainsaw 3D (2012).
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Jess
Image Credit: Everett Collection. The 1974 classic Black Christmas is another Final Girl film we can’t get enough of, and the Final Girl’s name, Jess (played by Olivia Hussey), is both short and sweet, meaning “behold or wealthy.”
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Joey
Image Credit: © Universal Pictures / Courtesy Everett Collection So, Joey isn’t technically the real name of Melissa Barrera’s character in the 2024 hit film Abigail, but it is the name she uses and it means “Jehovah increases.”
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Julie
Image Credit: (c)Columbia Pictures/courtesy Everett Collection Julie James, one of the OG Final Girls that Jennifer Love Hewitt played. Julie was a thoughtful, resourceful badass, and her name means “youthful;” which makes sense considering how young everyone is in the movies.
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Karla
Image Credit: Everett Collection. From the sequel, I Still Know What You Did Last Summer, Brandy played the iconic BFF of Julie James, Karla Wilson. Karla became a fan-favorite in the franchise, and her cool name means “free!”
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Kinsey
Image Credit: © Aviron Pictures /Courtesy Everett Collection If you haven’t seen it, Kinsey is the name of the Final Girl Bailee Madison played in The Strangers: Prey at Night, and it literally means “king’s victory,” how fitting!
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Kirsty
Image Credit: © New World/courtesy Everett Collection Kirsty Cotton: also known as Ashley Laurence’s Final Girl character from the Hellraiser films. The name Kirsty is actually a Scandinavian alternative to the name Kirsten, which means “a Christian.”
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Laurie
Image Credit: Photo by: Kim Gottlieb-Walker/ Mary Evans/COMPASS INTERNATIONAL PICTURES/FALCON INTERNATIONAL PRODUCTIONS/Ronald Grant/Everett Collection(10318663)**US SALES ONLY** Ah, Laurie Strode; arguably one of the most iconic Final Girls (and one of Jamie Lee Curtis’ most iconic characters). While we attach the name “Laurie” to the Halloween movies, it’s actually a name that means “bay laurel.”
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Lila
Image Credit: Everett Collection. Lila Crane from Psycho: a unique Final Girl with a dark name. No, literally, Lila means both “night; play” in Arabic and Sanskrit.
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Nancy
Image Credit: ©New Line Cinema / Courtesy Everett Collection Nancy is now a vintage type of name, which is crazy when you think about it. There are a lot of famous women attached to the name, but we’re going to talk about Heather Langenkamp’s character Nancy in the A Nightmare on Elm Street movies. Now, the vintage Final Girls were all about being “pure” and “wholesome,” and the name Nancy works perfectly since it literally means “pure.”
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Rebecca
Image Credit: © Warner Bros. / courtesy Everett Collection In the film Lights Out, the lead — and final Girl — is named Rebecca, which means “to tie, bind” in Hebrew!
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Ripley
Image Credit: TM & Copyright (c) 20th Century Fox Film Corp. All rights reserved. Listen, we know Sigourney Weaver’s character in Alien’s first name is Ellen, but she’s Ripley, end of discussion. The unique name gained traction after the film came out, and it has an offbeat meaning: “strip of clearing in the woods.”
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Sally
Image Credit: Everett Collection. Sally is another vintage name we don’t see a lot anymore, despite Sally being the name of the well-known Final Girl from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. For those wondering, Sally means “princess” in English.
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Sam
Image Credit: ph: Brownie Harris / © Paramount Pictures / Courtesy Everett Collection Melissa Barrera’s beloved character Sam Carpenter became an instant fan-favorite in the Scream franchise when she became the new it-Final Girl for the fifth and sixth films. Her name means “told by God,” by the way!
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Scarlett
Image Credit: ©Universal Pictures/courtesy Everett Collection Not only is the name Scarlett a beautiful color name, but it’s also the name of the Final Girl in As Above, So Below.
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Sydney
Image Credit: © Dimension Films/courtesy Everett Collection, d SCREAM_Scream_ks_32_M, Photo by:Everett Collection(SCREAM_Scream_ks_32_M) You can’t mention the Scream movies without talking about Neve Campbell’s character Sydney Prescott. The name Sydney means “Saint Denis,” but if you’re not loving that, remember it was an It-Girl name in the 1990s.
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Tara
Image Credit: © Paramount Pictures / Courtesy Everett Collection And finally, the second new Final Girl in the Scream franchise: Tara Carpenter, played by Jenna Ortega. Tara means “rocky hill” in Irish, and let’s face it, this character’s life is pretty rocky.
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Tess
Image Credit: © 20th Century Studios /Courtesy Everett Collection Calling all Barbarian fans: isn’t Tess such a beautiful name? It means “to harvest,” and is so simply stunning.
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Thomasin
Image Credit: ©A24/courtesy Everett Collection Anya Taylor-Joy’s character in The VVitch’s name is so unique: Thomasin, which is the feminine version of Thomas, which means “twin.” Unique all around!
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Tree
Image Credit: ph: Michele K. Short / © Universal /Courtesy Everett Collection Tree may be a nickname, but it is what everyone refers to when talking about Jessica Rothe’s character in the Happy Death Day movies. Tree is obviously a hippie, nature name, and it’s so cool.
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Wendy
Image Credit: (c) Warner Brothers/courtesy Everett Collection Yes, Wendy from The Shining is a Final Girl, and her name actually means “friend or white.” A unique name that has ties to a Final Girl, the late and great Shelley Duvall, and a sweet meaning? Perfect.
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