As Black History Month segues into Women’s History Month this weekend, let's take a look at the names of some inspirational African-American heroines!

　　Compiling a wide-ranging list is not as easy as you might think – nor as it should be. Google and book searches tend to turn up a select list of already well-known names.

　　But then, late as usual, I finally bought my new year's calendar: A Journey Into 365 Days of Black History – Notable Women.

　　An array of admirable women are listed there, all of whom would provide wonderful role models (and lovely names) for any child. 

　　Here are some of the most inspirational Black heroine names for baby girls today, together with a short summary of their historical achievements.

African-American Heroine Names

　　Alice Dunbar-Nelson — Journalist, poet and author

　　Barbara Jordan — Texas Congresswoman who won fame during Nixon impeachment hearings

　　Bessie Coleman — Became the world’s only licensed Black pilot in 1922. She staged flying exhibitions to fund a school to train Black aviators.

　　Charlotte Ray — In 1872, became the first Black female lawyer.

　　Clara Stanton Jones — The American Library Association’s first African-American president

　　Clementine Hunter — Self-taught painter, born in 1887

　　Constance Baker Motley — First Black female federal judge

　　Coretta Scott King — Activist and widow of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr

　　Dorothy West — Harlem Renaissance author

　　Ella Fitzgerald — Iconic jazz singer

　　Faye Wattleton — Women’s rights activist

　　Gwendolyn Brooks — Poet and first African-American writer to win the Pulitzer Prize

　　Hallie Quinn Brown — 19th century women’s rights activist

　　Harriet Tubman (born Araminta Ross) — Escaped enslavement to become an abolitionist and Union spy. Most famous for her work with the Underground Railroad.

　　Ida B. Wells-Barnett — Journalist and founding member of the NAACP

　　Jane Bolin — Judge and community activist. First Black woman to graduate from Yale Law School.

　　Josephine Baker — Performer, activist, and World War 2 spy

　　Juanita Hall — First Black actress to win a Tony Award

　　Kara Walker — Artist best known for her silhouettes

　　Lena Horne — Actress, singer, and civil rights activist

　　Lorraine Hansberry — Author of the 1959 play “A Raisin in the Sun”

　　Mabel Mercer — English singer

　　Mahalia Jackson — Gospel singer known as the "Queen of Gospel"

　　Marian Wright Edelman — Children’s Defense Fund founder

　　Natalie Hinderas — Composer and classical musician

　　Octavia Victoria Rogers Albert — Author and teacher

　　Pearl Bailey — Actress and singer

　　Phillis Wheatley — First published African-American female poet

　　Prudence Crandall — White woman arrested for teaching Black girls at her school in 1833

　　Rosa Parks — Heroine of the famous bus boycott that launched the civil rights movement

　　Rosetta Tharpe — Jazz and blues singer and songwriter

　　Ruby Dee — Actress, writer and activist

　　Sadie Tanner Mossell Alexander — The first African-American Ph.D. in economics

　　Sarah Vaughan — Jazz musician

　　Shirley Chisholm — First Black woman elected to Congress

　　Sojourner Truth — Abolitionist and women’s rights activist

　　Susie King Taylor — Previously enslaved woman who became a Civil War nurse

　　Toni Morrison — Novelist who won the Nobel Prize in literature

　　Violette Neatley Anderson — In the 1920s, became the first Black female attorney to argue cases before the U.S. Supreme Court.

　　Wilma Rudolph — Multiple Olympic champion and world-record-breaking runner

　　Zensi Miriam Makeba — South African singer, songwriter and civil rights activist

About the Author

Pamela Redmond

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　　Pamela Redmond is the cocreator and CEO of Nameberry and Baby Name DNA. The coauthor of ten groundbreaking books on names, Redmond is an internationally-recognized baby name expert, quoted and published widely in such media outlets as the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, The Today Show, CNN, and the BBC. She has written about baby names for The Daily Beast, The Huffington Post, and People.

　　Redmond is also a New York Times bestselling novelist whose books include Younger, the basis for the hit television show, and its sequel, Older. She has three new books in the works.

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