There are a handful of names that are perfectly appealing in their own right. And yet, they seem to be almost ritually assigned to tragic figures. Today’s candidate for the Dommed Heroine award? Camille.

It is simple and pretty, and many factors argue for a spike in baby girls called by this French-fried moniker.

• Plenty of parents named their darling daughters Cameron, Camryn and Kamren, so one might expect the more feminine Camille to be discovered.
• Surely all those moms of baby Madeleines have been looking for names with a similar vibe for future daughters. But while I know a Madeleine and a Celeste and a Madeleine and an Amelie, I don’t know a single Camille.
• It has that same Granny-chic throwback vibe of names like Hannah and Abigail, both Top 10 names.
• The -elle ending is white hot – think Isabelle, Gabrielle and even Brielle, Aubrielle and Arielle. Is -ille such a leap?
• Finally, if Violet and Lily are all the rage, wouldn’t this equally simple flower power choice be more popular?

As of 2006, Camille was merely 308th in the US. That’s not obscurity, no, but neither is it anything that approaches commonly used.

Perhaps it is because of the novel and play by Alexandre Dumas, fils. (His dad wrote the Three Musketeers.) The plot of La Dame aux Camelias is straightforward: Poor, but beautiful girl becomes kept woman of wealthy and powerful man. Finds inappropriate love too late. Dies tragically of a wasting disease without ever embracing her one true desire.

Early Hollywood loved it, and made at least six versions, most of them silent. The 1936 Camille starred Greta Garbo as the lady in question.

But that’s just the beginning. In 1969, Camille was a deadly hurricane in the Atlantic, and the name was officially retired – which, as all nameniks know, is what the World Meteorological Organization does when a storm is particularly destructive.

And, more recently, Prince Charles married Camilla Parker-Bowles. If his first wife, Diana, is remembered as something of a saint, Camilla was painted, at least early days, as a villain.

It’s tough to say with any certainty why a particular name never quite catches on. But it is interesting to note that Camille has never been hot – in fact, in recent years it has done relatively well, reaching into #259 in 2001.

Perhaps it is because Camille, at least in fiction and meteorology, has always been rather tragic.

The upcoming James Bond film, Quantum of Solace, is said to feature a bond girl known as Camille.  While Honey Ryder and Pussy Galore never caught on, it will be interesting to see if this newest Hollywood incarnation of Camille can turn the name into a popular pick for new parents.