If you’re looking for a theme for your baby-to-be’s nursery, you could do worse than factoring into your name decision those that have animal themes. (I’ll bet half the little boys named Jonah, for instance,  have at least one whale on their walls.)

I’m talking mostly about names that refer to a specific animal in their meanings, as well as some literary and pop culture characters.  There are some caveats though–I mean does Portia really want to be reminded constantly that her name is related to ‘pig’ or that Clifford is eternally a big red dog?

That aside, here are some of the more appealing names and the beasts they’re associated with:

DEER, DOES, FAWNS, GAZELLES
AYELET, BAMBI, CLARICE, DARBY, DOE, DORCAS, DYANI, FAWN, HART, HERSHEL, NIABI, OISIN, ORHRAH/ORPAH, PAKUNA, ROSCOE, TABITHA, ZVI

ELEPHANTS
BAYLOR, CELESTE, GANESHA, HATHI, HORATIO, HORTON, KALA, NELLIE, POM, SHEP, TAJ, WINIFRED

HORSES
AHEARNE, ALFONSO, ARION, BAYARD, CADOC, COLT, DESTRY, EACHNA/EACHANN, FLICKA, HIPPOLYTE, MARSHALL, NARA, PHILIP/PHILIPPA/PHILIPPE, ROSALIND, ROSAMOND

MONKEYS, APES & CHIMPS
ALDO, ARTHUR, CAPUCHINE, CLYDE, DEXTER, DUNSTON, ELIJAH, GEORGE, JUPITER, MASON, SAKI, ZOEY

BEARS
ARTHUR, AUBERON, BARRETT, BEN, BERN/BERNARD, BJORN, DOV, ORSON, RUPERT, TEDDY, URSULA, WINNIE

DOGS
ASTA, BLUE, BOLT, CLIFFORD, EDISON, KERRY, MADIGAN, OTIS, SKYE

RABBITS
ARLEDGE, ARLEY, BENJAMIN, HARDEN, HARVEY, HAZEL, JEMIMA, JEREMY, PETER

COWS & BULLS
ANGUS, BESSIE, BYRON, ELSIE, FERDINAND, GUERNSEY, JERSEY, VACHEL

CATS
ALONZO, ARCHIE, CALICO, CASSANDRA, ELECTRA, FALINE, FELIX, GARFIELD, GUS, KITTY, MEHITIBAL, SYLVESTER

LIONS
Just about every name starting with Leo: LEO, LEON, LEONARD, LEONID, LEONIE, LEONTYNE. But also ALEX, ARI/ARIEL/ARYE, ATALANTA, ELSA, GURI/GURYON, LEANDER, LEV, LEYA, LIONEL, LLEWELLYN, NALA, SARAFINE, SIMBA

SHEEP & LAMBS
JUBAL, MARY, MERONA, RACHEL, ROMNEY, TAJIK

KANGAROO
JIRRA, JOEY, MATILDA, WILLOUGHBY

GOAT
GILES

WOLF
AKELA, LOWELL, RALPH

FOX
FIONA, TODD

Names from television and movie Westerns sometimes got a lot more adventurous than Josh and Jesse. In fact, Westerns are responsible for reviving scores of antiquated classics that might otherwise have disappeared completely, along with introducing unconventional animal and word names as firsts. Some Western character names from the classic shows and movies of the 50s and 60s that sound fresh and new, if a bit quirky, today:

ABELIA
ABIHU
ALBEN
AMELITA
AMOS
ARTOLA
ASH
AXEL
BARKER
BARN
BEAR
BO
BODIE
BOONE
CICERO
CLAY
CLEM
LAMBERT
LINUS
MOSS
NEWLY
PERCY
QUINT
RUFUS
THAD
WADE
ZEBULON

The newest Western names draw heavily on the place itself, or on Western-themed words. Some choices that have been used in the post-Bonanza world:

Boys

AUSTIN
DALLAS
DENVER
HOUSTON
MAVERICK
RIO
ROPER
RYDER
WEST

Girls

ARIZONA
CHEYENNE
NEVADA
SCOUT
SHILOH
SIERRA

Either

CANYON
DAKOTA
LARAMIE
PHOENIX
RENO

Twitty Milk, the reported name of the new daughter of singer Erykah Badu and rapper Jay Electronica, was thankfully just a hoax.  No one knows quite how the Twitty Milk rumor got started, except that the new mom Twittered her way through the baby’s birth.  The real crazy celebrity baby name: Mars Merkaba.

Badu, also the mother of son Seven and daughter Puma, is obviously a leader in crazy celebrity baby naming.  Here, with Mars’ birth, our new Top 10 Craziest Celebrity Baby Names:

1. MOXIE CRIMEFIGHTER — The daughter of magician Penn Jillette, whose assertive word name can be called unique in the truest sense of that term, is the bearer of what may still be the absolute craziest celebrity baby name.

2. PILOT INSPEKTOR — Jason Lee took a lot of flack for this occupational name, to the extent that he’s keeping his second child’s name secret.

3. BRONX MOWGLI — Rockers Ashlee Simpson and Pete Wentz hit a new low with this New York neighborhood-Disney moniker, giving their son the initials B.M.W.

4. KAL-EL — Nicolas Cage’s son’s name seems fit for a child from another planet.

5. MARS MERKABA –  Okay, it’s better than Twitty Milk.  But it’s still from Outer Space.

6. PEANUT — Soap star Ingo Rademacher’s son’s name might give any child an inferiority complex.

7. DIEZEL — Word names are in, but fuel names?  Sorry, Toni Braxton, but this one is full of gas.

8. ZUMA NESTA ROCK — The name of Gwen Stefani and Gavin Rossdale’s second son is simply trying way too hard on every level.

9.HUCKLEBERRY — Bear Gryll’s newborn son and big brother Marmaduke sound like a pair of cartoon characters.  But what can you expect when Dad’s name is Bear?

10. PUMA — We have to cite Erykah Badu for being a two-time offender, as she gave her daughter this feline and sneaker name.  But Badu also has a wicked sense of humor, as anyone who’s ever heard her fabulous song “Call Tyrone” can attest.

OK, we have to admit it: We’re not sure we ever saw a picture of a stork before that wasn’t rendered in cartoonish shades of pink and blue, flying along with a baby slung from its beak.  Come to think of it, there was one just like that on the cover of at least one of our books.

But this picture of an in-the-flesh stork puts us in mind of the new flock of bird names winging our way.  (All right, all right, we’ll stop.)  Not Robin, though that long-time favorite feels fresh again for boys.  Or Jay, tired for boys but livelier as a short form for any girls’ name that starts with J.

We have in mind the less familiar bird names, starting with a handful heard occasionally over the past few years, sometimes as a celebrity or starbaby name: Lark, Raven, Phoenix, Birdie.  Bird name enthusiasts will want to check this list of possibilities — though these are only the beginning.

A few names with bird-related meanings from the list: Merle, Paloma, Avis, Deryn.  More intriguing, though, are the choices that are truly unfamiliar and more blatantly birdlike: Wren, Sparrow, Finch, Starling, Heron, Dove.

For our taste, Hawk and Talon are a bit too aggressive.  Eagle can go either way: Though as the national bird it has a noble image, Benjamin Franklin campaigned against its elevated status on the grounds that it was a bird of prey and a scavenger, stealing food from smaller, weaker birds.  Franklin’s nomination for national bird: the Turkey, which we don’t see making it as a name anytime soon.  Or, for that matter, ever.

Push further, though, and we come up with some more intriguing possibilities. Names that mean eagle include Andor, Aquilla, Arden, Arno, Ezio, Paco, Peta, and Vega, all of which may prove more attractive than Eagle itself.

There are several beautiful names that mean dove, which carries the added message of peace: Callum, Colm, Columba, Culver, Dova, Jonah, and Jemima, along with Paloma.  Sparrow-related names include Galvin and Sequoia (who would ever guess?).

Raven-related names include Branigan, Branson, Branwen, Brenna, Corbett, and Corbin, any of which might make a provocative choice for a black-haired, brown-eyed, or dark-skinned child.  (Or perhaps for the offspring of an Edgar Allan Poe fan.)

A couple more bird names: Ava and Aya, the Biblical Zippora and Efron, the Hawaiian Palila and Iranian Parastoo, and the Native American Dasan, which rhymes with Jason.

Why choose a bird name for your baby?  Birds are graceful and free, transcending the bonds of earth.  As symbols, they may well prove inspirational for a child.  And a bird or other animal name can be a unique choice as a middle name.

So what do you think: Would you choose a bird name for your child?  Which are your favorites — or do you prefer another kind of animal name?  Or is this kind of name….for the birds?