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Springtime Names: Fresh, new and green

Posted March 22nd, 2011

Post Categories:

International Baby Names

Meanings of Baby Names

Nature, Place and Word Names

Unusual Baby Names

What does it mean when the days are getting longer and the first springtime flowers are beginning to bud? It means that it’s time for nameberry’s annual round-up of spring-related names.

If poets and songwriters can draw inspiration from springtime, why not baby namers? The fresh, green, uplifting season offers plenty of ideas. There are the names of the season itself and its months, for starters:

SPRING – The mid-century actress Spring Byington, who played the grandma on a television show of my youth, was one of my early influences in the world of baby naming. I’d never heard of anybody named Spring, but the whole idea was intriguing. If you could name a baby Spring, why not….well, just about anything else? Still an unusual, sprightly choice, and a lot more acceptable now than it was in the 1960s.

MARCH, APRIL, and MAY – May (or Mae, or Mai for that matter) is definitely the most fashionable of these choices, lovely as a first name or a middle. March is the only one of the three that might work for boys, and makes an adventurous first for girls. April (or Avril or Abril) feels a bit tired.

Original names from around the world that mean spring:

BAHAAR – Hindi, for girls
CAROUN – Armenian, for girls
CERELIA – of Latin origin, for girls
GEN – Japanese girls’ choice
HARUKI – Japanese for boys; Haruki Murakami is a wonderful novelist
JAREK – Slavic boys name that can stand alone or be a diminutive for any name that starts with Jar-
KELDA – Girls’ name with Norse origins
PRIMAVERA – Italian, for girls
RABIAH – Arabic girls’ name
VASANT – Sanskrit boys’ name
VERNA — another Latin girls’ choice.

Another possibility for a spring baby is a name that means new:

NAVIN – A Hindi name for boy
NEO – The name of Keanu Reeves’ Matrix character is used for boys and girl
NEVILLE – Stuffy French boys’ name jazzed up by Neville Brothers
NEWLAND or NEWLYN – Boys’ name Newland is most famous as the protagonist of Edith Wharton’s Age of Innocence; Newlyn is a forward-looking girls’ version
NOUVEL – Shiloh Pitt’s middle name, for a French architect, can work for girls or boys
SIGNE or SIGNY – This Scandinavian girls’ name means “new victory”
XAVIER et al – This newly-hip Basque name meaning “new house” is Javier in Spanish and, for girls, Xaviera or Javiera.
ZELENKA – Czech girls’ name that means fresh and innocent

Green is another inspiration for spring baby names. Among the names that mean or connote green, most for girls:

BERYL – Old-fashioned pale green gemstone name that’s beginning to enjoy some fresh life itself. Berilo is the attractive Spanish male version.
CHLOE – Name meaning “young green shoot” that’s tops throughout the UK and Europe and is rising in the US as well–now in the Top 10.
EMERALD – Ultimate green gem name
JADE – Stylish and edgy choice that hasn’t really lost its gleam
MIDORI – The name of both a Japanese violinist and a green liqueur
PERIDOT – Another green gem name, for the adventurous
PHYLLIDA or PHYLLIS – Names that mean “green bough,” with Phyllida way out in front in the style race.
VERDE or VERDI – Could work for either boys or girls

Since we’ve done a lot on flower and spring nature names, we won’t walk the garden path again right now, beyond saying that names such as DAFFODIL and TULIP certainly connote spring.

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Tags: gem names, jewel names, month names, names that mean green, names that mean new, season names, seasonal names, spring names, springtime names

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19 Responses to “Springtime Names: Fresh, new and green”

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LyndsayJenness Says:

March 22nd, 2011 at 2:21 am

How about Flora? She was the goddess of Springtime! My MIL was born on the first day of spring and my mom on March 18. Unfortunately March doesn’t have any good names. But because of that, and the fact that both sides of the family are avid gardeners, I would love to use a Springy name. I feel like there are less options than there should be, considering how fantastic Spring is. But like you said, pretty much any flower name would work.

Pssst, I think maybe this was written a couple years ago when Chloe was #16? She’s #9 now, I’d call that tops in the US, no?

Elea Says:

March 22nd, 2011 at 2:57 am

Welsh:

Gwanwyn – ‘spring’
Ebrill – April
Mai (MY) – May
Mehefin (meh-HEV-in) – June

Cornish:

Gwaynten – spring
Ebrel – April
Metheven (meh-THEV-in)- June
Delen – petal

Valentina Says:

March 22nd, 2011 at 3:56 am

Maybe I should blame Harry Potter for this, but I personally don’t find Neville stuffy at all. I think it’s one of the cutest name ever. Also love Signy and Cerelia.

Abby Says:

March 22nd, 2011 at 6:24 am

March makes me think of Little Women, but it could work for boys.

Peridot is a great idea!

Hoodie Says:

March 22nd, 2011 at 7:53 am

I’m liking Cerelia, Jarek, Kelda. Haven’t really thought of March as a first name before, but I agree that it would sound so adventurous and fun on a girl. I have to disagree about Jade, though; it doesn’t seem particularly stylish, and to me it has indeed lost its gleam.

Lola Says:

March 22nd, 2011 at 11:00 am

I like a good handful of these:
May, Bahaar (such a pretty sound!), Navin, Neville, Xavier & Peridot. The last is my late Mom’s birthstone and is the color of my eyes. (and yes, Peri/Perry is wicked awesome!

I’ll second Flora and wonder, if Emerald is green, what is my auntie Esmeralda’s name?

Sara A. Says:

March 22nd, 2011 at 11:14 am

Jewish/Hebrew Names
Aviva- Spring
Bluma- flower (Yiddush)
Deborah or Devora- Bee

Jaime Says:

March 22nd, 2011 at 4:20 pm

Don’t forget Nova, which also means “new” as one of its meanings.

Annalise Says:

March 22nd, 2011 at 4:21 pm

I always associate Persephone with springtime, and I think the nickname Persey is so cute!

babynamesrule Says:

March 22nd, 2011 at 5:10 pm

I have recently met a woman named Aviva. I love the name and I just looked it up: “springlike, fresh, dewy.”

lemon Says:

March 22nd, 2011 at 6:27 pm

I love March and I love Cerelia. Aviva is a sassy springy name, too!

Helen Says:

March 22nd, 2011 at 7:15 pm

my great-grandma’s name was signe, pronounced sing-nuh. signy is a good alternative. although with both i can imagine siggy is the nickname that would be difficult to avoid, which i don’t like.

crazynamegirl Says:

March 22nd, 2011 at 10:17 pm

Isn’t Aviva a drug? (prescription not recreational) I really like Primavera. So long and pretty, and nns galore!!!(prima mave ava eva vera…I’m sure there’s more too….)

lemon Says:

March 22nd, 2011 at 10:48 pm

Just remembered…bird names. So springy! Aya, Lark, Wren? Fabulous.

Valentina Says:

March 23rd, 2011 at 6:19 am

Oh, I forgot to say that March never reminds me of the month, but of music (The Nutcracker March anyone?), and I think it would be better as a nickname. But if I used it, I’d feel the need to name any sibling Overture (because I think March and Overture make a great sib-set). So not much of a spring name to me.