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
FOX
FIONA, TODD
