Since the Fall season is officially upon us, it’s time once again for an update of our annual round-up of crisp Autumn names–those appellations which refer to the season directly and those that are more subtle references.

Autumn — Autumn is ironically the hottest season name once again this year, the only one in the Top 100 where it’s maintained its status for over a decade now.  The name Autumn first entered the U.S. Top 1000 in 1969, inspired by the hippie nature names and word names.  While it’s still attractive, however, it’s hardly fresh. (Note: Winter is also in the air—though it hasn’t yet made the list, we’re seeing more and more interest in it as a name.)

Names from other cultures that provide a newer route to Autumn include the Japanese girls’ names Aki and Akiko, the Turkish girls’ name Hazan, the Vietnamese Thu, and, in Chinese, Qiu for either girls or boys.

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We all know Berries have great style, right? As an extension of the chic baby names on nameberry, today we’re excited to announce a new column on children’s style by Elisabeth Wilborn, the genius behind the name blog You Can’t Call It “It”! along with the new child style blog The Itsy Factor. Look for Elisabeth‘s new Nameberry Style column here every weekend.

Recently I wrote about names compatible with the Chinese Year of the Rabbit, from Calista to Frederick to Harley. Since then, rabbits have been multiplying at a furious pace. Whether it’s filling an Easter basket or looking to commemorate the Year of the Rabbit, the furry darlings have our undivided attention.  Here’s a roundup that has a little something for everyone.

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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.

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It’s the first day of  fall…the air is getting crisper, the days are getting shorter…the moment to think about the names of autumn.

Unlike spring, summer, and even winter, fall is not a season that immediately brings a bonanza of name possibilities to mind.  But when you think about it, there are almost as many autumn blooms as there are springtime ones, there are harvest deities, and a palette-full of fall colors, among other options.

So if you’re expecting a fall baby, and are looking for a name reflecting the season of their birth, there are lots of colorful choices to consider, beginning with:

The autumnal flowers and shrubs:

• Adonis (blue)
• Anemone
• Aster
• Belle of the Night
• Camellia
• Cosmos
• Dahlia
• Freesia
• Gladiola
• Iris
• Ivy
• Juniper
• Lavender
• Marigold
• Orchid
• Poppy
• Quince
• Rose
• Sage/salvia
• Susan (black-eyed)
• Yarrow
• Zinnia

Trees known for their brilliantly colorful fall foliage:

• Ash
• Aspen
• Beech
• Birch
• Hickory
• Maple
• Oak

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Summer is one of the nicest times of year to have a baby, the warm weather and slow pace making it that much easier to relax into new motherhood (and, from your baby’s point of view, into life!)  Here, our annual round-up of names that summon the season:

SUMMER — As a seasonal name, Summer may not be your top choice.  It’s feeling a tad shopworn after coming close to cracking the Top 100 in 1977; it’s been above number 200 for the past fifteen years.  Autumn is more popular but Winter is cooler.

Summer also has three excellent months names that include several usable variations.  These are:

JUNE – JUNE, the hip middle name du jour, was out of favor for many years but now is back in a big way.  The name, and the month, are derived from JUNO, the Roman goddess of marriage and finances (great role model!) whose name got a big boost from the teenage heroine of the eponymous film.  The related and obscure JUNIA is a New Testament name.  Male versions include the Spanish JUNOT, popularized by Pulitzer winning writer Junot Diaz, and JUNIUS, Latin for “born in June.”

JULY – Julius Caesar gave his name to this month, which has spawned many attractive first name variation.  JULIUS itself is being dusted off by a new generation of parents.  JULIO is the attractive Spanish variation.  For girls, JULIA is one of the most enduring and appealing classics, fashionable now.  The French JULIETTE or English JULIET has a tremendous amount of style and grace, along with JULIANA.  Sixties-style JULIE is the only variation on the wane.

Of course, in July you may want to choose holiday names such as AMERICA or LIBERTY.

AUGUST – All variations of summer’s last month, named for the emperor AUGUSTUS, are also stylish now: AUGUST (for girls as well as boys), AUGUSTINE and AUGUSTEN for boys, even the somewhat grandmotherly AUGUSTA for girls.  And GUS is the new MAX.

Summer calls to mind many nature names, from LAKE to RIVER to DAISY to LILY to SKY and BIRCH.

But covering all of them is too much for the scope of one blog, so we’ll focus on names connected with the sea.  The full list is here but some of the most intriguing examples are:

DENIZ, Turkish boys’ name that means sea.
DYLAN, Welsh god’s name that works for both genders, means “son of the sea.”
HALI, Greek name used for both boys and girls, though in English speaking country, its closeness in sound to Hallie et al may disqualify it for boys.
KAI, Trendy Hawaiian name that works for both genders.
MARIN, MARINE, MARINA
MARIS, MARISA, MARISSA, MARISOL
MORRISEY, Irish name that means, oddly, “sea taboo” and has rocker associations
MORWENNA, Ancient Cornish name meaning “waves of the sea,” newly popular in Wales
MURPHY, Irish surname that means “hound of the sea” and works as well for girls as for boys.
NERIDA, Greek name that means mermaid.
NERISSA, Shakespearean name with Greek pedigree
OCEANE, Popular French choice for girls.
PELAGIA, Another obscure Greek beauty, name of several early saints.
SEATON, English surname meaning town by the sea
THALASSA, Greek sea goddess

Or you might want to go with one of these other names related to the sea:

BAY
BEACH
CORAL
DUNE
PACIFICO
ROCKY
SANDY
SUNNY

And then of course there is LEO, the Zodiac sign for babies born between July 23rd and August 22nd.

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