Water Names: How To Pick A Name That’s All Wet

This is by and large a lovely array of names — but Briny? If I named a newborn Briny, I’d only be able to think about amniotic fluid for the rest of her life.

Meredith (or rather Maredudd) is still used on boys – as it was originally a medieval royal male name – in Wales. It is (‘properly’) pronounced ‘ma-RED-uth’.

A lot of Welsh rivers have been used as first names in Wales for centuries.

Some other Celtic ‘water’ names:

Afon (Avon) (m/f)- Welsh “river”
Afonwy (f)- Welsh “river”
Alwyn (m) – Welsh ‘a river in Clwyd’
Arthen (m) – Welsh river god.
Elan (f) – Welsh river valley
Eleri (f) – Welsh river
Gwennant (f) – Welsh “white stream”
Meriel / Meryl / Myriel (f) Welsh form of the Irish Muirgel “sea bright”
Morgelyn (f)- Cornish “sea holly”
Morvoren (f)- Cornish “maid of the sea”

Some Greek and Roman river and sea gods/goddesses:

Akelos
Amphitrite
Arnemetia
Asopos
Doris
Eurynome
Nereus
Palaemon
Ritona
Sequana
Tethys
Tiberinus
Thetis

Neosha means ‘still, deep water’ and is of Osage Native American origin. It was my husband’s great grandmother’s name.

I am aware of the trend of naming girls boys’ names, but I have to say that Kyle reads as incredibly masculine to me. I’ve never met or read about a female Kyle and would be somewhat surprised to meet one.

This is a fun list! My sister is “Delphine” which, although it is technically a flower name, has a certain dolphin-like quality to it!

Elea: Thanks so much for those additions!

One of my all-time favorite names is Tallulah! I knew it’d be on there. I also love, from the list:

Rain
Océane
River
Lincoln

Good post, guys! I personally love water.

pdxlibrarian–I actually know a female Kyle. Some people raise eyebrows when she says her name, others assume it’s for Kylie. Trendy names like Kyle I think are easier to bounce between genders. However, I know another girl named Michael–and that, I think, is stretching it. But I think it goes by a case to case basis

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There is the combination of Aquamarine! Cute in its own way, well its perfect for a mermaid

Great list, but Noelani is a girl’s name all the way!

I would like to add Lago and Aquarelle.

I need to add Mayim…
Hebrew girls name meaning ‘water’. It’s no even in the nameberry database!

Ondine/Undine, Merlin and Caspian also needs to be on the list, especially if Adrian is…

I also know a female Kyle and a female Michael. Both names took a while for me to get used to thinking of a girl when I heard them. Kyle seems to be infinitely easier to get used to than Michael.

Dearest: Mayim has now been added to the database. Thanks for suggesting!

Kyle is definitely all male for me. Kendall also reads more male than female to me, as it should be

Great post! I love water names. I thought I would add some that i’ve been collecting. They’re from many different sources so please let me know if you think any are incorrect.

BOYS
Calder – English, Rocky Water
Dorian – greek, from the sea (unisex)
Hurley – gaelic, ocean tide
Jalarka – Sanskrit, the sun reflected in water
Jalendra – Sanskrit, king of the water
Jordan – Hebrew, to flow down
Lamarr – French, of the sea

GIRLS
Hali – greek, sea
Jalanili – Sanskrit, blue as the water/ water nymph
Jennifer – Cornish, white wave
Jora – Hebrew, autumn rain
Kailani – Hawaiian, the sea and sky (using Kai as listed above)
Laine – finnish, wave
Marea – latin, of the sea
Pela – greek, o fthe sea
Pelunia – greek, of the sea
Picabo – native American, shining waters
Riva – french, coast
Vailea – pacific islander, water that speaks
Ulara or Iara (pr Yara)– brazilian, water lady

Sabrina is the goddess of the river Severn, and could be abbreviated to Briny

Those are some really nice names! Now what about Maria?

What about Genevieve’s alternate meaning “white wave”?

How about Pur and Britta

But really, here is a pretty one: Marimar.
It’s short for Maria del Mar.

My favourites: Rain, Aqua, Meredith, Tallulah and Indra (but for a girl, not a boy). I know a girl named Indrah. She’s 20 and occasionally called Indi for short. I also know two Indahs (means “princess” in Indonesian). Unfortunately, one has passed away.

I’d like to add that Marilla means “shining seas.”

And I forgot to mention, Cordelia means “daughter of the sea.”

Whereas it means Fire, most people assume that it means water due to blue being the predominate color,

Sapphire perhaps due to that should be added to th elist. Along with that the names that go with it, Saphira , which means Sapphire and other writtings of the same.

Ren is Japanese for water lily

My favourite names mostly contain a water connotations. I thought it was just by chance, but I have lived by the sea since I was born, maybe it has something to do with it. My list includes:

Boys
Lachlan (favourite name from year dot. Name of my son)-”Land of Loughs/Lochs”, also a river name.
Lincoln (again love, but too similar to Lachlan to use)
Kyle
Morgan-”Sea”
Faro-”Lighthouse” (ok, not technically water-related but close enough)
Poseidon
Noah-”rest”(rained or fortdays and nights-screams water)
Jonah-”Dove” (see Noah-Jonah & the giant whale)
Kai
Caspian-The sea
Aragon-a river in europe
Lake
Dylan-from the sea
Kaelin-waterfall
Moses-drawn ou of the water

Girls:
Shannon-Irish River
Alice (Alice Springs)
Genivieve-”White Wave”
Adéle-a river
Marina
Marianne/Marian/Marion-”Star of the sea” (Beautiful)
Sailor
Oceana
Marine
Molly/Mary-sea of bitterness

Delmer means “of the sea”

Great list by the way!! I really like Morrissey. Probably because I like the band too. I also like Caspian, Tallulah, and Hali

There are also some Finnish girl names that are related to water:
Meri – “sea”
Sade – “rain”

..and hali (or “halaus”) means “a hug” in Finland, btw

Here’s one. This is a name that I have always loved, partially because it reminds me of water, and partially because it’s just a beautiful name. I looked it up, and I realized that it actually means “of the sea”. The name: Marissa. Marissa has 14 variant forms: Maressa, Maricia, Marisa, Marisabel, Marisha, Marisse, Maritza, Mariza, Marrissa, Maryssa, Meris, Merissa, Meryssa and Morissa.