Updated November 2023
Across 17 pages
of 17
Literary name and place-name
Aravis was the name of a female character in C.S. Lewis's A Horse and His Boy , and is also the name of a mountain range in southern France. With the rise of Ava, Avery, and indeed seemingly all…
Variation of Dahlia, English flower name from Swedish surname
"Dahl's flower"
Dahlia is getting more visible, and so Dahliana feels more plausible.
Flower name from Latin
"pertaining to the wolf"
Lupine (spelled Lupin outside of North America) is a flower related to sweetpeas. It was given its wolfish meaning because the plant was said to deplete the soil. Comedian Jenny Slate used it as a…
Arabic
"to mention, to name"
Soft, sultry resonance.
Scottish surname and place name
This Scottish surname and Scottish and Australian place name has a pleasant airy and breezy sound to it. Camden mayor Lara Symkowiak chose the name for her daughter born in 2016.
Spanish
"arms; nature name"
The name of a river that flows through Texas into the Gulf of Mexico is given to a dozen or so baby boys and a handful of girls each year. The name derives from Spanish río de los Brazos de Dios…
English
"literary name"
Ellaria Sand is a slightly obscure character in HBO's Game of Thrones , part of the notoriously half-baked Dorne plot that bedeviled later seasons of the show. She was paramour to Oberyn Martell,…
Israeli place name or Hebrew
"fruit or glory"
Also a city near Tel Aviv, Hadar is a name found primarily in Israel. There is also a citrus fruit associated with the holiday of Sukkat the Torah calls the "hadar fruit".
Biblical place name from Akkadian or Babylonian
"house of fish"
An ancient city in Assyria, where Jonah was sent to spread the word of God.
French
"island name"
Actress Seychelle Gabriel is named after the Seychelles, an archipelagic island nation in the Indian Ocean. The islands were named after Jean Moreau de Séchelles, Louis XV's Minister of Finance.
Feminine from of Tullius, Roman
"meaning unknown"
The unusual and intriguing Tullia has been used since Roman times and may appeal to parents who like Tallulah, Julia, and Lillia but want something that's very rarely heard. A feminine form the…
Fictional name from Swahili
"demon of war"
The name of one of the antagonists in the 1998 Lion King sequel Simba's Pride . The character was originally named Shetani, which means "devil" in Swahili, but this name was later combined with…
Word name from the Latin
"eight"
In literature, the Ottava rima is a form of poetry consisting of eight line stanzas and the rhyme scheme ABABABCC. Originating in Italy, it is typically used for epic and narrative poetry, with…
English word name from the Greek Euphonia
"well sounding"
With the rising use of Eugenie and Eulalia, could literary Euphony make a debut? It certainly has a pleasant meaning and is euphonic itself.
English word name from the Greek Elegeia
"lament"
An elegy is a poem lamenting a deceased person. As a name, it could be used by parents in remembrance of a recently deceased person or as a euphonic and unusual literary name. The original Greek…
Invented literary name
"beautiful shining one"
The name of the character in Edmund Spenser's "The Faerie Queene" whom the poet intended as a representation of Queen Elizabeth I. While it will no doubt thrill your daughter's English professor, the…
Hindi
"greatest"
Though meaningful in its own culture, would make a challenging crossover.
Word name or medieval English form of Otto, German
"a lyric poem; wealthy"
Ode could be part of the extended Otto/Otis family, or it might be a literary term, referring to an elaborate lyric poem, such as Keats's Ode to a Nightingale. .
English, from German
Easter has been used as a name for several hundred years, as part of the day-naming tradition; now, this rarely heard holiday celebration name would make a novel choice for a springtime baby.…
Word name or Latin
"purification feast"
If January, April and August are useable and fashionable, why not February? February as a word derives from the Latin februa , which was the name of a purification feast coming at the end of winter,…