Latin Names

Pax, one of the variations of <a href="https://nameberry.com/list/411/baby-names-that-mean-peace">names meaning peace</a> that are newly popular in these less-than-peaceful times, got a lot of publicity when chosen by Brad & Angelina for their Vietnamese-born son. Parents attracted to Pax may also want to consider Paz, the unisex Spanish version, or Paxton, a growing-in-popularity surname choice that shares that magical X-factor.

Properly spelled Luã, this is a light and bright alternative to mega-popular Luna, with the same celestial meaning. Lua is also an attractive choice for tech-heads, with Lua being a popular programming language.
 
In Roman mythology, Lua was a goddess to whom captured weapons were sacrificed, and is, in this case, derived from the Latin luo meaning "to set free", adding to that light, sweet feel of it. 
 
Familiar in Spain, particularly in Galicia and Catalonia, and in the Netherlands, Lua could even work as a short form for the likes of Lucia, Luana, Luciana, Luella, and so on.

Minerva is the long-neglected name of the Roman goddess of wisdom and invention, the arts and martial strength, one of the <a href="https://nameberry.com/list/325/mythological-baby-names-for-girls">mythology names for girls</a> that might appeal to adventurous feminist parents. With Juno and Jupiter, she made the Capitoline triad, whose worship was at the very center of Roman religion.
 
Minerva Pott is a character in Dickens's novel Pickwick Papers. In Harry Potter, Minerva McGonagall is a Witch and Deputy Headmistress of Hogswarts, and in the Artemis Fowl books, Minerva Paradizo is equally intellectual. There's also a series of kids' mystery books centering around a Minerva Clark.
 
Minerva was a Top 500 name through the early 1920s, last appearing on the list in 1973. It's well liked on Nameberry though—currently at Number 417. Nickname Minnie fits right in with the other currently stylish vintage nickname names. Curiously, though, actress Minnie Driver was not born Minerva, but Amelia.

Minerva

Jules is one of the adorable boyish nicknames newly fashionable for girls. It's rarer than Billie, with a cool and casual feel. It's use in the popular TV series Euphoria - where the character of Jules Vaughn was portrayed by Hunter Schafer - brought this name into the spotlight. 
 
TV personality Jules Asner made this middle-aged male name suddenly seem young and fresh and female, after having been an off-the radar-nickname for Julia and Julie. Author and wife of celebrity chef Jamie Oliver spells her name Jools, and we've also seen Joolz.

Jules

Though still being used, Deanna peaked many decades ago. 

Deanna

This name of three early popes has been associated in recent years with a cocky cartoon cat ("Thufferin' thuccatash!") and the Italian Stallion hero of the Rocky and Rambo movies (who was born Michael) — and yet we think it just might be ready to move further back into the mainstream.
 
Sylvester was at its height in the 1920s, when it was in the Top 200, and hung on in the lower rungs of the ladder until 1994. Lately the name has been most visible as a surname — that of Sue Sylvester on Glee. Model Emily Ratajkowski named her son Sylvester Apollo in 2021.
 
Trivia tidbit--in the 1935 movie Sylvia Scarlett, the young Katharine Hepburn disguises herself as a boy named Sylvester — until she meets Cary Grant!

Sylvester

Clement, the name of fourteen popes and several saints, has a pleasantly, positive, slightly antiquated feel, like the phrase "clement weather." 
 Clement C. Moore wrote the poem "A Visit from St. Nicholas," Clement Attlee was a prominent post-World War II British Prime Minister, and Clement Greenberg was the art critic who promoted Abstract Expressionism.
 The hero of Thomas Hardy's The Return of the Native is Clement Yeobright, known as Clym rather than the usual Clem.

Clement

Lavinia is a charmingly prim and proper Victorian-sounding name which actually dates back to classical mythology, where it was the name of the wife of the Trojan hero Aeneas, who was considered the mother of the Roman people.
 Later literary bearers include the protagonist's daughter in Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus (which has the line "She is Lavinia, therefore must be lov'd"), the heroine of G.B. Shaw's Androcles and the Lion, and characters in David Copperfield, Henry James' Washington Square, and the contemporary The Hunger Games and Downton Abbey--and Lavinia was also used by Thackeray, T. S. Eliot, and by Ursula Le Guin for an eponymous novel.
 Trivia tidbit: Lavinia was Ava Gardner's middle name.
With its vintage nickname Vinnie, Lavinia might well appeal to parents who favor lavender-tinged names like Amelia and Matilda and Maude.

Lavinia

Leonie is a chic French and German form of a name that exists in a range of variations from Leona to Leonia to Leon to Leo to Lionel, all newly fashionable after a couple of generations in style limbo. 
 Pronunciation can be confusing: The first syllable can be pronounced as lee or lay, the second as on or own, and the accent can be on either the first or the second syllable or be evenly distributed over all three syllables of the name, so that it sounds like the male name Leon with an ee at the end. Take your pick, but know that others might often pick differently.
 Aunt Leonie is a major character in Proust's Remembrance of Things Past. Leonie Hemsworth is the mother of Liam and Chris and Leonie is the name picked by Monica Bellucci and Vincent Cassel for their daughter.

Leonie

Quade is a confident, contemporary-sounding name that would fit right in with classmates Cade, Zade, Slade and Jade, boasting the quirky Q-beginning.
 Quade Cooper is an Australian rugby star. With the alternate spelling Quaid, the name is associated with thespian brothers Dennis and Randy.

Quade

A name that would lavish your child with adoration, a princess name--as in Princess Adora of She-Ra: Princess of Power.

Adora

Aurelia and Aurora meet Aubriella and Gabriella in this elaborate, golden name. First appearing in the US stats back in 2005, a recent year saw it given 74 girls.

Auriella

A video-game import (Final Fantasy VI) for a character with green hair and a name that brings the outmoded Terry and Tara into the postmodern age.
In ancient Rome, Terra was also a minor goddess and personification of the earth.

Terra

This Latin word used for evening spiritual services was introduced to baby namers by the Eva Greene character Vesper Lynd in the modern James Bond film Casino Royale in 2006, based on the Ian Fleming novel, and is just now beginning to provoke interest among namers, with its spiritual reference and soft, whispery sound.
 On a more earthly note, the 'Vesper Martini' is the famous drink ordered by James Bond in both the book and the movie Casino Royale.
 A name likely to enter the Top 1000.

Vesper

This name of the archangel who protects those born under the sign of Capricorn is one of the most attractive and distinctive <a href="https://nameberry.com/list/577/names-for-december-babies">December baby names</a> or <a href="https://nameberry.com/list/629/71-wonderful-names-for-january-babies">January baby names</a>. Cassiel is a little-known member of the increasingly popular Cass family, which includes Cassius, Cassian, and Cassia.

Cassiel

Esaias is a masculine name of ancient origin, representing the Greek form of Isaiah (Hebrew Yesha'yahu), meaning 'God is salvation' or 'Yahweh is salvation.' This classical variation was used in the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible. While less common than Isaiah in English-speaking countries, Esaias maintains popularity in certain European regions, particularly in Greece and among communities with strong Orthodox Christian traditions. The name carries the gravitas of its biblical connection—Isaiah being one of the major prophets in the Old Testament—while offering a distinctive alternative to more common biblical names. Its elegant pronunciation and meaningful heritage continue to attract parents seeking a name with historical depth.

Esaias

If Flora and Florence have returned full force, then Florian, with its strong Latinate ending and its botanical meaning in one to watch out for. Popular in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Poland, and France, Florian is a saintly choice, borne St Florian, a 3rd-century martyr and the patron saint of Poland and firefighters.
 
Meaning "flower" or "flowering", the name appears in Tennyson's poem "The Princess," and also in Gilbert & Sullivan's comic opera "Princess Ida." Sir Florian Eustace is an off-stage character in Trollope's novel The Eustace Diamonds, while in the real world, Florian is the birth name of singer Dido and borne by footballer Florian Thauvin too. 
 
A great way to honor a Florence (or a Lily, Violet, or Rose), Florian fits in with solid choices like Adrian and Julian, but also with gentler options like Ocean, August, Remy, and Elio.
 
Pronounced as FLO-ree-ahn in German, FLAW-RYAH(n) in French, FLAW-ryahn in Polish and FLAW-ree-uhn in English, Florian was given to around 50 boys in the US in a recent year, while in England and Wales, it rose 127 places up the Top 1000.

Florian

Marius, frequently heard in Germany and France, is a slightly fusty yet accessible name that has (Les Mis) to Anne Rice. With the rise in interest in such Latin names as Maximus and Atticus, Marius might start attracting more attention.
Mario, the Italian, Spanish and Portuguese version of Marius, is much more widely used.

Marius

Mirabel is one of those names that's not on the Top 1000 but ought to be, and undoubtedly will be soon following the release of Disney's 2021 Encanto. Mirabel is the film's quirky and highly relatable heroine. Mirabel had a significant rise in 2022, going from 34 births in 2021 to 153 births in 2022. Read more about Mirabel and other <a href="https://nameberry.com/blog/disney-princess-names">Disney Princess Names</a> in our featured blog.

 Along with Maribel, Annabel, Rosabel and the like, Mirabel is a more unusual and elegant alternative to the popular Isabel. Spelled Mirabelle, it is also the name of a delicate French plum variety.
 
Mirabel and the Italian form Mirabella were both quite common in the later Middle Ages, and Mirabel is scattered throughout early English poetry. Mirabel has a nice pair of nickname options: Mira and Belle.

Mirabel

Sabina is a sleek but neglected name with the same spirited, stylish feel of Sabrina, Serena, and Selena. It ranked towards the latter end of the US charts in the early 20th century while a more recent year saw it given to 70 American girls. 
The name is derived from that of an ancient tribe, the Sabines, who lived in central Italy and went to war with the Romans. According to legend, the Sabine women were kidnapped by the Romans but later affected peace between the warring sides. The exact etymology of the name is disputed, but a one theory is that it means "of one's own".
 
Borne by two early saints, it is also a literary choice, appearing in Thornton Wilder's play The Skin of Our Teeth and Milan Kudera's novel The Unbearable Lightness of Being. British actress Sabina Franklyn is a notable real life bearer.
 
Popular in Poland and Czechia and familiar in the UK, Spain, and Slovenia where it has ranked in the past, Sabina is could make an unexpected but familiar option elsewhere. 
 
The pronunciation of the name does vary slightly depending on language and location, with sa-BEE-na or sa-BEE-nuh heard in Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, and English, while SA-bih-na is used in Czech. International forms include French and German Sabine, Dutch Sabien, Italian Savina, and Hungarian Szabina. 
 
Sabina (also written as Səbinə) is used in Azerbaijan and beyond, as a variation of the Arabic Sabiyya meaning "girl, young woman", adding a further international element to the name.

Sabina

Latin names are plentiful throughout English-speaking countries, as Latin is one of the root languages for English. Latin names include many of the most popular baby names in the Western world, including Lucy and Oliver, Julia, and Miles.

Latin names in the US Top 100 for girls include Ava, Clara, Lillian, Olivia, and Stella. For boys, Latin names in the US Top 100 include Dominic, Lucas, Julian, Roman, and Sebastian. In Rome, popular names include Cecilia, Viola, Christian, and Santiago.

Of course, many unique baby names have Latin origins too, such as Sidra, Domino, and Vesper. Latin was the language of ancient Rome, another source for fashionable modern names, such as Augustus, Cassius, and Octavia.

Browse all of our Latin baby names here, ordered by popularity on Nameberry. 

Latin names of origin in the Latin language, the language and culture of ancient Rome, including Latin names for boys and Latin names for girls, with meanings and popularity. (Page 14)