Latin Names

Name of the Roman goddess of harvest and grain, appropriate for a fall baby. And a palindrome too!

Anona

Made cool by that final X (as seen in Felix, Lennox, and Rex), Pollux is the Romanized form of Polydeukes, the half-twin of Castor, and the son of Zeus and Leda. Associated with the Gemini constellation, the name means "very sweet".
 
While Castor is held back by the oil, parents may be put off Pollux by its similarity to words like pollock, polyps, pollution, and pox — and with its almost rhyme, beginning with B. 
 
If you can look past that, as a handful of parents in the US have been doing since at least 2008, it could make an unexpected way to honor a Paul or a Polly and a way to nicknames Lux and Lockie.

Pollux

Avis is a bird name that's been in hibernation for awhile, possibly due to the car rental association, but it could make a return on the wings of Ava. Baldwin brother Daniel chose it for his daughter.
 Avis Everhard is the fictional narrator of the Jack London dystopian novel The Iron Heel. In the Harry Potter books, Avis is not a character, but a spell.

Avis

With its stylish -o ending and similarity to the likes of Remy, Rio, and Leo, this Italian name could make an appealing and distinctive choice. A variation of Remus, it is associated with Roman mythology, Remus being one of the founders of the city of Rome, alongside his twin brother Romulus — who later killed him. While the exact meaning of the name is unknown, "twin" has been suggested.
 
Familiar in Switzerland, Remo might work for those who enjoy gentler names, and by those who love mythology but want something more subtle — and less Harry Potter connected too.

Remo

Bryony is an unusually strong plant name --the bryony is a wild climbing vine with green flowers --that caught on in the U.K. before sprouting here. The name of the young character in the Ian McEwan novel Atonement is spelled Briony, which is the variation and Bryony the original.
 Bryony sounds a lot fresher than the now dated Brittany. Pronunciation is like Brian with an ee at the end, though the name bears no relationship to the male Brian or Bryan.

Bryony

Ciri may sound exactly like the ubiquitous digital Siri, but it's achieving fame in its own right as the familiar name of Princess Cirilla of The Witcher series. The name's meaning is a nod to her royal status.

Ciri

Coralia was the name of a dancing mermaid in a 19th century ballet.  As Cora — which has another root and means maiden — rises, so may elaborations and related names such as Coralie, Coraline, and Coralia.

Coralia

Cyrilla is an obscure feminization of Cyril that's a bit buttoned-up but also intriguingly unique, with an authentic pedigree. Spelling Cirilla is more visible thanks to The Witcher series, in which its the name of the heroine Princess Cirilla, nicknamed Ciri. 40 baby girls were named Cirilla in the US in 2021, vs. only 10 called Cyrilla.

Cyrilla

Delicia

Digna

The o ending and the positive meaning in many languages makes this a winner, and with the feminine Vera making a surprise return, and the new love for the letter 'V', this becomes a name that has definite possibilities. 
 A geographical tie is to Vero Beach in Florida, former home of the Dodgers training camp.

Vero

Deriving from the Roman cognomen Vivianus, Vivian was originally a masculine name, with Vivien being a feminine soundalike coined by Alfred Lord Tennyson for the Lady of the Lake in his famous poetic adaptation of the legend of King Arthur. It has since become a much more popular choice for girls in the US, but retains a refined British charm which sees it cropping up occasionally for boys in the Telegraph birth announcements. Fun fact: Vivian is the middle name of Daniel Cleaver, Hugh Grant's rakish character in the Bridget Jones movies.

Vivian

Hilaria, the ancient Roman form of Hilary also given to joyous festivals, is still used in Spain and Poland, while the intriguing Italian version is Ilaria. A notable current bearer is fitness expert and wife of Alec, Hilaria Baldwin, who was born Hillary. 

Hilaria

With male version Leon taking off all over Europe, the female variations, from Leona to Leonie to Leone, are coming back into style too.

Leone

Derived from a Spanish title of the Virgin Mary, Guadalupe, Lupe has both a spiritual and animal meaning. In relation to its long form, it is associated with a convent in Spain and the appearance of Our Lady of Guadalupe to a Mexican man in the 16th-century. Taken as a stand-alone name, it derives from the Latin word for "wolf", lupus.
 
Appearing in the US Top 1000 for boys and girls in the first half of the 20th-century, it fell out of fashion in the 60s, and a recent year saw it given to just 7 boys and 9 girls respectively. In comparison, 244 girls and 31 boys were called Guadalupe the same year, while alternative short form Lupita was used 38 times.

Lupe

Madonna

Marine was trending for a long time in France, but the far right politician Marine (born Marion) LePen has dampened the mood.


Marine

One of the rarest of the floral names, though not without some teasing potential. Peony is a historical 1948 novel by Pearl S. Buck.

Peony

Romantic name, feminine form of the ancient name Romanus or the modern Roman, that may rise again with the league of Rom-beginning names that also include Romy and Romilly.  Romana's downside: Easy to confuse with the more familiar Ramona.

Romana

A feminine form of Rufus, which has potential in the current trend for ancient Roman names.

Rufina

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 26)