Animal baby names are a new group in the lexicon.

There’s Alicia Silverstone’s little boy Bear Blu.

Singer Erykah Badu has a daughter named Puma, and Valerie Bertinelli and Eddie Van Halen named their now-grown son Wolf long before animal names were fashionable.

Bird names Lark, Hawk, and Wren are rising, and actresses Busy Phillips and Maura West both have small daughters named Birdie.

And then there are those animal baby names that don’t sound like animal names: Arthur (which means bear), Destry (war horse), and Paloma (dove).

Would you use an animal name for your child?  Why or why not?

Would you go flat-out animal, as in Fox or Falcon, or make the animal connection more subtly, as with Channing or Rosamund?

Which are your favorites from the complete list of animal baby names?

Handmade giraffe hat at Kids’ Precious Couture on Etsy.