Valentine’s Day Baby Names Mean Love

Updated Wed Feb 14 2024

Valentine baby names mean love and romance in every possible way. Today we look at names that mean love, heart, sweetness, and more, to celebrate the holiday in the name of your own lovebug.

The Valentine Family

Let’s begin with the star of the show. The name Valentine (in Latin, Valentinus) comes from a root meaning "strength" or "health".

Valentine has always been a unisex name, but in recent years it has been particularly gender-balanced. In 2022 in the US, it was given to 56 girls and 71 boys.

A whole group of names share the same origin: not just Valentina and Valentino, but also modern virtue Valor, place name Valencia and international forms like Bálint.

Here are some of our favorite family members.

Names That Mean Love

You could choose Love itself as a name. It flows especially well in the middle spot, as in Jennifer Love Hewitt or April Love Geary, who passed it onto her daughter, Mia Love.

A more subtle option is a name with a hidden “love”, like Clover or Lovell. Or you could get really clever like Ashley Scott, whose daughter is named Iyla Vue (say it aloud).

A small but growing number of parents use loving phrase names, like Ily (an acronym for "I love you") and Miamor. And there are lots of names meaning love in languages from around the world — love is universal, after all.

From Romance languages, Amora and Amoura are among the fastest-rising girl names, while Amias is a red-hot vintage revival for boys. Other modern favorites are Milan and Milena from Slavic languages, Nayeli from Central America, and Davis, from Hebrew via an English surname.

Here, some of the best names meaning love we think you may, well, love.

Names That Mean Heart

The heart is (figuratively) where we feel love and emotion, and you can’t miss the love-heart symbols on Valentine’s Day. These names that mean heart, or sound like the word, could be perfect for someone who holds a special place in yours.

Terms of Endearment

Parents everywhere call their kids affectionate nicknames — Sweetie, Honey, Pumpkin — but using one as a legal name takes it to the next level.

Names that are terms of endearment can be cutesy, like Jamie Oliver’s children Daisy Boo and Buddy Bear. Sweet term of endearment names like Buddy, Sonny, Kitty and Honey are already popular across the pond.

But there are others that you may not even know started as the equivalent of “Dear” or “Darling”. Here’s a selection.

Sweet Candy Names

Candy is a big part (if not the best part) of Valentine’s Day for many. These names are related to sweet treats, or mean sweet — perfect for a delicious child, but also on a grown-up (just look at Condoleezza Rice).

Trinkets and Tokens

Are you giving your love a Rose? Writing them a Sonnet? Perhaps even taking them to a leafy Bower? A traditional symbol or gift could be a great meaningful name for a Valentine’s baby — we’ve also included some names meaning gift.

Great Lovers

Beyond Romeo and Juliet, there are many excellently-named couples from history, legend and literature. We don’t recommend naming children after both lovers — siblings named Antony and Cleopatra would definitely be too close for comfort — especially if they’re ill-fated or, er, a little problematic. But there’s plenty of inspiration in one of these romantic pairs.

Antony & Cleopatra

Cyrano & Roxane

Dante & Beatrice

Daphnis & Chloe

Diarmuid & Grainne

Heathcliff & Cathy

Helen & Paris

Heloise & Abelard

Hero & Leander

Lancelot & Guinevere

Layla & Majnun

Marius & Cosette

Niamh & Oisin

Odysseus & Penelope

Pyramus & Thisbe

Rama & Sita

Rhys & Meinir

Romeo & Juliet

Samson & Delilah

Scarlett & Rhett

Gods and Goddesses of Love

Mythological names are booming, but many of the most popular — Odin, Athena, Raiden — are warlike and stormy gods and goddesses.

Here are names from religion, myth and legend more suited to a celebration of love.

Happy Valentine’s Day — we love all our readers!

About the Author

Clare Green

Clare Green has been writing for Nameberry since 2015, covering everything from names peaking right now to feminist baby names, and keeping up-to-date with international baby name rankings. Her work has featured in publications such as The Independent and HuffPost. Clare has a background in linguistics and librarianship, and recently completed an MA dissertation researching names in multilingual families. She lives in England with her husband and son. You can reach her at clare@nameberry.com

View all of Clare Green's articles