Animal Names: Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My!
If you’re looking for a theme for your baby-to-be’s nursery, you could do worse than factoring into your name decision those that have animal themes. (I’ll bet half the little boys named Jonah, for instance, have at least one whale on their walls.)
I’m talking mostly about names that refer to a specific animal in their meanings, as well as some literary and pop culture characters. There are some caveats though–I mean does Portia really want to be reminded constantly that her name is related to ‘pig’ or that Clifford is eternally a big red dog?
That aside, here are some of the more appealing names and the beasts they’re associated with:
DEER, DOES, FAWNS, GAZELLESAYELET, BAMBI, CLARICE, DARBY, DOE, DORCAS, DYANI, FAWN, HART, HERSHEL, NIABI, OISIN, ORHRAH/ORPAH, PAKUNA, ROSCOE, TABITHA, ZVI
ELEPHANTSBAYLOR, CELESTE, GANESHA, HATHI, HORATIO, HORTON, KALA, NELLIE, POM, SHEP, TAJ, WINIFRED
HORSESAHEARNE, ALFONSO, ARION, BAYARD, CADOC, COLT, DESTRY, EACHNA/EACHANN, FLICKA, HIPPOLYTE, MARSHALL, NARA, PHILIP/PHILIPPA/PHILIPPE, ROSALIND, ROSAMOND
MONKEYS, APES & CHIMPSALDO, ARTHUR, CAPUCHINE, CLYDE, DEXTER, DUNSTON, ELIJAH, GEORGE, JUPITER, MASON, SAKI, ZOEY
BEARSARTHUR, AUBERON, BARRETT, BEN, BERN/BERNARD, BJORN, DOV, ORSON, RUPERT, TEDDY, URSULA, WINNIE
DOGSASTA, BLUE, BOLT, CLIFFORD, EDISON, KERRY, MADIGAN, OTIS, SKYE
RABBITSARLEDGE, ARLEY, BENJAMIN, HARDEN, HARVEY, HAZEL, JEMIMA, JEREMY, PETER
COWS & BULLSANGUS, BESSIE, BYRON, ELSIE, FERDINAND, GUERNSEY, JERSEY, VACHEL
CATSALONZO, ARCHIE, CALICO, CASSANDRA, ELECTRA, FALINE, FELIX, GARFIELD, GUS, KITTY, MEHITIBAL, SYLVESTER
LIONSJust about every name starting with Leo: LEO, LEON, LEONARD, LEONID, LEONIE, LEONTYNE. But also ALEX, ARI/ARIEL/ARYE, ATALANTA, ELSA, GURI/GURYON, LEANDER, LEV, LEYA, LIONEL, LLEWELLYN, NALA, SARAFINE, SIMBA
SHEEP & LAMBSJUBAL, MARY, MERONA, RACHEL, ROMNEY, TAJIK
KANGAROOJIRRA, JOEY, MATILDA, WILLOUGHBY
GOATGILES
FOXFIONA, TODD