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Names to Celebrate Earth Day

Names to Celebrate Earth Day

Nameberry commemorates Earth Day with this guest blog contributed by Elisabeth Wilborn, creator of one of our favorite blogs, You Can’t Call It “It” Elisabeth, a writer, artist, and mom,  lives in Brooklyn, New York

Milkvetch. Wallflower. Toothwart.

Yes, the Earth is indeed a wellspring for baby names.

Actually I skipped those. Here are a few favorites culled– believe it or not– from endangered species lists. Morbid as that may seem, I promise they’re quite nice! Famous conservationists and a few other notables help bring it back down to Earth. I’d love to see Audubon or Fossey as firsts or to meet an all-American infant Sigurd.

Truly though, the names are of minor importance. Gasp! The most we can hope for is that our children do better than we did.

FAMOUS CONSERVATIONISTS

John James Audubon

Rachel Carson

Jeff Corwin

Jacques Cousteau

Dian Fossey

Buckminster Fuller

Jane Goodall

Julia Butterfly Hill

Steve Irwin

Aldo Leopold

Chico Mendes

John Muir

Frederick Law Olmstead

Sigurd F. Olson

Peter Simon Pallas

Henry David Thoreau

EMBLEMS OF THE EARTH

GIRLS

AnonaRoman goddess of the harvest

Avani- Sanskrit, “earth”

Ceres– Ancient Roman, “to grow”, Roman goddess of agriculture

Demeter– Greek, “earth mother”, Greek goddess of agriculture

FloraRoman goddess of flowers

Francis– Italian saint reknowned for his connection to animals

Gaia– Greek, “earth”, and the goddess of the earth

Georgia, Georgina, Georgianna– Greek, “farmer”

Kun- Chinese, “earth”

LunaRoman goddess of the moon

Perpetua– Latin, “continuous”

Terra– Latin, “earth”

Zoe– Greek, “life”

BOYS

Adam– Hebrew, debated meaning; man formed from the Earth

Asa– Hebrew, “healer”

Chayim- Hebrew, “life”

Enki- Sumerian, “lord of the earth”, god of water and wisdom

George– Greek, “farmer, earthworker”

Pax– Latin, “peace”

Vitus– Ancient Roman, from the latin for “life”

Zephyr– Greek god of the west wind

ANIMAL

Akialoa

Bear

Bison

Caribou

Cheetah

Condor

Cougar

Crane

Delphine

Eagle

Eider

Gazelle

Lynx

Nightengale

Ocelot

Peregrine

Rhea

Warbler

Wolf

VEGETABLE

Anemone

Aster

Azalea

Birch

Buttercup

Cicely

Clover

Columbine

Crocus

Cypress

Elm

Fern

Huckleberry

Hyssop

Indigo

Juniper

Maple

Oak

Phlox

Plum

Primrose

Rosemary

Rosette

Sage

Sedge

Snowdrop

Sorrel

Spruce

Thistle

Verbena

Willow

Yarrow

MINERAL

Bay

Earth, Eartha

Jasper

Marina

Obsidian

Ocean, Oceane

Onyx

Peter, Petra

Ridge

Slate

Solstice

Stone

…and finally Montana… much to the chagrin of Pam and Linda I’m sure.

About the Author

Linda Rosenkrantz

Linda Rosenkrantz

Linda Rosenkrantz is the co-founder of Nameberry, and co-author with Pamela Redmond of the ten baby naming books acknowledged to have revolutionized American baby naming. You can follow her personally at InstagramTwitter and Facebook. She is also the author of the highly acclaimed New York Review Books Classics novel Talk and a number of other books.