Happy New Year Names
Happy New Year! New Year names, celebrating new beginnings and dawning hope, could be perfect for you if you’re expecting a baby around the turn of the year.
For many of us, a new year — in whichever calendar you use — represents an opportunity to reflect, let go of the year that’s been, and look ahead to the future. This means that names with forward-looking meanings, such as hope and renewal, are especially good for a child due at this time of the year.
This is our guide to the best names with meanings relating to the new year. They range from popular favorites to rare and quirky options, from ancient to modern, and from all around the world. Cheers!
New Year Festival Names
In some countries, New Year’s Eve is known as St Sylvester’s Day, or simply Silvester. Forget the cartoon cat; this is an underused gem in both spellings, from the same name family as modern revivals Silas and Sylvie.
In ancient Rome, the double-faced god Janus guarded the gateway to the new year. Jana was his female counterpart, and the Romans also had Strenia, a goddess dedicated to new year gifts.
Janus gave his name to January, as well as international forms like Janvier and Gennaro. Check out our list of January baby names for more inspiration from the first month of the year.
December 31 and January 1 are the seventh and eighth days of Christmas, so number names relating to these, such as Sevyn and Octavia, would be appropriate for children born on these dates. A New Year's Day baby could also have a name meaning "one" or "first", like Hana or Kensa.
Names That Mean New
Brand new baby, brand new year: a name that signifies fresh beginnings is a perfect match. Nova is a popular choice (deservedly so), and these are some of the other names that have newness and beginnings in their meaning.
Names That Mean Dawn
Not only is sunrise a powerful symbol, but in the northern hemisphere the new year falls just as the days gradually start to get longer and lighter again. Not surprisingly, many languages and cultures have names that mean dawn. Dawn itself was a 1970s favorite, and recently Aurora has risen to take its place in the US Top 50. Other radiant options include:
Names That Mean Hope
Hope springs eternal, especially at the start of a new year. The name Hope itself is evergreen with parents, and here are more hopeful names from around the globe.
New Year’s Namesakes
New year babies are in good company. These well-known people have birthdays on December 31 and January 1 — and names that may inspire you.
Anthony Hopkins — British actor
Bebe (Beatrice) Neuwirth — Frasier actress
Betsy (Elizabeth) Ross — credited with making the first US flag
Diane von Fürstenberg — fashion designer
Elin Maria Pernilla Nordegren — Swedish-born model
Gabby (Gabrielle) Christina Victoria Douglas — Olympic gymnast
Henri Matisse — artist
Jerome David Salinger — author of The Catcher in the Rye_
Lance Reddick — The Wire actor
Mary Beard — classy classics professor
Nicholas Sparks — novelist and screenwriter
Odetta Holmes — singer, actor and civil rights activist
Ouida — aka the novelist Maria Louise Ramé
Park Jae-sang — better known as Psy, of Gangnam Style fame
Paul Revere — American revolutionary who did a midnight ride
Poppy (Moriah Rose Pereira) — singer and YouTube star
Senfronia Calpernia Thompson — longstanding Texas legislator
From all of us at Nameberry, Happy New Year!