Nature, Place and Word Names · Baby Name Meanings
By Sophie Kihm · Updated September 2026
Across 13 pages
of 13
Color name
One of the new color names that is catching on, invoking a calm, blue-green-sea feeling.
Hebrew or Greek
"my candle; ocean spirit"
A simple but unusual name with roots in disparate cultures, Neri appears in the Bible as a male name and is still sometimes used for boys as well as girls. The appeal of Neri are its deep roots…
River name and color name
"dark blue, indigo"
Cool, serene name of the Egyptian river can make a fresh choice for a girl. The origin of river name Nile relates to the Arabic and ancient Hebrew word for dark blue or indigo; in ancient Egyptian,…
English word, Old English
"an inlet of the sea where the land curves inward; berry"
One of the most usable of the pleasant, newly adopted nature/water names (like Lake and Ocean), especially in middle position. It's gentle, slightly whimsical, but grounded by its similarity to May…
Hebrew
"autumn rain"
Unique possibility for a girl born between September and November.
Italian place-name
"pond, lake"
Laguna Beach is a famous California spot -- though there's "goonie" teasing potential.
Welsh
"maiden"
Morwenna is an ancient Cornish name now being revived in Wales, deriving from a Celtic word meaning "maiden", although the Mor- syllable means that it's often associated with the sea. It's been heard…
"drawn from the water"
Feminine spin on Moses and European river name that's also the name of a wine.
German
"small brook"
Rilla dropped out of the US Top 1000 in 1915, but it's starting to feel like an intriguing possibility again in this age of short, sweet, a-ending names for girls. It is traditionally a short form…
Spanish, Portuguese
"salty water; rocky, pebbly"
Sweet, spirited, and unexpected as a given name, reality TV star Lala Kent brought Sosa into the spotlight when she chose it for her daughter in 2024. A Spanish name deriving from the Portuguese…
English nature name
Soft and mellifluous nature-surname name, situated miles away from the dated Marshall.
Cherokee
"waterfall"
Greek
"water nymph,"
Possibility for a girl born under one of the water signs -- Cancer, Pisces, or Scorpio.
Celtic Mythology (one of the names of the Lady of the Lake in Arthurian legends)
Nimue (Lady of the Lake) is the ruler of Avalon in the Arthurian legend. Nimue plays a pivotal role in many stories, including giving King Arthur his sword Excalibur, enchanting Merlin, and raising…
Hindi
"rain"
This Indian name with a Slavic sound definitely has potential.
Botanical name, English
"rough stream"
Yarrow is a flowering herb that grows wild in Europe and North America, and has long been used in several Native American and European cultures as a healing plant. Named for the mythical god Achille,…
Hindi, Sanskrit
"waterlily, lotus flower"
Derived from the Sanskrit word for "waterlily" or "lotus flower", Niraj is used across the Indian subcontinent. Also transcribed as Neeraj, it is related to the names Neer and Neera. This form is…
Sanskrit
"possessing water"
Saraswati is the Hindu goddess of knowledge, learning, music, and the arts. She is also a river goddess, associated with the mythical Saraswati river, which played an important part in the Vedic…
Literary name
"wandering as water"
The name of the (male) otter protagonist of Henry Williamson’s 1927 novel Tarka the Otter . It is in rare use as a male and female name in England, especially among the Telegraph-reading classes. A…
