Pet Names · Cat Names
By Pamela Redmond · Updated September 2026
Across 25 pages
of 25
Latin
"dove"
Columba is an early saint's name that rhumbas to a modern beat. While the original St. Columba is male, the name sounds more appropriate for a girl in the modern world. Leave variations Colm and…
Word name, English from Latin
"comet"
Soaring astral name has a great gender-free feel. It also has a pleasing christmas connotation, courtesy of the reindeer listed in Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
Greek
"bed bug"
This herb is also known as cilantro. It's meaning, "bed bug" is on account of its smell, characterized by the ancient Greeks as bed bug-like.
Botanical name
Corymbia is the botanical name of many species of beautiful flowering gum trees. It is a rare, but attested, girls' name in Australia.
English surname
"crane"
This elegant surname has great potential to turn into an unusual first name, especially with its literary associations to both Stephen and Hart Crane. Crane is a surname that originated for a tall…
Spanish from Greek
"golden flower, chrysanthemum"
Crisanta, while not related to Christine, would make a pretty and highly unusual alternative to that tried-and-true name. Because of its relationship to the chrysanthemum, the flower of the month of…
61 Cygni is a star in the constellation Cygnus. It's pronounced similarly to the Scandinavian name Signe/Signy.
Flower name, from Greek
"asphodel"
Yes, though it seems so extreme, girls were actually sometimes given this name a century ago; now it is so uncommon it would make a strong springtime statement. Biggest obstacle: the nickname Daffy.…
"divine flower"
Diantha, a mythological flower of the supreme Greek god Zeus, is a melodious and more unusual cousin of Diana, heard most often in The Netherlands. Some similar choices: Diandra and Dianthe.
Nature name
"eagle, a bird"
Solemn but soaring name with patriotic symbolism.
French and English botanical name
"sweetbriar"
This name for the sweetbriar shrub is a bit too reminiscent of eggplant, but it does have literary creds, having appeared in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales . The French form Églantine appeared in the…
Cornish
"Iris"
Less known than other Cornish beauties like Elowen, Demelza, and Kerensa, Elestren is a pretty botanical name ripe for wider usage. While it may have a starry, celestial feel, likely owning to…
English, German, Norse, Danish tree name
"red, brown"
Strong, straight, and leafy, one of the new tree names used mostly as middles.
A genus of tropical shrubs that bear white and pink flowers.
Norse
"elm"
In Norse mythology, Embla is the equivalent of the Bible's Eve, who, along with her husband Ask, were the first humans to be created by the gods, in this case from trees. With its lovely nature…
Word name
Feather, though it was used for a character in a Walter Mosley novel, seems too light and fluttery for a real-life girl.
English, Dutch, Frisian
"marshland; peace"
In English, a fen is a wetland fed by surface and/or groundwater. In Dutch and Frisian, it's a traditional diminutive of names containing the element frid , meaning "peace". Either way, Fen makes a…
Vegetable and herb name
In the garden of herb names, Rosemary and Basil are perennials and Sage is a new upshoot, but Fennel is a real rarity. The aniseed-tasting plant, used to add flavor to dishes around the world, gets…
Welsh
"flower"
A rare Welsh form of Flora and Fleur, ultimately taken from the Latin flos , this floral choice is given to a handful of girls most years in Wales. To date, its peak was in 2018, when 15 babies…
More unusual than Forest or Forrest, Field is a nature name that is simple, evocative, and fresh--sort of the male equivalent of Meadow. Field and Fields are both relatively common surnames, noted…
