Nature, Place and Word Names
By Sophie Kihm · Updated September 2026
Across 6 pages
of 6
English
"stone camp or fortress"
Rochester was Jack Benny's famous valet and sidekick, played by early African-American comic Eddie Anderson.
Spanish, from Greek
"beryl, pale green gemstone"
A Latin name with a lot of tango flair.
Greek
"silver"
A more modern form of Argyros.
Nordic, Arabic
"sapphire; diplomat"
An intriguing name with two distinct etymologies. It can be a masculine version of Sapphire or Sapphira, relating to the gemstone, or it can be an alternative form of the Arabic name Safir, meaning…
Word name
Slate, Stone and Steel are on the rise, so why not Shale?
Norse
"stone of victory"
Nope, not a misspelling of Sexton or a number name. This Old Norse name is actually a name denoting victory and in the Swedish Top 100..
Latin
"silvery"
A more distinctive alternative to Angelo.
Greenlandic
"snow crystal"
A unisex name from the snowy north.
Mineral name
Alabaster is a white stone that was often used to make sculptures. The name is thought to derive from an Egyptian term al-abaste, which refers to the Egyptian God Bast.
German
"Stone"
Welsh
"very golden or noble"
Aneirin is the original form of the more common Aneurin (which was a mistaken spelling used after the 17th Century). Aneirin was one of the first great Welsh poets who flourished in the 6th Century.…
Turkic, Mongol
"iron"
This Westernized form of the name of an ancient Mongol warrior, remembered primarily today through the works of Christopher Marlowe and Edgar Allan Poe, runs the risk of sounding pompous and…
English and Scottish occupational name
"metalworker"
If you're tired of Oliver, you might consider this energetic three-syllable surname instead, so you could have a little Tolly instead of an Ollie. Tolliver is a not-too-obvious occupational Scottish…
Tungsten is the metal often associated with lightbulbs, making it a quirky choice for a bright young mind.
"battle stone"
Dignified first name of poet W. H. Auden, less exposed than his currently stylish surname.
Spanish from Hebrew
"gold"
Names that end in I are hot right now, but Yari has yet to be discovered. It's a unisex name more common among girls, perhaps due to its similarity to Yara.
Color or mineral name
Extreme cool possibilities in either of these modern categories, like a postmodern Linc.
Gem name from Greek
"gold-hued"
Although Zircon means "gold-hued," the gem comes in a variety of colors.
"metal alloy"
"dark stone"
A two-syllable surname feel puts this name of an important English saint in the running -- though it could sound like a confused cross between Duncan and Dustin.
