Musician Baby Names

One of the rare cases where spelling a name with a y makes it less rather than more feminine.  Birdie might be the freshest choice in this aviary.

Byrd

Popular Irish name brought here by singer Sinead O'Connor, could make a striking choice for a child with deep Irish roots. 

Sinéad

It has a variety of associations from Smokey Robinson to Smokey the bear, but Smokey still feels a bit comical for a baby.

Smokey

A melodic choice for lullaby-lovers. Brahms might also make a trendy s-ending nickname for Abraham.

Brahms

Association with the Irish singer-activist and the good things conjured up by the syllable 'bon', could inspire some parents to consider this name.

Bono

Destined to remain a one-person name -- in this country anyway. 

Björk

A word name, a nature name, and a surname, Swift is strongly tied to singer Taylor Swift. It could make a fun and quirky middle name, and there might just be some "Swiftie" parents who choose it in the future.
 
Also linked to the writer Jonathan Swift and the high flying bird, Swift also means "quick".

Swift

Bix is a cool and jazzy nickname name, thanks to that final x. It's largely associated with the legendary and influential cornet player (and inspiration for the novel Young Man With a Horn), Bix Beiderbecke. He was born Leon Bismark Beiderbecke and his nickname derived from his middle name.
 Bix could easily fit in with cousins Jax, Dax, etc.

When Kate Hudson named her second son Bingham and announced that she would be calling him Bing, it put this zingy nickname name out on the table. Before that, there was only one, further nicknamed Der Bingle -- and he was really Harry Lillis Crosby. 
 And nowadays it's also a Microsoft search engine--but in any case, Bing has a lot of zing and could fit in with the likes of Brooks, Banks, Riggs, and Briggs. No babies have been called Bing in recent years, however. 
 
Bing may also be associated with a Chinese name meaning "soldier" or "ice" depending on the kanji. While Bing is typically a surname, it may occasionally be listed as a given name in English speaking countries, due to the difference in name order in Chinese.

Bing

When superstar Beyoncé was born, her name was truly unique; it was a spin on her mom's maiden name, Biyence, with an accent over the final E.
 
Though we traditionally think of beloved celebrities boosting the popularity of their names, formerly-unfamiliar mononyms like Oprah, Sigourney, and Fantasia often do the exact opposite, because they become so closely associated with their bearer that they sound strange on anyone else.
 
Yet in this category, as in so many others, Beyonce is an unusual case. When she first rose to fame in Destiny's Child, she inspired many imitators — 353 baby girls born in the U.S. in 2001 were named Beyonce, enough to make it the 700th most popular name that year. But as Beyonce's star rose (and once she started dropping her last name, Knowles), her name started to lose favor with parents. Last year, her name was absent from the popularity charts, meaning it was given to fewer than five children. There's only room for one.

Beyoncé

With the recent arrival of fruit names like Apple and Plum, this more traditional example, symbolic of fertility, might rise in popularity. Photographer Berry Berenson was born Berinthia.
 And...inspired by us... a babyberry was actually named Berry!

Berry

Naming babies for personal heroes is the cool contemporary trend followed by Woody Allen when he honored New Orleans jazz clarinetist Sidney Bechet in his daughter's name--adding the middle name Dumaine after a cornet player who was another of his musical heroes. Bechet has a nice, catchy Gallic feel. 

Bechet

Verdi

Basie is a fabulous jazz name to honor the Count, whose birth name was William, the influential pianist, organist, bandleader and composer who led his band for almost fifty years.
 There are lots of other jazzy names you might want to consider, including Ellington, Miles, Quincy, Dexter, Mercer, and Bix. Woody Allen named his two daughters after jazz musicians--Bechet for clarinetist Sidney Bechet and Manzie for Manzie Johnson, the drummer in Bechet's band.

Basie

Plausible music hero choice with undertones of Joan Baez's social activist folkie persona. 

Baez

Haitian-born rap superstar and humanitarian Wyclef ("Fugees") Jean has lent this name a powerful musical beat. 

Wyclef

This spelling of Winton has gotten considerable buzz via jazz musician Wynton Marsalis. 

Wynton

Aretha

Adema is the name of a rock band that might be adapted as a girl's name -- though sounds a bit like a medical condition.

Adema

The late great singer-songwriter Warren Zevon would make a worthy namesake. 

Zevon

Since musicians invented the concept of cool, where better to look for baby name inspiration than to their own names?

 — the baby names here are drawn from both the first names and last names of well-known rockstars, crooners, and pop queens.

 right now, with choices like Lennon and Lennox popular for both girls and boys.

 include Arlo, Cash, Everly, Hendrix, Marley, Presley, Rhett, and Sullivan. Baby names inspired by band names include Duran, Journey, Queen, and Zeppelin.

Browse our collection of musician baby names here.

Musician baby names, including Lennon, Bowie, and Hendrix, with meanings, origins, and popularity (Page 9)