Birthday Names
New Year Names
Across 6 pages
of 6
About this list
New Year baby names reflect a sense of fresh beginnings, a new dawn dawning, and hopes for the future. These sentiments are embodied in the meanings of many names for New Year's babies, including current favorites Aurora and Nova, and undiscovered gems Dagny and Von.
Along with Aurora and Nova, other New Year's baby names in the US Top 1000 include Esperanza, Eve, Hope, Joy, Nadia, Xavier, Zara, and Zora. Names related to the month of January are also fit for a New Year's baby, such as Gennaro, Januária, Janvière, and of course, January itself.
A New Year's baby is a harbinger of hope for the year to come. Here are some baby names from various cultures whose meanings reflect the feelings of a new year.
RELATED:
**[Names That Mean New and New Beginnings](https://nameberry.com/list/316/baby-names-that-mean-new-beginnings)**
**[January Baby Names**](https://nameberry.com/list/629/71-wonderful-names-for-january-babies)
The names
Aurora
Latin
"dawn"
The goddess name Aurora has consistently been on the US popularity list since the nineteenth century, but has really taken off in the past 30 years. Aurora also enjoys remarkable international…
Nova
Latin
"new"
Nova has the feel of both newness, from its meaning, and great energy as an astronomical term for a star that increases suddenly in brightness before fading. Nova had some reasonable degree of…
Xavier
Basque
"new house"
Xavier originated is use as a given name after Saint Francis Xavier, cofounder of the Jesuit order, who got his name from the Spanish-Basque village where he was born. His birthplace was Javier, the…
Zara
Hebrew and Arabic
"blooming flower; God remembers"
Zara has multiple origins, but most notably is a variation of Zahrah, a name derived from the Arabic zahrah , meaning "blooming flower." Zara can also be a diminutive of the Bulgarian name Zaharina,…
Hope
Virtue name
Can a name as virtuous as Hope be cool and trendy? Strangely enough -- yes. But though this optimistic Puritan favorite is experiencing substantial popularity, Hope is too pure and elegant to be…
Joy
English word name
"joy"
Joy is from an older generation of word names, which also included Merry, Bliss, and Glory -- all of which exert a certain amount of personality pressure on a child. However, Joy, like Grace, Hope,…
Eve
Hebrew
"life"
Eve, the oldest name in the Book, is now coming back into style, having the virtues of simplicity and purity, yet with more strength and resonance than other single-syllable names like Ann. British…
Jovie
Modern invented
"jovial"
Jovie has a lively and cheerful sound and makes a fresh twist on old (and new) favorites like Jody, Josie, and Jolie. It could be considered a short form of Jovita, Jovena, and Jovana - all feminine…
Nadia
Russian, Arabic
"hope; tender, delicate"
Nadia, an accessible Slavic favorite, has a strong run of popularity in the US in the early 2000s, partially thanks to the character on Lost called Nadia but actually named Noor, but it's since…
Vihaan
Sanskrit
"dawn"
Vihaan comes from a Sanskrit word denoting the dawn, but has the symbolic meaning of the beginning of a new age, making Vihaan a wonderful choice for the first baby in a family's next generation.
Zora
Serbo-Croatian
"dawn"
Zora is a meaningful literary heroine name honoring Zora Neale Hurston, an important black writer and leader of the Harlem Renaissance. Spelled Zorah, it is a biblical place name, and is also the…
Arata
Japanese
"new; fresh"
Strong Japanese name with a hopeful meaning.
Aurian
Literary name inspired by Latin
"gold, dawn or breeze"
The eponymous character of the fantasy novel Aurian by Maggie Furey. It may have been inspired by the Latin aurum "gold", or by names like Aurora ("dawn") or Aura ("breeze"), also derived from the…
Aviva
Hebrew
"springlike, fresh, dewy"
Aviva is vivacious and memorable, a fresh spin on the Vivian and Vivienne names that have been getting more popular since Angelina and Brad chose one for their twin daughter. Another A-beginning…
Asier
Basque
"the beginning"
This Basque name is quite popular in Spain, where it has long been in the Top 100 names. This is likely due to its pleasant meaning; the sound, dignified in Spanish and Basque, may not fare so well…
Amil
Arabic or Sanskrit
"one who hopes or unattainable; hard work"
Hope is one meaning of the name Amil, which sounds similar to the German Emil; it can also mean unattainable in the sense of being so exalted as in royalty as to be out of reach. While Amil may not…
Amal
Arabic
"hope, inspiration"
Amal is an attractive name with a wonderful meaning that has long been used in many Middle Eastern countries, especially Lebanon (and migrant communities). It is of course getting a lot more coverage…
Asha
Sanskrit; Swahili
"hope; life"
Asha is an Indian name that comes from the Sanskrit word for hope or desire, but it is also a Swahili name derived from Aisha, meaning life. Since the ascendance of Ashley through the 1980s and 90s,…
Desiree
French
"desired, wished"
One of the original French names chosen by midcentury parents for their sophistication and je ne sais quoi , Desiree has since become completely assimilated in the US. It ranked in the Top 1000 from…
Aroon
Hindi
"dawn"
Aroon, also spelled Haroon, is the mythic charioteer of the dawn.