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Names That Mean Beautiful

Pamela Redmond
By Pamela Redmond
Updated Thu Feb 01 2024
Names That Mean Beautiful

Names that mean beautiful come from a range of cultures and represent a variety of styles. Beautiful baby names might literally be names that mean beauty or beautiful, such as Astrid and Bella, but also include names with meanings like handsome and fair.

Along with Astrid and Bella, other names meaning beautiful in the US Top 1000 include Alana, Beau, Bonnie, Ingrid, Jamal, Jolie, Memphis, and Zain. Other intriguing names that mean beautiful include Mika, Nomi, Callista, and Rumi.

A meaning of beautiful or pretty is one that appeals to many parents of baby girls, but there are also boy names with the meaning of beautiful or handsome — qualities prized in any gender.

Here are some baby names for boys and girls that mean beautiful, ranked by their current standing on Nameberry.

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  1. Astrid

    • Origin:

      Scandinavian

    • Meaning:

      "divinely beautiful"

    • Description:

      Astrid has been a Scandinavian royal name since the tenth century, and many people associated it with the Swedish author of the Pippi Longstocking stories, Astrid Lindgren. Astrid is derived from the name Ástríðr, which is made up of the Old Norse elements that mean "god" and "beautiful."
  2. Amara

    • Origin:

      Igbo, Sanskrit, Arabic

    • Meaning:

      "grace, immortal, tribe"

    • Description:

      Strong, attractive, and stylish, Amara is a true multicultural choice enjoying some popularity in both the US and the UK. In the US Top 1000 since the turn of this century, Amara has been holding steady in the rankings between overly popular and obscure.
  3. Beau

    • Origin:

      French

    • Meaning:

      "handsome"

    • Description:

      Beau suggests someone devilishly handsome, with a large measure of southern charm—a nice image to bestow on your boy. Often solely a nickname in the past, it's now standing firmly on its own. Beau has been on the Social Security list non-stop since 1969.
  4. Bonnie

    • Origin:

      Scottish

    • Meaning:

      "beautiful, cheerful"

    • Description:

      Bonnie is an adorable nickname name, heading back up the popularity list after a 50-year nap. A Top 100 girls' name throughout the rest of the English-speaking world, Americans are later to jump on the Bonnie bandwagon but now it's trending here too.
  5. Arabella

    • Origin:

      Latin, Scottish

    • Meaning:

      "yielding to prayer; lovable"

    • Description:

      Arabella, lovely and elegant, has long been well used in Britain and finally made it onto the American list in 2005. A Top 50 choice in the UK, in the US in remains in the Top 300, given to around 1300 babies each year.
  6. Alina

    • Origin:

      Slavic, Germanic, Arabic, Scottish

    • Meaning:

      "bright, beautiful; noble; delicate, soft; defending men"

    • Description:

      Alina has been drifting up the US popularity charts since the early 1980s, and now sits in in the Top 200. But Alina's real strength is in its international flexibility: The name ranks highly in a wide range of European, English speaking, and Latin American countries.
  7. Calliope

    • Origin:

      Greek mythology name

    • Meaning:

      "beautiful voice"

    • Description:

      Calliope is the name of the muse of epic poetry -- and also the musical instrument on the merry-go-round. Bold and creative, it debuted in the US Top 1000 in 2016, and entered the Top 500 in 2023. Similar in rhythm and sound to Penelope with usable nicknames Callie, Clio, and Lola, it is no wonder it's on the rise.
  8. Ingrid

    • Origin:

      Norse

    • Meaning:

      "fair; Ing is beautiful"

    • Description:

      The luminous Ingrid Bergman's appeal was strong enough to lend universal charisma to this classic Scandinavian name, which has been somewhat neglected in the US. Even today, a child named Ingrid would be assumed to be of Scandinavian ancestry, signaling the name has never been fully integrated into the English lexicon the way other European choices from the same era like Danielle or Kathleen have.
  9. Cosmo

    • Origin:

      Italian, English, Greek

    • Meaning:

      "order, beauty, universe"

    • Description:

      With a touch of celestial power, a hint of clunky charm, and the totally cool -o ending, Cosmo may well be finally shaking itself free of both the Seinfeld association (which made it a punchline of a joke) and the cartoon fairy association from The Fairly OddParents. In fact, it is in the Top 1000 in the UK and a favorite on Nameberry.
  10. Tove

    • Origin:

      Scandinavian

    • Meaning:

      "beautiful, beloved"

    • Description:

      Tove is a modern variation of an Old Norse name for which there are no letters on the twenty-first century keyboard (Þórfríðr, for those interested.) Surviving and thriving in modern Scandinavia in the form of Tove, Tuva, and Tova, it is originally related to the name Thor and means "beautiful, beloved."
  11. Callie

    • Origin:

      Greek diminutive

    • Meaning:

      "beautiful"

    • Description:

      As 90s and early 2000s favorite Allie is starting to fall, Callie is feeling extra fresh. Callie is a nickname name that is currently more popular on its own than any of its longer versions. Callie was popular in the late 1800s when it was in the Top 200 for several years. However the name fell out of favor, eventually falling off the charts for some time. Callie has been rising again since the 70s, and it is now back in the Top 200 once again. In the popular show Grey's Anatomy, doctor Callie Torez's full name is the Greek Calliope.
  12. Rosalind

    • Origin:

      Latin

    • Meaning:

      "soft horse or pretty rose"

    • Description:

      Rosalind has a distinguished literary history – used and popularized by Edmund Spenser and Shakespeare via one of his most charming heroines, in As You Like It. Along with a bouquet of other Rose names, Rosalind might be ready for a comeback.
  13. Kevin

    • Origin:

      Irish

    • Meaning:

      "handsome"

    • Description:

      Kevin came to the US with the large wave of Irish Immigrants after World War I, hitting the US Top 1000 list for the first time in 1921 and never leaving.
  14. Cosima

    • Origin:

      Italian feminine variation of Cosmo, Greek

    • Meaning:

      "order, beauty, universe"

    • Description:

      Cosima, the kind of elegant and unusual name the British upper classes love to use for their daughters, is given to a handful of baby girls in the US after being chosen by two high-profile celebs in the same month; cool couple Sofia Coppola and Thomas Mars as well as supermodel Claudia Schiffer. It was used earlier by celebrity chef Nigella Lawson, while the male form, Cosimo, was given to the son of Marissa Ribisi and Beck.
  15. Aoife

    • Origin:

      Irish Gaelic

    • Meaning:

      "beautiful, radiant"

    • Description:

      Aoife, pronounced EE-fa, is derived from the Irish word aoibh, meaning "beauty." Aoife was borne by several different heroines of ancient Irish legend. In one tale, she was the fiercest woman warrior in the world and enemy of her twin sister, Scathach.
  16. Bella

    • Origin:

      Diminutive of Isabella, Italian

    • Meaning:

      "beautiful"

    • Description:

      Everything ella, from Ella to Bella to Arabella, is red hot right now. Bella is one of the most, well, beautiful girl names starting with B. It carried a hint of a nice Old World grandmotherly veneer, until it became attached to Twilight's Bella Swan.
  17. Belle

    • Origin:

      Short form of Isabelle or French

    • Meaning:

      "beautiful"

    • Description:

      Belle has nothing but positive associations, from "belle of the ball" to "Southern belle" to the heroine of Disney's Beauty and the Beast. As if this weren't enough good things, Belle is also one of the most familiar and usable names that mean beautiful. Though it has been overshadowed by the Twilight-influenced Bella and longer forms like Isabella and Annabella, Belle has its own Southern charm and would make a pretty choice as a first or middle name.
  18. Kenneth

    • Origin:

      Scottish and Irish

    • Meaning:

      "born of fire, handsome"

    • Description:

      Kenneth may have lost much of its luster now, but Kenneth has had its moments of glory. The first king of Scotland was Kenneth, and Sir Kenneth, a Christian crusader, was the hero of the Sir Walter Scott novel The Talisman.
  19. Kyomi

    • Origin:

      Japanese "pure and beautiful"

    • Meaning:

      "pure and beautiful"

    • Description:

      In Japanese this name may be written with the characters for "pure; purify; cleanse" (Kiyo/Keo) and "beauty; beautiful" (mi). Like most Japanese names, this is a name that translates well into Anglophone countries, where sweet short names are becoming increasingly popular.
  20. Calla

    • Origin:

      Greek

    • Meaning:

      "beautiful"

    • Description:

      Calla is a botanical name that is much more distinctive than popular Lily or similar Callie. Rarely heard today, it did appear in the popularity lists in the last decades of the nineteenth century.