Animal Names for Babies

Phelan, pronounced FAY-lan or FEE-lan, is an appealing Irish surname name, with a rich history in Irish myth and religious and secular life. One bearer was a fiercely loyal follower of the legendary warrior Finn MacCool, another was a missionary saint.
 The first name Phelan figures in an O'Henry story, "Between Rounds"; and in The Help, Skeeter's surname is Phelan. In Irish, the name is spelled Faolan.

Phelan

Avis is a bird name that's been in hibernation for awhile, possibly due to the car rental association, but it could make a return on the wings of Ava. Baldwin brother Daniel chose it for his daughter.
 Avis Everhard is the fictional narrator of the Jack London dystopian novel The Iron Heel. In the Harry Potter books, Avis is not a character, but a spell.

Avis

If you like Dylan, Quinn, or Leo but find them too popular, Quillan could be a distinctive and interesting alternative. It is sometimes connected to the zodiac sign of Leo, making it a cool way to honor a someone born under the lion sign, or to mark your baby's birthdate if they're born between July and August. 
 
It can also be considered a form of Mac Uighilín ("son of Hugh") or Mac Coilín ("son of Collin").

Quillan

The name of a small yellow bird that hasn't taken off in the way that some of its avian sisters – like Robin, Wren or Lark – have. Given to a small number of girls across the 20th-century, the 2020s have seen some parents reconsidering it, with 5 Canarys born in a recent year. 

 
Two of the most well known bearers of this first name are Canary Burton, an American keyboardist, composer and writer, and Canary Conn, an American singer and author.

Canary

This powerful old name can actually be traced back to two distinct sources. As an Old German
name, Wolfram (borne by the medieval poet Wolfram von Eschenbach) derives from a combination
of wolf + hraben "raven". 

 As an English name and surname, it is actually a rare masculine
matronymic, deriving from the Old English feminine name Wulfrun ("wolf secret"). 

 
Wolf, along with other wild animal names, like Fox and Bear, is really hotting up lately — Wolfram
could be a great way to get there, while still giving him a formal option on the birth certificate.

Wolfram

Most famous as one of the many <a href="https://nameberry.com/list/673/middle-names">middle names</a> of Professor Dumbledore from Harry Potter,
Wulfric is an earlier form of the medieval English name Ulric. It has also belonged to an 11th-
century Earl of Mercia and a 12th-century saint. 
An interesting way to get to cool-kid nickname Wolf.

Wulfric

Kimimila is a trending choice among parents with Lakota heritage. It's especially popular in South Dakota, where many Lakota live today.

Kimimila

Derived from a Spanish title of the Virgin Mary, Guadalupe, Lupe has both a spiritual and animal meaning. In relation to its long form, it is associated with a convent in Spain and the appearance of Our Lady of Guadalupe to a Mexican man in the 16th-century. Taken as a stand-alone name, it derives from the Latin word for "wolf", lupus.
 
Appearing in the US Top 1000 for boys and girls in the first half of the 20th-century, it fell out of fashion in the 60s, and a recent year saw it given to just 7 boys and 9 girls respectively. In comparison, 244 girls and 31 boys were called Guadalupe the same year, while alternative short form Lupita was used 38 times.

Lupe

Iolani feels quintessentially Hawaiian, a stylish origin for <a href="https://nameberry.com">baby names</a> these days thanks to Malia, the Hawaiian name of the Obamas' older daughter. The initial I is pronounced with a long e sound, as in Waikiki, and the name Iolani has four syllables.

Iolani

A sleek, smooth, understated name off the grid in the US but among the Top 100 girl names in Germany. In the US, it is a unisex name, while in Germany and the Netherlands, it is predominantly feminine.

Merle

The kind of serious old-school name that sounds appealing again; perfect for the intrepid baby namer. More commonly spelled Rosamund but highly unusual these days in either version, with fewer than 20 baby girls named Rosamund in the US last year while Rosamond didn't even register with five.

Rosamond Vincy is a character in George Eliot's Middlemarch.

Rosamond

A distinctive name with an animal-inspired meaning, Moscha comes from the Greek moschos meaning "calf, young bull". Not to be confused with Italian Mosca, meaning "fly", Moscha could make an unusual choice for a Taurus baby. Moscho is an alternative form is Moscho.

Moscha

A rare Greek name with an interesting history, Moscho is derived from the Greek moschos meaning "calf, young bull" or móschos meaning "musk". It was the name of one of the Forty Holy Virgin Martyrs, celebrated on Sept 1 by the Greek Orthodox Church, who were tortured and killed because they would not renounce Christianity. 
 
The name is also borne by an 18th century Greek-Souliote woman, Moscho Tzavela, who was descended from a line of fighters, and considered a heroine before the outbreak of the Greek War of Independence. 
 
Moscha is an alternative form of the name, while Moschoula is a diminutive. Moschos or Moschion might be used for boys. 
 
An interesting choice for a Taurus baby, though some may mishear it for the Russian city of Moscow.

Moscho

In Greek mythology, Alcathoe is one of the Minyades, three sisters who appear in a story about the dangers of not worshipping Dionysius. When the sisters refused to join in with the revelry and celebrations of the god, Dionysius appeared to them as a bull, a lion, and a panther, eventually driving the sisters to madness. They roamed the mountains in a destructive frenzy until Hermes took pity on them and turned them into bats.
 
Derived from the Greek elements alke meaning "strength" and thoos meaning "swift", the name is also used for a species of bat, the Myotis alcathoe, better known as the Alcathoe bat. This could make it an unexpected middle name option for a baby born around Halloween (or International Bat Appreciation Day, on April 17).
 
Alcathous is the masculine form of the name.

Alcathoe

Animal names like Wolf, Fox, Tiger, and Wren have risen in recent years, but we're not sure this one is going to catch on. Nevertheless, it was chosen by internet personality Morgan Presley for her son in 2025, while another bearer is tattoo artist and content creator, Pony Lawson.


Pony

There were fewer than five babies of either sex named Pony in the US last year, but we do know there were two babies named Pony born to celebrities, both of them male. But there's nothing intrinsically male about the name Pony and it makes an adorable choice for any baby.

A unisex name from Greenland with an attractive blend of soft and harsh sounds. Elaborations on Ivaaq include Ivaneq, the brooded one, and Ivaaraq, the sweet little brooded one.

Ivaaq

A Greenlandic name with a sweet meaning: it directly translates to brood egg, but it is also interpreted as the embraced one, as a bird sits on its eggs to hatch them. Other unisex or feminine forms of this name are Ivaneq and Ivaana, both meaning the brooded one, and Ivaaraq, the sweet little brooded one.

Originally used as a short form of Džejlana, Džejna is a familiar choice in Bosnia and Herzegovina where it has appeared in the Top 100 on and off since 2009. While the similar Džejla is even more popular, Džejna holds plenty of appeal, thanks to its springy yet elegant animal meaning and its succinct sound (JAY-nah).

Džejna

Also spelled as Namira, this animal-inspired choice derives from the Hebrew namer or the Arabic namir, both meaning "leopard". As such, it's a multicultural choice, associated with strength, independence, and agility.

Nemera

Animal names for babies include the obvious, such as Robin or Fox, and names with secret animal meanings, such as Paloma (which means dove) or Arthur (bear).

Animal names have become wildly fashionable for babies

, especially in their blatant form. Bear, Fox, Hawk, and Wolf are all bounding up the charts for boys, while 

 Wren, Birdie, and Lark are reaching new heights for girls.

Animal names are a subset of the ever-widening world of 

. While many traditional names carry animal meanings -- the Old Testament Rachel means ewe, for instance, while the royal Philip means horse lover -- the newest and arguably 

 are unique choices such as Wolf, Birdie, and Bear.

 contains both those that announce themselves clearly and those whose animal meanings are more hidden. This range of animal baby names would be perfect for your wild child.

Animal Names for Babies - boy names and girl names with animal meanings, including Wolf, Bear, and Wren (Page 14)