Animal Names for Babies

Randall

A name with plenty of grandeur, but a playful nickname, Wolfgang blends sophistication, wildness, and gothic imagery. While it may feel surprising in this century, it does have an allure for those who want a name associated with dark academia, Halloween, history, intellect, wolves, and art.
 
Derived from Old German elements meaning "wolf" and "way", it is associated with roaming wolves, though Chef Wolfgang Puck has helped soften the name in recent years. For music lovers, it may appeal thanks to its association with Mozart, while literature lovers may think of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.
 
And with Wolf on the rise in recent years, parents looking for something bolder and historical have turned to Wolfgang, with 115 boys given the name in a recent year. Over on social media, it has been selected by several creators including tattoo artist Noelin Wheeler, which could inspire other parents to use it in years to come. 
 
Nicknames Wolf and Wolfie might help make the name more approachable.

Wolfgang

A 1970s beach boy surfing buddy of Scott, Brad, and Chad, Todd is given to relatively few babies these days. 

Todd

The fierce image of the Barbarian made a complete turnaround thanks to amiable talk show host O'Brien, making Conan one of the newly desirable Irish choices, a perfect alternative to Conor/Connor.
 In Gaelic, Conan was the name of an illustrious seventh-century Irish saint, bishop of the Isle of Man. Sherlock Holmes creator Arthur Conan Doyle was born in Scotland, of Irish stock.

Conan

For as long as we all shall live, Harry Potter's sneering nemesis. 

Draco

Similar in sound to Harley, Marley, and Arlo, this surname-style name is familiar in Brazil and a Top 1000 choice in England and Wales. Pronounced as AHR-lee in English and ahr-LAY in Latin America, it may be a habitational name, relating to rabbits, hares, or eagles, depending on what Old English root you follow, though it may also relate to the names Arlette, Arleth, and Arlington, lending it the meaning "noble". 
 
Arlie is also a familiar choice in England and Wales.

Arley

Channing is a sophisticated surname name whose use is probably linked to actor Channing Tatum and Channing Crowder, former linebacker for the Miami Dolphins.

Channing

Pippa, a peppy condensation of Philippa that turns it from serious to sprightly, has come into the public eye in a big way via the former Kate Middleton's sister. 
 
Pippa can and is given as a name in its own right, and may also be short for names other than Philippa: Penelope, for instance, or Patricia, or the more out-of-the-box Philippine.
 
Heard far more in the UK (where it's currently in the Top 200) than the US, Pippa has been used on its own since the nineteenth century, popularized by Robert Browning's dramatic poem, Pippa Passes. A recent book and film was titled The Private Lives of Pippa Lee.
 
Expectant parents should be warned, however, that the word pippa or pipa has an unsavory slang meaning in several European languages, including Italian, Swedish, Polish, and Greek.

Pippa

An attractive North Carolina unisex place name, Raleigh's soft sound is particularly appropriate for a girl. 

Raleigh

Wolf is a name with a split personality. It can be seen as one of the fierce animal names, like Fox and Bear and Puma, with a touch of the werewolf, or it can be viewed as a quieter, Wolf Blitzer kind of name, fairly common in German (where is pronounced Vulf) and Jewish families, sometimes as a short form of Wolfgang, or even Wolfram or Wolfhart.

 CNN newscaster Blitzer inherited the name from his grandfather. Other Wolfs of note include British screenwriter Wolf Mankowitz, who was instrumental in the early James Bond films, painter Wolf Kahn, and the hero of Jack London's 1904 novel The Sea-Wolf, Wolf Larsen.

 
Despite all it has going for it, Wolf is relatively rare and has never been given to more than 80 babies in a single year. But now that Kylie Jenner and Travis Scott chose it for their infant son, Wolf is primed to climb the charts.

 Spelling variations Wolfe or Woolf push it into surname territory, while nickname Wolfie definitely domesticates it.

Wolf

A common Arabic name also spelt Jaouad, Javad or Javadd (the middle name of One Direction band member Zayn Malik).

Jawad

This name of a giant tree, itself named for a nineteenth-century Cherokee who invented a way to write his tribe's language, makes a strong, stately statement. 

Sequoia

Comedian Roseanne Barr chose this macho nature name for her son. In the 18th century it was used to describe a dashing, fashionable dressed man. Buck fits in well alongside names like Beck, Jack and Huck. 

 The traditional name of the full moon in July, Buck Moon, relates to the fact that the antlers of male deer reach their peak growth around this time of year.

Buck

A common surname in Scotland, but a starchy first name choice. 

Crawford

Buckley

A worldly choice that translates well, Namir is an animal-related choice in Hebrew and Arabic. 

Namir

Fairly popular a hundred years ago but out of the US charts since 1978, the quirky yet edgy Roscoe feels very much in step with the trending o-ending boy names popular now, such as Milo, Hugo, and Otto. A Top 1000 choice in the UK (albeit near the latter end), it could make a cool alternative to Ross, Russell, Robert, and Ronan.
Originally a place and surname, Roscoe had its glory days in the 1880s, when it reached as high as Number 138, then gradually declined, possibly damaged by the scandals surrounding silent star Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle, and then the image it acquired thanks to Sheriff Coltrane on The Dukes of Hazzard. It ultimately comes from the Old Norse elements rá and skógr meaning "deer, roebuck" and "forest, woods" respectively. 

Notable bearers of the name include US tennis player Roscoe Tanner and pickleball player Roscoe Bellamy, while in fiction, it was used in the series It's a Sin for the character Roscoe Babatunde. Another (Instagram) famous Roscoe was Roscoe Hamilton, racing driver Lewis Hamilton's dog.

Roscoe

Not one of the five hundred names of Muhammad, but that of his uncle. 

Abbas

Bruin is the Old English term for bear, taken from the Dutch word meaning brown.  Bruin might be a sports fan's choice or an animal name in hiding.  As a kind of hybrid of Roone and Bruno, it's definitely got some cool.

Bruin

Leonie is a chic French and German form of a name that exists in a range of variations from Leona to Leonia to Leon to Leo to Lionel, all newly fashionable after a couple of generations in style limbo. 
 Pronunciation can be confusing: The first syllable can be pronounced as lee or lay, the second as on or own, and the accent can be on either the first or the second syllable or be evenly distributed over all three syllables of the name, so that it sounds like the male name Leon with an ee at the end. Take your pick, but know that others might often pick differently.
 Aunt Leonie is a major character in Proust's Remembrance of Things Past. Leonie Hemsworth is the mother of Liam and Chris and Leonie is the name picked by Monica Bellucci and Vincent Cassel for their daughter.

Leonie

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 6)