College Baby Names
Updated Mon Jan 29 2024
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When you're on the prowl for the perfect name, anything can be an inspiration. Colleges around the country provide endless possibilities for noteworthy baby names. Princeton in particular has become a smash hit in recent years.
Along with Princeton, other college baby names in the US Top 1000 include Baylor, Duke, Emerson, Emory, Harvey, Howard, Lawrence, and Reed. Ivy League names, such as Yale, Columbia, Penn, and Cornell, carry an extra elite edge.
Some may consider college baby names a special subset of aspirational baby names, while others may choose to use them for their traditional quality or in connection to one’s alma mater.
Below, our full list of college baby names, each derived from the name of a college or university, ordered by their current popularity on Nameberry.
RELATED:
- Albion
- Alfred
Origin:
EnglishMeaning:
"wise counselor; elf counsel"
- Andrew
Origin:
GreekMeaning:
"strong and manly"
- Anselm
Origin:
GermanMeaning:
"with divine protection"
- Arbor
Origin:
Nature name
- Auburn
Origin:
Color nameMeaning:
"deep reddish-brown"
- Augusta
Origin:
Feminine variation of AugustusMeaning:
"great, magnificent"
- Bard
Origin:
Irish variation of Baird, ScottishMeaning:
"minstrel, poet"
- Barnard
- Bates
Origin:
English diminutive of Bartholomew
- Baylor
Origin:
EnglishMeaning:
"horse trainer"
- Bennington
Origin:
Place-name
- Bentley
Origin:
EnglishMeaning:
"meadow with coarse grass"
- Berkeley
Origin:
EnglishMeaning:
"where birches grow"
- Bradley
Origin:
EnglishMeaning:
"wide meadow"
- Briar
Origin:
EnglishMeaning:
"a thorny patch"
- Brook
Origin:
English nature nameMeaning:
"small stream"
- Bryn
Origin:
WelshMeaning:
"hill"
- Calvin
Origin:
LatinMeaning:
"bald, hairless"
- Carleton
Origin:
EnglishMeaning:
"settlement of free men"
- Case
Origin:
Word name
- Clara
Origin:
LatinMeaning:
"bright, clear"
- Clare
Origin:
LatinMeaning:
"bright, clear"
- Clark
Origin:
EnglishMeaning:
"scribe, secretary, cleric, scholar, clerk"
- Colby
Origin:
EnglishMeaning:
"coal town"
- Columbia
Origin:
LatinMeaning:
"land of Columbus"
- Concordia
Origin:
LatinMeaning:
"peace, harmony"
- Cooper
Origin:
English occupational nameMeaning:
"barrel maker"
- Cornell
Origin:
British from LatinMeaning:
"crow"
- Creighton
Origin:
English and ScottishMeaning:
"hilltop town, rocky place"
- Davidson
Origin:
EnglishMeaning:
"David's son"
- Delphi
Origin:
Greek place name
- Drake
Origin:
English word nameMeaning:
"dragon; or, male duck"
- Drew
Origin:
Diminutive of AndrewMeaning:
"strong and manly"
- Drexel
Origin:
GermanMeaning:
"to turn"
- Duke
Origin:
English rank of nobility
- Elon
Origin:
HebrewMeaning:
"oak tree"
- Embry
Origin:
English surnameMeaning:
"flat-topped hill"
- Emerson
Origin:
EnglishMeaning:
"son of Emery"
- Emmanual
- Emory
Origin:
Spelling variation of Emery, English from GermanMeaning:
"industrious"
- Ferris
Origin:
Irish, EnglishMeaning:
"strong man or ironworker"
- Fordham
Origin:
English surname and place-nameMeaning:
"meadow by a stream"
- Forest
Origin:
French occupational nameMeaning:
"woodsman or woods"
- Franklin
Origin:
EnglishMeaning:
"free landholder"
- Gordon
Origin:
ScottishMeaning:
"great hill"
- Hamilton
Origin:
English and ScottishMeaning:
"treeless hill"
- Harvard
Origin:
EnglishMeaning:
"army guard"
- Harvey
Origin:
FrenchMeaning:
"battle worthy"
- Hendrix
Origin:
Dutch and German, from first name HendrikMeaning:
"estate ruler"
- Hope
Origin:
Virtue name
- Howard
Origin:
German or EnglishMeaning:
"high guardian or brave heart"
- Ithaca
Origin:
Place-name
- Kent
Origin:
English surname and place-nameMeaning:
"edge"
- Kenyon
Origin:
EnglishMeaning:
"white haired or blond"
- Knox
Origin:
ScottishMeaning:
"round hill"
- Lamar
Origin:
English from FrenchMeaning:
"dweller by a pool"
- Lawrence
Origin:
LatinMeaning:
"from Laurentium or bay laurel"
- Lesley
- Lewis
Origin:
English variation of LouisMeaning:
"renowned warrior"
- Liberty
Origin:
Word name
- Lincoln
Origin:
EnglishMeaning:
"town by the pool"
- Luther
Origin:
GermanMeaning:
"army people"
- Macalester
Origin:
Variation of Macallister, ScottishMeaning:
"son of Alasdair"
- Madison
Origin:
EnglishMeaning:
"son of Matthew"
- Marshall
Origin:
EnglishMeaning:
"one who looks after horses"
- Mary
Origin:
Hebrew or EgyptianMeaning:
"drop of the sea, bitter, or beloved"
- Mason
Origin:
English occupational nameMeaning:
"worker in stone"
- Mcgill
Origin:
Irish and Scottish surnameMeaning:
"son of the foreigner"
- Mckenna
Origin:
IrishMeaning:
"son of Kenneth"
- Mercer
Origin:
French occupational nameMeaning:
"a merchant"
- Nova
Origin:
LatinMeaning:
"new"
- Olaf
Origin:
NorseMeaning:
"ancestor's relic"
- Pace
Origin:
Word name
- Park
Origin:
Word name
- Penn
Origin:
EnglishMeaning:
"enclosure"
- Pepper
Origin:
English from LatinMeaning:
"berry"
- Pomona
Origin:
LatinMeaning:
"apple"
- Pratt
Origin:
EnglishMeaning:
"trick, craft"
- Princeton
Origin:
EnglishMeaning:
"princely town"
- Reed
Origin:
EnglishMeaning:
"red-haired"
- Rhodes
Origin:
GreekMeaning:
"where roses grow"
- Rider
Origin:
EnglishMeaning:
"horseman"
- Rose
Origin:
LatinMeaning:
"rose, a flower"
- Rowan
Origin:
Scottish and IrishMeaning:
"rowan tree; little redhead"
- Sarah
Origin:
HebrewMeaning:
"princess"
- Savannah
Origin:
SpanishMeaning:
"flat tropical grassland"
- Simon
Origin:
Hebrew, GreekMeaning:
"he has heard; flat-nosed"
- Smith
Origin:
English occupational nameMeaning:
"blacksmith"
- Stanford
Origin:
EnglishMeaning:
"stony ford"
- Stetson
Origin:
American surname
- Taylor
Origin:
English occupational nameMeaning:
"tailor"
- Temple
Origin:
EnglishMeaning:
"dweller near the temple"
- Thomas
Origin:
AramaicMeaning:
"twin"
- Trinity
Origin:
LatinMeaning:
"triad"
- Troy
Origin:
Greek, FrenchMeaning:
"of Troyes"
- Truman
Origin:
EnglishMeaning:
"loyal one"
- Valencia
Origin:
SpanishMeaning:
"brave, strong"
- Wayne
Origin:
English occupational nameMeaning:
"maker of wagons"
- Webster
Origin:
English occupational nameMeaning:
"weaver"
- Wellesley
Origin:
EnglishMeaning:
"the farm amonst the willows"
- Wesley
Origin:
EnglishMeaning:
"western meadow"
- Whitman
Origin:
EnglishMeaning:
"white man"
- Willa
Origin:
Feminine variation of WilliamMeaning:
"resolute protection"
- William
Origin:
GermanMeaning:
"resolute protection"
- Wright
- Xavier
Origin:
BasqueMeaning:
"new house"
- Yale
Origin:
WelshMeaning:
"fertile upland"