Australian Names: Aussie Favorites

Although usually seen as a masculine name, Miles is sometimes seen as a feminine name in Australia, due to its literary association with female author Stella "Miles" Franklin. The s ending makes it especially trendy.

In the Noongar language of Western Australia, Bindi means butterfly. Bindi is usually seen as a girls' name, as seen in Bindi Irwin, daughter of the late Steve Irwin.

Anike is an attractive name with ties to several cultures, both African and Scandinavian. The African pronunciation emphasizes the second syllable while the Nordic one emphasizes the first. While there will be inevitable confusion over pronunciation, either form is "correct".

A true maverick of a girls' name — even more so with this spelling, the least common between Indie, Indy, and Indi.

Enough parents have found naturalist Charles Darwin, the father of the theory of evolution, a worthy hero to keep Darwin relatively consistently in the Top 1000. It has a lovely meaning too—"dear friend."

The Sydney spelling most popular for girls: it's in the Top 50 on the female side. Cool for a girl, still nerdy for a guy.

Pronounced like Jay, this short name is popular in South Asia and makes for a great English-South Asian crossover choice, used regularly in the UK and Australia. It can also be an alternate spelling of the English name Jay, either short for a J name or deriving from the name of the bird.

Saxon is unusual word name that nevertheless feels right on trend, with that sharp X in the middle and that two-syllable-ending-in-n pattern. Reminiscent of Roman but not yet so popular, Saxon is one to watch out for.

Half-way between Logan and Rowan, Lowan could be an interesting pick for parents looking for an off-the-beaten-track nature name.

Taj is a cool-sounding name reflecting the magnificence of the seventeenth-century Indian Taj Mahal, chosen by Aerosmith's Steven Tyler for his son.

The Narellan is the name of a river in New South Wales. From this name comes this quasi-French girls' name, which is quite common in Australia.

Voss is a German name, that is seen in Norway and Australia (in the former it is associated with a region, in the latter it is associated with the protagonist of Patrick White's novel by the same name). Voss is an interesting alternative to Fox.

Dimity is fairly common in Australia, but unheard of outside of it, which is surprising given its similarity to names like Amity, Verity, and Cassidy.

Araluen is a beautiful Aboriginal Australian place name, used in several sites, always connected to the dainty water lily.

Rosella can be seen as a nature name (a rosella is the name of a variety of beautiful Australian cockatoos and an Australian flower) or a diminutive version of Rose.

Pippi may be cute but isn't very practical. In addition to being forever Pippi Longstocking, there is that variant pee-pee spelling to consider. Try Pippa instead.

Australian opera singer Nellie Melba—self-named for her hometown of Melbourne—inspired this now-dated name more associated today with a peach dessert and dietetic toast.

This is a Scottish pet form of John, the equivalent of Jack in England. Has long been used as a generic name for a Scotsman, here it's a generic name for a--well--jock.

For most, Eureka will be tied up with the bathtub myth of Archimedes' discovery of volumetric displacement, making it linked to the idea of invention, discovery and innovation. Some Australians might more closely link it to the Eureka stockade, a 19th Century rebellion of miners and workers against the colonial British government. Amanda Knox named her baby girl Eureka in 2021.

When Australian actress Rachel Griffiths chose this highly unusual name for her son, many assumed it was a bizarre invention, but noted Australian poet and writer of Waltzing Matilda, Banjo Patterson, is known by this name. Sprightly and musical, it could blend in with Bruno, Benjamin and Joey.