Birthday Names
By Sophie Kihm · Updated September 2026
Across 7 pages
of 7
English word name
"turbulent, stormy"
Tempest is one of those names that could go either way. Cool, evocative modern word name? Or asking for trouble? Your call, but if you decide the former image is dominant, be warned that some people…
Persian
"immaculate"
Anahita is the name of the water goddess who rules, among other things, fertility and wisdom. Associated with Venue, Anahita is a stylish Iranian name for girls. Anahita was derived from the Old…
Greek
"amber, shining, bright"
Though the plays by Sophocles and Eugene O'Neill and via the "Electra Complex" proposed by psychoanalyst Carl Jung, this name has, unfortunately, become associated with incest and murder.…
Hawaiian
"wind"
The sources that do list this name give it as a boys' name, but Woody Harrelson chose it for his daughter, and it does have a feminine lilt.
Chinese or Vietnamese
"orchid, mountain mist"
A unisex Chinese name with a range of meanings, depending on the characters used. As a Chinese male name, "mountain mist" is one of the main reasons. In Vietnamese, it means "orchid". > In Slovenia,…
Arabic
"breeze, fresh air"
A traditional Arabic choice, used on girls and boys, with a bright, fresh, and nature connected meaning. Naseem is an alternative Arabic and Urdu form, while Nesim is used in Turkey. Though unisex,…
English month name from Latin
"doorway"
Thanks to two cultural influences, January has joined March, April, June and August as a plausible month name. The first was a character named January Wayne in a bestselling 1973 Jacqueline Susann…
From Greek
"orchid flower"
Orchid is a hothouse bloom that has not been plucked by many modern baby namers — yet. In the language of flowers, orchids symbolize love, beauty, and sophistication. In a 1926 silent comedy, femme…
Latin
"water carrier"
Astrological name retains a hippielike Age of Aquarius feel.
Jewel name, for the French
"pomegranate"
One of the jewel names in use a hundred years ago, for both boys and girls, due for revival along with sisters Ruby and Pearl. But interestingly, Garnet means pomegranate, the fruit who shares a deep…
Scottish
"windy place"
Guthrie, one of the most attractive Scottish names that's also a surname, has a particularly romantic, windswept aura, with a touch of the buckaroo thrown in. Guthrie's folkie quality is tied to the…
"eleven"
If Erykah Badu can name her son Seven, why can't you name your daughter (or son) this? Eleven has recently gotten a lot of attention via the character on the TV show Stranger Things .
Variation of Yara, Arabic, Tupi
"small butterfly; lady of the water"
Iara rhymes with Yara, an Arabic name of which it can be a variation. More commonly it's associated with Iara of Brazilian myth — a water nymph, sometimes mermaid, of Tupi and Guaraní legend. In the…
Romani
"I awake"
Django — the D is silent as most everyone now knows — the nickname of the great Belgian-born jazz guitarist Django (originally Jean Baptiste) Reinhardt, makes a dynamic musical choice for…
Turkish and Uzbek
"free, independent"
Erkin is an Uzbek vocabulary word from Old Turkic, and is widely used as a unisex name in Turkey. In English-speaking countries, it is unknown but straightforward and with a great meaning.
"giant, great one"
This name of the queen of the fairies in A Midsummer Night's Dream has a delicate, lacy charm similar to Tatiana's, but that first syllable could cause embarrassing problems.
Fruit name
British-born novelist Plum Sykes has taken this rich, fruity name out of the produce section and put it into the baby name basket. It's more appealing than Apple, more presentable than Peaches. The…
Finnish
A sweet and intuitive Finnish word name. The double U's up the quirkiness, for English speakers at least. Also used in Estonia, notable bearers include actress Tuuli Narkle, cartoonist Tuuli Hypén,…
Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese variation of Prosper
"succeed, prosper"
Shakespeare's Tempest has kept the name Prospero alive.
"springtime"
Not to be confused with Rabbi (a Jewish leader, scholar, and teacher), Rabi is an Arabic name meaning "springtime", that also appears as Rabih and Rabeeh. It can also be used as a variation of Ravi,…
