Baby Name Meanings
By Pamela Redmond · Updated September 2026
Across 6 pages
of 6
Arabic
"full of virtue, pure"
Not related to Zack, Zacky, Zachary, or Zachariah – but many will assume it is.
"virgin"
Azra is a perennial favorite Arabic name for girls in Turkey, Bosnia and Croatia. In the West, Azra could become a fresher take on Virginia or a more feminine spin on Ezra.
Short form of Katherine
"pure"
Katy, or more popularly Katie, stood fashionably on their own two feet for several years there, during the Katelyn boom. But now both Katy and Katie are fading in favor of grownup Kate or buttoned-up…
German and Dutch
"white or blond"
This presidential name is in style limbo today - or, some might say, in the the sweet spot of familiar but little-used.
Chinese, Korean
"ruler, talented, handsome"
A simple and charismatic Chinese and Korean name, also spelled Joon.
Anglicized spelling of Irish Niamh or Italian and Portuguese
"snow"
Introduced to the American public by actress Neve Campbell; it was her Dutch-born mother's maiden name. Neve is an interesting and fresh new possibility, one which Conan O'Brien chose for his…
Latin
"white, pure, sincere"
Candace, an ancient title of a dynasty of Ethiopian queens mentioned in the New Testament, is associated both with actress Candice Bergen and Sex and the City writer Candace Bushnell. Both spellings…
Diminutive of Virginia, Ginevra, Genevieve, or Imogen
"virgin, pure; white wave; maiden"
A nickname to Latin Virginia, French Genevieve, Italian Ginevra, English Imogen, and any other name with the 'gin' sound in there, Ginny ranked in the latter end of the US charts in the mid 20th…
English diminutive of Katherine, Greek
There are lots of Kathy moms and grandmas but very few babies, most of whom are now called Kate or Katie.
English
"white field"
If you discount the connection to the controversial Whittaker Chambers in the days of the Red Scare, Whittaker is a pleasant enough British surname with the preppyish nickname Whit.
"white man"
Whitman, a namesake surname for poet Walt, would be much more suited to a boy, probably because of that "man" part. Whit or Witt makes an uplifting short form which can be used on its own.
Russian, diminutive of Ekatarina, Russian variation of Katherine
One of the warm and earthy Russian nickname names now coming into style. Denzel Washington gave his daughter the Katia spelling.
"white haired or blond"
Kenyon is a very engaging British surname name, the middle y giving it a kind of southwestern canyonesque undertone. Though Kenyon appears in English records as far back as the fourteenth century and…
Greek
"thorny; or, innocent, not evil"
Acacius is a Latinized form of the Ancient Greek Akakios and can be interpreted to relate to the same root as the name Acacia, for the thorn bush, or Akakios which means "not evil." With the modern…
Hebrew
Yochanan Ben Zakkai is a prominent figure in Jewish history.
English word name
There's definitely a cold front of names for winter babies moving in, with Summer, Spring and Autumn giving way to Winter--plus North, January, Frost--and Snow. This name feels brisk, fresh, pure,…
Mohawk variation of Katherine
St. Kateri Teckakwitha is the first Native American saint, canonized in 2012. St. Kateri was the daughter of a Mohawk warrior, born in 1656 in upstate New York. She converted to Christianity at age…
Welsh
"white spear; famous friend; fame and joy"
A fabled storybook name via the heroine of Sir Walter Scott's novel Ivanhoe (1819), which featured a heroine called Rowena of Hargottstanstede, and also a Harry Potter name, as Rowena Ravenclaw,…
Celtic
"honest, utterly pure"
A possible Born Again name -- Amen -- in the same class as the still-popular Nevaeh (that's Heaven spelled backwards) and Trinity.
Spelling variation of Katherine, Greek
This is the spelling that old-time film star Katharine Hepburn used, and it's still favored by fans wanting to reference her classic strength and beauty. But in general, it's losing ground to…
