Bird names for babies are one of the hottest of the hot nature categories, all the way from Birdie to Wren. Bird names can work as unique first names or meaningful middle names and are appropriate for both girls and boys. While many bird names come straight out and announce themselves, as Robin or Hawk, others are more subtle, carrying bird meanings: Paloma, for instance, means dove. 
 
Along with Paloma and Wren, other bird baby names in the US Top 1000 include Arden, Ava, Callum, Gavin, Jay, Jonas, Mavis, and Robin. Up-and-coming bird names to listen for include Adler, Astor, Dove, and Lark.
 
If you love nature names and animal names, you may want to search more deeply into the new genre of bird names for babies, with many choices that work for both girls and boys as well as dozens of gender-neutral names.

Bird Names for Babies

Lark is getting some new and well-deserved attention as a post-Robin and Raven bird name. Although it was first recorded as a name in the 1830's, it has never appeared on the Social Security list.
 'The Lark' was used as a nickname for Cosette in Les Miserables; Lark Voorhees was a star of Saved by the Bell, and Jennifer Connelly and Paul Bettany used Lark as the middle name of their daughter Agnes.
 
The expression "happy as a lark" gives this songbird name a cheery image, as well as a 'lark' being a synonym for a merry time..
 Larkin is a pretty extension, as is Skylark, which is rich in cultural associations: there's the Percy Bysshe Shelley ode To a Skylark and the jazz classic Skylark written by Johnny Mercer and Hoagy Carmichael..

Lark

Alouette is a sweet Gallic twist in the stylish bird name genre made familiar via the charming French children's song, Alouette, gentile alouette.

Alouette

One of the new bird names, like Lark and Wren, this one's associated with the billing and cooing sounds of love. Soft and gentle, Dove also has the admirable association with peace.
 Dove was actually an early bird, used as a first name in the seventeenth century and in the U.S. Top 1000 through the 1890's.
 One admirable surname association is with Rita Dove, the Pulitzer Prize winning poet and former United States Poet Laureate.

Dove

Adler is a German-Jewish surname that is beginning to be used occasionally as a first and is among the stylish new <a href="https://nameberry.com/baby-names/494/german-names-for-boys">German names for boys</a>. Among the distinguished bearers of Adler as a last name are Freud colleague Alfred Adler, actress and influential acting teacher Stella Adler and Guns N' Roses drummer Steve Adler.

Adler

Jemima, the name of a strong and beautiful Biblical daughter of Job, has long been among the chicest choices of aristocratic Brits, most recently ranking at #231 there in 2017. But despite its lovely sound and peaceful meaning, this attractive name hasn't ranked in the US Top 1000 since 1893, no doubt due to the problematic association with racial stereotyping, exemplified by the Aunt Jemima brand of pancakes.
 Jemima was well used by the Puritans, as was that of her sister, Keziah. Some other famous namesakes are Beatrix Potter's Jemima Puddle-Duck and characters in Chitty, Chitty, Bang Bang, Cats, and Thackeray's Vanity Fair. A real-life bearer is Jemima Kirke, who plays Jessa on Girls--and who happens to have a sister named Domino and a son named Memphis. Jemimah is a variant spelling, as seen in the Antonia Fraser crime series Jemimah Shore Investigates.

Jemima

Despite its somewhat menacing meaning, this name has been widely used in recent years, probably due to the appeal of its trendy on ending. 

Talon

Phoenix is a New Age name symbolizing rebirth and immortality; Scary Spice chose Phoenix for her daughter. 

Phoenix

Corbin, the name of the castle where the Holy Grail was said to be hidden, came to the fore in the 1980s via actor Corbin Bernsen when he was the high profile star of LA Law, but its use is only now escalating as part of the mania for two-syllable names starting with c or k, as well as from the more youthful image of Corbin Bleu, the attractive actor-model-dancer-singer who was one of the stars of the Disney hit High School Musical. 
 Bruce Willis's character name in The Fifth Element was spelled Korben Dallas.

Corbin

Animal names are on the rise, especially more of the aggressive Hawk-Fox-Wolf variety than cute little Bunnys or Robins, and Hawk is a prime example. 
Hawk is more commonly heard as a surname, represented by uber-skateboarder Tony Hawk, a pioneer of modern vertical skateboarding. Variations include Hawke, as in actor Ethan, Hawks, as in Golden Age movie director Howard, Hawking, as in scientist Stephen, and Hawkins, as in musicians Coleman, Screamin' Jay and Sophie B, and was recently given to his baby boy by quarterback Tony Romo. There have been characters named or nicknamed Hawk in The Revenant, The Path and Robert B. Parker's Spenser novels. Hawk ranks at Number 699 on Nameberry.

Hawk

Aviana is a name that's kinda like the megapopular Ava, and kinda like the popular Ariana, and not quite as widely appealing as either of them.  But it's on everyone's scope now as the choice of actress Amy Adams for her new daughter -- ironic as she was quoted as saying she wanted a "normal" name. Turns out that Adams was born in Aviano, Italy, explaining the mystery. The first syllable of the name can be pronounced ah, ay, or (most commonly) to rhyme with have.

Aviana

An operatic Italian option via South Pacific star Pinza, one of several Italian names currently hot in France. Ezio is the Italian form of the Greek name Aetius. 

 Zoe Saldana and Marco Perego Saldana gave the name as a middle to one of their twin sons, after his paternal grandfather.

Ezio

An international name that, although short and simple, sounds strong and distinctive. It can also be short for Magnus or Emmanuel.

Manu

Colm is a popular <a href="https://nameberry.com/list/328/Irish-Baby-Names-for-Boys">Irish name for boys</a> that could immigrate, especially with its peaceful meaning. Colm Toibin is a contemporary Irish novelist and critic, author of The Master and Brooklyn; Colm Meaney is an Irish actor. Pronunciation is two syllables instead of one, like Colin with an 'm' at the end. Colm is related to Columba, Colom, Colum, Callum, and Malcolm.

Colm

There are many variations of this name, with or without the initial T and the final h, with one p or two.  In the Bible she was the wife of Moses.

Zipporah

Strange as it may now seem, the venerable St. Arnold was a Greek by birth, a musician who became a member of the court of Charlemagne. The name is said to have been introduced into Britain by the Normans in the form Arnaud.
Despite such reputable namesakes as composer Arnold Schoenberg, novelist Arnold Bennett and historian Arnold Toynbee, not to mention the former Governator, Arnold's image has been diminished by some nerdy fictional characters, though he is still a genuine classic who might come back along with Arthur and Albert.
We have heard stirrings of fashionable baby Arnolds populating nurseries alongside those named Wilbur and Barney.

Arnold

Subtract the last two letters of Arnold, and you're left with a much more modern-sounding name.  Arno is also the name of the main river in Florence, upon which sits the famed Ponte Vecchio. The Italian river name means "flowing water".

Arno

Another astral name, this one relating to one of the largest and brightest stars in the heavens, is popular in Scandinavia and Spain, where it ranks among the Top 50 <a href="https://nameberry.com/girls-names">girls' names</a>. In the US, it was used for only a handful of children of both sexes.

Vega

As Bas, it's a popular name in The Netherlands, but Baz, as in director Luhrmann, has potential for independent life too.
Curiously, Australian-born Moulin Rouge director Luhrmann was born neither Sebastian nor Basil, but had the name Mark Anthony on his birth certificate; his nickname arose from his supposed resemblance to a British TV fox puppet named Basil Brush.

Avis is a bird name that's been in hibernation for awhile, possibly due to the car rental association, but it could make a return on the wings of Ava. Baldwin brother Daniel chose it for his daughter.
 Avis Everhard is the fictional narrator of the Jack London dystopian novel The Iron Heel. In the Harry Potter books, Avis is not a character, but a spell.

Avis

Originally a nickname for someone who loved to sing or whistle, Merle is even less masculine than Meredith. 