Nature, Place and Word Names
By Pamela Redmond · Updated September 2026
Across 11 pages
of 11
Color and nature name
"dove, a bird"
Subtle but clear unisex way to signal peace, especially in middle place.
Hebrew, English, Spanish
"helper; sky blue; goshawk"
Spiky and edgy, Azor is a Biblical name that appears in the New Testament as an ancestor of Jesus. It possibly comes from the same Hebrew element as the popular Azariah, giving it the meaning…
Basque or Portuguese, 'magpie'
Urraca was the name of many infantas and queens of several medieval Iberian kingdoms (most notably Leon). Despite its royal roots, Urraca is one of the names best left to the history books.
Bird name, Nahuatl
"large beautiful tail feather"
A quetzal is a beautiful, brightly-colored bird found in Mexico and Central America. It is the national bird of Guatemala, as well as the name of their currency. Quetzal is given as a baby name to a…
Finnish
"bluebird"
This poetic but sparkly sounding name is both an elaboration of the Finnish name Sini, and a name in its own right, meaning "bluebird".
English, Norman
"falcon"
Associated with a 16th century Gunpowder Plotter and a phoenix in the Harry Potter series, Fawkes, also spelled Vaulx, Vaux, and Faulks, comes from the Norman name Faulques, which in turn came from a…
Egyptian mythology
"to rise in brilliance, to shine"
Gentle sounding but with a bright and powerful meaning, Bennu is a name associated with both mythology and astronomy. Originally an ancient Egyptian deity, Bennu is associated with the sun, creation,…
Dutch
"dove"
A peaceful Dutch name that many English speakers will find tough to pronounce.
Word name, English
"bird of prey; toy flown in the wind; flying a kite"
An (understandably) rare word name, Kite nevertheless has the sounds of two favorites — Kai and Kit. The word kite possibly derives from Proto-Indo-European roots and means "screech", however, it is…
Albanian
"nightingale"
An Albanian word name with spiky yet playful sounds, Bilbil ultimately derives from the Arabic bulbul , meaning "nightingale". It is used as a masculine name in Albania, however in the Philippines,…
English
"raven's settlement"
A rustic yet aristocratic boy name, derived from an English surname and place name. It derives from the Old English name Hræfn and the element wic to create the cool meaning "raven's settlement".
Welsh
"bird"
This 1950s Welsh bird name sounds less dated than our fifties Robin.
Ojibwe
"a feather"
From the Ojibwe word for feather, Miigwan is used by the Indigenous people of the Great Lakes region and the northern plains. It was used for a a character in the 2022 Canadian TV comedy series,…
Old English, place name
"swan stream, swan river, swan island"
This Old English name feels as if it could have stepped out of a fantasy novel, but it may be just similar enough to Everett and Elliot that it could work in the real world. Derived from the elements…
Turkish, Japanese, Hausa, Danish, Swedish
"shellduck, drake; sandy shore; reputation, name; daughter"
A sweet, short, and sunny name, with international flair, Suna had its roots in a number of different languages. As a Turkish name, Suna means "duck, drake", or more specifically, it is used to refer…
Greenlandic
"young ptarmigan"
This animal name sails from Greenland, where it's an elaboration on the word ptarmigan, aqisseq , referring to a ptarmigan chick. But the arctic bird is not the name's only significant namesake:…
Place name, English
"finch clearing; finch's meadow"
Bird name Finch has been quietly used in the US since the early 2010s, perhaps thanks to the rise of Wren and Birdie, and because of its connection to Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird . Longer form…
"brood egg; the brooded one, the embraced one"
A Greenlandic name with a sweet meaning: it directly translates to brood egg, but it is also interpreted as the embraced one, as a bird sits on its eggs to hatch them. Other unisex or feminine forms…
Icelandic
"secret eagle"
First used in Iceland back in the 1940s, Arnrún is an officially approved name. It may be interpreted as meaning "secret eagle", or more figuratively, "eagle magic" or "eagle's secret lore", lending…
Chickasaw
"song bird"
A bright and melodic name, Lushanya is derived from the Chickasaw language, spoken by the Indigenous people of the Southeastern Woodlands of the US. It is believed to come from the words taloowa…
