Nature Names Master List

Malva

Greek

"slender, delicate"

Your zany neighbor, the one who's a potter and has five cats.

Maple

English tree name from Latin

"maple tree; tree of the Acer genus"

Maple is one of those sweet-spot word names that sounds so almost name-like that it doesn't feel outlandish or strange, despite its relative newness as a given name. Just as Juniper is adjacent to…

Margarita

Spanish, Russian, Greek

"pearl, daisy"

Margarita is an international form of Margaret that shares its meaning of "pearl", but also directly translates to "daisy" in Spanish and Greek. Despite being widely associated with the alcoholic…

Marin

Latin

"of the sea"

Marin is a lovely county north of San Francisco, and a lovely baby name on the rise, one which sounds more refreshing than the more familiar Marina. As a place-name, Marin is pronounced with the…

Marjoram

botanical name

Marjoram is a herb and flower. With nicknames like Margie and Jo at the ready, we think that if Marigold can make a comeback, why not Marjoram?

Marjorie

Scottish variation of Margery, diminutive of Margaret

"pearl"

Scottish Marjorie and her English twin Margery were early twentieth century favorites that date back to medieval times, when it was popular among the royals. They were at their height in the 1920s,…

Meena

Hindi

"blue semiprecious stone, bird"

Interesting multi-cultural option.

Milla

Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, Finnish, Hungarian

"young ceremonial attendant, gracious people"

Milla originated as a diminutive of names like Camilla and Ludmilla, but has since become well established as a name in its own right in several European countries. Milla Jovovich is a Ukrainian-born…

Millaray

Mapuche, Chilean

"golden flower"

A melodic and glowing name, derived from Mapuche, the language of the Indigenous people of central Chile, Millaray means "golden flower". It ranked in the Chilean Top 100 in the 2010s and remains a…

Misty

English

"mist"

The Play Misty for Me jokes will get old really fast.

Montana

Spanish place-name

"mountainous"

Overly trendy western place-name, as stated in the title of our book Beyond Jennifer & Jason, Madison & Montana.

Moon

Word name

At one time, Moon might have felt like a celebrity-only option, memorably chosen by Frank Zappa for his daughter Moon Unit. Now, with Sunny, Goldie, Wren, Star, Storm, Ocean, Onyx, and Scout in the…

Myrtle

Greek botanical name

Long in our category of so-far-out-it-will-always-be-out category, once seen as a gum-cracking 1940's telephone operator, we think it's time to reassess Myrtle, and look at is as a nature name, a…