Botany & Nature Names

  1. Acacia
    • Origin:

      Greek
    • Meaning:

      "thorny"
    • Description:

      Acacia is an attractive, rarely used Greek flower name enhanced by its popular beginning-and-ending-with 'a'-construct, and is gradually beginning to catch on as a new member of the stylish girl names starting with A.
  2. Amarantha
    • Origin:

      Flower name; Greek
    • Meaning:

      "unfading"
    • Description:

      Amarantha is a rare botanical name whose mythical equivalent was believed to be immortal. The Italian and Spanish form is the somewhat-more-acccessible Amaranta.
  3. Ash
    • Origin:

      Diminutive of Asher, English
    • Meaning:

      "ash tree"
    • Description:

      Ash has Southern charm plus the arboreal-nature appeal. Plus your little boy will prize Ash as the name of the hero of the Pokemon cartoons. Ash can also be a dashing short form of Asher, Ashton, or any other "Ash" name.
  4. Banyan
    • Origin:

      Indian
    • Meaning:

      "the God tree"
    • Description:

      This evocative name of a dramatic tropical Indian fig tree is ready to move west.
  5. Basil
    • Origin:

      Greek
    • Meaning:

      "royal"
    • Description:

      Although Greek in origin--in the fourth century, a bishop by that name established the principles of the Greek Orthodox Church--Basil for years took on the aura of aquiline-nosed upper-class Britishness of Sherlock Holmes portrayer Basil Rathbone, then spiced with the fragrant aroma of the herb that entered with the Pesto generation.
  6. Bay
    • Origin:

      English word, Old English
    • Meaning:

      "an inlet of the sea where the land curves inward; berry"
    • Description:

      One of the most usable of the pleasant, newly adopted nature/water names (like Lake and Ocean), especially in middle position. It's gentle, slightly whimsical, but grounded by its similarity to May or Rae.
  7. Bayou
    • Origin:

      Native American nature name
    • Description:

      A slow and sultry southern choice that's definitely cool for babies of either gender. While the word feels French and has its roots in 18th century French Louisiana, it derives from the Choctaw word bayuk, which means "small stream."
  8. Beach
    • Origin:

      Nature name, English word name
    • Meaning:

      "a shore of a body of water"
    • Description:

      With the tide coming in on a new wave of word names, this one just might catch on, especially for parents who relish sun, sand, and surf. Forest lovers can spell it Beech, like the tree.
  9. Birch
    • Origin:

      Tree name
    • Description:

      Birch is a rarely used nature name that calls to mind the lovely image of the tall, strong but graceful white-barked tree.
  10. Branch
    • Origin:

      Word name
    • Description:

      Branch is an attractive name with associations both with trees and with branching out into brave new worlds. Baseball's Branch (born Wesley, with Branch as his middle name) Rickey broke the color barrier by hiring Jackie Robinson for the Dodgers. Like Leaf, Branch makes a nice, not-so-obvious, addition to the tree category.
  11. Brook
    • Origin:

      English nature name
    • Meaning:

      "small stream"
    • Description:

      Brooke variation – or is the other way around? – that makes it more a nature name, less an eighties-style androgynous name.
  12. Canyon
    • Origin:

      Spanish word name
    • Description:

      Canyon is a unique baby name evocative of natural splendor and the old Steve Canyon comic-strip heroism, making it an intriguing new word-name possibility.
  13. Cedar
    • Origin:

      English and French from Latin tree name
    • Meaning:

      "cedar tree"
    • Description:

      Cedar is, like Ash, Oak, Pine and Ebony, one of the new tree/wood names that parents are starting to consider; this one is particularly aromatic.
  14. Cove
    • Origin:

      English
    • Meaning:

      "small bay"
    • Description:

      Cove is an up-and-coming nature name whose cool sound and peaceful image saw it rising for both sexes... until COVID-19 hit. It remained steady in use for boys in 2021, but actually increased for girls, although it remains a seriously rare and distinctive choice for either gender.
  15. Dune
    • Origin:

      English word name
    • Meaning:

      "sand hill"
    • Description:

      Dune is a name of several layers. It's a modern nature name, like Ocean, Bay and Reef, although rarer, conjuring up images of breezy sand dunes on summer beach days.
  16. Eglantine
    • Origin:

      French botanical name
    • Description:

      This name for the sweetbriar shrub is a bit too reminiscent of eggplant.
  17. Elm
    • Origin:

      English, German, Norse, Danish tree name
    • Meaning:

      "red, brown"
    • Description:

      Strong, straight, and leafy, one of the new tree names used mostly as middles.
  18. Fauna
    • Origin:

      Roman
    • Meaning:

      "young deer"
    • Description:

      Fauna is the Roman goddess of the earth as well as one of the fairies who protected Disney's "Sleeping Beauty".
  19. Field
    • Origin:

      Nature name
    • Description:

      More unusual than Forest or Forrest, Field is a nature name that is simple, evocative, and fresh--sort of the male equivalent of Meadow.

      Field and Fields are both relatively common surnames, noted bearers including department store owner Marshall Field, poet Eugene Field (Wynken, Blynken and Nod) and actress Sally. Those with the plural include W.C. Fields, cookie company founder Debbi, and entertainers Gracie and Kim Fields.

  20. Forest
    • Origin:

      French occupational name
    • Meaning:

      "woodsman or woods"
    • Description:

      The Forest variation of Forrest, used by actor Whitaker, nudges the meaning more toward the woods and away from the woodsman.