names for a furry feathery or scaly baby

Aiko is a very common Japanese name with a lovely meaning that is rarely heard outside the Asian community.

Alba is quietly making a behind-the-scenes comeback, perhaps thanks to actress turned baby-product mogul Jessica Alba. Last on the Top 1000 a century ago, the name was given to nearly 200 baby girls in the US last year. Alba might be tomorrow's successor to Ava and Ella. In Spain, Alba ranks among the Top 20 girls' names. Alba is the name of a character in The Time Traveler's Wife.

ALLEGRA is a delicate ballet-dancer name; ALLEGRO, which means a fast-paced movement in music, is stronger and more vibrant.

Almond may seem like a hippy modern name, but its use for American boys goes right back to the mid-nineteenth century. In these cases, it was either a variation of Almund, meaning "noble strength," or the surname Aleman, meaning "German."

Similar in sound to Harley, Marley, Arlo, and Ari, this surname-style name was a fast rising choice in the UK in 2023.

A pretty, dainty name for one of the little characters in the children's book series The Borrowers. It was the basis for a later Studio Ghible animated film, The Secret World of Arrietty. While the connection to Harriet is tenuous, you might want to consider Arrietty as an honorific for an ancestral Harriet, Harry, or even Henry or Henrietta.

Artemis, one of the key figures of the female Greek pantheon, is the ancient virgin goddess of the hunt, wilderness, animals, childbirth, and a protector of young girls, later associated with the moon. Artemis is the equivalent to the Roman Diana, but a fresher and more distinctive, if offbeat, choice.

Augie is an adorable and, at this point, fresher sounding short form than Gus of the rising August and all its variations, from Augustine to Augustus. The Adventures of Augie March is a 1953 novel by Nobel winner Saul Bellow.

Bamboo is a plant name that you might want to save for the zoo's name-the-panda contest. It was used for a starbaby in 2000, though, the rapper Big Boi.

Bean is a unisex word name with a cute and quirky feel. Early reader series Ivy and Bean features a young girl named Bean, short for Bernice Blue. It has appeal as a casual nickname or middle name, but it's harder to imagine as a given name.

Edgy German capital with definite possibilities as a baby name.

The name of the eponymous Hobbit, Bilbo is said by Tolkien himself to be "of unknown meaning". It’s also an unusual place name: Bilbo is the local Basque name for the city of Bilbao.

Birdie was until recently a middle-aged Ladies' Club member wearing a bird-decorated hat --but now it's just the kind of vintage nickname (think Hattie, Josie, Mamie, Millie) that's coming back into style in a big way. Actress Busy Philipps named her baby Birdie (inspired by First Lady Lady Bird Johnson), as did soap star Maura West.

Bonsai is the Japanese art of growing and training miniature trees or plants in a container. Bonsai is derived from the similar Chinese botanical art called penjing.

Baseball commissioner Bowie Kuhn put this name in play as a first name, but David Bowie (born with the considerably less marketable moniker of David Robert Jones) gave it charisma. He changed his surname in 1965 to avoid confusion with the then popular Davy Jones of The Monkees, borrowing it from the American hero of Alamo, Jim Bowie.

This lovely surname of the three novel-writing sisters, now used as a baby name, makes a fitting tribute for lovers of Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights. While the original name took an umlaut over the e, modern English speakers may find that more trouble than it's worth.

Bruce is a Norman place name made famous by the Scottish king Robert the Bruce, who won Scotland's independence from England in the fourteenth century. It's perennially popular in Scotland, but has been rarely used here for a generation -- though the impact of Bruces Lee, Springsteen, Dern and Willis, as well as Batman's Bruce Wayne -- still lingers. At one time Bruce was so widespread in Australia, it became a nickname for any Ozzie man. An interesting alternative is Brix, the Normandy place name where the Bruce family originated.

In botany, a catkin is a long, thin flower cluster found on trees such as willow, hazel, oak and birch. The word derives from Middle Dutch katteken "kitten", due to the resemblance to a kitten's furry tail.