Aircraft Inspired Names

Mirage

French

"optical illusion"

An attractive optical illusion where heat causes light to reflect in the air as if off a body of water. It was used as a character name in the 2004 animated film The Incredibles .

Nell

English, diminutive of Helen, Eleanor, et al

"bright, shining one"

Nell, once a nickname for Helen, Ellen, or Eleanor, is a sweet old-fashioned charmer that is fashionably used today in its own right. While Nell is perfectly in tune with contemporary vintage name…

Novi

Variation of Nova, Latin

"new"

This Nova-offshoot is hot in the Netherlands, where it was recently one of the fastest-rising names of the year. It could eventually see great success in the US as well, and was given to 46 American…

Rainbow

English

"rainbow"

Colorful, yes, but also probably among the hippiest of hippie names. Holly Madison recently chose it for her little girl.

Randy

Considering that randy is slang for 'horny' this is not a great choice.

Rey

Spanish

"king"

Rey, a Ray-soundalike that has ranked on the boys' side for the past 15 years, is about to get more popular for girls too, now that it's the name of the new heroine of the latest Star Wars movie.…

Sapphire

Hebrew, Greek, and Latin jewel name

"blue"

Sapphire goes waaaaay beyond Ruby and Pearl. This September birthstone, occasionally used a century ago, might be worth a reappraisal, perhaps as a Sophie/Sophia alternative. Sapphire is the…

Silver

English word name

" a metallic chemical element with atomic number 47"

Among the first wave of word names used in the hippie era, it actually is a legitimate girl's name with a lot of luster.

Sitara

Urdu from Persian

"star"

A beautiful Urdu name with a musical sound and a lovely celestial meaning. Sitara got a boost in 2022, potentially from the award-winning 2020 short film "Sitara: Let Girls Dream", bringing awareness…

Sparrow

Nature name

"sparrow, a bird"

With related choices such as Lark and Phoenix gaining popularity, why not Sparrow? Though it's usually thought of as a female name, Nicole Richie and Joel Madden chose it for their son.

Star

Word name

Most parents today would prefer the softer-sell Stella. But Star has symbolic power related to Christmas, so this could make one of the perfect names for December babies .