Happy May!
I have really embraced spring this year!! Despite the fact that this Coronavirus or COVID-19 as it is mainly called on the news, has basically taken away every part of big springtime celebrations, I am still enjoying the season for what it is: a renewal of life! And people becoming parents for the first, sixth or tenth time is a huge change to life and lately I have been trying step up my game on look to the positive side of things like a baby being born into this crisis, and instead of seeing worry and eventual death, I see the color yellow and hear laughter!
For today, I am going to talk about my favorite springtime inspired baby names for boys, girls and even adding some unisex names to the post. This could be a long one, so I apologize if there are parts were I just start rambling silly things!
So, first we are going to discuss my favorite girl names because spring automatically makes me think of little girls with their Easter dresses in pastel shades! Every women loves when there is a break in the cold weather to wear their favorite dresses, whether they are long or short, it doesn’t matter they want to rock something different than thick sweaters and jeans with faux fur boots!
I also have to give a shout out to a friend of mine who allowed me to help send out some suggestions for their little girl. I tried my best but after sending so many bohemian (boho) names, I suddenly started falling in love with a bunch of them and everything about it gave rise to the idea of getting this post together!
Greta – I have always loved “Greta” but I know how strong of a name it looks and sounds, so it is not always one that I talk about a lot. However, I do think the boldness is a good thing, because it gives an edgy sense to the little girl who gets to use it for the rest of her life. I think it is a pretty for a baby, toddler and for an elderly woman, but once she gets to her teens she might be bored or embarrassed about it, so might opt out for a nickname and I found that “Etta” which is becoming increasingly popular as a standalone, could be cool!
Poppy – Poppy is one of those absolutely adorable names for both a female human and animal, although I’d never call a cat ‘Poppy’ as I tend to chose regal names for them, but dogs and rabbits could be cute.
I know it is very popular over in England, but something about it doesn’t stop new families from wanting to use it for their daughters! I do wish it could increase on the national list of names used in the United States one day. I find this such a sweet name but figuring our what kind of nickname to go with it has become a bit difficult for me.
Harlow – I don’t think Harlow will ever leave my favorite list. I have loved this name since it was announced that Nicole Ritchie and Joel Madden named their daughter Harlow Winter Kate in 2006. Honestly her whole name is still a combination I rave about to people. I went to school with a girl, who’s youngest daughter is named Harlow Claire. I also think this is a great pairing, it’s really sophisticated compared to the uniqueness of the Madden’s picks.
Indigo – When I was fixing a list for my friend, this was one of two names that I really never liked, especially ‘Indigo’ mostly because I always saw it as a boy name, but I don’t really understand how it ended up on my lists and not hers!
I think a reason why it entered my space is that it is a word for the color purple. I don’t care for Mauve, Violet or Lilac, but I do enjoy Lavender a lot! I am very picky when it comes to purple in general. I am more into lighter shades like lilac, but I am more of a fan of royal purple; the darker the better!
Isabeau – Now I know this one might seem strange, but one of the smaller objectives of this post is to add various names. Greta and Isabeau may not be names that remind you of this time of the year, but they do for me! I think it is a great alternative to Isabel/Isabella. Since everyone loves those versions, I thought this could be cute but strong against other names out there!
Ophelia – Since I was never a fan of William Shakespeare’s plays–they were honestly the least favorite things to read in high school! I wasn’t really introduced to Ophelia until about six years ago! I had just made my first baby name board on Pinterest and it popped up on my feed and that’s it! It does come and go of my lists but whenever I see it online, I find it to be a cheery name for a little girl. It is one of those rare names that work for any age!
Jane – Jane is such a simple name, but I find that so attractive! Everything about is lovely, but recently I found out it also adds an interesting quality that I think people tend to forget; it can be used as a way to give originality without even trying! A combination I have found precious honors my sister Emily, but also gives the child a way to become her own person. Emilia Jane is the whole name. I find the colors pink and yellow come about whenever I tell people of it online. I also see a child bearing these names being original but passionate over the significance over the special meaning too.
Athena – Ever since I found out my name derives from Greece, I have been obsessed with other Greek names! I also love the mythology, so I am a lover of the Goddess Athena. She is a Goddess of wisdom, courage, the arts and justice. She was one that was very beloved in Ancient Greece.
Since I am a lover of royalty, I find it odd that it has never been a popular name in females throughout time. There is only one I know for sure that might have roots in Greece and that is the Danish princess Athena, daughter of Prince Joachim and Princess Marie. Her great-aunt is married into the Royal Greek family, Queen Anne-Marie, younger sister to Athena’s grandmother Queen Margrethe II.
Dove – This is another recent find, and I mean really recent, I would say around 10 months ago I found out about it as I was watching the Disney Channel film Descendants 3, one of the main actresses has the name Dove and I find she is exactly what I’d picture a young woman with that name. She’s very pale but has gorgeous blue eyes and blonde hair! I find it hilarious that once I find and put it on my list, everybody is using it like crazy!
Hazel – For a while, I didn’t like Hazel. A part of me thought it was too old of a name for a daughter of this generation, but then one of my cousins used it with her second as a middle name and then I started putting together different combinations and using them on name games on Facebook and Instagram!
For most people, when they think of springtime they might be into pretty girl names. Oddly enough, I had the opposite thing to happen! I feel it might have something to do with St. Patrick’s Day being in March that makes me think of Irish names for little boys! And I do love more boy names that come from both Ireland and Scotland, but when I was going through my big list of names I knew I would have to shake things up and give you others that you may not assume to be perfect names for spring!
Leif – There is always one name that you absolutely love and have a special meaning behind it, that you literally leave out of every “favorite” list you make, or at least I do!
My love of the name ‘Leif’ comes after reading a book in high school, it was called The Last Leaf by O. Henry. It was about a story of two women artists who were living in New York. They were both healthy until came down with a really bad illness and was on death’s door. She told her friend and roommate that once every leaf falls off the tree outside the window of her hospital room, she will die.
I found the story very different, I saw it through a reader’s point of view and as the artist too, because at this time I was taking an art class, and I had the same thinking as the sick woman in a way. After I finished the final project, I was going to be done with it for a very long time. I basically killed it off, but I kept the special quality of the story and fell in love with the name Leif in a way to honor my love of the art and story.
Rhodes – This one has a similar backstory as well, as I love photographs of roads fading off into the background, and whatever journey a person can take going forward, made me see this name in a different light.
There are times where I enjoy it more as a girl name, but then I’m back to only having it as a boy name. I also don’t really use it as a first, I like having it as a middle and it adds a quirky but adorable way to name a little baby.
Thoreau – As the previous two have a long history with me, this is relativity new to the list. Everytime I see it, a spring green appears in my mind, but I also has a nice city vibe too!
Another part of it that I really like is that it is rarely used still. I look through our local newspaper and I never find it listed to both boys and girls. So, if you are looking for something a little different or if you like the nickname, “Thor” or “Thora” this is a great way to have a strong name but also calling your child after a Marvel character!
Forest – I love Forest so much! Now I’ll be honest, I wasn’t much of a lover of it when I was younger because of the film Forrest Gump, but I did grow up knowing one kid in school with the name! I often wonder what he thinks about the sudden surge in popularity it has been getting in the last five years?
I think Forest with one “r” is really sweet, but I have issues whether or not it sounds awesome for an elderly man. Hmmm…
Camden – When 2014 rolled around, suddenly the name “Camden” became a big standout and I was such a fan of it the moment it came out! Nick and Vanessa Lachey named their oldest son Camden Jack and then less of a week later Kristin Cavalleri and her husband Jay Cutler named their son Camden John. Unfortunately, I wasn’t a fan of either combination but it never stopped me from loving the name so I thought of this as a big win!
Oliver – Here is a fun fact for you! While my sister was pregnant with my nephew, there was a chance that he would have been called Oliver. The only reason why they let it go was that my mom threatened to give him the same nickname we gave our childhood cat Oliver which was “Mem-mem”. So they decided on Nolan as his first name.
I still love the name, but I don’t necessarily understand the big deal of naming your child after your beloved pet. I mean, if they meant a lot to you then I think it’s really sweet to give it to your baby too. Audrina Partridge named her daughter Kirra Max, after her dog she had for a long time and passed away while she was pregnant with her baby girl. For some names, it is totally a cool trend, but nobody would be able to use “ChiChi” as a nickname in our family for obvious reasons!
Cillian – As I said above, when I think of spring names, I instantly think of St. Patrick’s Day and I love Irish boy names. Oliver and Cillian both have Irish meanings but I think Cillian is the cutest of the two because it works with all ages. I am also into having a “C” instead of the “K” that everyone mostly uses, because it looks more like a Gaelic name and of course, it looks more manly or strong.
Holland – I have recently fell back in love with it as a name for a child. Originally, I only liked it for a girl but I have never cared for the name “Holly”. I think the fact that it’ll be used constantly during the month of December, thanks to the many, many Christmas carols! Also, I just think it looks and sounds dated and tacky, and I love different era names!
Noble – I found this one several years back, as I heard it on an episode of Blue Bloods and I immediately had to quickly put it on my list! I have to say, I was really watching that show on a limited basis, but I guess something good did come out of it, it brought this handsome name to my attention.
It’s been really nice to find out that couples are finding and enjoying it as much as I did when it came on my radar. I think it’s a clever alternative to my nephew’s name ‘Nolan’ but I do have to say that both are rising on various popularity lists around the country. What I like about it is, it’s a masculine type of name but it is also an interesting quirk about it too!
Cove – So, this name hasn’t always had an easy time with me. Honestly, when Cove and Lennon first started gaining momentum on the charts, I couldn’t understand the love for it. I just hated both of them, and what is even more odd is that both transitions were fast! Like when Aspyn and Parker Onard revealed their daughter’s name was Cove, I instantly hated it but within four months later, I was fine with it. I saw it with another beloved favorite of mine and changed my mind on what I felt for it!
So, now that we have the boys section done, we can move on to talk about some of my favorite unisex or neutral names. Honestly, I think the only reason why I decided on doing this part was so that I could add more onto the post! What is even worse is that I changed my first setup of listing five of them at a time, but as I continued to go through my jumbo list for the banner, I realized I had too many good ones to leave it altogether, so here we go for the last time!
Callahan – Everyone can develop a special feeling towards a name, like we discussed with naming your child after a favorite pet. Whether you are inspired by your pet, famous celebrity, athlete, etc that it is your choice and I will forever say “go for it” but I feel like the reason for why I love this name will make a lot of people laugh–including my mother!
In 2002, right before we left to go to the hospital for my back surgeries, one of my aunts and cousins gave me a present and it was the VCR tape of Legally Blonde. It was one of three movies that I watched all of the time. Whether it was 12 hours before surgery day or 5 hours afterwards, it didn’t matter I wanted to watch it and it’s literally no wonder why I (and my mom!) know EVERY word in it.
Now let’s go back to this post. Our main character Elle has a professor named Callahan, and he is a shady ass dude! If you haven’t seen it, you must be living underneath a rock or something! Anyways, everytime I hear it on the movie or online, I feel like it could be a great name for both sexes. The first five letters “Calla” is a flower so if you are like me, and want to mask the real reason why you used it, you have that in your corner, but really what I enjoy about it is that Callahan is versatile in every way.
Boston – Boston is such a cute and surprisingly unique name–one that I feel should have been used a lot more during the American Revolutionary War and afterwards, because Philadelphia was used on girls for quite a bit in the late 1780’s to early 1800’s, but I never see anything about Boston! It is getting a great following now, sort of like what happened to Alabama a few years ago (but I hated that one with a passion!).
In the beginning, I was only loving it for girls too, but then I saw a pairing with a boy middle name and I thought it was really cute! There is a BookTuber with the name Boston and she looks like a Boston, and I’ve seen some very adorable boys with it lately! I’ve never been more confused on which is my favorite side!
Hunter – When I was in school, I knew a few Hunters, and always liked it on them, because instead of getting a full on hunter vibe with camo and deer heads up against a wall like a giant trophy, I always thought it was a nice jock type of name. Since the two boys I knew actually played football, it made sense to like it this way!
After watching the film Thirteen and learning about Holly Hunter in 2008 I think, I suddenly had an obsession with it being for a girl. For a while, I changed the spelling to “Hynter” which everybody hated it, but I generally like putting an “e” or “y” for other letters! After some time I have found new love for it but I went back to the original way and I still prefer it for both sexes–even though boys will always be my favorite!
Bodhi – I was going to talk another name but I rarely use it now, so I exchanged it with another favorite of mine. Bodhi is like Camden because of how popular it became among the celebrities a couple of years back. Megan Fox and Brian Austin Green named their second son Bodhi Ransom (another great name too!) and Teresa Palmer and her husband Mark Webber welcomed their first child Bodhi Rain back in 2016. Oddly enough both of them were born within days of each other! And now Ian Somerholder and Nikki Reed have a daughter with the name Bodhi Soleil.
I have kept Bodhi on my list for YEARS! I think I’ve known about it since 2008, because there was a radio DJ on one of my favorite stations who had it and I thought it was interesting–but again I was obsessed with it mostly with boy names and I have tried to make it work with some of my family names and I finally figured out two names that I think sound great with it but it’s been recently that I have liked it with girl names. I saw Bodhi Charlotte on my Instagram feed and have been going crazy with this pairing ever since! It’s a little classic but edger for a little girl.
River – River is one that has been on my lists for a very long time. I’d say the year was 2006, which is around the time I started really loving names and eventually collecting them in my cell phone. In my first phone, I had quite a bit of combinations and River was one that was constantly popping up in my head. I never kept it in a single category either, I liked the subtle quirky but woodland theme it gave to both sexes, but I did try to make it more into a middle rather a first name.
By the time it had reached its peak in 2017, I was like yes! because I thought it was such a cute name back then, I felt it needed its time in the spotlight! I really adore Kelly Clarkson’s daughter River Rose. I feel like it has a cutesy vibe but also brings out this rocker palette too! So far, she is the only girl that I have seen and enjoyed the whole pairing! However, if you have a River or collect name combos too, I would like to see what you have with it too!
Halston – Halston is very, very new to the party! I actually watched the film that had an actress by the name of Halston Sage, which I have to say is just gorgeous! I think it’s a great example for this part of the post because the combination is perfect for both sexes.
For the most part, I have been enjoying it mostly on boys but in the last few months (see, I told you it was new!) when I was helping my friend figuring out girl boho names, I kept seeing it in my mind and for about five days, I had nothing but Halston in my head for a girl. My friend didn’t really say anything about it to me and I didn’t mention my new love for it either..
Moon – I have always had a special relationship with the moon as a planet, but accepting my love for it as a name for my future children has always been difficult. I don’t really know why, but it’s only since I have been open about my favorites online among other name lovers that I have been wanting to experiment with it. The majority of the time, I have used it for boys but I think it’s great for girls too, it’s just I don’t think I can use it.
Ziggy – This one has been popping up all over Instagram in the last two months. It may very well be the third favorite of the year! I believe it works better for girls, but I have seen a few boys with it although for them they usually use it as a nickname rather than a full name. However, it’s the total opposite for the girls; namers like to pick an a sweet, but strong middle that starts with an “A” but I think if it fits these themes, it’ll give a little girl an unique way to describe herself!
Laurel – Laurel is a perfect alternative to “Lauren/Loren”. Personally, I still love the name “Lauren” and haven’t seen very many kids nowadays use it as a first in the last few years. I think Laurel is a great way to keep spring in a child’s name, but I would love it to become popular with its longer version – if you are expecting twins and you still want to use this way for one, I think it could be great on a boy!
Eden – I think everyone would agree with me when I say, I have always thought of Eden as a nice short girl name, but again like Ziggy above it has been getting increasingly becoming a favorite among people who would a different genderfluid type of name. I would also like to mention that if you adore calling a little boy “Eddie” this could be an interesting way to make it happen! Since it is so small, I think you could go long as far as middle names, like Alexander, Benjamin, Christopher, etc. I do think keeping a masculine middle would be beneficial to him as he grows up. As much as I like unisex names, it is a good thing to keep an mind pairing each name with a traditional, family or gentle middles.
One last thing I have to say, you have nine months (or so) until the child is born, so I’d hope every one is really thinking hard on the subject of naming. I’m not talking about where your name lands on the Top 10 annual lists or how unique it is, but I’m saying for at least 18 years, this child will have to bear the name(s) you have chosen for them. Again, this is my personal take on naming a child so whether you agree with me or not is perfectly fine with me, I’m just trying to give you some guidance on interesting ways to brighten up the times!
Do you like any of the names I’ve mentioned in the post or banner? What are your favorite spring time names for girls, boys and neutral babies?
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