Summer has officially arrived, I’d like to be the first to extend a giant *Welcome.* I’d like also of course, to usher her in with a new set of baby name possibilities. If commemorating the season in which your summer baby is born appeals, here are some ideas, both classic and off-beat. Whether you draw from the long sunny days, beach vacations, or a birthstone, there are practically endless possibilities. Saints Days are also an option, and I post the upcoming week’s list every Sunday. When you’re done here, please go to Appellation Mountain’s thoughts on the subject.
Now we’re off to the park to celebrate a birthday with potluck and good old fashioned wiffle ball. Hope you are enjoying your summer.
GIRLS
Alexandra, Alexandrine- Greek, “defender of mankind.” Alexandrine is sometimes listed as a birthstone for June
Anona- Latin, goddess of the harvest
Apolline, Apollonia- “Stength”; Female version of the Greek Apollo, the god of the sun, and far more usable in this form
Augusta, Augustine- Latin, “great, venerable”; might be a nice nod to the month of August
Dagmar, Dagny- In Old Norse, “dag” names are related to “day”, appropriate since the days are long this time of year
Eloise, Heloise- French; possibly originating in the Greek helios meaning “sun”
Haruko- Japanese for “sun child”
Helen, Helena- Greek for “torch”, also “light”
Julia, Julianna, Juliet- The feminizations of Julius, for whom the month of July was named
June, Junia- From the month of June and the Roman goddess Juno, queen of the heavens
Lavender- In Provence, June is the month when the Lavender blooms
Leona, Leonie, Leontine, Leonora- If your baby is a Leo, these might be viable first or middle name options
Liberty- English, well-suited to an Independence Day baby
Lucia, Lucienne, Lucy- From the Latin lux ”light”
Margaret- English, from the Greek margarites meaning Pearl. Margarita also works as a themey double-entendre
Marina- Originally Greek, Marina is used in many languages and means “sea” for those lucky enough to be there
Marisol- Spanish combination of Maria and Sol “sun”
Natsumi- Japanese natsu ”summer” and mi ”beautiful”; also from na “vegetables” and tsumu “pick”
Ondine- French, from the Latin unda meaning “wave”
Ora- Hebrew “light”
Pearl- June’s birthstone
Poppy- August’s flower, though they bloom in May
Rose- The flower of June, a hardy and lovely flower in the sun
Ruby- July’s birthstone
Sita- Sanskrit, “furrow”, Hindu goddess of the harvest
Sol- Spanish for sun
Soleil- French for sun, recalls the actress Soleil Moon Frye, an intrepid baby namer herself
Solstice- With word names like Story and Ever all the rage, this one struck me as a pleasant-sounding possibility
Solveig- Norse combining sol “sun” and veig “strength”
Summer- A name that’s had its day in the sun
Sunniva- Norwegian “sun gift”
Suvi- Finnish “summer”
Svetlana- Slavic “light”
Theresa- Greek theros “summer”
Vera- From the Albanian verë for “summer”
Virginia- If your wee one comes toward the end of summer, you may wind up with a Virgo, making this related name particularly apt; note that the state, Virginia, was named for the Virgin Queen, Queen Elizabeth I
BOYS
August, Augustus- Latin, “great, venerable” after the Emporer Augustus, for whom the month was named
Cyrus- Biblical, may be related to the Persian khur, meaning “sun”
Haru- Japanese “sunlight”
Horus- Egyptian mythology, god of light
Hyperion- Greek mythology, the titan who presided over the sun and light
Julian, Julius- Latin, “downy-bearded”; July was named after Julius Caesar, and so might your child be!
Leo, Leonard, Leonardo, Leonidas, Leopold- If your baby is born under the sign of Leo, you have a multitude of options should you be stuck
Luke, Lucian, Lucius- From the Latin lux for “light”
Mehrdad- Persian “gift of the sun”
Prakash- Sanskrit “light”
Ra- Egyptian mythology, god of the sun
Ravindra- Sanskrit, “Lord of the sun”
Roshan- Persian “light, bright”
Samson- Hebrew, possibly meaning “sun”
Somereld- Scottish “summer traveler”
Surya- Sanskrit, Hindu god of the sun
Wekesa- East African origin, means “born during the harvest”
Above Image: August, from the Très riches heures du duc de Berry
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
Having always resigned myself to accept that the meaning of Louis/Louise/Eloise/Heloise/etc. was “famous in battle”, or something close and equally unappealing, I had never realized that if you just transpose the letters in Heloise and add an e to the end you have helios, or sun in Greek. A much more appealing meaning IMO. Come to think of it, Louis XIV was “The Sun King”. A coincidence surely, but a fun one nonetheless!
first off, I was very excited to see an image from tres riches heures du duc de berry! (okay, id I just offically reveal myself as an art nerd?).
Second, I love these suggestions! my favorites are:
Augusta
Helena
Juliet
Junia
Leonie
Ora
Pearl
Soleil
Virginia
August
Julian
Leo/Leopold
Lucian/Lucius
Samson
My niece was born this past December 21. I knew my sister-in-law and brother-in-law were going to choose an “S” name, and I thought Solstice would be perfect! They went with the less-adventurous Sophia.
Mummie, I think Louis and Louise still mean “prepared for or famous in battle”, but the jury is out on the etymology of Eloise. A lot of names are related to more than one name as the spellings changed to resemble something else, so I agree, “sunny” Eloise is a much more pleasant association.
Alicia, you picked some good ones! I’m also particularly enamored of Ondine, Apolline, and Poppy these days.
Coll, I really think Solstice could be kind of special for the child of hippy parents. It’s truly pretty to say! Not my own personal style perhaps, but as word names go, this one has a lovely meaning and sound.
Thank you! just what I need to read right now…
My middle name is Louise – for which I found the meaning “warrior” or “battle maiden”. My first name is Anne….meaning “full of grace”. I always felt the two were mutually exclusive….but, in the last years of a spiritual quest….the term “graceful warrior” has come to have a new and cherished meaning for me.
)