Milkvetch. Wallflower. Toothwart.
Yes, the Earth is indeed a wellspring for baby names.
Actually I skipped those. Here are a few favorites culled– believe it or not– from endangered species lists. Morbid as that may seem, I promise they’re quite nice! Famous conservationists and a few other notables help bring it back down to Earth. I’d love to see Audubon or Fossey as firsts or to meet an all-American infant Sigurd.
Truly though, the names are of minor importance. Gasp! The most we can hope for is that our children do better than we did.
FAMOUS CONSERVATIONISTS
John James Audubon
Rachel Carson
Jeff Corwin
Jacques Cousteau
Dian Fossey
Buckminster Fuller
Jane Goodall
Julia Butterfly Hill
Steve Irwin
Aldo Leopold
Chico Mendes
John Muir
Frederick Law Olmsted
Sigurd F. Olson
Peter Simon Pallas
Henry David Thoreau
EMBLEMS OF THE EARTH
GIRLS
Anona- Roman goddess of the harvest
Avani- Sanskrit, “earth”
Ceres- Ancient Roman, “to grow”, Roman goddess of agriculture
Demeter- Greek, “earth mother”, Greek goddess of agriculture
Flora- Roman goddess of flowers
Gaia- Greek, “earth”, and the goddess of the earth
Georgia, Georgina, Georgianna- Greek, “farmer”
Kun- Chinese, “earth”
Luna- Roman goddess of the moon
Maia- Roman goddess of Spring
Perpetua- Latin, “continuous”
Terra- Latin, “earth”
Zoe- Greek, “life”
BOYS
Adam- Hebrew, debated meaning; man formed from the Earth
Asa- Hebrew, “healer”
Chayim- Hebrew, “life”
Enki- Sumerian, “lord of the earth”, god of water and wisdom
Francis- Italian saint reknowned for his connection to animals
George- Greek, “farmer, earthworker”
Pax- Latin, “peace”
Vitus- Ancient Roman, from the latin for “life”
Zephyr- Greek god of the west wind
ANIMAL (proceed with caution)
Akialoa
Anemone
Bear
Bison
Caribou
Condor
Crane
Delphine
Eagle
Eider
Gazelle
Lynx
Nightingale
Ocelot
Peregrine
Rhea
Warbler
Wren
Wolf
VEGETABLE
Aster
Azalea
Banyan
Birch
Briar
Bryony
Cicely
Clementine
Clover
Columbine
Crocus
Cypress
Elm
Fern
Hazel
Huckleberry
Hyssop
Indigo
Juniper
Maple
Oak
Phlox
Plum
Primrose
Reed
Rosemary
Rosette
Sage
Sedge
Sorrel
Spruce
Thistle
Verbena
Willow
Yarrow
MINERAL (a rather Soap-Operatic category)
Bay
Coral
Earth, Eartha
Flint
Jasper
Marina
Obsidian
Ocean, Oceane
Onyx
Peter, Petra
Reef
Ridge
Slate
Solstice
Stone
There are so many Earth names, this could go on for days. Did I miss your favorite?
Image by Andy Goldsworthy
{ 22 comments… read them below or add one }
The name Tess means harvester.
Yes! As do other versions of Theresa. Thank you, totally missed that one.
I am reading “Ellen Foster” and this character loves to look in her little microscope. Her favorite slide is one of Euglena and she thinks that would be a nice name for a girl
I thought of that when I read this post. Not that I would necessarily agree with her, but I suppose Euglena would be somewhat of an “earthy” name 
my friend has a son named ‘Lyon’
Does she pronounce it like the animal? I always think of Lyon as a place name.
You put Francis with the girls name…and in the description even said he. Just thought I’d let you know!
Thank you! Sometimes I wish I had a copy editor.
I love some of the “vegetable” names, but I think Columbine is going to mean one thing to most of America for a long time to come.
Tabitha means “gazelle” in Aramaic.
I’m mentally handing a bravery medal in silent amazement to the parents who pick Ocelot and Hyssop for baby names!
I have seen some of the rarer nature names used recently, such as Bear, Bay and Reef. Once you get accustomed to them, they seem quite usable. I’ve also seen someone considering calling her daughter Solstice, which seems kind of cool and “Bond Girl-y”.
Will take me a while to get used to Ocelet, and Lynx reminds me of the stinky men’s deodorant. XD
lol, ditto your comment on Ocelot for sure, and Hyssop would be a bold choice as well. Am I the only one to think of Monty Python’s Life of Brian when I see ocelot (Brian as the amphitheater snack vendor: “Otters’ noses. Ocelots’ spleens…”)?
No I was thinking of that as well! It’s not only that Ocelot is a rare name, it just sounds kind of funny – like Aardvark!
I shamelessly adore nature-esque names, both the obvious and the more subtle ones. Given my name is Lily though, as much as I adore Violet, Iris and Acacia, I’ll probably end up searching madly for the less conspicuous nature lovlies when I have my own kids.
From these lists I’m adoring:
♂ Asa, Francis, Jasper
♀ Flora, Luna, Delphine, Wren, Aster, Bryony, Clementine, Hazel, Juniper, Primrose
I also love Rowan (rowan tree) and Silas (of the forest) for the boys, and Viola (violet) for the girls.
♥
I just found your site and LOVE names. One of my favorite boy names that could’ve been included with the “vegetable/earth” category is Kale. Although everytime I mention it to someone, they say “oh, like the lettuce”…and I just don’t want my kid to have that reaction follow his name for all of time.
I came across a little girl called Samphire, which I kinda loved.
Great list! My daughter is Bay, I would love for that to catch on. If she had been a boy, the name would have been Wolf [family name] and several others were on our list. Marina and Hazel are adorable but my husband doesn’t love them as much as I do.
Oh I forgot about my love of the nickname Rosie. My favorites are Rosemary and Rosaline but I love other rose names as well.
FYI – Frederick Law OLMSTED is misspelled in your list. It is very frequently misspelled, since “Olmstead” is another legit last name.
Thank you! I HATE misspelling names, as you can imagine. Correcting right now!
We are expecting our 5th child…we are considering Willow for a girl. Two of our other children have nature names that I didn’t see in your list ( or may have missed)
Savannah & Meadow
I’m late to the party but I LOVE Demeter! Aside from my ill-fated quest to bestow it upon a daughter, this is the only place I’ve seen someone allude to the possibility of using it.
I am searching for a third name and stumbled on these lists. I love them! My first daughter is Felan, Gaelic for little wolf and a latin middle, Accalia after the wolf that nursed Romulus and Remus. My second daughter, this is very relevent to this list, is Hermione, named for Hermes, Demeter and Persephone (all earth gods) by her mother Helen.. yes of Troy. And her middle is Lux, light in Latin.