Latin Names

Men may be from Mars as the saying goes, and the name may derive from the Latin maris meaning male, but soul singer Erykah Badu and Workaholics star Blake Anderson have given it potential as a unisex name after they both used it for their daughters.

A more distinctive alternative to Angelo.

Once unique to the Zappa family, now you can have your own little prima donna.

Silvanus was the Roman god of the forests and is also an alternate name in the New Testament for Silas. Relatives include Silvio, Silvius, and Sylvia.

This spelling variation of the Biblical place-name Sela is found on early American census roles, but Sela is more usual today. Cella is another early variation.

Had a burst of popularity in 2000 when the controversial case of the Cuban boy Elián González was in the news; his name combined his parents': Elizabeth and Juan.

A combination name that might be dismissed as a clown and cow name. The sounds are nevertheless pretty and the meaning is good - though spellings Claribel or Clarabel might help distance it from the cow association.

A bird name from the same Latin root as Aurelia, Oriole is extremely rare as a name: No babies were given the name in the US in 2022. But most people are aware of the Oriole bird, which makes this name uncommon yet possible.

Pleasingly quaint and dainty New Testament possibility; the nickname Dru modernizes it.

There's only one. Okay, two.

Branch is an attractive name with associations both with trees and with branching out into brave new worlds. Baseball's Branch (born Wesley, with Branch as his middle name) Rickey broke the color barrier by hiring Jackie Robinson for the Dodgers. Like Leaf, Branch makes a nice, not-so-obvious, addition to the tree category.

This intriguing name of an ancient Etruscan queen renowned for her prophetic powers was long associated with the prima ballerina Tanaquil LeClerq.

Tulia, rhyming with Julia, is one of several offshoots of the noble Roman family name Tullius, best known as the middle name of the philospher Cicero. Another option is Tullia with a short u. This whole clan of names is relatively unknown but may be rediscovered thanks to the fashion for ancient Roman names.

A religious name, referring to the announcement by the Virgin Mary that she was with child.

This Latinized form of a name that's well used in Italy and Spain is sometimes heard, oddly enough, in Ireland.

Dulcibella is an old name that's fallen into disuse but may rise again with the new wave of fashionable names that end in -bel, -belle, and -bella. Behind the Name says that the medieval form of the name was the Dowsabel, which we definitely do not see making a comeback. But Dulcibel or Dulcibelle could work.

A name halfway between its old milquetoast image and a more jovial Irish-sounding contemporary one.

Astrological sign with enough rhythm to make a plausible astral name.