Latin Names

Gardener is surely one of the most pleasant and evocative of the occupational options, calling up images of green grass and budding blooms. The name can also be spelled without the first 'e', as in Gardner (born George Cadogan Gardner) McCay, a hunky TV heartthrob of the 1950s and 60s. Gardner is a much more common surname spelling, associated with screen legend Ava, mystery writer Erle Stanley and art collector and patron Isabella Stewart, founder of Boston's Gardner Museum.

If you're looking for a presidential first name, keep looking.

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.

A poetic name first used in Edmund Spenser's "The Faerie Queene" in 1596, it had a literary vogue in the 18th century, especially favored by Robert Burns. "inda" names--Melinda, Belinda, Linda" are not particularly in right now.

Dacia was an ancient region comprised of what is modern Romania and Moldova and smaller parts of other Eastern European countries. Its inhabitants were called the Dacians, and the Dacian Kingdom flourished around the time of Christ until it was toppled by the Romans. Daciana is the female version sometimes used in Romania.

With male version Leon taking off all over Europe, the female variations, from Leona to Leonie to Leone, are coming back into style too.

If January, April and August are useable and fashionable, why not February? February as a word derives from the Latin februa, which was the name of a purification feast coming at the end of winter, to prepare for the coming spring.

Marino is an Italian first and surname with distinct crossover possibilities, having pleasant seaside undertones, and is far more unusual in the U.S. than sister Marina.

Justina was the pre-Justine feminization of Justin, now a possible alternative to Christina. Oddly, while Justine feels like a name unto itself, Justina feels like a pinned-together feminization in the mold of Richarda or Benjamina. Still, it may appeal as one of the unusual-yet-familiar girl names starting with J.

Another name for the herb sage -- which sounds younger and more modern than this version.

Swaggering, cutting-edge choice equally appropriate for both genders. It's also very rare, given in the US in 2015 to only seven baby girls....and no recorded baby boys. Do you want to be the first?

Capella, the eleventh brightest star in the sky, carries much mythological and astrological significance. In Roman mythology, Capella represented the goat that suckled Jupiter, whose horn became the Cornucopia or horn of plenty. In Hindu mythology, Capella is called the heart of Brahma, while English legend calls it the shepherd's star.

The obscure yet not unappealing name of a legendary heroine of Rome. The ancient Clelia escaped an Etruscan invader by swimming across the Tiber River.

Variant spelling of Camila, common in Eastern Europe. Kamila and Kamilah are also feminine forms of the Arabic name Kamil, meaning "perfect".

The ancient father of all the Stephen names. The modern Greek version is STEPHANOS.

Sounds like a child in a Gothic novel.

A musette is both a dance and an antique instrument, but the name is most associated with the classic opera La Bohème.

Pacific is an adventurous kind of place-name, with the added bonus of the association with peace.