Names That Mean Nature

The name of a river that flows through Texas into the Gulf of Mexico is given to a dozen or so baby boys and a handful of girls each year. The name derives from Spanish río de los Brazos de Dios ("river of the Arms of God").

For any parents out there searching for a nature name starting with x -- and we doubt there are many -- this one, named for a Spanish monk called Ximenes, is a small tropical plant bearing wild limes.

In Thailand, pawpaw, or paw paw, is the name for the papaya plant and flowers. It's been seen on the US charts for baby girls since 2008, never exceeding 30 uses in a single year.

One of the bird names that's more appropriate for a boy, though it works for a girl too.

Faigel is a secret nature name deriving from the Yiddish word for "bird". Variants include Faiga and Faige.

As nature names get more popular, parents look to undiscovered nature words and terms that can be turned into baby names. Rice is certainly undiscovered, but may not make the transition from word to baby name as smoothly as, say, River.

An order of carnivorous insects, most notably dragonflies and damselflies.

An order of carnivorous insects, most notably dragonflies and damselflies.

While Hill reads as a nickname for Hillary, adding an S puts it in the same category as plural nature names like Rivers and Brooks. It also softens the name's image: one hill is an obstacle, but many together form a lovely landscape. Hills are also a recurring image and metaphor in both the New and Old Testament.

The Layke spelling of this refreshing nature name was introduced for one of the Waldrop sextuplets, Layke Bryars, who is male, but the name is gender neutral.

Briar is a rising nature name for both girls and boys and Bryars is a spin introduced as the middle name of one of the Waldrop sextuplets, Layke Bryars, who happens to be a boy. But the name works just as well for girls.

A common name for the plumeria flower, named after the 16th-century Marquis Muzio Frangipani of the Italian noble family. He invented a perfume using the flower.

Hippie name of the Jonathan Livingston Seagull era.

A unisex French name that ranks in the Top 200 for boys and the Top 500 for girls there, inspired by a character with the surname Swann in Marcel Proust's In Search of Lost Time. As a given name, it was popularized by the 1984 film Un amour de Swann ("Swann in Love"), directed by Volker Schlöndorff.

The name of a river that flows through Texas into the Gulf of Mexico is given to a dozen or so baby boys and a handful of girls each year. The name derives from Spanish río de los Brazos de Dios ("river of the Arms of God").

Soft and creative update of Marsha.

Seagrasses are aquatic plants — the only flowering plants that grow underwater. They often exist in seagrass beds or meadows — rich ecosystems that house and feed organisms as well as protect against erosion and pollution. For lovers of the ocean and the environment, Seagrass could make a meaningful middle name.

Fragrant herb often used for cooking, but scarcely as a name.

Briar is a rising unique unisex name and Bryars is a spin introduced as the middle name of one of the Waldrop sextuplets, Layke Bryars, who happens to be a boy. But the name works just as well for girls.