999+ Nature Names for Babies

Now that Lily has become hugely popular, parents in love with this flower name are looking further afield for substitutes such as Liliane and Liliana.

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

Because of its meaning, a symbolic name given to boys born on TuB'Shevat, the New Year of the Trees, or Arbor Day.

Rose and Briar are popular, and Hawthorn is cool – so why not the equally prickly Thorn? Add an E to give it a surnamey spin.

This name's buttoned-up British vibe is what makes it cool - that, and the fact that it was chosen by Anne Bronte as her pseudonym - Acton Bell. That's quite the literary - and may we add feminist - credential for a name. For those with an adventurous edge, Acton is one of the highest peaks in Antarctica.

Rayen is well-known in Chile, and sometimes seen in the Netherlands, as a Mapuche girls name meaning flower. This name could be an alternative to people who like Ryan but want to keep it as a boys name or as a spunkier alternative to other names that mean flower, such as Fleur and Flora.

Uplifting name that's technically for boys but practically would work much better for girls.

A handsome, spruced-up post-Bruce tree name.

This bright and breezy Spanish nature name sounds fresher than its inverse, Marisol.

Madelief is an uncommon name but not unheard of in the Netherlands, where 123 girls were called Madelief in one recent year. With its soft sounds and similarities to all those "Madeleine" type names as well as names ending in "eef/eev" sounds (Aoife, Eve, Genevieve), Madelief has potential in English-speaking countries to be a fresh and pleasant change from Daisy, Margaret and Madeleine.

Olea is an unusual botanical name that relates to both olive and oil, brought to public attention when it was chosen by actress Amy Adams as the middle name for her daughter Aviana. Olea is also an occasionally used Norwegian and Danish girl's name and is said to be an Old Hebrew word for night or moon.

Snow is increasing in usage mostly as a girls' name, but hero Jon Snow of Game of Thrones just might nudge it into the boys' column. Currently, there are 12 times as many girls named Snow as boys, but its usage is much higher in middle place.

With the recent arrival of fruit names like Apple and Plum, this more traditional example, symbolic of fertility, might rise in popularity. Photographer Berry Berenson was born Berinthia.

Multicultural name often heard in the Near East. Also spelled Neema.

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 herb is also known as cilantro. It's meaning, "bed bug" is on account of its smell, characterized by the ancient Greeks as bed bug-like.

Although the single-named singer is male, this might be a girl's nickname name or a sleek nature name that's perfect in the middle.

Lennox is one of the hottest unisex names of recent years, and this spelling retains the appealing surname vibe and cool -x ending. This form does distance the name slightly from the literary and boxing associations of the original, linking it instead to a tableware manufacturer, a 17th naval ship, and several American places.

A cool, nature-inspired surname for someone who lived near an oak tree or in an oak wood, also spelled Oakes.

Oaklyn is one of the oak-related names moving up the popularity charts, along with more popular sister Oakley and near-identical twin Oaklynn. The Oaklynn spelling used for three times as many baby girls as Oaklyn -- 1800 vs. 600.