July Names

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

Name for a seventh child, back when people had them.

With the tide coming in on a new wave of word names, this one just might catch on, especially for parents who relish sun, sand, and surf. Forest lovers can spell it Beech, like the tree.

The name of one of the branches of the Great Sioux Nation has a very namelike sound, but is not used as a name by the Lakota people themselves, and could be seen as appropriative.

This Biblical bird name, a variant of Ephron, suddenly feels like it could be usable thanks to actor Zac Efron. However, in reality, few if any parents seem to be using it yet.

The Shawnee were an Eastern tribe that migrated westward; Shawnee makes an unusual name, if a little dated a la Shawn and Tawnee.

An African family name ripe for adoption in honor of Nelson Mandela, the South African activist imprisoned for almost thirty years for his antiapartheid activities.

Cool, cruising choice for either sex.

A presidential and place-name that's not a stand-out in either category.

This fairly obscure saint's name was chosen by Oscar-winning actress Marcia Gay Harden for one of her twins.

Has an evocative feel, unusual to the Western ear without being identified with any particular culture.

Not one of the five hundred names of Muhammad, but that of his uncle.

A unique natural-wonder option, conjuring up the beauty of the lake between California and Nevada that has become a popular tourist destination.

Cherokee is the name of a Native American tribe, the largest in the United States stretching from North Carolina through Oklahoma. The meaning of the word Cherokee is uncertain: It may be Choctaw for "those who live in the mountains" or "those who live in the cave country" or it may be an Anglicization of the word the Cherokee use to refer to themselves, Tsalagi. The name was given to 19 baby girls in the U.S. in 2013 but was not recorded on the boys' roster, though we'd consider it a gender neutral name.

The short form Shira is more manageable.