Wild Nature Names

This cosmological name has a zippy feel that might work well for the galactic parent looking for the perfect name for their own little star.

In the garden of herb names, Rosemary and Basil are perennials and Sage is a new upshoot, but Fennel is a real rarity. The aniseed-tasting plant, used to add flavor to dishes around the world, gets its name from the Latin word feniculum, meaning "little hay".

Nature names are often associated with Spring and Summer, but Glacier is ideal for a winter baby.

More unusual than Forest or Forrest, Field is a nature name that is simple, evocative, and fresh--sort of the male equivalent of Meadow.

Field and Fields are both relatively common surnames, noted bearers including department store owner Marshall Field, poet Eugene Field (Wynken, Blynken and Nod) and actress Sally. Those with the plural include W.C. Fields, cookie company founder Debbi, and entertainers Gracie and Kim Fields.

Soft and mellifluous nature-surname name, situated miles away from the dated Marshall.

This big cat name is especially striking with its X ending.

Grrrr.

A rarer-than-rare floral name with a sting in the tail!

This booming word name has been used every year since 1988, yet at most was given to 30 baby boys in a single year. But with names like Thunder, all it takes is one celebrity to bring it to the mainstream, and Usain Bolt could be the guy. He welcomed a son named Thunder (yes, Thunder Bolt) in 2021, twin to Saint Leo and brother to Olympia Lightning.

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.

Short, simple international names like this make distinctive middle name possibilities. Nir also makes for a nature-oriented first name that's both straightforward and unusual. But be prepared for a lifetime of "...and far" jokes.

This may be a bit quirky to make it as a name, especially in first place. If you love it, you might try it in the middle.

The bright yellow weed lends itself to a creative baby name, although we don't recommend the nickname Dandy.

This evocative name of a dramatic tropical Indian fig tree is ready to move west.

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

Wildflower may be the ultimate hippie name, added to the lexicon by Cameron Diaz and Benji Madden when they chose it as one of their daughter's middle names. It's generic in the way that Flora and River are, as opposed to Iris and Nile, say. But it has a certain free and creative charm.

Bamboo is a plant name that you might want to save for the zoo's name-the-panda contest. It was used for a starbaby in 2000, though, the rapper Big Boi.

Though some forward-looking parents are now choosing wood-related names like Oak, Pine, and Ash, this generic option would be even more avant garde.

Molten rock from volcanos, and now a red-hot baby name possibility.

There's a whole quarry of rocky names parents are now considering: Slate, Flint, etc. , but this one is particularly hard-edged and problematic.