Ocean and River Inspired Baby Names

Unlike its somewhat formal Swiss city namesake, this is a lively and appealing place-name that also has a real history as a female name.

Guinevere was the name of the beautiful but ill-fated queen of Camelot, for so many years eclipsed by its modern Cornish form Jennifer. Today, Guinevere could be a cool possibility for adventurous parents intrigued by this richly evocative and romantic choice.

If you like names that are not really names -- some say, the wave of the future -- Harbor has an attractive sound as well as an appealing meaning and image.

Haven is a recently invented safe-harbor name that appeals to an increasing number of parents who don't want to voyage quite as far as Heaven.

Hudson has risen quickly up the charts over the past 30 years, getting a lot of its style value from New York's Hudson River. That makes it a nature name and a place name that's also got the fashion gloss of New York City.

Hurley is a possibility as a unisex surname-name ending with the "lee" sound. It is perhaps most associated with British actress Elizabeth Hurley, and is much rarer than Harley, because the "ur" sound is currently out of fashion (and the word "hurl" may put some off).

Indigo is one of the most appealing and evocative of the new generation of color names. Color names have joined flower and jewel names -- in a big way -- and Indigo, a deep blue-purple dye from plants native to India, is particularly striking for both girls and boys. Indigo is the name of a character in the Ntozake Shange novel Sassafrass, Cypress & Indigo, and was used for his daughter by Lou Diamond Phillips.

In the ancient Hindu religion, Indra is the warrior god of sky and rain, though in modern America, this might make a better girls' than boys' name. You can spell it Indre, like the French river, if you prefer.

Kai is an internationally flexible name with many possible origins and meanings, growing in popularity in the US and a diverse range of European countries.

Lachlan is as Scottish as haggis and tartan plaid kilts—a favorite used throughout England, Scotland, Australia, and New Zealand—and just beginning to be noticed in the US: it reached the Top 1000 for the first time in 2013. An ancient name, Lachlan was originally used to describe the Viking invaders of Scotland, those from the land of the lochs.

Not quite a nature name and not quite a surname — whatever Laken is or isn't, we know it's definitely a name to watch.

Lincoln cracked the Top 50 for boys' names for the first time in 2016, more than 150 years after the death of its most famous bearer. This is especially remarkable because, as crazy as it seems now, Lincoln was deeply out of fashion as recently as the late 90s, consistently hovering near the bottom of the Top 1000.

The lovely sound and image of the French river and lush valley would make this a most distinctive and captivating choice. Pronunciation: low-ahr.

The lovely Lorelei, a name from old German legend, was a beautiful Rhine River seductress whose haunting voice led sailors to hazardous rocks that would cause them to be shipwrecked. And this siren image clung to the name for ages.

This pretty sea-born name was used to dramatic effect by Shakespeare in his play Pericles for the virtuous princess who says she is "Call'd Marina, for I was born at sea."

Marisol is a favorite Spanish name for girls, and an excellent candidate to cross the culture line, a la Soledad and Paz.