Earthy/Nature Names

Spring doesn't sound half as contemporary as Winter, which has become the cool season name.

Spruce is a very rare tree name, given to only six baby boys last year....and no girls. But there's nothing traditionally gendered about this name, which can work just as well for baby girls.

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

Seems to stand at attention and salute.

Strong, but cold and soap opera-ish.

Hard and shiny, Steel projects an image that's smooth, macho...and cold to the touch.

This steely surname has a macho image that might feel more appropriate for a romance novel than a baby. But on the upside, it's also sleek and modern, familiar yet unusual, given to only around 100 boys per year in the US.

Though some may find such names rather harsh and severe, increasing numbers of parents are gravitating toward this kind of flinty, steely, stony single-syllable name.

The name of one of the most powerful Marvel superheroes — and the first major black female comic book heroine — is certainly a big one to live up to! Portrayed in the live-action X-Men movies first by Halle Berry and then by Alexandra Shipp, Storm is a mutant descended from a long line of African witch-priestesses, who can bend the weather and atmosphere to her will.

Windswept and dramatic, but perhaps asking for trouble. Quite popular in Denmark and Sweden, where it derives from Stromr, which is a fairly common surname. Storm Thorgerson is a famous bearer of the name - he designed iconic album covers for Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, the Cranberries, Anthrax, and Pink Floyd.

Stormy is on the rise following the birth of Kylie Jenner's daughter Stormi, although the starbaby's spelling has taken over the lead.

Another entry in the fruit name category, this one borne by writer Strawberry Saroyan, granddaughter of William, so named by her hippie parents. While fruit names may become more familiar, they'll never pass without comment -- but maybe that's what you're looking for.

The temperature is definitely rising for this popular seasonal name, which began being used in the seventies, and has been heard consistently ever since.

Upbeat nickname-name that can't help but make you smile. You might want to use it as a short form for a more "serious" name such as Sunniva, but Sunny is undeniably, well, sunny.

Sunshine was seen as a quintessential hippie name of the 70s, reaching as high as Number 536 in 1975. Now such names are making a bit of a retro comeback, seen, for example, as a character on Glee.

One of the many variations of Silvanus, the name of the Roman forest god, and a little-used member of the freshly stylish Sylv- family of names. Silvan is the sleek German and Dutch form. Given to less than 100 boys each year in the US, it's nevertheless in the Nameberry Top 500.

The musical, sylvan Sylvia seems poised to join former friends Frances and Beatrice and Dorothy back in the nursery.

We've had Apples, Plums, Peaches, Cherries, and Berries added to the fruit basket: you could be the first to pick a Tangerine.

Tempest is one of those names that could go either way. Cool, evocative modern word name? Or asking for trouble? Your call, but if you decide the former image is dominant, be warned that some people will see it as the latter.

One of the coolest of names, thanks to legendary jazz pianist Thelonious Sphere Monk, who inherited this Latin-sounding German name from his father. It has been used very sparingly since the 1960's, with just a sprinkling of baby boys receiving the name each year, though it's one of the unique baby names we predict will get much less unique as more parents embrace its quirky charms.