Nature Names for Girls

Nickname name hep in the era of Grease.

This name for the sweetbriar shrub is a bit too reminiscent of eggplant.

This sprightly Irish mythology name would make an attention-grabbing choice.

Amphitrite is a mysterious Greek mythological figure, most often cited as a sea goddess who was the wife of Poseidon. She was said to be the personification of the sea water itself and was said to be present at the birth of Apollo.

Lovely entry into the tree name genre, joining Juniper, Oak, and Willow.

Associated with the ancient Rosetta stone, this is also the pretty Italian pet form of Rosa.

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.

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.

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.

Jacinda, a form of the lovely and unusual Spanish and Portuguese flower name Jacinta (for Hyacinth), was first popularized by the Australian actress Jacinda Barrett. Today, the girls' name Jacinda is most notable as the name of New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern, one of the first world leaders to give birth in office, widely credited with her strong and compassionate leadership during the coronavirus pandemic.

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.

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.

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.

Given to around 25 girls in the US each year, this is a name that could go either way - summery and refreshing or just plain sour. You decide.

A rare, free-feeling flower name for the parent who wants to move far, far beyond Rose and Daisy. Named for German physician Friedrich Freese.

The Spanish and Portuguese word for "sea" is a Top 100 name in Spain. In America, it's sometimes used as a nickname for names like Martina and Marina, but it could also plausibly stand on its own.

Stormi is like Sunni, with angst. If naming your child Storm or Stormy is asking for trouble, naming her Stormi -- as Kylie Jenner and Travis Scott did -- is asking for trouble of several different kinds. But we're sure she'll be adorable and as celebrity baby names go, this one is nearly normal.

Derya is a unisex name in its native Turkey, though even there it is far more popular for women than for men. It is related to the Persian name Daria, which also means sea.

A plausible color name, it was chosen by the singer Sting as a middle name for his daughter, after a character in the Gormenghast fantasy trilogy, of which he's a big fan.