Blue and Green Names

A very popular girls' name in Japan with an unfortunate English pronunciation: picture a toddler with a hurt knee saying "owee."

When people talk about unique baby names, Apple is often one of the first examples they mention. Apple made international headlines when Gwyneth Paltrow chose this wholesome fruit name for her daughter. Many have called it ridiculous, but we have to admit, we find it appealing enough to list as one of our top cute baby names. Rocker Bob Geldof named one of his daughters Peaches; Banana Yoshimoto is a hipster writer. Another choice in this genre is the luscious Plum, though for different reasons, neither Prune nor Cherry will fly.

One of the new color names that is catching on, invoking a calm, blue-green-sea feeling.

Azure is a colorful gender-neutral choice, currently used equally for baby girls and boys in the US. It refers to a specific shade of blue seen in a cloudless sky. Elon Musk recently revealed Azure to be the name of his daughter with Shivon Zilis, twin sister to Strider. While X and Y didn't stand a chance at greater popularity, parents may be inspired to use the name Azure following this celebrity endorsement.

This international color name, close enough to the English to be easily understood in the US or other English-speaking countries, ranks among the top names for girls in Italy.

The middle name of the Travoltas' Ella, this French color alternative hasn't caught on with many other parents.

Blu is a new (nu?) spin on an increasingly popular color name, also spelled Blue and Bleu by celebrity parents. Blu is the spelling used for one of the (male) Waldrop quintuplets, but the name is gender neutral.

Among the coolest of the cool color names, particularly popular with celebs as a unisex middle name.

Like Cerulean, one of the new and unusual color names -- it's a soft grayish green -- suitable for a boy.

Chloe is a pretty springtime name symbolizing new growth. Though slightly off its peak in the Top 10 in 2010, Chloe still ranks in the Top 20 and is solidly a modern classic.

Antiseptic sounding.

Cyan is a highly unusual blue-green color name, a classmate of Celadon and Cerulean. It does come with the homey nickname Cy.