Arbor Day greetings! Nature is a wonderful source of baby name inspiration--trees are especially great. I've noticed more and more tree names on babies lately--has anyone else? Let me know your favorites in the comments (I'm rather partial to Birch).
Acacia- Acacia is a stunningly beautiful name. At only #2257, I'm surprised she isn't more popular.
Ash- Has Ash officially gone to the boys? I definitely prefer him for a son, but I'm not sure everyone agrees with me. If you do like him for a boy,
here's a list of full names.
Aspen- Nine times out of ten, people will first associate Aspen with the ski town. So if you want people to know you chose it for the nature connotations, I suggest having a nature (or even tree) themed sibset. I like Aspen, Linden, and Juniper.
Birch- Birch trees are some of my favorites, which might be why I love Birch as a name so much. It would be perfect for a middle name.
Cedar- Arguably the best part about nature names is that almost all of them are unisex. You can use the majority of these names on either a boy or girl, Cedar included.
Cypress- Cypress is the second of two place/tree names on this list. It is actually slightly more popular for girls, which surprised me. I thought it would lean boy because of the similarity to Cyrus.
Elm- Elmo may be off the table, but Elm makes a fantastic alternative. It also makes a great way to honor any Elmers in your life.
Hickory- I've never met a baby named Hickory. Or even heard of one, for that matter. However, it's not an uncommon
dog name, and if you've ever looked at pet name data, you know that pet name trends tend to be a step ahead of baby name trends. Does that convince you to use Hickory?
Juniper- Juniper is on fire. She has only been in the top 1000 three years, but has skyrocketed all the way up to #648. That's a 227 place jump from the year before. Who knows where she'll be at in the 2014 data. Top 400, maybe?
Linden- Gender-wise, Linden is very apathetic. It's currently 55% female and 45% male. Spelled Lyndon (like LBJ), it's 89% male. Linden is a nice substitute for the oh-so-popular London.
Magnolia- Magnolia trees are gorgeous around this time--they have the prettiest pink flowers. She's also a lovely name, and has a lot of
nickname options.
Maple- Maple and sound-alike sister Mabel are both on the rise here in the U.S. The former is much less trendy, at only #3284. Maple would make a great name for anyone's baby, but especially for syrup-lovers, Canadians, and tree-enthusiasts.
Oak- I never gave Oak much thought as a name until the beautiful
LaTonya Staubs gave it to her son (a brother to River!). His full name is Oak Tullier (too-YAY), which is a perfect combo.
Olive- Olive was on my list for a long long time, until I began hearing too much of her (what should that be called--name fatigue?). I still think she's a very sweet, but at #290, she may be at risk of losing her hipster charm and becoming mainstream.
Pine- Strong, concise names for boys are having a moment. If you're a fan of this trend (like me), put Pine on your list. He's unique, on-trend, and a nature name.
Willow- Could Willow break the top 100 this year? She's at #155, and still rising, so there's a chance. If you're looking for a cool nickname for Willow, I suggest
Loie or
Billie.
