Tropical baby names
When it comes to naming your baby you don’t have to be a hippy chick to give them a lyrical, sultry name – and where better to look for inspiration than the tropics? And if you’re expecting a honeymoon baby, conceived after you chilled out on the beach in Hawaii, so much the better!
Whether your baby is a boy or a girl, tropical islands make great baby names. They tend to be androgynous, so once you’ve narrowed down your list of names, if you like how one name in particular sounds you can use it whether you have a baby boy or a baby girl. And your child will grow up knowing they’re named after an exotic and peaceful place where the sun always shines and the crystal blue waters gently lap endless white beaches… hey, they may even get to visit the place they were named after one day!
Tropical names, such as those that originate in the dreamy Hawaiian islands, have a poetic beauty that just trips off the tongue – and if it’s true that babies grow up to fit the name mom and dad chose for them, well wouldn’t you love to see how your little girl blooms to fit Aolani, which means ‘heavenly cloud’, Leilani (‘heavenly flow’), Noelani (‘heavenly mist’), Keilani (‘graceful’) or Lana (‘calm as still waters’)?
What about naming your little boy Keanu, like movie star Keanu Reeves – it means ‘cool breeze over the mountains’… now that little boy must be guaranteed not to cry! Or you could take a chance and name him Makaha – but be warned: it means ‘fierce, ferocious and savage’! If calm and peaceful is more your style, what about Keilani (‘sea and sky’) or Kai (‘ocean’)?
Looking beyond Hawaiian names, how about taking your inspiration from islands in other climes? Consider Sable (an island off the coast of Nova Scotia), Fernandina (one of the Galapagos Islands), Martinique (an island in the Caribbean) or Winter (an antarctic island) for your baby girl; Ambrosio (for San Ambrosio, off Chile), Vicente (for Sao Vicente, one of the Cape Verde Islands) or Andres (for San Andres and island off Colombia). How about naming your child Fiji, one if the most beautiful Islands in the south Pacific!
Or, aside from names that link back to islands, Liana has a lovely tropical flavor – originally a French name, it means ‘to twine around’, and it’s the name of a tropical vine. Or stick with the sea and consider Nerissa or Nereida, sea nymphs of legend.
Above all, remember these do’s and don’ts…
Do…
- Write a list of names you like all the way through your pregnancy – being pregnant makes you forgetful!
- Remember to write the name you like down with your proposed middle name and surname. Always check the initials don’t spell something like ASS!
- Factor in your family name. If you have a long family name, a short first name might suit better and vice versa.
Don’t…
- Tell people what you plan to call your baby. That way you won’t have to hear their opinion on it, and always know they didn’t like the name (this especially goes for telling your parents!).
- Think you have sole right to a name. If someone you know calls their baby the name you’d chosen for yours, accept and move on. Unless you choose the strangest name you can come up with, they’re rarely exclusive.
- Let others change your opinion about a name if you really like it. It’s your child and this is one of the fun things you get to do yourself.
Still stuck? See our
baby namer for a database of thousands of names, and read
naming your baby and
the dangers of naming your child. And check out gurgle’s suggestions for
exotic baby names,
urban cool baby names and, if you’re expecting more than one,
baby names for twins.
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Last Modified: 02/12/2009
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