Lashley suggests the next installment in our Favorites collection could be favorite noun names. As with all our favorites categories so far, as soon as I start to make a list, I realize the problems: in this case, there could be so much cross-over with occupation names, place names, nature names, virtue names, etc. And as with all our favorites categories so far, I suggest that we rise right above it, floating gracefully as if we’ve never fretted a day in our lives: Do we think of it as a noun name? Can we put “a” or “an” in front of it and have something that makes sense (a rose, an archer)? Then we will put it down on the list.
And we don’t need to worry about making sure our list accurately represents our actual top favorites: mention some that come to your mind as ones you like (for your own babies or for other people’s), and you can always come back later if you think of others. And we’re not worried about duplicates; in fact, we WELCOME duplicates, since they can show how well-liked a name is. Our goal is to make a nice list together, a list that someone can browse through it for ideas and inspiration.
Here is my own off-the-cuff, not-spending-hours-researching-it-to-make-sure-I-considered-every-possible-name, casual, fret-free, just-SOME-of-my-favorites list of noun names:
Archer
August
Clarity
Clover
Emerald
Epiphany
Fern
Forest
Haven
Hope
Ivy
Joy
June
Marigold
Merit
Minuet
Rose
Starling
Joy
June
Mae/May
Daisy
Grace
Rose
Violet
Jessamine
Saffron
Jasmine/Yasmine
Kiln
Lark
Wren
March
Merit
Archer
Rose
Violet
Harper
Mason
May
Eve
My husband and I love noun names so I’m excited to see all the comments. We have a three year old Archer and our next baby, due in a few weeks, will be N0ble 0ak if it is a boy and Era (as in, a period of time, I’m a geologist) if it is a girl. I also love
Lavender
Hazel
Linden
Aven (a flower)
River
Fern
I know this post is old, but I just discovered it. I hope you named a daughter Era – it’s my great-grandmother and aunt’s name, and I love it!
GIRLS BOYS
Willow Cooper
Fern Fox
Pearl Hunter
Ruby Forrest
Eve Reed
Felicity Grey
Grace Griffin
Noelle Parker
Iris Chase
Wren Griffin
Summer Scout
Rose Gage
Olive
Rose
August
Juniper
Oleander
Lavender
Sky
Grace
Felicity
Lily- my girl’s name
Wrenn
Forest
Opal
Violet
Virginia
Ginger
Sterling
I am partial to Grace.
My kids are River and Rose.
I also like
Wren
Holland/Holly
Bay
Reed
Ivy
Sky
Foster
Fox
Hawthorne
Hawk
Whistler
Wilder
West
Hunter
Gray
Griffin
Noble
Earl
Bishop
Duke
Beau
Wolf
Wren
Birdie
Amity
Fleur
Daisy
Blossom
Bloom
Summer
Lilac
Scout
Ivy
Fable
Maple
Bee
Melody
Honor
Arbor
Bow(ie)
Flora
Olive
Echo
Spring
Lavender
Lilac
Zinnia
Acacia
Lark
Patience
Aurora
Bear
Birch
Archer
Fletcher
Noble
Rose
Verity
Iris
Wren
Lily
Kestrel
Violet
Mercy
Lark
Juniper
Ivy
Aurora
Dahlia
Story
Aria
August
Slate
West
Sterling
Drake
Blaze
Hawk
Ash
Linden
Basil
I love Grace! I’ve taken recently to calling my youngest Kat and Jay short for Katharine and James. I guess those would be noun-nicknames =)
Great topic! Here are some that I love:
Ash
August
Autumn
Basil
Birch
Cat
Felicity
Forest
Grace
Ivy
Juniper
Linden
Magnolia
Marigold
Olive
Phoebe
Plum
River
Violet
Willow
Winter
Wren
girls:
Juniper
Willow
Rose
Pearl
Virginia
Iris
Violet
Stella
Luna
Laurel
Verity
boys:
Sterling
River
Lachlan
August
Griffin
Cole
Archer
Fletcher
Reed
Cadence
Juniper
Holland
Dakota
Sydney
Brooklyn
Rain
Brooke
Lavender
Sage
Lily
Cameo
Calico
Jewel
Amethyst
Emerald
Ruby
Sapphire
Apple
Joy
Mercy
Faith
Felicity
Hope
Patience
Fidelia
Remember
Wren
Magnolia
Orchid
Orchard
Violet
Rose
Lilac
Lily
Lavender
Iris
Isla
Dawn
Those are all the ones I can remember right now, but I love word names!
West
Grey
Lily
Mercy
Grace
Patience
Sterling
I’m betting half these will be repeats, but oh well hehe. Go noun names!
Wren
Lark
Brooke
Ivy
Fern
Jade
Pearl
Noel
Carol
Snow
Jewel
Silver
Bow
Violet
Magnolia
Poppy
Primrose
Trillium
Iris
Daisy
Tulip
Star
Willow
Marina (it counts right?)
Coral
Blossom
Verity
Felicity
Kale
Winter
Reed
Fox
Sage
Hunter
Sawyer
Bridger
Ash
Elm
Forest
Moor
River
Fielding (maybe? can it count?)
Archer
Turner
Amethyst
Aurora
Pepper
Poppy
Plum
Sonnet
Sterling
Archer
Axel
Fox
Grey
Wolf
Fletcher
Miller
Baker
Ford
River
Cash
Case
Dane
Holland
Cooper
Liberty
Honor
Haven
Merit
Wake
True
Wade
Finch
Eden
GIRL:
Lily
Scarlett
Autumn
Felicity
Verity
Hope
Palisade
Melody
Aria
Ivory
Emerald
Ebony
Aurora
BOY:
Phoenix
Winter
Verdi (I always think of this as “green” in Spanish…)
Forrest
August
Granite
Fox
favorite boy noun names:
Archer
Sawyer
Grant
Ford
Camber (have never actually seen this as a name, but I think it could work nicely)
Fletcher (could be a fun brother name for Archer? ha)
favorite girl noun names:
Arbor (same note as for Camber)
Verity
Harper
Hero (it’s Shakespearean!)
Honor
Magnolia
My all time favorite noun names-
Reverie
Grace
Grant (my son’s middle name)
Nova
Brooke
Paige
Autumn
Story (LOVE this, wish I had the bals to use it)
Lyric
Fable
Peace
Felicity
Linden
Fern
Pearl
Fawn
Boston
Will
Homer
Robin
Buddy
June
Rose
Rosemary
Hope
May
Ivy
Fern
Pearl
Ruby
Olive
Hazel
Grace
Plum
Poppy
August
Fox
Fletcher
Deacon
Mine are:
August
Cedar
Forest
Archer
Violet
Hazel
Fern
Haven
Plum
story/storey!!!
i actually have one;)
Love this category!
Girls:
Aster
Azelea
Acacia
Charis/Carys
Cadence
Ember
Fleur
Garnet
Honor
Haven
Hazel
Holly
Harmony
Hope
Juniper
Joy
Kindle
Linden
Mercy
Pearl
Rose
Rue
True
Violet
Wren
Boys:
Archer
Arden
Adler
Brogan
Carter
Calder
Forrest
Frasier
Griffin
Heath
Hudson
Jasper
Lachlan
Noble
Piper
River
Rowan
Revere
Sawyer
Valor
Walker
Wilder
I’ve included a bunch of proper nouns.
Reed
Orion
Garnet
Griffith
Reeve
Roman
Sawyer
Caspian
Spence
Stirling
Tate
Fletcher
Robin
Eden
Eve
Paisley
Alexandria
Scarlet
Calla
Geneva
Girls: Iris, Haven, Ivy, June
Boys: Archer, March
My husband likes (for boys): Remington, Colt, Hunter. (You can tell where is mind is.)
Carol
Ruby
Florence
Juniper
Lark
June
Violet
Flora
Pearl
August
Linden
Love this!
True
Stor(e)y
Will
August
Atlas
Calliope
October
November
May
Paz
Sol
Luz
Valentin(e)
Grayer
Gray/Grey
Honor
Sunny
Felicity
Bonnie
Scout
Kit
Romeo (ahem…)
September
Fin(n)
Pen(n)
Bell(e)
Poppy
Nova
First I made my list, then I crossed out the ones already posted. I was amazed and surprised by how many I like that others had already listed.
The ones left:
Season
Bell
Moraine
Terra
Blaze
Are(e)na
Vita/Vida
Say
Lianet
Peregrine
Elan
Bo(w)
Santiago (proper)
I only really have 2:
Robin
April
Navy, I LOVE Navy.
I have a cousin with three girls: Pepper, Story and Verity. I think they are incredible baby-namers!!
I wouldn’t have thought to put my own daughter’s name (June) on the list until I saw it on yours because I was thinking of concrete things you can see. But obviously it is one of my favorites.
In the nature/color subcategory I like:
Clementine
Hazel
Iris
Ivy
Phoebe
Rosemary
Violet
Willow
Basil
Grey
Reed
Timothy
I also like Felicity, Joy, August, and Taylor.
Oh, two more: Ruby and Rowan
Story
Phoebe
Scarlett – I have one
Sterling/starling
Will
Arrow
Heath
Bow
Miller
Meadow
Willow
Clover
Sage
Magnolia
Hyacinth
Marigold
Jade
Amber
Crystal
Verity
Felicity
Summer
Paige
Autumn
Winter
Spring
Juniper
Aspen
Paisley :-)
Rose
Calla
Blossom
Sunshine
Brook
Azalea
Zinnia
River
Phoenix
Lark
Pearl
Fern
I wonder if we Gen Xers like noun names because they were popular in our generation too? For example:
Jenny
Amber
Heather
Crystal
Dawn
Holly
Robin
Brandy
Sherry
Joy
Angel
Brooke
Misty
If my brother had been a girl his name would have been Crystal. Now my mom cringes at the thought.
From the names that are fresh now, I like gem names and flower names the best. Although I would never use a western place name myself, I find I like them on other people’s boys.
Favorite noun names I can think of right now:
Boys:
Reed
Peru
Crane
Girls:
Snow
Fern
Mercy
Zinnia
I forgot 3 I adore!
Verity
Vera
Viola
Wren
Rowan
Robin
Lark
Zinnia
River
Sky
Ace
Ash
Chip
Clay
Cobalt
Colt
Drake
Gale
Jack
Jay
Jet
King
Link
Ray
Reed
Rider
Robin
Tiger
Acacia
Aura
Azalea
Carol
Clover
Crystal
Ember
Fern
Gazelle
Holly
Ivy
Juniper
Rain
Raven
Robin
Rose
Late to the party but I wanted to add my names. A lot of these would make cute middle names. I tend to favour sensible first names paired with a playful middle name.
Hazel
Aurora
Bee
Teal
Magnolia
Juniper
Iris
Tansy
Rue
Wren
Io
Joy
Lux
Calla
Primrose
Navy
Clover
Griffin
Pepper
Jasper
Fox
Reed
Red
Win
Dash
Didn’t realise that most of my favourite names are nouns! I never picked up on my own trend! Ha! Here are some of my favorites
Girls
Daisy
Ocean
Juniper
June
Pepper
Adelaide
Clover
Hazel
Holly
Ash
Skye
Pearl
Clementine
April
Bow
Blue
Piper
Aster
Fable
Harbour
Melody
Laurel
Olive
Boy
Griffin
Zephyr
Tiger
Asher
Blaise
Sandy
Atlas
Tate
Roman
Orion
Oleander
Ace
Acer
August
Echo
Whistler
Fletcher
Santiago
Hunter
Archer
So many to chose from!
BOYS:
Saint
Sailor
Jett
River
Poet
Lyric
Lake
Romeo
Roman
Kairo (Cairo)
Cash
King (Kingston)
Preston
Princeton (Prince)
Duke
Leo