For those who love water, naming a baby after a lake, stream, or river is a way to connect that child to a special place. Water is the element of change. It can be fast-moving like a dancing waterfall, or deep and still like a lake. Water is malleable, and it easily transforms from one state to another.
Why Choose a Water Name for a Baby?
Parents choose water names to connect their child to a particular geographic location, either one nearby, one that is special and remembered, or one in the geographic area that the family is from. Parents also choose water names because they are beautiful and give the child a name that reminds everyone of the natural world.
Water Names for Girls
There are many water names for girls, both common and uncommon. Place names can be used as a girl’s name: the name of a lake can become the name of a child. Names of particular types of water can also be names for girls: Ocean and River are popular names for both boys and girls. Parents can also choose from the following names for girls:
- Brooke: A brook
- Cari: Flowing like water
- Imma: One who pours water from a jug
- Lindsay: Linden trees near the water
- Lynn: Beautiful waterfall
- Maayan: Source of water
- Naida: Water nymph
- Niobe: Water flowing from a stone
- Nebraska: Flat and open water
- Talise: Lovely water
- Tallulah: Leaping water
Water Names for Boys
Water place names are often very masculine, and they make good names for boys. For example, Dover is an English seaport, and it is also a Welsh water name. Clyde is a masculine-sounding name, and it is a river in Scotland. Water animal names also make good names for boys. For example, the name fisk means fish. Those who are looking for more boys names that reflect and contain water imagery can consider the following names:
- Brook: A brook
- Calder: Rough water
- Caspian: The Caspian Sea
- Douglas: Flowing from the dark river
- Eaton: Village by the river
- Ford: River crossing
- Kaelin: Waterfall pool
- Kai: Sea
- Kelby: Place by the flowing water
- Merrick: Ruler of the sea
- Mortimer: Still water
- Murdoch: Protector of the sea
- Murray: Seaman
- Wade: Cross the water
- Wyatt: Water
Water names can be eclectic, unique, and beautiful. There are also a number of more traditional names that mean water: names like Murray, Wade, and Lindsay. Look for water names in other languages, too, but watch for the different connotations that these names bring. Enjoy the search – looking for a name for a new baby is great fun, and very meaningful!
Tricia Edgar - Tricia Edgar is a gardener, environmental educator, and science writer from the Pacific Northwest.
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