Baby Names: Before picking yours, read this list of baby names with surprising meanings

“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” Or so said William Shakespeare.

Most parents begin to think about names for their progeny the moment the lines on the stick turn pink. They wrack their brains, searching for the lifelong label that will suit their sensibilities, imbue their child with the traits they want most for them and forecast to the world their very special and unique qualities...usually. But while some parents do the research and find their "moonlight", "princess" or "rainbow", other's might be surprised by the real meaning behind the names they finally chose to put on the birth certificate.

AIDEN	elf council
BUSTER	one who breaks things
BYRNE	decedent of brian (But your father's name is Herb)
BYRON	someone who lives near a bush
CALVIN	one who is bald
CAMERON	crooked nose
CHEYENNE	speaks incoherently
CHLOE	young shoot
CARTER	someone who uses a cart
CASSARAH	“Whatever…”
CHELSEA	a place for chalk
CLAY	someone who plays with clay
CLIVE	lives near a cliff
CORMAC	son of Defilement
DAN	he judged – judgemental
DARNELL	grass
DELMAR	from the pond
EMILY	elf army
ESAU	hairy
FARAJ (Arabic)	improvement (great name for a second child)
FARAJI (East African)	consolation
GISELLE	hostage
JAEL	mountain goat
JOSEPH	he will enlarge
KANYA (Thai)	girl
KYLIE	boomerang
LESLIE	holly garden
LINA	absorbed
MAITLAND	inhospitable
MARA	bitter
MARLOW	drained lake
MARTHA	mistress
MELISSA	honey bee
MIRANDA	she who must be admired
MOAB	of his father
MOE	bud, sprout
OREN	pine tree
PENELOPE	a type of duck
PORTIA	pig
RACHEL	ewe (not as in “yuck”, but a female sheep)
SPENCER	dispenser of provisions (has a future as a drug dealer)
TODD	fox
TRUMAN	trusty man
WALLACE	foreigner
ZALMON	shady

Other good stuff on baby names:

- Babble on Weird Baby names

- Baby's named a bad, bad thing

Showing the Latest of 1 Comment

jennchantal
3 yearss ago

I have an ex named Dan and he definitely was judgmental! One question, regardless of its meaning, who is naming their child Zalmon?!?

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Jennifer Brandt is the Managing Editor of Parents Ask, Momversation, and Good Bite. Jennifer lives in Los Angeles and is mom to a 3 year
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