Gentle baby names

Handpicked for families who want names with roots: the beloved classics, what parents in the culture choose today, and the cool discoveries most US name sites never surface.

Amani peace, wishes, aspirations

Amaya night rain, in one common reading

Amity friendship, peaceful relations (from Old French amité)

Anwen very fair, blessed (an + gwen)

Blossom a cluster of flowers on a tree

Bodhi awakening, enlightenment; the tree under which the Buddha awakened

Briallen primrose

Cael slender

Calantha beautiful blossom (kalos + anthos)

Clemence mercy, mildness (from Latin clementia)

Eirlys snowdrop, the small pale winter flower

Elowen elm tree (Cornish)

Emrys immortal (from Latin Ambrosius); the boyhood name of Merlin

Enid of uncertain root, possibly "soul" or "woodlark"; the patient, gentle wife of Arthurian legend

Fenn marsh, fen, wetland

Gentry well-born, gentle (Middle English gentil, the same root as "gentle")

Halcyon the mythical kingfisher said to calm the winter seas while nesting, source of "halcyon days"

Haven a safe harbor, refuge

Irene peace

Ireneo peaceful (from Greek eirene, via Irenaeus)

Ives yew tree (Old French if)

Lenity gentleness, mildness (from Latin lenitas); a real word rarely used as a name

Linus possibly from linon, "flax"; a mythical musician of gentle, mournful song

Lior my light (li + or)

Liora my light (li + or)

Maren of the sea (Danish form of Marina)

Marlowe driftwood, remnants of a lake (Old English mere + lāf); Christopher Marlowe's surname

Meadow a field of grass and wildflowers

Meira light, to illuminate

Milo of debated root, most often glossed as "mild" though some tie it to "soldier" via Miles

Mireille to admire, to be wonderful (Provençal mirar), from Frédéric Mistral's pastoral poem Mirèio

Nerys lady (a modern Welsh coinage from arglwyddes)

Neve snow

Osian little fawn, deer (form of Oisín/Ossian)

Pacifica peace-making (from pax, "peace")

Placida calm, gentle, quiet (placidus); borne by the Roman empress Galla Placidia

Placido calm, serene (Latin placidus)

Quill a feather pen

Ren lotus, or love/affection, depending on the character used

Rosalie rose (diminutive of Rose)

Rune secret, mystery (the magical rune letters)

Sage wise (sapere); also the calming herb

Salem peace (Semitic root shalom/salaam); also the ancient name of Jerusalem

Selah a word from the Psalms, likely meaning "to pause, lift up, reflect"; exact meaning is debated among scholars but universally read as a moment of stillness

Selwyn commonly glossed as "blessed friend" (from Old English sele "hall" + wine "friend")

Seren star

Serenity calm, peaceful (from Latin serenitas)

Shalom peace

Suvi summer (Finnish)

Tacita silent (from tacere, "to be silent"); the Roman goddess of stillness

Tranquilla calm, tranquil (tranquillus)

Undine little wave (unda); a gentle water spirit in Renaissance folklore

Wren the small songbird

Wynn fair, blessed, white (gwyn)

Yolanda violet flower (via Old French Iolanthe)

Which of these fits YOUR family? →