Romantic names
Every name here is tangled up with love itself, drawn from legendary couples, words for the heart, or names that simply sound like a sigh: Amara, Valentina, Romeo, Juliet. A collection for parents who want their child's name to carry a little swoon.
Amara grace; also echoes Latin amare "to love"; a name that sounds like romance itself
Esmé esteemed, loved (from Old French aimé); literally means beloved
Juliet form of Julia/Giulietta; Shakespeare's archetypal star-crossed lover
Isolde uncertain, possibly "ice ruler"; the legendary tragic lover of Tristan
Valentina strong, healthy (from valens); feminine form tied to St. Valentine, patron of lovers
Guinevere white enchantress, fair one; the Arthurian queen whose love triangle defines romantic legend
Venus love, desire; the Roman goddess of love and beauty
Beatrice she who blesses, brings happiness; Dante's eternal beloved and guide through paradise
Rosalind gentle horse, reinterpreted as "pretty rose"; Shakespeare's cross-dressing heroine in a romantic comedy
Seraphina fiery ones, from the seraphim; a lyrical, ethereal sound often read as romantic
Adeline noble, diminutive of Adelaide; softened into pure romance by the song "Sweet Adeline"
Ginevra white wave, fair one; the Italian form of Guinevere, carrying the same Arthurian romance
Cher dear, beloved
Rosamund horse protection, popularly reinterpreted as rosa mundi, "rose of the world"; the medieval legend of Fair Rosamund
Amadea love of God; feminine form of Amadeus, a literal love-name
Amanda worthy of love, lovable (gerundive of amare)
Mavis the song thrush (Old French mauvis); first used as a given name by Marie Corelli in 1895
Dulcinea sweet one; Cervantes's idealized, unattainable beloved in Don Quixote
Cara dear one, beloved (Italian); also "friend" in Irish
Estelle star; a lyrical, romantic sound tied to the doomed love interest in Great Expectations
Lorelei the legendary Rhine siren whose enchanting song lured sailors to their doom for love
Desiree desired, from Latin desiderare
Aurelia golden (aureus); a warm, lyrical name with a gilded, romantic glow
Elaine form of Helen, "shining light"; the Lily Maid of Astolat who dies of unrequited love for Lancelot
Francesca Italian feminine form of Francis ("Frenchman"); Dante's tragic, adulterous lover Francesca da Rimini, an eternal romantic tragedy
Calla beautiful (kalos); named for the calla lily, an elegant, romantic flower
Amie beloved friend
Cherie dear one, darling
Lovisa famous warrior, Swedish form of Louisa; a name whose sound reads as pure love despite its battle root
Amoret personification of married love in Spenser's The Faerie Queene
Romeo pilgrim to Rome; Shakespeare's archetypal doomed romantic hero
Leandro lion-man; the mythic hero who swam the Hellespont nightly to reach his love Hero
Tristan possibly "tumult, sad" (Pictish Drustan, reshaped by French triste); the legendary tragic lover of Isolde
Aurelio golden (aureus); a warm, lyrical, gilded name
Valentino strong, healthy; masculine form tied directly to St. Valentine
Adonis the mortal youth of extraordinary beauty loved by Aphrodite
Amadeus love of God
Cyrano of Cyrene; the eloquent poet-swordsman who wooed Roxane through love letters
Dante enduring; the poet whose Divine Comedy is history's grandest ode to a beloved
Heathcliff surname-style, "heath cliff"; Wuthering Heights' tempestuous, obsessive lover
Lysander liberator, releaser of men; the romantic lead of A Midsummer Night's Dream
Orlando form of Roland, "famous land"; Ariosto's knight driven mad by love in Orlando Furioso
Rhett ardent, fiery; Gone with the Wind's smoldering romantic hero
Endymion the beautiful shepherd loved eternally by the moon goddess Selene
Paris the Trojan prince whose abduction of Helen sparked myth's most famous illicit romance
Valentin strong, healthy; form of Valentine, the patron saint of lovers
Byron surname-style, "at the cattle sheds"; famously borne by Lord Byron, the archetypal passionate Romantic poet
Percy surname-style, from Old French; famously borne by Percy Bysshe Shelley, Romantic poet of love and longing
Dorian relating to Doris/the Dorians; forever tied to Oscar Wilde's beautiful, seductive Dorian Gray
Marius possibly "of Mars" or "manly"; Les Misérables' idealistic young lover
Fitzwilliam surname-style, "son of William"; Mr. Darcy's given name in Pride and Prejudice
Aramis literary; the elegant, romantic musketeer of Dumas's Three Musketeers
Rochester surname-style, "rocky fortress"; Mr. Rochester, Jane Eyre's brooding love interest
Léon lion; the French form of Leo/Leon, softened by Léon's tender, unlikely on-screen romance
Amory love-power, love-ruler; a name genuinely rooted in the Old French/Germanic "love" element
Sasha diminutive of Alexander/Alexandra, "defender"; carries the warmth of a Russian term of endearment
Which of these fits YOUR family? →