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