What names come from birds?
Paloma and Raven name particular birds. Paloma means "dove" or "pigeon" in Spanish, while Raven uses the English name for a raven.
Explore the names below and follow any name to its full history.
Aya Hebrew · honey buzzard, a bird of prey, from Hebrew אַיָּה
Nok Thai · bird
Aarne Finnish · eagle; Finnish/Estonian form of Arne, from Old High German arn
Wren English · small bird
Aetius Latin, from Greek · From the Greek aetos, eagle; famously borne by Flavius Aetius, the Roman general who stopped Attila the Hun.
Raven English · from the bird
Talon English · word name, claw of a bird of prey
Cuauhtemoc Nahuatl · descending eagle; the name of the last Aztec emperor, used rarely but with pride as an Indigenous heritage name
Columbus Latin · Latin for dove; also the surname of explorer Christopher Columbus, widely honored around the 1893 Columbian Exposition
Dovie Modern American · A pet name from dove, connoting gentleness; common in Appalachian/Southern US naming from the late 1800s, sometimes short for Dorothea.
Wrenlee English · variant of Wrenley, an elaboration of Wren (the songbird) with the popular -ley suffix
Birdie English · vocabulary/pet name from 'bird'
Adaugo Igbo · first daughter of the eagle, a daughter who brings honor
Tzipora Hebrew · bird (tsippor); the wife of Moses, carried today from Jerusalem to Brooklyn
Arnold Germanic · eagle power
Faiga Yiddish · "bird", from Yiddish foigl; used as a Yiddish form of Tzipora, which has the same meaning in Hebrew
Doyel Bengali · the Oriental magpie-robin, a small black-and-white songbird and the national bird of Bangladesh
Loan Vietnamese · a mythical phoenix-like bird, the luan; unrelated to the English word it happens to resemble
Ardell Uncertain · sources disagree sharply, eagle valley, high valor, eager; likely a 20th century American coinage with no single verified root
Paloma Spanish · dove
Jemima English · dove; Job's beautiful daughter in Genesis
Jonah Hebrew · dove
Callum Scottish · dove
Peng Chinese · the great mythical roc bird (鵬)
Jay English · short form of J- names, or from the bird
Jonas Greek · dove (Greek New Testament form of the Hebrew Jonah, carried into French)
Rayven English · modern respelling of Raven, the black bird associated with mystery
Faigy Yiddish · Yiddish diminutive of Feige, traditionally 'bird'
Adler German · German/Yiddish surname meaning 'eagle'
Arnoldo Spanish · the Spanish and Italian form of Arnold, from Germanic arn, eagle, and wald, power, rule
Ava English · an English variant of Eve, linked to Hebrew words for "to breathe" or "to live"
Arnulfo Spanish · Spanish form of the Germanic Arnulf, combining arn, "eagle", and wulf, "wolf"
Avis Latin · traditionally 'bird', though some trace it to a Germanic name meaning 'refuge in war'
Ardis Uncertain · Genuinely disputed: proposed roots include Hebrew, blooming meadow, Latin ardere, to burn, and Old Norse Arndis, eagle goddess.
Arnaldo Portuguese · eagle power (Portuguese form of the German Arnold)
Sacagawea Shoshone or Hidatsa · Of disputed origin, Shoshone or Hidatsa, bird woman or boat launcher; famously borne by Sacagawea, who guided Lewis and Clark with her infant son on her back.
Yonas Amharic · Ethiopian form of Jonah, 'dove'
Calum Scottish · Scottish Gaelic form of Columba, meaning 'dove'
Which of these fits YOUR family? →