Names that mean bird
This list groups names by the literal gloss at the start of each meaning, not the cultural notes that follow. Closely related meanings are gathered under bird. Tap any name for its story, or grow a tree and see which of them belong in your family.
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 (Yiddish foigl); the vernacular sister of Tzipora
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 Latin · traditionally linked to avis, "bird," though its root is debated: medieval Avas may have carried a Germanic name or a form of Eve, "life." Borne by a ninth-century saint and by the first named woman poet in German, and reborn as a sleek modern favorite
Arnulfo Spanish · Spanish/Italian form of the Germanic Arnulf, from 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'
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