Beach Baby Names Have Summer Spirit
Beach baby names take their inspiration from sand and sea, from natural features and nautical creatures.
Beach names can honor a special place, or celebrate your love of the ocean. They include a wide range of styles, from names that mean ocean, to modern word names, to gods and goddesses of the waters. We’ve picked some of the best, both familiar and less so, and there are even more in even more in our list of the best beach names.
Whether you’re down at the seashore now or just dreaming of the waves, enjoy these fresh and wild summer names for a beach baby.
Names meaning sea and ocean
The ocean is an almost-universal concept, so there’s a rich collection of names with a sea meaning from all around the world. These are some of our favorites.
Darya — The popularity of Arya could help to boost this Persian name.
Delmar — A great-grandpa name that would make a charming revival now.
Hali — Pronounced like Halle, but with extra seaworthy meaning.
Iluka — A distinctive Australian place name.
Kai — This international hit is among the coolest names right now, and is also part of longer names like Kairi and Kailani.
Manami — One possible meaning of this Japanese name is “love” + “ocean."
Maren — Of the many marine names, Maren is one of the sleekest and freshest.
Mira — A multicultural name with nautical meaning in Indian languages.
Moana — The Disney movie brought this Polynesian name to a wider audience.
Murphy — Pleasingly unfrilly, almost exactly unisex, and the most common surname in Ireland.
Oceane — A French classic that deserves more love from English speakers.
Pelagia — This Greek name belongs to an Orthodox saint, or you may recognise it from Captain Corelli’s Mandolin.
Seaton — An English place name with a similar-yet-different sound to Sutton.
Wave names
The names below all have “wave” in their meaning, and it’s interesting to note that several of them are highly multicultural, with roots in several languages. We can’t help but mention Waverley and Ripley too, for their watery sounds.
Alda (Icelandic)
Bo (Mandarin)
Gal (Hebrew)
Malik (Greenlandic)
Naia (Basque)
Ondine (French)
Rafferty (Irish)
Natural features
Word names from nature are a big trend at the moment, and this list includes both popular and almost-unused names. If these aren’t quite your style as first names, they also make stunning middles paired with more traditional firsts, like Zoe Kazan and Paul Dano’s daughter Alma Bay.
Bay
Beach
Cove
Dune
Firth
Haven
Laguna
Reef
Sandy
Shore
Weather names
If your perfect beach weather is sunny with a gentle sea breeze, these names capture the mood.
Brisa — Spanish for “breeze”, and a lovely alternative to popular names like Bree and Brielle.
Meltem — A Turkish name meaning the northern winds off the Aegean sea.
Ravi — A popular Indian name, Ravi means the sun or the Hindu sun god.
Soleil — Meaning “sun” in French, Soleil Moon Frye helped to put this name on the map.
Sunny — A cheerful nickname that’s steadily popular for girls and boys.
Zephyr — The Greek name for the west wind.
Sea gods and goddesses
These mythological names and those from ancient religions still resonate, reminding us of the ocean’s power and mystery.
Ahti — Finnish god of the waters.
Anahita — An Iranian water goddess, and the older form of Anaïs.
Doris — A Greek sea goddess name that was one of the hugely popular names of the 1920s.
Dylan — In Welsh legend, a boy who swam off to sea almost as soon as he was born.
Netuno — This Brazilian version of Neptune has an extra cool edge.
Niamh — A daughter of the god of the sea, in Irish legend.
Sedna — The Inuit goddess of the sea and sea creatures.
Triton — Another Greek god, the ruler of the depths of the sea.
Flora and fauna
These names celebrate the rich habitats of the sea and the shore.
Concha — Spanish for “shell”, but also short for the Marian name Concepción.
Coral — A beautiful, delicate life form, and a name that fits in with current favorites like Cora and Opal.
Delphine — French for “dolphin”, and we also love the Spanish version Delfina.
Mako — A species of shark found worldwide, from a Māori word for “shark”.
Nori — The Japanese name for edible seaweed (as found on sushi rolls), although it’s as North West’s nickname that this name has really taken off.
Pearl — A vintage jewel name that’s on the brink of a comeback.
Ronan — This Irish name, meaning “little seal”, is red-hot in the US right now.
Sereia — Portuguese for “mermaid”…because they’re sea creatures too, right?
Beach names off the map
Most of us have our favorite beaches, but these are some famous ones that make cool names.
Bronte — This beach suburb of Sydney was named after Lord Nelson, who was titled the Duke of Bronté. The name originally means “The Thunderer”.
Diani — A popular beach in Kenya. Between Dion and Diana, it certainly sounds like a name, and has occasionally been used.
Dover — Under the iconic white cliffs, Dover beach is one of the closest points in England to France.
Ora — One of the most notable beaches in Indonesia.
Venice — A lesser-used place name, and a beach neighborhood in Los Angeles.
Zuma — Another LA beach, used by Gwen Stefani for her son. The beach name is thought to come from the surname of missionary Francisco Dumetz.
Beachy occupations
Yes, you can find cool occupational names everywhere, even at the beach!
Fisher — A still-underused surname with both literal and spiritual meaning.
Mariner — A modern-sounding update to names like Maren and Marino, and a rare alternative to…
Sailor — As the popularity of Taylor wanes, fresh and jaunty Sailor has risen for both sexes, but especially girls.