My family [name_m]JUST[/name_m] moved from the mountains to the beach (as in five blocks from the ocean! whooo hooo!). I am 9 weeks pregnant, and since I will be gestating and birthing this baby so very close to the sea, I would like to give him/her a name (or middle name) fitting for this location. Ironically, my daughter’s middle name is [name_u]Murray[/name_u] (which means sea, and is a family name on her father’s side.) We love old fashioned meaningful names. Any help would be much appreciated!
This is a nice idea, especially considering your daughter already has the association of the Sea in her middle name. Lots of Hawaiian and Japanese names mean sea or ocean, but I don’t know how well most of them would work in other countries (not sure where you’re from, but I’m assuming [name_u]North[/name_u] [name_u]America[/name_u]). What is your daughter’s first name? A few ideas that came to mind:
[name_f]Marina[/name_f] - I know a sweet 20 something with this name.
[name_f]Pearl[/name_f] - [name_f]Pearl[/name_f] is a pretty old fashion name, and Pearls come from the ocean.
[name_f]Mai[/name_f] - means [name_u]Ocean[/name_u] in Chinese
Boys names are harder, the only one that comes to mind is [name_u]Reed[/name_u]. Parentsconnect.com is a good site for searching meanings…you can put in a word (Sea/ocean/ect) and it will bring up all the names that have that word in the meaning.
For a boy, you could use [name_u]Bay[/name_u] maybe? Or [name_u]Hudson[/name_u] or [name_m]Ronan[/name_m]? There’s a thread about [name_f]Marine[/name_f] theme names for boys. Nameberry - Welcome to the Nameberry Forums!!
Maybe [name_f]Marina[/name_f], [name_f]Pearl[/name_f], [name_f]Nerissa[/name_f], [name_f]Oceana[/name_f], [name_u]Shelly[/name_u] or [name_f]Tallulah[/name_f] for girls. For boys maybe [name_u]Beck[/name_u], [name_u]Ocean[/name_u], [name_u]Rio[/name_u] or [name_u]River[/name_u].
[name_m]Just[/name_m] “Sea” is actually rather lovely.
The [name_f]Moon[/name_f]'s “seas” are not very usable unfortunately, apart from maybe “[name_u]Seren[/name_u]” for Serentita.
Thank you, everyone. My daughter’s first name is [name_f]Elizabeth[/name_f], but she goes by [name_f]Eliza[/name_f] or [name_f]Lulu[/name_f] (the name we called her before she was born.) That rules out [name_f]Tallulah[/name_f], though I find it lovely. =) I am a big fan of [name_f]Pearl[/name_f], and also the idea of using Sea as a middle name. Boy’s names in general are difficult for my husband and I, as we want something meaningful, but something that will fit in with our family. I think I may start searching place names inmy area (creeks, inlets, harbors, ect.) and see if I can come up with anything. We are on the NC coast of [name_u]North[/name_u] [name_u]America[/name_u], and there is quite a pirate heritage here, as well as a history of blockade runners during the civil war. [name_f]One[/name_f] would think those histories would give up some good names!
I know some of these will be repeats, but I do like them…
[name_f]Pearl[/name_f] [first or middle]
[name_f]Marina[/name_f] [first]
[name_f]Oceana[/name_f] [first]
Sea [middle!]
I see that you are in NC on the coast, by your last post above-
so here are a few other options.
Girls:
[name_f]Emmaline[/name_f] or [name_f]Emerald[/name_f] nn [name_f]Emma[/name_f] [If you are close to [name_f]Emerald[/name_f] [name_f]Isle[/name_f]]
[name_f]Hattie[/name_f] [If you are close to Cape Hatteras]
Boys:
[name_m]Calvin[/name_m] for a boy, especially if he is bald- [name_m]Calvin[/name_m] means “bald” and there is the place [name_m]Bald[/name_m] Head Island.
[name_m]Holden[/name_m], after [name_m]Holden[/name_m] [name_m]Beach[/name_m].
[name_m]Bainbridge[/name_m]–lives near the bridge over the white water
[name_u]Brooklyn[/name_u]–water;stream
[name_m]Brooks[/name_m]–running water
[name_m]Cain[/name_m]–clear water
[name_u]Calder[/name_u]–rough waters
Carswell–lives at the watercress spring
Carthage
Cresswell
[name_f]Dalila[/name_f]–water bearer (female)
Edlen–[name_m]Noble[/name_m] waterfall (female)
[name_f]Eluned[/name_f]–a waterfall (female)
Fontaine–fountain
Fontana-- (female) fountain
[name_f]Gracelynn[/name_f]–Graceful as a waterfall(female)
[name_f]Kallan[/name_f]–flowing water(female)
[name_f]Kendra[/name_f]–water baby(female)
Lach–(pro. [name_m]Lock[/name_m]) lives near water
[name_m]Rodney[/name_m]–[name_m]Land[/name_m] near the water
[name_u]Wade[/name_u]–cross the water
[name_f]Coral[/name_f]
pearl
I hope some of these help you and they are less obvious and less common than other names that mean water.
[name_f]Coralie[/name_f]–variant of coral
[name_f]Coraline[/name_f]–from the semi-precious sea growth coral
[name_f]Cordelia[/name_f]–of the sea/jewel of the sea/daughter of the sea
[name_u]Dillon[/name_u]–born near the sea (could be unisex or male)
[name_m]Dorset[/name_m]–tribe near the sea
[name_m]Dover[/name_m]–water
[name_m]Hamish[/name_m]–(pro. Hay-mish)
[name_m]Havelock[/name_m]–sea sport
Hotham–a seal
[name_m]Irwin[/name_m]–sea lover
[name_f]Marella[/name_f]–(female) shining sea
Maridith–protector of the sea
[name_f]Marina[/name_f]–from the sea
[name_f]Marine[/name_f]–of the sea
[name_f]Maris[/name_f]–of the sea
Marisabel–of the sea
[name_m]Merrick[/name_m]–ruler of the sea
Morcan–Dwells near the sea
[name_f]Morgaine[/name_f]–(pro. Mor-gain)–bright sea
[name_u]Morgan[/name_u]–unisex–lives by the sea
[name_f]Morgana[/name_f]–dweller or the sea or seashore
[name_m]Murdock[/name_m]–prosperous seaman
Murphey–sea warrior
I’m not sure how obvious you want the association to be but my daughter is [name_u]Bay[/name_u] and people compliment her name all the time. I also love [name_f]Marina[/name_f] and then [name_m]Caspian[/name_m] for a boy (I have a thing for Russian names). Another idea, depending upon how uncommon you want the name to be, is to look at mythological names associated with water.
I think my husband came up with the PERFECT nautical middle name for a boy today - Mariner! I absolutely love it. Now to keep working on a girl. I like [name_f]Mara[/name_f] ( as in la mar) but he isnt a fan.
I recently met a woman named [name_f]Marin[/name_f] (Ma-[name_f]RIN[/name_f], accent on the last syllable, like [name_f]Marin[/name_f] County, [name_f]CA[/name_f]). I thought it was a lovely and unique name. It’s latin for “of the sea.”
[name_u]Bay[/name_u] is my favorite nature name and favorite choice for the middle for boy or girl. I like [name_f]Oceana[/name_f] for girls. (It is very popular in [name_f]France[/name_f] with the [name_m]French[/name_m] spelling – [name_f]Oceane[/name_f].)
I throw out there [name_u]Dune[/name_u] and [name_u]Harbor[/name_u].