🐞 creatures & critters

Name Advice
1

For the previous installments of this series:
Fantastic Flora
Glittering Gems & Colours
Mesmerising Merfolk

I will be linking any similar posts I make in the future, and they will be under one collective.

I am back for yet another comprehensive list of names pertaining to a particular topic. For the fourth segment in my series, we will be exploring Charming Creatures.

Please note that I will be leaving out popular names, or atleast names that are well-known on the forums, such as Arthur or Wolf. I am going to keep the format simple and not go deep into detail. For now, here’s a look at some of the names I’ve gathered:

  • Aderyn - F - “bird”

Cornish in origin

  • Ainara - F - “swallow”

Basque in origin.

  • Alcyone - F - “kingfisher”

Greek in origin. In mythology, Alcyone was Ceyx’s wife, but the happy couple infuriated the gods by referring to one another as Zeus and Hera. Alcyone threw herself into the water when Ceyx’s ship sank, but the gods turned the lovers into halcyon birds, also known as kingfishers, out of compassion for their sorrows.

  • Alouette - F - “lark”

French in origin.

  • Antinanco - M - “eagle of the sun”

Mapuche in origin.

  • Aponi - F - “butterfly”

Native American in origin.

  • Arachne - F - “spider”

Greek in origin. In mythology, Arachne was a weaver who boasted that her skills were greater than that of the goddess Athena. Enraged, she turned her into a spider.

  • Awinita - F - “fawn”

Cherokee in origin.

  • Beowulf - M - “bee-wolf”

Old English in origin.

  • Branwen - F - “blessed raven”

Welsh in origin.

  • Calandra - F - “lark”

Greek in origin.

  • Cardinal - M - “principal”

Name of bird from the genus Cardinalidae.

  • Circe - F - “bird”

Greek in origin. Sorceress living on the island of Aeaea. In one of the myths, she turns Picus, a Latvian king, into a woodpecker for rejecting her.

  • Csongor - M - “falcon”

Hungarian from Turkish.

  • Cordero - M - “lamb”

Spanish in origin.

  • Cormorant - M - “sea raven”

From the genus Phalacrocoracidae.

  • Corvina - F - “like a raven”

Latin in origin. Male form is Corvus.

  • Coyote - M - “jackal”

Species of canine.

  • Culver - M - “dove”

English variation of Columba.

  • Delphine - F - “dolphin”

I haven’t been able to find any sources that relate the origin to the meaning, but it is what I have heard on many forums to be associated with dolphins.

  • Dustu - M - “spring frog”

Cherokee in origin.

  • Dyani - F - “deer”

Native American in origin.

  • Dyveke - F - “dove”

Frisian in origin.

  • Fauna - F - “young deer”

Roman in origin. She is the Roman goddess of the earth.

  • Fennec - M - “fox”

Arabic in origin.

  • Fenrir - M - “fen-dweller”

Norse in origin. Name of a monstrous wolf in Norse legend, who kills the god Odin and is then killed himself by one of Odin’s sons.

  • Fiachra - M - “crow; raven”

Irish in origin. Fiachra was one of the four children of Lir who were turned into swans for 900 years. St Fiachra is the patron saint of gardeners.

  • Finch - M - “songbird”

Variations include Rosefinch, Goldfinch & Greenfinch.

  • Firefly - M - “nocturnal beetle”

From the Lampyridae family.

  • Hotaru - U - “firefly”

Japanese in origin.

  • Iqaluk - U - “fish”

Inuktikut in origin.

  • Isi - U - “deer”

Choctaw in origin.

  • Ivaylo - M - “wolf”

Bulgarian in origin.

  • Kanuna - M - “bullfrog”

Cherokee in origin.

  • Kestrel - U - “bird”

English in origin. Bird of prey from the genus Falco.

  • Linnet - F - “flaxen haired”

French in origin. Small passerine bird of the finch family, Fringillidae

  • LĂŠrke - F - “lark”

Danish in origin.

  • Lonan - M - “blackbird”

Irish in origin.

  • Lynx - M - “caracal”

From the wild cat genus Lynx: Canada lynx, Eurasian lynx, Iberian lynx and bobcat.

  • Mariposa - F - “butterfly”

Spanish in origin.

  • Merle - M - “blackbird”

French in origin.

  • Minnow - U - “small fish”

A species of freshwater fish.

  • Newt - M - small salamander"

English in origin. Associated with Newt Scamander. Full name could be Newton.

  • Odile - F - “prospers in battle”

Odile is the black swan maiden and the secondary antagonist in Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake. Her opposite is Odette, the white swan maiden.

  • Otter - U - “weasel”

In the family Lutrinae.

  • Ozuru - M - “big stork”

Japanese in origin.

  • Paco - M - “eagle”

Spanish in origin. Associated with designer Paco Rabanne.

  • Pakuna - F - “deer jumping as she runs downhill”

Native American/Miwok in origin.

  • Palila - F - “a bird”

Hawaiian in origin.

  • Parastoo - F - “swallow”

Persian/Iranian in origin.

  • Peregrine - M - “pilgrim”

Latin in origin. From the peregrine falcon.

  • Philomel - F - “lover of songs”

In Greek myth, Philomela turns into nightingale.

  • Phoenix - U - “firebird”

From the mythological bird that symbolises rebirth.

  • Pipistrelle - F - “bat”

French in origin.

  • Quinnet - F - “salmon”

From the Chinook Salmon.

  • Rosella - F - “rose”

Genus of parakeets.

  • Ryu - M - “dragon”

Japanese in origin.

  • Sable - U - “black”

Species of marten.

  • Sansonnet - F - “starling”

French in origin.

  • Selkie - F - “seal folk”

Celtic in origin. In Scottish folklore, selkies are mythical creatures that resemble seals in the water but assume human form on land.

  • SĂźktogeja - M - “wolf”

Nakoda in origin.

  • Sinikka - F - “bluebird”

Finnish in origin.

  • Skylark - U - “lark”

A genus of larks.

  • Suna - F - “duck”

Turkish in origin.

  • Svala - F - “swallow”

Nordic in origin.

  • Tayanita - F - “young beaver”

Cherokee in origin.

  • Urpi - F - “pigeon; dove”

Quechua in origin.

  • Urraca - F - “magpie”

Basque or Portuguese origin. Urraca was the name of many infantas and queens of several medieval Iberian kingdoms.

  • Vedalia - F - “ladybug”

Australian ladybird.

  • Velvel - M - “little wolf”

Yiddish in origin.

  • Vlinder - F - “butterfly”

Dutch in origin.

  • Voss - M - “fox”

Germanic in origin.

  • Vuk - M - “wolf”

Serbian in origin.

  • Yansa - M - “buffalo”

Cherokee in origin. Buffaloes are honored in Cherokee culture, as they were notoriously difficult to hunt yet an important food source.

  • Zsombor - M - “bison”

Hungarian in origin.

We’ve reached the end! I hope you loved reading this as much as I did when I created this. Are there any names you loved from this? Anything I missed? I will see you on the next post, till then, farewell dear readers!

7 Likes
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A lot of my favourites here!! [name_m]Zsombor[/name_m], [name_m]Vuk[/name_m], [name_f]Sansonnet[/name_f] (although I like this one more on a boy!), Ivaylo, [name_f]Alcyone[/name_f] & [name_f]Ainara[/name_f]! :yellow_heart: And Sinikka is new to me and so lovely!

A few more names that I love and I reckon belong on the list: EnikƑ (F, Hungarian, ‘fawn’), [name_m]Lev[/name_m] (M, Russian, ‘lion’), Paschalitsa (F, Greek, ‘ladybug’)

2 Likes
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What a beautiful list! perfect inspiration for combos I’m brainstorming right now :smiling_face: really enjoy Aponi, [name_m]Dustu[/name_m], and Sinikka!

a few I have on lists of my own worth mentioning (:
[name_f]Erlea[/name_f] (Basque) “bee”
[name_m]Lautaro[/name_m] (Mapuche) “swift hawk”
Pelin (Turkish) “wormwood, absinthe”
Tsisana (Georgian) “of the sky”
Uainín (Irish) “little lamb”
Virve (Estonian) “sprout, shoot”
[name_f]Walela[/name_f] (Cherokee) “hummingbird”

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@tallemaja [name_m]Lev[/name_m] and Paschalitsa!!! [name_f]Eniko[/name_f] is adorable.

@the_common_fool [name_f]Glad[/name_f] you loved it! [name_f]Erlea[/name_f], [name_m]Lautaro[/name_m], Tsisana, UainĂ­n and Virve are pretty cool.

2 Likes
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[name_f]My[/name_f] favourites from your list are:
Iqaluk
[name_m]Newt[/name_m]
[name_f]Palila[/name_f]
[name_m]Peregrine[/name_m]
[name_f]Svala[/name_f]
[name_f]Urraca[/name_f]

Some others that I like:
Amaalik - [name_m]West[/name_m] Greenlandic, u, “eider duck”
Aqissiaq - [name_m]North[/name_m] and [name_m]West[/name_m] Greenlandic, u, “ptarmigan chick”
[name_f]Amara[/name_f] - Latin, f, genus of beetles
[name_m]Arend[/name_m] - [name_m]Dutch[/name_m], m, “eagle”
ArĆ«nas - Lithuanian, m, “eagle”
[name_f]Atalanta[/name_f] - [name_m]Dutch[/name_m], v, “red admiral
Cassida - Latin, v, genus of beetles
[name_m]Mees[/name_m] - [name_m]Dutch[/name_m], u, “chickadee”
Havik - [name_m]Dutch[/name_m], m, “hawk”
Huitzitl- Nahuatl, m, “hummingbird”
[name_m]Kovas[/name_m] - Lithuanian, m, “crow”
Roek - [name_m]Dutch[/name_m], m, “rook”
Tapayaxi - Nahuatl, m “toad”
Volungė - Lithuanian, f, “oriole”