50 animal-inspired baby names for your little Bear or Birdie

Genevieve Brown
Updated ·1 min read

Animal baby names are as fun as they are adorable. Giving your baby an animal-inspired name is also a way for an animal lover to (hopefully) inspire their child.

Some baby names are obvious in their animal inspiration. Bear, Buck, Hawk, Fox, Finch and Wolf all check that box for animal names often used for boys. For girls, a name like Lark, Kitty or Birdie all fit the bill.

When it comes to popularity, your child will likely be unique among their peer group: Of the aforementioned names, only Bear and Birdie made the top 1,000 most popular in 2023, according to the Social Security Administration, coming in at 817 and 701, respectively.

Then there are more traditional names that have animal roots. Take Vanessa: The name is also the scientific name for a type of butterfly. As for Ralph, it evolved from an ancient Norse word meaning "wolf counsel," according to pregnancy website The Bump. Leo and Raven are examples of names that straddle the line between clearly animal-inspired and more traditional. There's also the option for a traditional name (Catherine) with an animal-inspired nickname (Cat).

Here are 50 animal baby name suggestions from the parenting website MomJunction.com.

Animal baby names for boys and girls

  1. Bear

  2. Buck

  3. Hawk

  4. Drake

  5. Fox

  6. Fawn

  7. Finch

  8. Colt

  9. Wolf

  10. Lynx

  11. Channing

  12. Raoul

  13. Leo

  14. Pike

  15. Rosamund

  16. Rowel

  17. Ralph

  18. Auberon

  19. Corbin

  20. Hector

  21. Marshall

  22. Otter

  23. Lionel

  24. Orson

  25. Madigan

  26. Sable

  27. Lark

  28. Anemone

  29. Puma

  30. Yara

  31. Raven

  32. Kitty

  33. Tora

  34. Cat

  35. Birdie

  36. Ursula

  37. Panda

  38. Beverly

  39. Deborah

  40. Paloma

  41. Vanessa

  42. Poe

  43. Adolfa

  44. Arachne

  45. Ariel

  46. Faline

  47. Mesilande

  48. Kimana

  49. Leona

  50. Deryn

This article was originally published on TODAY.com