We name our kids after almost every element in our daily life. But why don't we name more babies after elements of nature?

The flower power movement made names from nature popular. It fit the life style these young people wanted their children to inherit. In this trend there were more traditional names such as Ash, Birch and Storm, and names that went "far out" such as Leaf, Rainbow, Comet or Tiger Lilly. When the spirit of the generation faded, the names disappeared as well and the brief era of modern English names that was inspired by the elements vanished.

The only nature-inspired names that stuck are the classic names that were in the Anglo-Saxon "name dictionary", and include mostly girl names such as Rose,   Camellia, Iris, Lilac, Poppy or Ginger.

In other cultures it is customary to give names from nature. The name Lev (Leo) in Russian means lion. The writer Leo Tolstoy is the most famous carrier of the name. In the Jewish culture you can name a child after any element of nature, animal or season. Popular names for boys are Erez, which means cedar, Zvi which means deer, Yam which means sea and Barak which means lightning. Popular girl names are Tal which means due, Ilana which means a female tree, and Keren which means ray. In the Hindu culture there are many names that are inspired by the elements such as Tamara, which means a palm tree, Yamuna which is another name for the Ganges River, or the name Jasmin, which is known all around the world.

Today there is a comeback to nature names. Names such as Sky, Stone, Juniper and Skylark can be heard. The golf star Tiger Woods inspired many parents to name their babies after nature elements and globalization opened up possibilities for naming your child after trees and spices. We should embrace this new trend, which gives us the choice to name our baby after an element we are in awe of, so that twenty years from now you may meet a rock, a river or a coal.

What other beautiful nature names do you suggest?
 
Names to think about:
Comet, Drake, Flint, Tulip, Cayenne, Ember, Skylark, Isle, Rio and Tempest.

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