The United States holds more than 765 million acres of forest, and the U.S. Forest Service alone looks after 193 million of them across 154 national forests (1). Names drawn from that green world have been in use for thousands of years, in just about every language that grew trees.
Some of them are already everywhere. Silas ranked 71st in the U.S. in 2025, Daisy 75th and Walker 78th, putting all three inside the top 100 (2). Others, like Sylvanus at 13,658th, went to five American babies all year.
Every one of the 100 names below comes with its meaning, origin, pronunciation and where it actually stands in current U.S. birth records. That last part is the difference between a name that is rare and a name nobody has ever used.
Popularity at a Glance
The most popular names on this list in the United States, 1965 to 2025: Silas, Daisy, Walker, Parker and Oakley.
100 Cute Names Meaning Forest
Explore nature-happy names that mean forest for the free-spirited baby you’re expecting.
Abungu
Abungu carries the meaning of the forest. It is recorded most often in Kenya. It may connect to the Abungura people found in Uganda and Rwanda, which gives it a real place on the map rather than a vague nature theme. Almost nobody outside East Africa will recognize it. A child named Abungu is unlikely to ever meet another with the same one. For parents who want the forest idea without a single familiar syllable, that is the whole appeal.
- Origin: African
- Meaning: Of the forest
- Pronunciation: Ah-BUNN-goo
- Popularity: No U.S. ranking exists for Abungu. Federal baby name data lists only names given to at least five American babies in a year, and Abungu has never reached that line.
Adoette
Adoette comes from the Kiowa-Tanoan adoeete, meaning large tree, in a Native language of the American Southern Plains. Adoette is also read as olive tree, which pulls it toward something warmer and Mediterranean. Four syllables sound like a lot on paper, but the stress falls neatly in the middle and the name shortens to Addie without a fight.
- Origin: Native American
- Meaning: Forest
- Pronunciation: Ah-duw-EYT-ah
- Variations: Adoete, Adoett
- Popularity: Adoette sits below the U.S. reporting line. The Social Security Administration publishes a name only once five or more American babies receive it in a single year.
Aiken
Aiken sounds contemporary. It actually reaches back to Atkin, built from Adam plus the diminutive suffix -kin. It settled in Scotland as the surname Aitken before anyone used it up front. The meaning, made of oak, gives it a grounded, weather-tested quality. That quality is not something the crisp, modern sound advertises on its own. It is a short, tidy pick for a boy whose parents want the forest theme carried quietly.
- Origin: English, Gaelic
- Meaning: Made of oak
- Pronunciation: EY-Kihn
- Variations: Aicken, Ayken
- Popularity: Aiken ranked 7,209th in the U.S. in 2025 with 11 babies named. Its best year was 1921 at 3,877th, and it has drifted down about 15 percent on the previous decade.
Althea
Althea is an old Greek nod to trees valued for their healing power, from Althaea and the root althos, meaning healing. In myth she was the mother of Meleager, which hands the name a maternal weight most flower-adjacent choices never get. The sound stays soft without turning fragile, and Thea sits inside it for everyday use.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: Healer, wholesome
- Pronunciation: Ael-THEE-aa
- Variations: Altheya, Althia, Althya
- Namesakes: Althea Gibson, an American tennis player and the first African American to win a Grand Slam title in 1956. Althea Braithwaite, an English children’s author known for Desmond the Dinosaur.
- Popularity: Althea ranked 1,299th in the U.S. in 2025 with 171 babies named, up roughly 116 percent on the previous decade. Its best placement was 356th back in 1920.
Amadahy
Amadahy is a Cherokee name meaning forest water. It joins the two symbols that tradition leans on hardest, trees for longevity and water for life. That pairing means the meaning does more work than scenery. Four syllables run lightly rather than heavily. The rhythm suits a name that will be said often, in a nursery and later on a school roster. It reads gentle without asking a young child to carry anything heavy.
- Origin: Native American
- Meaning: Of the forest’s water
- Pronunciation: Ah-mah-DAY-Hiy
- Variations: Amadahey, Amadahi, Amadahie, Amadahye
- Popularity: Amadahy has no American ranking. It has never been given to five U.S. babies in one year, the minimum the federal data publishes.
Amaranth
Amaranth comes from the Greek amarantos and sits comfortably among flower names with a meaning behind the petals. The bloom is tall and deep red, and it holds its color long after other flowers give up, which is where unfading comes from. As a name it lands somewhere between botanical and gothic, and both Amara and Ann hide inside it.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: Unfading
- Pronunciation: Ah-mah-RAHNT
- Variations: Amaranthe
- Popularity: Amaranth last appeared in U.S. data in 2022 at 15,454th, and its best placement was 13,907th in 2018. It first charted in 2016, so its American history is only a few years long.
Aranya
Aranya is the Sanskrit word for forest. It also names the Aranya-Kanda, the forest book within the Ramayana. That literary anchor gives it more depth than a plain nature word carries. In Thai use it reads traditional and gentle rather than exotic. Three flowing syllables travel well into English. Ari waits inside it as a nickname for everyday use.
- Origin: Thai, Sanskrit
- Meaning: Wild forest
- Pronunciation: Ah-RAAN-yah
- Namesakes: Anchali Sirachaya (known as Aranya Namwong), a Thai actress and the runner-up of 1964 Miss Thailand. Aranya Johar, an Indian poet known for her spoken word in the movie Padman.
- Popularity: Aranya ranked 12,044th in the U.S. in 2025 with seven babies named, its best placement so far. It first charted in 2006 and is up about 29 percent on the previous decade.
Ardian
Ardian is the Albanian form of Ardiaei, the name of an ancient Illyrian clan. Its meaning, future of the great forest, reads more like a blessing than a description. English speakers will hear Adrian first and correct at every roll call, though the two names come from entirely different places.
- Origin: Albanian
- Meaning: Future of the great forest
- Pronunciation: AAR-diy-Aen
- Variations: Ardjan, Ardijan
- Namesakes: Ardian Rexhepi, a Kosovo Albanian-Swedish footballer for IK Brage. Ardian Turku, the mayor of Elbasan, Albania, between 2003 and 2004.
- Popularity: Ardian last charted in the U.S. in 2024 at 7,813rd. Its best year was 2001 at 5,694th, and it first appeared in the data in 1988.
Aspen
Aspen comes from the Old English aespe, the shaking poplar. Its leaves move in the smallest breeze, which is where the restless feel of the name comes from. Further back sits the Greek aspis, meaning shield, since the wood was worked into them. That military root is easy to forget once the tree image takes over. The Colorado ski town gave the name its modern polish. It also gave the name its unisex ease, since resorts do not gender their branding. Of all the tree names in circulation, this is the one that sounds current rather than revived.
- Origin: English
- Meaning: Aspen tree
- Pronunciation: AEZ-Pehn
- Variations: Aspin, Aspine, Aspyn, Aspyne
- Namesakes: Aspen Ladd, an American mixed martial artist who competes as a Featherweight in the Professional Fighters League. Aspen Vincent, an American actress, and singer appearing in Nickelodeon’s As Told by Ginger.
- Popularity: Aspen ranked 266th in the U.S. in 2025 with 1,179 babies named, up about 131 percent on the previous decade. Its best placement was 196th in 2022.
Aveline
Aveline means wished for in German, but as a French surname it points straight at the hazelnut wood, with a trail that runs back to the Italian town of Avella and to avellana, the word for hazelnut. It has the lace-cuffed formality of a period drama name without being hard to wear. Ava and Evie both sit inside it, so the daily version is already solved.
- Origin: French, German
- Meaning: Hazelnut forest
- Pronunciation: AH-veh-Liyn
- Variations: Avelina
- Namesakes: Aveline de Forz, an English noblewoman married to Edmund Crouchback, the second son of Henry III of England.
- Popularity: Aveline ranked 2,585th in the U.S. in 2025 with 67 babies named, up roughly 149 percent on the previous decade. Its best year so far was 2016 at 1,327th.
Aziza
Aziza names a race of forest spirits in West African tradition. They were small dwellers in the woods, considered good luck by hunters who crossed their path. That is unusual in a name, a meaning with a story attached rather than a plain definition. Spelled Asiza it also turns up as a surname in Indonesia. The repeated z gives it a hum that small children imitate almost immediately. It is a sound that sticks before a listener even learns what the name means.
- Origin: African, Indonesian
- Meaning: Forest spirit
- Pronunciation: Ah-ZIY-Zaa
- Variations: Azeeza, Azeezah, Azizah, Azzeza
- Namesakes: Aziza Abdel-Halim, an Egyptian-Australian founder of the Muslim Women’s National Network Australia. Aziza Hussein, an Egyptian Paralympian athlete, and bronze medalist at the 2004 Summer Paralympics.
- Popularity: Aziza ranked 2,443rd in the U.S. in 2025 with 73 babies named, up about 45 percent on the previous decade. It has charted every so often since 1973.
Bambi
Bambi comes from the Italian bambino, meaning child, softened into an affectionate word for a small girl. Disney’s fawn fixed the forest association permanently, and the name has never really escaped the cartoon. It reads playful rather than serious, which suits some families exactly and rules it out for others.
- Origin: Italian
- Meaning: Baby deer
- Pronunciation: BAEM-Bee
- Variations: Bambie, Bamby
- Popularity: Bambi ranked 6,581st in the U.S. in 2025 with 17 babies named. It peaked at 562nd in 1979 and is up about 85 percent on the previous decade from a very low base.
Banashree
Banashree comes out of Indian tradition, meaning beauty of the forest. It belongs to the goddess who watches over green and growing things. That gives the name a job description built right in, rather than a loose theme. Four syllables run smoothly despite the length. For parents drawn to mythology rather than plain nature words, it is one of the stronger picks on this list. The goddess association is the reason it earns that place.
- Origin: Indian
- Meaning: Forest queen
- Pronunciation: BAA-nah-Shriy
- Namesakes: Banashree Sengupta, an Indian singer, and winner of the Sangeet Sanman award in 2012.
- Popularity: You will not find Banashree in U.S. name rankings. The federal data starts at five births a year and Banashree stays under it.
Banjeet
Banjeet reads as victory of the forest and also carries the senses of mighty and victorious in Hindi. It points to the spirit called the lord of the forest, the one said to rule the wild. The hard closing consonant gives the name a decisive finish, sound to match meaning.
- Origin: Indian
- Meaning: Victory of the forest
- Pronunciation: Baan-JHIYT
- Namesakes: Baljeet Singh, an Indian singer known for Gurbani & Kirtan styles of music.
- Popularity: Banjeet is off the U.S. charts entirely. Fewer than five American babies a year carry it, so federal records leave it out.
Betulia
Betulia sits close to Betula, the botanical name for birch. That is where the silver birch association comes from. Betulah in Hebrew points toward the olive tree instead, and the name is also read as birch tree garden. There is also a town called Betulia in Colombia, so it carries a place as well as a plant. The ending gives it the same warmth as Amelia or Cecilia. It carries that warmth without any of their familiarity.
- Origin: Native American
- Meaning: Forest
- Pronunciation: Beh-TUWL-Lyah
- Variations: Betula
- Popularity: The U.S. data has no entry for Betulia. Names below five births a year go unpublished, which places it among the genuinely rare.
Bitki
Bitki is the Turkish word for plant, stretched in everyday speech to cover herbs, vegetables and wort. It grows out of bitmek, meaning to grow and to sprout, which is a hopeful thing to hand a child. Turkish speakers will hear a vocabulary word rather than a given name, while English speakers will simply hear something short and bright.
- Origin: Turkish
- Meaning: Plant
- Pronunciation: BEHT-Kee
- Popularity: Bitki has no U.S. ranking. It has never reached the five-births-a-year line that federal baby name data requires before publishing a name.
Boice
Boice traces to the Old French bois, meaning wood. Spelled Boyce it became a Scottish surname, taken from del Bois for a family living beside a wood. The single syllable makes it blunt and usable. It sits closer in feel to Royce or Bryce than to anything botanical. That surname company is doing most of the work here, not the meaning. It is one of the few forest names that reads masculine with no effort at all.
- Origin: French, Celtic
- Meaning: Forest
- Pronunciation: BOYSS
- Variations: Boyce, Boys, Boyse
- Popularity: Boice last appeared in U.S. records in 1926 at 4,271st and has not charted since. Its best year was 1920 at 3,871st.
Briar
Briar names a thorny tangle of wild roses and brambles, which is a more interesting picture than a straightforward tree name. Sleeping Beauty’s Briar Rose keeps the fairy-tale thread alive. The name now moves freely between boys and girls. The soft r sounds take the sharp edge off the thorns. It sits especially well in front of a longer, more formal middle name.
- Origin: English
- Meaning: Thorny patch
- Pronunciation: BRAEY-ehr
- Variations: Brier, Bryer
- Namesakes: Briar Patch, a place in the fictional Br’er Rabbit stories.
- Popularity: Briar ranked 400th in the U.S. in 2025, its best placement on record, with 778 babies named. That is a rise of roughly 412 percent on the previous decade.
Brucie
Brucie is a diminutive of Bruce. Bruce is itself a medieval surname carried by the 14th-century Scottish king Robert the Bruce. The family name links back to Brix in Normandy, which means the willow lands. That gives Brucie a quiet woodland claim underneath all the informality. It is a nickname wearing a full name’s clothes. Some families want exactly that, and skip the formal version entirely.
- Origin: French
- Meaning: Thick brush
- Pronunciation: BRUW-See
- Variations: Brucy, Brucey
- Popularity: Brucie has not charted in the U.S. since 1930, when it ranked 4,645th. Its best year was 1916 at 3,986th.
Burl
Burl names the knotted swirl of wood that furniture makers prize, so it points at one specific piece of the forest rather than the whole thing. It can also mean a tuft of wool, and it served as an occupational name for a cupbearer or butler, a sense Burl Ives kept in American ears for decades. The name had a genuine run between the 1880s and the 1930s and now reads as vintage, which is the exact shelf that names come back from.
- Origin: English, French
- Meaning: Knotty wood
- Pronunciation: BURHL
- Variations: Berl, Burle, Byrle
- Namesakes: Burl Ives, an American actor known for voicing the 1964 Christmas special Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Burl Barer, an American author known for writing about Simon Templar.
- Popularity: Burl ranked 10,065th in the U.S. in 2024 and did not chart in 2025. Its peak was 418th in 1921.
Busby
Busby began as a byname for someone from the English town of Busby. The town’s own name means village in the thicket. The word also names the tall fur military hat. That is either a charming association or a reason to keep looking, depending on the parent. As a first name it is close to unused. The bouncing b sounds make it friendlier than most surname-style picks.
- Origin: English
- Meaning: Shrub farm
- Pronunciation: BUHZ-Biy
- Variations: Busbey, Busbi, Busbie, Bussbi, Buzby
- Namesakes: Busby Berkeley (born Berkeley Enos), an American film director known for fantastic on-screen performances.
- Popularity: Busby sits below the U.S. publication line. Federal data withholds any name given to fewer than five American babies in a year.
Caila
In French, Caila means from the forest. The Gaelic route is different, running through caol and landing on slender and fair, and giving a Gaelic name the sound of Kayla without Kayla’s frequency. Two syllables, no spelling argument in English, and no nickname required.
- Origin: French, Gaelic
- Meaning: From the forest
- Pronunciation: KAY-Lah
- Variations: Caela
- Namesakes: Caila Marsai Martin, an American actress appearing on the ABC series Black-ish.
- Popularity: Caila ranked 7,562nd in the U.S. in 2025 with 14 babies named, down about 10 percent on the previous decade. Its best year was 1999 at 2,258th.
Caley
Caley may take its shape from Cailly in France. It may equally come from Callius, a name used in ancient Rome. It also connects to the Gaelic Caoilainn, meaning slim and fair. The list meaning, from the forest’s heart, gives it a warmer center than the brisk spelling suggests. It suits a boy or a girl equally. It needs no shortening at all.
- Origin: French, Gaelic
- Meaning: From the forest’s heart
- Pronunciation: KAY-Liy
- Variations: Kaley, Kaleigh
- Namesakes: Caley Chelios, an American sports commentator for the NHL Network.
- Popularity: Caley ranked 11,124th in the U.S. in 2025 and is down about 68 percent on the previous decade. Its best placement was 1,457th in 1994.
Calhoun
Calhoun comes from Colquhoun, a Scottish surname meaning from the narrow woods. Most Americans meet it as a last name or as the Georgia city long before they meet it on a birth certificate. That surname weight is the point, since it sounds established rather than invented.
- Origin: English, Scottish
- Meaning: From the narrow woods
- Pronunciation: Kael-HHUWN
- Variations: Calhoon, Calhoune, Callhoun
- Popularity: Calhoun ranked 7,766th in the U.S. in 2025 with ten babies named, up about 58 percent on the previous decade. It first charted in 1886.
Calliope
In its original Greek, Calliope means she of the beautiful voice. In Greek myth she is the Muse of epic poetry. She is the one poets called on before they began. The calliope hummingbird carries the name into the woods. The steam organ carries it into the fairground. So it arrives with a lot of company, mythic and mechanical both. Callie is the ready nickname, though the full four syllables are the better wearing of the two.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: Little star
- Pronunciation: Kah-LAY-ah-Piy
- Variations: Kalliope
- Namesakes: Calliope Thorne, an American actress on the USA Network series Necessary Roughness. Calliope Tsoupaki, a Greek pianist and the Composer Laureate of the Netherlands since 2018.
- Popularity: Calliope ranked 451st in the U.S. in 2025, its best placement on record, with 682 babies named. That is a rise of about 345 percent on the previous decade.
Canowicakte
Canowicakte is a Sioux name meaning forest hunter, and it also reads as kills in the woods, a blunter look at the same life. There is no popularity record to consult, only the origin. Five syllables make it a commitment, though the stress pattern is regular once you have heard it aloud.
- Origin: Native American
- Meaning: Forest hunter
- Pronunciation: KAN-oh-Wee-CAK-teh
- Popularity: No U.S. ranking exists for Canowicakte. Federal baby name data publishes only names given to at least five American babies in a year.
Cedar
Cedar is the most literal choice among names meaning forest. It comes from the Greek kedros. The tree has stood for strength and long life in more or less every culture that grew it. The name works unisex without any adjustment. It sits in the same short, plain register as Sage or River. Anyone who has smelled a cedar chest already knows why it appeals.
- Origin: Latin, Greek
- Meaning: Cedar tree
- Pronunciation: SIY-Der
- Namesakes: Cedar Paul, an English Secretary of the British Section of the Women’s International Council of Socialist and Labour Organizations from 1917 to 1919. Cedar Walton Jr., an American jazz pianist and drummer for The Jazz Messengers.
- Popularity: Cedar ranked 1,244th in the U.S. in 2025 with 160 babies named, up about 187 percent on the previous decade. Its best placement was 1,125th in 2022.
Chan
Chan collects origins the way few short names do: the Hebrew Channah gives it God is gracious, and it also means “snow” in Chinese. The forest meaning is the Cambodian one, naming a tree with a sweet smell. One syllable, no spelling trouble, and it travels across languages better than almost anything else here.
- Origin: Cambodian, Chinese
- Meaning: Sweet-smelling tree
- Pronunciation: CHAEN
- Variations: Chano
- Namesakes: Chan Thomas, an American author of The Adam and Eve Story: The History of Cataclysms.
- Popularity: Chan ranked 9,885th in the U.S. in 2025 with seven babies named, up about 26 percent on the previous decade. Its best year was 1965 at 1,779th.
Cherry
Cherry calls up spring blossom before it calls up fruit. That is the softer half of the association. In French it also carries dear one and darling. It has long served as a nickname for Cheryl. The name reads sweet and a little retro, somewhere near Candy and Bonnie on the shelf. Used in full it needs a grounded middle name to balance it.
- Origin: American, French
- Meaning: Cherry blossom
- Pronunciation: CHEH-Riy
- Variations: Cherri, Cherrie
- Namesakes: Cherry Wilder, a New Zealand science fiction writer known for The Torin Trilogy. Cherry Jones, an American actress and a founding member of the American Repertory Theater.
- Popularity: Cherry ranked 3,588th in the U.S. in 2025 with 42 babies named, holding roughly steady on the previous decade. It peaked at 429th in 1948.
Choilleich
Choilleich is genuinely mysterious, with almost nothing recorded about its Gaelic background beyond the meaning, guards the forest. It is described as gender-neutral but shows up more often on boys. The spelling will need explaining in any English-speaking room, every time, though in exchange the name is genuinely unclaimed.
- Origin: Gaelic
- Meaning: Guards the forest
- Pronunciation: Choiy-LEECH
- Popularity: Choilleich sits below the U.S. reporting line and has never appeared in federal baby name data, which starts at five births a year.
Codrin
Codrin is the Romanian word for forest wearing a name’s clothes, straight from codru. There is not much more etymology to chase, which is refreshing after a list full of layered surnames. Two clean syllables and a hard opening C give it more strength than the meaning alone suggests.
- Origin: Romanian, Latin
- Meaning: Forest
- Pronunciation: COUW-Drihn
- Namesakes: Codrin Țapu, a Romanian author focusing on the hypostases of personality.
- Popularity: Codrin has no American ranking. It has never been given to five U.S. babies in one year, the minimum the federal data publishes.
Coy
Coy also means “sky” and taciturn. It works as an English surname too. The French coi is a nickname for the shy or quiet one, the sort who would rather be among trees than people. That is the connection to the woods. It is a gentler one than most names on this list offer. Three letters, one syllable, nothing to spell twice.
- Origin: English, French
- Meaning: Steady like the forest
- Pronunciation: KOY
- Variations: Coi
- Namesakes: Coy Wire, an American TV sports correspondent for CNN since 2015. Coy Pugh, an American member of the Illinois House of Representatives from 1993 to 2001.
- Popularity: Coy ranked 1,451st in the U.S. in 2025 with 123 babies named, holding roughly steady on the previous decade. It peaked at 357th in 1916.
Daere
Daere can mean fiend in Welsh, possibly through Cu Roi mac Daire, an Ulster king in Irish mythology known for his magical disguises. One of Daere’s other meanings is oak tree, which sits oddly next to the first one and makes the name more interesting for it. The spelling looks harder than the pronunciation turns out to be, and it is a good fit for parents who want a nature name with a little menace in the footnotes.
- Origin: Welsh
- Meaning: Oaktree
- Pronunciation: Dera
- Variations: DEHRE
- Popularity: You will not find Daere in U.S. name rankings. The federal data starts at five births a year and Daere stays under it.
Dagwood
Dagwood means bright wood and from the bright one’s forest. That is an unusually cheerful reading for an Old English compound. The comic-strip husband owns the name in American minds. He probably always will. Anyone who wants the meaning without the sandwich jokes should look at Garwood instead. The two names share the same bones, minus the cartoon baggage.
- Origin: English
- Meaning: Shining forest
- Pronunciation: DAEG-Wuhd
- Variations: Dagwode
- Popularity: Dagwood is off the U.S. charts entirely. Fewer than five American babies a year carry it, so federal records leave it out.
Daisy
Daisy comes from the Old English daegeseage, meaning day’s eye, for the flower that opens with the light. It served as a Victorian nickname for Margaret long before it stood on its own. The name is sunny without being lightweight. It has aged into something closer to classic than cute. It is also one of the more usable names on this list, which is worth knowing before you fall for something rarer.
- Origin: English
- Meaning: Day’s eye
- Pronunciation: DAY-Ziy
- Variations: Daisie, Daysie, Daisey
- Namesakes: Daisy Danjuma, a Nigerian politician in the Nigerian Senate from 2003 to 2007. Daisy Ejang, a Ugandan singer and finalist in the 6th series of Tusker Project Fame.
- Popularity: Daisy ranked 75th in the U.S. in 2025 with 3,206 babies named, its best placement on record and up about 25 percent on the previous decade. It is one of only three names on this list inside the current U.S. top 100.
Dandak
Dandak names a kingdom in Hindu mythology. That is a better hook than most woodland names manage. It also stands as an alternative to the male name Davudak. Among names that mean forest it is one of the least worn. Two syllables and a hard finish keep it from sounding delicate. It reads sturdy rather than soft, even next to gentler entries on this list.
- Origin: Indian, Hindi
- Meaning: Forest
- Pronunciation: DAAN-Dak
- Popularity: The U.S. data has no entry for Dandak. Names below five births a year go unpublished, which places it among the genuinely rare.
Defne
Defne is the Turkish counterpart to Daphne and a district in Turkey’s Hatay Province. It means laurel tree, the wreath tree, which gives it a quiet note of achievement alongside the greenery. It is still rare in the U.S., and the two syllables cause no trouble in English.
- Origin: Turkish
- Meaning: Bay tree
- Pronunciation: DAEF-niy
- Namesakes: Defne Samyeli, a Turkish TV presenter of the TV program Defne Her şey Bambaşka on ATV.
- Popularity: Defne ranked 4,285th in the U.S. in 2025 with 33 babies named, up about 60 percent on the previous decade. It first charted in 1993 and reached 3,163rd in 2017.
Diana
Diana belongs to the Roman goddess of the hunt, the moon and the woods, which is a wide portfolio for one name. The root dyeus carries to shine and sky, while diwio gives deity. Few names on this list are both this recognizable and this old, and it also comes with a modern namesake so famous that some parents will want to weigh that before choosing.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: Goddess of the forest
- Pronunciation: Daey-AEN-ah
- Variations: Dianna, Dyana, Dyanna
- Namesakes: Diana Ross, an American singer of The Supremes group. Diana, Princess of Wales (born Diana Spencer), the first wife of King Charles III and mother of Prince William and Prince Harry.
- Popularity: Diana ranked 244th in the U.S. in 2025 with 1,277 babies named, down about 19 percent on the previous decade. Its best placement was 42nd in 1946.
Ebony
Ebony was first the Egyptian word for black wood, and the timber is still prized for its depth of color. The name had a long, strong run in the U.S. and remains a favorite among African-American families. Its sound is smooth and unfussy, three syllables that land without effort. Ebb and Bonnie both work as informal short forms.
- Origin: Latin
- Meaning: Deep black wood
- Pronunciation: EH-beh-Niy
- Variations: Ebbony, Ebonee, Eboney, Eboni, Ebonie
- Namesakes: Ebony Flowers, an American writer, and winner of the 2017 Rona Jaffe Foundation Writers’ Awards.
- Popularity: Ebony ranked 5,452nd in the U.S. in 2025 with 23 babies named. It is down about 71 percent on the previous decade, the steepest fall of any name on this list, after peaking at 132nd in 1982.
Elah
Elah goes back to the Hebrew ela, meaning terebinth tree. It can also point to an elm or an oak. In Aramaic it is a word for God. Two soft syllables make it about as easy to say as a name gets. It sits close enough to Ella and Elle to feel familiar without being one of them. For a list this heavy on consonants, Elah is the quiet one.
- Origin: Hebrew
- Meaning: Oak tree
- Pronunciation: EH-Lah
- Popularity: Elah ranked 4,286th in the U.S. in 2025 with 33 babies named, its highest annual count on record and up about 21 percent on the previous decade. It first charted in 1905.
Elswyth
Elswyth means elf from the willow trees and also strong temple, a combination that covers both the whimsy and the backbone. Ealhswith, the wife of King Alfred the Great, is the likely influence behind this elegant name. The w and th together make it look harder than it sounds, though Elsie waits inside it for childhood use.
- Origin: English
- Meaning: Elf from the willow trees
- Pronunciation: EHLZ-Wihth
- Variations: Elswith, Elswithe, Elswythe
- Namesakes: Helen Beebe (pen name Elswyth Thane), an American romance writer known for her “Williamsburg” fictional series.
- Popularity: Elswyth has charted in the U.S. exactly once, at 13,933rd in 2023 with six babies named. Every other year it has fallen below the five-birth publication line.
Faunus
Faunus is the Roman god of nature, drawn as half man and half goat. He rules the forests and looks after the flocks, plains and fields. The word also survives as the scientific term for animal life. It is the boldest mythological pick here. It is not a subtle one. Faun sits inside it for anyone who wants the reference without the full weight.
- Origin: Latin
- Meaning: God of forests
- Pronunciation: FAON-ahs
- Variations: Faunos, Fawnus
- Popularity: Faunus has no U.S. ranking. It has never reached the five-births-a-year line that federal baby name data requires before publishing a name.
Feronia
Feronia was an ancient Roman goddess of the woods and the groves, associated with freedom as much as with trees. The name comes from the Latin ferus, the root behind wildness, and there is also a wood-apple plant that carries it. Four syllables give it the same ceremonial length as Cassiopeia, and Fern is hiding in the front of it.
- Origin: Latin
- Meaning: Forest goddess
- Pronunciation: Fih-ROW-niy-Ah
- Variations: Feronea, Feroneah, Feroniah, Feroniya, Feroniyah
- Popularity: Feronia sits below the U.S. publication line. Federal data withholds any name given to fewer than five American babies in a year.
Firth
Firth is the Scottish word for a sea estuary, especially along the border country. The name route runs elsewhere, though. It comes from the Middle English firthe, meaning frith wood and hunting ground, land set aside where the animals roam. That gives it water and woodland in one syllable. The surname feel makes it an easy middle name. It works there even if the first slot feels like a stretch.
- Origin: English, Scottish
- Meaning: Woodland
- Pronunciation: FERTH
- Variations: Firthe, Fyrth, Fyrthe
- Popularity: Firth has no American ranking. The Social Security Administration only publishes a name once it reaches five babies of the same sex in a year, and Firth has not crossed that line.
Forester
Forester is the occupational surname for the officer in charge of a forest, which is to say a ranger. It rests on the Old French forestier, meaning forest dweller, for anyone who made a living among the trees. It is one of the more on-the-nose names on this list and it wears that well, though Forrest is the softer alternative if three syllables feel like too much.
- Origin: English, French
- Meaning: Forest ranger
- Pronunciation: FAOR-ehs-Ter
- Variations: Forrester, Forster
- Namesakes: Forester Augustus Obeyesekere, the Sri Lankan Speaker of the State Council of Ceylon from 1934 to 1935.
- Popularity: Forester ranked 12,639th in the U.S. in 2025 with five babies named, level with the previous decade. Its best placement was 3,193rd in 1932.
Fraser
Fraser takes its shape from the Latin fragula and the French fraisier, both pointing at the strawberry plant rather than the trees. The forest meaning arrives through the Scottish clan, which is where most people know it from. Spelled Frazer it works as an English form of the Gaelic Frasach, meaning the generous or fruitful one. It is a common surname in the U.S. and a rare first name, which is a useful combination.
- Origin: French, Scottish
- Meaning: Of the forest men
- Pronunciation: FRAY-Sher
- Variations: Fraeser, Fraiser, Frasier, Frazer, Frazier
- Namesakes: Fraser Anning, an Australian senator for Queensland from 2017 to 2019. Fraser Barron, an officer of the Royal New Zealand Air Force and a pilot in World War II.
- Popularity: Fraser ranked 5,686th in the U.S. in 2025 with 16 babies named, up about 55 percent on the previous decade. Its best year was 1937 at 2,379th.
Garwood
Garwood covers triangular forest, from the fir forest and evergreen forest. The meaning is specific about which kind of woodland it means. As a surname it first surfaced in Norfolk, England, where the Garwoods held the manor. It has the same construction as Harwood and Dagwood. It carries none of their baggage, though. Gar is short and blunt, and Woody is there if you want warmth instead.
- Origin: English
- Meaning: Triangular forest
- Pronunciation: GAAR-Wuhd
- Variations: Garrwode, Garrwood, Garwode
- Popularity: Garwood last appeared in U.S. records in 1957 at 4,192nd and has not charted since. Its best year was 1935 at 3,078th.
Griswald
Griswald is built from the Old English greosn, meaning gravel, and weald, meaning woodland, which together give the gray forest. Griswolds Farm in Warwickshire is thought to be part of the story. The name is heavy in the way that old English compounds usually are, though Griz waits inside it for a lighter, everyday version.
- Origin: English
- Meaning: Grey forest
- Pronunciation: GRIHS-Waold
- Variations: Griswalde, Griswold
- Popularity: You will not find Griswald in U.S. name rankings. The federal data starts at five births a year and Griswald stays under it.
Guido
Guido means guide and leader, and despite the thoroughly Italian sound it may come from the Old German Wido, meaning wood. It became very popular in medieval Italy and stayed there. American parents should know the name carries a modern slang use in the U.S. that has nothing to do with forests. In Italy and Germany, none of that applies.
- Origin: Italian, German
- Meaning: Forest guide
- Pronunciation: GWIY-Dow
- Variations: Guidoh, Gwido, Gwydo
- Namesakes: Guido Guerrini, an Italian rally driver and winner of the 2017 FIA Alternative Energies Cup. Guido Cantz, a German TV presenter of Verstehen Sie Spaß? Since 2010.
- Popularity: Guido ranked 11,405th in the U.S. in 2024 and did not chart in 2025. It peaked at 525th in 1913 and is down about 17 percent on the previous decade.
Harwood
Harwood means dweller by the forest with the deer. It is built from the Old English hor, meaning muddy, and wod, meaning wood. The various Harwoods and Harewoods scattered across England may instead go back to har, meaning gray. Either way it names a place rather than a person. The name reads formal and slightly grand. It shortens to Harry without any trouble at all.
- Origin: English
- Meaning: Deer wooded area
- Pronunciation: HHAAR-Wuhd
- Variations: Hartwood
- Namesakes: Harwood Williams, a Kittitian cricketer for the Leeward Islands. Harwood Sturtevant, the Episcopal bishop of the Diocese of Fond du Lac, Wisconsin.
- Popularity: Harwood last charted in the U.S. in 1968 at 4,367th. Its best placement was 1,841st in 1919.
Hraefnscaga
Hraefnscaga is the least documented name here, and the meaning is essentially all there is: a person from the raven forest. It rests on the Old English hraefn, the raven, a bird that carried real weight in Viking culture as well. Nobody is going to spell this correctly on a first hearing, or a fifth, which is why it works best as a middle name that delivers the whole mood without asking a child to defend it daily.
- Origin: English
- Meaning: From the raven forest
- Pronunciation: Unknown
- Popularity: Hraefnscaga has never appeared in U.S. baby name data, which publishes only names given to at least five American babies in a year.
Hurst
Hurst is thought to be the English answer to the German Horst. The Old English hyrst covers a hillock and a wooded rise. As a given name it points specifically at a thicket of trees. That is a good hiding place. That is most of the charm, actually. One firm syllable, no nickname needed, and it works as easily in the middle slot as the first.
- Origin: English, German
- Meaning: Dweller in a grove
- Pronunciation: HHERST
- Variations: Horst
- Popularity: Hurst last charted in the U.S. in 1934 at 3,915th. Its best placement was 3,606th in 1915, and it has not returned since.
Idra
Idra means fig tree, which is not the association the sound suggests at all. Fig trees have stood for wealth and plenty for as long as anyone has grown them, so the meaning is a generous one to hand a daughter. Four letters and two syllables make it about as light as a name can be, and it sits near Ida and Indra without being either.
- Origin: Hebrew
- Meaning: Fig tree
- Pronunciation: IH-Drah
- Namesakes: Idra Novey, an American writer whose novel Those Who Knew won the 2017 Sami Rohr Prize.
- Popularity: Idra sits below the U.S. reporting line. The Social Security Administration publishes a name only once five or more American babies receive it in a single year.
Ilana
Ilana simply means tree. It was traditionally given to babies born during the Jewish New Year of the Trees in January. That is one of the few genuinely seasonal naming customs still in use. It also reads as oak tree in some sources. Three open syllables give it a warmth that Elana and Alana share. A different first letter is doing the work there.
- Origin: Hebrew
- Meaning: Beautiful tree
- Pronunciation: Ih-LAEN-Ah
- Variations: Ilaina
- Namesakes: Ilana Dupont, a Canadian Paralympic athlete and bronze medalist at the 2008 Summer Paralympics. Ilana Vered, an Israeli pianist who played with the New York Philharmonic.
- Popularity: Ilana ranked 2,496th in the U.S. in 2025 with 71 babies named, roughly level with the previous decade. Its best placement was 1,184th in 1987.
Javier
Javier is the Spanish form of Xavier, carried into wide use by Saint Francis Xavier. The Basque root behind Xavier means new house, but Javier is also a Hindi name covering flower, victorious, forest and green branches, and that second thread is what earns it a place on this list. Javier itself ranks 274th in the U.S., a solidly recognized name in its own right.
- Origin: Spanish, Latin
- Meaning: Forest
- Pronunciation: Hhae-viy-EHR
- Namesakes: Javier Bardem, a Spanish actor and Oscar winner for No Country for Old Men (2007). Javier Báez, a Puerto Rican baseball player for the Detroit Tigers.
- Popularity: Javier ranked 274th in the U.S. in 2025 with 1,252 babies named, down about 19 percent on the previous decade. Its best placement was 149th in 1998.
Kanana
Kanana means grove and works as the feminine form of Kanan. It also turns up in Hawaii, meaning “beautiful” and garden. That is a soft landing for a Sanskrit name. The three matching syllables give it a rocking rhythm. That rhythm suits a baby especially well, and it pairs cleanly with a shorter, harder-edged middle name.
- Origin: Indian, Sanskrit
- Meaning: Forest
- Pronunciation: Kaa-NAH-naa
- Variations: Kanani
- Popularity: Kanana does not turn up in U.S. rankings at all. The federal count only starts once a name reaches five babies in a year, a line Kanana has not crossed.
Karri
Karri is named for the Western Australian karri forest and the eucalyptus that fills it, one of the tallest hardwoods anywhere. That makes it one of the most direct forest names on this list, even though the sound is casual and friendly. It reads as a nickname to American ears, closer to Carrie than to a botanical term, so the meaning stays invisible until someone tells the story.
- Origin: Scandinavian
- Meaning: Forest
- Pronunciation: KARE-iy
- Variations: Karey
- Namesakes: Karri Hietamäki, a Finnish cross-country skier and silver medalist at the 1995 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships. Karri Turner, an American TV actress appearing in the series JAG (1997 to 2005).
- Popularity: Karri ranked 11,405th in the U.S. in 2025 with eight babies named, up about 32 percent on the previous decade. Its best placement was 725th in 1976.
Keita
In West Africa, Keita comes from the Keita clan and the root keetaa, meaning to inherit. It also means “blessing”. It separately exists as a Japanese boy’s name. That gives it two unrelated homes. Two syllables, phonetic spelling, no adjustment needed in English. It is one of the more practical unisex options here.
- Origin: Gaelic, West African
- Meaning: Forest
- Pronunciation: KAEY-Tah
- Namesakes: Keita Baldé, a Senegalese footballer for Spartak Moscow. Keith Mildon (known as Keita Meretana), a New Zealand wrestler and winner of the 1959 NWA New Zealand Heavyweight Championship.
- Popularity: Keita ranked 13,001st in the U.S. in 2025 with five babies named, down about 21 percent on the previous decade. Its best placement was 1,747th in 1981.
Kezia
Spelled Keziah, this is the name of one of Job’s daughters in the Hebrew Bible. It also carries restored to the heart of God, though it is best known for the cassia tree, the source of most of the cinnamon on grocery shelves. That makes it a spice name and a tree name at once. Kezzie is the short form, and it is a good deal more playful than the biblical weight suggests.
- Origin: Hebrew, African
- Meaning: Cassia tree
- Pronunciation: KEH-ziy-Ah
- Variations: Keziah, Kesiah
- Namesakes: Princess Kezia Rukidi of Toro, the wife of King George Rukidi III of Toro (1904 to 1965).
- Popularity: Kezia ranked 2,840th in the U.S. in 2025 with 60 babies named, holding steady on the previous decade. Its best placement was 1,958th in 1979.
Kimberly
Kimberly also reads as from the royal fortress meadow, and it was first tied to Cyneburg’s field, a royal forest in England. That royal woodland is the forest connection, buried under decades of use as an ordinary American girls’ name. Its enormous run in the 1960s means most people now hear a generation rather than a meaning. Kimberley Nixon and Kimberley Edwards both carried it into entertainment careers decades after that peak, proof the name outlasts any one era.
- Origin: English
- Meaning: From the wood of the royal forest
- Pronunciation: KIHM-ber-Liy
- Variations: Kimberley, Kimberle, Kimberlee, Kimberleigh
- Namesakes: Kimberley Nixon, a Welsh actress known for the BBC One period drama Cranford. Kimberley Edwards, an English pop singer and finalist on the eighth series of The X Factor in 2011.
- Popularity: Kimberly ranked 303rd in the U.S. in 2025 with 1,009 babies named, down about 57 percent on the previous decade. Its best placement was second in 1966.
Kirkwood
Kirkwood means at the kirk wood, for a family living in the wood beside the church. It is also a place in Scotland, and like a good number of woodland names it started life as a surname before anyone used it up front. The two halves are both plain words, which keeps it from sounding invented. Kirk carries it day to day.
- Origin: English, Scottish
- Meaning: Church forest
- Pronunciation: KERK-Wuhd
- Variations: Kerkwood, Kirkwode, Kurkwood, Kyrkwode, Kyrkwood
- Namesakes: Kirkwood Otey, the commanding officer of the 11th Virginia Infantry in the Confederate Army during the American Civil War.
- Popularity: Kirkwood last charted in the U.S. in 1989 at 8,630th. Its best placement was 3,522nd in 1914.
Lam
Lam comes from a Chinese surname meaning forest and is widely used by Chinese communities in Vietnam. In Vietnamese it also carries the first, which is a fitting thing for an eldest child. It is a common American surname and an uncommon first name, a gap that makes it quietly usable. One syllable, no spelling questions, and it fits in front of almost anything.
- Origin: Chinese
- Meaning: Woods
- Pronunciation: LAAM
- Namesakes: Lam Ka Wai, a Hong Kong footballer for the Hong Kong Rangers. Lam Chi-chung, a Hong Kong actor appearing in the film The Sexy Guys (2019).
- Popularity: Lam ranked 13,120th in the U.S. in 2025 with five babies named, roughly level with the previous decade. Its best placement was 1,988th in 1983.
Laragh
Laragh rests on the Gaelic Laithreach, meaning the site or ruins of a building, which is a stranger and better image than most nature names offer. It is also a village in County Wicklow, deep in Ireland’s wooded east. The spelling looks difficult and the pronunciation is not. For parents who want an Irish name that nobody in the room has already used, this is the pick.
- Origin: Irish
- Meaning: Bay laurel
- Pronunciation: LAHR-ah
- Namesakes: Laragh McCann, an Irish model with Ford Models Europe.
- Popularity: Laragh carries no U.S. ranking to speak of. Federal birth data only counts a name once five babies a year receive it, and Laragh has never crossed that line.
Lin
Lin works as a first name and surname in China and collects meanings as it goes: forest, trees, sun goddess and gemstone all attach to it. The forest reading is the oldest and the most used. It is one of the shortest entries here, at just three letters. It also sits inside Linh, Linn and Lynn, so the spelling you choose does real work here.
- Origin: Chinese
- Meaning: Forest, words
- Pronunciation: LIHN
- Variations: Linh, Linn, Lynn
- Namesakes: Lin Junq-tzer, the Governor of Taiwan Province from 2010 to 2016. Lin Fangling, a Chinese badminton player and gold medalist at the 2019 World junior championships.
- Popularity: Lin ranked 12,636th in the U.S. in 2025 with seven babies named, roughly level with the previous decade. Its best placement was 1,667th in 1952.
Lynn
Lynn began as an Old English surname meaning forest, then picked up waterfall, pool and pond along the way. Most Americans know it as a nickname for Linda or as the middle name their mother has. That middle-name habit has kept it in circulation while the first-name use fell away. Four letters, one syllable, and it slots in front of or behind almost any name you pair it with.
- Origin: English, Welsh
- Meaning: Beautiful jade green forest
- Pronunciation: LIHN
- Variations: Lynne
- Namesakes: Lynn Flewelling, an American fantasy fiction author whose novel Luck in the Shadows was a Locus Magazine Editor’s Pick for Best First Novel. Lynn Jennings, an American runner and bronze medalist at the 1992 Summer Olympics.
- Popularity: Lynn ranked 2,558th in the U.S. in 2025 with 69 babies named, down about 23 percent on the previous decade. Its best placement was 58th in 1956.
Maryweld
Maryweld means Mary of the woods and also Maria of the forest. It is a small piece of evidence of nature-based religion and Christianity being folded into one name, which is not something most baby name lists can show you. The two halves are both familiar even though the whole is not. Mary carries it in daily use, with the forest half kept in reserve.
- Origin: English
- Meaning: Mary of the woods
- Pronunciation: MEH-riy-Wehld
- Variations: Mariweld
- Popularity: Maryweld is off the U.S. charts entirely. Fewer than five American babies a year carry it, so federal records leave it out.
Metsa
Metsa is the Finnish word for a forest or wood, and it covers any remote stretch of trees. In Estonian, metsa carries the sense of going to the forest, which is a fair description of what most people want from one. Two syllables and a clean phonetic spelling make it easy in English. It is the Nordic option on this list that does not sound heavy.
- Origin: Finnish
- Meaning: Woman of the forest
- Pronunciation: MEHT-Sah
- Variations: Metsah
- Popularity: The U.S. data has no entry for Metsa. Names below five births a year go unpublished, which places it among the genuinely rare.
Moriko
Moriko joins the Japanese mori, meaning forest, to ko, meaning child, which makes it about as literal as forest child gets. It is used for the sacred grove that surrounds a Shinto shrine. The rhythm is even and easy, three light syllables with no hard sounds. Mori works alone if the full name feels formal.
- Origin: Japanese
- Meaning: Forest child
- Pronunciation: MOW-riy-Kow
- Variations: Mariko
- Popularity: Moriko has no U.S. ranking. It has never reached the five-births-a-year line that federal baby name data requires before publishing a name.
Morio
Morio traditionally refers to a forest or a grove, and it also means “protector,” which is a strong pairing for one short name. It is the masculine counterpart to Moriko and shares the same mori root. Three vowel-heavy syllables keep it soft rather than blunt. Mo is right there when a nickname is wanted.
- Origin: Japanese
- Meaning: Forest boy
- Pronunciation: MOW-riy-Ow
- Variations: Moryo
- Namesakes: Morio Kita (pen name of Sokichi Saitō), a Japanese writer and winner of the 1960 Akutagawa Prize for In The Corner Of Night And Fog. Morio Higaonna, a Japanese founder of the International Okinawan Goju-ryu Karate-do Federation.
- Popularity: Morio last charted in the U.S. in 1987 at 7,762nd. Its best placement was 3,419th in 1924.
Nahele
Nahele is Cherokee in origin and also lives as a Hawaiian name, where it means tree grove and forest. Two traditions arriving at nearly the same meaning is unusual and makes the name feel less borrowed than most. Three syllables, all open, all easy. Nah and Lele both work as short forms depending on which half you like.
- Origin: Native American
- Meaning: Forest
- Pronunciation: Naa-HHEH-Leh
- Variations: Naheal, Naheel, Naheil, Naheyl, Nahiel
- Popularity: Nahele sits below the U.S. publication line. Federal data withholds any name given to fewer than five American babies in a year.
Nemorio
Nemorio goes back to the Latin nemorius, meaning inhabitant of the forest and woods. The same word stretches to cover a jungle or a sacred grove, so the name is not limited to one kind of green. Four syllables give it a formal, almost ecclesiastical sound.
- Origin: Latin
- Meaning: Belongs to the sacred forest
- Pronunciation: Neh-MAOR-iy-Ow
- Popularity: Nemorio does not appear in U.S. birth data at all. The Social Security count only begins once a name reaches five babies born in a year, and Nemorio has not gotten there.
Nikunja
Nikunja derives from the Hindi Nikunjavana. In Hindu tradition it named one of twelve small forest groves in Vrindavan, called upavanas, which is a far more specific origin than most nature names can claim. Outside India it is barely used, where it is considered a spiritually based name. Niku is the natural short form.
- Origin: Hindi
- Meaning: Grove of trees
- Pronunciation: Nih-KUHN-Jhah
- Popularity: Nikunja has never appeared in U.S. baby name data, which publishes only names given to at least five American babies in a year.
Nowles
Nowles rests on the English surname Knowles, which describes a dweller at the hilltop. The forest reading, forest cove, points somewhere lower and more sheltered. It is the kind of name that sounds like it should be common and simply is not. The silent K version is far better known, so expect Nowles to be respelled at least once by everyone who writes it down.
- Origin: English
- Meaning: Forest bay
- Pronunciation: NOWLZ
- Variations: Knolls, Knowles, Nowels, Nowle
- Popularity: Nowles is absent from U.S. name rankings. The Social Security Administration only publishes a name after five American babies get it in one year, a mark Nowles has not reached.
Oakley
Oakley is an English surname meaning from the meadow near the oak trees, built from the Middle English oke and ley. The person behind it was a dweller at the oak meadow. It works for a boy or a girl without any adjustment, which is a large part of why it has climbed so quickly. That 673 percent rise over the last decade is the steepest climb of any name on this list.
- Origin: English
- Meaning: Oak meadow
- Pronunciation: OWK-Liy
- Variations: Oaklee
- Namesakes: Oakley Hall, an American writer whose book Warlock was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1958. Oakley C. Collins, a member of the Ohio Senate from 1975 to 1986.
- Popularity: Oakley ranked 156th in the U.S. in 2025 with 1,933 babies named, up about 673 percent on the previous decade. That is the largest rise of any name on this list, and its best placement was 153rd in 2023.
Oihane
Oihane is Basque, meaning from the forest and simply wilderness. It splits neatly by gender when a family wants it to: Oihan for boys and Oihana for girls. The spelling asks English speakers to work, since the h does not land where they expect. It is one of the more distinctly regional names here and one of the least likely to be duplicated at school.
- Origin: Spanish, Basque
- Meaning: From the forest
- Pronunciation: OY-Hheyn
- Variations: Oihaen, Oihaene, Oihain, Oihaine, Oihanne, Oihayn
- Namesakes: Oihane Hernández, a Spanish footballer for the Spain women’s national team. Oihane Otaegi, a Spanish curler, and a 2018 World mixed silver medallist.
- Popularity: Oihane has never charted in U.S. birth data. Fewer than five American babies a year have carried it, which keeps it below the federal publishing line.
Oswald
Oswald comes from the Old German Ostold, joining ost, meaning south, to walt, meaning to rule. Older cousins include the Germanic Answald and the Norse Asvaldr. It is a heavy, formal name that spent decades out of fashion and is now climbing again. It suits a child who will grow comfortably into a formal, old-fashioned name rather than need a lighter one.
- Origin: English, German
- Meaning: Man from the south of the forest
- Pronunciation: AAZ-Waold
- Variations: Osvald, Oswalde, Osweald, Oswold
- Namesakes: Oswald Karch, a German race car driver who competed in the 1953 German Grand Prix. Oswald Johnson, an American member of the Wisconsin State Assembly in 1943.
- Popularity: Oswald ranked 2,161st in the U.S. in 2025 with 67 babies named, up about 187 percent on the previous decade. It peaked in 1914, bottomed out in 1996, and has since recovered nearly eight times over, the biggest revival of any name on this list.
Parker
Parker was the occupational surname for the keeper of a park, which in medieval terms meant a gamekeeper minding enclosed woodland. It also connects to the Old French parchier. Of all the surname-style names here, this is the one that already sounds like a first name to American ears. It works for a boy or a girl and has held near the top 100 for years.
- Origin: English, French
- Meaning: Park keeper
- Pronunciation: PAARK-er
- Variations: Parkar
- Namesakes: Parker Hesse, an American football player for the Atlanta Falcons. Parker Mitchell, a Canadian co-founder of Engineers Without Borders.
- Popularity: Parker ranked 102nd in the U.S. in 2025 with 3,477 babies named, down about 11 percent on the previous decade. Its best placement was 72nd in 2015.
Perrie
Perrie is the Gaelic word for pear tree, though in Old English it turns instead toward traveler and wanderer, a sense that traces back to the Latin peregrinus, meaning stranger. That gives it an orchard on one side and a road on the other. The ie ending reads soft and modern, and Perry is the sturdier spelling if you want it to age differently.
- Origin: Gaelic, French
- Meaning: Dweller by the pear tree
- Pronunciation: PEH-Riy
- Variations: Perry
- Namesakes: Pierre “Perrie” Mans, a South African snooker player and winner of the South African Professional Championship in 1965. Perrie Edwards, an English singer and a member of the British girl group Little Mix.
- Popularity: Perrie ranked 7,062nd in the U.S. in 2025 with 16 babies named, up about 80 percent on the previous decade. Its best placement was 3,320th in 1960.
Poovannan
Poovannan means forest of flowers and garden of flowers, one of the prettier readings on this list. In India it is a Tamil name often used for “handsome boys” and a king of flowers. Three syllables with the double n in the middle give it a steady rhythm. Poo will not survive an American playground, so Vannan is the short form to plan for.
- Origin: Hindi, Sanskrit
- Meaning: Flower forest
- Pronunciation: POO-vah-Naan
- Popularity: Poovannan carries no U.S. ranking. The five-births-a-year threshold that federal data requires before publishing a name is one it has not reached.
Ranger
Ranger is the English occupational name for one who patrols a forest, and in medieval use it also covered a gamekeeper or warden. The Middle English range(n) sits behind it, meaning to arrange. There may be a link to the German name Ranghari as well. It is the most action-movie name on this list and it is climbing fast, so it will not stay unusual for long.
- Origin: French
- Meaning: Forest guardian
- Pronunciation: REYN-Jher
- Variations: Raenger, Rainger, Reinger
- Popularity: Ranger ranked 1,582nd in the U.S. in 2025 with 108 babies named, up about 212 percent on the previous decade. Its best placement was 1,444th in 2022.
Raskogr
Raskogr is perhaps the least heard of all the names that mean woods, and it may be an unusual older form of Roscoe. Beyond the Norse meaning, someone from the deer forest, there is no record of anyone carrying it. That is either the appeal or the warning, depending on the parent. The consonant cluster at the end makes it a hard sell as a first name and a good one as a middle.
- Origin: Norse
- Meaning: From the deer forest
- Pronunciation: Unknown
- Popularity: Raskogr has never appeared in U.S. baby name data, which publishes only names given to at least five American babies in a year.
Rinji
Rinji is a lesser-known Japanese boys’ name that carries dignity and majesty alongside the peaceful forest reading. Those senses fit together better than most double meanings do. Two crisp syllables make it easy anywhere in the English-speaking world. It is a good option for parents who want a Japanese name that is not Kenji or Renji.
- Origin: Japanese
- Meaning: Peaceful forest
- Pronunciation: RIHN-Yiy
- Variations: Rinjee, Rinjey, Rinjie, Rinjy
- Popularity: Rinji sits below the U.S. reporting line. The Social Security Administration publishes a name only once five or more American babies receive it in a single year.
Riodhr
Very little is recorded about Riodhr. It places its bearer in a clearing in the forest and stops there, leaving everything after that open. The spelling is Norse and unforgiving, with the dhr ending doing most of the damage. Anyone choosing it should expect to say it twice, always.
- Origin: Norse
- Meaning: Dwells in the clearing in the forest
- Pronunciation: RIY-Owd-ehr
- Popularity: Riodhr sits outside U.S. birth records entirely. Federal data only picks up a name once it reaches five babies in a year, a threshold Riodhr has never met.
Roscoe
As an English surname Roscoe means swift horse, but as a first name it is better known as deer wood. It comes from the Old Norse ra, meaning roe deer, and skogr, meaning wood. The name spent most of a century sliding and has begun climbing again, which puts it in the same vintage-revival lane as Oswald and Woody. Ross is the short form that hides the whole thing.
- Origin: Norse
- Meaning: Deer forest
- Pronunciation: RAOS-Kow
- Namesakes: Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle, an American silent film actor who introduced Buster Keaton to the movie business. Roscoe Thompson, an American NASCAR driver inducted into the Georgia Racing Hall of Fame in 2006.
- Popularity: Roscoe ranked 2,248th in the U.S. in 2025 with 63 babies named, up about 58 percent on the previous decade. Its best placement was 210th in 1915.
Seda
Seda carries echo through the woods in Armenian, and in Portuguese it is a girls’ name meaning silk. Some read it as the forest voices you hear when nobody else is around. Two soft syllables give it the same ease as Sena or Neda. It is one of the more atmospheric names here that is still simple to spell.
- Origin: Armenian
- Meaning: Spirit of the forest
- Pronunciation: SAYEH-Dah
- Variations: Sedda, Sedah, Seyda
- Namesakes: Seda Yörükler, a Turkish handballer for the Turkish national team. Seda Tutkhalyan, a Russian artistic gymnast and the 2014 Youth Olympic Games Individual All-around Champion.
- Popularity: Seda ranked 11,768th in the U.S. in 2025 with eight babies named, up about 16 percent on the previous decade. Its best placement was 5,692nd in 1986.
Silas
Silas rests on the Latin Silvanus, meaning woods, and on Sylvanus, the Roman god of the forest. It was first given to people who lived among the trees or worked with wood for a living. That plain occupational start is now buried under a very fashionable sound. If you want a forest name that will not need explaining at any point, this is the one.
- Origin: Greek, Latin
- Meaning: Forest, wood
- Pronunciation: SAEY-Lahs
- Variations: Sylas, Sylus, Silus
- Namesakes: Silas Melson, an American basketball player for Petkim Spor. Silas Tertius Rand Bill, a Nova Scotia member of the House of Commons of Canada in 1878.
- Popularity: Silas ranked 71st in the U.S. in 2025 with 4,639 babies named, its best placement on record and up about 110 percent on the previous decade. It is the highest-ranked name on this list.
Sylvanus
Sylvanus is an alternate spelling of the Roman Silvanus, god of forests and fields. The Latin silva means wood, and the god was called on to honor the boundaries between one piece of land and the next. It is the full formal version of Silas and shares none of its popularity. Three syllables and a classical ending make it read like a name from a Latin text, which is more or less what it is.
- Origin: Latin, Greek
- Meaning: God of the forest
- Pronunciation: Sihl-VAEY-nahs
- Variations: Silvanos
- Namesakes: Sylvanus Percival Vivian, the 7th Registrar General of England and Wales from 1921 to 1945. Sylvanus Okpala, a Nigerian footballer for the Nigeria national football team.
- Popularity: Sylvanus ranked 13,658th in the U.S. in 2025 with five babies named, roughly one in every 333,333 American births. That makes it the rarest name on this list that still charts at all.
Sylvester
Sylvester means of the woods, from the Latin silvestris, meaning wooded or wild. Despite those thoroughly pagan roots, three popes have carried it. Between the cartoon cat and the action star, most people already have a Sylvester in mind before they meet yours. Sly and Vester are the two very different nicknames available.
- Origin: Latin, Greek
- Meaning: Of the woods
- Pronunciation: Sihl-VEHST-er
- Variations: Silvester
- Namesakes: Sylvester Levay (born Lévay Szilveszter), a Hungarian musician and Grammy winner for his 1975 song “Fly Robin Fly.” Sylvester Terkay, an American wrestler and Ultimate Pro Wrestling’s first Heavyweight Champion.
- Popularity: Sylvester ranked 2,224th in the U.S. in 2025 with 64 babies named, holding steady on the previous decade. Its best placement was 157th in 1913.
Tallis
Tallis is a modern English form of Thales, and it does not stop there. In Persian it means wise, in Welsh it covers forest and from the woods, and it even stretches to shining forehead. Few names carry four unrelated meanings this comfortably. It sounds like Ellis and Wallace without being either, which is a useful place to sit.
- Origin: Welsh, Persian
- Meaning: Woodland
- Pronunciation: TAEL-ihs
- Variations: Talas, Tales, Talys
- Namesakes: Tallis Obed Moses, the president of Vanuatu from 2017 to 2022.
- Popularity: Tallis last charted in the U.S. in 2019 at 10,679th. Its best placement was 5,759th in 1977.
Tane
In Maori tradition, Tane is the god of forests and birds together, which is a wider brief than most forest deities get. In Polynesian languages the word also means man and male. That gives the name a plain, grounded reading underneath the mythology. Two syllables with an open ending keep it light.
- Origin: Polynesian, Maori
- Meaning: God of forests
- Pronunciation: TAA-Ney
- Variations: Tain, Taine, Tayn, Tayne
- Namesakes: Tane Nikolov, a Bulgarian revolutionary in the wars for National unification of Bulgaria. Tane Norton, a New Zealand rugby union player for the All Blacks.
- Popularity: Tane last charted in the U.S. in 2012 at 13,979th. Its best placement was 9,774th in 1999, and it first appeared in the data that same year.
Tauriel
Tauriel is the only invented name on this list. It comes from Tolkien’s Sindarin and means daughter of Mirkwood and daughter of the forest. The invention shows in the best way, since it was built to sound elvish and it does. Even readers who miss the reference hear something graceful, and it reads well as a standalone name without needing a shortened form for daily use.
- Origin: Tolkien
- Meaning: Forest maiden
- Pronunciation: TAO-riy-Ehl
- Popularity: Tauriel ranked 11,826th in the U.S. in 2025 with eight babies named, down about 41 percent on the previous decade. It first charted in 2014, after the character appeared in Tolkien’s screen adaptations, and peaked at 3,981st in 2015.
Upwood
Upwood began as an English surname for a person living near a place called Upwood, and it reads as from the upper forest. There is no first-name record to speak of. The two halves are ordinary words, which keeps it from sounding invented even though it is unfamiliar. Anyone drawn to Harwood or Garwood should look at this one too.
- Origin: English
- Meaning: Upper forest
- Pronunciation: UHP-Wuhd
- Popularity: Upwood does not show up in U.S. birth records. The name has never reached five American babies in a single year, the point where federal data starts counting.
Vanisa
Vanisa also means “butterfly” in Greek, and it is possibly related to Vanessa. The forest reading, goddess of the forest, comes through the Hindi thread instead. It is the more interesting sister to a name most people already know. Three syllables and a familiar shape make it easy to wear despite the rarity.
- Origin: Greek, Hindi
- Meaning: Goddess of the forest
- Pronunciation: Vae-nih-ZAH
- Popularity: Vanisa last charted in the U.S. in 1990 at 11,369th. Its best placement was 9,303rd in 1970.
Vedia
Vedia is one of the least known names meaning woods, and it is also a town in Buenos Aires province. It carries holy goddess alongside the holy spirit of the forest reading, so the whole name leans spiritual. Three syllables give it the same shape as Nadia and Lydia. It is a good middle name for parents who want the meaning without the explaining.
- Origin: Maori
- Meaning: Holy spirit of the forest
- Pronunciation: VEH-diy-Ah
- Popularity: Vedia last charted in the U.S. in 1966 at 5,795th. Its best placement was 4,634th in 1954.
Walker
Besides meaning forester, Walker is an English occupational name for a fuller of cloth, a job that involved a great deal of walking on wet wool. It rests on the Old English wealcere. The name had a strong run in the late 1800s and now reads as a surname turned first name, which is exactly the style parents are choosing. It has climbed about 299 percent over the past decade.
- Origin: English
- Meaning: Someone who walks in the forest
- Pronunciation: WAOLK-er
- Variations: Walkar, Walkir, Walkor
- Namesakes: Walker Evans, an American photographer known for his photographs of the Great Depression. Walker Duehr, an American ice hockey player for the Calgary Flames.
- Popularity: Walker ranked 78th in the U.S. in 2025 with 4,204 babies named, up about 299 percent on the previous decade. It is one of only three names on this list currently inside the U.S. top 100.
Waverley
Waverley means meadow of quivering aspens, one of the more specific images any name on this list offers. It started as a surname taken from a place and has found new use as a unisex given name. Waverly is the shorter spelling some parents choose instead, so pick deliberately between the two. Either spelling sits easily next to a one-syllable middle name.
- Origin: English
- Meaning: Rippling meadow
- Pronunciation: WEY-ver-Liy
- Variations: Waverly, Waverlie
- Popularity: Waverley ranked 7,864th in the U.S. in 2025 with 14 babies named, up about 113 percent on the previous decade. Its best placement was 5,015th in 2022.
Woody
Woody is a vintage pet form of Woodrow, tied to the Middle English wode, meaning wood. It was given to woodcutters, foresters and anyone living among the trees. Nothing on this list sounds more like the forest without actually saying it. Between Guthrie, the cowboy doll and the filmmaker, it also arrives with a lot of company, so it is best chosen with a formal name behind it.
- Origin: English
- Meaning: From the lane in the woods
- Pronunciation: WUWH-Diy
- Variations: Woodie
- Namesakes: Woody Guthrie, an American singer-songwriter known for “This Land Is Your Land.” Woody Upchurch, an American baseball player for the Philadelphia Athletics.
- Popularity: Woody ranked 8,220th in the U.S. in 2025 with ten babies named, up about 62 percent on the previous decade. It peaked at 600th in 1944.
Xylon
Xylon is the ancient Greek word for woods and forest, and it also describes someone who lives in one. The X opening does most of the work here, giving a very old word a science-fiction edge. It sits near Dylan and Xander in sound while belonging to neither. For parents who want the meaning to be literal and the sound to be modern, this is the compromise.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: From the forest
- Pronunciation: ZIY-Laan
- Variations: Xilon
- Popularity: Xylon ranked 6,125th in the U.S. in 2025 with 15 babies named, up about 49 percent on the previous decade. Its best placement was 4,337th in 2023.
Yaen
Yaen means ostrich in Hebrew, which is not a meaning any other name here can claim. It is used for boys and girls across several Asian countries. The bird itself is not a forest animal, so the connection is to the wider animal life at a forest edge or clearing. It is a strange, memorable pick, and strange is clearly the point.
- Origin: Hebrew
- Meaning: Ostrich
- Pronunciation: YAYNE
- Popularity: Yaen has no listing in U.S. birth data. A name only gets published once it reaches five babies in a year, and Yaen has stayed under that count.
Yardley
Yardley is one of the more traditional woodland names to come out of Old English, built from gerd, meaning rod spear, and leah, meaning woodland clearing. It also reads as a dweller at the meadow pasture. The ley ending puts it in the same family as Oakley and Waverley, which is good company on a list like this. It works for a boy or a girl and shortens to Yard or Lee.
- Origin: English
- Meaning: Fenced meadow
- Pronunciation: YAERD-Liy
- Variations: Yardlee, Yardleigh, Yardlie, Yardly
- Namesakes: Athol Yardley Meyer, an Australian journalist at the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Charles Yardley Turner, an American painter and one of the founders of the Art Students League of New York in 1875.
- Popularity: Yardley last charted in the U.S. in 2021 at 13,411th and is down about 30 percent on the previous decade. Its best placement was 10,216th in 2013.
