Fourth of July Baby Names: Inspired by Summer, July, and Independence Day

Fireworks blazing against  a sky of deepening blue, sparklers crackling bright, and the lake shore: these are the images that the 4^th of July brings to my mind. It’s an American holiday with proud and patriotic panache, and an impressive pedigree. Though many of us appreciate the Fourth for its traditions—barbecues, lazy summer evenings, and red, white, and blue popsicles, Independence Day also turn out to be a fantastic inspiration for baby names. For this blog, I’ve put together a list of names illuminated in summer sunlight, and steeped in a brave historical background. From color names like Azure to Revolutionary War hero names like Thaddeus, here are my picks for Fourth of July-inspired appellations:

Revolutionary War Heroes and early American icons:

Revere (Paul)

Washington (George)

Jefferson (Thomas)

Ross (Betsy)

Sybil (Ludington)

Thaddeus (Kosciuszko)

Crispus (Attucks)

Hale (Nathan)

Hancock (John)- cool in theory but that last syllable might destroy all promise…

Franklin (Benjamin)

Colors Inspired by Red, White, and Blue:

Meaning red:

Scarlet/Scarlett

Crimson

Redmond

Rory

Rufus

Meaning blue:

Navy

Cobalt

Blue

Azure

Meaning white:

Blanche

Bianca

Ivory

Zurine- Basque name meaning “white,” pronounced: soo-REEN-yuh

Finnian

Candida

Alpin

…Stretches, but still lovely names I couldn’t help but add that have something to do with the color white:

Gwendolen

Bronwen

Olwen

Mairwen

Gwyneth

Gwyneira (Gwyn-ay-ruh)

Guinevere

Fintan

Fingal

Finn

Word Names:

Patriot

America

True

Unity

Summer

Star

Boston

July

Liberty

Brave

Bravery

Land

Free

Justice

Pledge

Anthem

Valor

Lake

Freeman

Names inspired by the month of July, sign Leo and Month Gemstone:

Leo

Leopold

Leonidas

Leonie

Leocadia

Ruby

Julian

Julius

Julia

Juliana

Names meaning Star, from “stars and stripes”

Stella

Asta

Estella

Estelle

Estrella (es-tray-uh)

Star

Names meaning summer or having to do with summer:

Tesni- Girls’ Welsh name meaning “warmth from the sun”

Sunniva- From behindthename.com: Scandinavian form of the Old English name Sunngifu, which meant "sun gift" from the Old English elements sunne "sun" and giefu "gift". This was the name of a legendary English saint who was shipwrecked in Norway and killed by the inhabitants.

Somerled- meaning “summer traveler”

Vera- Derived from Albanian verë "summer"

Suvi- Finnish girls’ name meaning “summer”

Theresa- could be derived from Greek θερος (theros) "summer"

Apollo- god of the sun and light

Helios- “sun” in Greek

Elio- Italian variation of Helios

Marisol- “sea and sun”

Savitri- girls’ name: “relating to the sun” in Sanskrit

Solveig (SOOL-vie)- Norwegian, Swedish: “sun strength”

Sorin- m, Romanian- “sun”

Theia- mother of the sun god Helios