Will your baby be born close to Valentine's Day? How about your wedding anniversary, or some other important love-themed day? If so, consider some baby names that are directly related to the concept of love:

Popular Love Names

Amanda and Amy are by far the most popular love-related names. Amy was consistently one of the top 5 names in the nation during the 1970s, and Amanda was similarly ranked throughout the 1980s. Both names can be traced back to a Latin verb meaning "to love."

Closing in on these two names is Nayeli, which entered the national rankings only recently (in the early 1990s). Nayeli means "I love you" in Zapotec, an indigenous Mesoamerican language still spoken in parts of Mexico.

Finally there's Mabel and Carys. Mabel, though currently out of style, was popular in the early 1900s. It comes from the name Amabel, which (like Amanda) has a Latin root: amabilis, "lovable."

Carys has never been a top-1,000 name, but may still sound familiar to you: it made headlines in 2003 when actors Catherine Zeta-Jones and Michael Douglas chose it for their daughter. Carys is derived from the Welsh word for "love," caru.

Love in Other Languages

Aroha is the word for "love" in Maori, the language of the indigenous people of New Zealand (who are also called the Maori). Several New Zealand placenames, such as Aroha Island and Mount Te Aroha, make use of the word.

Erasmus is based on the Greek word for "beloved." It was also the name of both a famous Dutch scholar (c.1466-1536) and St. Elmo.

In Cornish, a Celtic language which died out in the 18th century (but is currently undergoing a revival), the word for love is Kerensa.

In Sotho, a language primarily spoken in South Africa, the word for "love" is Lerato.

Lubomir, Lyuben and Lyubov are derived from the Slavic element lub, meaning "love." They're most often used in Eastern Europe.

Medad is a male Hebrew name that means "love." This was also the name of a Biblical character (a contemporary of Moses).

Love Names from Literature and Myth

Romeo and Juliet, Tristan and Isolde... these names are famously (but strongly) associated with tragic, romantic love. If you'd prefer something a bit more subtle, how about Laura or Corinna? Both have been immortalized in love poetry--the former by Italian poet Petrarch (1304-1374), the latter by Roman poet Ovid (20 BC-17 AD).

If myth is your thing, you could try names like Venus (which means "love" in Latin) or Aphrodite -- the Roman and Greek goddesses of love, respectively. There's also Kama, the Hindu god of love, and Kama's more masculine-sounding alternate name Dipak.


...And, if you want names that say 'love' as directly as possible, there are always the names Love and Lovie, both of which have been used for either gender.