Baby Names Inspired by Christmas

In every culture, faith or belief, in every corner of the world where religious principles are practiced and cherished, there exists a tradition where beliefs influence the way in which the arrival of a new baby is welcomed as well as the naming tradition that follows it.

Now that sounds like the opening sentence of a doctoral thesis in sociology! Actually it is not meant to be that way. Simply put, if your baby was born during the festive Christmas season, perhaps miraculously on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, or if you are expecting the "good news" around Christmas, it is a wonderful idea to at least consider some of the baby names that have a Christmas association. The sparkling lights, your friends singing your favorite carols, shimmering Christmas trees, the Nativity Scene, and the decorations, a name can surely capture the memories which your family and you can cherish for a lifetime.

The tradition of naming babies by choosing the names of saints, Testament figures and even Biblical personalities all belonging to the Christian cannon, dates as far back as the birth of Christ himself. Although you can find an exhaustive compendium of Christmas baby names on Babynology, we bring to you some of the names we really like along with some anecdotal information about them. Please feel free to check these names out on our website for their history, meanings and origin:-

Top 10 Christmas Baby Boy names

In all the major European cultures such as Anglo Saxon and Celtic cultures, baby boys were often named with the festive season of Christmas in mind. While many of those names are no longer popular, a few continue to be adopted and some have even made it to the top baby names lists:-

1. Casper-- Biblical derivation, one of the three kings who visited Baby Jesus in the Manger.

2. Christian -- Inspired by the Hebrew tradition.

3. Christopher -- Inspired by the Hebrew tradition.

4. Emmanuel -- Inspired by the Hebrew tradition

5. Gabriel -- Boy name with a Biblical derivation and the name of the angel who announced the birth of Lord Jesus Christ

6. Joseph -- Father of Lord Jesus Christ

7. Nicholas -- Greek derivation after Saint Nicholas

8. Noel --The French word for Christmas

9. Rudolph --Teutonic derivation, means a big famous wolf

10. Timothy -- Boy name with a Greek derivation denoting respect and reverence

Top 10 Christmas Baby Girl Names

There are many names for baby girls that can be traced to Christmas and the arrival of Baby Jesus, especially in the Catholic tradition. We bring to you a short list of baby girl names that we like:

1. Angel -- The heavenly spirit entity who announced the arrival of Baby Jesus

2. Avery -- One of the Christmas elves

3. Carol -- Christmas carol

4. Christina -- Bearer of Christ

5. Gloria-- Latin derivation meaning glory as in the glory of Baby Jesus

6. Holly -- Anglo Saxon derivation meaning the ivy tree which shares a significant association with Christmas

7. Mary -- Derived from the Hebrew tradition and the mother of Jesus

8. Natalie --Variant of the name Natalia, Latin derivation meaning Christmas day

9. Natasha -- Variant of the name Natalia, Russian derivation meaning Christmas day

10. Virginia -- Latin derivation, maiden, association with Virgin Mary