Looking for baby names that are associated with the color red — including baby names that mean “red”?
If so, you’ve come to the right place! I’ve collected dozens of options for you in this post.
Before we get to the names, though, let’s take a quick look at what red represents…
Symbolism of red
What does the color red signify?
In Western cultures in particular, red can be symbolic of:
- Love
- Passion
- Strength
- Power
- Danger
- Excitement
- Energy
The link between the color red and emotionally-charged situations may be attributable to the fact that we blush involuntarily when we experience intense feelings (such as anger, lust, or embarrassment).
Baby names associated with red
All of the names below have an association with the color red. The names range from traditional to unusual, and their associations range from strong to slight.
Those that have been popular enough to appear in the U.S. baby name data are linked to their corresponding popularity graphs.
Ahmar
Ahmar is an Arabic masculine name meaning “red.” Here’s the popularity graph for Ahmar.
Akane
Akane is a Japanese feminine name that — depending upon the kanji being used to write the name — can refer to the madder plant (genus Rubia), the dye made from the root of the madder plant, or the purplish-red color of that dye. Here’s the popularity graph for Akane.
Amaranth
Amaranth flowers are frequently red. The genus name Amaranthus is derived from a combination of the Ancient Greek words amarantos, meaning “unfading,” and anthos, meaning “flower.” Here’s the popularity graph for Amaranth.
Amaryllis
Amaryllis flowers are often red. The genus name Amaryllis is derived from the Ancient Greek word amarysso, meaning “to sparkle.” Here’s the popularity graph for Amaryllis.
Anara
Anara is a Kazakh and Kyrgyz feminine name based on the word anar, meaning “pomegranate.” Here’s the popularity graph for Anara.
Azalea
Azalea (pronounced uh-ZAY-lee-uh) flowers are sometimes red. The (obsolete) genus name Azalea is derived from the Ancient Greek word azaleos, meaning “dry.” Here’s the popularity graph for Azalea.
Berry
Berry fruits are frequently red. The Old English word for “berry” was berie. Here’s the popularity graph for Berry.
Brick
Brick is commonly red. In fact, the term “brick red” refers to the brownish-red color of red clay bricks. Here’s the popularity graph for Brick.
Burgundy
Burgundy is a purplish-red color. The name of the shade was inspired by red wine from the region of Burgundy in France. Here’s the popularity graph for Burgundy.
Camellia
Camellia flowers are often red. The genus Camellia is was named in honor of Moravian botanist Georg Joseph Kamel. Here’s the popularity graph for Camellia.
Canna
Canna flowers are sometimes red. The genus name Canna is derived from the Latin word canna, meaning “reed.” Here’s the popularity graph for Canna.
Cardinal
Cardinal is a type of bird, the males of which have red plumage. Cardinals (birds of the genus Cardinalis) were named with the red robes of Roman Catholic cardinals in mind. The common name is ultimately derived from the Latin word cardinalis, meaning “principal, chief.” Here’s the popularity graph for Cardinal.
Carmine
The vocabulary word carmine (pronounced KAHR-mien) refers to the pigment made from the cochineal insect, which lives on prickly pear cacti. By extension, it also refers to the purplish-red color of this pigment. Spanish explorers, who learned of the pigment through the Nahuas (Aztecs), began exporting it to Europe in the early 16th century. Its name (in Europe) is based on the Medieval Latin word carminium — a form of the Arabic word qirmiz, meaning “crimson,” influenced by the Latin word minium, meaning “cinnabar.” The word also happens to be a homograph of the personal name Carmine (pronounced KAHR-mee-neh), which is the Italian masculine form of Carmen. Here’s the popularity graph for Carmine.
Carnelian
Carnelian, a variety of the mineral chalcedony, is often red. The name of the stone ultimately comes from the Latin word cornus, which refers to a type of berry, altered by the influence of the Latin word carneus, meaning “flesh-colored.”
Cerise
Cerise (pronounced su-reez) is the French word for “cherry.” Here’s the popularity graph for Cerise.
Cherry
Cherry fruits are typically red. Cherry trees are part of the genus Prunus. Here’s the popularity graph for Cherry.
Chrysanthemum
Chrysanthemum flowers are sometimes red. The genus name Chrysanthemum is derived from a combination of the Ancient Greek words khrysos, meaning “gold,” and anthemon, meaning “blossom, flower.” Here’s the popularity graph for Chrysanthemum.
Coral
Coral is a pink-orange shade of red. The name of the shade refers to the color of precious coral, which was first discovered in the Mediterranean Sea. Here’s the popularity graph for Coral.
Crimson
Crimson is a deep shade of red. Crimson pigment was originally made from the kermes insect, which lives on evergreen oaks. (The pigment fell out of favor in Europe after the introduction of carmine from the New World in the early 1500s.) Here’s the popularity graph for Crimson.
Dahlia
Dahlia flowers are sometimes red. The genus Dahlia was named in honor of Swedish botanist Anders Dahl. Here’s the popularity graph for Dahlia.
Delima
Delima is an Indonesian feminine name meaning “pomegranate.” Here’s the popularity graph for Delima.
Edom
Edom is a Biblical masculine name based on the Hebrew word ‘adom, meaning “red.” Here’s the popularity graph for Edom.
Erythia
Erythia, based on the Ancient Greek word eruthrós, meaning “red,” was the name of several figures in Greek mythology.
Eztli
Eztli is the Nahuatl word for blood. (Fun fact: The red pigment made from cochineal that Europeans called carmine was called nocheztli, or “prickly pear blood,” by the Nahuas.) Here’s the popularity graph for Eztli.
Flann
Flann is an Irish masculine name meaning “blood red.”
Flannán
Flannán is a diminutive form of Flann.
Garnet
Garnet is a gemstone that is typically dark red. The name of the stone ultimately comes from the Latin word granatum, meaning “pomegranate” (literally, “having many seeds”) — a reference to the resemblance between garnets and pomegranate seeds. Here’s the popularity graph for Garnet.
Garance
Garance is a French feminine name that refers to the madder plant (genus Rubia), the dye made from the root of the madder plant, or the purplish-red color of that dye.
Gladiola
Gladiola refers to Gladiolus, a genus of plants with flowers that are sometimes red. The genus name, meaning “little sword” (a diminutive of the Latin word gladius, “sword”) refers to the shape of the leaves. Here’s the popularity graph for Gladiola.
Gül
Gül (pronounced gool) is a Turkish feminine name meaning “rose.” Here’s the popularity graph for Gül.
Helen
Helen is part of Helenium, a genus of plants with flowers that are sometimes red. The genus was named in honor of Helen of Troy. Here’s the popularity graph for Helen.
Jagoda
Jagoda (pronounced YAH-goh-dah) is a feminine name meaning “strawberry” in Serbian, Croatian, Macedonian, Slovene, and other South Slavic languages.
Jasper
Jasper, an opaque type of microcrystalline quartz, is commonly red. The name of the stone ultimately comes from the Ancient Greek word iaspis. Here’s the popularity graph for Jasper.
Kamala
Kamala is a Hindi feminine name based on the Sanskrit word kamala, meaning “pale red.” Here’s the popularity graph for Kamala.
Kimmernaq
Kimmernaq is a Greenlandic feminine name meaning “lingonberry.”
Kiraz
Kiraz is the Turkish word for “cherry.”
Kirsikka
Kirsikka is the Finnish word for “cherry.”
Lali
Lali is a Georgian feminine name meaning “ruby.” Here’s the popularity graph for Lali.
Lohit
Lohit is a Hindi masculine name based on the Sanskrit word lóhita, meaning “red.”
Mars
The pronoun Mars initially referred to the Roman god of war. Later, when the Ancient Romans chose names for the five visible planets of the solar system, they named the one with the reddish color — which is reminiscent of blood — after the god of war. (The surface of Mars appears reddish due to the presence of iron oxide in the planet’s soil.) Here’s the popularity graph for Mars.
Orchid
Orchid flowers are sometimes red. Orchids are all members of the Orchidaceae family of plants. Here’s the popularity graph for Orchid.
Phoenix
Phoenix refers to the mythical bird, but the name of that bird was based on the Ancient Greek word phoinix, meaning “purple” or “crimson.” Here’s the popularity graph for Phoenix.
Poinsettia
Poinsettia bracts are usually red. “Poinsettia” is the common name of the plant species Euphorbia pulcherrima. The common name commemorates U.S. politician Joel Roberts Poinsett, who introduced the plant to the U.S. (from Mexico) in the 1820s.
Poppy
Poppy flowers are commonly red. The Old English word for “poppy” was popig. Here’s the popularity graph for Poppy.
Raktima
Raktima is the Sanskrit word for “redness.”
Red
Red, of course, refers to the color red. :) Here’s the popularity graph for Red.
Reed and Reid
Reed, also spelled Reid, comes from an English and Scottish surname that can be traced back to the Middle English word for “red.” Here are the popularity graphs for Reed and Reid.
Rimmon
Rimmon is a Hebrew gender-neutral name meaning “pomegranate.”
Rohit
Rohit is a Hindi masculine name based on the Sanskrit word róhita, meaning “red.” Here’s the popularity graph for Rohit.
Rose
The word rose refers to any flowering plant of the genus Rosa, the name of which ultimately derives from the Greek word for the plant, rhodon. Roses come in various colors, but shades of red have long been favored — so much so that the word rose, by extension, has also referred to a pinkish-red or purplish-red color since the early 16th century. Here’s the popularity graph for Rose.
Roth
Roth comes from a German surname that can be traced back to the Middle High German word rot, meaning “red.” It was originally a nickname for a red-haired person. Here’s the popularity graph for Roth.
Rowan
Rowan is an Anglicized form of Ruadhán. Here’s the popularity graph for Rowan.
Roy
Roy is an Anglicized form of Ruadh. Here’s the popularity graph for Roy.
Ruadh
Ruadh (pronounced roo-ah) means “red” or “red-haired” in Irish and Scottish Gaelic.
Ruadhán
Ruadhán is a diminutive form of Ruadh.
Rubina
Rubina is a Portuguese and Italian and feminine name meaning “ruby.” Here’s the popularity graph for Rubina.
Ruby
The word ruby refers to the red variety of the mineral corundum. By extension, it also refers to the red color of these crystals. The name of the stone can be traced back to the Medieval Latin term lapis rubinus, meaning “red stone” (from rubeus, meaning “red,” and lapis, meaning “stone”). Here’s the popularity graph for Ruby.
Rufus
Rufus derives from the Latin word rufus, meaning “red” or “red-haired.” Here’s the popularity graph for Rufus.
Rufina and Rufino
Rufina (feminine) and Rufino (masculine) are the modern Spanish forms of the Roman family name Rufinus, which was based on Rufus. Here are the popularity graphs for Rufina and Rufino.
Russell
Russell comes from a surname that can be traced back to the Old French word rous, meaning “red.” Here’s the popularity graph for Russell.
Scarlet and Scarlett
Scarlet is a bright shade of red. The name of the color comes from the Medieval Latin word scarlata (or scarlatum), which referred to a type of woolen cloth that was often, though not always, dyed red. The more popular spelling of the name, Scarlett, represents transferred usage of the English surname. The surname Scarlett originally referred to a person who sold or worked with the cloth. Here are the popularity graphs for Scarlet and Scarlett.
Shani
Shani is a Hebrew gender-neutral name meaning “scarlet, red.” Here’s the popularity graph for Shani.
Strawberry
Strawberry fruits are red. Strawberry plants are part of the genus Fragaria. Here’s the popularity graph for Strawberry.
Tulip
Tulip flowers are often red. The name of the flower can be traced back to the Ottoman Turkish word tülbent, meaning “turban.” Here’s the popularity graph for Tulip.
Ulaan
Ulaan is a Mongolian gender-neutral name meaning “red.”
Vadelma
Vadelma is a Finnish feminine name meaning “raspberry.”
Vardan
Vardan is an Albanian masculine name meaning “rose.” Here’s the popularity graph for Vardan.
Verbena
Verbena flowers are sometimes red. The genus name Verbena is derived from the Latin word verbena, which referred to the leaves, twigs, and branches of specific plants (like laurel, olive, and myrtle) that were used during religious ceremonies. Here’s the popularity graph for Verbena.
Vered
Vered is a Hebrew feminine name meaning “rose.” Here’s the popularity graph for Vered.
Vermilion
Vermilion is an orange-red color. Vermilion pigment was originally made from the mineral cinnabar.
Warda
Warda is an Arabic feminine name meaning “rose.” Here’s the popularity graph for Warda.
Zinnia
Zinnia flowers are sometimes red. The genus Zinnia was named in honor of German botanist Johann Gottfried Zinn. Here’s the popularity graph for Zinnia.
Can you think of any other names that have a connection to the color red?
P.S. Want to see more color-related baby names? Here are lists of orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple names.
Sources:
- Behind the Name
- Color Symbolism – Interaction Design Foundation
- Dutfield, Scott and Natalie Wolchover. “The meaning of colors: How 8 colors became symbolic.” Live Science 28 Jan. 2022.
- Forvo
- Haude, Mary Elizabeth. “Prickly Pear Blood: The Mesoamerican Red Colorant Cochineal.” Library of Congress.
- Online Etymology Dictionary
- SSA
- Stewart, Jessica. “The History of the Color Red: From Ancient Paintings to Louboutin Shoes.” My Modern Met 26 Sep. 2018.
- Verbena – Charlton T. Lewis, Charles Short, A Latin Dictionary
- Wikipedia
- Wiktionary
- Wisdom Library
Images:
- Cherry image adapted from Cherries by Luke Jones under CC BY 2.0.
- Brick image adapted from Red brick wall texture by Marek Slusarczyk under CC BY 3.0.
[Latest update: Nov. 2023]
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