
The emerging baby names Lucifer (“light-bearing,” i.e., the morning star) and Calcifer (“heat-bearing”) made me wonder: what other Latin-derived -fer words might make nice human names?
Here are a few possibilities…
- Aurifer, “gold-bearing”
- Conifer, “cone-bearing” — as in conifer trees
- Dulcifer, “sweet-bearing”
- Gemmifer, “gem-bearing”
- Laurifer, “laurel-bearing,” i.e., triumphant
- Mellifer, “honey-bearing”
- Noctifer, “night-bearing,” i.e., the evening star
- Pacifer, “peace-bearing”
- Pomifer, “fruit-bearing”
- Stellifer, “star-bearing”
- Vinifer, “wine-bearing”
(The -fer element in words like these can also be interpreted in other ways, such as “-bringing,” “-carrying,” or even “-producing.”)
So I’ve found real-world usage of most of the above (Aurifer, Conifer, Dulcifer, Laurifer, Pacifer, Stellifer, and Vinifer). For example, here’s a record for Henry Pacifer Gidley (1801-1801) of Devon, England:

Would you consider using any of these words as baby names?