Looking for baby names that are associated with 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 the color 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).
Top baby names associated with red
To determine the top red names, I first had to take into account the fact that certain names have a stronger connection to the color than other names. (I also did this for the posts on orange, yellow, blue, and purple names.)
With that in mind, here are the top baby names that have an obvious association with the color red:
- Ruby
- Rose
- Scarlet
- Carmine
- Mars
Now here are the same five names again, but this time around I’ve added some details (including definitions, rankings, and popularity graphs).
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”).
Ruby is currently the 62nd most popular girl name in the U.S.
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.
Rose is currently the 116th most popular girl name in the nation.
Scarlet
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.
Scarlet is currently the 450th most popular girl name in the U.S. (Scarlett ranks 20th.)
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.
Carmine is currently the 1,282nd most popular boy name in the nation.
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.)
Mars is currently the 1,305th most popular boy name in the U.S.
More names associated with red
All 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 is an Arabic masculine name meaning “red.”
- 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.
- 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.”
- Amaryllis flowers are often red. The genus name Amaryllis is derived from the ancient Greek word amarysso, meaning “to sparkle.”
- Anara is a Kazakh and Kyrgyz feminine name based on the word anar, meaning “pomegranate.”
- Azalea flowers are sometimes red. The (obsolete) genus name Azalea is derived from the ancient Greek word azaleos, meaning “dry.”
- Berry fruits are frequently red. The Old English word for “berry” was berie.
- Brick is commonly red. In fact, the term “brick red” refers to the brownish-red color of red clay bricks.
- Burgundy is a purplish-red color. The name of the shade was inspired by red wine from the region of Burgundy in France.
- Camellia flowers are often red. The genus Camellia is was named in honor of Moravian botanist Georg Joseph Kamel.
- Canna flowers are sometimes red. The genus name Canna is derived from the Latin word canna, meaning “reed.”
- Cardinal birds (genus Cardinalis) — the males in particular — have red plumage. The common name “cardinal,” inspired by the red robes of Roman Catholic cardinals, is ultimately derived from the Latin word cardinalis, meaning “principal, chief.”
- Carnelian, a variety of the mineral chalcedony, is often red. The name of the stone ultimately comes form from the Latin word cornus, which refers to a type of berry, altered by the influence of the Latin word carneus, meaning “flesh-colored.”
- Cherry fruits are typically red. Cherry trees are part of the genus Prunus.
- Cerise is the French word for cherry.
- Kirsikka is the Finnish word for cherry.
- Kiraz is the Turkish word for cherry.
- 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.”
- 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.
- 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.)
- Dahlia flowers are sometimes red. The genus Dahlia was named in honor of Swedish botanist Anders Dahl.
- Delima is an Indonesian feminine name meaning “pomegranate.”
- Edom is a Biblical masculine name based on the Hebrew word ‘adom, meaning “red.”
- Erythia, based on the ancient Greek word eruthrós, meaning “red,” was the name of several figures in Greek mythology.
- 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.)
- Flann is an Irish masculine name meaning “blood red.”
- Flannán is a diminutive form of Flann.
- 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.
- 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 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.
- Gül (pronounced gool) is a Turkish feminine name meaning “rose.”
- 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.
- Jagoda (pronounced YAH-goh-dah) is a feminine name meaning “strawberry” in Serbian, Croatian, Macedonian, Slovene, and other South Slavic languages.
- Jasper, an opaque type of microcrystalline quartz, is commonly red. The name of the stone ultimately comes from the ancient Greek word iaspis.
- Kamala is a Hindi feminine name based on the Sanskrit word kamala, meaning “pale red.”
- Kimmernaq is a Greenlandic feminine name meaning “lingonberry.”
- Lali is a Georgian feminine name meaning “ruby.”
- Lohit is a Hindi masculine name based on the Sanskrit word lóhita, meaning “red.”
- Orchid flowers are sometimes red. Orchids are all members of the Orchidaceae family of plants.
- Phoenix refers to the mythical bird, but the name of that bird was based on the ancient Greek word phoinix, meaning “purple” or “crimson.”
- 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 flowers are commonly red. The Old English word for “poppy” was popig.
- Raktima is the Sanskrit word for “redness.”
- Red, of course, refers to the color red. :)
- Reed (also spelled Reid) comes from an English and Scottish surname that can be traced back to the Middle English word for “red.”
- Rimmon is a Hebrew gender-neutral name meaning “pomegranate.”
- Rohit is a Hindi masculine name based on the Sanskrit word róhita, meaning “red.”
- 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.
- Ruadh (pronounced roo-ah) means “red” or “red-haired” in Irish and Scottish Gaelic.
- Rubina is a Portuguese and Italian and feminine name meaning “ruby.”
- Rufus derives from the Latin word rufus, meaning “red” or “red-haired.”
- Russell comes from a surname that can be traced back to the Old French word rous, meaning “red.”
- Shani is a Hebrew gender-neutral name meaning “scarlet, red.”
- Strawberry fruits are red. Strawberry plants are part of the genus Fragaria.
- Tulip flowers are often red. The name of the flower can be traced back to the Ottoman Turkish word tülbent, meaning “turban.”
- Ulaan is a Mongolian gender-neutral name meaning “red.”
- Vadelma is a Finnish feminine name meaning “raspberry.”
- Vardan is an Albanian masculine name meaning “rose.”
- 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.
- Vered is a Hebrew feminine name meaning “rose.”
- Vermilion is an orange-red color. Vermilion pigment was originally made from the mineral cinnabar.
- Warda is an Arabic feminine name meaning “rose.”
- Zinnia flowers are sometimes red. The genus Zinnia was named in honor of German botanist Johann Gottfried Zinn.
Can you think of any other names that have a connection to the color red?
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 by Joanna Kosinska from Unsplash, Waltteri Paulaharju from Pixabay, Skyler Ewing from Unsplash, and Pexels from Pixabay
