Summer babies deserve summer names.
Not necessarily the word Summer itself — though that works beautifully. Names connected to the season in some way. The sun, the sea, the sky, the warmth, the flowers that only bloom in heat. Names that carry that long, golden, unhurried feeling that summer has and every other season is quietly jealous of.
The TV show “The Summer I Turned Pretty” sent Conrad up 40 spots on the US charts in 2025. Aurora entered the girls’ top ten for the first time. Sol rose 334 spots. Something is happening with warm, bright, sun-connected names right now and it feels less like a trend and more like a direction.
Here are 151 of them — sorted so you can find your kind.
Summer Girl Names: Sun and Light
There is a specific category of summer name that is about the light itself.
Not flowers, not the ocean, not the warmth — just the actual light of summer. These are the names that carry that quality. You say them and something in them is bright. Not decorative bright. Actually luminous.
- Aurora — The Roman goddess of dawn. Entered the US top 10 for girls in 2025.
- Soleil — French, means “sun.” Romantic and genuinely beautiful.
- Sol — Up 334 spots on the US charts in 2024.
- Aelia — Ancient Roman, means “sun.” Rare and striking.
- Luciana
- Oriana — Means “golden and dawning.” Rare and lovely.
- Thea
- Clara — Currently in the US top 100.
- Lux — Latin, means “light.” Short and completely modern.
- Sunny
- Zora — Means “dawn.” Clean, modern, rare.
- Alva — Underused and beautiful.
- Elara — One of Jupiter’s moons.
- Goldie
- Sunniva — Old Norse, means “sun gift.” Rare and completely beautiful.
Summer Girl Names: Flowers and Nature
Summer is when the natural world is at full volume.
Everything flowering at once, everything warm and alive. Nature names carry that quality even in January. And the floral names specifically have been rising across the board — Juniper entered the US top 100 in 2025, Violet and Iris and Clover all climbing.
- Violet — Rising steadily for a decade.
- Iris — A flower and the goddess of the rainbow.
- Juniper — Entered the US top 100 in 2025.
- Daisy
- Marigold — Victorian and rare.
- Clover
- Poppy
- Flora — The Roman goddess of flowers and spring.
- Meadow
- Briar — Wilder than it sounds.
- Blossom
- Clementine
- Saffron — Warm and unusual.
- Lavender
- Wisteria — Dramatic and beautiful.
Summer Girl Names: Ocean and Water
Something about summer and water belong together.
The ocean, the river, the lake, the rain that arrives in the middle of a hot afternoon. Water names carry a coolness and movement that sits beautifully inside a summer name. Marina has been rising. Coral is climbing. And names like Kai and Bay are increasingly used for girls.
- Marina
- Coral — Pink, warm, oceanic.
- Pearl
- Isla — Scottish, directly translates to “island.”
- Thalassa — Greek, means “sea.” Ancient and completely rare.
- Sereia — Portuguese, means “mermaid.” Extraordinary and rare.
- Maren
- Ondine — A water nymph from European folklore.
- Nixie — A water spirit. Short and striking.
- Bay
- Brooke
- Delta — The place where a river meets the sea.
- Cove
- Leilani — Hawaiian, means “heavenly garland.”
- Kai — Hawaiian, means “sea.” Rising for girls and boys.
Summer Girl Names: Warm and Joyful
Not every summer name is about sun or flowers or water.
Some are just about the feeling of summer. The warmth. The carefreeness. The sense that time is moving differently and everything is slightly more alive. Joy and Ruby and Amber carry that quality without referencing summer directly.
- Joy
- Ruby — Up through the charts consistently.
- Amber
- Jovie — Means “joy.” Rising fast in 2025.
- Summer
- Blythe — Means “happy and carefree.” Sounds exactly how it feels.
- Felicity
- Serena
- Alanis — Means “joyful.” Coming back after years away.
- Bliss
- Lyra — A constellation and a harp.
- Nova
- Calista — Means “most beautiful.”
- Esme
- Freya — Norse goddess of love and warmth. Rising fast.
Summer Boy Names: Sun and Sky
Summer names for boys tend toward the elemental.
Not the flowers and warmth so much as the sky, the light, the heat itself. Leo means lion but it is also the summer zodiac sign. August is the peak of the season. Sol means sun directly. These are the names that carry summer through their meaning rather than their sound.
- Leo — The summer zodiac sign. Consistently in the top 10.
- August — Re-entered the US top 100 in 2024.
- Sol — Rising fast for boys and girls.
- Cyrus — Persian, means “sun.” On an upward trend.
- Apollo — Greek god of the sun, music, and light.
- Helios — The Greek god of the sun. Bold and rare.
- Alistair
- Calix
- Sampson — Hebrew, means “sun.” Can be shortened to Sonny.
- Solano — Spanish, means “sunshine.” Rare and warm.
- Oran
- Luce — Italian form of Luke, means “light.”
- Blaze
- Flynn
- Ray
Summer Boy Names: Ocean and Adventure
Boys’ summer names often lean toward the wild side of the season.
The ocean at its most powerful. The adventure in heat. Names like River and Reef and Cove carry that quality. And names from Norse and Celtic tradition carry the sea and the landscape in a way that feels genuinely elemental.
- River
- Reef
- Bay
- Cove
- Kai
- Leif — Leif Erikson sailed to America. The name carries that spirit.
- Caspian — Evoking the Caspian Sea and the Chronicles of Narnia.
- Drake
- Cain — Welsh, means “clear water.” Connected to summer swimming.
- Sorley — Irish, means “summer sailor.” Possibly the most specifically summer boy name in any language.
- Maritime — Bold. For the most committed ocean parents.
- Zephyr — The west wind in Greek mythology.
- Orion — A constellation and a hunter.
- Atlas
- Marco
Summer Boy Names: Warm and Bright
Some summer boy names are not about the sea or the sun specifically.
Just the general feeling of warmth that the season carries. Names that sound friendly and alive and unhurried. Names that belong to someone who will be good to be around.
- Felix
- Jasper
- Arlo — One of the fastest rising boy names right now.
- Milo — Joined the US top 10 on Nameberry in 2025.
- Oscar
- Beckett — Literary and warm. Climbing fast.
- Julian
- Wyatt
- Conrad — Rose 40 spots in 2025 after The Summer I Turned Pretty.
- Finn
- Rory
- Dashiell
- Stellan
- Soren
- Ellis
Gender-Neutral Summer Names
Summer is not a gendered season.
Neither are the best summer names. Sky, Sunny, Rio, Sage, Sol — all of these work for any child. And increasingly parents are reaching for names that do not need to announce anything except that they sound right.
- Summer
- Sunny
- Sol
- Skye
- Rio — Spanish, means “river.” Warm and completely gender-neutral.
- Kai
- Bay
- Cove
- Sage
- Reef
- Blaze
- Zephyr
- Solstice — The longest day of the year. Bold and completely original.
- Eden — Means “paradise.” Warm and gender-neutral.
- Indigo
Unique Summer Baby Names
Not trendy. Not invented.
Names that carry summer in their meaning or sound that most parents have never thought to reach for. Every name below is real, genuinely beautiful, and will not belong to anyone else in your child’s class.
- Sunniva — Old Norse, means “sun gift.” Warm and completely rare.
- Sorley — Irish, means “summer sailor.” Extraordinary.
- Solano — Spanish, means “sunshine.” Rare and striking.
- Thalassa
- Sereia — Portuguese, means “mermaid.” One of the most striking names on this list.
- Aelia — Means “sun.” Ancient and rarely used.
- Oriana
- Marigold — A golden summer flower. Victorian and beautiful.
- Lavender
- Blaise
- Calix
- Nollaig — Irish, means “Christmas” — the principle of a season-as-name that works beautifully for summer too.
- Fiadh — Irish, means “wild and untamed.” Everything summer should be.
- Zola
- Cinna
Classic Summer Baby Names
Some names have been connected to summer for so long the connection is almost invisible.
Leo has been a summer sign name for centuries. Rose blooms in summer. August is a summer month. These are not new associations. They have just always been there.
- Rose — Up 19 spots in 2025. Beyoncé’s “My Rose” helped.
- Leo — The summer zodiac sign. Consistently in the top 10.
- August — The peak of summer. Back in the top 100.
- Lily — The most popular girl name in Ireland in 2025.
- Iris
- Violet
- Jasmine
- Ruby
- Flora
- Julian
- Daphne — The nymph transformed into a laurel tree in Greek mythology.
- Sylvia
- Theodore
- Clara
- Phoebe
- Isla
Wrapping Up
151 summer baby names for boys and girls, from the most mainstream to the genuinely rare.
Summer is the season that feels most alive. A summer name carries that quality before the person wearing it has done a single thing to earn it. Go through the ones that stopped you. Say them out loud. The right one will feel obvious.