15 Stunning May Baby Names That Celebrate Those Spring Infants

For a baby born in May, there's no more obvious choice than — May! But if that's too on-the-nose, there are sneaky variations, including Macy, Mavis, and Mason, which all have the "May" sound in the first syllable, and Maya and Amaya, which has the letters M, A and Y in them but are pronounced differently.

The birth flower for the month of May is the Lily of the Valley, which makes Lily a great choice for a May baby name. While the name hit a peak in 2011 — according to the Social Security Administration (SSA), which keeps track of baby names — it's slowly on the rise again, so it's in that sweet spot between being too rare and being too common.

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The secondary birth flower for May is the hawthorn, a tree that's a symbol of fertility. Hawthorn is also a fitting May baby name because the shrub is associated with pagan May Day celebrations, the Woodland Trust notes.

If the Lily and Hawthorn are too specific, you can evoke the spirit of spring in general with a name like Flora, which is Latin for "flower." It's also a great vintage baby name, since the year it peaked was 1902.

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Spring is a season where everything is fresh and new — and the name Arata means, exactly, "fresh and new" in Japanese. It's a good one for parents who are looking to be unique, since it's currently not ranking on the SSA list of the top 1,000 baby names.

Neo is another baby name that means "new," and it's experiencing a new run of popularity because of parents who grew up on The Matrix. The name made its debut on the SSA list in 2021 and has been there ever since — at the bottom of the list, but there all the same.

The Phoenix is the ultimate symbol of rebirth, because in myth a Phoenix is engulfed in flames and then rises out of its own ashes. The name Phoenix also sits at the intersection of a couple of baby-name trends, since it could also be on the list of city/place names, which are very hot right now, and gender-neutral names, which are also increasing in popularity.

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Another good name for the season of rebirth, Nova is Latin meaning "new." It's a good one for science geeks, too, since of its association with stars. Nova is on-trend, currently the 35th most popular name for baby girls in the United States.

Speaking of stars, Almanac.com has charted the stars in the night sky in May, and these stars, star groups (asterisms) and constellations come with plenty of great baby-name inspirations. This includes Arcturus (anchor star in the Kite constellation), Altair (one point of the "summer triangle"), Vega (a star in the constellation Lyra, another good name) and the dragon constellation Draco, which also has appeal for Harry Potter fans.

Emerald — and variants like Esmeralda, which means Emerald in Spanish — pay homage to the May birthstone. The SSA marked this as one of the fastest-climbing baby names, since it jumped 23 places in rank between 2022 and 2023 for its best showing on the SSA list ever. Even then, it's not too popular: It's sitting at spot No. 744.

Some may not want to name a baby after their birthstone outright, but they might consider using its color as an inspiration. In that case, Oran is a good pick (along with its Gaelic, Odhrán), since it means "little green one."

There are plenty of celebrities born in May that might make for good name inspiration. The most notable is Audrey Hepburn, who was born on May 4. Other famous May babies include Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson (May 2), Jamie Dornan (May 1), Tina Fey (May 18) and Bob Dylan (May 24).

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May is the fifth month — obviously five is an important number to May babies. Quentin, fittingly, means "fifth" in Latin, making it a perfect choice for parents into numerology.

Mother's Day is also celebrated in May. For those looking to honor the occasion with a maternal name, Cybele is a good one, since it's Greek for "mother of all the gods" — a true super-mother.

Another event celebrated in May? Star Wars Day, or May the Fourth (as, "May the Fourth Be With You"). And it turns out, Star Wars is a near infinite source of baby names, some of which have become quite popular. The classic Luke is currently No. 31 on the SSA list, with Leia clocking in at No. 211. But names from the newer movies and series have also taken root, and the SSA list now includes Kylo (No. 405), Anakin (No. 503), Cassian (No. 533) and Rey (No. 794). A name that hasn't yet made the list is Mace, as in Mace Windu (Samuel L. Jackson), which is both a Star Wars name and sounds like May in the first syllable.

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