sweet names

Want To Call Your Kid Something Lovely? Consider These 85+ Names With Heart

*HEART EYES*

by Deirdre Kaye
Updated: 
Originally Published: 
Heart names — baby with cutout hearts
Pavlina Popovska/Getty Images

The minute most mamas and dads find out they’re pregnant, they know their hearts are forever changed and no longer theirs. As a parent, you want to pour all your love into that tiny human coming into your life. You have big dreams that they’ll be earth-lovers, change-makers, and lifesavers. When we name our kids Eloise, Matilda, or Anne (with an “e”), we want those characters’ personality traits to be prominent for our own daughters. And just about anyone who has named their boy Max has no doubt considered the wild and lovable creature from Where The Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak. But if precociousness, magic, or stubbornness don’t appeal to you, what are your options? You can live with the idea of your babe growing up to be anything they want… as long as it’s kind and gentle. Enter: heart names.

Giving your child a name with heart or a name that means “heart” might feel like your first step in nudging them in the right direction. From choosing a middle name that is literally “heart” in a beloved native language to picking a first name that means “kind-hearted” or “gentle-hearted,” heart names are a lovely choice. There’s even something rather romantic about them. And, as it turns out, there are a ton of really great choices.

Best Baby Names With Heart

Names That Mean Gentle, Sweet, or Tender-Hearted

Gentle kids are the ones who bring home stunned baby birds who fell from the nest and who worry about hurting their dolls’ feelings. They’re the ones that would never say a sharp word to anyone, would give their last dollar to the stranger in front of Kroger, and would do anything to make their mamas happy. These boy and girl names all have meanings along the lines of “gentle-hearted,” “sweet-natured,” or “tender.” Bonus: They span a ton of cultures, so you can find something that works perfectly no matter where you come from or how you identify.

For Girls

  1. Adina: noble, gentle, delicate
  2. Anana: soft
  3. Atubah: soft, gentle, delicate
  4. Clementine: merciful, mild
  5. Dahlia: Dahl’s flower
  6. Damara: gentle girl
  7. Eztia: sweet, gentle, pleasant
  8. Hamila: gentle or mild-mannered
  9. Hella: sun ray
  10. Malinda: sweet
  11. Mayu: true, full, gentle
  12. Melosa: sweet as honey
  13. Mildred: gentle strength
  14. Miliani: gentle caress
  15. Mridula: soft, delicate, gentle
  16. Nariko: gentle child
  17. Nasima: gentle breeze
  18. Nermin: soft, gentle
  19. Sanjana: gentle, patient
  20. Shu: good, pure, virtuous, charming
  21. Tirion: kind or gentle
  22. Wan: gentle, gracious
  23. Yuko: gentle child

For Boys

  1. Abab: the softness and gracefulness of youth
  2. Adiv: polite, considerate
  3. Arudra: gentle
  4. Blandon: mild
  5. Bonner: gentle
  6. Caoimhghin: noble, gentle, handsome
  7. Clement: merciful
  8. Cliamon: gentle
  9. Damario: gentle
  10. Damone: tame
  11. Gareth: gentle
  12. Hamlin: little home-lover
  13. Kelemen: gentle
  14. Rafiq: companion, comrade

Heart Names That Mean Kind, Good-Natured, or Merciful

Names that mean “heart” come with many nuances. This collection of heart names leans more toward kindness or mercifulness. We imagine these names could be the names of benevolent leaders across the globe that come together to save humanity. Or, at least that’s what we’re hoping for our Anisas and Evanders.

Girls Names

  1. Anisa: pleasant companion
  2. Caron: pure
  3. Ebele: mercy, kindness
  4. Ellis: benevolent
  5. Hiroko: tolerant child
  6. Lateefa: gentle, subtly kind, pleasant
  7. Mehri: kind, lovable, sunny
  8. Miyeon: beautiful and kind-hearted
  9. Yein: kind, gentle

Boys Names

  1. Benigno: kindly, good, benign
  2. Evander: good man
  3. Kapono: righteous, good
  4. Lateef: gentle or kind
  5. Lutfi: kind and friendly
  6. Rahim: merciful, compassionate
  7. Yasashiku: gentle, polite

“Heart” in Different Languages

Looking for something a little more literal? We use words as names all the time, with Faith, Love, and Charity being just a few examples. Why not use the word “heart”? Or, if you hail from a particular culture and want to honor your heritage, consider choosing the word that means heart in the language of your family or ancestors. These are just some of the thousands of ways to say “heart” across the planet.

  1. Afrikaans: hart
  2. Albanian: zemra
  3. Catalan: cor
  4. Cebuano: kasingkasing
  5. Danish: hjerte
  6. Dutch: hart-
  7. Esperanto: koro
  8. Estonian: süda
  9. Finnish: sydän
  10. French: cœur
  11. German: Herz
  12. Haitian Creole: kè
  13. Hawaiian: Puʻuwai
  14. Hmong: plawv
  15. Hungarian: szív
  16. Icelandic: hjarta
  17. Indonesian: jantung
  18. Irish: chroí
  19. Italian: cuore
  20. Polish: serce
  21. Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil): coração
  22. Romanian: inima
  23. Samoan: fatu
  24. Scots Gaelic: cridhe
  25. Somali: wadnaha
  26. Spanish: corazón
  27. Sundanese: haté
  28. Swahili: moyo
  29. Swedish: hjärta
  30. Tagalog (Filipino): puso
  31. Uzbek: yurak
  32. Vietnamese: time
  33. Welsh: gallon
  34. Xhosa: Intliziyo
  35. Yoruba: okan
  36. Zulu: inhliziyo

Need even more options for names that mean “heart?” Consider who you think is the kindest, sweetest, or most caring person in your life. That person has heart. Name your babe after that person and hope they turn out as profoundly wonderful as them.

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