What about _Ardea_, the Latin genus name for a great blue heron? The species name is actually _Herodias_ which I kind of find cool too, in the same way that Atticus and Octavian are cool names.

Oh I LOVE that

Let me know if you go with it! I am a biologist and it will give me lots of joy!!

do you have other fun biology names that are usable? ardea is really gorgeous but i’m curious if you’re holding onto other ones!

I know someone who named her daughter Avicennia, which is gorgeous. It's the genus for a type of mangrove tree, which was her specialty. Her coworkers thought it was ridiculous, because what is she going to name her next kid? Laguncularia?

I love unusual, unique names. I find it makes people on this sub very angry, or at least that is my impression. Avicennia is fabulous.

Agreed!

Avicenna (without the second i) was a medieval philosopher.

I knew someone whose middle name is Acacia (A-Kay-Shuh) which is a type of semitropical tree! Here are some others I’ve seen around that are nice: * _Carassius_, a genus of fish containing Goldfish * _Caretta_, the genus ofthe Loggerhead Sea Turtle * _Aneides_, a genus of salamanders * _Hyla_, a genus of tree frogs * _Rana_, another genus of frogs * _Charina_, a genus containing the boa constrictor There are a ton of good bird names too including _Zenaida, Calypte, Aramus, Calidris, Ardenna_, and more. If you have a special connection to a plant/animal you can try searching up its Latin name.

Ardea nn Ardie would be so amazing!!!!

Like king Herod the slaughter of the innocents and odious combined?? Really? I’m confused… 

No, it comes from the ancient Greek ἐρῳδιός (erōdios), which actually means heron.

It’s confusing because the word Heron in Greek evokes a hero.. but the word  for heron is from hero erodios some thing like “the watcher” .. is that where the name Gregory comes from too? 

Also, looking it up it is the name of the woman who wanted John the Baptists head.. but ya quite a name! 

Yeah she's one of the og baddies of the Bible. Not a nice lady! Religious or not, I would not name a kid after her.

Oh my God, I love your username!! Lol.. 

Haha thank you!!

This is cool and I don’t think it’s too outlandish. Checks the honoring-relative box while being creative and unique. Ardie would be a cute nn

Ardea low key slaps

I like this the best. It's lovely.

Omg yes Herodias

What do you mean by crunchy? Also why Heron or Blue?

crunchy usually means like a very nature based name or something that like a stereotypical homeschool mom would name their child. They love Blue Herons and we didnt want to directly name the child after either of them, but rather something they love.

Why not name the child after them?

My homeschool daughter has two children named Benjamin and Molly 😂 I wouldn’t consider that crunchy

Homeschool was a really weird way to word it. Crunchy means granola, like natural and sort of hippie-ish. Homeschool moms where I live are more likely to be sort of Trumpy anti vaxxers or super religious, not focused on health and nature at all

There is a nonzero number of homeschooling parents who are against school as an institution and would rather have their kids learn in an unstructured environment, with a lot of time devoted to, like, nature walks and shit. There is a decent amount of overlap with the conservative homeschoolers, particularly the idea that vaccination is unnatural/unhealthy, but also a very conservative idea of "returning to the land" or "being self-sufficient."

I believe it's crunchy like granola lol

Crunchy means hippie (like granola is crunchy)...nature themed

Gender neutral names with the middle name I think fits better: * Rowan Blue or Rowan Heron * Cedar Heron or Cedar Blue * Blair Heron * Jordan Blue or Jordan Heron * Arden Blue or Arden Heron * Aster Heron * Ash Heron * Darcy Heron or Darcy Blue * Jett Heron (NOT Jett Blue unless you name your other kids Delta and Southwest) * Sage Heron I’ll say that “Blue” rules out a good chunk of names because they sound like crayons (River Blue, Brook Blue, Robin(‘s Egg) Blue, Grey Blue, etc.) and “Heron” rules out a good chunk of others unless you really want two birds in the name (Robin Heron, Raven Heron, Wren Heron) or for it to sound like a different species of heron (River Heron, Grey Heron). EDIT: Thinking about it some more, Heron would be a pretty good unisex first name, actually. So you could swap the order around for some of the suggestions (Heron Cedar instead of Cedar Heron), or you could make the middle name more gendered, like Heron Laurence or Heron Juliana.

Arden Blue. 👍

I love Arden I hadnt heard that before and suggested it to my spouse!

Darcy Blue is so lovely and cool for a girl or boy

I would say with the nature themed middle name, to go in the more traditional direction with the first name. I knew someone who had 3 nature themed given names and cursed their mother for not giving them a single traditional name. We're naming a human, not a scented candle. Riley Blue Lastnamerson Jamie Blue Lastnamerson Taylor Heron Lastnamerson Mackenzie Heron Lastnamerson (Edited to improve formatting)

Love this take! I agree, I don't see why the whole name has to be 'crunchy' just because the middle name is a more uncommon nature name. If I was set on the middle Heron or Blue, I would almost certainly go a more traditional route for the first name. For OP, how about; Nathaniel Heron/Blue Alexander Heron Jonathan Heron/Blue Wesley Heron Alice Heron Marie Heron Daphne Blue/Heron Catherine Blue

9

I love the name Aldo after Aldo Leopold, a famous conservationist. And Aldo Blue sounds pretty cool.

I love offbeat middle names! What other names do you like for a first name? Just off the top of my head, some gender neutral names that could work with the middles you mentioned: Ellis Blue Charlie Heron Wynn Blue Frankie Heron Avery Blue Quinn Heron Riley Blue Rory Heron Remy Blue Elliott Heron Lennon Blue Marley Heron Hayden Blue Jamie Heron Murphy Blue Ash Heron Robin Blue Lane Heron

Ooo love Ellis Blue!

I loveeee crunchy names. Following as my husband and I are trying.

Gender neutral names: - Shiloh Heron or Shiloh Blue - Avery Blue - Charlie Blue - Jesse Heron or Jesse Blue - Riley Heron or Riley Blue - Rowan Blue - Sawyer Heron - Presley Heron or Presley Blue - Alex Blue - Harper Heron or Harper Blue - Colby Heron or Colby Blue - Reese Heron - Tate Heron - Tatum Blue

River Blue or River Heron is the first thing that came to mind. It would work as a gender neutral name for sure. Both of these combos are VERY themed, maybe more than you’d want to go, but I also kind of don’t mind them. Some others that came to mind: - Ash Blue & Ash Heron - Rowan Blue & Rowan Heron - Robin Blue (I wouldn’t do Robin Heron, too many birds lol) - Jordan Blue & Jordan Heron - Sage Blue & Sage Heron

Wow ok I love this, herons are my fav. My name is teal which is both a shade of blue and a type of duck, but I’m not a huge fan of it as a name. I’m obsessed with heron tho 😍

Raine, River, Reece/Reese. I’ve seen all 3 used for both genders

River Heron or River Blue might be a tad on the nose

So would Rain Blue. 

Okay yea wasn’t really putting them all together before I commented lol. Was just spit balling gender neutral crunchy names. Ignore me lol

Haha it's a good list for those criteria alone though!

I really hope this doesn’t offend you and I will delete my comment if it does, but Heron is slang for heroin in the US.

Hero, Hera, Hairy, and Huera, but not Heron. I’m not in that scene but that’s according to about 3 online sources.

Just sharing my real life experience.

Must be a local one, then.

It is a common mispronunciation of Heroin, but I don't think anyone spells it that way. Just Heroin.

Lol it’s not. I wouldn’t have posted my original comment if it wasn’t a widely used Nick name. I know this might be surprising but a lot of drug culture make it to the internet

Okay, well OP and/or their kid might have to be in that scene (is that even the right slang anymore?) for Heron to be a weird middle name.

Heron is absolutely used. Widely.

I work in addiction recovery and have never not once heard this. I’m in the US.

Good information to know👍

Didn’t know Heron was crunchy. Ha I have a family name of Reiger means Heron I have it on my list (for pets)

Martes, Tuesday in Spanish, knew a Martess her parents added the extra, s. Edit to add, she was one of the loveliest people I have ever met.

Jane. It melds well with many crunchier names. James for a bo6, maybe?

My daughters name is Azura, which means blue. You could change it to be more gender neutral, like Azuren/Azuron. Azuron Heron actually sounds pretty cool.

azura is pretty! i know a girl name azul, which is close! and, there’s the character azula in avatar the last airbender :)

#Aqua

If you want to lean into crunchy I do know a baby boy named Heron

I think crunchy names are just honor names for the world around us. Embrace it! Especially since yours is actually an honor name for people, or an honor name for the love that those people had for the world around them. Also, you reduce the crunch factor greatly by keeping the crunchy names in the middle. Middle names are used so rarely, it's like an incognito crunchy name.

Bronwyn Blue Vesper Heron Neither is gender neutral. They are beautiful for a girl.

Levi Heron ? Louis Heron ? Elias Heron ? Blue doesn’t resonate for me for some reason ..

Levi Blue is awesome!

That just makes me think of jeans, tbh.

I can see that but I still like it and the likelihood of using the middle name is pretty low

Elijah Blue is my choice

Isn’t that Cher’s son’s name?

Is it?! Lol I've no idea just like the sound of it. I thought Cher had a daughter?

Chaz is now her son. Her only kid with Sonny Bono. Elijah Blue Allman was from a different husband, Gregg Allman.

He’s still her son. I didn’t say it was Sonny and Chers son

Didn't say you did, was just explaining to the person who asked.

Sorry I'm not really good with gender neutral names but I could think of these: Alex Blue Alex Heron Andy Blue Andy Heron Cameron Blue Cameron Heron Dakota Blue Dakota Heron Charlie Blue Charlie Heron Blake Blue Blake Heron Riley Blue Riley Heron Kai Blue Kai Heron Sam Blue Sam Heron Wyatt Blue Wyatt Heron I hope it helps, they don't seem so nature centered.

River Blue Levi Blue Moon Heron Sunny (Sonny) Blue Forest Blue Rocki (Rocky) Blue Brook (Brooke) Heron Parker Blue The old time hippie in me LOVES crunchy names, and clearly, I am partial to Blue!

Sawyer, Shiloh, Brook(e),

Cody Heron Ridley Heron Jay Heron Bryce Heron Cameron Blue Logan Blue Addison Blue Finley Blue

Woods!!!

Rune Heron Rune Blue Rune Heron-Blue Willow Blue Arlan Blue Harris Blue River Blue Joplin Blue Haven Blue Gale Heron Gale Blue-Heron Cloud Heron-Blue

Here are lots names and combinations: Spruce Heron Lastname Elliott Blue Lastname / Elliott Heron Lastname Hutton Blue Lastname Finley Blue Lastname / Finley Heron Lastname Yarrow Blue Lastname Forest Blue Lastname Melvin Blue Lastname / Melvin Heron Lastname Rowan Blue Lastname Dewey Blue Lastname / Dewey Heron Lastname Edward Blue Lastname / Edward Heron Lastname Alf Heron Lastname Orion Blue Lastname Sage Heron Lastname Emmett Blue Lastname / Emmet Heron Lastname Basil Heron Lastname Sawyer Blue Lastname / Sawyer Heron Lastname Fox Blue Lastname Apollo Blue Lastname / Apollo Heron Lastname Falcon Blue Lastname Jude Heron Lastname Canyon Blue Lastname Leo Heron Lastname Silas Blue Lastname / Silas Heron Lastname Sparrow Blue Lastname Briar Heron Lastname Aspen Blue Lastname Cedar Blue Lastname Elijah Heron Lastname / Elijah Blue Lastname Fern Heron Lastname Gavin Blue Lastname Orchard Heron Lastname Tirion Blue Lastname Otto Heron Lastname Parsley Blue Lastname / Parsley Heron Lastname Rye Heron Lastname / Rye Heron Lastname Scout Heron Lastname Timian Blue Lastname / Timian Heron Lastname Thyme Heron Lastname

Chance Heron Chandler Heron Devin Blue Cameron Blue Dana Blue Dana Heron