Looking for an unusual nature name for a boy? Here’s one that fits the bill.
Thanks to SJ for suggesting Cove as our Baby Name of the Day.
Boys answer to River and both genders have some claim to Ocean and Bay. Suddenly other bodies of water and related terms seem like possibilities. Sea, maybe? Harbor?
Or how about Cove? A cove is an inlet, more sheltered than a bay, and sometimes little more than a protected recess. Even a small creek can be considered a cove. There’s a second use of the term, to describe a small valley, used primarily along the Appalachian Trail, presumably evolved from the original sense.
As for the origins of cove, it comes from the Old English cofa – chamber – via an older word meaning tent or hut. Meet someone with the surname, and he’s likely someone who lived near a cofa.
Of course, cove has a second meaning – like bloke or dude or fellow or chap, he’s also slang used to refer to a man. The story is that it comes from a Gypsy word. I can’t find the word, but then, Romani languages are rich and varied. Perhaps it was misunderstand or whispered down the alley, but in any case, cove is a sort of English slang to refer to a guy.
All that is fine and well, but should you name a child Cove?
It would be easy to argue that he’d fit right in. From the current US Top 100:
- He shares the long -o sound of Noah, Logan, Owen, Colton, and Brody.
- Then there’s that high-Scrabble-value letter v, huge in the girl ‘verse, but no slouch in the sons department, as in Evan and Levi.
- And, of course, he’s just one letter removed from the stylish Cole, currently ranked #89.
Like Cole, Cove would be a member of the single-syllable club, a category that feels quite powerful these days. From traditional appellations like Luke and Jack to twenty-first centuries innovations like Chase, it is a deep pool, with additions at a rapid rate, from Roc to Cree.
Is anyone actually using Cove? Sixteen newborn boys received the name in 2010, which is rare – but not completely unknown. Men called Cove appear in the US Census records, too, suggesting that the name had some appeal long before we all turned to Mother Nature and the dictionary for baby name inspiration.
If you’re looking for a daring nature name and are frustrated that everyone else is using River, he’s a sharp, masculine option that could wear well.
We named our son Cove in 2011
I had that name picked out for years 🙂
I just stumbled onto this site, I have two boys. Rivers born in 2009 and Cove born in 2012.
We are naming our son Cove. He will be here early December 2018!
What a great name, Mandi! And congrats on your son. 🙂
How dare you steal my son’s name!! lol. He is 20 yrs. old, so I feel like I started it’s bit of popularity. My second son’s name is also unusual. He is named Colter. They share my husband’s middle name, Sean, which sounds great with both nmes.
I never knew this name was so popular… I guess I should have googled this 12 years ago when we named our daughter Cove Taylor Noe. We gave here a more common middle name in case she didn’t like as she got older but she loves her name. We live in a small town in Iowa and have never came across anyone with a name even similar to hers. Very interesting to read that boys seem have “cove” as their name than girls.
My 3rd son’s name is Covington, and we call him Cove;)
I love the name Cove. We named our son Coveyn (Cove-en) My older son always loved the name and we let him name his brother. So happy to see there are others 😀
I love this name, it is also on my top 5 list for boys (along with Brighton). I also like the name Koven. I’m not one for crazy/weird spellings, but I think Coven might be over the top.
My Coveyn was born on august 18 2015 😀
WOW…I had no idea that there were so many other people who had named their child Cove! My son was born in 1998 and I named him Cove Ryan. I loved Maine so much that I wanted a word that captured the beauty and the way that place makes me feel. For me, “Cove” was it. Watching the water crash against the rocks is so peaceful and perfect…coincidentally just like a sleeping newborn baby. My son is now 16 and although I purposefully gave him a very average middle name in the event that he did not like his first name he could go by Ryan, it turns out I worried needlessly. Not so long ago he informed me that he did not like his middle name because it was so boring and ordinary which prompted me to ask, “Well, if you could have named yourself, what would you have wanted?” His reply was “Cove” 🙂
My sons name is Cove, middle name is Avery. I named him after Cove Reber the frontman for a band called Saosin. My son was born in 2012.
What a fabulous name – thanks for sharing, Trent!