The baby name Honey started out as nickname, but might be one of the hottest first names of our moment.
Thanks to Elle for suggesting our Baby Name of the Day.
WHAT DOES THE NAME HONEY MEAN?
We all know that honey is sticky and sweet, made by bees from nectar they collect from flowers.
And humans? We’ve been collecting honey from the bees for millennia. Depictions of gathering honey trace back to ancient cave paintings.
But what about the word? It hasn’t changed much from the Old English hunig, which sounds quite a bit like the German Honig, Swedish honung, or Danish honning.
Of course, it sounds nothing like the Greek word meli, which is the source of the Latin mel, French miel, and Italian miele.
But the substance has been known, across cultures, for nearly ever. It’s been found in Egyptian tombs, and maybe the most astonishing fact? Honey remains unchanged – and still edible.
In simplest terms, the meaning of the name Honey? Sweetness.
No surprise, then, that it’s been used as a term of endearment, as well as a superlative, for centuries, too.
HONEY AS A NICKNAME
Honey – or even just Hon or Hun – is a go-to. It’s a gender neutral nickname, for your significant other, your bestie, your kid, or your pet – males and females alike.
It’s embedded in Baltimore’s culture and slang. Maybe other places, too. And in B-more? Everyone’s hon.
But it probably started out as a nickname for a girl’s name containing the right sound.
Honor, Honora, Honoria and similar names are obvious possibilities. Even Helen, Helena, or Hannah could work.
A given name that means honey or relates to bees could work, too – Beatrice, Pamela, Deborah.
And, of course, honey blonde hair might easily transform any Ava, Eleanor, Jane, or Louise into a Honey.
But the road from affectionate term to given name? It’s been a long and winding one.
HONEY AS A TEMPTRESS
James Bond fans might think of Honey Ryder.
Ian Fleming named the character Honeychile in his novel, Dr. No. When the book was adapated as a movie in 1962, Swiss actress Ursula Andress played the part, her name shortened. It’s the very first Bond film, and while there’s some debate, Honey is typically considered the very first Bond Girl.
Given the campy, double-entendre names – Bibi Dahl is one of the more subtle choices – Honey Ryder doesn’t make the name any more wearable.
But other uses read a little different.
A SWEET NAME FOR FICTIONAL FAVORITES
It is sometimes a surname, possibly given to a beekeeper or maybe someone known for their warmth.
The latter is true for Miss Honey. It’s the perfect name for the uncommonly kind teacher in the Roald Dahl novel-turned-movie-turned-musical Matilda.
There’s also Honey Daniels, played by Jessica Alba in 2003 movie Honey. She’s a bartender, dance teacher, and aspiring choreographer. Alba played the determined dancer who made a few wrong steps on her way to a happy ending.
It wasn’t a huge box office hit, but sequels (with different casts) followed.
Recording artists, like Missy Elliott, made cameos in the 2003 film and contributed to the soundtrack.
Speaking of music? The character of Honey was based on real life choreographer Laurieann Gibson. There’s a sweetness-meets-grit to the story that could easily appeal to parents.
And while we’re talking about music, Mariah Carey had scored a major hit in 1997 with “Honey.” The track was part of her successful album Butterfly. The James Bond-esque video, with Mariah as Agent M in Operation Honey, clearly nodded to Honey Ryder. One of Mariah’s many outfits includes the same kind of swimsuit worn by Ursula Andress in Dr. No.
One more moment when Honey was heard as a full name: in Big Hero 6, one of Tadashi’s close circle of friends is chemistry enthusiast Honey Lemon. The story was loosely based on an earlier Marvel Comics series, which also included a character with the name.
BIG IN THE UK
In the England and Wales data, the baby name Honey reached peak popularity in the year 2005, charting in the mid-100s. It’s fallen since then, but the trend has recently reversed, and Honey now ranks in the mid-200s again.
Two famous bearers of the middle name Honey:
- Actress Kate Winslet’s daughter, Mia Honey.
- Born in 2002, the eldest daughter of celebrity chef Jamie Oliver, Poppy Honey Rosie.
Television’s Fearne Cotton welcomed a daughter named Honey in 2015. Her dad is musician Jesse Wood; that makes Honey’s grandfather Rolling Stones member Ronnie Wood.
Speaking of music: way back in the 1960s, Anne Margot Lantree was working at a hair salon. The salon’s owner was in a band; he had left a drum kit set up at work. Anne picked up the sticks and ended up joining the band. Her nickname? Honey. The band eventually became known as The Honeycombs, and scored their biggest hit with 1964’s “Have I the Right?”
CAN WE TALK ABOUT HONEY BOO BOO?
English-speaking countries didn’t all embrace the baby name Honey.
Actor Jack Nicholson and model Winnie Hollman welcomed daughter Honey way back in 1982. It would’ve been a nearly unique name then, but not completely unknown. Word names like Crystal, Heather, and Amber ranked in the Top 50, with other nature-inspired choices – Harmony, Sunny, Fawn – also appearing in the Top 1000.
But pop culture in the United States mostly skipped over the baby name Honey.
And then, in 2009, TLC debuted reality series Toddlers & Tiaras. Over seven seasons, it profiled contestants in child beauty pageants, along with their families. Alana Thompson – known as Honey Boo Boo – was just six when she first appeared on the show in 2011.
By 2012, the spin-off Here Comes Honey Boo Boo profiled the tiny pageant winner and her family, including Mama June, her older sisters, and her father. It ran until 2014.
It was a pop culture sensation, and the baby name Honey bounced a tiny bit in 2012, likely as a result of the little girl at the heart of series. But it was complicated, too, and it’s just as easy to imagine parents striking Honey from their list because of the reality television image.
HOW POPULAR IS THE BABY NAME HONEY IN THE US?
And so, in the United States, the baby name Honey remained relatively rare as a given name.
It debuted in the US Social Security Administration data set way back in 1912, with eight girls receiving the name.
As of the year 2000, it was just 24 births.
Following the movie Honey, the name rose in use, but fell back down. In 2017, it started to climb again.
But the name leapt in 2024, with 282 little girls named Honey, enough to put Honey in Top 1000 most popular names in the US, ranking #935.
A handful of high-profile parents in the US have chosen the name for their daughters, too.
- In 2023, reality television’s Brody Jenner and professional surfer Tia Blanco named their daughter Honey after the Jessica Alba movie.
- Back to reality television. A&E’s Duck Dynasty made a star of Sadie Robertson. She and husband Christian have three daughters: Honey, Haven, and Kit. Honey was born in 2021. Robertson is now a podcaster and speaker, known for her Christian ministry.
Robertson’s influence probably deserves credit for the bump in the baby name Honey’s popularity.
Worth noting: honey is referenced in the Bible, and often symbolizes abundance. Think of the Old Testament phrase “a land of milk and honey.”
HONEY DON’T … OR MAYBE DO?
All of this brings us to the year 2025, and the new movie Honey Don’t.
But first, back to 1964: The Beatles recorded Carl Perkins’ 1956 single “Honey Don’t.” It’s not a name; it’s a term of affection. But it stands in for a name in the song. And as it’s been covered over the decades, it’s easy to forget that Honey isn’t a name.
For the new Ethan Coen movie, Honey O’Donahue is a private investigator in California. Margaret Qualley plays the role. Even if the movie isn’t a blockbuster hit, it is stylish – and names featured in movie titles tend to attract attention.
We hear it, and maybe we quietly reinterpret Andy Grammer’s “Honey, I’m Good” and ABBA and The Four Tops and a dozen other song lyrics to be about a name.
And so the baby name Honey continues to transform. It feels ever more like a given name, as well as a nickname, just like Bear.
It feels a little like a modern, Christian-tinted purpose name – think Fisher or King. But it’s edgy, too, a rock and roll kind of standard, a sister for Stella, a name that reads effortlessly cool – but still so very sweet.
What do you think of the baby name Honey?
