The baby name Lake is rich with potential in our River/Ocean moment, but remains surprisingly rare.
Thanks to Lena for suggesting our Baby Name of the Day.
WHAT DOES THE NAME LAKE MEAN?
In brief, a lake is an inland body of water.
The word comes from the Old French lack from the Latin lacus. Plenty of languages have similar-sounding words. Think loch in Irish and Scots; lago in Italian; lac in French today.
Lakes dot the landscape across the world and even beyond. The Caspian Sea? Actually a lake. The Great Lakes border Canada and the United States. Africa’s Lake Victoria stretches between three nations.
Countless smaller lakes exist, too. Exact counts vary, but the number is somewhere around 1.42 million. The state of Minnesota calls itself “the land of 10,000 lakes,” though the official count is likely higher.
No surprise that Lake started out as a surname – a topographic name, to be precise. If you lived by a lake, or lived somewhere named for a prominent lake – this might become your last name, just like Hill or Fields.
LADY OF THE LAKE
Lakes features in all sort of myth and legend.
In Greek mythology, minor goddesses called Naiads preside over bodies of fresh water, including lakes.
There’s a similar concept in Norse mythology and Swedish folklore. Sjöfru means Mistress of the Lake, a spirit responsible for protecting a body of water.
They might seem a little bit like mermaids.
Then there’s the Lady of the Lake in the tales of King Arthur.
Depending on the telling, this enchantress gives Arthur the sword Excalibur, captures the wizard Merlin, serves as guardian to Lancelot, and/or escorts the dying king to Avalon.
Sometimes she has a specific name: Vivienne or Niniane or Nimue. Sometimes she’s one of several, a type of spirit rather than a single figure.
She’s described in one of the most famous lines from Monty Python and the Holy Grail: “Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government. Supreme executive power derives from a mandate from the masses, not from some farcical aquatic ceremony.”
One of the most recent re-tellings of the tale was 2020’s Cursed, a short-lived Netflix series based on a graphic novel. It puts Nimue – destined to become the Lady of the Lake – at the center of the story.
All of this legend and lore adds some depth to the baby name Lake.
VERONICA LAKE TO LAKE BELL
Hollywood icon Veronica Lake became famous in the 1940s. Her blonde, peekaboo hairstyle remains famous all these decades later. Her birth name? Constance Ockelman. Her stage name was inspired, it’s said, by the blue color of her eyes.
Actress Lake Bell has appeared in many films and television series, from Boston Legal to Harley Quinn. Lake is her birth name.
THE RISE OF NATURE NAMES
Parents have always used some nature names. Victorian florals, like Violet, gave way to rugged midcentury staples, like Craig.
Names inspired by water, like River and Ocean, are particularly popular in the 2020s.
Gisele Bündchen and her ex, Tom Brady, share daughter Vivian Lake.
It’s also possible that some parents are inspired by the blue color of a lake; there’s actually a shade of blue called “lake blue.”
LAKEN, LAKELYN, LAKELYNN
As it happens, Lake – the single-syllable word name – hasn’t been as popular as a series of Nature-Plus names. They’re a mix-and-match approach, taking a nature name and adding a familiar suffix to make it more name-like.
Laken had a moment in the 1990s, and multiple spellins are seen.
But it’s fast-rising Lakelyn and Lakelynn that are favorites in the 2020s.
HOW POPULAR IS THE NAME LAKE?
Possibly because it’s a surname, Lake has a long history of use as a unisex name.
It debuted in the US Social Security Administration (SSA) data in 1891 for boys and 1893 for girls.
While it has yet to rank in the SSA’s Top 1000, it has been used in steady numbers for a well over a century.
As of 2023, it’s more popular as a boy’s name. 88 boys and 49 girls were named Lake.
Given the popularity of baby boy name River, that tracks.
But pop culture still associates this name with phrases like “the Lady of the Lake,” which makes it a logical choice for a daughter, too.
LACHLAN and LOCHLAN
Speaking of boys, it’s worth noting that the names Lachlan and Lochlan, heard in Scottish and Irish, refer to lakes, too – lochs. (Think Loch Ness.)
The English word Lake is less familiar as a given name, but Lachlan and company have history to spare.
RARE AND LOVELY WORD NAME
It’s not hard to imagine parents seeking an unusual, but straightforward, nature name considering Lake.
In fact, it’s the perfect name if you love the simplicity of Jane and Ray, but prefer something uncommon.
With ties to the natural world, as well as legend and myth, the baby name Lake has plenty of potential.
