Short, Popular Nature Names to Go With Kai and Wren

Name Help is a series at Appellation Mountain. Every week, one reader’s name questions will be discussed. We’re relying on thoughtful comments from the community to help expectant parents narrow down their name decisions. Thank you in advance for sharing your insight! To have your question considered, email appmtn (at) gmail. Looking for your own private #namehelp post? Order one here.

WHEN YOU DON’T MEAN TO HAVE A THEME … BUT YOU DEFINITELY HAVE A THEME

Allie writes:

When we named our son and daughter, we just picked names we liked. Our children are Kai William and Wren Kennedy.

My husband really wanted Kai for our son, and so he let me pick Wren for our daughter. William is for my dad. Kennedy was the name he wanted for Wren’s first name.

I am due with our third child in March. We don’t want to find out if it’s a boy or a girl this time, but it’s making names harder.

We realized, after we named Wren, that we had a theme. Very short names with nature-y meanings. I kind of love that, and the way there’s an image that goes with both names.

But it’s making naming even harder.

My husband’s favorite name for a girl is Avery, and I like it, but NOT with Kai and Wren.

We don’t want anything too different, but also not too old.

My favorite name for a boy is probably still Hudson, which I liked with both pregnancies, but I don’t like it as much with Kai and Wren.

Can you help us come up with some names that sound good with Kai and Wren? I feel like I have pregnancy brain all the time now, and every name I think of is just someone else’s kid already!

Please read on for my response and leave your thoughtful suggestions in the comments.

MAYBE YOU DON’T HAVE TO MATCH 100%

Abby replies:

Congratulations on your third!

Let’s start with this: yes, it makes sense to match your older kids’ names. Kai, Wren, and Hephzibah would be off-putting.

But maybe you don’t have to match in every category. I can describe Kai and Wren as:

• Nature names
• One-syllable names
• 2020s favorites
• Vaguely unisex (though Kai is far more common for boys and Wren is used in far greater numbers for girls, so … vaguely)

It just so happens you’ve matched on four out of four categories with your first two kids. But a name like River might work, too, right? It matches three out of four categories. Kai, Wren, and River. Or maybe Kai, Wren, and Liv. It’s not quite a nature name, but it sounds exactly right with Kai and Wren.

Also: after thinking through middle names, I realized that your kids share the same initials, reversed: K.W. and W.K. Which is … whoa, a lot of matching! But it seems subtle, particularly because Wren doesn’t sound like a W name. So I’m not thinking about initials at all … but it’s one more way you might feel like your kids’ names could be matched.

Okay, let’s jump in, because as soon as I started thinking “what if we just match in two or three of the categories,” the possibilities really opened up!

A SISTER FOR KAI AND WREN

BRIAR

A nature name used for boys and girls, Briar is fresh and modern, but with a hint of fairy tale, too. (Another name for Sleeping Beauty is Briar Rose.)

HAVEN

A word name that suggests safety and rest, with a strong, bright sound.

JUNE

A little more old-fashioned than Kai and Wren, June still sounds just right.

LIV

The first name that came to mind. It could be short for Olivia, but Liv is a distinct Scandi name originally meaning protection, but now strongly associated with life. I like the V sound, as in your husband’s favorite, Avery.

MAEVE

Another name with a V. Before I added Maeve, I thought about Mae – but it’s not as substantial as June or Maeve. It’s the name of a warrior queen from Irish legend.

REEVE

See a theme here? Eve is an obvious possibility, but surname name Reeve reminds me of Avery, Kennedy, and Hudson, but with a sound that matches Kai and Wren. As with several names I’ve mentioned here, Reeve could work for a daughter or a son.

RORY

An Irish name meaning red king, Rory is traditionally masculine, but has been used in small numbers for girls for ever. (And ever since Gilmore Girls, it’s clearly unisex.) The color association isn’t the same as a nature name, but it’s a similar vibe.

SAGE

Then again, Sage is The One Name that might check every box, matching on four out of four. Besides the herb, sage is also a lovely shade of a green and a synonym for wise. Kai, Wren, and Sage are perfectly matched – if that’s the direction you want to go.

A BROTHER FOR KAI AND WREN

FINN

Finn is a hero name from Irish legend, but there’s just a hint of the natural world, too. I love Kai and Finn as brother names, and I think it’s different enough from Wren, too.

HEATH

Thanks to a television Western from the 1960s, Heath had a good run in the twentieth century. But it wasn’t ever especially popular, so I think this nature name still has plenty of potential now.

JUDE

It’s brief and bright, a logical brother for Kai.

KNOX

Normally I might not suggest two single-syllable names starting with the same initial. But Kai and Knox sound nothing alike. Because you and your husband are also drawn to surnames, I wonder if Knox might be just different enough to satisfy?

LEO

It’s a nature name, but in a more vintage, old school way than Kai or Wren. But it’s plenty popular today and I think that makes it a match.

RIVER

Yes, it’s longer than Kai, but it’s a perfect brother name still. They both refer to water, they’re both modern favorites that you wouldn’t have heard thirty years ago, and while River is more common for boys, it’s also used for girls.

ROWAN

Like River, Rowan can be considered unisex. It’s an Irish surname meaning red, but it’s also the rowan tree – which has red berries.

TATE

A happy, upbeat name, Tate sounds and means cheerful.

Overall, I think my favorites for a girl are Liv and Sage. Something like Liv Allison or Sage Katherine, maybe, for your name? For a boy, I think Jude Hudson would be great. I’d love to suggest River Hudson, too – except that’s oddly close to New York’s Hudson River, so I’ll suggest River James instead.

Readers, over to you! What would you name a sibling for Kai William and Wren Kennedy?