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Forest



Here's one of my personal favorites, although I'm surprised I still like it after seeing Forrest Gump so often (thanks, Dad). In fact, the name peaked in popularity for the second time the year the movie was released, jumping to number #217 in 1994. Now he's on the move yet again, rising to 132 boys given the name in 2015 from a low dip to 47 in 2006. To be clear, Forest is the word spelling and Forrest the name spelling, and Forrest remains a much more popular choice with 387 boys given the name in 2015, ranking at #659. Forrest also had a dip in 2006 with only 147 births, disappearing from the charts between 2003 and 2013, and it also peaked in 1994 with 1,343 boys born, rising to #217. Historically both spelling options have been very popular.

Forest doesn't have an obvious nickname, but it's one of those names you enjoy saying without having to shorten it. Forest is Old French, meaning "woods." A famous namesake is St. John Forest of the 16th century, and another is actor Forrest Whittaker, but there are dozens more. This name can be spelled Forest or Forrest, it is up to you. Most of the namesakes for the spelling Forest are surnames, but there are a few with Forest as a given name.

Here are some other male names with "forest" in their meaning...

Arden - "great forest"
Boyce - "forest"
Dagwood - "shining forest"
Fraser - "of the forest men"
Heywood/Haywood - "hedged forest"
Holt - "woods, forest"
Keith - "woodland, forest"
Kimberly - "Cyneburg's meadow" (Cyneburg means "royal forest")
Kirkwood - "church forest"
Lockhart - "deer from the forest"
Lockwood - "forest near the fortified place"
Ranger - "forest guardian"
Rinji - "peaceful forest"
Sherwood - place name from Robin Hood
Silas - "forest"
Silvan/Sylan, Silvano, Silverio, Silvio, Sylvester & Silvanus/Sylvanus - "of the forest"
Upwood - "upper forest"
Waldo - "woods, forest"
Waldwick - "village in the forest"
Yaar - "forest"

Similarly, here are male names that mean "wood/woods"...

Ainsley - "Anne's field," "hermitage field," or "wood clearing or meadow"
Atwood - "at the wood"
Bosley - "meadow near the woods"
Boston - "town by the woods" (place name)
Boswell - "well near the woods"
Bosworth - "fenced farm near the woods"
Burl - "knotty wood"
Calhoun - "the narrow woods"
Carden - "wood carder" (occupation name)
Carver - "one who carves wood" (occupation name)
Covert - place name that refers to a small area of woods that gives shelter to game
Coy - "woods"
Culley - "the woods"
Deodar - "divine wood"
Early - "eagle wood" (also a word)
Elwood/Ellwood - "noble wood"
Farley - "fern wood"
Fleetwood - "woods with the stream"
Glade - refers to a clearing in the woods
Greenwood - "green wood"
Grimshaw - "dark woods"
Griswold - "grey woods"
Guido - "wood"
Guy - "wood"
Harwood - "wood of the hares"
Hazelwood - "wood of hazel trees"
Holt - "woods"
Locke - "woods"
Marwood - "lake near the woods"
Norwood - "woods in the north"
Oswald - "man from the south woods"
Renshaw - "raven woods"
Roscoe - "deer wood"
Sawyer, Sayer & Turner - "wood worker" (occupation name)
Shaw - "wood"
Sherwood - "luminous wood"
Stanwood - "stone woods'
Waldorf - "village in the woods"
Winwood - "friend's woods"
Woodrow - "row of houses by the wood"
Woodson - "wood's son"
Woodward - "warden of the woods"
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Comments

  1. DellittJuly 18, 2012 at 1:53 PM

    I like Silas, Sawyer, and Sylvester. And Ainsley, though for a girl.

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousDecember 2, 2015 at 8:39 AM

    I really like the name Lockhart, In fact, I have a character with that name.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. AnonymousDecember 2, 2015 at 8:40 AM

      I also may change my name to that actually. I love nature names.

      Delete

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