Skip to main content

Could-be names ending in -fera

Apis_mellifera
Apis mellifera, aka Western Honey Bee


The suffix -fera for girls and -fer for boys (as in Lucifer) is a New Latin nomitive neuter plural meaning "bearing." Some examples of plant and animal related words with the suffix -fera are as follows:

Caelifera, "heaven-supporting," which is a taxonomic suborder of grasshopper
Ensifera, "sword-bearing," which is a genus of hummingbird
Indigofera, "bearing indigo," a genus of beans
Loricifera, "breastplate bearer," marine animals with a protective casing
Porifera,"pore-bearing," sea sponges
Mangifera, "mango-bearing," the mango tree
Stolonifera, "branch-bearing," types of sea coral
Rotifera, "wheel-bearing," a phylum organism

There are other words ending in -fer, such as bellifer, "making war," and mellifer, "carrying honey," where the word could be used in the feminine sense, so I will put an asterisk next to those. Following the above model, these names are not yet taken by the plant and animal kingdom, except for what is starred because they have no negative association and are good as names. I think it goes without saying that all of these are quite rare, and I'd be surprised to find out any were used as baby names. I'd also like to note that for pronunciation, the suffix becomes FAIR-uh, not FUR-uh ("fur" being included in the way we say Lucifer), which would be the Latin pronunciation.

Stellifera, Astrifera
Solifera
Mellifera*
Florifera, Anthifera
Aurorifera
Lucifera*
Mercifera (*seems to be a word along the lines of merciful)
Ambrosifera
Lunifera, Selenifera
Aurelifera, Aurifera (*aurifer)
Bellifera*
Carifera
Nicefera
Sperantifera
Clarifera (*butterfly)
Ismenifera
Jacinthifera
Vitalifera
Dianifera
Thalifera
Laurifera (*laurifer)
Lilifera (*magnolia lilifera)
Chryseifera
Chlorifera
Dulcifera (*dulcifer)
Violifera (*helianthia violifera)
Cassifera
Felicifera
Glorifera
Labels:

Comments

  1. AnonymousNovember 24, 2017 at 6:11 AM

    This is gold!!! Thankyou so so much for this post!!! I literally might use one of these names for my future kiddo. Happy Thanksgiving!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Once Upon a Time Baby NamesNovember 25, 2017 at 1:55 AM

    To me, they all already sound like they are names. Cassifera? Shorten it to Cassie for accessibility. Lilifera? Just as unique as Lilith, Guinevere and Ferelith.

    Stellifera was the only one of these on my radar when I had my girl, and it was shortlisted as a way to honor a Stella in my family. We chose to honor a different family member instead, but had I seen Mellifera she'd have a completely different name (and a pissed relative).

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. AnonymousNovember 25, 2017 at 2:29 AM

      Hahah! Yes I agree- these names just work and they add such a nice spin. I love the nickname "fairy" for all of them too. Kinda dumb but hey- I love fairies so ya know.

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Galician Baby Names

I grew up on a street that was named an Italian variant of Roger. When I got married and we bought our first house, it turned out to be on Roger Street. Once noting that coincidence, I started searching for other variants of the name. However, female variants turned out to be pretty nonexistent. Save for Roxeria, which I later discovered was the Galician female form, possibly pronounced rohz-AIR-ee-uh. That led me to a few lists of female Galician names, ranging from common to rare. Here is a sampling of names not often heard here in the states... Albina Alda Alma Alodia Aloia Amada Amadora Amalia Amparo Anisia Antia Araceli Aranzazu Artemisa Avelina Azucena Baia Balbina Baltasara Beatriz Benvida Berenice Bieita Branca Braulia Caetana Carola Casilda Casimira Ceferina Celsa Cipriana Cira Clorinda Coralia Cornelia Cosima Davinia Delfina Desideria Dionisia Dominga Dorinda Dorotea Dositea Edelmira Edenia Elba Elvira Emiliana Etelvina ...
2 comments
Read more

Witchy Baby Girl Names!

Circe Invidiosa by John William Waterhouse Have a little girl due in October? Looking to name a character? Here's my [seemingly endless] list of witchy-sounding baby names. Most of them also fit in the "clunky but cool" category, or "vintage." Most plants, trees, herbs, spices, flowers, gems, space and nature names fit the bill, because in stories and current practice these things are useful to witches. I've put any actual witch names from legend, myth, literature, movies, etc in bold and up front. I have not considered the names of actual, living people or their Pagan names, and I've left out any characters that only have a surname, or truly ridiculous given names. In the second half you'll see a list of names that, to my knowledge, have not been used for witch characters. Please know that this is not a complete list. Wikipedia has an almost complete list you can view  here . Tabitha, Samantha, Endora, Clara, Serena  (Bewitched) Katrina...
25 comments
Read more

Ancient Germanic Female Deities

Loki and Idun by John Bauer Here is a list of ancient Germanic goddess and personifications. There is some overlap with the goddesses of the Norse pantheon, and I've limited it to those names that I think would wear well today on modern babies. Of the following names, only the following were used in 2016. Sol was given to 91 girls, Ran to 5 girls, Saga to 9 girls, and Beyla to 6 girls. Beyla - as a possible agricultural personification, her name could mean "cow," "bean," or "bee," but she has been associated with bees and mead, so my guess is "bee." However, there's been a proposed connection to the reconstructed Proto-Norse name Baunila, which means "little bean." This is also a Spanish and Italian girls name. Fulla - possibly means "bountiful." Her other name is Volla, which I think is equally accessible as a name. She is a virgin goddess in Old Norse mythology. Gersemi - means "treasure." Sh...
Post a Comment
Read more