What are some names that mean rebirth, immortal, or eternal life?

Renée means “reborn” in French (René is the masculine form; it’s used in France, but it could be an awkward choice as a boy’s name in the States).

Samsara is a Sanskrit word referring to the endless cycle of rebirth. It has a pretty sound to it, but has a less than positive connotation in Buddhist cultures.

@thorninmud If it’s not positive in the Buddhist culture I will be avoiding it! Renee’ wouldn’t be bad for a girl though :)

A better alternative to René for a boy might be Renato, which has the same meaning in Italian and Spanish.

I have a Zoe (female) in my family; the name means “life” in Greek.

Aionia for a girl. Everlasting life in Greek.

Sophia means “wise” in Greek.

Abigail means “father’s joy” in Hebrew.

Phoenix, cyclically regenerated or reborn.

Eeva = Finnish for life.

Eamon = for a boy. This is your life.

Constance somewhat evokes “eternal”.

Aisha, life in Swahili!

Amar (for a boy) and Amara (for a girl) both Sanskrit names meaning immortal/everlasting. There are many spelling variants too; Ammara, Amarah, etc.

@gailcalled Is that pronounced Zoey?

Yes. Zoh ee.

@zenvelo I loved Phoenix and it was one of the only boy names I found that I had a strong liking for but unfortunately it doesn’t really fit well with the last name.

How would Lucan work for a male, Sapphires for a girl. Both are associated with the Phoenix. I thought of River P your name, for River Phoenix, but that seemed a bit lame.

Chaim (male, pronounced hi-am or hime) but it’s very Jewish.

Eva or Evita. Vita or you might be more familiar with the Spanish vida, means life. Eve is also a symbol of life.

I would think Jesus might work, but I rarely see anyone but Latin Americans using it.

Edit: Vivian, also from Vida. V names are pretty cool I think.

Larry King has a daughter named Chaia taken from the familiar toast l’chaim (to life).

I don’t know how common a usage that would be for a girl. She pronounces it kigh-ahh.

Or kie-ahh. Whichever gets the point across better.

@Adirondackwannnabe Lucan is a great name. I’ve never heard it before today. How is the name associated with the Phoenix?

Chava as a girl’s name is of Hebrew origin, and means “life”.

Chava has 9 variant forms: Ava, Chabah, Chaya, Chayka, Eva, Eve, Hava, Haya and Kaija.

It’s a pretty name but you have to pronounce the “Ch” as a slight gutteral. In “Fiddler on the Roof,” Chava was Tevya’s middlet daughter.

Lucan was one of the storytellers associated with carrying on the story of the Phoenix.

FYI Chava means girl in Mexican slang. In Spanish it is pronounced as an English speaking person would as opposed to the guttural sound @gailcalled mentioned, or you can simply just say it as H like Hannah can be Channah and Chanukah Hanukkah. The Hebrew and Yiddish get adapted a lot, no real right way in translation.

I only mention Chava (which I happen to like as lot) means girl in Mexican slang, because if you are around a lot of Mexicans it won’t be interpreted as life when written. I live the name Julia, but my husband hated the idea because all his relatives would say hulia, which I agree loses it’s pretty when said that way.

@JLeslie “but my husband hated the idea because all his relatives would say Hulia, which I agree loses its pretty when said that way.”

That’s interesting; I always thought it sounded prettier pronounced “Hulia”.

Athanasia is Greek for immortal. Pronounced the same way as Anastasia which means resurrection.

@dappled_leaves That’s the thing, how a name sounds is so subjective. I actually prefer the Spanish pronounciation of Julio for a man. Being from different cultures can also really affect how someone perceives names. I’m not exactly sure if Julia in Spanish doesn’t sound as pretty to my husband or if the name means something to him. Like Mary, Marie, Maria all to him are names given to maids. I love the Mary names, but wouldn’t name my child one because it’s so not Jewish. Even though Mary was a Jewish woman, but that’s besides the point. I would be shocked if the OP used Chaim or Chava, because she isn’t Jewish, but I was surprised when Hannah became more mainstream in America so you never know.

I think it is a good idea for people not to tell the baby name before the baby is born, to avoid people making a negative comment about the name. Probably I should have kept my own negative comment to myself. In real life I almost never say out loud I don’t like a name. With my husband or mother I might, but not other people who might be considering the name or have a grandchild by that name, etc.

That reminds me Italian Princess might like Viviana instead of Vivian.

@JLeslie I have found that asking people what they think of a baby name invites negative comments. I have already run into that problem. I asked my mother what she thought of the name Kiran (Kee-rin) for a boy and she absolutely hated it. I liked the origin and meaning but after hearing her reaction, it ruined it for me. From here on out, I don’t plan on asking opinions. And yes, I do prefer Viviana over Vivian :) Very pretty!

@ItalianPrincess1217 I realize that it can be annoying to have people quash your enthusiasm for a name while trying to choose… but if it hasn’t occurred to you that half his class will also be named Kiran, and that no one will ever spell it correctly (to the child and later adult’s great annoyance), then maybe it’s good to get a little feedback!

Is that Kiran? Ciaran? Kieran? Kieren? A lifetime of this is not enjoyable.

Seems like you prefer names that begin with the K sound maybe? Your son’s name starts that way. I really like M names and think names with V and Z’s are neat. And, I think you tend to like trendy or unusual names rather than the biblical or the classics. What do you think?

@dappled_leaves Your make a very good point. That was exactly how my mother put it and although my dreams of ever using that name were squashed, I am thankful she said exactly what everyone else would have been thinking!

@JLeslie I definitely like a unique name but not so much trendy. I’ve never been a fan of trendy anything. Meanings are most important. I am especially fond of Buddhist culture and beliefs so I have been looking into names derived from that. But I’m open to many things so long as it has a meaning that I feel a connection to.

If you don’t like Phoenix but you like the concept, consider Garuda. Garuda is the Hindi version of the Phoenix, it is a bird that is the mount of Lord Vishnu.

@zenvelo That’s interesting, I never knew there was a Hindi version of the Phoenix. I like where you’re going with it. Do you happen to know of any names related to Lord Ganesha?

@ItalianPrincess1217: Remember that the child will have to carry the name around; if it is too outlandish or outside his culture, it may be a burden. Do you have any connections within your own family or culture that would help? In my traditional Jewish community, we name children for relatives who have died…by using the initial of the first name. There was a recent death of grandpa Joseph, and his first great-grandson was just named Jonah.

I was named after my great-grandmother Golda.

And keep in mind that none of us has eternal life or is immortal.

@gailcalled My own belief is that after death we are reincarnated. So I believe we all have a cycle of endless life in a way.

^^ Fair enough.

Just thought of another boy name: Vitale.

I keep coming up with Italian names not on purpose, but ironically it would fit in with your family. Though, sometimes the traditional Italian names we know from immigrants coming over 50–100 years ago seem so Italian if you know what I mean.

@JLeslie I do love Italian names. Of course, I’m marrying an Irish man, so the last name may sound rather funny with a strong Italian first name.

On a side note, I always liked the name Dominic (thinking it had an Italian origin) but it’s actually Latin and means “of the Lord”.

Oh, we should look up life in Gaelic.

I like Italian names too. Actually, I like Irish names a lot. My mom wanted to name my sister Shannon, she is rather obsessed with the Irish (like my husband oddly) and the family was negative about the name because it was odd for a Jewish girl.

I like the name Dominic and Dominique.

I just came across the Irish name Bergin, which means wondrous birth. It reminds me of Bergen county though.

Did you find the Gaelic name for life? I think I’ll look that up next.

I can’t seem to find one for life.

Looks like life in Gaelic the word life is Saol or Beatha. There might be derivatives that are used as names. Saul, a name Jews use, means prayed for or asked for I think. While Solomon means peace taken from Shalom. Also, Solomon was the wise King in the bible.

I should have mentioned my nephew’s name. Another Italian one. Gianluca. I think that must mean god under the light or born from the sun or something like that. Pronounced John-Luke-ah.

We are pretty sure about the girl name we want. It’s the boy we are still searching for now. @JLeslie Those 2 names are all I could find too. I’m not a fan of either.

@ItalianPrincess1217 Here is a list of names related to Ganesha

One in particular seems to have meaning cross culturally: Amit. It means infinite, immeasurable, boundless, limitless in Hindi or Nepali. In Hebrew, it means friend. In Israel it is usually given to a boy, but is occasionally given to a girl.

(There was girl named Amit who lived across the street when I was young, whose parents were Israeli.)

@zenvelo I had a girlfriend named Amit from Israel when I was growing up too. I remember at her birthday parties they did the whole chair in the air with her.

I named my daughter who was born close to Easter, STACY from Anastasia meaning Ressurection