Baking is almost as old as cooking itself, and in these strange times, people all over the globe have turned to home baking in a way they haven’t since the advent of commercial bakeries. From nurturing (and naming!) their sourdough starters to learning how to make fancy confections, this old cooking craft is finding new devotees across demographics. Is it so out of the realm of possibility then that parents might give a child of theirs a baking-related baby name? We don’t think so! After all, there are plenty of kids named after fruit and sweets!
From ancient grains to desserts fit for royalty, we have a list of wearable baking-related baby names that we think could work for future buns in the oven!
Anisette
Italian anisette cookies are a favorite for many around the holidays. While the licorice flavor of anise may be a polarizing taste, there’s a lot to love in Anisette as a baby name. It fits with the style of other -ette names while offering nickname options from Ani to Anise.
Baker
Surname and occupation name Baker leapt into the top 1000 back in 2018, in large part to the popularity of Cleveland Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield. But with all the new home bakers out there, we think the popularity of this name will continue rising, just like those homemade loaves of bread.
Bara
Bara brith is a speckled yeast bread usually flavored with dried fruit and tea. It is popular in Wales and served often at tea time. “Bara” means “bread” in Welsh. But Bara is also a name that has Hebrew roots. Meaning “to select; innocent,” it is a new take on -ara names like Cara, Lara, and Mara.
Betty
A name that is American as apple pie, we actually get our name inspiration here from apple brown betty, a traditional American dessert. A common nickname for more the formal Elizabeth and sometimes Bethany, Beatriz, and Bethia, we’re happily riding the nickname-as-first-name wave and championing this 50s vintage choice for 21st century babies.
Charlotte
Fans of The Great British Bake Off may remember the jelly roll swirl tops of the Charlotte Royal challenge, but that’s not the only bake with this name. In the baking world, Charlottes are another name for icebox cakes. Then there’s the baby name world, where Charlotte is an enduring classic with evergreen charm that has rocketed to the top 10.
Durum
Durum wheat is most widely used to make pasta for us carb lovers, but it’s been used for centuries for bread making, too. While the Durum spelling might not fly for parents who think it’s too food-adjacent, there’s homonym and place name, Durham, which may have greater wearability.
Emmer
While it seems perfectly logical alongside all the Emmas and Emmetts, Emmer is an ancient hulled wheat. For bread lovers, this grain could serve as great inspiration for a baby name. With German roots, Emmer as a name means “universal.”
Farro
Another ancient grain, farro can be used for baking, as added texture in salads, or served as a warm dish of its own. We think this spelling might have legs, but for those who love the sound but not the spelling, there’s majestic spelling Pharaoh, which has a very different connotation, and modern surname spelling, Farrow.
Graham
Named after its inventor, Sylvester Graham, graham flour is a coarse whole wheat flour. As a baby name, Graham has a smooth sophistication that we think is timeless. Currently ranked in the top 200 baby names in the US, it’s recognizable and classically handsome.
Honoré
Virtue name Honoré is a French name that means “honor.” But it’s also the name of a French dessert: the gâteau St-Honoré, or the St.Honoré cake. Who was St. Honoré? The patron saint of bakers! How perfectly on the nose–and on the taste buds!
Khorasan
Khorasan is another type of wheat, perhaps better known by the commercial name kamut, and is well-regarded for its buttery, nutty flavor. Khorasan is also a place name–a historical province in Iran whose name means “the land of the sun.”
Linzer
A traditional Austrian tart, linzer also comes in cookie form. You may know them best as shortbread cookies with a fruit preserve center, usually raspberry or strawberry. As a name, Linzer has the appeal of the surname style. The shortened form, Linz, is the city in Austria after which the sweet treat is named.
Lorna
Lovers of shortbread will undoubtedly be familiar with the famous Lorna Doone cookies, which got their name from the Scottish novel of the same name. To us, Lorna gives off vintage Hollywood vibes, in part because Hollywood legend Judy Garland gave one of her daughters this moniker.
Madeleine
One of our favorite names, Madeleine in its various spellings (Madeline, Madelyn, Madelyne…) has been incredibly loved and popular in the last few decades. Its formal form is full of sophistication, and it comes with a variety of diminutives for little cuties (Maddie, Maddo, Mads…). The shell-shaped buttery cake/cookie has various origin stories about how it got its name, including being named for its inventor, Madeleine Palmier.
Victoria
A name fit for a queen, Victoria is also a name fit for a sponge cake. A Victoria sandwich, to be specific, a British sponge cake perfect for tea time. Regal and classic, Victoria has hovered around the top 20 for the past 20 years, and shows no signs of dropping.
Those are our picks for the best baking-related baby names! What do you think? What other baking-related baby names do you think should have made the list? Let us know in the comments!
And if you’re looking for more baby names while hunkered at home right now, visit our list of healthcare-worker-inspired baby names and home-inspired baby names for more ideas in these trying times.