Butterflies are beautiful insects and are epitomes of spontaneity, freedom, and of course, metamorphosis. Names that means butterfly can signify any of those aspects as it relates to a person or animal’s identity.
In this nerdy name guide, I will discuss both popular and obscure names that mean butterfly or are related to butterflies from several languages and cultures. Once you’ve finished reading, you’ll have the perfect ideas for children, middle names, pets, book characters, and more- you name it! (pun intended!)
Boy Names That Mean Butterfly
Aglais
Aglais is the name of a genus of butterflies known as tortoiseshells. Not just that, it is also a sweet, upbeat name for a boy.
Argus
Argus is a species of butterfly with perfectly-shaped and splendidly colored wings. It is commonly known as Brown Argus. If we talk about the Greek roots of this name, Argus is derived from the word argos, which means ‘glistening, shining’.
Chrysalis
When a butterfly is young- between the larval and adult stages, it forms a chrysalis. This unisex name implies a fantastic metaphor that a child is going to grow up to be as splendid as a butterfly.
Clodius
The Parnassius Clodius is a graceful butterfly that is found in North America and inspires a unique name for little boys. The name Clodius also reminds me of the slightly more common name, Claudius.
Danaus
Danaus is a masculine name inspired by the genus of regal-looking butterflies by the same name. In Greek mythology, Danaus was the brother of legendary king Aegyptus.
Ekval
In Hindi, the word Ekval means ‘a beautiful and free butterfly’.
Faranak
This name is a male version of the female Persian name Parvaneh, which means ‘butterfly’.
Flutur
The name Flutur comes from Albanian, and means ‘butterflies’. It definitely reminds me of the word “flutter.”
Fluturim
A derivative of the name Flutur, Fluturim refers to ‘a flight, flying’.
Hector
The masculine name Hector is taken from the grand crimson and black Pachliopta Hector butterfly. In Greek legend, Hector was also a Trojan hero warrior who fought against the Greeks. All in all, a truly nerdy name in a nerdy name guide.
Lysander
Lysander is a male name name with a Greek ring to it, which means ‘the released man’ in Greek. To add to that, it is also the name of a species of butterfly called the Lysander cattleheart.
Nir
In Hindi, an Indian language, Nir means ‘nectar, elixir’ as in the nectar that all the butterflies flutter around for.
Papillon
This masculine is taken from the French word for ‘butterfly’. A scientific family of butterflies, Papilionidae, has been named after this word.
Sommerflue
Sommerflue is a Danish name meaning ‘butterfly’.
Girl Names That Mean Butterfly
Aponi
This melodic name comes from the Blackfoot language of the Niitsitapi people of Canada. It is derived from the Blackfoot word apaniiwa which means butterfly. You may also see this name as Apani.
Atalanta
Vanessa Atalanta, also known as The Red Admiral, is a colossal butterfly species with black and red wings. The butterfly is majestic to look at, and so is its name, which inspires this moniker.
Bindi
In the indigenous language Nyungar of Western Australia, the name Bindi means ‘butterfly’.
Birabiro
In one of the Semitic Afroasiatic languages Amharic, Birabiro is a feminine name meaning ‘butterfly’.
Caria
Caria is a family of butterflies residing in the American continents that are known for large and colorful wings. The name also has roots in Ancient Greece, with it being the name of a province near the Aegis sea.
Cho
This simple name from Japan means ‘butterfly’.
Chōko
The Japanese name Choko is derived from the name Cho, with the addition of the suffix ‘-ko’ which means ‘child’. Thus, it means ‘a child like a butterfly’.
Clytia
This name is inspired by the swallowtail butterfly species Papilio Clytia, often known as the common mime. The actual meaning of the name means ‘famous, noble’, which goes hand-in-hand with the nature of these majestic butterflies.
Cynthia
The name Cynthia is procured from the Painted Ladies, a group of brilliantly colored butterflies. This name was also the sobriquet of the Greek goddess Artemis.
Euthalia
Euthalia is a magnificent Greek name comprising two words, eu (good, beautiful) and thalia (flower, blossom), means ‘a beautiful flower’. Euthalia is also the name of a genus of butterflies, commonly known as Barons.
Farasha
This Arabic name has a singular meaning – butterfly.
Ītzpā
Ītzpā is a diminutive of the ancient Aztec name Ītzpāpālotl, where itzli means ‘obsidian’ and pāpālotl means butterfly, thus pointing at a ‘clawed butterfly’ or ‘an obsidian butterfly’.
Josephina
The Ganyra Josephina, apart from being a subtle and impressive butterfly, also serves as the inspiration behind this name. It is also the feminine variant of the masculine name Joseph, and means ‘god’s might will increase’.
Kelebek
A unique feminine name from Turkey. Meaning: butterfly
Kimana
In the dialect of the Native American Shoshone tribe, Kimana means ‘butterfly’.
Kimimela
A melodic name that comes from the Native American Sioux language of the Lakota and the Dakota people of America. It means ‘little butterfly’.
Luna
The name Luna is also the Latin term for the moon, and also the name of an eye-catching moth known as the Actias Luna. It’s also a trendy baby name at the moment.
Mariposa
Everything sounds better in Spanish, and this name meaning ‘butterfly’ is no exception.
Parvaneh
In Ancient Persian, this feminine name means ‘butterfly’.
Vanessa
This name has a very interesting backstory. Famous author Jonathan Swift of Gulliver’s Travels fame coined the name Vanessa for his poem Cadenus and Vanessa. A whole genus of butterflies was named Vanessa subsequently, which has exponentially popularized the name in the 21st century.
Vlinder
Vlinder, pronounced flin-der, is a feminine name of Dutch origin. Meaning: butterfly.
More Names That Mean Butterfly
There are thousands of species of butterflies around the world. And their ethereal, light, magical, and colorful names inspire many unique ideas.
Related post: Ethereal names
Types of Butterflies
- Adonis
- Argus
- Birdwing
- Brimstone
- Checkerspot
- Comma
- Crystal
- Elfin
- Emperor
- Fritillary
- Gossamer- winged
- Greta Morgane
- Hairstreak
- Harvester
- Heath
- Madrone
- Marbled
- Meadow
- Minerva owl butterfly
- Monarch
- Painted Lady
- Peacock
- Pearl crescent
- Queen
- Regal
- Ringlet
- Shasta
- Silverspot
- Sunbeam
- Thessia
- Tortoiseshell
- Viceroy
Scientific Butterfly Groupings
- Hedylidae – family of American moth butterflies
- Hesperiidae – family of skippers, small butterflies known for their darting flights
- Hesperioidea – former name for the scientific order that butterflies belong to
- Lepidoptera – the scientific order butterflies are in
- Lycaenidae – small, brightly colored butterfly family
- Nymphalidae – the butterflies in this family have short front legs, so people often think they only have 4 legs!
- Papilionoidea – a scientific family of butterflies also known as Swallowtails
- Pieridae – the white butterflies in this family are often considered to be pests
- Rhopalocera – the scientific clade butterflies are organized into
- Riodinidae – the butterflies in this family often have metallic spots and are often orange, blue and black
RELATED: Names that mean meadow for boys and girls
Words Related To Butterflies
- Caterpillars hatch from their eggs
- Then they pupate in a chrysalis.
- Some species use silk to build a cocoon.
- After metamorphosis, the adult butterfly, or imago emerges.
- It feeds on nectar using a proboscis
Related post: Magic names
Words That Mean Butterfly In Other Languages
- Acoma (Native American) buh’rai
- Afrikaans (South Africa) skoenlapper, vlinder
- Albanian – flutura
- Amharic (Ethiopia) – birrabirro
- Anglo Saxon – fifoldara
- Arabic – farasha
- Austrian – falter
- Balinese (Indonesia) – kupukupu
- Bengali – projapoti
- Basque – tximeleta
- Bulgarian – peperooda
- Burmese (Burma) – lapia
- Catalan papallona
- Cebuano (Philippines) – kaba-kaba
- Chechen (Chechnya) – polla
- Cherokee (Native American) – kamama
- Corsican – barabulella
- Croatian – leptir
- Czech – motýl
- Danish – sommerfugl (translates to summer bird)
- Dutch – vlindeer
- Middle English – buterflie
- Old English – buttorfleoge
- Esperanto – papilio
- Estonian – liblikas
- Farsi – parvanè
- Finnish – perhonen
- French – papillon
- Gaelic (Ireland) – féileacán
- Gaelic (Scotland) – dearbadan-de
- Georgian – pepela
- German – Schmetterling
- Modern Greek – petalou’da
- Ancient Greek -psyche
- Hawaiian – pulelehua
- Hebrew – parpar
- Hindi – titli
- Hmong (Vietnam) – npau npaim
- Hopi (Native American) povolhoya
- Hungarian – lepke pillango
- Icelandic – fiðrildi
- Irish – féileacán
- Italian – farfalla
- Japanese – chou chou
- Javanese – kupu
- Korean – nabi
- Kyrgyz (Kyrgyzstan) – göpölök
- Lakhotah Sioux (Native American) – kimimila
- Latin – papilio
- Latvian – taurins
- Luxemburgish – Päiperlek
- Malagasy (Madagascar) – lolo
- Mandarin – húdié
- Maori – pepeké purerehua’
- Mayan – pepen
- Mongolian – erveehey
- Nahuatl (Aztec) – paplotl
- Navajo (Native American) – k’aalogii
- Nepali – putali
- Polish – motyl
- Portuguese – borboleta
- Roma (Gypsy language, Slovakia) – lepetka
- Russian – bábochka
- Serbian – leptir
- Somali – balanbaalis
- Spanish – mariposa
- Swahili – kipepeo
- Swedish – fjäril
- Tagalog (Philippines) – paru-paro
- Taiwanese – o’ -tiap
- Tamil (India) – vannattuppucci
- Turkish – kelebek
- Ukrainian – metelyk
- Vietnamese – buom buom
- Welsh – iâr fach yr haf (translates to “little summer hen”)
- Zulu – iveveshane; uvemvane; ijubajubane; itwabitwabi
- !Xu (Bushman language of the Kalahari Desert) – Dhad’hama
Translations courtesy of insecta.pro
What name means butterfly in Hebrew?
Parpar is the Hebrew word for butterfly.
What name means butterfly in Greek?
The name Psyche means butterfly in Ancient Greek, and Petalou’da means butterfly in Modern Greek.
Wrap Up- Names That Mean Butterfly
An encounter with these winged-beauties can really brighten up a day. We got a few other collections of names that mean sweet, destiny, and just awesomely lucky.
We hope you’ve enjoyed fluttering through these beautiful names that mean butterfly. Let us know your favorite names that mean butterfly in the comments!
