If you keep circling back to names that mean moon, I understand completely — there’s something about naming a baby for that soft silver light in the night sky that feels gentle and a little magical, like a lullaby you get to say out loud every day. Moon names turn up in almost every language on earth, carried by goddesses and poets and grandmothers, and they run from whisper-soft and dreamy to bright and bold. I’ve gathered the loveliest names that mean moon here, for girls and boys both, with their honest meanings and the original word for moon tucked in beside each one, because seeing where the glow comes from makes the choosing sweeter.
Every name links to its full page in our baby names directory — meaning, origin, popularity, and a tap-to-listen clip all in one place. You can also wander the whole moon names hub any time the mood strikes.
In this guide
- Why a moon name feels so tender
- Girl moon names
- Boy moon names
- Names that mean moon from around the world
- Names that mean moonlight, halo, and glow
- Soft, modern, and coined moon names
- By the feeling you’re after
- Names that mean moon that pair well together
- A few thoughts on choosing
- Questions other parents ask
Why a moon name feels so tender
Think about what the moon has always meant to us: comfort in the dark, the steady face that turns and changes yet always comes back, the soft light you’d point out from a bedroom window. Long before any of us were choosing baby names, families were naming children for the moon as a kind of blessing — may you be calm, may you be lovely, may you light the dark for someone one day. That tenderness is still in these names, and you can feel it whether you lean toward something delicate and dreamy or something with a goddess’s grandeur behind it.
One lovely thing about names that mean moon is how many cultures gave the world their own. The Romans had luna, the Greeks selḗnē (σελήνη), Sanskrit speakers chandra (चन्द्र), Arabic qamar (قمر), Hebrew yareach (יָרֵחַ), Japanese tsuki (月), Turkish simply ay. Each one carries the same gentle light through a different language, which means you can choose a name for its sound and still know it means exactly what your heart wants it to.
Girl names that mean moon
For a daughter, moon names tend to be luminous and soft — the kind of name that suits a newborn curled against your chest and a grown woman just as gracefully:
- Luna — simply “moon” in Latin (luna); the radiant favorite that started so many parents loving moon names in the first place.
- Selene — the ancient Greek moon goddess herself (σελήνη, selḗnē), who drove her silver chariot across the night; mythic and beautiful.
- Selena — the warmer, softer cousin of Selene, beloved across Latin America; “moon,” with music in it.
- Selina and Celina — graceful variants of the same Greek moon goddess, gentle and easy to wear.
- Celine — French and elegant, read as both “heavenly” and “moon” through Selene; understated and chic.
- Qamar — Arabic for the moon itself (قمر), the silver light that sets the rhythm of the Islamic calendar; luminous and proud.
- Kamaria — Swahili, from that same Arabic qamar, meaning “like the moon, moonlight”; warm and lilting.
- Aylin — Turkish for “halo of the moon” (from ay, moon); soft, celestial, and lovely to say.
- Mahina — Hawaiian for the moon herself, three soft syllables of silver light.
- Diana — the Roman goddess of the moon and the hunt; timeless, regal, and quietly beloved.
Boy names that mean moon
For a son, moon names lean handsome and lyrical — some carry kings and gods, others wear their light easily and modern:
- Kamar — straight from Arabic qamar (قمر), “the moon”; bright, romantic, and warm.
- Kamari — a melodic East African and Arabic-rooted name meaning “moon,” riding the much-loved -ari wave (also used for girls).
- Ayhan — Turkish for “the moon king” or “moon ruler” (ay, moon, + han); strong and lyrical, said “eye-HAHN.”
- Aysen and Aysel — Turkish names built on ay: “like the moon” and “pure moon”; soft, glowing, and gentle.
- Akaay — Turkish for “a bright white moon,” joining ak (white, pure) and ay (moon) in two clean syllables.
- Mehtab — Persian for moonlight, mah (ماه, moon) plus radiance; luminous and a little romantic.
- Luar — from Portuguese luar, “moonlight”; soft, unexpected, and tender (said “loo-AR”).
- Artemis — twin of Apollo and goddess of the moon in Greek myth; increasingly chosen for sons as well as daughters.
Moon names from around the world
This is the part I love most — how the same gentle idea travels from one language to the next, each with its own music. If you have roots you’d like to honor, or you simply fall for a particular sound, here are moon names gathered by where their light comes from:
- Arabic and Swahili — the moon is qamar (قمر): Qamar, Kamar, Kamaria (“like the moon”), Kamora, and Kamari.
- Turkey and the Turkic world — from ay, moon: Aylin, Ayla, Aysel, Aysen, Aylah, and Ayhan.
- Greece and Rome — Selene (σελήνη) and her variants Selena, Selina, Seline; the Roman moon goddess Diana and luminous Luna.
- The Americas — the Aztec moon was metztli: Metztli and Metzli; the Maya moon goddess gives us Ixchel and Itzel; and Brazilian Tupi tradition gives the gentle Jaci, “moon.”
- The Pacific — Mahina is Hawaiian for the moon, and Mayari is the Filipino goddess of the moon and beauty.
- Persia and South Asia — mah (ماه) is the moon: Mahsa (“like the moon”), Mahnoor (“moonlight”), and Mehtab (“moonlight”).
If you’d like to keep following a thread, the names that mean moon hub gathers all of these and more in one quiet place.
Moonlight, halo, and glow names
Sometimes it isn’t the moon itself you’re after but the soft things around it — moonlight, the silvery halo, the gentle glow. These names hold the tenderer kinds of brightness:
- Mahnoor — Persian and Arabic woven together, “moonlight” named; one luminous word.
- Hala — Arabic for the ring of light, the halo, around the moon; one of the night sky’s loveliest sights.
- Aila and Ayla — delicate names read as “moonlight” or “halo of the moon” in Turkish (and “oak tree” in Hebrew); soft on the ear.
- Aluna — echoing luna, the moon, and the Kogi word for the living soul of the world; dreamy and rare.
- Lunabelle — Luna joined with belle, “the beautiful moon”; sweet and a little romantic.
- Amaris — often read as “child of the moon”; gentle, modern, and a touch celestial.
- Sia — among its several lovely stories, “moon” in Swahili; one small bright syllable.
- Yuna — a gentle East Asian name read as “kindness” or “moon”; soft and worldly.
Soft, modern, and coined moon names
And then there are the newer ones — names that echo the old moon words with a fresh, sweet sound. Many of these are lovingly invented, riding the rhythm of a beloved root. I’ll always tell you which is which so you can choose with open eyes:
- Lunna — Luna with a doubled n; the same moonlit meaning, a slightly softer landing.
- Celena, Celina, and Salina — gentle restylings of Selene/Selena, “the moon,” all soft and easy.
- Saleen and Seline — modern spellings that echo Selene’s moonlight.
- Dayana — a lyrical Latin American spelling of Diana, the moon goddess; flowing and warm.
- Kamora and Khamari — soft modern names rooted in Arabic qamar, “moon.”
- Aylah — a pretty spelling of Ayla, “moonlight.”
- Nila — Sanskrit for “deep blue,” the color of the night sky the moon rides through; serene and gentle.
- Mai and Hina — short, worldly names whose stories brush against moon and night across several cultures.
By the feeling you’re after
If you’re following your heart toward a certain mood, here’s a quick way to find your name among the ones above:
- Goddess and mythic (the moon herself): Selene (σελήνη), Diana, Artemis, Ixchel, Metztli.
- Soft and dreamy (moonlight, glow): Aylin, Mahnoor, Hala, Aluna.
- Short and luminous (luna, qamar): Luna, Qamar, Sia, Mai.
- Handsome moon names for a son: Kamar, Ayhan, Mehtab, Luar.
You can browse hundreds more in our wider names-by-meaning hub whenever you want to keep wandering.
Moon names that pair well together
If there’s already a little one at home, or there will be, it can help to picture two of these side by side. The trick isn’t matching a theme too tightly — it’s matching the feel and the length so the names sound like they belong to the same family. A few sets I find myself coming back to:
- Soft and dreamy: Luna and Luar, or Aylin and Mehtab.
- Goddess and grand: Selene and Artemis, or Diana and Kamar.
- Honoring different roots: Qamar and Mahina, two moon names from worlds apart that still sing together.
One gentle tip: steer clear of two names that begin and end on the same sound (Luna and Lunna, say) — they tend to blur together a little when you’re calling everyone in at bedtime. And if you’re naming for a grandparent or carrying a family thread, a moon name makes a tender keepsake; many families choose the one whose meaning best matches a hope they hold for the baby, the way parents have looked up at the moon for thousands of years.
A few thoughts on choosing
When you’ve found a name or two that warm you, here are the small things that help it settle:
- Say it out loud, often. Whisper it over a sonogram photo, try it at bedtime, picture yourself calling it across a playground in a few years. The right one keeps feeling right.
- Honor the meaning honestly. A few of these (the sweet coined ones like Lunna or Saleen) are newer and lovingly invented; the ancient ones like Selene and Qamar carry thousands of years of moonlight in them. I’ll always tell you which is which.
- Listen to how it’s truly said. For names from another language, learning the real pronunciation is a small, lovely act of respect — every name page here has a tap-to-listen clip to make that easy.
- Check the popularity if it matters to you. You can see how any name is trending in the United States through the public records kept by the Social Security Administration — the same data we use to chart each name in our directory. For deeper history and roots, a scholarly reference like Behind the Name sits nicely beside our own sourced entries.
Whatever you land on, take your time — naming a baby for the moon is a tender, hopeful thing, and there’s no rush at all. A good moon name feels just as right whispered to a sleeping newborn as it will sound called across a moonlit yard one day.
Questions other parents ask
What are the best names that mean moon?
What girl names mean moon?
What boy names mean moon?
What name means moon in different languages?
Is there a moon name for a girl that isn’t too unusual?
What names mean moonlight specifically?
Are moon names unisex?
Can we use a moon name from a culture that isn’t ours?
What are some moon names from mythology?
How do I choose the right moon name?
Say your top two or three out loud for a few days, pair each with your last name, and listen to the audio so you know it’s truly you. Settle on the meaning that tugs at your heart — the full moon, moonlight, a goddess of the night — and the right one tends to rise gently to the top on its own.
Find your name
Wherever your heart lands, you can keep looking with no pressure and nothing to buy. Wander the full names that mean moon hub, or search all 11,000+ names — each with its meaning, origin, popularity, and audio — over in the More4Kids baby names directory. The right one has a way of finding you.
