Historic Baby Names Inspired by Explorers and Artists

 

What’s in a name?  But, rather, what signals does my name send—and what does it imply?

Our names make an impact on the choice of profession, where we live, and whom we marry. Usually, names can even decide from the very beginning whether we’re accepted to a school or hired for a particular job, and the quality of our work in a group setting. Every time we hear a name, we make a number of assumptions about that person. Names, in other words, send signals about who we are and where we come from.

Let’s take a look at the historical names that made an incredibly huge impact on the world. May your babies feel inspired by the achievements and want to prove they can be better.

 

5 Heroic Boy Names from Famous Explorers

 

Christopher

Christopher Columbus was an Italian explorer and colonizer who completed four voyages across the Atlantic Ocean and was the first European to discover America in 1492. Actually, Vikings – in particular Leif Eriksson – had landed in America hundreds of years previously, but Columbus believed he had discovered America – and his journey is particularly important for beginning regular contact between Europe and America.

 

Lewis & Clark

Meriwether Lewis and William Clark led an expedition of the Louisiana Territory, a land that at the time the US had recently purchased from France. They travelled from Missouri to the Pacific Ocean. Along the way Lewis and Clark documented their interactions with native tribes, with plants and animals, noted the climate and views, and famously never lost respect or kindness for or towards one another. They are the most famous explorers in the history of the United States.

 

David

David Livingstone is known for his navigation of the continent of Africa. He travelled to introduce the African interior to Christianity, and with the aim of freeing them from slavery. His exploration provided the western world with a far better understanding of the continent of Africa and he was the first European to cross the width of Southern Africa. On his return home, he talked on the horrors of the slave trade and finally, faced his last breaths while on an expedition to reach the source of the Nile.

 

Neil

Neil Armstrong was the American astronaut and aeronautical engineer and the first person to walk on the Moon. He was also a naval aviator, test pilot, and university professor. Armstrong's family described him as a "reluctant American hero". Armstrong received many honors and awards, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Nixon.

 

Roy

Roy Chapman Andrews was an American explorer, adventurer and naturalist who became the director of the American Museum of Natural History. He is primarily known for leading a series of expeditions through the politically disturbed China of the early 20th century into the Gobi Desert and Mongolia. The expeditions made important discoveries and brought the first-known fossil dinosaur eggs to the museum. His popular writings about his adventures made him famous.

 

5 Creative Female Artist Names for Girls

 

Georgia

As an artist at the forefront of American Modernism, Georgia O’Keeffe is one of the most celebrated female artists in history. During her lifetime, her career was intertwined with her husband, Alfred Stieglitz. While the renowned photographer espoused ideas that American art could equal that of Europe and that female painters could create art just as powerful as men, he also hindered interpretation of her work.

 

Mary

Mary Cassatt was an American painter and printmaker. She was born in Allegheny City, Pennsylvania. One of three female artists and the only American officially associated with Impressionism, Mary Cassatt was also an invaluable adviser, helping introduce European art to major collectors in the United States. Cassatt strongly believed that painting needed to reflect modern life.

 

Lillian

Lillian Bassman was an American photographer and painter. As she grew up in Brooklyn and Greenwich Village, New York, Bassman worked as a fashion photographer for Junior Bazaar and later at Harper's Bazaar where she promoted the careers of photographers such as Richard Avedon, Robert Frank, Louis Faurer and Arnold Newman.

 

Augusta

A trailblazing sculptor associated with the Harlem Renaissance, Augusta Savage was also an influential teacher and activist, advocating for equal rights for African-Americans in the arts. For the rest of her life, the artist continued to create groundbreaking work.

 

Minnie

Minnie Evans, African American artist, was inspired to start drawing due to visions and dreams that she had when she was a young girl. She is known as a southern folk artist and as a surrealist and visionary artist as well. Now recognized as one of the most important visionary folk artists of the 20th century, her work is highly collected by many museums and collectors all across the world.