50 Beautiful Baby Names That Mean Light

Glowing, luminous baby names for boys, girls, and gender-neutral choices — with meanings and origins. Perfect for spring babies, winter solstice babies, or anyone whose arrival lit up the world.

There's something magical about names that mean light. Across cultures and centuries, parents have given their children luminous names to express hope, joy, or gratitude. Here are 50 of our favorites, organized for browsing.

Names for girls

• Aaliyah (Arabic) — sublime, rising
• Aine (Irish) — radiance
• Alina (Slavic) — bright, beautiful
• Aurora (Latin) — dawn
• Chiara (Italian) — bright, clear
• Eileen (Irish) — bright, shining
• Elena (Greek) — shining light
• Helena (Greek) — torch, light
• Ilona (Hungarian) — light
• Lucia (Latin) — light
• Luna (Latin) — moon
• Mira (Sanskrit) — ocean, light
• Nora (Latin) — honor, light
• Roshni (Hindi) — light
• Selene (Greek) — moon goddess
• Stella (Latin) — star
• Sunniva (Norse) — sun gift
• Svetlana (Slavic) — light
• Yuna (Korean) — gentle light
• Zara (Arabic) — radiance, blooming flower

Names for boys

• Aaron (Hebrew) — exalted, bringer of light
• Anwar (Arabic) — luminous
• Apollo (Greek) — god of sun & light
• Bodhi (Sanskrit) — awakening, enlightenment
• Caelum (Latin) — sky, heaven
• Cyrus (Persian) — sun
• Diego (Spanish) — supplanter, light-bringer
• Eliot (Hebrew) — the Lord is my God / light
• Helio (Greek) — sun
• Kiran (Sanskrit) — ray of light
• Levi (Hebrew) — joined, brightness
• Liam (Irish) — strong-willed warrior, light
• Naveen (Sanskrit) — new, bright
• Oren (Hebrew) — pine tree, light
• Phoenix (Greek) — radiant, reborn
• Ravi (Sanskrit) — sun
• Rohan (Sanskrit) — ascending, light
• Solomon (Hebrew) — peace, brilliance
• Tariq (Arabic) — morning star
• Uriel (Hebrew) — God is my light

Gender-neutral names

• Alba (Latin) — white, dawn
• Bay (botanical) — sun-loving tree
• Dawn (English) — first light of day
• Eden (Hebrew) — delight, paradise
• Lior (Hebrew) — my light
• Lumi (Finnish) — snow, light
• Nova (Latin) — new, bright star
• Sol (Spanish / Latin) — sun
• Sunny (English) — bright, cheerful
• Zohar (Hebrew) — light, radiance

A note on choosing

Say the full name out loud — first, middle, last. Check the initials don't spell something awkward. Sit with your top three names for a few days. And remember: there's no rush. Many parents don't decide until they meet their baby.