Baby names inspired by explorers

Are you looking for a name that suggests excitement and adventure for your baby? Perhaps you’re hoping that naming your baby after a famous explorer will set them on a lifetime voyage of discovery. Then check out our selection of baby names inspired by explorers for baby name ideas.

Reviewed by Lorna Marsh, Freelance editor

Written by Lucy Toseland-Bolton | 28 Mar 2024

Old map with compass, magnifying glass and telescope

Photo credit: Thinkstock

IN THIS ARTICLE

Baby boy names inspired by explorers

Name	Explorer	Exploration
Abel	Abel Tasman	Tasmania
Amerigo	Amerigo Vespucci	South America
Bartolomeu	Bartolomeu Dias	Africa
Brendan	Brendan the Navigator	Atlantic ocean
Chay	Chay Blyth	Atlantic ocean
Christopher	Christopher Columbus	New World
David	David Livingstone	Africa
Edmund	Edmund Hillary	Everest
Ernest	Ernest Shackleton	Antarctica
Ferdinand	Ferdinand Magellan	circumnavigation
Francis	Francis Drake	circumnavigation
Francisco	Francisco Pizarro Francisco Vásquez de Coronado	Peru American Southwest
Hernán	Hernán Cortés	Mexico
Hernando	Hernando de Soto	Florida
Ibn	Ibn Battuta	Africa and the Far East
Jacques	Jacques Cartier Jacques Cousteau	Canada The oceans
James	James Cook	Antarctica, Australia, and Pacific
Juan	Juan De Fuca	west coast of North America
Leif	Leif Eriksson	North Atlantic
Marco	Marco Polo	China
Matthew	Matthew Henson	North Pole
Neil	Neil Armstrong	the moon
Pedro	Pedro Álvares Cabral	Brazil
Peter	Peter Minuit	New World
Ranulph	Ranulph Fiennes	the North and South Poles
Richard	Richard Burton Richard Byrd	Africa South Pole
Roald	Roald Amundsen	the North and South Poles
Robert	Robert Falcon Scott Robert Peary Robert Ballard	South Pole North Pole deep sea
Robin	Robin Knox-Johnston	lone sail around the globe
Tenzing	Tenzing Norgay	Everest
Vasco	Vasco Núñez de Balboa Vasco da Gama	the Pacific Ocean Africa
Vitus	Vitus Bering	Arctic
Walter	Walter Raleigh	the Americas
William	William Beebe	oceans
Yuri	Yuri Gagarin	space

Baby girl names inspired by explorers

Name	Explorer	Location
Alexandra	Alexandra David-Néel	Asia
Alexandrine	Alexandrine Tinné	Africa
Amelia	Amelia Earhart	flight
Annie	Annie Peck	mountaineer
Blair	Blair Niles	geographer
Christa	Christa McAuliffe	space
Christina	Christina Dodwell	Africa
Constance	Constance Gordon-Cumming	Asia
Delia	Delia "Mickie" Akeley	Africa
Florence	Florence Von Sass-Baker	Africa
Freya	Freya Stark	Middle East
Gertrude	Gertrude Bell	Middle East
Harriet	Harriet Quimby	flight
Helen	Helen Thayer	North Pole
Ida	Ida Pfeiffer	world traveler
Isabella	Isabella Bird	American West
Isabelle	Isabelle Eberhardt	Africa
Karen	Karen Thorndike	solo circumnavigation
Kate	Kate Marsden	Siberia
Louise	Louise Arner Boyd	Arctic
Lucy	Lucy Atkinson	Asia
Mae	Mae Jemison	space
Marguerite	Marguerite Harrison	Persia
Mary	Mary Kingsley	Africa
Nellie	Nellie Cashman	North America
Sacagawea	Sacagawea	American West
Sally	Sally Ride	space
Susie	Susie Carson Rijnhart	Asia
Sylvia	Sylvia Earle	oceans
Valentina	Valentina Tereshkova	space
Violet	Violet Cressy-Marcks	Africa and South America
Vita	Vita Sackville-West	Persia
Ynes	Ynes Mexia	the Americas

See all baby names

Advertisement | page continues below

Was this article helpful?

Yes

Track your pregnancy on our free #1 pregnancy & baby app

Lucy Toseland-Bolton

LucyBC (Lucy Toseland-Bolton) is BabyCentre's staff writer, editor and mum of a boy and girl. She shares her honest accounts of life with two children.

Opens a new window Opens a new window Opens a new window