Baby Names That Mean Peace: Sourced Picks for Girls and Boys

Parents who want a name that means peace are usually chasing one of four captions: peace itself, calm or serene, or a peace symbol such as a dove or an olive branch. Sanctuary, concord, and rest show up in the same search, and they are different words.

Every meaning below comes from our name database, and every name links to its source page. Spellings we cannot confirm sit in their own section. See also baby names that mean love, baby names that mean light, baby names that mean strong, and baby names that mean moon.

Girls' names that mean peace

Irene ("peace," Ancient Greek) ranked #651 in 2025 with 442 girls, down from 453 in 2015 (rank #629) and from 3,825 girls in 1950, the high in the file.

Eirini shares its root with Irene, and the short line is peace. Six girls received it in 2025, rank #13,671.

Salome ("peace," Hebrew) ranked #1,042 in 2025 with 239 girls, up from 125 in 2015 (rank #1,703) and down from a 2024 high of 275. Shulamis and Shulamit are equivalent to Salome, so the short line is peace. Shulamis had 23 girls in 2025, rank #5,534. Shulamit had 8 girls, rank #11,787, and was under five in 2024.

Boys' names that mean peace

Solomon ("Peace," Hebrew) ranked #422 in 2025 with 767 boys, down from 873 in 2015 (rank #369) and from a 2016 high of 907. The etymology note names Biblical Hebrew and the same word.

Salomon, Soloman, Shlomo, and Shloime carry the same short line. In 2025 Salomon had 92 boys (rank #1,765, the highest boys' count in the file), Soloman 17 (rank #5,576), Shlomo 211 (rank #1,049, down from a 2024 high of 235), and Shloime 29 (rank #3,833, its highest count).

Suleiman shares Solomon's root, and the short line is peace: 91 boys in 2025, rank #1,777. Mir ("peace," Russian) had 21 boys, rank #4,812, its highest count. Irenaeus ("peace," Ancient Greek) had 5 boys, rank #12,747, the only year in the file with a published count.

Peace inside a longer gloss

A card that keeps only "peace" has shortened these. Print the whole phrase.

Absalom means "father of peace," and the etymology note says that literally. It was under five boys in 2025, so the table says "Not ranked," after 10 boys in 2024. Casimir means "proclamation of peace": 73 boys in 2025, rank #2,039, the highest count in the file. Godfrey means "peace of God": 10 boys, rank #7,850.

Humphrey means "to grant, bestow" plus "peace," and was under five in 2025. Wilfred and Wilfrid mean "will" plus "peace." Wilfred had 29 boys in 2025, rank #3,844, down from 395 boys in 1943. Wilfrid was under five in 2025. Winfred means "joy" plus "peace." Winifred is a different name and is not in our name database, so this article gives Winifred no meaning. Winfred was under five in 2025. Imhotep means "(the one) coming in peace, (the one) returning home safely," and was under five in 2025.

Peace and sanctuary

The gloss is a pair. Peace by itself drops the sanctuary.

Geoffrey ("peace, sanctuary," Germanic) had 31 boys in 2025, rank #3,599, down from 1,395 boys in 1975. Geoffery, Geoff, and Jep carry the same gloss. Geoffery and Geoff were under five in 2025. Jep had 10 boys, rank #7,914.

Jeffrey, a variant of Geoffrey, ranked #552 in 2025 with 544 boys, down from 1,261 in 2015 (rank #290) and from 33,537 boys in 1962. Jeff had 35 boys in 2025, rank #3,342. The page does not name a language of origin.

Calm, tranquillity, and serene

These are neighboring captions. The card should use the word on the name page, including that page's spelling of tranquillity.

Serena ("serene," Latin) ranked #325 in 2025 with 942 girls, the same count as in 2024, up from 782 in 2015 (rank #410) and down from 1,504 girls in 2000. Serene is a variant: 130 girls in 2025, rank #1,609, the highest count in the file.

Galina and Halina mean "calm," from Ancient Greek. Galina had 8 girls in 2025, rank #11,261. Halina ranked #4,293 with 33 girls, the highest count in the file. Galen means "calm, tranquillity," with the double l the page uses: 23 boys in 2025, rank #4,442, down from 433 boys in 1949.

Samatha means "tranquility," with one l. It was under five in 2025, so the table says "Not ranked." The high is 248 girls in 1989. Saumya and Soumya mean "gentle, calm." Saumya had 8 girls in 2025, rank #11,763. Soumya was under five in 2025.

Malia shows "Hawaiian form of Mary" on the short line. The etymology note says "Mary" plus "calm," so calm alone drops Mary. Malia ranked #349 in 2025 with 872 girls, down from 1,031 in 2015 (rank #315).

Dove and olive, the peace symbols

A dove and an olive branch are peace symbols in common use. These pages say dove, olive tree, or olive branch.

Jonah ("Dove," Hebrew) ranked #128 in 2025 with 2,828 boys and 39 girls, just under a 2008 boys' high of 2,981. Jonas ("dove," Biblical Hebrew) ranked #599 with 476 boys, down from 1,256 boys in 2008.

Callum shows "Dove" on the short line, with Scottish as the origin. The etymology note calls it a variant of Calum, from Late Latin, literally "dove." Callum ranked #118 in 2025 with 2,995 boys and 8 girls, the highest boys' count in the file, up from 369 boys in 2015 (rank #685). Calum ranked #799 with 313 boys, a high for that spelling. Colm ("dove") had 12 boys, rank #6,881. Jemima ("dove," Hebrew) had 43 girls, rank #3,544. Jem, a diminutive, had 5 girls.

Olivia needs both lines. The short line, and the table, say "Olive tree." The etymology note says "olive; olive branch." The page does not call Olivia peace. Olivia ranked #1 in 2025 with 13,544 girls and 10 boys, down from 19,729 girls in 2015 (rank #2).

Livvy and Livy print "olive; olive branch," the longer note. Livvy ranked #1,343 with 165 girls, the highest count in the file. Livy had 56 girls, rank #2,979. Ollie means "olive tree": 207 boys and 80 girls in 2025, boys' rank #1,058.

Unity and concord

Harmony shows "Unity, concord," with Greek as the origin. The etymology note is the English word "harmony," a neighbor of peace and a different caption. Harmony ranked #276 in 2025 with 1,123 girls, down from a 2015 high of 1,771 (rank #184). Harmoni means "harmony": 252 girls in 2025, rank #1,000.

Spellings we will not call peace

The page marks the origin debated, gives a different word, or the name is not one we publish. A peace gloss stays off the announcement.

Serenity is the spelling people expect to mean calm or peace. The origin is debated, so this article gives Serenity no meaning. The theory is "calm, peaceful." Serena is the name sourced as serene. Serenity ranked #129 in 2025 with 2,209 girls, down from 4,006 in 2015 (rank #71) and from 4,475 in 2013.

Shiloh is debated. The theory is "tranquil, peaceful." In 2025 it was given to 1,220 boys and 1,098 girls, boys' rank #278. One rank follows the sex with more babies. Frederick is debated, with the theory "peaceful ruler." It ranked #435 in 2025 with 728 boys, down from 4,984 boys in 1951. Frida is not in our database, so this article gives Frida no meaning.

Axel is debated. The theory is "father of peace," a Scandinavian form of Absalom. When the meaning is the reason, Absalom is the name we can source. Axel ranked #79 in 2025 with 4,140 boys and 8 girls. Paloma is debated, with the theory "Dove." Jonah, Jonas, and Callum are dove names we can source. Paloma ranked #793 in 2025 with 343 girls.

Noah is debated. The theory is "rest, comfort," and the page does not state it as fact. Noah ranked #2 in 2025 with 20,358 boys and 468 girls. Olive and Oliver are debated, with the theory "olive tree." Olivia is the olive-tree spelling we can source. In 2025 Olive ranked #197 with 1,597 girls and 7 boys, and Oliver ranked #3 with 14,939 boys and 24 girls.

Kazimir is sourced, and the meaning runs the other way: "destroyer of peace." It had 29 boys in 2025, rank #3,811, down from a 2024 high of 47. Colbert means "cool, cold; calm" plus "bright," so calm sits with the weather words. It was under five in 2025. Pax, Paz, Shanti, Amity, Haven, Dove, and Salma are not in our name database, so this article gives them no meaning.

Peace, calm, and serene names by the numbers

Boys and girls are added together for the 35 names in the peace, sanctuary, calm, and serene tables above. Dove, olive, concord, Malia, Kazimir, Colbert, and the debated spellings are left out. Counts under five babies per sex are missing from the SSA file, so the true total is a little higher.

In 1995, Jeffrey (5,743) was 5,743 of the 8,893. In 2025, Serena (942), Solomon (767), Jeffrey (544), and Irene (442) were 2,695 of the 3,827. Those 3,827 babies were about 1 in 866 of the 3,315,343 babies in the 2025 SSA file (1,708,076 boys and 1,607,267 girls).

How to choose a peace name you will still like next year

Five checks before you print the meaning:

1. Keep the birthday and the name separate. Irene, Solomon, and Serena do not announce a date. In U.S. births from 1994 to 2014, September 21 ranks 34th of 366 days, with 1 as the most common. An average September 21 had about 11,856 births, against about 11,175 on an average day. Check a date on the birthday tool.
2. Print the whole gloss. Absalom, Casimir, Godfrey, Wilfred, Winfred, Imhotep, Geoffrey, Saumya, Galen, and Malia each lose part of the meaning if the card keeps only "peace" or only "calm." Olivia's short line is "olive tree," and the etymology note adds the olive branch.
3. Match the spelling to the meaning you want. Serena is sourced as serene, and Serenity is debated. Jonah and Callum are sourced as dove, and Paloma is debated. Absalom is sourced as father of peace, and Axel is debated. Olivia is sourced as an olive tree, and Olive and Oliver are debated. Then hear the full name in the full name tester.
4. Say Eirini, Shulamis, Irenaeus, Imhotep, and Samatha out loud before you commit. If the peace name works better in the middle, the middle-name guide covers rhythm and initials. Nora Irene, James Solomon, and Elena Salome are the shape to test.
5. Read the curve. Solomon is #422, Irene is #651, Serena is #325, and Jeffrey is #552, far below its 1960s counts. Salome is climbing. Callum is #118 if the dove is the point you want. Serenity is popular, and its origin is debated. Every name page has the SSA history.

A name bracket compares two finalists, a shortlist lets family vote by link, and a partner match keeps the overlap. The name generator suggests more names in the same style. For a due date, the due date calculator gives the date and the trimester marks.

Putting the meaning on the welcome

A sourced gloss is a useful extra line when you would actually say it:

• Wall art: "Irene: peace," "Solomon: peace," or "Serena: serene." Skip the caption when the gloss is a phrase you would not want shortened.
• Announcements: name, date, and a meaning only when the name page states one. The wording guide has the rest of the card.
• Middle names: Salome, Shlomo, or Mir behind a more familiar first name.

The Baby Kit puts the name, the meaning, and the origin on the announcements and the wall art together, in one style and palette.

Sources

• Meanings: our name database. Entries marked "Wiktionary" are adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0). Each name page links its source, and our sources page explains the method. Debated origins are labeled on the name page and are not stated as fact here.
• Popularity: U.S. Social Security Administration baby name data, 1940 to 2025. Group totals sum the 35 names in the peace, sanctuary, calm, and serene tables, boys and girls together. Counts under five babies per sex per year are absent from the file. The 2025 file total is the sum of published counts that year, 1,708,076 boys and 1,607,267 girls.
• Birthdays: U.S. births by date, 1994 to 2014, compiled by FiveThirtyEight from CDC/NCHS (1994–1999) and SSA (2000–2014). September 21's rank is the figure behind our birthday tool. Rank 1 is the most common day.