23 unique baby names inspired by classical music

5 November 2019, 14:07 | Updated: 5 November 2019, 14:11

Looking for a musical name for your sprog? Here’s a selection of unique, classical music-inspired names you might not have heard before…

1. Aria

   Meaning: A long, operatic piece for solo voice. From the Italian ‘air’

   

2. Carol

   Meaning: A popular hymn, usually sung at Christmas time

3. Melody

   Meaning: The main tune in a piece of music or song

4. Cadence (or Cadenza)

   Meaning: A progression of notes that concludes a musical phrase

5. Viola

   Meaning: An orchestral stringed instrument, slightly larger than a violin

   

6. Celeste (or Celesta)

   Meaning: A small, heavenly-sounding instrument which looks like a piano, but sounds like a glockenspiel

7. Dorian

   Meaning: A musical mode, very similar to the modern natural minor scale

8. Harmony

   Meaning: A succession of supporting notes, played or sung under the melody

9. Lyre (or Lyra)

   Meaning: A small stringed instrument played by the ancient Greeks, similar to a harp

   

10. Aida

    Meaning: An opera set in Ancient Egypt, by prolific Italian composer Giuseppe Verdi. A timeless story of love and betrayal

11. Allegra

    Meaning: An Italian music term, meaning joyful or lively

12. Lydian

    Meaning: A musical mode similar to a major scale, but with one note sharpened to give a slightly unsettling sound

13. Octave (or Octavia)

    Meaning: A series of eight notes, separating one musical pitch and another with double its frequency

14. Melisma

    Meaning: A passage of several notes sung on one syllable

15. Demi

    Meaning: An Italian music term, meaning ‘half’, as in ‘demigod’

16. Walton

    Meaning: The surname of the late, prolific English composer William Walton

17. Caprice

    Meaning: A lively piece of music, typically virtuosic in nature

18. Diva

    Meaning: A prima donna, or female singer of exceptional talent

    

19. Jazz

    Meaning: A genre of music, of black American origin, which emerged at the beginning of the 20th century

20. Piper

    Meaning: Someone who plays a pipe (e.g. bagpipes)

    

21. Sonatina

    Meaning: A simple, short sonata (or instrumental work)

22. Fife

    Meaning: A flute. ‘Fife’ comes from the German Pfeife, or pipe.

23. Rhapsody

    Meaning: A single-movement work that has distinct groups of musical ideas, is free-flowing in structure and features a range of highly contrasting moods.