23 unique baby names inspired by classical music

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

Baby boy plays piano
Picture: Getty

By Maddy Shaw Roberts

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’

    Air
    Air. Picture: Getty
  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

    Viola - musical instrument
    Viola - musical instrument. Picture: Getty
  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

    A Greek lyra
    A Greek lyra. Picture: Getty
  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

    Renée Fleming, soprano
    Renée Fleming, soprano. Picture: PA
  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)

    Bagpipes
    Bagpipes. Picture: Getty
  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.