Lamb names

It's fairly common for pedigree flocks to use an alphabetical naming system - the first year's lambs starting with A, the second with B and so on. Each year one of the jobs to do in the run up to lambing is to get together a short list of potential names for that year. This is a task I save for an afternoon when the weather is howling outside so it brings a little glimpse of the spring to come at a time when it is most needed.

Our lamb names and their origins are varied and perhaps reflect a bit of ourselves.

2018 - A

Attenborough (tup, single) - David; the great British naturalist, author and TV presenter
Agrimony (ewe, single) - wildflower sometimes used to represent thankfulness or gratitude
Aphrodite (ewe, twin) - Greek goddess of love and beauty
Athos (tup, twin) - one of the three musketeers from Alexander Dumas' books
Aragorn (tup, single) - character from JRR Tolkein's "Lord of the Rings" trilogy
Andromeda (ewe, twin) - the nearest major galaxy to our own Milky Way
Ariadne (ewe, twin) - Greek goddess of vegetation and paths
Artemis (ewe, twin) - Greek goddess of wild animals and childbirth, twin of Apollo
Apollo (tup, twin) - Greek god of the sun and light, and patron defender of herds and flocks, twin of Artemis

2019 - B

Beatrix (ewe, twin) - Potter; the author
Bluebell (ewe, twin) - wildflower found in our woodlands in spring
Beeblebrox (tup, single) - Zaphod; a character from Douglas Adams' "Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy" series
Borage (ewe, twin) - wildflower
Burnet (ewe, twin) - group of wildflowers / herbs
Bellatrix (ewe, twin) - star in the constellation of Orion which we can see most nights on the farm
Betelgeuse (tup, twin) - star in the constellation of Orion which we can see most nights on the farm
Benedict (tup, single) - from the Benedictine monks that give the farm and hamlet their name
Bedivere (tup, single) - character from Welsh mythology who throws the sword Excalibur into the lake
Bilbo (tup, single) - Baggins; character from JRR Tolkein's "Lord of the Rings" trilogy
Beowulf (tup, single) - main character from the eponymous 8th century epic poem
Bronte (ewe, single) - family of authors who lived not far over the moors from the farm and who feasibly could have passed through in their time
Borealis (tup, twin) - the aurora or Northern lights
Bryony (ewe, twin) - wildflower
Brielle (ewe, single) - Irish for hill
Burdock (tup, single) - wildflower
Branwen (ewe twin) - a blessed raven in Celtic mythology
Betony (ewe, twin) - wildflower

2020 - C

Cleopatra (ewe, twin) - legendary ruler of ancient Egypt
Caesar (tup, twin) - rulers of ancient Rome
Clover (ewe, twin) - important plant in our grassland that fixes nitrogen and increases soil fertility
Comfrey (ewe, twin) - wildflower
Chewbacca (tup, single) - character from the "Star Wars" films
Curie (ewe, twin) - Marie; double Nobel laureate
Cousteau (tup, twin) - Jacques; famous ocean explorer
Cassiopeia (ewe, single) - constellation in the northern sky, named after the vain queen Cassiopeia in Greek mythology, who boasted about her unrivalled beauty
Cloudberry (ewe, single) - wildflower
Cerberus (tup, twin) - the dog that guards the gates of Hades in Greek mythology
Centaur (tup, twin) - creature from Greek mythology with the upper body of a human and the lower body and legs of a horse
Calliope (ewe, single) - muse who presides over eloquence and epic poetry in Greek mythology
Crusoe (tup, single) - Robinson; eponymous character in Daniel Defoe's novel
Cymbeline (ewe, twin) - play by Shakespeare based on legends concerning the early Celtic British King Cunobeline
Coriolanus (tup, twin) - tragedy by Shakespeare based on the life of the legendary Roman leader Caius Marcius Coriolanus
ConanDoyle (tup, twin) - Arthur; author of the Sherlock Homes books
Christie (ewe, twin) - Agatha; author of the Miss Marple and Poirot murder mysteries
Cassandra (ewe, twin) - Trojan priestess of Apollo in Greek mythology cursed to utter true prophecies, but never to be believed
Calista (ewe, twin) - comes from the Greek for "most beautiful"
Crabtree (tup, single) - character from the "Allo Allo" TV series
Celandine (ewe, twin) - wildflower
Cowslip (ewe, twin) - wildflower
Clematis (ewe, twin) - flowering plant
Campion (tup, twin) - wildflower
Carina (ewe, single) - constellation in the southern sky
Corncockle (ewe, single) - wildflower
Carson (ewe, single) - Rachel; marine biologist, author, and conservationist whose influential book "Silent Spring" and other writings are credited with advancing the global environmental movement

2021 - D

Dionysus (tup, twin) - Greek god of wine
Demeter (ewe, twin) - Greek goddess of the harvest
DarthVader (tup, single) - character from the "Star Wars" films
Daedalus (tup, single) - from Greek mythology; seen as a symbol of wisdom, knowledge, and power
Darwin (tup, single) - Charles; famous naturalist and author of "On the Origin of Species" where he set out his theory of evolution by natural selection
Dougal (tup, single) - character from the "Magic Roundabout"
Dromio of Ephesus (tup, twin) - character from Shakespeare's "The comedy of errors", twin of Dromio of Syracuse for whom he is often confused
Dromio of Syracuse (tup, twin) - character from Shakespeare's "The comedy of errors", twin of Dromio of Ephesus for whom he is often confused
Desdemona (ewe, single) - character from Shakespeare's "Othello"
Dix (ewe, single) - the 10th lamb and the number ten in the Bowland dialect version of the "Yan Tan Tether" counting system
Dido (ewe, twin) - legendary founder and first queen of the Phoenician city-state of Carthage
Daphnis (tup, twin) - legendary hero of the shepherds of Sicily
Dandelion (tup, twin) - wildflower
Daisy (ewe, twin) - wildflower
Dahl (tup, single) - Roald; author of many children's stories such as "The fabulous Mr Fox"
Deneb (ewe, single) - star in the constellation of Cygnus, the swan and the head of the Northern Cross
Douglas (tup, twin) - Adams; author of the "Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy" series
Dent (tup, twin) - Arthur; the unfortunate character in Douglas Adams' "Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy" series
Daffodil (ewe, twin) - flower
Drake (tup, twin) - Sir Francis; the hero of the battle against the Spanish Armada
Deckard (tup, twin) - character from the film "Blade Runner", based on the book "Do androids dream of electric sheep?"
Durden (tup, twin) - character from the film "Fight Club"
Denzel (tup, twin) - character from the TV series "Only fools and horses"
Darling (tup, twin) - Captain; character from "Blackadder goes forth"
Damocles (tup, twin) - legendary figure famous for the anecdote involving a sword suspended above his head
Dolly (ewe, twin) - the first cloned animal was Dolly the sheep
Diomedes (tup, single) - King of Argos and hero of the Trojan war

2022 - E

Eomer (tup, twin) - character from JRR Tolkein's "Lord of the Rings" trilogy
Eowyn (ewe, twin) - character from JRR Tolkein's "Lord of the Rings" trilogy
Eddera (ewe, twin) - the 3rd lamb and the number three in the Bowland dialect version of the "Yan Tan Tether" counting system
Erebus (tup, twin) - Greek god of darkness
Elsa (ewe, twin) - the lioness raised by George and Joy Adamson, or the Disney princess, depending on your inclination!
Everdeen (ewe, twin) - Katniss; character from the "Hunger Games" trilogy by Suzanne Collins
Eccentrica (ewe, twin) - Gallumbits; character in Douglas Adams' "Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy" series
Eddie (tup, twin) - the computer onboard the Heart of Gold in Douglas Adams' "Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy" series
Emeline (ewe, single) - Pankhurst; the suffragette
Evander (tup, twin) - the son of the Greek goddess Carmentis and the god Hermes
Ersa (ewe, twin) - Greek goddess of the morning dew
Einstein (tup, single) - the Nobel laureate and physicist
Excalibur (tup, twin) - the sword pulled from the stone by King Arthur
Eberneezer (tup, twin) - Goode; 90s classic by the Shamen
Elm (tup, twin) - native tree species
Eyebright (ewe, twin) - wildflower
Entropy (tup, twin) - disorder or randomness in physics
Ether (tup, twin) - a pint of; as described in Hunter S Thompson's gonzo journalism classic "Fear and loathing in Las Vegas"
Eeyore (tup, twin) - the donkey in the "Winnie the Pooh" books by A.A. Milne
Echo (tup, twin) - a delayed reflection of sound
Elvis (tup, single) - the king of Rock and Roll!
Electra (ewe, single) - the daughter of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra in Greek mythology
Eros (tup, twin) - Greek god of love
Eris (ewe, twin) - the spirit of strife and rivalry in Greek mythology
Europa (ewe, single) - a moon of Jupiter
Euthenia (ewe, twin) - the spirit of prosperity, abundance, and plenty in Greek mythology
Eupraxia (ewe, twin) - the spirit of well-being in Greek mythology
Elrond (tup, twin) - Lord; character from JRR Tolkein's "Lord of the Rings" trilogy
Ewok (tup, twin) - the furry forest-dwellers from Return of the Jedi
Escallonia (ewe, twin) - flowering shrub
Euphorbia (ewe, twin) - shrub
Edison (tup, twin) - Thomas; American inventor
Emiw (ewe, single) - star in the constellation Tucana, represents love in the Makhuwa language
Epimeliades (ewe, single) - in Greek mythology they are nymphs of highland pastures and protectors of sheep flocks
Eleos (ewe, twin) - the spirit of mercy, pity, and compassion in Greek mythology
Elpis (ewe, twin) - the spirit of hope and expectation in Greek mythology

2023 - F

Flint (tup, twin) - a form of sedentary rock
Fossil (tup, twin) - preserved remains of a once-living thing from a past geological age
Fornus (tup, twin) - Roman god of flocks
Faustitas (ewe, twin) - Roman goddess of flocks
Fagus (tup, twin) - the genus of beech trees
Foxglove (ewe, twin) - wildflower
Fern (ewe, twin) - found in the woodland
Fleming (tup, twin) - Alexander; discoverer of penicillin
Funi (ewe, twin) - Old Icelandic word meaning 'fire' or 'blaze'
Fafnir (tup, twin) - Norse mythological dwarf who turned into a dragon
Faraday (tup, twin) - Michael; famous physicist
Farenheit (tup, twin) - Daniel; famous physicist
Fairfax (ewe, twin) - the housekeeper at Thornfield Hall in the novel Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë (her mother is Brontë)
Ford (tup, twin) - Prefect; character in Douglas Adams' "Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy" series
Florence (ewe, twin) - Nightingale; famous nurse
Francis (tup, twin) - Drake; English explorer and privateer
Fuchsia (ewe, single) - flower
Fescue (ewe, twin) - type of grass
Feverfew (ewe, twin) - wildflower
Feynman (tup, twin) - Richard; famous physicist
Flax (ewe, twin) - wildflower
Frodo (tup, single) - character from JRR Tolkein's "Lord of the Rings" trilogy
Fornax (tup, twin) - constellation in the southern celestial hemisphere; Latin for furnace
Fawaris (tup, twin) - a blue giant star located about 165 light years away in the constellation Cygnus
Freud (tup, twin) - Sigmund; famous psychologist
Franklin (ewe, twin) - Rosamund; famous British chemist and X-ray crystallographer
Forget-me-not (ewe, twin) - wildflower
Fritillary (ewe, twin) - wildflower
Får (ewe, single) - Danish/Swedish for sheep
Faramir (tup, twin) - character from JRR Tolkein's "Lord of the Rings" trilogy
Fett (tup, twin) - Boba; character from the "Star Wars" films
Fama (ewe, twin) - the personification of popular rumour in Greek mythology
Fate (ewe, twin) - one of three Greek goddesses who determined human destinies, and in particular the span of a person’s life and his allotment of misery and suffering
Frost (ewe, twin) - a thin layer of ice on a solid surface
Fractus (ewe, twin) - clouds in the form of irregular rags with a distinctly jagged appearance
Freyja (ewe, twin) - a goddess from Norse paganism associated with love, beauty, fertility, magic for seeing and influencing the future; rules over her heavenly field; twin of Freyr
Freyr (tup, twin) - a god from Norse paganism associated with fertility, prosperity, fair weather and good harvest; twin of Freyja
Fauna (ewe, twin) - all animals
Flora (ewe, twin) - all plants
Fox (tup, single) - Mulder; character from "The X-Files" TV series

2024 - G

Grace (ewe, twin) - one of a group of goddesses of fertility in Greek mythology
Guinevere (ewe, twin) - queen to King Arthur
Glimmer (ewe, single) - a weak light (born as the sun was just starting to come up)
Galileo (tup, single) - famous scientist
Goliath (tup, single) - biblical giant
Gandalf (tup, twin) - character from JRR Tolkein's "Lord of the Rings" trilogy
Galadriel (ewe, twin) - character from JRR Tolkein's "Lord of the Rings" trilogy
Garfield (tup, single) - lazy cartoon cat
Godiva (ewe, twin) - Anglo-Saxon noblewoman who legend has it rode naked through Coventry
Goodall (ewe, twin) - Jane; famous scientist/naturalist
Granite (tup, twin) - a type of igneous rock
Garnet (ewe, twin) - a group of silicate minerals that have been used since the Bronze Age as gemstones
Gamma (ewe, single) - a type of radiation
Gulliver (tup, single) - the eponymous character from the story by Jonathan Swift
Gaia (ewe, twin) - the Greek personification of the earth as a goddess
Griffon (tup, twin) - a legendary creature with the body, tail, and back legs of a lion, and the head and wings of an eagle
Goldberry (ewe, single) - character from JRR Tolkein's "Lord of the Rings" trilogy
Gremlin (tup, twin) - the destructive creatures that mogwai turn into if they are fed after midnight
Gizmo (tup, twin) - the original mogwai from the film Gremlins
Georgia (ewe, single) - country lying where Europe meets Asia
Ganymede (tup, twin) - the largest moon of Jupiter
Gomeisa (tup, twin) - a star in Canis Minor
Galina (ewe, twin) - a Slavic name meaning calm or healer
Gemini (ewe, twin) - constellation of twins
Geronimo (tup, single) - 'the one who yawns'; a military leader and medicine man from the Bedonkohe band of the Ndendahe Apache people
Gorgon (ewe, single) - dread monster from Greek mythology that turned men to stone
Gravity (ewe, single) - one of the four fundamental forces of the universe
Gusty (ewe, single) - windy conditions (born on such a day)
Greta (ewe, single) - Garbo; famous actress
Genghis (tup, single) - Khan; famous Mongol leader
Ganister (tup, single) - a hard, fine-grained type of sandstone
Gossan (ewe, twin) - intensely oxidised or weathered rock
Garkbit (tup, twin) - character in Douglas Adams' "Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy" series
Galahad (tup, single) - Sir; knight in Arthurian legend renowned for gallantry
Gloas (ewe, single) - a star whose name means "to shine like a star" in Manx Gaelic

2025 - H

Hesperethusa (ewe, twin) - one of the nymphs of evening and golden light of sunsets in ancient Greek mythology
Hephaestus (tup, twin) - the Greek god of blacksmiths, fire, and volcanoes
Hunter (tup, twin) - S Thompson, author and gonzo journalist
Heather (ewe, twin) - wildflower
Hannibal (tup, single) - Smith; character from The A-Team
Hemlock (tup, twin) - poisonous plant
Hornbeam (tup, twin) - tree
Heath (tup, twin) - type of habitat
Hawkbit (tup, twin) - wildflower
Himeros (tup, single) - the Greek god and personification of desire and part of Aphrodite's (his mother) procession
Helene (ewe, twin) - a moon of Saturn
Hyrrokkin (tup, twin) - a moon of Saturn
Horatio (tup, single) - Nelson; historical figure
Holly (ewe, single) - tree/bush found in our hedgerows and woodland
Hermes (tup, single) - the emissary and messenger of the Greek gods
HanSolo (tup, single) - character from the "Star Wars" films
Hawthorn (tup, single) - tree found in our hedgerows
Hatysa (tup, twin) - a star in the constellation of Orion
Hamal (tup, twin) - the brightest star in Aries (the ram)
Hurricane (tup, twin) - weather phenomenon
Hadrian (tup, twin) - historical figure
Huxley (tup, single) - Aldous; author of "Brave New World"
Harpy (ewe, twin) - a half-human and half-bird mythical creature
Hydra (ewe, twin) - a multi-headed, serpentine lake monster in Greek mythology
Hades (tup, single) - the Greek god of the dead and the king of the underworld
Helike (tup, twin) - a moon of Jupiter
Hermippe (ewe, twin) - a moon of Jupiter
Hubble (ewe, twin) - famous scientist
Hawking (tup, twin) - famous scientist
Hollyhock (ewe twin) - wildflower
Honeysuckle (ewe, twin) - wildflower
Hera (ewe, single) - the Greek goddess of women, and family
Hazel (ewe, twin) - tree found in our hedgerows
Harebells (ewe, twin) - wildflower
Harmonia (ewe, single) - the Greek goddess of harmony and concord
Hercules (tup, single) - a divine hero from Roman mythology, famed for his strength
Holocene (tup, twin) - geological period
Heisenberg (tup, twin) - famous scientist

2026 - I

Inspector (tup, single) - Clouseau, the farcical detective from the "Pink Panther"
India (ewe, single) - country we have visited
Iona (ewe, single) - Scottish island
Icarus (tup, twin) - character from Greek mythology who soared too close to the sun
Iapetus (tup, twin) - moon of Saturn and Titan God from Greek mythology - father of Atlas and Prometheus, amongst others
Imai (ewe, twin) - star in the constellation Crux
Inquill (tup, twin) - star in the constellation Ara
Ivy (ewe, single) - woodland plant
Iolaus (tup, twin) - Greek hero, famous charioteer, and assistant of Hercules
Irena (ewe, twin) - star in the constellation Hercules
Iras (ewe, twin) - one of Cleopatra's maids in Shakespeare's "Anthony and Cleopatra"
Isolde (ewe, twin) - Irish princess from the medieval legend "Tristan and Isolde"
Izimvu (tup, twin) - word for sheep in Zulu
Iigusha (ewe, twin) - word for sheep in Xhosa
Imogen (ewe, twin) - character in Shakespeare's "Cymbeline"
Iachima (tup, twin) - character in Shakespeare's "Cymbeline"
Imhotep (tup, single) - Egyptian architect of the first known pyramid around 2650 BCE
Intama (tup, twin) - sheep in Kinyarwanda
Idaha (tup, twin) - sheep in Somali
Io (ewe, single) - moon of Jupiter
Iolite (ewe, single) - soft blue coloured gemstone, also known as water sapphire
Ismene (ewe, single) - daughter of Oedipus and sister of Antigone
Illyrian (tup, single) - of tribes from the Balkan peninsula around 1000-50 BCE
Islay (ewe, single) - Scottish island
Itonda (ewe, single) - star in the constellation Grus and means "all that is beautiful" in Myene
Isambard (tup, twin) - Kingdom Brunel, British engineer
Isaac (tup, twin) - Newton, British scientist
Immy (ewe, single) - a form of Innogen, from the Gaelic inghean "maiden" or the Latin innocens "innocent"
Ingrid (ewe, single) - Bergman, famous Swedish actress; name derived from Old Norse
Isabella (ewe, twin) - character in Shakespeare's "Measure for Measure"
Ingram (tup, twin) - character from Charlotte Bronte's "Jane Eyre" (mother is our ewe Bronte)
Iris (ewe, twin) - wildflower
Iasion (tup, twin) - son of Zeus and Electra (and is the son of our tup Zeus and our ewe Electra!)
Inkberry (ewe, twin) - wildflower
Illicium (ewe, twin) - group of plants including star anise
Itea (ewe, twin) - genus of shrubs called sweetspires
Ilex (tup, twin) - genus of holly
Indigo (ewe, single) - plant-based dye
Ivor (tup, twin) - from "Ivor the Engine"; a children's TV series
Iole (ewe, twin) - daughter of King Eurytus in Greek mythology
Indiana (tup. twin) - Jones; film character
Isla (ewe, twin) - name derived from the Scottish for island
Ivanhoe (tup, twin) - titular character in Walter Scott's book
Isildur (tup, twin) - character in J. R. R. Tolkien’s "The Fellowship of the Ring"
Ishmael (tup, twin) - the narrator in Herman Melville's "Moby Dick"
Iceman (tup, twin) - flying ace in "Top Gun"