Forest

Here's one of my personal favorites, although I'm surprised I still like it after seeing Forrest Gump so often (thanks Dad). In fact, the name peaked in popularity for the second time the year the movie was released, jumping to number #217 in 1994. 1899 was the first peak. Forest doesn't have an obvious nickname, but it's one of those names you enjoy saying without having to shorten it. Forest is Old French, meaning "woods." A famous namesake is St. John Forest of the 16th century, and another is actor Forrest Whittaker. This name can be spelled Forest or Forrest. The version Forrest seems more popular for boys, but I prefer the direct spelling. In 2011 there were 160 baby boys named Forrest with two R's, ranking just outside the top 1000. Just under that was Forest with one R, with 84 baby boys given the name last year.

Here are some other male names with "forest" in their meaning...

Arden - "great forest"
Boyce - "forest"
Dagwood - "shining forest"
Fraser - "of the forest men"
Heywood/Haywood - "hedged forest"
Holt - "woods, forest"
Keith - "woodland, forest"
Kimberly - "Cyneburg's meadow" (Cyneburg means "royal forest")
Kirkwood - "church forest"
Lockhart - "deer from the forest"
Lockwood - "forest near the fortified place"
Morio - "forest boy"
Ranger - "forest guardian"
Rinji - "peaceful forest"
Sherwood - place name from Robin Hood
Silas - "forest"
Silvan/Sylan, Silvano/Sylvano, Silverio, Silvio & Silvanus/Sylvanus - "forest"
Upwood - "upper forest"
Waldo - "woods, forest"
Waldwick - "village in the forest"
Yaar - "forest"

Similarly, here are male names that mean "wood/woods"...

Ainsley - "only hermitage wood or clearing"
Atwood - "at the wood"
Bosley - "meadow near the woods"
Boston - "town by the woods" (place name)
Boswell - "well near the woods"
Bosworth - "fenced farm near the woods"
Burl - "knotty wood"
Calhoun - "the narrow woods"
Carden - "wood carder" (occupation name)
Carver - "one who carves wood" (occupation name)
Covert - place name that refers to a small area of woods that gives shelter to game
Coy - "woods"
Culley - "the woods"
Deodar - "divine wood"
Early - "eagle wood" (also a word)
Elwood/Ellwood - "noble wood"
Farley - "fern wood"
Fleetwood - "woods with the stream"
Glade - refers to a clearing in the woods
Greenwood - "green wood"
Grimshaw - "dark woods"
Griswold - "grey woods"
Guy - "wood"
Harwood - "wood of the hares"
Hazelwood - "wood of hazel trees"
Holt - "woods"
Locke - "woods"
Marwood - "lake near the woods"
Norwood - "woods in the north"
Oswald - "man from the south woods"
Renshaw - "raven woods"
Roscoe - "deer wood"
Sawyer, Sayer & Turner - "wood worker" (occupation name)
Shaw - "wood"
Sherwood - "luminous wood"
Stanwood - "stone woods'
Waldorf - "village in the woods"
Winwood - "friend's woods"
Woodrow - "row of houses by the wood"
Woodson - "wood's son"
Woodward - "warden of the woods"

Silvester/Sylvester - "wooded"