While some of us choose to name our children based on baby name trends or simply just names we like, others pick out names of people who are inspiring — whether they're people we know, or people through history who have made their mark on the way we live our lives today. And honestly, it's harder to imagine anyone who makes a bigger impact on society than teachers … and there are more than a few out there who are worthy of being a future baby's namesake.
From (literal) geniuses like Albert Einstein to women like Emma Willard who paved the way for our own baby girls to get the educations they deserve, there are unforgettable teachers who have changed the world and changed education going back to the 1800s. It's hard to think about what school would be like today without these teachers, but it's a given that the foundation they gave their students made so much of our world possible.
Looking for a little teacher related baby name inspiration? Read on.
ANNE
Anne Sullivan might be one of the most influential teachers ever. As a partially blind person herself, she taught Helen Keller, who was blind and deaf, how to communicate by spelling out words into her hands and, later, using the Braille system. She helped Keller continue her education for years.
MARIA
If you like using the Montessori style of learning with your children, you have one woman to thank: Maria Montessori herself. She was an Italian teacher who changed things up in her classroom by bringing in child-sized chairs and tables and gave them the freedom to be more independent as they learned.
PETER
Peter Tabichi is one of the winners of the Global Teacher Prize, recognizing him as one of the best teachers in the world. According to the prize's website, not only does he donate 80% of his salary to helping his community in Kenya, but he also works to encourage his children — most of whom live in extreme poverty — to continue attending school and to pursue their talents, including science.
JILL
Here's a teacher we can probably all recognize! Dr. Jill Biden is currently the first lady of the United States, but before that, she was a teacher. She was a professor at a community college and a teacher at a high school, and she taught English throughout her career.
SAL
Have you ever heard of Khan Academy, the website that offers up free online classes on just about any subject, from pre-k up through college and beyond — including a few courses on life skills like finances and social skills? Yep, that was all founded by Sal Khan, an educator.
EMMA
Emma Hart Willard was so influential as a teacher that the school she started herself still lives on today as the Emma Willard School. Founded in the 1800s, Emma wanted to be able to give girls the same education that boys were afforded, and now, it's a private all-girls boarding high school.
NANNIE
After Nannie Burroughs was turned down from a teaching position in the late 1800s, she decided to open her own school for Black women in Washington, DC. Of course, she came up on incredible odds getting there, but after receiving enough donations from fellow members of the Black community, she was able to open the National Training School for Women and Girls.
CHRISTA
Christa McAuliffe was selected to be the first teacher to go into space on the Challenger mission in 1986. She had been teaching at Concord High School for three years at the time, and she was chosen for the mission out of thousands of applicants. Tragically, the shuttle broke apart soon after launch, killing everyone on board, including McAuliffe.
FREDERICK
Before he was able to escape the slavery he grew up in, Frederick Douglass taught himself to read and write, knowing that education would help him in the future. He then taught those skills to those in his community, sharing his books and his knowledge with others.
FLORENCE
Florence Nightingale was a nurse, but she also taught other nurses at a time when that skill was really needed. During the Crimean War in the 1800s, she was able to help reduce death rates for soldiers who were injured in battle, and went on to show other hospitals in Europe how to create better outcomes for their patients as well.
ALBERT
If you're going to name your baby after a teacher, it might as well be this one! Of course, Albert Einstein is one of the most famous historical figures and scientists we can think of, but he was also a brilliant teacher who worked as a professor at universities in Zurich, Berlin, and Prague.
BOOKER
Though Booker T. Washington was born into slavery, he taught himself to read and write as a child. Eventually, he was able to pursue an education at a school for freed slaves, and after he graduated, he became a teacher at that same school himself before starting a school of his own, the Tuskeegee Normal and Industrial Institute.
ELEANOR
Here's another first lady who was also a teacher. The wife of Theodore Roosevelt, Eleanor Roosevelt was a volunteer teacher for the children of immigrants in Manhattan before going on to become a history and literature teacher at a private all-girls school.
JAIME
If you've seen the movie Stand and Deliver, chances are you've heard of Jaime Escalante. He was a math teacher who helped his students achieve success in their AP test to the point that they were accused of cheating and a movie was made about the situation.
ERIN
Speaking of teachers who have inspired movies, how about Erin Gruwell, the teacher who inspired the movie Freedom Writers? She encouraged her students to keep journals about their lives, and in doing so, she was able to motivate them to graduate high school and even go on to attend college when the outlook for their future hadn't been so positive when she met them.
