Taken from the cedar tree, giving it a direct nature-based meaning of strength and evergreen endurance.
Cedar is a modern nature name taken directly from the tree, whose English name comes through Old French cedre and Latin cedrus, ultimately from Greek kedros. As a given name, it belongs to a relatively recent tradition of tree and landscape names used for children, alongside Willow, Rowan, Ash, and Juniper. Yet Cedar has a more ancient symbolic burden than many of those.
Cedars, especially the cedars of Lebanon, have long been emblems of majesty, endurance, fragrance, and sacred architecture. That symbolism is old and widespread. In the Hebrew Bible, cedar wood is associated with grandeur and temple-building; in the ancient Near East and Mediterranean world it was prized for durability and scent.
The tree appears again and again as an image of height, strength, and incorruptibility. As a personal name, Cedar does not descend from a long line of kings or saints, but from something older in another sense: the human habit of reading character into trees. Its rise as a given name is modern, especially in English-speaking countries, where environmental consciousness and a taste for unisex botanical names have made it feel fresh.
Cedar tends to read as calm, grounded, and slightly unconventional. It has a woodsy plainness, but also a biblical grandeur if one listens for it. That combination gives the name an interesting balance: rustic on the surface, almost ceremonial underneath. It feels contemporary, but not flimsy; natural, yet stately.