Various Names

Abilene f Various (Rare)
From a place name mentioned briefly in the New Testament. It is probably from Hebrew אָבֵל (ʾavel) meaning "meadow, grassy area". It has occasionally been used as a given name in modern times.

Allegria f Various (Rare)
Means "cheerfulness, joy" in Italian.

Alta f Various
Possibly from Latin altus or Italian/Spanish alto meaning "high".

Amarantha f Various (Rare)
From the name of the amaranth flower, which is derived from Greek ἀμάραντος (amarantos) meaning "unfading". Ἀμάραντος (Amarantos) was also an Ancient Greek given name.

Aphra f Various (Rare)
Meaning uncertain; possibly a variant of Afra 1, or possibly a variant of Aphrah, a biblical place name meaning "dust". This name was borne by the English writer Aphra Behn (1640-1689).

Ashanti f & m Various
From the name of an African people who reside in southern Ghana. It possibly means "warlike" in the Twi language.

Ayn f Various (Rare)
This name was assumed by Ayn Rand (1905-1982), originally named Alice Rosenbaum, a Russian-American writer and philosopher. She apparently based it on a Finnish name she had heard, but never seen written.

Barack m Various
In the case of the former American president Barack Obama (1961-), he was named after his Kenyan father. His father had Anglicized it from the original spelling Baraka.

Belladonna f Various
From the name of a toxic plant, also called deadly nightshade (species Atropa belladonna). The plant's name is of Italian origin, probably derived from Latin bladona "mullein plant" and altered through association with the Italian words bella "beautiful, fair" and donna "lady".

Berlin f & m Various
From the name of the city in Germany, which is of uncertain meaning.

Cambria f Various (Rare)
Latin form of the Welsh Cymru, the Welsh name for the country of Wales, derived from cymry meaning "the people". It is occasionally used as a given name in modern times.

Caprina f Various (Rare)
From the name of the Italian island of Capri.

Caramia f Various (Rare)
From the Italian phrase cara mia meaning "my beloved".

Cataleya f Various (Rare)
Variant of cattleya, a genus of orchids native to Central and South America, which were named for the British horticulturist William Cattley. This name was popularized by the main character from the movie Colombiana (2011).

Charita f Various
Latinate form of Charity.

Ciel f & m Various (Rare)
Means "sky" in French. It is not used as a given name in France itself.

Coco f Various
Diminutive of names beginning with Co, influenced by the word cocoa. However, this was not the case for French fashion designer Coco Chanel (1883-1971; real name Gabrielle), whose nickname came from the name of a song she performed while working as a cabaret singer.

Condoleezza f Various (Rare)
In the case of the former American Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice (1954-), it is derived from the Italian musical term con dolcezza meaning "with sweetness".

Dagney f Various (Rare)
Variant of Dagny.

Diamanda f Various (Rare)
Variant of Diamond.

Edsel m Various
Variant of Etzel notably borne by Edsel Ford (1893-1943), the son of the American industrialist Henry Ford.

Elián m Various (Rare)
In the case of Elián Gonzalez (1993-) it is a combination of Elizabeth and Juan 1, the names of his parents.

Elidi f Various (Rare)
Meaning unknown, possibly of Greek or Welsh origin. It may have been inspired by the name of the Ήλιδα (Ilida) valley and ancient city in western Greece (Elis in English).

Elysia f Various
From Elysium, the name of the realm of the dead in Greek and Roman mythology.

Etna f Various
From the name of an active volcano on the island of Sicily, Italy.

Ferrer m Various
From a surname that meant "blacksmith" in Catalan. This name is often given in honour of Saint Vicente Ferrer, a 14th-century missionary who is the patron saint of builders.

Firenze f Various (Rare)
From the name of an Italian city, commonly called Florence in English.

Genevra f Various (Rare)
Variant of Ginevra.

Genista f Various (Rare)
From the Latin name of the broom plant.

Gethsemane f Various (Rare)
From a biblical place name, the garden where Jesus was arrested, located on the Mount of Olives near Jerusalem. It is derived from Γεθσημανί (Gethsemani), the Greek form of an Aramaic name meaning "oil vat". It is very rarely used as a given name.

Goretti f Various
From the surname of Maria Goretti, a 20th-century Italian saint who forgave her murderer on her deathbed. Her surname was derived from the given name Gregorio.

Halcyon f Various (Rare)
From the name of a genus of kingfisher birds, derived from Greek ἀλκυών (from the same source as Alcyone).

Herk m Various (Rare)
Short form of Hercules or other similar names.

Iantha f Various (Rare)
Variant of Ianthe.

Iolanthe f Various (Rare)
Probably a variant of Yolanda influenced by the Greek words ἰόλη (iole) meaning "violet" and ἄνθος (anthos) meaning "flower". This name was (first?) used by Gilbert and Sullivan in their comic opera Iolanthe (1882).

Jeunesse f Various
Means "youth" in French. It is not used as a given name in France itself.

Junípero m Various (Rare)
This was the name assumed by the 18th-century Spanish Franciscan monk Miguel José Serra, a missionary to California. He named himself after one of Saint Francis's companions, who was named from Latin iuniperus "juniper".

Kaiser m Various
German form of the Roman title Caesar (see Caesar). It is not used as a given name in Germany itself.

Kobe 2 m Various
From the name of the city in Japan. The parents of basketball player Kobe Bryant (1978-2020) chose this name after seeing Kobe beef (which is from the Japanese city) on a menu.

Kohinoor f Various
From Koh-i-noor, the name of a famous gemstone, meaning "mountain of light" in Persian.

Lux f & m Various
Derived from Latin lux meaning "light".

Mädchen f Various (Rare)
Means "girl" in German. It is not used as a name in Germany itself.

Mahershala m Various (Rare)
From the longer name Mahershalalhashbaz, which appears in the Old Testament at Isaiah 8:1 in reference to Isaiah's symbolic son. It is written in Hebrew as מַהֵר שָׁלָל חָשׁ בַּז, and is composed of the two-word phrases מַהֵר שָׁלָל (maher shalal) and חָשׁ בַּז (ḥash baz), which both mean "hurry to the plunder". A famous bearer is the American actor Mahershala Ali (1974-), whose full name is Mahershalalhashbaz.

Meliora f Various (Rare)
Derived from Latin melior meaning "better".

Monet f & m Various
From a French surname that was derived from either Hamon or Edmond. This was the surname of the French impressionist painter Claude Monet (1840-1926).

Neo 2 m Various
From a prefix meaning "new", ultimately from Greek νέος (neos).... [more]

Nyala f Various (Rare)
From the name of a type of African antelope, ultimately derived from the Bantu word nyálà.

Nyssa f Various (Rare)
From the name of an ancient town of Asia Minor where Saint Gregory was bishop in the 4th century. Nyssa is also the genus name of a type of tree, also called the Tupelo.

Odessa f Various
From the name of a Ukrainian city that sits on the north coast of the Black Sea, which was named after the ancient Greek city of Ὀδησσός (Odessos), of uncertain meaning. This name can also be used as a feminine form of Odysseus.

Omega m & f Various
From the name of the last letter in the Greek alphabet, Ω. It is often seen as a symbol of completion.

Oprah f Various (Rare)
In the case of television personality Oprah Winfrey (1954-), it was a childhood mispronunciation of her real name Orpah that became permanent.

Paris 2 f Various
From the name of the capital city of France, which got its name from the Gaulish tribe known as the Parisii. In America the popularity of this name spiked up and then down between 2003 and 2006, around the time that the television personality and socialite Paris Hilton (1981-) was at the height of her fame.

Rio 1 m & f Various
Means "river" in Spanish or Portuguese. A city in Brazil bears this name. Its full name is Rio de Janeiro, which means "river of January", so named because the first explorers came to the harbour in January and mistakenly thought it was a river mouth.

Roma 2 f Various
From the name of the Italian city, commonly called Rome in English.

Roselle f Various
Diminutive of Rose. This is the name of a type of flowering shrub (species Hibiscus sabdariffa) native to Africa but now grown in many places, used to make hibiscus tea.

Sarava m Various (Rare)
From a phrase used by members of the Candomblé religion (an African religion that was taken to Brazil by African slaves), which means "good luck".

Shekinah f Various
From the Hebrew word שׁכִינה (sheḵina) meaning "God's manifested glory" or "God's presence". This word does not appear in the Bible, but later Jewish scholars used it to refer to the dwelling place of God, especially the Temple in Jerusalem.

Soleil f Various
Means "sun" in French. It is not commonly used as a name in France itself.

Sylvana f Various
Variant of Silvana.

Thelonius m Various (Rare)
Latinized form of Tielo (see Till). A famous bearer was jazz musician Thelonious Monk (1917-1982).

Tierra f Various
Means "earth" in Spanish.

Tivoli m & f Various (Rare)
From the name of a picturesque Italian town, used as a summer resort by the ancient Romans.

Valencia f Various
From the name of cities in Spain and Venezuela, both derived from Latin valentia meaning "strength, vigour".

Valkyrie f Various (Rare)
Means "chooser of the slain", derived from Old Norse valr "the slain" and kyrja "chooser". In Norse myth the Valkyries were maidens who led heroes killed in battle to Valhalla.

Verbena f Various (Rare)
From the name of the verbena plant, which is derived from Latin verbena meaning "leaves, twigs".

Verona f Various
From the name of the city in Italy, which is itself of unknown meaning.

Vienne f Various (Rare)
From the French name for Vienna, the capital city of Austria.

Zona f Various
Means "girdle, belt" in Greek. This name was made popular by the Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist and poet Zona Gale (1874-1938).