Browse Names

Ælfstan m Anglo-Saxon
Derived from the Old English elements ælf "elf" and stan "stone".

Æðelstan m Anglo-Saxon
Derived from the Old English elements æðele "noble" and stan "stone". This was the name of a 10th-century English king, the first to rule all of England. The name was rarely used after the Norman Conquest, though it enjoyed a modest revival (as Athelstan) in the 19th century.

Arnsteinn m Old Norse
Derived from Old Norse ǫrn meaning "eagle" and steinn meaning "stone".

Aðalsteinn m Icelandic, Old Norse
Derived from the Old Norse elements aðal "noble" and steinn "stone".

Athol m & f Scottish
From Atholl, the name of a district in Scotland, from Scottish Gaelic Athall, possibly derived from Old Irish ath Fhotla "new Ireland".

Chimwala m & f Yao
Means "stone" in Yao.

Cybele f Near Eastern Mythology (Latinized)
Meaning unknown, possibly from Phrygian roots meaning either "stone" or "hair". This was the name of the Phrygian mother goddess associated with fertility and nature. She was later worshipped by the Greeks and Romans.

Dunstan m English (Rare), Anglo-Saxon
From the Old English elements dunn "dark" and stan "stone". This name was borne by a 10th-century saint, the archbishop of Canterbury. It was occasionally used in the Middle Ages, though it died out after the 16th century. It was revived by the Tractarian movement in the 19th century.

Ealhstan m Anglo-Saxon
Derived from the Old English element ealh "temple" combined with stan "stone".

Ebenezer m Literature, English
From the name of a monument erected by Samuel in the Old Testament, from Hebrew אֶבֶן הָעָזֶר (ʾEven Haʿazer) meaning "stone of help". Charles Dickens used it for the miserly character Ebenezer Scrooge in his novel A Christmas Carol (1843). Currently the name is most common in parts of English-influenced Africa, such as Ghana.

Éireann f Irish (Rare)
From Éireann, the genitive case of Irish Gaelic Éire, meaning "Ireland". It is commonly Anglicized as Erin.

Emerald f English (Modern)
From the word for the green precious stone, which is the traditional birthstone of May. The emerald supposedly imparts love to the bearer. The word is ultimately from Greek σμάραγδος (smaragdos).

Esmeralda f Spanish, Portuguese, English, Albanian, Literature
Means "emerald" in Spanish and Portuguese. Victor Hugo used this name in his novel The Hunchback of Notre-Dame (1831), in which Esmeralda is the Romani girl who is loved by Quasimodo. It has occasionally been used in the English-speaking world since that time.

Eysteinn m Old Norse, Icelandic
Derived from the Old Norse elements ey meaning "island" or "good fortune" and steinn meaning "stone".

Fihr m Arabic
Means "stone pestle" in Arabic. This was the name of an ancestor of the Prophet Muhammad.

Frankenstein m Popular Culture
From the surname Frankenstein, used by Mary Shelley in her 1818 novel of the same name for the scientist Victor Frankenstein. The monster that Frankenstein created, which has no name in the novel, is sometimes called Frankenstein in modern speech, as if it were his given name.

Gemma f Italian, Catalan, English (British), Dutch
Medieval Italian nickname meaning "gem, precious stone". It was borne by the wife of the 13th-century Italian poet Dante Alighieri.

Hallstein m Norwegian
From the Old Norse name Hallsteinn, derived from the elements hallr "rock" and steinn "stone".

Ireland f English (Modern)
From the name of the European island country, derived from Irish Gaelic Éire, which may mean something like "abundant land" in Old Irish.

Ji-Min f & m Korean
From Sino-Korean 志 (ji) meaning "will, purpose, ambition" or 智 (ji) meaning "wisdom, intellect" combined with 旼 (min) meaning "gentle, affable", 敏 (min) meaning "quick, clever, sharp" or 珉 (min) meaning "jade, stone resembling jade". Other hanja character combinations are possible.

Jostein m Norwegian
From the Old Norse name Jósteinn, derived from the elements jór "horse" and steinn "stone".

Kamen m Bulgarian
Means "stone" in Bulgarian. This is a translation of the Greek name Πέτρος (Petros).

Langston m English
From an English surname, itself from a place name, derived from Old English lang "long" and stan "stone". A famous bearer was the American author Langston Hughes (1901-1967).

Leofstan m Anglo-Saxon
Derived from the Old English element leof "dear, beloved" combined with stan "stone".

Licarayen f Mapuche
Means "stone flower" in Mapuche, from likan "a type of black stone" and rayen "flower". According to a Mapuche legend this was the name of a maiden who sacrificed herself in order to stop the wrath of the evil spirit of a volcano.

Min 1 m & f Chinese, Korean
From 敏 (mǐn) meaning "quick, clever, sharp", 民 (mín) meaning "people, citizens", or other Chinese/Sino-Korean characters that are pronounced similarly.

Ngọc f & m Vietnamese
From Sino-Vietnamese 玉 (ngọc) meaning "jade, precious stone, gem".

Obelix m Popular Culture
The name of a character in the Asterix series of comic books. A friend of the main character Asterix, Obelix is a heavyset and immensely strong carver of menhirs. His name (Obélix in the original French) is a pun on the French word obélisque meaning "obelisk, stone monument" using the ending -ix common to the Gauls in the series.

Peninna f Biblical Hebrew
Biblical Hebrew form of Peninnah.

Peninnah f Biblical
Means "pearl, coral, precious stone" in Hebrew. In the Old Testament this is the name of one of the wives of Elkanah, the other being Hannah.

Peter m English, German, Dutch, Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, Slovene, Slovak, Biblical
Derived from Greek Πέτρος (Petros) meaning "stone". This is a translation used in most versions of the New Testament of the name Cephas, meaning "stone" in Aramaic, which was given to the apostle Simon by Jesus (compare Matthew 16:18 and John 1:42). Simon Peter was the most prominent of the apostles during Jesus' ministry and is often considered the first pope.... [more]

Pinja f Finnish
Means "stone pine" in Finnish.

Rizpah f Biblical
Means "coal, hot stone" in Hebrew. According to the Old Testament Rizpah was one of Saul's concubines. After her sons were put to death by the Gibeonites, she guarded the displayed bodies for five months to prevent animals from eating them.

Seok m Korean
From Sino-Korean 石 (seok) meaning "stone" or 錫 (seok) meaning "tin", as well as other characters that are pronounced the same way. Although it does appear rarely as a single-character name, it is more often used in combination with another character.

Shi m & f Chinese
From Chinese 时 (shí) meaning "time, era, season", 实 (shí) meaning "real, honest", 史 (shǐ) meaning "history" or 石 (shí) meaning "stone". Other characters can form this name as well.

Sixten m Swedish
From the Old Norse name Sigsteinn, which was derived from the elements sigr "victory" and steinn "stone".

Smaragdos m Ancient Greek
Means "emerald" in Greek, of Semitic origin. This was the name of a 3rd-century Roman martyr and saint, better known by the Latinized form of his name Smaragdus.

Stanford m English
From a surname that was derived from a place name meaning "stone ford" in Old English.

Stanley m English
From an English surname meaning "stone clearing" (Old English stan "stone" and leah "woodland, clearing"). A notable bearer of the surname was the British-American explorer and journalist Henry Morton Stanley (1841-1904), the man who found David Livingstone in Africa. As a given name, it was borne by American director Stanley Kubrick (1928-1999), as well as the character Stanley Kowalski in Tennessee Williams' play A Streetcar Named Desire (1947).

Steinar m Norwegian
From the Old Norse name Steinarr, derived from the elements steinn "stone" and herr "army, warrior".

Steingrímur m Icelandic
From the Old Norse name Steingrímr, derived from the elements steinn "stone" and gríma "mask".

Steinunn f Icelandic, Old Norse
Derived from the Old Norse elements steinn "stone" and unnr "wave".

Sten m Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, Estonian
Derived from the Old Norse name Steinn meaning "stone".

Stone m English (Modern)
From the English vocabulary word, ultimately from Old English stan.

Torsten m Swedish, Danish, German
From the Old Norse name Þórsteinn, which meant "Thor's stone" from the name of the Norse god Þórr (see Thor) combined with steinn "stone".

Ujarak m & f Greenlandic
Means "stone" in Greenlandic.

Ujaraq m Inuit
Means "stone" in Inuktitut.

Wulfstan m Anglo-Saxon
Derived from the Old English elements wulf "wolf" and stan "stone".

Wynnstan m Anglo-Saxon
Derived from the Old English elements wynn "joy" and stan "stone".

Wystan m English (Rare)
From the Old English name Wigstan, composed of the elements wig "battle" and stan "stone". This was the name of a 9th-century Anglo-Saxon saint. It became rare after the Norman Conquest, and in modern times it is chiefly known as the first name of the British poet W. H. Auden (1907-1973).

Yu f & m Chinese
From Chinese 玉 (yù) meaning "jade, precious stone, gem", 愉 (yú) meaning "pleasant, delightful" or 雨 (yǔ) meaning "rain". Other characters can form this name as well.

Zümra f Turkish
From Turkish zümrüt meaning "emerald", derived via Arabic from Greek σμάραγδος (smaragdos).

Zümrüd f Azerbaijani
Means "emerald" in Azerbaijani, of Persian origin.