Browse Names - Behind the Name

Abbigail f English (Modern)
Variant of Abigail.

Abegail f English (Rare)
Variant of Abigail.

Abigaíl f Spanish
Spanish form of Abigail.

Abigaïl f Biblical French
French form of Abigail.

Abigail f English, Biblical, Biblical German, Biblical Italian, Biblical Portuguese, Biblical Latin
From the Hebrew name אֲבִיגָיִל (ʾAviḡayil) meaning "my father is joy", derived from the roots אָב (ʾav) meaning "father" and גִּיל (gil) meaning "joy". In the Old Testament this is the name of Nabal's wife. After Nabal's death she became the third wife of King David.... [more]

Abril f Spanish, Catalan
Spanish and Catalan form of April.

April f English
From the name of the month, probably originally derived from Latin aperire "to open", referring to the opening of flowers. It has only been commonly used as a given name since the 1940s.

Avigail f Hebrew
Modern Hebrew form of Abigail.

'Avigayil f Biblical Hebrew
Biblical Hebrew form of Abigail.

Avril f French (Rare), English (Rare)
French form of April. A famous bearer is the Canadian musician Avril Lavigne (1984-).

Beril f Turkish
Turkish cognate of Beryl.

Bodil f Danish, Norwegian, Swedish
From the Old Norse name Bóthildr, derived from bót "remedy" and hildr "battle".

Daffodil f English (Rare)
From the name of the flower, ultimately derived from Dutch de affodil meaning "the asphodel".

Dearbháil f Irish
From Old Irish Derbáil meaning "daughter of Fál", derived from the prefix der meaning "daughter" and Fál, a legendary name for Ireland.

Derbáil f Old Irish
Old Irish form of Dearbháil.

Ezhil m & f Tamil
Means "beauty" in Tamil.

Gail f English
Short form of Abigail.

Goneril f Literature
From Gonorilla, of unknown meaning. According to Geoffrey of Monmouth, Gonorilla was the villainous eldest daughter of King Leir. When adapting the character for his play King Lear (1606), Shakespeare used the spelling Goneril.

Hadil f Arabic
Means "cooing (of a pigeon)" in Arabic.

Idril f Literature
Means "sparkle brilliance" in the fictional language Sindarin. In the Silmarillion (1977) by J. R. R. Tolkien, Idril was the daughter of Turgon, the king of Gondolin. She escaped the destruction of that place with her husband Tuor and sailed with him into the west.

Iseabail f Scottish Gaelic
Scottish Gaelic form of Isabel.

Jonquil f English (Rare)
From the English word for the type of flower, derived ultimately from Latin iuncus "reed".

Nil m & f Catalan, Russian (Rare), Ukrainian (Rare), Belarusian (Rare), Turkish
Catalan, Russian, Ukrainian and Belarusian form of Neilos (and the Nile River). This name was borne by a 15th-century Russian saint, Nil Sorsky. As a Turkish name it is feminine, and comes directly from the Turkish name for the river.

Ninlil f Sumerian Mythology, Semitic Mythology
Derived from Sumerian 𒎏 (nin) meaning "lady" and possibly 𒆤 (lil) meaning "wind". This was the name of a Sumerian, Akkadian and Babylonian goddess, the consort of Enlil.

Serpil f Turkish
Means "grow" in Turkish.

Sevil f Turkish
Means "loved" in Turkish.

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

Sybil f English
Variant of Sibyl. This spelling variation has existed since the Middle Ages.

Til f Dutch
Dutch short form of Mathilde.

Tiril f Norwegian
Possibly inspired by the Norwegian poem Lokkende Toner (1859) by Johan Sebastian Welhaven, which features the folk heroine Tirilil Tove.

Toril f Norwegian
Variant of Torhild.

Tydfil f Welsh
Anglicized form of Welsh Tudful, of unknown meaning. This was the name of a (probably legendary) saint who is supposedly buried in the town of Merthyr Tydfil in Wales. It is possible the saint was named after the town. She is said to have been one of the daughters of Brychan Brycheiniog.

Wil m & f English, Dutch
Short form of William and other names beginning with Wil.

Yatzil f Mayan
Means "love, mercy, charity" in Yucatec Maya.

Zazil f Mayan
Means "clear, light, clarity" in Yucatec Maya. Zazil Há was a 16th-century Maya woman who married the Spanish shipwreck survivor Gonzalo Guerrero.

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