Browse Names

Africanus m Ancient Roman
Roman cognomen derived from the place name Africa, which in Roman times referred only to North Africa. This was the agnomen of the 3rd-century BC Roman general Scipio Africanus, who was honoured with it after his victory over Carthage in the Second Punic War. His descendants used it as a cognomen.

Ainsley f & m Scottish, English (Modern)
From an English surname that was from a place name: either Annesley in Nottinghamshire or Ansley in Warwickshire. The place names themselves derive from Old English anne "alone, solitary" or ansetl "hermitage" and leah "woodland, clearing".... [more]

Alton m English
From an English surname that was derived from a place name meaning "town at the source of the river" in Old English.

Anup m Hindi, Marathi, Bengali, Malayalam
From Sanskrit अनूप (anūpa) meaning "watery, place near the water, lagoon".

Aram 3 m Biblical, Biblical Latin, Biblical Greek, Biblical Hebrew
From Hebrew אַרְמוֹן (ʾarmon) meaning "fortress, elevated place". This is the name of a few characters in the Old Testament, including a son of Shem who was the ancestor of the Arameans.

Ararat m Armenian
From the name of a mountain in eastern Turkey (formerly part of Armenia), the place where Noah's Ark came to rest according to the Old Testament.

Arash m Persian, Persian Mythology
From Avestan 𐬆𐬭𐬆𐬑𐬱𐬀 (Ərəxsha), of uncertain meaning, possibly from a root meaning "bear". In Iranian legend Arash was an archer who was ordered by the Turans to shoot an arrow, the landing place of which would determine the new location of the Iran-Turan border. Arash climbed a mountain and fired his arrow with such strength that it flew for several hours and landed on the banks of the far-away Oxus River.

Arden m & f English
From an English surname, originally taken from various place names, which were derived from a Celtic word meaning "high".

Arlo m English
Meaning uncertain. It was perhaps inspired by the fictional place name Arlo Hill from the poem The Faerie Queene (1590) by Edmund Spenser. Spenser probably got Arlo by altering the real Irish place name Aherlow, meaning "between two highlands".

Ashley f & m English
From an English surname that was originally derived from place names meaning "ash tree clearing", from a combination of Old English æsc and leah. Until the 1960s it was more commonly given to boys in the United States, but it is now most often used on girls. It reached its height of popularity in America in 1987, but it did not become the highest ranked name until 1991, being overshadowed by the likewise-popular Jessica until then. In the United Kingdom it is still more common as a masculine name.

Ashton m & f English (Modern)
From an English surname, itself derived from a place name meaning "ash tree town" in Old English. This was a rare masculine name until the 1980s, when it gradually began becoming more common for both genders. Inspired by the female character Ashton Main from the 1985 miniseries North and South, parents in America gave it more frequently to girls than boys from 1986 to 1997. Since then it has been overwhelmingly masculine once again, perhaps due in part to the fame of the actor Ashton Kutcher (1978-).

Aston m & f English (Rare)
From a surname that was originally derived from either a place name meaning "east town" in Old English or from the given name Æðelstan.

Audley m English
From a surname that was taken from a place name meaning "Ealdgyð's clearing" in Old English.

Azazel m Biblical
Means "scapegoat" in Hebrew. In the Old Testament, this is the name of the recipient of a sacrificial goat. The identity of Azazel is not clear; it may in fact be the name of the place where the goat is to be sacrificed, or it may be the name of some sort of evil desert demon.

Azel m Biblical
Means "reserved" in Hebrew. This is both the name of a minor character and a place name in the Old Testament.

Balfour m English (Rare)
From a Scottish surname, originally from various place names, themselves derived from Gaelic baile "village" and pòr "pasture, crop, cropland".

Barclay m English (Rare)
From a Scottish and English surname that was derived from the English place name Berkeley, itself from Old English beorc "birch" and leah "woodland, clearing".

Beckham m English (Modern)
From an English surname that was derived from a place name meaning "Becca's homestead". The Old English byname Becca meant "pickaxe". A famous bearer of the surname is retired English soccer player David Beckham (1975-).

Bentley m English
From a surname that was from a place name, itself derived from Old English beonet "bent grass" and leah "woodland, clearing". Various towns in England bear this name.

Benton m English
From a surname that was derived from a place name, composed of Old English beonet "bent grass" and tun "enclosure".

Bolívar m Spanish (Latin American)
From a surname that was taken from the Basque place name Bolibar, which was derived from bolu "mill" and ibar "riverside". A famous bearer of the surname was Simón Bolívar (1783-1830), a South American revolutionary leader, after whom the country of Bolivia is named.

Bradford m English
From an English surname that originally came from a place name that meant "broad ford" in Old English.

Bradley m English
From an English surname that originally came from a place name meaning "broad clearing" in Old English. A famous bearer of the surname was the World War II American general Omar Bradley (1893-1981).

Brandon m English
From an English surname that was derived from a place name meaning "hill covered with broom" in Old English.... [more]

Braxton m English
From an English surname that was originally derived from a place name meaning "Bracca's town" in Old English. In some cases it is given in honour of the Confederate general Braxton Bragg (1817-1876).

Brent m English
From an English surname, originally taken from various place names, perhaps derived from a Celtic word meaning "hill".

Brenton m English
From a surname that was derived from an English place name meaning "Bryni's town". Bryni was an Old English name meaning "fire".

Brigham m English (Rare)
From a surname that was originally derived from place names meaning "bridge settlement" in Old English.

Briscoe m English (Rare)
From an English surname that was derived from a place name meaning "birch wood" in Old Norse.

Britton m English
Derived from a Middle English surname meaning "a Briton" (a Celt of England) or "a Breton" (an inhabitant of Brittany). Both ethnonyms are related to the place name Britain.

Brody m English
From a Scottish surname that was originally derived from a place in Moray, Scotland. It probably means "ditch, mire" in Gaelic.

Brynmor m Welsh
From the Welsh place name Brynmawr meaning "great hill".

Burton m English
From an English surname that was originally derived from a place name meaning "fortified town" in Old English. A famous bearer of the surname was Richard Burton (1821-1890), an explorer of Africa and Asia.

Byron m English
From a surname that was originally from a place name meaning "place of the cow sheds" in Old English. This was the surname of the romantic poet Lord Byron (1788-1824), the writer of Don Juan and many other works.

Camden m English (Modern)
From an English surname that was derived from a place name, perhaps meaning "enclosed valley" in Old English. A famous bearer of the surname was the English historian William Camden (1551-1623).

Charlton m English
From a surname that was originally from a place name meaning "settlement of free men" in Old English.

Chesley m & f English (Rare)
From a surname that was originally from a place name meaning "camp meadow" in Old English.

Clayton m English
From a surname that was originally derived from various English place names, all meaning "clay settlement" in Old English.

Cleveland m English
From an English surname that was derived from a place name meaning "cliff land" (from Old English clif and land). This was the surname of American president Grover Cleveland (1837-1908). It is also the name of an American city, which was founded by surveyor Moses Cleaveland (1754-1806).

Clifford m English
From a surname that was originally from a place name meaning "ford by a cliff" in Old English.

Clifton m English
From a surname that was originally derived from a place name meaning "settlement by a cliff" in Old English.

Colby m English
From an English surname, originally from various place names, derived from the Old Norse byname Koli (meaning "coal, dark") and býr "farm, settlement". As a given name, its popularity spiked in the United States and Canada in 2001 when Colby Donaldson (1974-) appeared on the reality television show Survivor.

Colton m English (Modern)
From an English surname that was originally derived from a place name meaning "Cola's town". It started being used as a given name in the 1980s. Likely in some cases it was viewed as an elaborated or full form of Cole or Colt.

Courtney f & m English
From an aristocratic English surname that was derived either from the French place name Courtenay (originally a derivative of the personal name Curtenus, itself derived from Latin curtus "short") or else from a Norman nickname meaning "short nose".... [more]

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

Creighton m English (Rare)
From a surname that was derived from a place name, originally from Gaelic crioch "border" combined with Old English tun "town".

Crofton m English (Rare)
From a surname that was derived from a place name meaning "town with a small enclosed field" in Old English.

Cúchulainn m Irish Mythology
Means "hound of Culann" in Irish. This was the usual name of the warrior hero who was named Sétanta at birth, given to him because he took the place of one of Culann's hounds after he accidentally killed it. The Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology tells of Cúchulainn's many adventures, including his single-handed defence of Ulster against the army of Queen Medb.

Culann m Irish Mythology
Meaning unknown. This was the name of a smith in Irish legend. After Sétanta killed one of his dogs in self-defence, Sétanta took the place of the dog and was thereafter known as Cúchulainn.

Culhwch m Arthurian Cycle, Welsh Mythology
Means "hiding place of the pig" in Welsh. In the Welsh tale Culhwch and Olwen he was the lover of Olwen, the daughter of the giant Yspaddaden. Before the giant would allow Culhwch to marry his daughter, he insisted that Culhwch complete a series of extremely difficult tasks. Culhwch managed to complete the tasks with the help of his cousin King Arthur, and he returned to marry Olwen and kill the giant.

Dacre m English (Rare)
From an English surname that was originally derived from a place name in Cumbria, of Brythonic origin meaning "trickling stream".

Dalton m English
From an English surname that was originally derived from a place name meaning "valley town" in Old English. A notable bearer of the surname was John Dalton (1766-1844), the English chemist and physicist who theorized about the existence of atoms.

Damon m Greek Mythology, English
Derived from Greek δαμάζω (damazo) meaning "to tame". According to Greek legend, Damon and Pythias were friends who lived on Syracuse in the 4th century BC. When Pythias was sentenced to death, he was allowed to temporarily go free on the condition that Damon take his place in prison. Pythias returned just before Damon was to be executed in his place, and the king was so impressed with their loyalty to one another that he pardoned Pythias. As an English given name, it has only been regularly used since the 20th century.

Darden m English (Rare)
From an English surname of unknown meaning, possibly from a place name.

Darnell m English, African American
From an English surname that was derived from Old French darnel, a type of grass. In some cases the surname may be from a place name, itself derived from Old English derne "hidden" and halh "nook".

Delano m English
From a surname, recorded as de la Noye in French, indicating that the bearer was from a place called La Noue (ultimately Gaulish meaning "wetland, swamp"). It has been used in honour of American president Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1882-1945), whose middle name came from his mother's maiden name.

Denholm m English (Rare)
From a surname that was originally taken from a place name meaning "valley island" in Old English.

Denton m English
From a surname, originally from a place name, which meant "valley town" in Old English.

Denver m & f English
From an English surname that was from a place name meaning "Dane ford" in Old English. This is the name of the capital city of Colorado, which was named for the politician James W. Denver (1817-1892).

Drummond m English (Rare)
From a Scottish surname that was derived from various place names, themselves derived from Gaelic druim meaning "ridge".

Dudley m English
From a surname that was originally from a place name meaning "Dudda's clearing" in Old English. The surname was borne by a British noble family.

Easton m English (Modern)
From an English surname that was derived from place names meaning "east town" in Old English.

Eden f & m Hebrew, English (Modern), French (Modern)
From the biblical place name, itself possibly from Hebrew עֵדֶן (ʿeḏen) meaning "pleasure, delight", or perhaps derived from Sumerian 𒂔 (edin) meaning "plain". According to the Old Testament the Garden of Eden was the place where the first people, Adam and Eve, lived before they were expelled.

Eifion m Welsh
From an Old Welsh given name of unknown meaning, the source of the place name Eifionydd (also called Eifion) in northwestern Wales. This name was revived in the 19th century, probably via the place name.

Eldon m English
From a surname that was from a place name meaning "Ella's hill" in Old English.

Elsdon m English (Rare)
From a surname that was originally derived from a place name meaning "Elli's valley" in Old English.

Elton m English, Portuguese (Brazilian), Albanian, Swedish (Modern)
From an English surname that was originally from a place name meaning "Ella's town". A famous bearer of this name is British musician Elton John (1947-), born Reginald Dwight, who adopted his stage name in honour of his former bandmate Elton Dean (1945-2006).

Elwood m English
From an English surname that was derived from a place name meaning "elder tree forest" in Old English.

Enkidu m Sumerian Mythology, Semitic Mythology
Probably means "lord of the good place", from Sumerian 𒂗 (en) meaning "lord", 𒆠 (ki) meaning "place" and 𒄭 (du) meaning "good". This was the name of a wild man who became a companion of the Sumerian hero Gilgamesh, notably appearing in the Akkadian poem the Epic of Gilgamesh.

Evron m Hebrew (Rare)
From a biblical place name, also called עַבְדּוֹן (ʿAvdon) meaning "servile", for which it may be a clerical error.

Ewart m English (Rare)
From an English and Scottish surname that was either based on a Norman form of Edward, or else derived from a place name of unknown meaning.

Farley m English (Rare)
From a surname that was originally from a place name meaning "fern clearing" in Old English. A notable bearer of this name was Canadian author Farley Mowat (1921-2014).

Fenton m English
From a surname that was originally taken from a place name meaning "marsh town" in Old English.

Fife m Scottish (Rare)
From a Scottish place name that was formerly the name of a kingdom in Scotland. It is said to be named for a Pictish kingdom called Fib.

Ford m English
From an English surname that was derived from a place name meaning "ford" in Old English. A famous bearer of the surname was the American industrialist Henry Ford (1863-1947).

Fraser m Scottish, English (Rare)
From a Scottish surname, originally Norman French de Fresel, possibly from a lost place name in France.

Galahad m Arthurian Cycle
From earlier Galaad, likely derived from the Old French form of the biblical place name Gilead. In Arthurian legend Sir Galahad was the son of Lancelot and Elaine. He was the most pure of the Knights of the Round Table, and he was the only one to succeed in finding the Holy Grail. He first appears in the 13th-century French Lancelot-Grail Cycle.

Gilead m Biblical
From an Old Testament place name meaning "heap of witness" in Hebrew. This is a mountainous region east of the Jordan River. Besides being a place name, it is also borne by people in the Bible.

Glanville m English (Rare)
From an English surname that was taken from a Norman place name, which possibly meant "domain of (a person named) Gland" in Old French.

Golzar m & f Persian
Derived from Persian گل (gol) meaning "flower, rose" and the suffix زار (zār) meaning "place abounding in, field, garden".

Gordon m Scottish, English
From a Scottish surname that was originally derived from a place in Berwickshire, itself derived from Brythonic elements meaning "spacious fort". It was originally used in honour of Charles George Gordon (1833-1885), a British general who died defending the city of Khartoum in Sudan.... [more]

Graham m Scottish, English
From a Scottish surname, originally derived from the English place name Grantham, which probably meant "gravelly homestead" in Old English. The surname was first taken to Scotland in the 12th century by the Norman baron William de Graham. A famous bearer of the surname was Alexander Graham Bell (1847-1922), the Scottish-Canadian-American inventor who devised the telephone. A famous bearer of the given name was the British author Graham Greene (1904-1991).... [more]

Granville m English
From an English surname that was derived from a Norman place name Grainville.

Gresham m English (Rare)
From a surname that was derived from a place name meaning "grazing homestead" in Old English.

Guadalupe f & m Spanish
From a Spanish title of the Virgin Mary, Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe, meaning "Our Lady of Guadalupe". Guadalupe is a Spanish place name, the site of a famous convent, derived from Arabic وادي (wādī) meaning "valley, river" possibly combined with Latin lupus meaning "wolf". In the 16th century Our Lady of Guadalupe supposedly appeared in a vision to a native Mexican man, and she is now regarded as a patron saint of the Americas.

Hades m Greek Mythology
From Greek Ἅιδης (Haides), derived from ἀϊδής (aides) meaning "unseen". In Greek mythology Hades was the dark god of the underworld, a place that also came to be called Hades. His brothers were Zeus and Poseidon and his wife was Persephone, whom he had abducted.

Hadley f & m English
From an English surname that was derived from a place name meaning "heather field" in Old English.

Hale 2 m English
From a surname that was derived from a place name meaning "nook, retreat" from Old English healh.

Hallam m English (Rare)
From a surname that was derived from a place name meaning either "at the rocks" or "at the nook" in Old English.

Harlan m English
From a surname that was from a place name meaning "hare land" in Old English. In America it has sometimes been given in honour of Supreme Court justice John Marshall Harlan (1833-1911).

Harley m & f English
From an English surname that was derived from a place name, itself from Old English hara "hare" or hær "rock, heap of stones" and leah "woodland, clearing". An American name for boys since the 19th century, it began to be used for girls after a character with the name began appearing on the soap opera Guiding Light in 1987.

Harlow f & m English
From an English surname derived from a place name, itself derived from Old English hær "rock, heap of stones" or here "army", combined with hlaw "hill". As a name for girls, it received some attention in 2008 when the American celebrity Nicole Richie used it for her daughter.

Hartley m & f English (Rare)
From an English surname that was derived from a place name, itself from Old English heorot "hart, male deer" and leah "woodland, clearing".

Haven f & m English
From the English word for a safe place, derived ultimately from Old English hæfen.

Havilah m Biblical
Probably means "to dance, to circle, to twist" in Hebrew. In the Old Testament this is both a place name and a masculine personal name.

Hayden m & f English
From an English surname that was derived from place names meaning either "hay valley" or "hay hill", derived from Old English heg "hay" and denu "valley" or dun "hill". Its popularity at the end of the 20th century was due to the sound it shared with other trendy names of the time, such as Braden and Aidan.

Haywood m English
From a surname that was derived from a place name meaning "fenced wood" in Old English.

Hedley m English (Rare)
From a surname that was derived from a place name meaning "heather clearing" in Old English.

Hinata f & m Japanese
From Japanese 日向 (hinata) meaning "sunny place", 陽向 (hinata) meaning "toward the sun", or a non-standard reading of 向日葵 (himawari) meaning "sunflower". Other kanji compounds are also possible. Because of the irregular readings, this name is often written using the hiragana writing system.

Holden m English (Modern)
From a surname that was originally derived from a place name meaning "deep valley" in Old English. This is the name of the main character in J. D. Salinger's novel The Catcher in the Rye (1951), Holden Caulfield.

Homer m English, Ancient Greek (Anglicized)
From the Greek name Ὅμηρος (Homeros), derived from ὅμηρος (homeros) meaning "hostage, pledge". Homer was the Greek epic poet who wrote the Iliad, about the Trojan War, and the Odyssey, about Odysseus's journey home after the war. There is some debate about when he lived, or if he was even a real person, though most scholars place him in the 8th century BC. In the modern era, Homer has been used as a given name in the English-speaking world (chiefly in America) since the 18th century. This name is borne by the oafish cartoon father on the television series The Simpsons.

Keaton m English (Modern)
From an English surname that was derived from a few different place names (see the surname Keaton).

Keith m English, Scottish
From a Scottish surname that was originally derived from the name of a place in East Lothian, itself possibly derived from the Celtic root *kayto- meaning "wood". This was the surname of a long line of Scottish nobles. It has been used as a given name since the 19th century, becoming fairly common throughout the English-speaking world in the 20th century.

Kenton m English
From a surname that was derived from an English place name meaning either "town on the River Kenn" or "royal town" in Old English.

Kenyon m English
From a surname that was derived from an English place name, of uncertain meaning.

Kingsley m & f English (Modern)
From an English surname that was originally derived from a place name meaning "king's wood" in Old English. This name may have received a minor boost in popularity after the release of the 2007 movie Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, featuring the character Kingsley Shacklebolt.

Kingston m English (Modern)
From an English surname that was originally derived from a place name meaning "king's town" in Old English. This name rose significantly on the popularity charts after musicians Gwen Stefani and Gavin Rossdale used it for their son born 2006.

Kipling m English (Rare)
From an English surname that was from a place name meaning "Cyppel's people". The surname was borne by Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936), a British novelist born in India who wrote The Jungle Book and other works.

Kirby m & f English
From an English surname that was originally from a place name meaning "church settlement" in Old Norse. This name briefly spiked in popularity for American girls in 1982 after the character Kirby Anders Colby was introduced to the soap opera Dynasty.

Kyle m English
From a Scottish surname that was derived from various place names, themselves from Gaelic caol meaning "narrows, channel, strait". As a given name it was rare in the first half of the 20th century. It rose steadily in popularity throughout the English-speaking world, entering the top 50 in most places by the 1990s. It has since declined in all regions.

Kynaston m English (Rare)
From an English surname that was originally derived from a place name meaning "Cynefrið's town" in Old English.

Lamar m English, African American
From a French and English surname, originally from a place name in Normandy, which was derived from Old French la mare meaning "the pool". In the second half of the 20th century this name has been well-used in the African-American community, probably because of its popular phonetic components la and mar.

Landon m English
From a surname that was derived from an Old English place name meaning "long hill" (effectively meaning "ridge"). Use of the name may have been inspired in part by the actor Michael Landon (1936-1991).

Lanford m English (Rare)
From a surname that was derived from a place name meaning "long ford" in Old English.

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).

Laverne f & m English
From a French surname that was derived from a place name, ultimately from the Gaulish word vern "alder". It is sometimes associated with the Roman goddess Laverna or the Latin word vernus "of spring".

Lehi m Mormon
From an Old Testament place name meaning "jawbone" in Hebrew, so called because it was the site where the hero Samson defeated 1,000 warriors using only the jawbone of a donkey as a weapon. It is also used in the Book of Mormon as the name of a prophet who travels out of Jerusalem and settles in the Americas.

Leland m English
From a surname, originally from an English place name, which meant "fallow land" in Old English. A famous bearer was the politician, businessman and Stanford University founder Leland Stanford (1824-1893).

Lennox m & f English (Modern)
From a Scottish surname that was derived from the name of a district in Scotland. The district, called Leamhnachd in Gaelic, possibly means "place of elms". This name steadily rose in popularity in the 2000s, at the same time as the similar-sounding (but unrelated) names Lennon and Knox.

Leslie f & m English
From a Scottish surname that was derived from a place in Aberdeenshire, probably from Gaelic leas celyn meaning "garden of holly". It has been used as a given name since the 19th century. In America it was more common as a feminine name after the 1940s.

Lester m English
From an English surname that was derived from the name of the city of Leicester, originally denoting a person who was from that place. The city's name is derived from the river name Ligore combined with Latin castra "camp".

Linford m English (Rare)
From a surname that was originally taken from place names meaning either "flax ford" or "linden tree ford" in Old English.

Linton m English
From a surname that was originally from place names meaning either "flax town" or "linden tree town" in Old English.

Linwood m English
From an English surname that was originally from a place name meaning "stream forest" in Old English.

Logan m & f English
From a Scottish surname that was originally derived from a place in Ayrshire meaning "little hollow" (from Gaelic lag "hollow, pit" combined with a diminutive suffix). This name started slowly rising on the American popularity charts in the mid-1970s, perhaps partly inspired by the movie Logan's Run (1976). The comic book character Wolverine, alias Logan, was also introduced around the same time.... [more]

Lorne m English
From the title Marquis of Lorne, which was based on the Scottish place name Lorne, itself possibly derived from the name of the legendary king of Dál Riata, Loarn mac Eirc. This was the title of the first Governor General of Canada, where it has since been most frequently used as a given name. A famous bearer was the Canadian actor Lorne Greene (1915-1987).

Lyndon m English
From an English surname that was derived from a place name meaning "linden tree hill" in Old English. A famous bearer was American president Lyndon B. Johnson (1908-1973).

Maitland m & f English (Rare)
From an English surname that was from a Norman French place name possibly meaning "inhospitable".

Manley m English
From an English surname, originally a place name, meaning "common clearing" in Old English.

Marley f & m English (Modern)
From an English surname that was taken from a place name meaning either "pleasant wood", "boundary wood" or "marten wood" in Old English. A famous bearer of the surname was the Jamaican musician Bob Marley (1945-1981).

Marlowe f & m English (Modern)
From a surname that was derived from a place name meaning "remnants of a lake" in Old English. A famous bearer of the surname was the English playwright Christopher Marlowe (1564-1593).

Mekan m Turkmen
Means "place, town, edge" in Turkmen, ultimately from Arabic مكان (makān) meaning "place, position".

Melville m English
From a Scots surname that was originally from a Norman French place name Malleville meaning "bad town". A famous bearer of the surname was the American author Herman Melville (1819-1891), who wrote several novels including Moby-Dick.

Merrill m English
From an English surname that was derived either from the given name Muriel or from place names meaning "pleasant hill".

Merritt m & f English
From an English surname, originally from a place name, which meant "boundary gate" in Old English.

Merton m English
From a surname that was derived from a place name meaning "town on a lake" in Old English.

Milburn m English
From an English surname that was from a place name meaning "mill stream" in Old English.

Milford m English
From an English surname that was originally derived from various place names all meaning "ford by a mill" in Old English.

Milton m English, Spanish (Latin American)
From an English surname that was derived from a place name meaning "mill town" in Old English. A famous bearer of the surname was John Milton (1608-1674), the poet who wrote Paradise Lost.

Morley m English (Rare)
From a surname that was originally from an Old English place name meaning "marsh clearing".

Morton m English
From an English surname that was originally derived from a place name meaning "moor town" in Old English.

Neville m English (British)
From an English surname that was originally derived from a place name meaning "new town" in Norman French. As a given name it is chiefly British and Australian.

Newton m English
From a surname that was originally derived from a place name meaning "new town" in Old English. A famous bearer of the surname was the English physicist Isaac Newton (1643-1727).

Norton m English
From a surname that was originally derived from a place name meaning "north town" in Old English.

Norwood m English
From a surname that was originally taken from a place name meaning "north wood" in Old English.

Oakley m & f English
From an English surname that was from various place names meaning "oak clearing" in Old English. A famous bearer of the surname was the American sharpshooter Annie Oakley (1860-1926).

Odell m & f English
From an English surname that was originally from a place name, itself derived from Old English wad "woad" (a plant that produces a blue dye) and hyll "hill".

Ogden m English (Rare)
From a surname that was derived from a place name meaning "oak valley" in Old English. A famous bearer was the humorous American poet Ogden Nash (1902-1971).

Olympos m Ancient Greek
From a Greek personal name that was derived from the place name Olympos, the name of the mountain home of the Greek gods.

Ophir m & f Biblical, Hebrew
From the Hebrew name אוֹפִיר (ʾOfir), meaning unknown. This is the name of a son of Joktan in the Old Testament (where it is also used as a place name).

Orhan m Turkish
Derived from Turkish or, of uncertain meaning, possibly from a Turkic root meaning "place", and han meaning "khan, ruler, leader". This was the name of a 14th-century sultan of the Ottoman Empire.

Orrell m English (Rare)
From a surname that was derived from a place name meaning "ore hill" in Old English.

Pacey m & f English (Rare)
From an English surname that was derived from the French place name Pacy, itself derived from Gaulish given name of unknown meaning.

Paxton m English (Modern)
From an English surname that was derived from a place name meaning "Pœcc's town". Pœcc is an Old English given name of unknown meaning.

Peyton f & m English
From an English surname, originally a place name meaning "Pæga's town". This was a rare masculine name until the 1990s. In 1992 it was used for a female character in the movie The Hand That Rocks the Cradle, and, despite the fact that it was borne by the villain, the name began to rise in popularity for girls as well as boys.... [more]

Presley f & m English
From an English surname that was originally derived from a place name meaning "priest clearing" (Old English preost and leah). This surname was borne by musician Elvis Presley (1935-1977).

Preston m English
From an English surname that was originally derived from a place name meaning "priest town" (Old English preost and tun).

Pythios m Greek Mythology
From the Greek place name Πυθώ (Pytho), an older name of the city of Delphi, which was probably derived from Greek πύθω (pytho) meaning "to rot". This was an epithet of Apollo.

Quincy m & f English
From an English surname that was derived (via the place name Cuinchy) from the personal name Quintus. A famous bearer was John Quincy Adams (1767-1848), sixth president of the United States, who was born in the town of Quincy, Massachusetts. Both the town and the president were named after his maternal great-grandfather John Quincy (1689-1767). Another notable bearer is the American musician Quincy Jones (1933-).

Radcliff m English (Rare)
From a surname that was derived from a place name meaning "red cliff" in Old English.

Raeburn m English (Rare)
From a Scottish surname that was originally derived from a place name meaning "stream where deer drink" (from Scots rae "roe deer" and burn "stream"). A famous bearer of the surname was Scottish portrait painter Henry Raeburn (1756-1823).

Raleigh m & f English
From an English surname that was derived from a place name meaning either "red clearing" or "roe deer clearing" in Old English. A city in North Carolina bears this name, after the English courtier, poet and explorer Walter Raleigh (1552-1618).

Rameshvara m Hinduism
Means "lord Rama", derived from the name of the Hindu deity Rama 1 combined with Sanskrit ईश्वर (īśvara) meaning "lord, god". This is the name of an island (also called Rameswaram) between India and Sri Lanka, identified as the place where Rama prayed to Shiva when he returned from Lanka. It is now an important pilgrimage site.

Ramsey m & f English
From an English and Scottish surname that was derived from a place name meaning "garlic island" in Old English.

Ridley m & f English (Rare)
From an English surname that was originally derived from various place names meaning either "reed clearing" or "stripped clearing" in Old English.

Rigby m English (Rare)
From an English surname that was originally derived from a place name meaning "ridge farm" in Old Norse.

Riley m & f English
From a surname that comes from two distinct sources. As an Irish surname it is a variant of Reilly. As an English surname it is derived from a place name meaning "rye clearing" in Old English.... [more]

Rodney m English
From an English surname, originally derived from a place name, which meant "Hroda's island" in Old English (where Hroda is an Old English given name meaning "fame"). It was first used as a given name in honour of the British admiral Lord Rodney (1719-1792).

Roscoe m English
From an English surname, originally derived from a place name, itself derived from Old Norse rá "roebuck" and skógr "wood, forest".

Ross m Scottish, English
From a Scottish and English surname that originally indicated a person from a place called Ross (such as the region of Ross in northern Scotland), derived from Gaelic ros meaning "promontory, headland". A famous bearer of the surname was James Clark Ross (1800-1862), an Antarctic explorer.

Roswell m English
From a surname that was derived from an Old English place name meaning "horse spring".

Roydon m English (Rare)
From a surname that was originally derived from a place name meaning "rye hill", from Old English ryge "rye" and dun "hill".

Royle m English (Rare)
From a surname that was derived from a place name meaning "rye hill" from Old English ryge "rye" and hyll "hill".

Royston m English (British)
From a surname that was originally taken from an Old English place name meaning "town of Royse". The given name Royse was a medieval variant of Rose.

Rudyard m English (Rare)
From a place name meaning "red yard" in Old English. This name was borne by Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936), the author of The Jungle Book and other works, who was named after Rudyard Lake in Staffordshire.

Ryland m English (Modern)
From an English surname, which was originally derived from a place name meaning "rye land" in Old English.

Sacheverell m English (Rare)
From a now extinct English surname that was derived from a Norman place name. It was occasionally given in honour of the English preacher Henry Sacheverell (1674-1724), especially by the Sitwell noble family.

Sanford m English
From an English surname, originally from a place name, which meant "sand ford" in Old English.

Sefton m English (Rare)
From a surname that was derived from a place name meaning "town in the rushes" in Old English.

Selby m & f English (Rare)
From an English surname that was from a place name meaning "willow farm" in Old Norse.

Seneca m Ancient Roman
From a Roman cognomen derived from Latin senectus meaning "old". This was the name of both a Roman orator (born in Spain) and also of his son, a philosopher and statesman.... [more]

Sharon f & m English, Hebrew
From an Old Testament place name, in Hebrew שָׁרוֹן (Sharon) meaning "plain", referring to a fertile plain on the central west coast of Israel. This is also the name of a flowering plant in the Bible, the rose of Sharon, a term now used to refer to several different species of flowers.... [more]

Sheard m English (Rare)
From a surname that was originally from a place name meaning "gap between hills" in Old English.

Sheba m Biblical
Probably from the name of the Sabaean people, who had a kingdom in the southern Arabian Peninsula and eastern Ethiopia. Sheba is a place name in the Old Testament, famous as the home of the Queen of Sheba, who visited King Solomon after hearing of his wisdom. This name is also borne by several male characters in the Bible.

Sheldon m English
From an English surname that was originally derived from a place name meaning "valley with steep sides" in Old English. Sheldon is the name of several locations in England.

Shelley f & m English
From an English surname that was originally derived from a place name meaning "clearing on a bank" in Old English. Two famous bearers of the surname were Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822), a romantic poet whose works include Adonais and Ozymandias, and Mary Shelley (1797-1851), his wife, the author of the horror story Frankenstein. As a feminine given name, it came into general use after the 1940s.

Shelton m English
From a surname that was originally derived from a place name meaning "shelf town" in Old English.

Sherwood m English
From an English place name (or from a surname that was derived from it) meaning "bright forest". This was the name of the forest in which the legendary outlaw Robin Hood made his home.

Shiloh m & f Biblical
From an Old Testament place name possibly meaning "tranquil" in Hebrew. It is also used prophetically in the Old Testament to refer to a person, often understood to be the Messiah (see Genesis 49:10). This may in fact be a mistranslation.... [more]

Shirley f & m English
From an English surname that was originally derived from a place name meaning "bright clearing" in Old English. This is the name of a main character in Charlotte Brontë's semi-autobiographical novel Shirley (1849). Though the name was already popular in the United States, the child actress Shirley Temple (1928-2014) gave it a further boost. By 1935 it was the second most common name for girls.

Stafford m English
From a surname that was from a place name meaning "landing-place ford" in Old English.

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

Talfryn m Welsh
From a Welsh place name meaning "front hill", derived from Welsh tal "front, extremity" and bryn "hill".

Tatton m English (Rare)
From a surname that was originally derived from a place name meaning "Tata's town" in Old English.

Tatum f & m English (Modern)
From an English surname that was originally derived from a place name meaning "Tata's homestead" in Old English. It was brought to public attention by the child actress Tatum O'Neal (1963-) in the 1970s, though it did not catch on. It attained a modest level of popularity after 1996, when it was borne by a character in the movie Scream.

Theseus m Greek Mythology
Possibly derived from Greek τίθημι (tithemi) meaning "to set, to place". Theseus was a heroic king of Athens in Greek mythology. He was the son of Aethra, either by Aegeus or by the god Poseidon. According to legend, every seven years the Cretan king Minos demanded that Athens supply Crete with seven boys and seven girls to be devoured by the Minotaur, a half-bull creature that was the son of Minos's wife Pasiphaë. Theseus volunteered to go in place of one of these youths in order to slay the Minotaur in the Labyrinth where it lived. He succeeded with the help of Minos's daughter Ariadne, who provided him with a sword and a roll of string so he could find his way out of the maze.... [more]

Thorley m English (Rare)
From a surname that was derived from a place name meaning "thorn clearing" in Old English.

Thornton m English
From a surname that was derived from a place name meaning "thorn town" in Old English.

Tirta m & f Indonesian
Means "sacred water, place of pilgrimage" in Indonesian, ultimately from Sanskrit तीर्थ (tīrtha).

Tracy f & m English
From an English surname that was taken from a Norman French place name meaning "domain belonging to Thracius". Charles Dickens used it for a male character in his novel The Pickwick Papers (1837). It was later popularized as a feminine name by the main character Tracy Lord in the movie The Philadelphia Story (1940). This name is also sometimes used as a diminutive of Theresa.

Trafford m English (Rare)
From a surname that was derived from a place name meaning "fish-trap ford" in Old English.

Trevelyan m English (Rare)
From a surname that was derived from a Cornish place name meaning "homestead on the hill".

Turan m & f Turkish, Azerbaijani
From Persian توران (Tūrān), a historical region in Central Asia, originally inhabited by nomadic Iranian peoples. It is traditionally said to mean "land of Tur". The place is mentioned frequently in the 10th-century Persian epic the Shahnameh.

U-Jin m Korean
From Sino-Korean 宇 (u) meaning "house, universe" or 佑 (u) meaning "help, protect, bless" combined with 眞 (jin) meaning "real, genuine" or 鎭 (jin) meaning "town, market place". Other combinations of hanja characters can form this name as well.

Upton m English (Rare)
From a surname that was derived from a place name meaning "upper town" in Old English. A famous bearer of this name was the American novelist Upton Sinclair (1878-1968).

Vere m English (Rare)
From a Norman surname, which was from a French place name, which was itself derived from a Gaulish word meaning "alder".

Vernon m English
From a Norman surname, which was from a French place name, ultimately derived from the Gaulish word vern meaning "alder".

Vinal m English (Rare)
From a surname that was derived from a place name meaning "vine hall" in Middle English.

Walton m English
From a surname that was originally taken from various Old English place names meaning "stream town", "wood town", or "wall town".

Wardell m English
From a surname that was derived from a place name meaning "watch hill" in Old English.

Waverly f & m English
From the rare English surname Waverley, derived from the name of a place in Surrey, itself possibly from Old English wæfre "flickering, wavering" and leah "woodland, clearing".... [more]

Weldon m English
From an English surname that was derived from a place name meaning "hill near a spring" in Old English.

Wesley m English
From an English surname that was derived from a place name, itself meaning "west meadow" from Old English west "west" and leah "woodland, clearing". It has been sometimes given in honour of John Wesley (1703-1791), the founder of Methodism.

Weston m English
From an English surname that was derived from a place name, itself from Old English west "west" and tun "enclosure, yard, town".

Whitaker m English (Rare)
From a surname that was derived from a place name meaning "white field" in Old English.

Whitney f & m English
From an English surname that was originally derived from a place name meaning "white island" in Old English. Its popular use as a feminine name was initiated by actress Whitney Blake (1925-2002) in the 1960s, and further boosted in the 1980s by singer Whitney Houston (1963-2012).

Wilburn m English
From an English surname that was probably originally derived from an unknown place name. The second element corresponds with Old English burne "stream".

Wiley m English
From a surname that was derived from various English place names: towns named Willey or the River Wylye.

Wilford m English
From a surname that was originally derived from a place name meaning "willow ford" in Old English.

Willoughby m & f English (Rare)
From a surname that was originally derived from a place name meaning "willow town" in Old English.

Windsor m & f English (Rare)
From an English surname that was from a place name meaning "riverbank with a windlass" in Old English (a windlass is a lifting apparatus). This has been the surname of the royal family of the United Kingdom since 1917.

Winfield m English
From a surname that originated from various English place names, themselves derived from Old English winn "meadow, pasture" and feld "field".

Winslow m & f English (Rare)
From a surname that was derived from an Old English place name meaning "hill belonging to Wine". A famous bearer of this name was American painter Winslow Homer (1836-1910).

Winton m English
From a surname that was derived from a place name meaning "enclosure belonging to Wine" in Old English.

Woodrow m English
From an English surname that was originally derived from a place name meaning "row of houses by a wood" in Old English. It was borne by the American president Woodrow Wilson (1856-1924), who was given his mother's maiden name as his middle name (his first name was Thomas). During his candidacy and presidency (1912-1921) the name became popular, reaching the 44th rank in 1913, though it quickly declined after that.

Xavier m English, French, Portuguese, Catalan, Spanish
Derived from the Basque place name Etxeberria meaning "the new house". This was the surname of the Jesuit priest Saint Francis Xavier (1506-1552) who was born in a village by this name. He was a missionary to India, Japan, China, and other areas in East Asia, and he is the patron saint of the Orient and missionaries. His surname has since been adopted as a given name in his honour, chiefly among Catholics.

Yale m English (Rare)
From a Welsh surname, which was itself derived from a place name meaning "fertile upland" (from Welsh ial).

Yeray m Spanish (Canarian)
Canarian Spanish name of recent origin, possibly from a Guanche word or place name meaning "big, grand".