Browse Names

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]

Arlie f & m English
Diminutive of Arline and other names beginning with Arl.

Ash m & f English
Short form of Ashley. It can also come directly from the English word denoting either the tree or the residue of fire.

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-).

Bai m & f Chinese
From Chinese 白 (bái) meaning "white, pure", 百 (bǎi) meaning "one hundred, many" or 柏 (bǎi) meaning "cypress tree, cedar" (which is usually only masculine). Other Chinese characters can form this name as well. This name was borne in the 8th century by the Tang dynasty poet Li Bai, whose given was 白.

Cedar f & m English (Rare)
From the English word for the coniferous tree, derived (via Old French and Latin) from Greek κέδρος (kedros). Besides the true cedars from the genus Cedrus, it is also used to refer to some tree species in the cypress family.

Celyn m & f Welsh
Means "holly" in Welsh. It appears briefly in the Welsh tale Culhwch and Olwen, belonging to a son of Caw, but was not typically used as a given name until the 20th century.

Chandana f & m Kannada, Telugu, Hindi, Bengali, Sinhalese
Feminine form of Chandan, as well as the Sinhala masculine form.

Diệp f & m Vietnamese
From Sino-Vietnamese 葉 (diệp) meaning "leaf".

Dikla m & f Hebrew, Biblical Hebrew
Hebrew form of Diklah. In modern Hebrew it is also used as a feminine name.

Dương m & f Vietnamese
From Sino-Vietnamese 陽 (dương) meaning "male, virile" or 楊 (dương) meaning "willow".

Ela 3 f & m Hebrew, Biblical Hebrew
Hebrew form of Elah. In modern Hebrew it is usually a feminine name.

Haze m & f English (Rare)
Variant of Hayes, sometimes used as a short form of Hazel.

Hollis m & f English
From an English surname that was derived from Middle English holis "holly trees". It was originally given to a person who lived near a group of those trees.

Jinan m & f Arabic
Means "garden" or "paradise" in Arabic, ultimately from the root جنّ (janna) meaning "to cover, to hide".

Kaede f & m Japanese
From Japanese 楓 (kaede) meaning "maple" or other kanji that are pronounced the same way.

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.

Kyo m & f Japanese
Alternate transcription of Japanese Kanji 協 or 京 or 郷 or 杏 (see Kyō).

Kyou m & f Japanese
Alternate transcription of Japanese Kanji 協 or 京 or 郷 or 杏 (see Kyō).

Lauren f & m English
Variant or feminine form of Laurence 1. Originally a masculine name, it was first popularized as a feminine name by actress Betty Jean Perske (1924-2014), who used Lauren Bacall as her stage name.

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".

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.

Lesley f & m English
Variant of Leslie.

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.

Lim m & f Chinese
Hokkien Chinese form of Lin.

Lin m & f Chinese
From Chinese 林 (lín) meaning "forest" or 琳 (lín) meaning "fine jade, gem". Other characters can also form this name.

Linden m & f English
From a German and Dutch surname that was derived from Old High German linta meaning "linden tree".

Loreto f & m Spanish, Italian
From the name of a town in Italy, originally called Lauretum in Latin, meaning "laurel grove". Supposedly in the 13th century the house of the Virgin Mary was miraculously carried by angels from Nazareth to the town. In Spain it is a feminine name, from the Marian title Nuestra Señora de Loreto, while in Italy it is mostly masculine.

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).

Mu m & f Chinese
From Chinese 牧 (mù) meaning "shepherd", 木 (mù) meaning "tree, wood", or other characters with similar pronunciations.

Mwenya f & m Chewa
From the Chewa word for a type of flowering tree (species Breonadia salicina).

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).

Ollie m & f English
Diminutive of Oliver, Olivia or Olive.

Palmer m & f English
From an English surname meaning "pilgrim". It is ultimately from Latin palma "palm tree", since pilgrims to the Holy Land often brought back palm fronds as proof of their journey.

Rowan m & f Irish, English (Modern)
Anglicized form of the Irish name Ruadhán. As an English name, it can also be derived from the surname Rowan, itself derived from the Irish given name. It could also be given in reference to the rowan tree, a word of Old Norse origin (coincidentally sharing the same Indo-European root meaning "red" with the Irish name).

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

Sequoia f & m English (Rare)
From the name of huge trees that grow in California. The tree got its name from the 19th-century Cherokee scholar Sequoyah (also known as George Guess), the inventor of the Cherokee writing system.

Shelby m & f English
From an English surname, which was possibly a variant of Selby. Though previously in use as a rare masculine name, it was popularized as a feminine name by the main character in the movie The Woman in Red (1935). It was later reinforced by the movie Steel Magnolias (1989) in which Julia Roberts played a character by this name.

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]

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