Names Deemed "refined"

This is a list of names in which the community's impression is refined.
gender
usage
impression
Yūna f Japanese
From Japanese () meaning "excellence, superiority, gentleness" or () meaning "grapefruit, pomelo, citrus fruit" combined with (na) meaning "vegetables, greens" or (na), a phonetic character. Other combinations of kanji are also possible.
Yūri f Japanese
From Japanese () meaning "permanence" and (ri) meaning "village". This name can also be formed from other combinations of kanji.
Yuri 2 f Japanese
From Japanese 百合 (yuri) meaning "lily". Other kanji or combinations of kanji can also form this name.
Yusra f Arabic
Means "wealth, ease" in Arabic, a derivative of يسر (yasira) meaning "to be easy, to be rich".
Yuu m & f Japanese
Alternate transcription of Japanese Kanji or or (see ).
Yuuka f Japanese
Alternate transcription of Japanese Kanji 優花 or 有香 (see Yūka).
Yuuki m & f Japanese
Alternate transcription of Japanese Kanji 優希 or 悠希 or 優輝 or 悠生 (see Yūki).
Yuuko f Japanese
Alternate transcription of Japanese Kanji 優子 or 悠子 or 裕子 (see Yūko).
Yuuna f Japanese
Alternate transcription of Japanese Kanji 優菜 or 優奈 or 柚菜 (see Yūna).
Yuzuki f Japanese
From Japanese (yuzu) meaning "grapefruit, pomelo, citrus fruit" and (ki) meaning "hope". Other combinations of kanji can form this name as well.
Yvain m Arthurian Cycle
Form of Owain used by the 12th-century French poet Chrétien de Troyes for his Arthurian romance Yvain, the Knight of the Lion.
Yves m French
Medieval French form of Ivo 1. This was the name of two French saints: an 11th-century bishop of Chartres and a 13th-century parish priest and lawyer, also known as Ivo of Kermartin, the patron saint of Brittany.
Yvette f French, English
French feminine form of Yves.
Yvonne f French, English, German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish
French feminine form of Yvon. It has been regularly used in the English-speaking world since the late 19th century.
Zaahira f Arabic
Feminine form of Zaahir 1.
Zaccaria m Italian
Italian form of Zechariah and Zacharias.
Zahari m Bulgarian
Bulgarian form of Zechariah.
Zaharina f Bulgarian, Macedonian
Bulgarian and Macedonian feminine form of Zechariah.
Zahia f Arabic
Feminine form of Zahi.
Zahira f Arabic
Feminine form of Zahir.
Zahra 1 f Arabic, Persian
From Arabic زهراء (zahrāʾ), the feminine form of أزهر (ʾazhar) meaning "shining, brilliant, bright". This is an epithet of the Prophet Muhammad's daughter Fatima.... [more]
Zaina f Arabic
Alternate transcription of Arabic زينة (see Zayna).
Zaira f Italian, Spanish
Italian and Spanish form of Zaïre. It was used by Vincenzo Bellini for the heroine of his opera Zaira (1829), which was based on Voltaire's 1732 play Zaïre.
Zara 1 f Literature, English
Used by William Congreve for a character in his tragedy The Mourning Bride (1697), where it belongs to a captive North African queen. Congreve may have based it on the Arabic name Zahra 1. In 1736 the English writer Aaron Hill used it to translate Zaïre for his popular adaptation of Voltaire's French play Zaïre (1732).... [more]
Zara 2 f Bulgarian
Diminutive of Zaharina.
Zareen f Urdu
Variant of Zarina.
Zarina f Uzbek, Kazakh, Tajik, Urdu, Malay
From Persian زرین (zarīn) meaning "golden". According to the 5th-century BC Greek historian Ctesias, this was the name of a Scythian queen.
Zavia f English (Rare)
Modern feminine form of Xavier.
Zayna f Arabic
Feminine form of Zayn.
Zelda 1 f Yiddish
Possibly a feminine form of Zelig.
Zélie f French
Short form of Azélie. This is another name of Saint Marie-Azélie Guérin (1831-1877).
Zemfira f Azerbaijani, Tatar, Bashkir, Literature
Meaning unknown, possibly of Romani origin. This name was (first?) used by Aleksandr Pushkin in his poem The Gypsies (1827).
Zenaida f Late Greek
Apparently a Greek derivative of Ζηναΐς (Zenais), which was derived from the name of the Greek god Zeus. This was the name of a 1st-century saint who was a doctor with her sister Philonella.
Zéphyrine f French (Rare)
French feminine form of Zephyrinus (see Zeferino).
Zhi m & f Chinese
From Chinese (zhì) meaning "will, purpose, ambition" or (zhì) meaning "wisdom, intellect", as well as other characters that are pronounced similarly.
Zia m Arabic, Urdu, Bengali
Alternate transcription of Arabic ضياء (see Ziya), as well as the usual Urdu and Bengali transcription.
Zinaida f Russian, Belarusian, Ukrainian
Russian, Belarusian and Ukrainian form of Zenaida.
Zinnia f English (Rare)
From the name of the flower, which was itself named for the German botanist Johann Zinn.
Zipporah f Biblical, Hebrew
From the Hebrew name צִפּוֹרָה (Tsippora), derived from צִפּוֹר (tsippor) meaning "bird". In the Old Testament this is the name of the Midianite wife of Moses. She was the daughter of the priest Jethro.
Zoé f French, Hungarian
French and Hungarian form of Zoe.
Zoë f Dutch, English
Dutch form and English variant of Zoe.
Zosia f Polish
Diminutive of Zofia.
Zvezdana f Serbian, Slovene
Serbian and Slovene form of Zvjezdana.
Zvonimir m Croatian
Derived from the Slavic elements zvonŭ "sound, chime" and mirŭ "peace, world". Dmitar Zvonimir was an 11th-century Croatian king.