Names Categorized "landforms"

This is a list of names in which the categories include landforms.
gender
usage
​
Aaron m English, French, German, Finnish, Jewish, Biblical, Biblical Latin, Biblical Greek
From the Hebrew name אַהֲרֹן (ʾAharon), which is most likely of unknown Egyptian origin. Other theories claim a Hebrew derivation, and suggest meanings such as "high mountain" or "exalted". In the Old Testament this name is borne by the older brother of Moses. He acted as a spokesman for his brother when they appealed to the pharaoh to release the Israelites from slavery. Aaron's rod produced miracles and plagues to intimidate the pharaoh. After the departure from Egypt and arrival at Mount Sinai, God installed Aaron as the first high priest of the Israelites and promised that his descendants would form the priesthood.... [more]
Ada 2 f Turkish
Means "island" in Turkish.
Adegoke m Yoruba
Means "the crown has ascended the mountain" in Yoruba.
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.
Æthelstan m Anglo-Saxon
Variant of Æðelstan.
Agam f & m Hebrew
Means "lake" in Hebrew.
Ailbhe f & m Irish, Irish Mythology
From Old Irish Ailbe, possibly derived from the old Celtic root *albiyo- "world, light, white" or Old Irish ail "rock". In Irish legend this was the name of a female warrior of the Fianna. It was also the name of a 6th-century masculine saint, the founder of a monastery at Emly.
Ailsa f Scottish
From Ailsa Craig, the name of an island off the west coast of Scotland, which is of uncertain derivation.
Aitana f Spanish
From the name of a mountain range in Valencia, eastern Spain. The Spanish poet Rafael Alberti used it for his daughter in 1941.
Ala 2 f Igbo Mythology
Means "earth, land" in Igbo. In traditional Igbo religion Ala (called Ani or Ana in other dialects) is an earth goddess associated with fertility and ancestors.
Alby m Irish
Anglicized masculine form of Ailbhe.
Ardath f English
From the name of a plain that appears in the apocryphal book of 2 Esdras (verse 9:26) in some versions of the Old Testament. This place name was used by Marie Corelli for the title of an 1889 novel, which is probably the reason it gained some currency as a given name just after this time.
Ardith f English
Variant of Ardath.
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".
Aðalsteinn m Icelandic, Old Norse
Derived from the Old Norse elements aðal "noble" and steinn "stone".
Athelstan m English (Archaic)
Modern form of Æðelstan. This name was revived in Britain the latter half of the 19th century.
Banks m English (Modern)
From an English surname that that was given to a person who lived near a hillside or a bank of land.
Beaumont m English (Rare)
From a French surname meaning "beautiful mountain".
Bessarion m Late Greek
Meaning uncertain, possibly from Greek βῆσσα (bessa) meaning "wooded valley". This was the name of a 5th-century Egyptian hermit who was a disciple of Saint Anthony the Great. It was later adopted by the scholar Basilios Bessarion (1403-1472), a Greek born in Byzantine Anatolia who became a Roman Catholic bishop.
Blair m & f Scottish, English
From a Scottish surname that was derived from Gaelic blàr meaning "plain, field, battlefield". In Scotland this name is typically masculine.... [more]
Bradford m English
From an English surname that originally came from a place name that meant "broad ford" in Old English.
Brandon m English
From an English surname that was derived from a place name meaning "hill covered with broom" in Old English.... [more]
Brayan m Spanish (Modern), Portuguese (Brazilian, Modern)
Spanish and Portuguese form of Brian.
Brent m English
From an English surname, originally taken from various place names, perhaps derived from a Celtic word meaning "hill".
Brian m English, Irish, Old Irish
Meaning uncertain, possibly related to the old Celtic root *brixs "hill, high" (Old Irish brií) or the related *brigā "might, power" (Old Irish briíg). It was borne by the Irish king Brian Boru, who thwarted Viking attempts to conquer Ireland in the 11th century. He was slain in the Battle of Clontarf, though his forces were decisively victorious. This name was common in Ireland after his time, and it was introduced to northern England by Norse-Gael settlers. It was also used in Brittany, and was brought to England by Bretons in the wake of the Norman Conquest. Though it eventually became rare in the English-speaking world, it was strongly revived in the 20th century, becoming a top-ten name for boys in most regions.
Brion m English
Variant of Brian.
Bryan m English
Variant of Brian, based on the usual spelling of the surname that is derived from the name.
Bryn m & f Welsh, English (Modern)
Means "hill, mound" in Welsh. In Wales it is almost always a masculine name, though elsewhere in the English-speaking world it can be unisex (see Brynn).
Brynmor m Welsh
From the Welsh place name Brynmawr meaning "great hill".
Bryon m English
Variant of Brian.
Cadfan m Old Welsh
From an Old Welsh name, recorded in Latinized forms such as Catamanus, meaning "battle peak" from cat "battle" and bann "peak". Saint Cadfan, from Brittany, was a 6th-century missionary to Wales.
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).
Cavan m English
Either from the name of the Irish county, which is derived from Irish cabhán "hollow", or else from the Irish surname Cavan.
Cliff m English
Short form of Clifford or Clifton.
Covadonga f Spanish
From the name of a village in Asturias, Spain. Called Cuadonga in Asturian, it probably means "cave of the spring", though it has long been associated with Vulgar Latin Cova Dominica "Cave of Our Lady". This is the site of an important shrine to the Virgin Mary, and its use as a given name stems from the Marian title Nuestra Señora de Covadonga "Our Lady of Covadonga".
Craig m Scottish, English
From a Scottish surname that was derived from Gaelic creag meaning "crag, rocks, outcrop", originally indicating a person who lived near a crag.
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.
Dale m & f English
From an English surname that originally belonged to a person who lived near a dale or valley.
Dallas m & f English
From a surname that could either be of Old English origin meaning "valley house" or of Scottish Gaelic origin meaning "meadow dwelling". A city in Texas bears this name, probably in honour of American Vice President George M. Dallas (1792-1864).
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.
Dəniz f & m Azerbaijani
Means "sea" in Azerbaijani.
Davaa m & f Mongolian
Means "Monday" or "threshold, mountain pass" in Mongolian.
Dell m & f English
From an English surname that originally denoted a person who lived in a dell or valley.
Delta f English
From the name of the fourth letter in the Greek alphabet, Δ. It is also the name for an island formed at the mouth of a river.
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.
Doruk m Turkish
Means "mountaintop" in Turkish.
Drummond m English (Rare)
From a Scottish surname that was derived from various place names, themselves derived from Gaelic druim meaning "ridge".
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".
Eardwulf m Anglo-Saxon
Derived from the Old English element eard "land" combined with wulf "wolf".
Eivor f Swedish
From the Old Norse name Eyvǫr, which was derived from the elements ey "good fortune" or "island" and vǫr "vigilant, cautious".
Elsdon m English (Rare)
From a surname that was originally derived from a place name meaning "Elli's valley" in Old English.
Elva 1 f Irish
Anglicized form of Ailbhe.
Ema 2 f Japanese
From Japanese 恵 (e) meaning "favour, benefit" or 江 (e) meaning "bay, inlet" combined with 麻 (ma) meaning "flax". Other kanji combinations can also form this name.
Emlyn m Welsh
From the name of an ancient region of southwestern Wales, its name meaning "around the valley" from Welsh am "around" and glyn "valley". It has also been suggested that this name is a Welsh form of Latin Aemilianus (see Emiliano), though this appears to be unfounded.
Ennis m English
From an Irish surname that was derived from inis meaning "island".
Erskine m English (Rare)
From a Scottish surname that was originally derived from the name of a town near Glasgow. The town's name possibly means "projecting height" in Gaelic. A famous bearer was the Irish novelist and nationalist Erskine Childers (1870-1922).
Erva f Turkish
Turkish form of Arwa.
Etna f Various
From the name of an active volcano on the island of Sicily, Italy.
Everest m & f English (Modern)
From the English name for the world's highest mountain, itself named after the British surveyor George Everest (1790-1866).
Everly f English (Modern)
From an English surname that was from a place name, itself derived from Old English eofor "boar" and leah "woodland, clearing". Notable bearers of the surname were the musical duo the Everly Brothers, Don (1937-2021) and Phil (1939-2014).... [more]
Eydís f Old Norse, Icelandic
Derived from the Old Norse elements ey "good fortune" or "island" and dís "goddess".
Eysteinn m Old Norse, Icelandic
Derived from the Old Norse elements ey meaning "island" or "good fortune" and steinn meaning "stone".
Fenrir m Norse Mythology
From Old Norse fen meaning "marsh, fen". In Norse mythology Fenrir was a ferocious wolf, one of the offspring of Loki and the giantess Angrboða. Because it was foretold he would bring about disaster, the gods bound him with a magical fetter, though in the process Tyr's hand was bitten off. At the time of Ragnarök, the end of the world, it is told that he will break free and kill Odin.
Forbes m Scottish
From a Scottish surname that was originally taken from the name of a village in Aberdeenshire, which means "field, area of land" in Gaelic.
Gadar f Armenian
Western Armenian transcription of Katar.
Gagik m Armenian
Possibly derived from Armenian գագաթ (gagat) meaning "summit, peak, top". This was the name of two kings of Armenia.
Gai m Hebrew
Means "valley, ravine" in Hebrew.
Girisha m Hinduism
Means "lord of the mountain" in Sanskrit. This is a name of the Hindu god Shiva, given because of his abode in the Himalayan Mountains.
Glen m English
Variant of Glenn.
Glendower m Welsh
Anglicized form of Glyndwr.
Glenice f Welsh
Anglicized form of Glenys.
Glenn m English
From a Scottish surname that was derived from Gaelic gleann "valley". It was borne by the American actor Glenn Ford (1916-2006), whose birth name was Gwyllyn. A famous bearer of the surname was American astronaut John Glenn (1921-2016). The name peaked in popularity in 1962 when he became the first American to orbit the earth.... [more]
Glenna f English
Feminine form of Glenn.
Glennis f Welsh
Anglicized form of Glenys.
Glenys f Welsh
Probably an elaboration of the Welsh word glân "pure, clean, holy" or glyn "valley". This name was created in the late 19th century.
Glyn m Welsh
Means "valley" in Welsh.
Glyndwr m Welsh
Given in honour of Owain Glyndwr (or Glyn Dŵr, Anglicized as Glendower), a 14th-century Welsh patriot who led a revolt against England. His byname means "valley water", and was probably inspired by the name of his estate at Glyndyfrdwy (meaning "valley of the River Dee").
Glynis f Welsh
Variant of Glenys.
Goran m Croatian, Serbian, Slovene, Macedonian, Bulgarian
Derived from South Slavic gora meaning "mountain". It was popularized by the Croatian poet Ivan Goran Kovačić (1913-1943), who got his middle name because of the mountain town where he was born.
Goranka f Croatian, Serbian
Feminine form of Goran.
Gorica f Macedonian
Feminine form of Goran.
Gwalchmai m Welsh Mythology
Derived from Welsh gwalch "hawk", possibly combined with Mai "May (month)" or mai "field, plain". This is the name of a character in Welsh legend (appearing in Culhwch and Olwen for example). He is probably the antecedent of Gawain from later Arthurian romance.
Hallr m Old Norse
Derived from Old Norse hallr meaning "rock".
Haran m Biblical, Biblical Hebrew
Possibly means "hill, mountain" in Hebrew. This is the name of the brother of Abraham and father of Lot in the Old Testament.
Harel m Hebrew
Means "altar, mountain of God" in Hebrew. In the Hebrew Bible this word is applied to the altar in the temple in Jerusalem (Ezekiel 43:15).
Harkaitz m Basque
Variant of Arkaitz.
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.
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.
Hekla f Icelandic
From the name of an active Icelandic volcano, derived from Old Norse hekla meaning "cloak".
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.
Holger m Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, German, Carolingian Cycle
From the Old Norse name Hólmgeirr, derived from the elements holmr "small island" and geirr "spear". In Scandinavia and Germany this is the usual name for the hero Ogier the Dane from medieval French romance.
Hólmfríðr f Old Norse
Old Norse name derived from the elements holmr "small island" and fríðr "beautiful, beloved".
Hólmfríður f Icelandic
Icelandic form of Hólmfríðr.
Horymír m Czech
Possibly from the Slavic elements gora (Czech hora) meaning "mountain" and mirŭ meaning "peace, world". According to a Czech legend, Horymír was a man sentenced to death but saved by his horse.
Hruodnand m Germanic
From the Old German elements hruod meaning "fame" and nand meaning "brave". According to some theories, this was the original form of Roland.
Ibai m Basque
Means "river" in Basque.
Iona 1 f English, Scottish
From the name of the island off Scotland where Saint Columba founded a monastery. The name of the island is Old Norse in origin, and apparently derives simply from ey meaning "island".
Isla f Scottish, English
Variant of Islay, typically used as a feminine name. It also coincides with the Spanish word isla meaning "island".
Ithamar m Biblical, Biblical Latin, Biblical Greek
From the Hebrew name אִיתָמָר (ʾIṯamar) meaning "date palm island", derived from אִי (ʾi) meaning "island" and תָּמָר (tamar) meaning "date palm". This is the name of a son of Aaron in the Old Testament.
Jökull m Icelandic
Means "glacier, ice" in Icelandic.
Katar f Armenian
Means "summit, crest" in Armenian.
Kaya 1 m Turkish
Means "rock, cliff" in Turkish.
Kellen m English (Modern)
Possibly from a German surname, itself derived from Middle Low German kel "swampy area". This name began to be used in the United States in the early 1980s after the American football player Kellen Winslow (1957-) began his professional career.
Kelsey f & m English
From an English surname that is derived from town names in Lincolnshire. It may mean "Cenel's island", from the Old English name Cenel "fierce" in combination with eg "island".
Kendall m & f English
From an English surname that comes from the name of the city of Kendale in northwestern England meaning "valley on the river Kent". Originally mostly masculine, the name received a boost in popularity for girls in 1993 when the devious character Kendall Hart began appearing on the American soap opera All My Children.
Knox m English
From a Scots surname that was derived from various places named Knock, from Gaelic cnoc "round hill". It jumped in popularity after the actors Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt had a baby by this name in 2008.
Kohinoor f Various
From Koh-i-noor, the name of a famous gemstone, meaning "mountain of light" in Persian.
Kumsal f Turkish
Means "beach" in Turkish.
Kybele f Near Eastern Mythology (Hellenized)
Ancient Greek form of Cybele.
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.
Kyveli f Greek
Modern Greek form of Cybele.
Lambert m German, Dutch, French, English, Germanic
Derived from the Old German elements lant "land" and beraht "bright". Saint Lambert of Maastricht was a 7th-century bishop who was martyred after denouncing Pepin II for adultery. The name was also borne by a 9th-century king of Italy who was crowned Holy Roman Emperor.
Lando m Italian
Italian form of Lanzo (see Lance).
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).
Landulf m Germanic
Old German name derived from the elements lant meaning "land" and wolf meaning "wolf". This name was borne by several Lombard nobles.
Lanford m English (Rare)
From a surname that was derived from a place name meaning "long ford" in Old English.
Lanzo m Germanic
Old German form of Lance.
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).
Lindsay f & m English
From an English and Scottish surname that was originally derived from the name of the eastern English region of Lindsey, which means "Lincoln island" in Old English. As a given name it was typically masculine until the 1960s (in Britain) and 70s (in America) when it became popular for girls, probably due to its similarity to Linda and because of American actress Lindsay Wagner (1949-).
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]
Lorelei f Literature, English
From German Loreley, the name of a rock headland on the Rhine River. It is of uncertain meaning, though the second element is probably old German ley meaning "rock" (of Celtic origin). German romantic poets and songwriters, beginning with Clemens Brentano in 1801, tell that a maiden named the Lorelei lives on the rock and lures boaters to their death with her song.... [more]
Lyle m English
From an English surname that was derived from Norman French l'isle meaning "island".
Manannán m Irish Mythology
Probably from the name of the Isle of Man, itself possibly from the Celtic root *moniyo- meaning "mountain". In Irish mythology Manannán mac Lir was a god of the sea and one of the Tuatha Dé Danann.
Maquinna m Nuu-chah-nulth (Anglicized)
From Nuu-chah-nulth Mukwina, possibly meaning "possessor of pebbles". This was the name of a late 18th-century chief of the Mowachaht people.
Marwa f Arabic
From the Arabic name of a fragrant plant. Al-Marwa is the name of one of the two sacred hills near Mecca.
Monta f Latvian
Modern Latvian name, possibly from Latin mons "mountain".
Montague m English (Rare)
From an aristocratic English surname meaning "sharp mountain", from Old French mont agu. In Shakespeare's tragedy Romeo and Juliet (1596) this is the surname of Romeo and his family.
Montgomery m English
From an English surname meaning "Gumarich's mountain" in Norman French. A notable bearer of this surname was Bernard Montgomery (1887-1976), a British army commander during World War II.
Montse f Catalan
Short form of Montserrat.
Montserrat f Catalan
From the name of a mountain near Barcelona, the site of a monastery founded in the 10th century. The mountain gets its name from Latin mons serratus meaning "jagged mountain".
Moriah f English (Modern)
From Hebrew מֹרִיָה (Moriya) possibly meaning "seen by Yahweh". This is a place name in the Old Testament, both the land where Abraham is to sacrifice Isaac and the mountain upon which Solomon builds the temple. They may be the same place. Since the 1980s it has occasionally been used as a feminine given name in America.
Morley m English (Rare)
From a surname that was originally from an Old English place name meaning "marsh clearing".
Muir m Scottish
From a Scottish surname, derived from Scots muir meaning "moor, fen". This name could also be inspired by Scottish Gaelic muir meaning "sea".
Ninhursag f Sumerian Mythology
Means "lady of the mountain", from Sumerian 𒎏 (nin) meaning "lady" and 𒉺𒂅 (hursaĝ) meaning "mountain". This was the name of the Sumerian mother and fertility goddess, the primary consort of Enki.
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).
Orestes m Greek Mythology
Means "of the mountains", derived from Greek ὄρος (oros) meaning "mountain" and ἵστημι (histemi) meaning "to stand". In Greek myth he was the son of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra. He killed his mother and her lover Aegisthus after they killed his father.
Orlanda f Italian (Rare)
Feminine form of Orlando.
Orlando m Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Carolingian Cycle
Italian form of Roland, as used in the epic poems Orlando Innamorato (1483) by Matteo Maria Boiardo and the continuation Orlando Furioso (1532) by Ludovico Ariosto. In the poems, Orlando is a knight in Charlemagne's army who battles against the invading Saracens. A character in Shakespeare's play As You Like It (1599) also bears this name, as does a city in Florida.
Øyvind m Norwegian
From the Old Norse name Eyvindr, which was derived from ey meaning "island" or "good fortune" and vindr possibly meaning "victor".
Parvati f Hinduism, Hindi
Means "of the mountains", derived from Sanskrit पर्वत (parvata) meaning "mountain". Parvati is a Hindu goddess of love and power, the benign form of the wife of Shiva. A daughter of the mountain god Himavat, she was a reincarnation of Shiva's first wife Sati. She is the mother of Ganesha and Skanda.
Peleg m Biblical, Biblical Hebrew, Hebrew
Means "division, channel" in Hebrew. In the Old Testament he is a son of Eber.
Percival m Arthurian Cycle, English
Created by the 12th-century French poet Chrétien de Troyes for his poem Perceval, the Story of the Grail. Chrétien may have derived the name from Old French perce val "pierce the valley", or he may have based it loosely on the Welsh name Peredur. In the poem Perceval is a boy from Wales who hopes to become a knight under King Arthur. Setting out to prove himself, he eventually comes to the castle of the Fisher King and is given a glimpse of the Grail.
Perrine f French
French feminine form of Perrin, a diminutive of Pierre.
Pierre m French, Swedish
French form of Peter. This name has been consistently popular in France since the 13th century, but fell out of the top 100 names in 2017. It was borne by the philosopher and theologian Pierre Abélard (1079-1142), the scholar Pierre-Simon Laplace (1749-1827), the impressionist painter Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841-1919), and Pierre Curie (1859-1906), a physicist who discovered radioactivity with his wife Marie.
Pierrette f French
Feminine diminutive of Pierre.
Ramiro m Spanish, Portuguese
Spanish and Portuguese form of Ramirus, earlier Ranimirus, a Latinized form of a Visigothic name derived from the Gothic element rana "wedge" or perhaps ragin "law, decree, assessment, responsibility" combined with mers "famous". Saint Ramirus was a 6th-century prior of the Saint Claudius Monastery in León. He and several others were executed by the Arian Visigoths, who opposed orthodox Christianity. This name was subsequently borne by kings of León, Asturias and Aragon.
Ramsey m English
From an English and Scottish surname that was derived from a place name meaning "garlic island" in Old English.
Rhona f Scottish
Possibly derived from the name of either of the two Hebridean islands called Rona, which means "rough island" in Old Norse.
Rhonda f English
Probably a blend of the sounds of Rhoda and Linda, but maybe also influenced by the name of the Rhondda Valley in South Wales and/or the noted British feminist Margaret Mackworth, Viscountess Rhondda (1883-1956). This name has only been used since the beginning of the 20th century, at first rarely. It started becoming popular in the mid-1940s at the same time as the American actress Rhonda Fleming (1923-2020), born Marilyn Louis. It peaked in the United States in 1965 and thereafter declined.
Ridge m English (Modern)
From the English vocabulary word denoting a continuous elevated mountain crest, or from the English surname derived from the word.
Rigby m English (Rare)
From an English surname that was originally derived from a place name meaning "ridge farm" in Old Norse.
River m & f English (Modern)
From the English word that denotes a flowing body of water. The word is ultimately derived (via Old French) from Latin ripa "riverbank".
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).
Rodomonte m Carolingian Cycle
Used by Matteo Maria Boiardo for a Saracen warrior king in his epic poem Orlando Innamorato (1483). It could be related to Italian rotolare "to roll" and monte "mountain". He also appears in Ludovico Ariosto's continuation Orlando Furioso (1532).
Roland m English, French, German, Swedish, Dutch, Hungarian, Polish, Slovak, Albanian, Georgian, Carolingian Cycle
From the Old German elements hruod meaning "fame" and lant meaning "land", though some theories hold that the second element was originally nand meaning "brave".... [more]
Rolande f French
French feminine form of Roland.
Rolando m Spanish, Italian, Portuguese
Spanish, Italian and Portuguese form of Roland.
Roldán m Spanish
Spanish form of Roland.
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.
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".
Ruba f Arabic
Means "hill" in Arabic.
Ryland m English (Modern)
From an English surname, which was originally derived from a place name meaning "rye land" in Old English.
Sandford m English (Rare)
From a surname that was a variant of Sanford.
Sanford m English
From an English surname, originally from a place name, which meant "sand ford" in Old English.
Savannah f English
From the English word for the large grassy plain, ultimately deriving from the Taino (Native American) word zabana. It came into use as a given name in America in the 19th century. It was revived in the 1980s by the movie Savannah Smiles (1982).
Seeta f Hindi
Alternate transcription of Hindi सीता (see Sita).
Seetha f Tamil
Tamil form of Sita. The name of the mythological figures is சீதை, while சீதா is the spelling used for people.
Shailaja f Hinduism, Telugu
Means "daughter of the mountain" in Sanskrit, from शैल (śaila) meaning "mountain" and ज (ja) meaning "born". This is another name of the Hindu goddess Parvati.
Shekhar m Hindi, Marathi, Punjabi, Gujarati
From Sanskrit शेखर (śekhara) meaning "crest, crown, peak".
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.
Shinta f Javanese
Variant of Sinta.
Sinta f Indonesian, Javanese
Javanese and Indonesian and Javanese form of Sita.
Síomha f Irish (Rare)
Modern Irish form of Síthmaith.
Sita f Hinduism, Hindi, Nepali
Means "furrow" in Sanskrit. Sita is the name of the Hindu goddess of the harvest in the Rigveda. This is also the name of the wife of Rama (and an avatar of Lakshmi) in the Hindu epic the Ramayana. In this story Sita is abducted by the demon king Ravana, with her husband and his allies attempting to rescue her.
Síthmaith f Old Irish
From Old Irish síd meaning "peace" or "fairy mound, tumulus" and maith meaning "good".
Siti f Malay, Indonesian
Malay form of Sita.
Sitti f Maguindanao, Tausug, Malay, Indonesian
Maguindanao and Tausug form of Siti, as well as a Malay and Indonesian variant.
Skye f English (Modern)
From the name of the Isle of Skye off the west coast of Scotland. It is sometimes considered a variant of Sky.
Slade m English (Modern)
From an English surname that was derived from Old English slæd meaning "valley".
Sơn m Vietnamese
From Sino-Vietnamese 山 (sơn) meaning "mountain".
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".
Talmai m Biblical, Biblical Hebrew
Means "furrowed" in Hebrew. In the Old Testament this name is borne by both a giant and also the father of King David's wife Maacah.
Tenley f English (Modern)
From an English surname, itself possibly from a place name derived from Old English tind "point" and leah "woodland, clearing". This name was popularized in 2010 by a contestant on the reality television series The Bachelor.
Trinidad f & m Spanish
Means "trinity" in Spanish, referring to the Holy Trinity. An island in the West Indies bears this name.
Ùisdean m Scottish Gaelic
Scottish Gaelic form of the Old Norse name Eysteinn.
Ujarak m & f Greenlandic
Means "stone" in Greenlandic.
Ujaraq m Inuit
Means "stone" in Inuktitut.
Ural m Bashkir, Turkish
From the name of the Ural Mountains, of uncertain meaning, possibly from Turkic aral meaning "island, boundary". This is the name of the title character in the Bashkir epic Ural-batyr.
Vale f English (Rare)
From the English word meaning "wide river valley".
Volkan m Turkish
Means "volcano" in Turkish.
Wardell m English
From a surname that was derived from a place name meaning "watch hill" in Old English.
Weldon m English
From an English surname that was derived from a place name meaning "hill near a spring" 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).
Wigstan m Anglo-Saxon
Old English form of Wystan.
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).
Yalçın m Turkish
Means "steep" in Turkish.
Yale m English (Rare)
From a Welsh surname, which was itself derived from a place name meaning "fertile upland" (from Welsh ial).
Yamaç m Turkish
Means "mountainside, slope" in Turkish.
Yamato m Japanese
From Yamato, an ancient name for Japan. It can also refer to the Yamato period in Japanese history, which lasted into the 8th century. The individual kanji are 大 meaning "great" and 和 meaning "harmony".
Yan 2 f & m Chinese
From Chinese 艳 (yàn) meaning "beautiful, gorgeous" (which is usually only feminine) or 岩 (yán) meaning "cliff, rocks", as well as other Chinese characters pronounced in a similar fashion.
Zola 1 f English
Meaning unknown, perhaps an invented name. It has been in occasional use in the English-speaking world since the 19th century. It coincides with an Italian surname, a famous bearer being the French-Italian author Émile Zola (1840-1902).
Zuriel m Biblical
Means "my rock is God" in Hebrew, derived from צוּר (tsur) meaning "rock" and אֵל (ʾel) meaning "God". In the Old Testament this name is borne by a chief of the Merarite Levites at the time of the Exodus.