Names Categorized "poems" - Behind the Name

Aisling f Irish
Means "dream" or "vision" in Irish. This name was created in the 20th century.

Alba 1 f Italian, Spanish, Catalan
This name is derived from two distinct names, Alba 2 and Alba 3, with distinct origins, Latin and Germanic. Over time these names have become confused with one another. To further complicate the matter, alba means "dawn" in Italian, Spanish and Catalan. This may be the main inspiration behind its use in Italy and Spain.

Amaryllis f Literature
Derived from Greek ἀμαρύσσω (amarysso) meaning "to sparkle". This is the name of a character appearing in Virgil's pastoral poems Eclogues. The amaryllis flower is named for her.

Armida f Italian, Spanish (Latin American)
Probably created by the 16th-century Italian poet Torquato Tasso for his epic poem Jerusalem Delivered (1580). In the poem Armida is a beautiful enchantress who bewitches many of the crusaders.

Briana f English
Feminine form of Brian. It appears in Edmund Spenser's epic poem The Faerie Queene (1590). The name was not commonly used until the 1970s, when it rapidly became popular in the United States.

Enid f Welsh, English, Arthurian Cycle
Probably derived from Welsh enaid meaning "soul, spirit, life". In Arthurian tales she first appears in the 12th-century French poem Erec and Enide by Chrétien de Troyes, where she is the wife of Erec. In later adaptations she is typically the wife of Geraint. The name became more commonly used after the publication of Alfred Tennyson's Arthurian poem Enid in 1859, and it was fairly popular in Britain in the first half of the 20th century.

Evangeline f English
Means "good news" from Greek εὖ (eu) meaning "good" and ἄγγελμα (angelma) meaning "news, message". It was (first?) used by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow in his 1847 epic poem Evangeline. It also appears in Harriet Beecher Stowe's novel Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852) as the full name of the character Eva.

Gwenddydd f Welsh Mythology
Derived from Welsh gwen meaning "white, blessed" and dydd meaning "day". In medieval Welsh tales this is the name of Myrddin's sister. Geoffrey of Monmouth calls her Ganieda and also makes her the wife of Rhydderch Hael.

Lalla f Literature
Derived from Persian لاله (lāleh) meaning "tulip". This was the name of the heroine of Thomas Moore's poem Lalla Rookh (1817). In the poem, Lalla, the daughter of the emperor of Delhi, listens to a poet sing four tales.

Moema f Portuguese (Brazilian, Rare)
Means "lies" in Tupí. This name appears in the poem Caramuru (1781) by the Brazilian poet Santa Rita Durão.

Qays m Arabic
Means "measurement" in Arabic. This was the real name of Majnun, the lover of Layla, in Nizami Ganjavi's 12th-century poem Layla and Majnun.

Tariel m Literature, Georgian
Created by the Georgian poet Shota Rustaveli for his 12th-century epic The Knight in the Panther's Skin. He may have based it on Persian تاجور (tājvar) meaning "king" or تار (tār) meaning "dark, obscure" combined with یل (yal) meaning "hero". In the poem Tariel, the titular knight who wears a panther skin, is an Indian prince who becomes a companion of Avtandil.

Wolfdietrich m Literature, German (Rare)
Compound of Wolf and Dietrich. Wolfdietrich is the title hero of a 13th-century Middle High German epic poem. By some traditions he is the grandfather of the more famous hero Dietrich von Bern.

Zuleika f Literature
Meaning uncertain, possibly of Arabic origin. According to medieval tradition, notably related by the 15th-century Persian poet Jami, this was the name of the biblical Potiphar's wife. She has been a frequent subject of poems and tales.

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