Ailbhe f & m Irish, Irish MythologyFrom Old Irish
Ailbe, possibly derived from the 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 male saint, the founder of a monastery at Emly.
Barbara f English, Italian, French, German, Polish, Hungarian, Slovene, Croatian, Dutch, Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, Late RomanDerived from Greek
βάρβαρος (barbaros) meaning
"foreign, non-Greek". According to legend, Saint Barbara was a young woman killed by her father Dioscorus, who was then killed by a bolt of lightning. She is the patron of architects, geologists, stonemasons and artillerymen. Because of her renown, the name came into general use in the Christian world in the Middle Ages. In England it became rare after the Protestant Reformation, but it was revived in the 19th century.
Cephas m Biblical, Biblical LatinMeans
"rock" in Aramaic. The apostle
Simon was called Cephas by
Jesus because he was to be the rock upon which the Christian church was to be built. In most versions of the New Testament
Cephas is translated into Greek
Πέτρος (Petros) (in English
Peter).
Chantal f French, English, DutchFrom a French surname that was derived from a place name meaning
"stony". It was originally given in honour of Saint Jeanne-Françoise de Chantal, the founder of the Visitation Order in the 17th century. It has become associated with French
chant "song".
Ebenezer m Literature, EnglishFrom the name of a monument erected by
Samuel in the Old Testament, from Hebrew
אֶבֶן הָעָזֶר (ʾEven Haʿazer) meaning
"stone of help". Charles Dickens used it for the miserly character Ebenezer Scrooge in his novel
A Christmas Carol (1843). Currently the name is most common in parts of English-influenced Africa, such as Ghana.
Flint m EnglishFrom the English vocabulary word, from Old English
flint.
Graham m Scottish, EnglishFrom 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] Granit m AlbanianMeans
"granite" in Albanian, from Italian
granito, ultimately derived from Latin
granum meaning "grain".
Haldor m NorwegianFrom the Old Norse name
Hallþórr, which meant
"Thor's rock" from
hallr "rock" combined with the name of the Norse god
Þórr (see
Thor).
Hermes m Greek Mythology, Ancient Greek, SpanishProbably from Greek
ἕρμα (herma) meaning
"cairn, pile of stones, boundary marker". Hermes was a Greek god associated with speed and good luck, who served as a messenger to
Zeus and the other gods. He was also the patron of travellers, writers, athletes, merchants, thieves and orators.
... [more] Hermia f LiteratureFeminine form of
Hermes. Shakespeare used this name in his comedy
A Midsummer Night's Dream (1595).
Kamen m BulgarianMeans
"stone" in Bulgarian. This is a translation of the Greek name
Πέτρος (Petros).
Lei 2 m & f ChineseFrom Chinese
磊 (lěi) meaning "pile of stones" (which is typically masculine) or
蕾 (lěi) meaning "bud" (typically feminine). Other characters can also form this name.
Licarayen f MapucheMeans
"stone flower" in Mapuche, from
likan "a type of black stone" and
rayen "flower". According to a Mapuche legend this was the name of a maiden who sacrificed herself in order to stop the wrath of the evil spirit of a volcano.
Mason m EnglishFrom an English surname (or vocabulary word) meaning
"stoneworker", derived from an Old French word of Frankish origin (akin to Old English
macian "to make"). In the United States this name began to increase in popularity in the 1980s, likely because of its fashionable sound. It jumped in popularity after 2009 when Kourtney Kardashian and Scott Disick gave it to their son, as featured on their reality show
Keeping Up with the Kardashians in 2010. It peaked as the second most popular name for boys in 2011.
Medusa f Greek Mythology (Latinized)From the Greek
Μέδουσα (Medousa), which was derived from
μέδω (medo) meaning
"to protect, to rule over". In Greek myth this was the name of one of the three Gorgons, ugly women who had snakes for hair. She was so hideous that anyone who gazed upon her was turned to stone, so the hero
Perseus had to look using the reflection in his shield in order to slay her.
Niobe f Greek MythologyMeaning unknown. In Greek mythology Niobe was the daughter of Tantalos, a king of Asia Minor. Because she boasted that she was superior to
Leto, Leto's children
Apollo and
Artemis killed her 14 children with poison arrows. In grief, Niobe was turned to stone by
Zeus.
Obelix m Popular CultureThe name of a character in the
Asterix series of comic books. A friend of the main character
Asterix, Obelix is a heavyset and immensely strong carver of menhirs. His name (
Obélix in the original French) is a pun on the French word
obélisque meaning
"obelisk, stone monument" using the ending
-ix common to the Gauls in the series.
Pedro m Spanish, PortugueseSpanish and Portuguese form of
Peter. This was the name of the only two emperors of Brazil, reigning between 1822 and 1889.
Peter m English, German, Dutch, Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, Slovene, Slovak, BiblicalDerived from Greek
Πέτρος (Petros) meaning
"stone". This is a translation used in most versions of the New Testament of the name
Cephas, meaning "stone" in Aramaic, which was given to the apostle
Simon by
Jesus (compare
Matthew 16:18 and
John 1:42). Simon Peter was the most prominent of the apostles during Jesus' ministry and is often considered the first pope.
... [more] Petra f German, Dutch, Spanish, Czech, Slovak, Slovene, Croatian, Bulgarian, Hungarian, Swedish, Finnish, EnglishFeminine form of
Peter. This was also the name of an ancient city in the region that is now Jordan.
Piero m ItalianItalian form of
Peter. Piero della Francesca was an Italian Renaissance painter.
Pierre m French, SwedishFrench 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.
Pietro m ItalianItalian form of
Peter. Pietro was the given name of the Renaissance painter known as Perugino.
Rizpah f BiblicalMeans
"coal, hot stone" in Hebrew. According to the Old Testament Rizpah was one of
Saul's concubines. After her sons were put to death by the Gibeonites, she guarded the displayed bodies for five months to prevent animals from eating them.
Sakhr m ArabicMeans
"solid rock" in Arabic. This name appears in the poems of the 7th-century poetess Al-Khansa.
Sela f English (Rare)From the name of a city, the capital of Edom, which appears in the Old Testament. It means "rock" in Hebrew.
Seok m KoreanFrom Sino-Korean
石 (seok) meaning "stone" or
錫 (seok) meaning "tin", as well as other characters that are pronounced the same way. Although it does appear rarely as a single-character name, it is more often used in combination with another character.
Shi m & f ChineseFrom Chinese
时 (shí) meaning "time, era, season",
实 (shí) meaning "real, honest",
史 (shǐ) meaning "history" or
石 (shí) meaning "stone". Other characters can form this name as well.
Stan 1 m EnglishShort form of
Stanley. A famous bearer was British comedian Stan Laurel (1890-1965).
Stanford m EnglishFrom a surname that was derived from a place name meaning
"stone ford" in Old English.
Stanley m EnglishFrom an English surname meaning
"stone clearing" (Old English
stan "stone" and
leah "woodland, clearing"). A notable bearer of the surname was the British-American explorer and journalist Henry Morton Stanley (1841-1904), the man who found David Livingstone in Africa. As a given name, it was borne by American director Stanley Kubrick (1928-1999), as well as the character Stanley Kowalski in Tennessee Williams' play
A Streetcar Named Desire (1947).
Suk m KoreanAlternate transcription of Korean Hangul
석 (see
Seok).
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).
Zuriel m BiblicalMeans
"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.