Francesca's Personal Name List

Derived from Basque zuri "white". This is a Basque equivalent of Blanca.

Diminutive of Zofia.

Apparently either means "watchman of God" or "rock of God" in Hebrew. It could also be a variant of Jophiel, since the angel Jophiel is also regularly called Zophiel in various sources. This was also the name of an angel in Milton's epic "Paradise Lost."

Modern Greek transcription of Zenobia.

From the name of the flower, which was itself named for the German botanist Johann Zinn.

Probably means "my music" in Hebrew, a possessive form of זִמְרָה (zimra) meaning "music, song". This was the name of a king of Israel according to the Old Testament. He ruled for only seven days, when he was succeeded by the commander of the army Omri. Another Zimri in the Old Testament was the lover of the Midianite woman Cozbi.

From the Greek Ζέφυρος (Zephyros) meaning "west wind". Zephyros was the Greek god of the west wind.

Diminutive of Kreszenz.

From the Greek name Ζήνων (Zenon), which was derived from the name of the Greek god Zeus (the poetic form of his name being Ζήν). Zeno was the name of two famous Greek philosophers: Zeno of Elea and Zeno of Citium, the founder of the Stoic school in Athens.

Meaning uncertain. It is possibly related to Arabic زين (zayn) meaning "beauty"; it could be from the name of a fragrant flowering tree; or it could be an Arabic form of Zenobia, a name borne by a pre-Islamic queen of Palmyra. Zaynab was the name of a daughter, a granddaughter, and two wives of the Prophet Muhammad.

Feminine form of Zayn.

Alternate transcription of Arabic زكيّة (see Zakiyya).

Alternate transcription of Arabic زهرة (see Zahra 2).

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.

See also the related name Zahra 2.

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.

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).

From an English surname that was originally derived from a place name meaning "row of houses by a wood" in Old English. It was borne by the American president Woodrow Wilson (1856-1924), who was given his mother's maiden name as his middle name (his first name was Thomas). During his candidacy and presidency (1912-1921) the name became popular, reaching the 44th rank in 1913, though it quickly declined after that.

Polish form of Vitus.

Simply from the English word, a derivative of Old English wis "wise".

Means "firstborn daughter" in Dakota or Lakota. According to folklore, this was the name of a daughter of a Dakota chief (possibly Wapasha III) who leapt from a cliff to her death rather than marry a man she hated. Numerous places in the United States have been named after her. The actress Winona Ryder (1971-) was named after the city in Minnesota where she was born.

Old English form of Wystan.

Transferred use of the surname Vox.

Estonian form of Waldemar and Woldemar.

Roman name that was derived from Latin vita "life". Saint Vitus was a child martyred in Sicily in the early 4th century. From an early date this name was confused with the Germanic name Wido.

Feminine form of Vitale.

Form of Violet in several languages.

Earlier form of Beatrix.

Means "king over warriors" from Gaulish wer "on, over" combined with kingeto "marching men, warriors" and rix "king". This name was borne by a 1st-century BC chieftain of the Gaulish tribe the Arverni. He led the resistance against Julius Caesar's attempts to conquer Gaul, but he was eventually defeated, brought to Rome, and executed.

From a diminutive form of the Estonian word veli meaning "brother".

Estonian form of Veikko.

From the medieval Spanish name Velasco, which possibly meant "crow" in Basque. A famous bearer was the Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama (c. 1460-1524), the first person to sail from Europe around Africa to India.

Means "valuable" in Esperanto.

Swedish and Norwegian variant of Tove.

Means "wind" in Finnish and Estonian.

Means "fairy" in Hungarian.

Latin form of Tullio.

Means "ruler of the people", from Old Irish túath "people, country" and fal "rule". This was the name of a few Irish kings, including the legendary Túathal Techtmar.

From Japanese 翼 (tsubasa) meaning "wing", as well as other kanji or kanji combinations with the same pronunciation.

From a surname that was derived from a Cornish place name meaning "homestead on the hill".

Variant and feminine form of Torin.

From the Old Norse name Þórleifr, derived from the name of the Norse god Þórr (see Thor) combined with leif "inheritance, legacy".

Meaning unknown. It has been suggested that it is of Irish origin, though no suitable derivation can be found.

Norwegian form of Torbjörn.

From the Japanese kanji 寅 (tora) meaning "Tiger (zodiac sign)" or 虎 (tora) meaning "tiger" combined with 之 (no), a possessive, and 助 (suke) meaning "assistente" or 介 (suke) meaning "concern oneself with; mediate".

Other kanji combinations are possible.

Estonian form of Thomas.

Variant of Toni 1 and Toni 2, which are short forms of Anton and Antonia respectively. (As a Scandinavian feminine name, Toni could also be a variant of Tone 2.) Notable bearers of this name include Angolan-Dutch soccer player Tonny Vilhena (1995-) and Danish entrepreneur Tonny Sorenson (1964-). A fictional bearer is the title character of the 1962 Norwegian film Tonny.

Means "hope" in Finnish.

From an English surname meaning "fox", derived from Middle English todde. As a given name it was rare before 1930. It peaked in popularity in most parts of the English-speaking world in the 1960s or 70s, but it has since declined.

Latinized form of the Greek name Τίμαιος (Timaios), derived from τιμάω (timao) meaning "to honour". This is the name of one of Plato's dialogues, featuring Timaeus and Socrates. Timaeus is also the name of a person mentioned briefly in the New Testament (Mark 10:46).

From Tielo, a medieval Low German diminutive of Dietrich and other names beginning with Old High German diota or Old Frankish þeoda meaning "people". Till Eulenspiegel is a trickster in German folklore.

Estonian variant of Tiia, possibly in part from an archaic dialectal form of the word tihane "titmouse".

Anglicized form of Tadhg.

From tiger lily, a name that has been applied to several orange varieties of lily (such as the species Lilium lancifolium). Tiger Lily is also the name of the Native American princess in J. M. Barrie's play Peter Pan (1904).

From Akkadian tâmtu meaning "sea". In Babylonian myth Tiamat was the personification of the sea, appearing in the form of a huge dragon. By Apsu she gave birth to the first of the gods. Later, the god Marduk (her great-grandson) defeated her, cut her in half, and used the pieces of her body to make the earth and the sky.

Variant of Tiago.

Old German form of Theodoric.

Limburgish short form of Theodoor.

From the English word thankful. This was one of the many virtue names used by the Puritans in the 17th century.

From the Scottish and English noble title, which was originally from Old English thegn.

From an English surname that was derived from the medieval name Thierry, a Norman French form of Theodoric.

From Tibetan བསྟན་འཛིན (bstan-'dzin) meaning "upholder of teachings". This is one of the given names of the current Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso (1935-).

Diminutive of Terezija.

Finnish short form of Dorothea.

From Tarquinius, a Roman name of unknown meaning, possibly Etruscan in origin. This was the name of two early kings of Rome.

Anglicized form of the Irish place name Teamhair, which possibly means "elevated place". This was the name of the sacred hill near Dublin where the Irish high kings resided. It was popularized as a given name by the novel Gone with the Wind (1936) and the subsequent movie adaptation (1939), in which it is the name of the O'Hara plantation.

From the name of the flower, which is derived via Old French from Late Latin tanacita.

Meaning unknown. This was the name of the Phoenician goddess of love, fertility, the moon and the stars. She was particularly associated with the city of Carthage, being the consort of Ba'al Hammon.

Derived from Estonian talv meaning "winter".

Alternate transcription of Armenian Թալին (see Talin).

Means "shining brow", derived from Welsh tal "brow, head" and iesin "shining, radiant". This was the name of a semi-legendary 6th-century Welsh poet and bard, supposedly the author of the collection of poems the Book of Taliesin. He appears briefly in the Welsh legend Culhwch and Olwen and the Second Branch of the Mabinogi. He is the central character in the Tale of Taliesin, a medieval legend recorded in the 16th century, which tells how Ceridwen's servant Gwion Bach was reborn to her as Taliesin; how he becomes the bard for Elffin; and how Taliesin defends Elffin from the machinations of the king Maelgwn Gwynedd.

Means "my dew" in Hebrew.

Means "crown" in Arabic.

From Finnish taimi meaning "sapling, young tree" or Estonian taim meaning "plant" (words from a common origin).

Estonian and Finnish form of David.

Norwegian variant of Sunniva.

From the Old English name Swiðhun or Swiþhun, derived from swiþ "strong" and perhaps hun "bear cub". Saint Swithin was a 9th-century bishop of Winchester.

From the Old Norse name Sverrir meaning "wild, swinging, spinning".

From a personification of the country of Sweden, in use since the 17th century. It is a derivative of Svear, the Swedish name for the North Germanic tribe the Swedes. The Swedish name of the country of Sweden is Sverige, a newer form of Svear rike meaning "the realm of the Svear".

Alternate transcription of Arabic ثريّا or ثريّة (see Thurayya), as well as the usual Malay form.

From Middle English storie, storye, from Anglo-Norman estorie, from Late Latin storia meaning "history."

Feminine form of Sophronius. Torquato Tasso used it in his epic poem Jerusalem Delivered (1580), in which it is borne by the lover of Olindo.

Diminutive of Italian sonetto - song, sound; little song. Also the term for a short lyric poem, usually with eight line stanzas, followed by six line
stanzas.

The sonnets of William Shakespeare, on the other hand, are typically three Sicilian quatrains, followed by an heroic couplet.

Variant of Summer, coinciding with the German word for summer.

Anglicized form of the Old Norse name Sumarliði meaning "summer traveller". This was the name of a 12th-century Norse-Gaelic king of Mann and the Scottish Isles.

From an Old Norse name, which was derived from the elements sól "sun" and veig "strength". This is the name of the heroine in Henrik Ibsen's play Peer Gynt (1876).

Latin form of Solange.

From an Irish surname, an Anglicized form of Ó Sluaghadháin, itself derived from the given name Sluaghadhán.

From an English surname that was derived from Old English slæd meaning "valley".

From the Old Norse name Sigsteinn, which was derived from the elements sigr "victory" and steinn "stone".

From Old Norse Sif, which meant "bride, kinswoman". In Norse mythology she was the wife of Thor. After the trickster Loki cut off her golden hair, an angry Thor forced him to create a replacement.

Possibly from Estonian sinisirje meaning "blue-feathered", a word associated with a magical bird in the Estonian national epic Kalevipoeg (1857) by Friedrich Reinhold Kreutzwald. Apparently this name was suggested by the linguist Julius Mägiste in the 1920s. It was subsequently used in the 1945 opera Tasuleegid by Eugen Kapp.

Norwegian form of Sindri.

German transliteration of Belarusian Зінаіда and Ukrainian Зінаїда (see Zinaida).

Norwegian and Danish diminutive of Cecilia.

Urdu and Pashto form of Alexander.

From the Old Norse name Sigurðr, which was derived from the elements sigr "victory" and vǫrðr "guard, guardian". Sigurd was the hero of the Norse epic the Völsungasaga, which tells how his foster father Regin sent him to recover a hoard of gold guarded by the dragon Fafnir. After slaying the dragon Sigurd tasted some of its blood, enabling him to understand the language of birds, who told him that Regin was planning to betray him. In a later adventure, Sigurd disguised himself as Gunnar (his wife Gudrun's brother) and rescued the maiden Brynhildr from a ring of fire, with the result that Gunnar and Brynhildr were married. When the truth eventually came out, Brynhildr took revenge upon Sigurd. The stories of the German hero Siegfried were in part based on him.

Means "sweet" in Persian. This was the name of a character in Persian and Turkish legend.

Probably inspired by the French word chérie meaning "darling" or the English word sherry, a type of fortified wine named from the Spanish town of Jerez. This name came into popular use during the 1920s, inspired by other similar-sounding names and by Collette's novels Chéri (1920, English translation 1929) and The Last of Chéri (1926, English translation 1932), in which it is a masculine name.

This also coincides with an Irish surname (an Anglicized form of Irish Gaelic Mac Searraigh), derived from the byname Searrach meaning "foal".

Anglicized form of Sìne. This name was popularized outside of Scotland in the 1980s by the singer Sheena Easton (1959-).

Means "love, infatuation" in Turkish and Azerbaijani, ultimately from Arabic سوداء (sawdāʾ) meaning "black bile, melancholy, sadness" [1].

Polish form of Seraphinus (see Seraphina).

Finnish form of Xenia.

From a Roman cognomen derived from Latin senectus meaning "old". This was the name of both a Roman orator (born in Spain) and also of his son, a philosopher and statesman.

This name also coincides with that of the Seneca, a Native American tribe that lived near the Great Lakes, whose name meant "place of stones".

Yiddish form of Alexander.

Anglicized form of Senán.

Form of Shem used in the Greek and Latin Bibles.

From a surname that was derived from a place name meaning "town in the rushes" in Old English.

French form of Scholastica. It is more common in French-speaking Africa than France.

Meaning uncertain, possibly a derivative of Mapuche ayün "love".

Alternate transcription of Russian Савелий (see Saveliy).

From the name of the gemstone, typically blue, which is the traditional birthstone of September. It is derived from Greek σάπφειρος (sappheiros), ultimately from the Hebrew word סַפִּיר (sappir).

Possibly derived from the name of the city of Samarra (in Iraq) or Samara (in Russia). The former appears in the title of the novel Appointment in Samarra (1934) by John O'Hara, which refers to an ancient Babylonian legend about a man trying to evade death. Alternatively, this name could be derived from the word for the winged seeds that grow on trees such as maples and elms.

The name received a boost in popularity after it was borne by the antagonist in the horror movie The Ring (2002).

From the English word sage, which denotes either a type of spice or else a wise person.

From Old Norse Sága, possibly meaning "seeing one", derived from sjá "to see". This is the name of a Norse goddess, possibly connected to Frigg. As a Swedish and Icelandic name, it is also derived from the unrelated word saga "story, fairy tale, saga".

Portuguese form of Sapphira. It coincides with the Portuguese word for "sapphire".

From Japanese kanji 幸 (sachi) meaning "happiness; good luck".

African, Islamic name for boys meaning patient, sharp and enduring.

From the English word meaning "black", derived from the name of the black-furred mammal native to northern Asia, ultimately of Slavic origin.

French, German, Dutch and Danish form of Sabina.

Alternate transcription of Japanese Kanji 竜之介 or 龍之介 or 隆之介 (see Ryūnosuke).

Feminine form of Rune.

Diminutive of Rudolf.

Scottish Gaelic form of Ruaidhrí.

Late Latin name derived from rosa "rose". This was the name of a 12th-century Sicilian saint.

Diminutive of Roman.

Means "my shepherd" in Hebrew.

Derived from Sanskrit रोहण (rohaṇa) meaning "ascension".

Means "dew" in Spanish. It is taken from the title of the Virgin Mary María del Rocío meaning "Mary of the Dew".

Feminine variant of Robin.

From an Irish surname (Anglicized from Irish Gaelic Ó Ríoghbhárdáin), which was derived from the given name Rígbarddán.

Possibly a derivative of Welsh rhyd meaning "ford". Saint Rhydian or Rhidian was a companion of Saint Illtyd.

Feminine form of Raviv.

Means "friend of God" in Hebrew, from רֵעַ (reaʿ) meaning "friend" and אֵל (ʾel) meaning "God". In the Old Testament this is another name for Jethro. The fantasy author John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (1892-1973) was a famous bearer.

Latin form of Rémy.

Finnish form of Gregory.

Old German form of Rein.

Puritanical name.

Means "flower" in Mapuche.

Means "sun" in Sanskrit. Ravi is a Hindu god of the sun, sometimes equated with Surya. A famous bearer was the musician Ravi Shankar (1920-2012).

Scandinavian, Finnish and Estonian form of Erasmus.

Spanish form of Raymond.

Means "success, prosperity" in Sanskrit. This was the name of the favourite consort of the Hindu deity Krishna. She is associated with beauty and compassion, and is considered an avatar of Lakshmi.

From Egyptian rꜥ meaning "sun" or "day". Ra was an important Egyptian sun god originally worshipped in Heliopolis in Lower Egypt. He was usually depicted as a man with the head of a falcon crowned with a solar disc. In later times his attributes were often merged with those of other deities, such as Amon, Atum and Horus.

A noun-name. The prinias are a genus of small birds belonging to the passerine bird family Cisticolidae. They are often also alternatively classed in the Old World warbler family, Sylviidae. The name of the genus is derived from the Javanese prinya, the local name for the bar-winged prinia. This word has only recently come into use as a name.

From a Welsh surname that was derived from ap Rhys meaning "son of Rhys".

From the Greek Πρίαμος (Priamos), possibly meaning "redeemed". In Greek legend Priam was the king of Troy during the Trojan War and the father of many children including Hector and Paris.

From Sanskrit प्रेम (prema) meaning "love, affection".

From the English word for a flat treeless grassland, taken from French prairie "meadow". This was used by Thomas Pynchon for a character in his novel 'Vineland' (1990).

Variant form of Pomelline. This name is best known for being one of the middle names of Charlotte Casiraghi (b. 1986), who is the daughter of Princess Caroline of Hanover (formerly of Monaco). She was given this middle name in honour of her ancestor Pomellina Fregoso (c. 1387-1468), a Genovese noblewoman who was the wife of Jean I of Monaco (c. 1382-1454). Her name had been gallicized to Pomelline in Monaco, as it was (and still is) predominantly a French-speaking country.

From the medieval name Plaisance, which meant "pleasant" in Old French.

Dutch form of Petronella.

Breton diminutive of Pierre.

From an English surname that was derived from the given name Piers. In America this name slowly started to grow in popularity in 1982 when actor Pierce Brosnan (1953-) began starring on the television series Remington Steele.

Means "affectionate" in Greek, a derivative of φίλημα (philema) meaning "kiss". Philemon was the recipient of one of Paul's epistles in the New Testament.

Meaning unknown, created in the 20th century. The name is borne by the British singer Petula Clark (1932-), whose name was invented by her father.

Latin form of Peter. As a Dutch name, it is used on birth certificates though a vernacular form such as Pieter is typically used in daily life.

Romanian and Corsican form of Peter.

Ukrainian and Esperanto form of Peter.

Maori form of Peter.

From the English word patience, ultimately from Latin patientia, a derivative of pati "to suffer". This was one of the virtue names coined by the Puritans in the 17th century. It is now most commonly used in African countries where English is widely understood, such as Nigeria and Ghana.

From the Late Latin name Paschalis, which meant "relating to Easter" from Latin Pascha "Easter", which was in turn from Hebrew פֶּסַח (pesaḥ) meaning "Passover" [1]. Passover is the ancient Hebrew holiday celebrating the liberation from Egypt. Because it coincided closely with the later Christian holiday of Easter, the same Latin word was used for both. The name Pascal can also function as a surname, as in the case of Blaise Pascal (1623-1662), the French philosopher, mathematician and inventor.

Means "like a fairy" in Persian, derived from پری (parī) meaning "fairy, sprite, supernatural being".

Romanian form of Ovidius (see Ovid). In the 1st century the Roman poet Ovid was exiled to the city of Tomis, now Constanța in Romania.

From the Roman family name Ovidius, which was possibly derived from Latin ovis "a sheep". Alternatively, it could have a Sabellic origin. Publius Ovidius Naso, better known as Ovid, was a 1st-century BC Roman poet who is best known as the author of the Metamorphoses. He was sent into exile on the coast of the Black Sea by Emperor Augustus for no apparent reason.

Perhaps a diminutive of Otho. William Shakespeare used this name in his tragedy Othello (1603), where it belongs to a Moor who is manipulated by Iago into killing his wife Desdemona.

Greek form of the Egyptian wsjr (reconstructed as Asar, Usir and other forms), which is of unknown meaning, possibly related to wsr "mighty" or jrt "eye". In Egyptian mythology Osiris was the god of fertility, agriculture, and the dead and served as the judge of the underworld. In one tale he was slain by his brother Seth, but restored to life by his wife Isis in order to conceive their son Horus, who would go on to avenge his father.

Diminutive of Opal.

Means "happiness, luck" in Finnish.

Polish form of Oliver.

Icelandic form of Olaf.

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".

Form of Odilia.

Derived from obsidian, the English name for a specific type of volcanic glass. The name is ultimately derived from Latin obsidianus meaning "of Obsidius", after the Roman (also called Obsius in some instances) who supposedly was the first to discover this type of volcanic glass. The name Obsidius is possibly a corruption of Opsidius, which is apparently a very obscure Roman nomen gentile.** Etymologically, Opsidius may be a more elaborate form of Opsius. It could also be Oscan in origin, in which case it may have been derived from Oscan úpsed meaning "worked, laboured" (which would thus make the name related to Oppius). Last but not least, if the discoverer's name was Obsius rather than Obsidius, then his name was probably a corruption of Opsius. In either case the etymology is very similar. Finally, in popular culture, Obsidian is the name of a character in the "Transformers" franchise as well as a character in a comic published by DC Comics.

** Please see page 638 of the book "The Italic Dialects" written by Robert Seymour Conway.

Derived from Latin novus meaning "new". It was first used as a name in the 19th century.

Variant transliteration of نورية (see Nouria).

From the Breton phrase Noyal Gwenn meaning "holy one from Noyal". This was the epithet of a 6th-century saint and martyr from Brittany.

Meaning uncertain, possibly a feminine form of Noll inspired by Lola. It has been most common in Australia and New Zealand, especially in the first half of the 20th century.

French form of Naomi 1.

Means "heavenly mist" from Hawaiian noe "mist" and lani "heaven, sky, royal, majesty".

Means "pleasantness" in Hebrew. A famous bearer is Noam Chomsky (1928-), an American linguist and philosopher.

Meaning unknown. In Arthurian legends this is the name of a sorceress, also known as the Lady of the Lake, Vivien, or Niniane. Various versions of the tales have Merlin falling in love with her and becoming imprisoned by her magic. She first appears in the medieval French Lancelot-Grail Cycle.

Swedish form of Nicholas.

Finnish form of Nicholas.

Means "Sunday" in Bulgarian.

Short form of Linnéa.

Masculine form of Natalia.

Variant of Nanuq. This was the (fictional) name of the subject of Robert Flaherty's documentary film Nanook of the North (1922).

Means "comforter" in Hebrew, from the root נָחַם (naḥam) meaning "to comfort, to console". Nahum is one of the twelve minor prophets of the Old Testament. He authored the Book of Nahum in which the downfall of Nineveh is foretold.

Means "a drink of water" in Arabic.

Derived from Greek μύρρα (myrrha) meaning "myrrh". This is the name of a character in the comedy Lysistrata by the Greek playwright Aristophanes.

Derived from Greek μύρον (myron) meaning "sweet oil, perfume". Myron was the name of a 5th-century BC Greek sculptor. Saints bearing this name include a 3rd-century bishop of Crete and a 4th-century martyr from Cyzicus who was killed by a mob. These saints are more widely revered in the Eastern Church, and the name has generally been more common among Eastern Christians. As an English name, it has been used since the 19th century.

French variant of Muriel.

Anglicized form of Muireadhach.

From Irish muirn meaning either "affection, endearment" or "festivity, exuberance". In Irish legend this was the name of the mother of Fionn mac Cumhaill. She is also called Muirenn.

Means "born of the sea" in Irish. In Irish legend this was the name of a woman (originally named Lí Ban) who was transformed into a mermaid. After 300 years she was brought to shore, baptized, and transformed back into a woman.

Usual medieval form of Maurice.

Variant of Morrígan.

From Avestan 𐬨𐬌𐬚𐬭𐬀 (mithra) meaning "oath, covenant, agreement", derived from an Indo-Iranian root *mitra meaning "that which binds". According Zoroastrian mythology Mithra was a god of light and friendship, the son of the supreme god Ahura Mazda. Worship of him eventually spread outside of Persia to the Roman Empire, where it was known as Mithraism.

Scottish diminutive of Marion 1.

Romanian form of Mirče. This name was borne by a 14th-century ruler of Wallachia, called Mircea the Great.

From Japanese 美 (mi) meaning "beautiful" combined with 桜 (o) meaning "cherry blossom" or 緒 (o) meaning "thread". Other kanji or kanji combinations can also form this name.

From the English word "minuet" referring to a type of "dance" or "a movement which is part of a longer musical composition such as a suite, sonata, or symphony, inspired by or conforming to the dance of the same name". From the French menuet, from menu 'small' and et, a diminutive, from the Latin minutus 'very small'.

From an English occupational surname for a miller, derived from Middle English mille "mill".

Feminine form of Midhat.

Diminutive or feminine form of Michael. This was the name that Walt Disney gave to Ub Iwerks' cartoon character Mickey Mouse (debuting 1928), who was called Mortimer Mouse while being developed. Another famous bearer was the American baseball player Mickey Mantle (1931-1995).

Variant of Muriel. A famous bearer is American actress Meryl Streep (1949-), whose real name is Mary Louise Streep.

From a Welsh surname that was originally derived from the given name Meurig.

Form of the Welsh name Myrddin used by Geoffrey of Monmouth in his 12th-century chronicle. Writing in Latin, he likely chose the form Merlinus over Merdinus in order to prevent associations with French merde "excrement".

Geoffrey based parts of Merlin's character on Myrddin Wyllt, a legendary madman and prophet who lived in the Caledonian Forest. Other parts of his life were based on that of the historical 5th-century Romano-British military leader Ambrosius Aurelianus (also known as Emrys Wledig). In Geoffrey's version of the tales and later embellishments Merlin is a magician and counselor for King Arthur.

Either a variant of Merritt or else simply from the English word merit, ultimately from Latin meritus "deserving".

Low German variant of Merete as well as a Swiss German short form of Emerentia and a Sami variant of Märet.

A well-known bearer of this name was artist Meret Oppenheim.

Maori and Fijian form of Mary.

From the Latin Mercurius, probably derived from Latin mercari "to trade" or merces "wages". This was the name of the Roman god of trade, merchants, and travellers, later equated with the Greek god Hermes. This is also the name of the first planet in the solar system and a metallic chemical element, both named for the god.

Older form of Millicent.

Latinized form of Greek Μέγαιρα (Megaira), which was derived from μεγαίρω (megairo) meaning "to grudge". This was the name of one of the Furies or Ἐρινύες (Erinyes) in Greek mythology. The name is used as a word in several European languages to denote a shrewish, ill-tempered woman (for example, French mégère and Italian megera).

Created by Lord Byron for a character in his poem The Corsair (1814). It is not known what inspired Byron to use this name. The year the poem was published, it was used as the middle name of Elizabeth Medora Leigh (1814-1849), a niece and rumoured daughter of Byron.

Name of one of the contestants of District 12 in the world of Suzanne Collins' novel "The Hunger Games". It can be seen as a combination of Maisie and Lee.

Diminutive of Matilda or Matthew.

Variant of Mathieu.

Feminine form of Martinus (see Martin). Saint Martina was a 3rd-century martyr who is one of the patron saints of Rome.

From an English surname that originally denoted a person who was a marshal. The word marshal originally derives from Latin mariscalcus, itself from Germanic roots akin to Old High German marah "horse" and scalc "servant". A famous bearer is the American rapper Marshall Mathers (1972-), who performs under the name Eminem.

Possibly related to Latin mas meaning "male" (genitive maris). In Roman mythology Mars was the god of war, often equated with the Greek god Ares. This is also the name of the fourth planet in the solar system.

Variant of Marilyn (feminine) or Marlin (masculine).

Variant of Marjolein.

Norwegian and Swedish form of Margaret.

From the Roman family name Marinus, which derives either from the name Marius or from the Latin word marinus "of the sea". Saint Marinus was a 4th-century stonemason who built a chapel on Monte Titano, in the country that is today known as San Marino.

Italian and Spanish form of Marinus.

Variant of Marie.

From the name of the month, which was derived from the name of the Roman god Mars.

Polish form of Maximilianus (see Maximilian).

Basque form of Magdalene.

Bulgarian, Croatian, Alsatian, and German variant of Madeleine as well as a Hungarian borrowing of this name as well as a medieval German contracted and the Welsh regular form of Magdalena.

French and Czech form of Lydia.

Latinized form of the Greek name Λύκος (Lykos) meaning "wolf". This name was borne by several characters in Greek mythology including a legendary ruler of Thebes.

From a Scottish surname that was derived from the Old Norse given name Liulfr (which was derived in part from úlfr "wolf").

Dutch short form of Lucas.

Short form of Ludovicus or Ludolf.

Medieval form of the Old English name Leofdæg, literally "beloved day". According to medieval English custom, a love day or dies amoris was a day for disputants to come together to try to resolve their differences amicably. Mainly a feminine name, with some male usage. Known textual examples date from the 11th century. It seems to have been most common in Cornwall and Devon, according to the British births, deaths and marriages index. Currently very rare.

The novel Coming Home (1995) by Rosamunde Pilcher, set in 1930s Cornwall, has a character called Loveday. Loveday Minette is a fictional character in the children's fantasy novel The Little White Horse (1946) by Elizabeth Goudge (in the novel's film adaptation, she is known as Loveday de Noir). Also, a character in Poldark.

Short form of Alonzo and other names containing the same sound.

Unaccented variant of Llŷr.

Means "my light" in Hebrew, from לִי (li) "for me" and אוֹר (ʾor) "light".

Old German form of Linda.

Icelandic, Faroese and Finnish cognate of Lily.

Short form of Alexander.

Possibly a variant of Leota. It is popularly claimed to mean "prairie flower" in the Hopi language.

Czech form of Leo.

Derived from Latin leo meaning "lion", a cognate of Leon. It was popular among early Christians and was the name of 13 popes, including Saint Leo the Great who asserted the dominance of the Roman bishops (the popes) over all others in the 5th century. It was also borne by six Byzantine emperors and five Armenian kings. Another famous bearer was the Russian novelist Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910), name spelled Лев in Russian, whose works include War and Peace and Anna Karenina. Leo is also a constellation and the fifth sign of the zodiac.

In some cases this name can be a short form of longer names that start with Leo, such as Leonard.

Means "flowers, lei, child" in Hawaiian.

From the given name Leodegar or Legier. Alternatively, could be an occupational name for a stonemason, ultimately derived from Old English lecgan "to put, place, lay (down)".

Feminine form of Leander.

Means "night" in Arabic. Layla was the love interest of the poet Qays (called Majnun) in an old Arab tale, notably retold by the 12th-century Persian poet Nizami Ganjavi in his poem Layla and Majnun. This story was a popular romance in medieval Arabia and Persia. The name became used in the English-speaking world after the 1970 release of the song Layla by Derek and the Dominos, the title of which was inspired by the medieval story.

Diminutive of Laura or Laurence 1.

From a nickname for a person who took big steps, from Finnish laukka meaning "canter, gallop".

From a surname that was a variant of the surname Landon.

Of uncertain origin and meaning. Theories include a "by-product" of Elizabeth, a borrowing of Lélie (via English Lelia) and, less likely, a form of Eulalia.

Means "gatherer of the people" in Greek. This is the name of the father of Odysseus in Greek mythology. It was later utilized by Shakespeare for a character in his tragedy Hamlet (1600), in which he is the son of Polonius. His ultimate duel with Hamlet leads to both of their deaths.

Greek form of Old Persian Kuruš (see Cyrus).

Variant of Kyrion.

This is the name of a goddess of nature, rain, air and the heavens in the 'Elder Scrolls' game series. She is a variant of another in-game goddess, Kyne. Her name appears to be a variant of Kinnereth, an Old Testament name of the Sea of Galilee (see Kineret).

Polish form of Xenia, as well as an alternate transcription of Russian Ксения or Ukrainian/Belarusian Ксенія (see Kseniya).

From 寿 (kotobuki) meaning "congratulations; longevity," derived, via a sound shift, from a combination of 言 (koto) meaning "word" and continuative/stem form of obsolete verb 祝く (hoku) meaning "to pray for a good outcome" (compare Kotohogi). It originally referred to saying something in prayer for a good outcome, then to saying something favourable in hope for a felicitous or auspicious occasion, shifting to its present meaning.

One bearer of this name is manga artist and actor, Kotobuki Shiriagari (しりあがり 寿) (1958-), born Toshiki Mochidzuki (望月 寿城).

This name is very rarely used and is more commonly used as a surname.

Polish form of Constantine.

At least in part inspired by the name of a character from the animated movie Brother Bear (2003). The moviemakers apparently took it from Lakota or Dakota koda meaning "friend, companion".

Possibly an elaboration of Kiri or Kira 2. It seems to have been brought to attention in Australia in the 1970s by the actress Kirrily Nolan.

Russian feminine form of Cyrus.

Middle English form of Cyneburg.

Name of one of the dwarves in The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien. Fili's brother.

Tolkien took the name from the Dvergatal "Catalogue of Dwarves" in the Völuspá, a part of the Poetic Edda.

Means "lily of the valley" in Finnish (species Convallaria majalis).

From a Scots surname that was derived from a word meaning "thicket, marsh", ultimately from Old Norse kjarr.

Feminine form of Kenneth.

Feminine form of Kenneth.

Possibly means "possession" in Hebrew. He is a son of Enosh and a great-grandson of Adam in the Old Testament.

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".

Meaning unknown, perhaps an invented name.

Possibly derived from Old Norse kildr meaning "a spring".

Variant of Ciara 1.

From a title for a poet, meaning "wise man, sage, poet" in Sanskrit.

Possibly a variant of Katrienna.

Means "the black one", derived from Sanskrit काल (kāla) meaning "black". The Hindu goddess Kali is the fierce destructive form of the wife of Shiva. According to stories in the Puranas, she springs from the forehead of Durga in order to defeat various demons. She is typically depicted with black skin and four arms, holding a severed head and brandishing a sword. As a personal name, it is generally masculine in India.

Means "sound, voice" from Hawaiian ka "the" and leo "sound, voice".

Scandinavian diminutive of Katarina.

From Japanese 海 (kai) meaning "sea, ocean" combined with 斗 (to), which refers to a Chinese constellation, or 翔 (to) meaning "soar, fly". Other kanji combinations are also possible.

Diminutive of Jerzy.

From a Roman family name that was possibly derived from Greek ἴουλος (ioulos) meaning "downy-bearded". Alternatively, it could be related to the name of the Roman god Jupiter. This was a prominent patrician family of Rome, who claimed descent from the mythological Julus, son of Aeneas. Its most notable member was Gaius Julius Caesar, who gained renown as a military leader for his clever conquest of Gaul. After a civil war he became the dictator of the Roman Republic, but was eventually stabbed to death in the senate.

Although this name was borne by several early saints, including a pope, it was rare during the Middle Ages. It was revived in Italy and France during the Renaissance, and was subsequently imported to England.

Finnish diminutive of Johannes, now used independently.

Variant of Judas. It is used in many English versions of the New Testament to denote the second apostle named Judas, in order to distinguish him from Judas Iscariot. He was supposedly the author of the Epistle of Jude. In the English-speaking world, Jude has occasionally been used as a given name since the time of the Protestant Reformation.

Inspired by the English word jovial meaning "merry; cheerful and good-humored", which is itself derived from the name of the god Jove. Zooey Deschanel played a character by this name in the popular 2003 Christmas movie Elf.

In some cases, it could be a diminutive of Jovan or Jovana or a variant of Jovi.

Portuguese form of Jordan.

Diminutive of Joan 1.

Short form of Jolanta.

Diminutive of Josephine, Joseph, Joanna and other names beginning with Jo. It was popularized by the young hero (a boy) in Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings' novel The Yearling (1938) and the subsequent film adaptation (1946). As a feminine name, it probably received an assist from the similar-sounding name Judy, which was at the height of its American popularity when Jody was rising.

Feminine variant of Jody.

Diminutive of James. This was the usual name of American actor James Stewart (1908-1997). It is also used by the former American president Jimmy Carter (1924-).

Polish form of George.

Old French feminine form of Iohannes (see John).

An invented name, using the phonetic elements jay and la, and sharing a sound with other popular names such as Kayla.

From the Nyungar word djarraly referred to a kind of Eucalyptus (Eucalyptus marginata). Nyungar language is spoken in the southwest of Western Australia, near Perth.

Derived from the Slavic elements jarŭ "fierce, energetic" and mirŭ "peace, world". This name was borne by an 11th-century duke of Bohemia.

Estonian, Polish and Czech diminutive of Jaan or Jan 1.

Transferred use of the surname Jacoby.

Czech form of Joachim.

Polish form of Hyacinthus. Saint Jacenty was a 13th-century Dominican monk from Krakow who was said to have taken missionary journeys throughout Northern Europe and Asia.

Modern form of Jacenty.

Means "of Iton, Itonian" in Greek. This was an epithet of the Greek goddess Athena originating in the ancient town of Iton (also known as Itonos), south of Phthiotis, in Thessaly. Some ancient sources say that Athena Itonia was given her epithet from a king or priest named Itonus.

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.

From the Hebrew name יִשְׂרָאֵל (Yisraʾel) meaning "God contends", from the roots שָׂרָה (sara) meaning "to contend, to fight" and אֵל (ʾel) meaning "God". In the Old Testament, Israel (who was formerly named Jacob; see Genesis 32:28) wrestles with an angel. The ancient and modern states of Israel took their names from him.

Transferred use of the surname Isley. This name is pronounced identically to Eisele, which was used by American country singer Hillary Scott of Lady Antebellum for her daughter born 2013.

Means "dew" in Korean.

Arabic form of Jesus. This form is found in the Quran and is used as a given name by Muslims. Arabic-speaking Christians instead use يسوع (Yasūʿ) to refer to Jesus Christ.

Short form of Isabella.

This name can be used as 庵 (an, iori, io) meaning "hermitage, retreat" (masculine) or it can combine 一 (ichi, hito.tsu, i) meaning "one," 伊 (i, kare) meaning "that one," 衣 (i, e, kinu, koromo) meaning "clothes, garment," 依 (i, e, yo.ru) meaning "depend, rely," 唯 (i, yui, tada) meaning "merely, only, simply, solely" or 惟 (i, yui, omo.uni, kore) meaning "consider, think" with 織 (o.ri) meaning "fabric, weave."
Rarer examples of Iori include 衣緒里 and 衣央里 with 緒 (sho, cho, itoguchi, o) meaning "beginning, cord, strap," 央 (ou, o, e, ya) meaning "centre, middle" and 里 (ri, sato) meaning "parent's home, ri (unit of distance - equal to 3.927 km), village."

Regarding 伊織, it belongs as an 'azuma hyakkan' (東百官) name, in which they are like hyakkanna (百官名), a court rank-style name that samurai used to announce oneself and give himself authority, but come from the names of government offices in the Kantō region.

The combinations, apart from the first one and the ones with 3 kanji, are unisex. The first combination is mainly used on males (albeit rarely) and the combinations w/ 3 kanji are used on females (albeit rarely).

Iori (庵 & 伊織) is also used as a surname.

Finnish and Frisian feminine form of Inge.

Directly taken from the English word, ultimately from Latin infinitas "endlessness; boundlessness".

Means "beautiful" in Indonesian.

Arabic form of Elijah, also used in several other languages.

Possibly a Romanian variant of Elena. In Romanian folklore this is the name of a princess kidnapped by monsters and rescued by a heroic knight.

Means "tree" in Hebrew.

From the Roman family name Egnatius, meaning unknown, of Etruscan origin. The spelling was later altered to resemble Latin ignis "fire". This was the name of several saints, including the third bishop of Antioch who was thrown to wild beasts by Emperor Trajan, and by Saint Ignatius of Loyola (1491-1556), founder of the Jesuits, whose real birth name was in fact Íñigo.

From the Hebrew name חִזְקִיָהוּ (Ḥizqiyahu), which means "Yahweh strengthens", from the roots חָזַק (ḥazaq) meaning "to strength" and יָהּ (yah) referring to the Hebrew God. This name was borne by a powerful king of Judah who reigned in the 8th and 7th centuries BC. Also in the Old Testament, this is the name of an ancestor of the prophet Zephaniah.

Uncertain meaning, possibly from Greek ἥρως (heros) meaning "hero, warrior"; ὥρα (hora) meaning "period of time"; or αἱρέω (haireo) meaning "to be chosen". In Greek mythology Hera was the queen of the gods, the sister and wife of Zeus. She presided over marriage and childbirth.

Greek form of Egyptian ḥwt-ḥrw (reconstructed as Hut-Heru) meaning "the house of Horus", derived from Egyptian ḥwt "house" combined with the god Horus. In Egyptian mythology she was the goddess of love, often depicted with the head of a cow.

From an English surname that was derived from a place name, itself from Old English heorot "hart, male deer" and leah "woodland, clearing".

Either a short form of Hardy, Hartmann, or other name beginning with the element hart or hard, "hardy, strong"; or from the Old English heorot or Middle Low German harte, a male deer. A famous bearer is Hart Crane, the 20th century poet.

Alternate transcription of Arabic هنيّة (see Haniyya).

Latinized form of Greek Ἀλκυόνη (see Alcyone), via the misspelled variant Ἁλκυόνη (Halkyone). The spelling variation was due to a false association with ἅλς (hals) meaning "salt, sea".

Means "beginning" in Japanese, written with kanji having the same or similar meanings, such as 肇, 一 or 元, as well as others.

Means "wind" in Basque.

Variant of Hayden.

Feminine form of Hadrianus.

Old German form of Hedwig.

Probably means "born of trees" from Old Welsh guid "trees" and the suffix gen "born of". In the Fourth Branch of the Mabinogi [1], Gwydion is the nephew of King Math of Gwynedd, and like him a powerful magician. In an elaborate plot to give his brother a chance to rape his uncle's footbearer, he arranged a war between Gwynedd and the neighbouring kingdom of Dyfed. Gwydion himself killed King Pryderi of Dyfed at the end of the war. In punishment for the rape, Math transformed Gwydion and his brother into different animals over the course of three years. Gwydion was the uncle of Lleu Llaw Gyffes, whom he fostered. Math and Gwydion fashioned Lleu a wife, Blodeuwedd, out of flowers and they later aided him after her betrayal. Gwydion also appears in older Welsh poetry such as the Book of Taliesin.

Latinized form of Wido. Notable bearers include the music theorist Guido d'Arezzo (c. 991-1033), poet Guido Cavalcanti (c. 1250-1300), and Baroque painter Guido Reni (1575-1642).

Diminutive of Grigoriy.

Variant of Gray.

Derived from Persian گل (gol) meaning "flower, rose" and the suffix زار (zār) meaning "place abounding in, field, garden".

Means "spring flower", from Persian گل (gol) meaning "flower, rose" and بهار (bahār) meaning "spring".

Derived from the Old German element gisal meaning "hostage, pledge" (Proto-Germanic *gīslaz). This name may have originally been a descriptive nickname for a child given as a pledge to a foreign court. This was the name of both a sister and daughter of Charlemagne. It was also borne by a daughter of the French king Charles III who married the Norman leader Rollo in the 10th century. Another notable bearer was the 11th-century Gisela of Swabia, wife of the Holy Roman emperor Conrad II.

The name was popular in France during the Middle Ages (the more common French form is Gisèle). Though it became known in the English-speaking world due to Adolphe Adam's ballet Giselle (1841), it was not regularly used until the 20th century.

From the English word ginger for the spice or the reddish-brown colour. It can also be a diminutive of Virginia, as in the case of actress and dancer Ginger Rogers (1911-1995), by whom the name was popularized.

From an Old Testament place name meaning "heap of witness" in Hebrew. This is a mountainous region east of the Jordan River. Besides being a place name, it is also borne by people in the Bible.

Means "twins" in Latin. This is the name of the third sign of the zodiac. The two brightest stars in the constellation, Castor and Pollux, are named for the mythological twin sons of Leda.

Variant of Lloyd.

French feminine form of Florinus.

Name of one of the dwarves in The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien. Brother of Kili.

Tolkien took the name from the Dvergatal "Catalogue of Dwarves" in the Völuspá, a part of the Poetic Edda.

From a Scottish place name that was formerly the name of a kingdom in Scotland. It is said to be named for a Pictish kingdom called Fib.

Means "foxglove" in Welsh (species Digitalis purpurea). This is a recently created Welsh name.

Anglicized form of Forbflaith.

Feminine form of Faunus. Fauna was a Roman goddess of fertility, women and healing, a daughter and companion of Faunus.

French form of Faro. As an English name, it is probably from a French surname that was derived from the given name.

Means "fiery" in Esperanto, from fajro meaning "fire".

A transferred use of the surname Fairlight used as far back as the 1800's in England and the States.

Meaning unknown, possibly derived from Phaenna.

Latinized form of Eoforhild. This was the name of a 7th-century English saint.

Greek form of Europa.

Latinized form of Greek Εὐρώπη (Europe), which meant "wide face" from εὐρύς (eurys) meaning "wide" and ὄψ (ops) meaning "face, eye". In Greek mythology Europa was a Phoenician princess who was abducted and taken to Crete by Zeus in the guise of a bull. She became the first queen of Crete, and later fathered Minos by Zeus. The continent of Europe said to be named for her, though it is more likely her name is from that of the continent. This is also the name of a moon of Jupiter.

This name combines 恵 (e, kei, megu.mi, megu.mu) meaning "blessing, favour, grace, kindness", 絵 (e, kai) meaning "drawing, picture, painting, sketch", 江 (kou, e) meaning "bay, inlet" or 栄 (ei, you, e, saka.eru, ha.e, ha.eru, -ba.e) meaning "flourish, glory, honour, prosper" & 理 (ri, kotowari) meaning "justice, logic, reason, truth", 里 (ri, sato) meaning "parent's home, ri (unit of distance - equal to 3.927 km), village" or 利 (ri, ki.ku) meaning "advantage, benefit, profit, gain" with 子 (shi, su, tsu, ko, -ko, ne) meaning "child."

This name can also be used as えり子 with two phonetic characters making up Eri connecting with 子.

Derived from the Old English elements eofor "boar" and hild "battle". This name was rarely used after the Norman Conquest.

Turkish, Bosnian and Albanian form of Anwar.

Means "man, person, mortal" in Hebrew. He was a son of Seth and a grandson of Adam according to the genealogies in Genesis in the Old Testament.

From an English surname meaning "son of Emery". The surname was borne by Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882), an American writer and philosopher who wrote about transcendentalism.

Derived from Welsh elus meaning "kind, benevolent". This was the name of two kings of Powys in Wales.

Elaborated variant of Élina.

Scandinavian and Welsh form of Helen.

Variant of Alicia.

Means "goddess" in Persian.

Means "snowdrop (flower)" in Welsh, a compound of eira "snow" and llys "plant".

Diminutive of Eilionoir, also taken to be a Gaelic form of Helen.

Diminutive of Edith.

From the biblical place name, itself possibly from Hebrew עֵדֶן (ʿeḏen) meaning "pleasure, delight" [1], or perhaps derived from Sumerian 𒂔 (edin) meaning "plain". According to the Old Testament the Garden of Eden was the place where the first people, Adam and Eve, lived before they were expelled.

Old Irish form of Éibhear.

Old English form of Esmond.

Norman name, possibly derived from Gothic dragan meaning "to carry, to pull" or Old Saxon drog meaning "ghost, illusion". Alternatively, it could be related to the Slavic element dorgŭ meaning "precious, dear". The Normans introduced this name to England.

Slovene, Croatian, Serbian and Macedonian form of Dorothea.

Means "generation" in Hebrew.

Means "love" in Lembaama.

Variant of Devin. It may also be partly inspired by the name of the county of Devon in England, which got its name from the Dumnonii, a Celtic tribe.

Derived from Sanskrit देव (deva) meaning "god".

Means "joy" in Amharic.

English form of Désirée. It was popularized in the English-speaking world by the movie Désirée (1954).

Feminine form of Demetrius.

Altered form of Dolores.

Older form of Derek.

Feminine form of Dederico (Italian and Spanish), English variant of Dedericka and Dutch variant of Diederika.

Either a variant of Diana or a feminine form of Dean. This name was popularized by the Canadian actress and singer Deanna Durbin (1921-2013), whose birth name was Edna. Her stage name was a rearrangement of the letters of her real name.

Diminutive of David.

the history of this name is unknown, but the meaning is "grace, or to be graceful"

Latinized form of the Greek name Κυριακός (Kyriakos), which meant "of the lord" (derived from Greek κύριος (kyrios) meaning "lord"). This was the name of a few early saints.

Feminine form of Cyriacus.

From the Greek name Κοσμᾶς (Kosmas), which was derived from κόσμος (kosmos) meaning "order, world, universe". Saint Cosmas was martyred with his twin brother Damian in the 4th century. They are the patron saints of physicians.

Means "harmony" in Latin. This was the name of the Roman goddess of harmony and peace.

Anglicized form of Scottish Cailean.

Short form of Jacoba.

Latinized form of Kleio.

Medieval variant of Clemence. It can also simply mean "clemency, mercy" from the English word, ultimately from Latin clemens "merciful".

English form of Claudianus. This name was borne by a Roman court poet from the 4th century AD.

Possibly from Old Irish cin "respect, esteem, affection" or cinid "be born, come into being" combined with áed "fire", though it might actually be of Pictish origin. This was the name of the first king of the Scots and Picts (9th century). It is often Anglicized as Kenneth. The originally unrelated name Coinneach is sometimes used as the modern Scottish Gaelic form.

Patronymic derived from Chryses. In Greek legend she was the daughter of Chryses, a priest of Apollo. After she was taken prisoner by the Greeks besieging Troy, Apollo sent a plague into their camp, forcing the Greeks to release her.

Valencian diminutive of Joaquim.

This is a common English spelling of the Hebrew place name כְּרִית (Kərīṯ), which comes from the Hebrew root כרת (kh*r*t) meaning "to cut off; cut down". Cherith was a brook or wadi mentioned in the Old Testament. The prophet Elijah hid himself on the banks of the Cherith and was fed by ravens during the early part of the three years' drought which he announced to King Ahab.

Combination of Cheryl and the popular name suffix lyn.

Meaning unknown, perhaps a combination of Charmian or the English word charm with the aine suffix from Lorraine. It was (first?) used for a character in the play What Price Glory (1924), which was made into a popular movie in 1926.

Means "moon" in Sanskrit, derived from चन्द (cand) meaning "to shine". This is a transcription of both the masculine form चण्ड (the god of the moon personified) as well as the feminine form चण्डा (spelled with a long final vowel).

Roman family name meaning "tall" in Latin. This was the name of a 2nd-century philosopher who wrote against Christianity. It was also borne by an early saint martyred with Nazarius in Milan.

Either from the name of the Irish county, which is derived from Irish cabhán "hollow", or else from the Irish surname Cavan.

Means "black hoof" in Shawnee. This was the name of an 18th-century Shawnee warrior and chief.

Combination of Carol 1 and the popular phonetic suffix lee. A known bearer was the American performance artist Carolee Schneemann (1939-2019).

Means "Candlemas" in Spanish, ultimately derived from Spanish candela "candle". This name is given in honour of the church festival of Candlemas, which commemorates the presentation of Christ in the temple and the purification of the Virgin Mary.

From an Irish surname, the Anglicized form of Ó Ceallacháin, itself from the given name Cellachán.

Derived from the Welsh elements caer "fortress" and gwyn "white, blessed".

Feminine form of Caelinus.

From Old Irish cáel meaning "slender". In Irish legend Cáel was a warrior of the Fianna and the lover of Créd.

From Old Welsh Catigirn meaning "battle king", derived from cat "battle" and tigirn "king, monarch". This was the name of a 5th-century king of Powys in Wales, the son of Vortigern.

From a surname that was originally from a place name meaning "place of the cow sheds" in Old English. This was the surname of the romantic poet Lord Byron (1788-1824), the writer of Don Juan and many other works.

From the Welsh place name Brynmawr meaning "great hill".

Means "armour" in Old Norse.

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).

The name of an English city, meaning "bright town" in Old English.

From a surname that was derived from an English place name meaning "Bryni's town". Bryni was an Old English name meaning "fire".

Latinized form of a Celtic name (or title) that possibly meant either "king, prince" or "raven". Brennus was a Gallic leader of the 4th century BC who attacked and sacked Rome.

Perhaps a variant of Brandy or a feminine form of Brand.

A variant of Bo 1, probably influenced by the word "bow" which is used to shoot with arrows or by the word "bowtie", or a diminutive of Rainbow.

Means "purple" in Korean.

From Welsh blaidd "wolf" combined with a diminutive suffix. This was the name of an 11th-century king of Gwynedd and Powys.

Welsh form of Beatrice.

Diminutive of Albert, Herbert and other names containing bert (often derived from the Old German element beraht meaning "bright").

Contracted form of Berenice. It occurs briefly in Acts in the New Testament belonging to a sister of King Herod Agrippa II.

French feminine form of Benjamin.

Variant of Ayelen.

Means "returning, visitor" in Arabic. In Turkey this is also associated with ay meaning "moon".

Means "doe, female deer" in Hebrew.

French feminine form of Aldo.

Anglicized variant of Atréju, which was created by German author Michael Ende for the hero of his fantasy novel 'Die unendliche Geschichte' (1979; English: 'The Neverending Story'). The character is a boy warrior whose name is explained as meaning "son of all" in his fictional native language, given to him because he was raised by all of the members of his village after being orphaned as a newborn.

Current usage is influenced by the name of a Californian metal-core band named after the hero in 'The neverending story'.

From Egyptian jtn meaning "solar disk". Aton was an Egyptian god of the sun, depicted as a solar disk with long rays extending downwards. The worship of Aton was especially extensive during the 14th-century BC reign of the pharaoh Akhenaton, who proclaimed Aton was the only god.

Variant of Athena.

From עַשְׁתֹרֶת (ʿAshṯoreṯ), the Hebrew form of the name of a Phoenician goddess of love, war and fertility. Her name is cognate to that of the East Semitic goddess Ishtar.

From the name of an African people who reside in southern Ghana. It possibly means "warlike" in the Twi language.