Vesey's Personal Name List

Short form of Griselda. This is the name of a princess in the Legend of Zelda video games, debuting in 1986 and called ゼルダ (Zeruda) in Japanese. According to creator Shigeru Miyamoto she was named after the American socialite Zelda Fitzgerald (1900-1948).

From Latin Winifreda, possibly from a Welsh name Gwenfrewi (maybe influenced by the Old English masculine name Winfred). Saint Winifred was a 7th-century Welsh martyr, probably legendary. According to the story, she was decapitated by a prince after she spurned his advances. Where her head fell there arose a healing spring, which has been a pilgrimage site since medieval times. Her story was recorded in the 12th century by Robert of Shrewsbury, and she has been historically more widely venerated in England than in Wales. The name has been used in England since at least the 16th century.

Dutch and German feminine form of Wilhelm. This name was borne by a queen of the Netherlands (1880-1962).

Feminine form of Viridianus.

Means "knowledge" in Sanskrit.

Possibly derived from Greek θεά (thea) meaning "goddess". In Greek myth this was the name of a Titan goddess of light, glittering and glory. She was the wife of Hyperion and the mother of the sun god Helios, the moon goddess Selene, and the dawn goddess Eos.

This is the name of waterfalls in Georgia. Popularly claimed to mean "leaping waters" in the Choctaw language, it may actually mean "town" in the Creek language. It was borne by American actress Tallulah Bankhead (1902-1968), who was named after her grandmother, who may have been named after the waterfalls.

Form of Susanna found in some versions of the Old Testament.

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

From the name of the ninth month (though it means "seventh month" in Latin, since it was originally the seventh month of the Roman year), which is sometimes used as a given name for someone born in September.

Possibly a variant of the name Samantha that's used in the future.

Samus Aran (Japanese: サムス・アラン Hepburn: Samusu Aran?) is a fictional character and the protagonist of the Metroid science fiction action-adventure game series by Nintendo. She was introduced in the 1986 video game Metroid.
Samus Aran is an ex-soldier of the Galactic Federation who turned into a bounty hunter, usually fitted with a powered armor suit with weapons that include directed energy weapons and missiles. Throughout the series, she executes missions given to her by the Galactic Federation while hunting the antagonistic Space Pirates and their leader Ridley along with the parasitic energy-draining organisms called Metroids.

From the English word that refers either to a spice, the crocus flower from which it is harvested, or the yellow-orange colour of the spice. It is derived via Old French from Arabic زعفران (zaʿfarān), itself probably from Persian meaning "gold leaves".

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

From an English surname that was derived from the name of various Norman towns, themselves from the given name Romilius.

Medieval variant of Molly. The reason for the change in the initial consonant is unknown.

Means "pearl, coral, precious stone" in Hebrew. In the Old Testament this is the name of one of the wives of Elkanah, the other being Hannah.

Feminine form of Octavius. Octavia was the wife of Mark Antony and the sister of the Roman emperor Augustus. In 19th-century England it was sometimes given to the eighth-born child.

Meaning 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.

Diminutive form of Honora. Used mostly in honour of Nano Nagle who was a pioneer for the education of women and rebellion against the Penal Laws in Ireland

From Sanskrit मीर (mīra) meaning "sea, ocean". This was the name of a 16th-century Indian princess who devoted her life to the god Krishna.

German and Dutch diminutive of Maria.

Feminine form of Maximilianus.

Marici is a deva or bodhisattva associated with light and the sun. She is known as Molizhitian (摩利支天) or Molizhitian Pusa (摩利支天菩萨) in China and Marishi-ten (摩利支天?) in Japan and in Tibetan as 'Odzer Canma, "Woman Endowed with Rays of Light" (Wylie: 'od zer can ma). She is one of the 20 (or 24) Celestials (二十/二十四諸天). In Taoism and Chinese folk religion, Marici is known under the epithet of the Lady of Dipper Mother (Chinese: 斗母元君; pinyin: Dǒumǔ Yuánjūn) or Doumu, a name sometimes used by Buddhists.

French feminine form of Marcellinus.

Latinate form of Magdalene.

Medieval feminine form of Amabilis. This spelling and Amabel were common during the Middle Ages, though they became rare after the 15th century. It was revived in the 19th century after the publication of C. M. Yonge's 1854 novel The Heir of Redclyffe [1], which featured a character named Mabel (as well as one named Amabel).

Means "the moon" in Latin (as well as Italian, Spanish and other Romance languages). Luna was the Roman goddess of the moon, frequently depicted driving a white chariot through the sky.

Strictly feminine form of Lior.

From Chinese 灵 (líng) meaning "spirit, soul", 铃 (líng) meaning "bell, chime", or other Chinese characters that are pronounced similarly.

German short form of Elisabeth.

Short form of Alana (English) or Svetlana (Russian). In the English-speaking world it was popularized by actress Lana Turner (1921-1995), who was born Julia Jean Turner.

Elaborated form of Kyrie 2.

From the Hebrew name קְצִיעָה (Qetsiʿa) meaning "cassia, cinnamon", from the name of the spice tree. In the Old Testament she is a daughter of Job.

From the English word for the type of tree, derived ultimately from Latin iuniperus.

From the English word for the climbing plant that has small yellow flowers. It is ultimately derived from Old English ifig.

Greek form of Egyptian ꜣst (reconstructed as Iset, Aset or Ueset), possibly from st meaning "throne". In Egyptian mythology Isis was the goddess of the sky and nature, the wife of Osiris and the mother of Horus. She was originally depicted wearing a throne-shaped headdress, but in later times she was conflated with the goddess Hathor and depicted having the horns of a cow on her head. She was also worshipped by people outside of Egypt, such as the Greeks and Romans.

Derived from Greek ἥρως (heros) meaning "hero". In Greek legend she was the lover of Leander, who would swim across the Hellespont each night to meet her. He was killed on one such occasion when he got caught in a storm while in the water, and when Hero saw his dead body she drowned herself. This is also the name of a character in Shakespeare's play Much Ado About Nothing (1599).

Variant of Harriet.

Perhaps intended to derive from Greek αἰδοῖος (aidoios) meaning "modest, reverent". This name was created by Lord Byron for a character (written as Haidée) in his 1819 poem Don Juan [1].

Diminutive of Grete. It is well-known as a character from an 1812 Brothers Grimm fairy tale who is captured, with her brother Hansel, by a witch. The Grimm's story was based on earlier European folktales.

Diminutive of Gertrude.

From Old Norse Freyja meaning "lady". This is the name of a goddess associated with love, beauty, war and death in Norse mythology. She claims half of the heroes who are slain in battle and brings them to her realm of Fólkvangr. Along with her brother Freyr and father Njord, she is one of the Vanir (as opposed to the Æsir). Some scholars connect her with the goddess Frigg.

This is not the usual spelling in any of the Scandinavian languages (in Sweden and Denmark it is Freja and in Norway it is Frøja) but it is the common spelling of the goddess's name in English. In the 2000s it became popular in Britain.

Italian and Catalan feminine form of Franciscus (see Francis).

Derived from the word for a succinct story, in prose or verse, that features animals, plants, inanimate objects, or forces of nature which are given human qualities, and that illustrates a moral lesson.
The word "fable" comes from the Latin fabula (a "story"), itself derived from fari ("to speak") with the -ula suffix that signifies "little".

In Arthurian tales, Evaine is the sister of Lancelot's mother Elaine, wife of King Bors of Gaul and mother of Sir Lionel and Sir Bors the Younger. Her character first appears in the Old French prose Lancelot of the Lake (c.1215–20), which was incorporated into the Vulgate Lancelot.

The name suffix -vain appears in this and other Arthurian names such as Yvain and Agravain.

Latinate form of Estelle. This is the name of the heroine, Estella Havisham, in Charles Dickens' novel Great Expectations (1860).

Variant or feminine form of Elliott. American actress Marla Sokoloff (b. 1980) named her first-born daughter this.

Greek form of Electra.

Means "judged" in Hebrew, derived from דִּין (din) meaning "to judge". According to the Old Testament, Dinah was a daughter of Jacob and Leah who was abducted by Shechem. It has been used as an English given name since after the Protestant Reformation.

Diminutive of Dieter.

Possibly means "earth mother", derived from Greek δᾶ (da) meaning "earth" and μήτηρ (meter) meaning "mother". In Greek mythology Demeter was the goddess of agriculture, the daughter of Cronus, the sister of Zeus, and the mother of Persephone. She was an important figure in the Eleusinian Mysteries, which were secret rites performed at Eleusis near Athens.

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.

From French chosette meaning "little thing". This is the nickname of the illegitimate daughter of Fantine in Victor Hugo's novel Les Misérables (1862). Her real name is Euphrasie, though it is seldom used. In the novel young Cosette is the ward of the cruel Thénardiers until she is retrieved by Jean Valjean.

Feminine form of Cornelius. In the 2nd century BC it was borne by Cornelia Scipionis Africana (the daughter of the military hero Scipio Africanus), the mother of the two reformers known as the Gracchi. After her death she was regarded as an example of the ideal Roman woman. The name was revived in the 18th century.

Either a French form of Koralia, or a derivative of Latin corallium "coral" (see Coral).

From the English word for the wild flower, ultimately deriving from Old English clafre.

Latinized form of Kleio.

Italian form of Clara. Saint Chiara (commonly called Clare in English) was a follower of Saint Francis of Assisi.

Feminine diminutive of Charles.

Medieval Spanish form of Carmel, appearing in the devotional title of the Virgin Mary Nuestra Señora del Carmen meaning "Our Lady of Mount Carmel". The spelling has been altered through association with the Latin word carmen meaning "song". This was the name of the main character in George Bizet's opera Carmen (1875).

Variant of Cambria.

Latin form of the Welsh Cymru, the Welsh name for the country of Wales, derived from cymry meaning "the people". It is occasionally used as a given name in modern times.

From the name of a type of Eurasian vine, formerly used as medicine. It ultimately derives from Greek βρύω (bryo) meaning "to swell".

From the English word for the thorny plant.

From a surname meaning "cheerful" in Old English.

Meaning unknown, possibly related either to Greek ἀρτεμής (artemes) meaning "safe" or ἄρταμος (artamos) meaning "a butcher". Artemis was the Greek goddess of the moon and hunting, the twin of Apollo and the daughter of Zeus and Leto. She was known as Diana to the Romans.

Possibly a variant of Harriet. This is the name of a character from 'The Borrowers' by Mary Norton.

Feminine form of Arcadius. This is the name of a region on the Greek Peloponnese, long idealized for its natural beauty.

Feminine form of Antonius (see Anthony).

Means "soul, spirit" in Latin. In Jungian psychology the anima is an individual's true inner self, or soul.

Means "nobleness, nobility", from the French form of the Germanic name Adalheidis, which was composed of adal "noble" and the suffix heit "kind, sort, type". It was borne in the 10th century by Saint Adelaide, the wife of the Holy Roman emperor Otto the Great.

In Britain the parallel form Alice, derived via Old French, has historically been more common than Adelaide, though this form did gain some currency in the 19th century due to the popularity of the German-born wife of King William IV, for whom the city of Adelaide in Australia was named in 1836.