KnifeLuv's Personal Name List
Zoë
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Dutch, English
Pronounced: ZO-veh(Dutch) ZO-ee(English)
Dutch form and English variant of
Zoe.
Yvonne
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French, English, German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish
Pronounced: EE-VAWN(French) i-VAHN(English) ee-VAWN(German) ee-VAW-nə(Dutch)
French feminine form of
Yvon. It has been regularly used in the English-speaking world since the late 19th century.
Yvette
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French, English
Pronounced: EE-VEHT(French) ee-VEHT(English) i-VEHT(English)
French feminine form of
Yves.
Yvain
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Arthurian Cycle
Form of
Owain used by the 12th-century French poet Chrétien de Troyes for his Arthurian romance
Yvain, the Knight of the Lion.
Yasmine
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Arabic, French (Modern), English (Modern)
Other Scripts: ياسمين(Arabic)
Pronounced: yas-MEEN(Arabic) YAS-MEEN(French) YAZ-min(English)
Yael
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Hebrew, Biblical Hebrew [1]
Other Scripts: יָעֵל(Hebrew)
Pronounced: ya-EHL(Hebrew)
Xavier
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, French, Portuguese, Catalan, Spanish
Pronounced: ZAY-vyər(English) ig-ZAY-vyər(English) GZA-VYEH(French) shu-vee-EHR(European Portuguese) sha-vee-EKH(Brazilian Portuguese) shə-bee-EH(Catalan) kha-BYEHR(Spanish) sa-BYEHR(Spanish)
Derived from the Basque place name
Etxeberria meaning
"the new house". This was the surname of the Jesuit priest
Saint Francis Xavier (1506-1552) who was born in a village by this name. He was a missionary to India, Japan, China, and other areas in East Asia, and he is the patron saint of the Orient and missionaries. His surname has since been adopted as a given name in his honour, chiefly among Catholics.
Willa
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: WIL-ə
Viviana
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Late Roman
Pronounced: vee-VYA-na(Italian) bee-BYA-na(Spanish)
Feminine form of
Vivianus (see
Vivian).
Saint Viviana (also known as Bibiana) was a Roman saint and martyr of the 4th century.
Viveka
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Swedish
Violet
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: VIE-lit, VIE-ə-lit
From the English word violet for the purple flower, ultimately derived from Latin viola. It was common in Scotland from the 16th century, and it came into general use as an English given name during the 19th century.
Vega 2
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Astronomy
The name of a star in the constellation Lyra. Its name is from Arabic
الواقع (al-Wāqiʿ) meaning "the swooping (eagle)".
Vaughn
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: VAWN
From a Welsh surname, a variant of
Vaughan.
Vanessa
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, French, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, German, Dutch
Pronounced: və-NEHS-ə(English) VA-NEH-SA(French) va-NEHS-sa(Italian) vu-NEH-su(European Portuguese) va-NEH-su(Brazilian Portuguese) ba-NEH-sa(Spanish) va-NEH-sa(German) vah-NEH-sa(Dutch)
Invented by author Jonathan Swift for his 1726 poem
Cadenus and Vanessa [1]. He arrived at it by rearranging the initial syllables of the first name and surname of
Esther Vanhomrigh, his close friend. Vanessa was later used as the name of a genus of butterfly. It was a rare given name until the mid-20th century, at which point it became fairly popular.
Valentine 2
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French
Pronounced: VA-LAHN-TEEN
Valentina
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, Russian, Lithuanian, German, Croatian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Slovene, Albanian, Romanian, Spanish, Greek, Ancient Roman
Other Scripts: Валентина(Russian, Bulgarian, Macedonian) Βαλεντίνα(Greek)
Pronounced: va-lehn-TEE-na(Italian) və-lyin-TYEE-nə(Russian) vu-lyehn-tyi-NU(Lithuanian) ba-lehn-TEE-na(Spanish)
Feminine form of
Valentinus (see
Valentine 1). A famous bearer is the Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova (1937-), who in 1963 became the first woman to visit space.
Úna
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Irish, Medieval Irish [1]
Pronounced: OO-nə(Irish)
Probably derived from Old Irish úan meaning "lamb". This was a common name in medieval Ireland.
Trina
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: TREE-nə
Trey
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: TRAY
From an English nickname meaning "three".
Trenton
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: TREHN-tən
From the name of a New Jersey city established in the 17th century by William Trent. It means "
Trent's town".
Trent
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: TRENT
From an English surname that originally denoted someone who lived by the River
Trent. A famous bearer is the American musician Trent Reznor (1965-).
Trent is also a city in Italy, though the etymology is unrelated.
Theo
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, German, Dutch
Pronounced: THEE-o(English) TEH-o(German) TEH-yo(Dutch)
Tessa
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Dutch
Pronounced: TEHS-ə(English) TEH-sa(Dutch)
Tatiana
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Romanian, French, Slovak, Polish, Finnish, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, German, Dutch, Greek, Georgian, English, Russian, Bulgarian, Ancient Roman
Other Scripts: Τατιάνα(Greek) ტატიანა(Georgian) Татьяна(Russian) Татяна(Bulgarian)
Pronounced: ta-TYA-na(Italian, Spanish, Polish, German) TAH-tee-ah-nah(Finnish) ta-TYAHN-ə(English) tu-TYA-nə(Russian)
Feminine form of the Roman name
Tatianus, a derivative of the Roman name
Tatius. This was the name of a 3rd-century
saint who was martyred in Rome under the emperor Alexander Severus. She was especially venerated in Orthodox Christianity, and the name has been common in Russia (as
Татьяна) and Eastern Europe. It was not regularly used in the English-speaking world until the 1980s.
Tamra
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: TAM-rə
Tamara
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian, Czech, Slovak, Polish, Slovene, Croatian, Serbian, Macedonian, Hungarian, English, Dutch, Spanish, Italian, Lithuanian, Georgian
Other Scripts: Тамара(Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian, Serbian, Macedonian) თამარა(Georgian)
Pronounced: tu-MA-rə(Russian) TA-ma-ra(Czech, Slovak) ta-MA-ra(Polish, Dutch, Spanish, Italian) TAW-maw-raw(Hungarian) tə-MAR-ə(English) tə-MAHR-ə(English) TAM-ə-rə(English) tu-mu-RU(Lithuanian)
Russian form of
Tamar. Russian performers such as Tamara Karsavina (1885-1978), Tamara Drasin (1905-1943), Tamara Geva (1907-1997) and Tamara Toumanova (1919-1996) introduced it to the English-speaking world. It rapidly grew in popularity in the United States starting in 1957. Another famous bearer was the Polish cubist painter Tamara de Lempicka (1898-1980).
Taisiya
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Russian, Ukrainian
Other Scripts: Таисия(Russian) Таїсія(Ukrainian)
Pronounced: tu-EE-syi-yə(Russian)
Russian and Ukrainian form of
Thaïs (referring to the
saint).
Taisa
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Russian, Ukrainian
Other Scripts: Таиса(Russian) Таїса(Ukrainian)
Sybella
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: si-BEHL-ə
Summer
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: SUM-ər
From the name of the season, ultimately from Old English sumor. It has been in use as a given name since the 1970s.
Stefan
Gender: Masculine
Usage: German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Dutch, Polish, Bulgarian, Serbian, Macedonian
Other Scripts: Стефан(Bulgarian, Serbian, Macedonian)
Pronounced: SHTEH-fan(German) STEH-fan(Swedish, Polish, Serbian) STEH-fahn(Dutch)
Form of
Stephen used in several languages. Famous bearers include the Serbian rulers Stefan Nemanja, Stefan Nemanjić, and Stefan Lazarević, who are all considered
saints in the Orthodox Church.
Sparrow
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: SPAR-o, SPEHR-o
From the name of the bird, ultimately from Old English spearwa.
Sophie
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French, English, German, Dutch
Pronounced: SAW-FEE(French) SO-fee(English) zo-FEE(German) so-FEE(Dutch)
Sophia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Greek, German, Ancient Greek [1]
Other Scripts: Σοφία(Greek)
Pronounced: so-FEE-ə(English) sə-FIE-ə(British English) so-FEE-a(Greek) zo-FEE-a(German)
Means
"wisdom" in Greek. This was the name of an early, probably mythical,
saint who died of grief after her three daughters were martyred during the reign of the emperor Hadrian. Legends about her probably arose as a result of a medieval misunderstanding of the phrase
Hagia Sophia "Holy Wisdom", which is the name of a large basilica in Constantinople.
This name was common among continental European royalty during the Middle Ages, and it was popularized in Britain by the German House of Hanover when they inherited the British throne in the 18th century. It was the name of characters in the novels Tom Jones (1749) by Henry Fielding and The Vicar of Wakefield (1766) by Oliver Goldsmith.
In the United States this name was only moderately common until the 1990s when it began rising in popularity, eventually becoming the most popular for girls from 2011 to 2013. A famous bearer is the Italian actress Sophia Loren (1934-).
Sonal
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Hindi, Marathi, Gujarati
Other Scripts: सोनल(Hindi, Marathi) સોનલ(Gujarati)
From Hindi
सोना (sonā), Marathi
सोन (son) or Gujarati
સોનું (sonum) meaning
"gold", all derived from Sanskrit
सुवर्ण (suvarṇa) meaning literally "good colour".
Solveig
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Norwegian, Swedish, Danish
Pronounced: SOOL-vie(Norwegian) SOOL-vay(Swedish)
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).
Soleil
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Various
Pronounced: SAW-LAY(French)
Means "sun" in French. It is not commonly used as a name in France itself.
Sol 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Spanish, Portuguese
Pronounced: SOL(Spanish) SAWL(European Portuguese) SOW(Brazilian Portuguese)
Means "sun" in Spanish or Portuguese.
Sienna
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: see-EHN-ə
From the English word meaning "orange-red". It is ultimately from the name of the city of Siena in Italy, because of the colour of the clay there.
Shoshanna
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Biblical Hebrew
Other Scripts: שׁוֹשַׁנָּה(Ancient Hebrew)
Shiloh
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: Biblical
Other Scripts: שִׁלוֹ, שִׁילֹה(Ancient Hebrew)
Pronounced: SHIE-lo(English)
From an
Old Testament place name possibly meaning
"tranquil" in Hebrew. It is also used prophetically in the Old Testament to refer to a person, often understood to be the Messiah (see
Genesis 49:10). This may in fact be a mistranslation.
This name was brought to public attention after actors Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt gave it to their daughter in 2006.
Shay 1
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: Irish
Pronounced: SHAY(English)
Anglicized form of
Séaghdha, sometimes used as a feminine name.
Shawn
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: SHAWN
Anglicized form of
Seán, occasionally used as a feminine form. This is the most common spelling of this name in the United States and Canada, with
Shaun being more typical in the United Kingdom and Australia.
Shane
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Irish, English
Pronounced: SHAYN(English)
Anglicized form of
Seán. It came into general use in America after the release of the western movie
Shane (1953).
Shanae
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern), African American (Modern)
Pronounced: shə-NAY
Combination of the popular phonetic elements
sha and
nay.
Serena
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Italian, Late Roman
Pronounced: sə-REEN-ə(English) seh-REH-na(Italian)
From a Late Latin name that was derived from Latin
serenus meaning
"clear, tranquil, serene". This name was borne by an obscure early
saint. Edmund Spenser also used it in his poem
The Faerie Queene (1590). A famous bearer from the modern era is tennis player Serena Williams (1981-).
Selena
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Spanish, English, Greek Mythology (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Σελήνη(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: seh-LEH-na(Spanish) sə-LEEN-ə(English)
Latinized form of
Selene. This name was borne by popular Mexican-American singer Selena Quintanilla (1971-1995), who was known simply as Selena. Another famous bearer is the American actress and singer Selena Gomez (1992-).
Sebastian
Gender: Masculine
Usage: German, English, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Polish, Finnish, Romanian, Czech
Pronounced: zeh-BAS-tee-an(German) sə-BAS-chən(American English) sə-BAS-tee-ən(British English) seh-BAS-dyan(Danish) seh-BAS-tyan(Polish) SEH-bahs-tee-ahn(Finnish) seh-bas-tee-AN(Romanian) SEH-bas-ti-yan(Czech)
From the Latin name
Sebastianus, which meant
"from Sebaste". Sebaste was the name a town in Asia Minor, its name deriving from Greek
σεβαστός (sebastos) meaning "venerable" (a translation of Latin
Augustus, the title of the Roman emperors). According to Christian tradition,
Saint Sebastian was a 3rd-century Roman soldier martyred during the persecutions of the emperor Diocletian. After he was discovered to be a Christian, he was tied to a stake and shot with arrows. This however did not kill him. Saint Irene of Rome healed him and he returned to personally admonish Diocletian, whereupon the emperor had him beaten to death.
Due to the saint's popularity, the name came into general use in medieval Europe, especially in Spain and France. It was also borne by a 16th-century king of Portugal who died in a crusade against Morocco.
Scheherazade
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Literature
Pronounced: shə-HEHR-ə-zahd(English)
Scarlett
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: SKAHR-lit
From an English surname that denoted a person who sold or made clothes made of scarlet (a kind of cloth, possibly derived from Persian
سقرلاط (saqrelāṭ)). Margaret Mitchell used it for the main character, Scarlett O'Hara, in her novel
Gone with the Wind (1936). Her name is explained as having come from her grandmother. Despite the fact that the book was adapted into a popular movie in 1939, the name was not common until the 21st century. It started rising around 2003, about the time that the career of American actress Scarlett Johansson (1984-) started taking off.
Sayuri
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 小百合, etc.(Japanese Kanji) さゆり(Japanese Hiragana)
Pronounced: SA-YOO-REE
From Japanese
小 (sa) meaning "small" and
百合 (yuri) meaning "lily". This name can also be composed of other kanji combinations.
Sasha
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: Russian, Ukrainian, English, French
Other Scripts: Саша(Russian, Ukrainian)
Pronounced: SA-shə(Russian) SASH-ə(English) SAH-shə(English) SA-SHA(French)
Samar 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Arabic
Other Scripts: سمر(Arabic)
Pronounced: SA-mar
Means
"evening conversation" in Arabic, from the root
سمر (samara) meaning "to talk in the evening".
Sabrina
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Italian, German, French, Spanish, Portuguese
Pronounced: sə-BREEN-ə(English) sa-BREE-na(Italian, Spanish) za-BREE-na(German) SA-BREE-NA(French) su-BREE-nu(European Portuguese) sa-BREE-nu(Brazilian Portuguese)
Latinized form of
Habren, the original Welsh name of the River Severn. According to Geoffrey of Monmouth, Sabrina was the name of a princess who was drowned in the Severn. Supposedly the river was named for her, but it is more likely that her name was actually derived from that of the river, which is of unknown meaning. She appears as a water nymph in John Milton's masque
Comus (1634).
The name was brought to public attention by Samuel A. Taylor's play Sabrina Fair (1953) and the movie adaptation Sabrina that followed it the next year. This is also the name of a comic book character, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, first introduced 1962 and with television adaptations in 1970-1974 and 1996-2003, both causing minor jumps in popularity. Another jump occurred in 1976, when it was used for a main character on the television series Charlie's Angels.
Rodrigo
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Galician
Pronounced: ro-DHREE-gho(Spanish) roo-DREE-goo(European Portuguese) ho-DREE-goo(Brazilian Portuguese) ro-DREE-go(Italian)
Spanish, Portuguese, Italian and Galician form of
Roderick, via the Latinized Gothic form
Rudericus. A notable bearer was Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar, also known as El Cid, an 11th-century Spanish military commander.
Rémy
Gender: Masculine
Usage: French
Pronounced: REH-MEE
French form of the Latin name
Remigius, which was derived from Latin
remigis "oarsman, rower".
Saint Rémy was a 5th-century bishop who converted and baptized Clovis, king of the Franks.
Quinn
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: KWIN
From an Irish surname, an Anglicized form of Irish Gaelic
Ó Cuinn, itself derived from the given name
Conn. In the United States it was more common as a name for boys until 2010, the year after the female character Quinn Fabray began appearing on the television series
Glee.
Priya
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Hinduism, Hindi, Marathi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, Bengali
Other Scripts: प्रिया(Sanskrit, Hindi, Marathi) பிரியா(Tamil) ప్రియ(Telugu) പ്രിയാ(Malayalam) ಪ್ರಿಯಾ(Kannada) প্রিয়া(Bengali)
Means
"beloved" in Sanskrit. It appears briefly in the
Puranas belonging to a daughter of King
Daksha.
Penelope
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology, English
Other Scripts: Πηνελόπη(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: PEH-NEH-LO-PEH(Classical Greek) pə-NEHL-ə-pee(English)
Probably derived from Greek
πηνέλοψ (penelops), a type of duck. Alternatively it could be from
πήνη (pene) meaning "threads, weft" and
ὄψ (ops) meaning "face, eye". In
Homer's epic the
Odyssey this is the name of the wife of
Odysseus, forced to fend off suitors while her husband is away fighting at Troy.
It has occasionally been used as an English given name since the 16th century. It was moderately popular in the 1940s, but had a more notable upswing in the early 2000s. This may have been inspired by the Spanish actress Penélope Cruz (1974-), who gained prominence in English-language movies at that time. It was already rapidly rising when celebrities Kourtney Kardashian and Scott Disick gave it to their baby daughter in 2012.
Palmer
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: PAHL-mər, PAH-mər
From an English surname meaning "pilgrim". It is ultimately from Latin palma "palm tree", since pilgrims to the Holy Land often brought back palm fronds as proof of their journey.
Orion
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Ὠρίων(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: AW-REE-AWN(Classical Greek) o-RIE-ən(English)
Meaning uncertain, but possibly related to Greek
ὅριον (horion) meaning
"boundary, limit". Alternatively it may be derived from Akkadian
Uru-anna meaning
"light of the heavens". This is the name of a constellation, which gets its name from a legendary Greek hunter who was killed by a scorpion sent by the earth goddess
Gaia.
Omar 1
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Arabic, Bosnian, Kazakh, Malay, English, Spanish, Italian
Other Scripts: عمر(Arabic) Омар(Kazakh)
Pronounced: ‘OO-mar(Arabic) ‘O-mar(Egyptian Arabic) O-mahr(English) o-MAR(Spanish)
Alternate transcription of Arabic
عمر (see
Umar). This is the usual English spelling of the name of the 12th-century poet Umar Khayyam. In his honour it has sometimes been used in the English-speaking world, notably for the American general Omar Bradley (1893-1981).
Olivia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Italian, Spanish, French, German, Finnish, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Dutch
Pronounced: o-LIV-ee-ə(English) ə-LIV-ee-ə(English) o-LEE-vya(Italian, German) o-LEE-bya(Spanish) AW-LEE-VYA(French) O-lee-vee-ah(Finnish) o-LEE-vee-ya(Dutch)
This name was used in this spelling by William Shakespeare for a character in his comedy
Twelfth Night (1602). This was a rare name in Shakespeare's time
[1] that may have been based on
Oliva or
Oliver, or directly on the Latin word
oliva meaning
"olive". In the play Olivia is a noblewoman wooed by Duke
Orsino. Instead she falls in love with his messenger Cesario, who is actually
Viola in disguise.
Olivia has been used in the English-speaking world since the 18th century, though it did not become overly popular until the last half of the 20th century. Its rise in popularity in the 1970s may have been inspired by a character on the television series The Waltons (1972-1982) [2] or the singer Olivia Newton-John (1948-2022). In 1989 it was borne by a young character on The Cosby Show, which likely accelerated its growth. It reached the top rank in England and Wales by 2008 and in the United States by 2019.
A famous bearer was the British-American actress Olivia de Havilland (1916-2020).
Odin
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Norse Mythology, English (Modern)
Pronounced: O-din(English)
Anglicized form of Old Norse
Óðinn, which was derived from
óðr meaning
"inspiration, rage, frenzy". It ultimately developed from Proto-Germanic *
Wōdanaz. The name appears as
Woden in Anglo-Saxon sources (for example, as the founder of several royal lineages in the
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle) and in forms such as
Wuotan,
Wotan or
Wodan in continental Europe, though he is best known from Norse sources.
In Norse mythology Odin is the highest of the gods, presiding over war, wisdom and death. He is the husband of Frigg and resides in Valhalla, where warriors go after they are slain. He is usually depicted as a one-eyed older man, carrying two ravens on his shoulders who inform him of all the events of the world. At the time of Ragnarök, the final battle, it is told that he will be killed fighting the great wolf Fenrir.
Odette
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French
Pronounced: AW-DEHT
French
diminutive of
Oda or
Odilia. This is the name of a princess who has been transformed into a swan in the ballet
Swan Lake (1877) by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.
Nova
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Swedish (Modern), Dutch (Modern)
Pronounced: NO-və(English) NO-va(Swedish, Dutch)
Derived from Latin novus meaning "new". It was first used as a name in the 19th century.
Noel
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: NOL, NO-əl
English form of
Noël or
Noëlle (rarely). It was fairly popular in the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand in the middle of the 20th century. It is occasionally written with a diaeresis, like in French. A famous bearer is British musician Noel Gallagher (1967-).
Nina 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Russian, Italian, English, German, French, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Lithuanian, Dutch, Polish, Slovene, Czech, Slovak, Croatian, Serbian, Bulgarian, Ukrainian, Belarusian
Other Scripts: Нина(Russian, Serbian, Bulgarian) Ніна(Ukrainian, Belarusian)
Pronounced: NYEE-nə(Russian) NEE-na(Italian, German, Slovak) NEE-nə(English) NEE-NA(French) NEE-nah(Finnish) nyi-NU(Lithuanian) NYEE-na(Polish) NI-na(Czech)
Short form of names that end in
nina, such as
Antonina or
Giannina. It was imported to Western Europe from Russia and Italy in the 19th century. This name also nearly coincides with the Spanish word
niña meaning
"little girl" (the word is pronounced differently than the name).
A famous bearer was the American jazz musician Nina Simone (1933-2003).
Nikolai
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Russian, Bulgarian
Other Scripts: Николай(Russian, Bulgarian)
Pronounced: nyi-ku-LIE(Russian)
Nicola 2
Gender: Feminine
Usage: German, English
Pronounced: NI-ko-la(German) NIK-ə-lə(English)
Feminine form of
Nicholas. In the English-speaking world this name is more common outside of America, where
Nicole is more usual.
Nia 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Welsh
Pronounced: NEE-a
Welsh form of
Niamh. The Welsh poet T. Gwynn Jones used it in his long poem
Tir na n-Óg (1916), referring to the lover of
Oisín.
Nevaeh
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: nə-VAY-ə
The word heaven spelled backwards. It became popular after the musician Sonny Sandoval from the rock group P.O.D. gave it to his daughter in 2000. Over the next few years it rapidly climbed the rankings in America, peaking at the 25th rank for girls in 2010.
Neva
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Natalia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Polish, Italian, Spanish, Romanian, English, German, Dutch, Norwegian, Danish, Swedish, Greek, Georgian, Russian, Ukrainian, Bulgarian, Late Roman
Other Scripts: Ναταλία(Greek) ნატალია(Georgian) Наталия(Russian, Bulgarian) Наталія(Ukrainian)
Pronounced: na-TA-lya(Polish, Italian, Spanish) na-ta-LEE-a(Italian) na-TA-lee-a(Romanian) nə-TAHL-ee-ə(English)
Latinate form of
Natalia (see
Natalie).
Nanaia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Semitic Mythology (Hellenized)
Other Scripts: 𒀭𒈾𒈾𒀀(Akkadian Cuneiform)
Nala 1
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Hinduism
Other Scripts: नल(Sanskrit)
Means
"stem" in Sanskrit. This is the name of a king of the Nishadha people in the Hindu epic the
Mahabharata.
Monroe
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: mən-RO
From a Scottish surname meaning
"from the mouth of the Roe". The Roe is a river in Northern Ireland. Two famous bearers of the surname were American president James Monroe (1758-1831) and American actress Marilyn Monroe (1926-1962).
As a given name it was mostly masculine in America until around 2009. It was already rising in popularity for girls when singer Mariah Carey gave it to her daughter born 2011 (though this probably helped accelerate it).
Monica
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Italian, Romanian, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Late Roman
Pronounced: MAHN-i-kə(English) MAW-nee-ka(Italian) mo-NEE-ka(Romanian) MO-nee-ka(Dutch)
Meaning unknown, most likely of Berber or Phoenician origin. In the 4th century this name was borne by a North African
saint, the mother of Saint
Augustine of Hippo, whom she converted to Christianity. Since the Middle Ages it has been associated with Latin
moneo "advisor" and Greek
μονός (monos) "one, single".
As an English name, Monica has been in general use since the 18th century. In America it reached the height of its popularity in the 1970s, declining since then. A famous bearer was the Yugoslavian tennis player Monica Seles (1973-).
Monet
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: Various
From a French surname that was derived from either
Hamon or
Edmond. This was the surname of the French impressionist painter Claude Monet (1840-1926).
Miranda
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Dutch
Pronounced: mi-RAN-də(English) mee-RAHN-da(Dutch)
Derived from Latin
mirandus meaning
"admirable, worthy of being admired". The name was created by Shakespeare for the heroine in his play
The Tempest (1611), in which Miranda and her father
Prospero are stranded on an island. It did not become a common English given name until the 20th century. This is also the name of one of the moons of Uranus, named after the Shakespearean character.
Minke
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: Frisian, Dutch
Pronounced: MIN-kə(Frisian) MING-kə(Dutch)
Mina 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Dutch
Pronounced: MEE-nə(English) MEE-na(Dutch)
Short form of
Wilhelmina and other names ending in
mina. This was the name of a character in the novel
Dracula (1897) by Bram Stoker.
Milo
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, Germanic [1]
Pronounced: MIE-lo(English)
Old German form of
Miles, as well as the Latinized form. This form was revived as an English name in the 19th century
[2].
Milan
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Czech, Slovak, Serbian, Croatian, Slovene, Macedonian, Dutch (Modern), German (Modern), French (Modern)
Other Scripts: Милан(Serbian, Macedonian)
Pronounced: MI-lan(Czech) MEE-lan(Slovak, Serbian, Croatian) MEE-lahn(Dutch)
From the Slavic element
milŭ meaning
"gracious, dear", originally a short form of names that began with that element. It was originally used in Czech, Slovak, and the South Slavic languages, though it has recently become popular elsewhere in Europe.
A city in Italy bears this name, though in this case it originates from Latin Mediolanum, perhaps ultimately of Celtic origin meaning "middle of the plain". In some cases the city name may be an influence on the use of the given name.
Mila
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Serbian, Croatian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Slovene, Ukrainian, Russian
Other Scripts: Мила(Serbian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Russian) Міла(Ukrainian)
Pronounced: MYEE-lə(Russian)
From the Slavic element
milŭ meaning
"gracious, dear", originally a short form of names containing that element.
Michaela
Gender: Feminine
Usage: German, Swedish, English, Czech, Slovak, Greek
Other Scripts: Μιχαέλα(Greek)
Pronounced: mi-kha-EH-la(German) mi-KAY-lə(English) MI-kha-eh-la(Czech) MEE-kha-eh-la(Slovak)
Mia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Dutch, German, Italian, Slovene, Croatian, English
Pronounced: MEE-ah(Swedish, Norwegian, Danish) MEE-a(Dutch, German, Italian) MEE-ə(English)
Diminutive of
Maria. It coincides with the Italian word
mia meaning
"mine".
This name was common in Sweden and Denmark in the 1970s [1]. It rose in popularity in the English-speaking world in the 1990s, entering the top ten for girls in the United States in 2009. It was also popular in many other countries at that time. Famous bearers include American actress Mia Farrow (1945-) and American soccer player Mia Hamm (1972-), birth names Maria and Mariel respectively.
Melody
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: MEHL-ə-dee
From the English word
melody, which is derived (via Old French and Late Latin) from Greek
μέλος (melos) meaning "song" combined with
ἀείδω (aeido) meaning "to sing".
Megan
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Welsh, English
Pronounced: MEHG-ən(English)
Welsh
diminutive of
Margaret. In the English-speaking world outside of Wales it has only been regularly used since the middle of the 20th century.
Maya 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Hinduism, Buddhism, Hindi, Marathi, Nepali
Other Scripts: माया(Sanskrit, Hindi, Marathi, Nepali)
Pronounced: MAH-yah(Sanskrit)
Means
"illusion, magic" in Sanskrit. In Buddhist tradition this is the name of the mother of Siddhartha Gautama (the
Buddha). This is also another name of the Hindu goddess
Durga.
Mason
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: MAY-sən
From 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.
Mariska
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Hungarian, Dutch
Pronounced: MAW-ree-shkaw(Hungarian) ma-RIS-ka(Dutch)
Maris 2
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: MEHR-is, MAR-is
Means
"of the sea", taken from the Latin title of the Virgin
Mary,
Stella Maris, meaning "star of the sea".
Marina
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Catalan, German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Dutch, English, Greek, Finnish, Estonian, Russian, Romanian, Czech, Bulgarian, Croatian, Serbian, Slovene, Macedonian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Georgian, Ancient Roman
Other Scripts: Μαρίνα(Greek) Марина(Russian, Bulgarian, Serbian, Macedonian) მარინა(Georgian)
Pronounced: ma-REE-na(Italian, Spanish, German, Dutch, Macedonian) mə-REE-nə(Catalan) mə-REEN-ə(English) mu-RYEE-nə(Russian) MA-ri-na(Czech)
Feminine form of
Marinus. This name was borne by a few early
saints. This is also the name by which Saint
Margaret of Antioch is known in the Eastern Orthodox Church.
Mariana
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Portuguese, Spanish, Romanian, Czech, Bulgarian, Ancient Roman
Other Scripts: Мариана, Марияна(Bulgarian)
Pronounced: mu-RYU-nu(European Portuguese) ma-RYU-nu(Brazilian Portuguese) ma-RYA-na(Spanish)
Roman feminine form of
Marianus. After the classical era it was sometimes interpreted as a combination of
Maria and
Ana. In Portuguese it is further used as a form of
Mariamne.
Mara 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Biblical, Biblical Hebrew [1], Italian, Spanish, Portuguese
Other Scripts: מָרָא(Ancient Hebrew)
Pronounced: MAHR-ə(English) MAR-ə(English) MEHR-ə(English) MA-ra(Spanish)
Means
"bitter" in Hebrew. In the
Old Testament this is a name that
Naomi calls herself after the death of her husband and sons (see
Ruth 1:20).
Maia 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology, Roman Mythology, Portuguese, Georgian
Other Scripts: Μαῖα(Ancient Greek) მაია(Georgian)
Pronounced: MIE-A(Classical Greek) MAY-ə(English) MIE-ə(English) MIE-ya(Latin) MAH-EE-AH(Georgian)
From Greek
μαῖα (maia) meaning
"good mother, dame, foster mother", perhaps in origin a nursery form of
μήτηρ (meter). In Greek and Roman
mythology she was the eldest of the Pleiades, a group of stars in the constellation Taurus, who were the daughters of
Atlas and
Pleione. Her son by
Zeus was
Hermes.
Luna
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Roman Mythology, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, English
Pronounced: LOO-na(Latin, Spanish, Italian) LOO-nə(English)
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.
Ludivine
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French
Pronounced: LUY-DEE-VEEN
Possibly from a feminine form of
Leutwin. It was popularized in the 1970s by a character from the French miniseries
Les Gens de Mogador.
Lucy
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: LOO-see
English form of
Lucia, in use since the Middle Ages.
Lucas
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, Dutch, French, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, Biblical Latin
Pronounced: LOO-kəs(English) LUY-kahs(Dutch) LUY-KA(French) LOO-kush(European Portuguese) LOO-kus(Brazilian Portuguese) LOO-kas(Spanish, Swedish, Latin)
Latin form of Greek
Λουκᾶς (see
Luke), as well as the form used in several other languages.
This name became very popular in the second half of the 20th century. It reached the top ten names for boys in France (by 1997), Belgium (1998), Denmark (2003), Canada (2008), the Netherlands (2009), New Zealand (2009), Australia (2010), Scotland (2013), Spain (2015) and the United States (2018).
Luca 1
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Italian, Romanian
Pronounced: LOO-ka
Italian and Romanian form of
Lucas (see
Luke). This name was borne by Luca della Robbia, a Renaissance sculptor from Florence.
Lola
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Spanish, English, French
Pronounced: LO-la(Spanish) LO-lə(English) LAW-LA(French)
Spanish
diminutive of
Dolores. A famous bearer was Lola Montez (1821-1861; birth name Eliza Gilbert), an Irish-born dancer, actress and courtesan.
Logan
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: LO-gən
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.
The name has been very common throughout the English-speaking world since end of the 20th century. In the United States it reached a high point in 2017, when it ranked as the fifth most popular name for boys.
Lily
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: LIL-ee
From the name of the flower, a symbol of purity. The word is ultimately derived from Latin lilium. This is the name of the main character, Lily Bart, in the novel The House of Mirth (1905) by Edith Wharton. A famous bearer is the American actress Lily Tomlin (1939-).
Liliana
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Romanian, Polish, Czech, English
Pronounced: lee-LYA-na(Italian, Spanish, Polish) lil-ee-AN-ə(English) lil-ee-AHN-ə(English)
Lena
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, German, Dutch, Polish, Finnish, Russian, Ukrainian, English, Italian, Portuguese, Greek, Georgian, Armenian
Other Scripts: Лена(Russian, Ukrainian) Λένα(Greek) ლენა(Georgian) Լենա(Armenian)
Pronounced: LEH-na(Swedish, German, Dutch, Polish, Italian) LYEH-nə(Russian) LEE-nə(English) LEH-NA(Georgian) leh-NAH(Armenian)
Leighton
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: LAY-tən
Variant of
Layton. It jumped in popularity as a feminine name after 2007, when actress Leighton Meester (1986-) began appearing on the television series
Gossip Girl.
Leah
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Hebrew, Biblical
Other Scripts: לֵאָה(Hebrew)
Pronounced: LEE-ə(English)
From the Hebrew name
לֵאָה (Leʾa), which was probably derived from the Hebrew word
לָאָה (laʾa) meaning
"weary, grieved" [1]. Alternatively it might be related to Akkadian
littu meaning
"cow". In the
Old Testament Leah is the first wife of
Jacob and the mother of seven of his children. Jacob's other wife was Leah's younger sister
Rachel, whom he preferred. Leah later offered Jacob her handmaid
Zilpah in order for him to conceive more children.
Although this name was used by Jews in the Middle Ages, it was not typical as an English Christian name until after the Protestant Reformation, being common among the Puritans.
Landon
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: LAN-dən
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).
Lana
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Russian, Croatian, Slovene, Georgian
Other Scripts: Лана(Russian) ლანა(Georgian)
Pronounced: LAHN-ə(English)
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.
Laelia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Ancient Roman
Pronounced: LIE-lee-a
Feminine form of Laelius, a Roman family name of unknown meaning. This is also the name of a type of flower, an orchid found in Mexico and Central America.
Ksenia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Polish, Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian
Other Scripts: Ксения(Russian) Ксенія(Ukrainian, Belarusian)
Pronounced: KSEH-nya(Polish) KSYEH-nyi-yə(Russian)
Polish form of
Xenia, as well as an alternate transcription of Russian
Ксения or Ukrainian/Belarusian
Ксенія (see
Kseniya).
Knox
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: NAHKS
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.
Kit
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: KIT
Kingston
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: KINGZ-tən
From an English surname that was originally derived from a place name meaning "king's town" in Old English. This name rose significantly on the popularity charts after musicians Gwen Stefani and Gavin Rossdale used it for their son born 2006.
Killian
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Irish, French
Anglicized form of
Cillian, also used in France.
Kieran
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Irish, English
Pronounced: KEER-ən(English) KEER-awn(English)
Katerina
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Macedonian, Albanian, Russian, Bulgarian, Greek, Late Roman
Other Scripts: Катерина(Macedonian, Russian, Bulgarian) Κατερίνα(Greek)
Pronounced: kə-tyi-RYEE-nə(Russian)
Karina
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, Polish, German, Russian, English, Latvian, Spanish
Other Scripts: Карина(Russian)
Pronounced: ka-REE-na(Swedish, Polish, German, Spanish) ku-RYEE-nə(Russian) kə-REE-nə(English)
Elaborated form of
Karin.
Kaia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Norwegian, Estonian
Jules 2
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: JOOLZ
Jovana
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Serbian, Macedonian
Other Scripts: Јована(Serbian, Macedonian)
Serbian and Macedonian feminine form of
John.
Jordana
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Spanish, Portuguese, Macedonian, Serbian, English (Rare)
Other Scripts: Јордана(Macedonian, Serbian)
Pronounced: khor-DHA-na(Spanish) jawr-DAN-ə(English)
Jocelyn
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English, French
Pronounced: JAHS-lin(English) JAHS-ə-lin(English) ZHO-SEH-LEHN(French)
From a Frankish masculine name, variously written as
Gaudelenus,
Gautselin,
Gauzlin, along with many other spellings. It was derived from the Germanic element *
gautaz, which was from the name of the Germanic tribe the Geats, combined with a Latin
diminutive suffix. The
Normans brought this name to England in the form
Goscelin or
Joscelin, and it was common until the 14th century. It was revived in the 20th century primarily as a feminine name, perhaps an adaptation of the surname
Jocelyn (a medieval derivative of the given name). In France this is a masculine name only.
Jessamine
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: JEHS-ə-min
From a variant spelling of the English word
jasmine (see
Jasmine), used also to refer to flowering plants in the cestrum family.
Jasmine
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, French
Pronounced: JAZ-min(English) ZHAS-MEEN(French)
From the English word for the climbing plant with fragrant flowers that is used for making perfumes. It is derived via Arabic from Persian
یاسمین (yāsamīn), which is also a Persian name. In the United States this name steadily grew in popularity from the 1970s, especially among African Americans
[1]. It reached a peak in the early 1990s shortly after the release of the animated Disney movie
Aladdin (1992), which featured a princess by this name.
Janel
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: jə-NEHL
James
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, Biblical
Pronounced: JAYMZ(English)
English form of the Late Latin name
Iacomus, a variant of the Biblical Latin form
Iacobus, from the Hebrew name
Yaʿaqov (see
Jacob). This was the name of two apostles in the
New Testament. The first was
Saint James the Greater, the apostle
John's brother, who was beheaded under Herod Agrippa in the Book of Acts. The second was James the Lesser, son of
Alphaeus. Another James (known as James the Just) is also mentioned in the Bible as being the brother of
Jesus.
This name has been used in England since the 13th century, though it became more common in Scotland where it was borne by several kings. In the 17th century the Scottish king James VI inherited the English throne, becoming the first ruler of all Britain, and the name grew much more popular. In American name statistics (recorded since 1880) this name has never been out of the top 20, making it arguably the era's most consistently popular name. It was the top ranked name for boys in the United States from 1940 to 1952.
Famous bearers include the English explorer James Cook (1728-1779), the Scottish inventor James Watt (1736-1819), and the Irish novelist and poet James Joyce (1882-1941). This name has also been borne by six American presidents. A notable fictional bearer is the British spy James Bond, created by author Ian Fleming in 1953.
Jadyn
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: JAY-dən
Jade
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English, French
Pronounced: JAYD(English) ZHAD(French)
From the name of the precious stone that is often used in carvings. It is derived from Spanish (piedra de la) ijada meaning "(stone of the) flank", relating to the belief that jade could cure renal colic. As a given name, it came into general use during the 1970s. It was initially unisex, though it is now mostly feminine.
Isolde
Gender: Feminine
Usage: German, Arthurian Cycle
Pronounced: ee-ZAWL-də(German) i-SOL-də(English) i-ZOL-də(English) i-SOLD(English) i-ZOLD(English) EE-ZAWLD(French)
German form of
Iseult, appearing in the 13th-century German poem
Tristan by Gottfried von Strassburg. In 1865 the German composer Richard Wagner debuted his popular opera
Tristan und Isolde and also used the name for his first daughter.
Isobel
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Scottish
Isis
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Egyptian Mythology (Hellenized)
Other Scripts: Ἶσις(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: IE-sis(English)
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.
Isaiah
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, Biblical
Other Scripts: יְשַׁעְיָהוּ(Ancient Hebrew)
Pronounced: ie-ZAY-ə(American English) ie-ZIE-ə(British English)
From the Hebrew name
יְשַׁעְיָהוּ (Yeshaʿyahu) meaning
"Yahweh is salvation", from the roots
יָשַׁע (yashaʿ) meaning "to save" and
יָהּ (yah) referring to the Hebrew God. Isaiah is one of the four major prophets of the
Old Testament, supposedly the author of the Book of Isaiah. He was from Jerusalem and probably lived in the 8th century BC, at a time when Assyria threatened the Kingdom of Judah. As an English Christian name,
Isaiah was first used after the
Protestant Reformation.
Isadore
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: IZ-ə-dawr
Isadora
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Portuguese
Pronounced: iz-ə-DAWR-ə(English)
Variant of
Isidora. A famous bearer was the American dancer Isadora Duncan (1877-1927).
Isabella
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, German, English, Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, Finnish, Dutch, Romanian
Pronounced: ee-za-BEHL-la(Italian) ee-za-BEH-la(German, Dutch) iz-ə-BEHL-ə(English) is-a-BEHL-la(Swedish) EE-sah-behl-lah(Finnish)
Latinate form of
Isabel. This name was borne by many medieval royals, including queens consort of England, France, Portugal, the Holy Roman Empire and Hungary, as well as the powerful ruling queen Isabella of Castile (properly called
Isabel).
In the United States this form was much less common than Isabel until the early 1990s, when it began rapidly rising in popularity. It reached a peak in 2009 and 2010, when it was the most popular name for girls in America, an astounding rise over only 20 years.
A famous bearer is the Italian actress Isabella Rossellini (1952-).
Isabel
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Spanish, Portuguese, English, French, German, Dutch
Pronounced: ee-sa-BEHL(Spanish) ee-zu-BEHL(European Portuguese) ee-za-BEW(Brazilian Portuguese) IZ-ə-behl(English) EE-ZA-BEHL(French) ee-za-BEHL(German, Dutch)
Medieval Occitan form of
Elizabeth. It spread throughout Spain, Portugal and France, becoming common among the royalty by the 12th century. It grew popular in England in the 13th century after Isabella of Angoulême married the English king John, and it was subsequently bolstered when Isabella of France married Edward II the following century.
This is the usual form of the name Elizabeth in Spain and Portugal, though elsewhere it is considered a parallel name, such as in France where it is used alongside Élisabeth. The name was borne by two Spanish ruling queens, including Isabel of Castile, who sponsored the explorations of Christopher Columbus.
India
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Spanish (Modern)
Pronounced: IN-dee-ə(English) EEN-dya(Spanish)
From the name of the country, which is itself derived from the name of the Indus River. The river's name is ultimately from Sanskrit
सिन्धु (Sindhu) meaning "body of trembling water, river". India Wilkes is a character in the novel
Gone with the Wind (1936) by Margaret Mitchell.
Hunter
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: HUN-tər
From an English occupational surname for a hunter, derived from Old English hunta. A famous bearer was the eccentric American journalist Hunter S. Thompson (1937-2005).
Harlow
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: HAHR-lo
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.
Graham
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Scottish, English
Pronounced: GRAY-əm(English) GRAM(English)
From 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
[1]. 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).
During the 20th century, Graham was more common in the United Kingdom, Australia and Canada than it was in the United States. However, it has been rising on the American charts since around 2006.
Gia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian (Rare)
Pronounced: JEE-a
Geneviève
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French
Pronounced: ZHU-NU-VYEHV, ZHUN-VYEHV
From the medieval name
Genovefa, which is of uncertain origin. It could be derived from the Germanic elements *
kunją "clan, family, lineage" and *
wībą "wife, woman". Alternatively it could be of Gaulish origin, from the related Celtic element *
genos "kin, family" combined with a second element of unknown meaning. This name was borne by
Saint Geneviève, the patron saint of Paris, who inspired the city to resist the Huns in the 5th century.
Gemma
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, Catalan, English (British), Dutch
Pronounced: JEHM-ma(Italian) ZHEHM-mə(Catalan) JEHM-ə(British English) GHEH-ma(Dutch)
Medieval Italian nickname meaning "gem, precious stone". It was borne by the wife of the 13th-century Italian poet Dante Alighieri.
Gaël
Gender: Masculine
Usage: French, Breton
Pronounced: GA-EHL(French)
Form of
Gael using French orthography.
Gabrielle
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French, English
Pronounced: GA-BREE-YEHL(French) gab-ree-EHL(English)
French feminine form of
Gabriel. This was the real name of French fashion designer Coco Chanel (1883-1971).
Gabriel
Gender: Masculine
Usage: French, Spanish, Portuguese, German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Catalan, English, Romanian, Polish, Czech, Slovak, Georgian, Biblical, Biblical Latin, Biblical Greek [1]
Other Scripts: გაბრიელ(Georgian) גַּבְרִיאֵל(Ancient Hebrew) Γαβριήλ(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: GA-BREE-YEHL(French) ga-BRYEHL(Spanish) ga-bree-EHL(European Portuguese, Romanian) ga-bree-EW(Brazilian Portuguese) GA-bree-ehl(German, Slovak, Latin) GAH-bri-ehl(Swedish) GAH-bree-ehl(Finnish) gə-bree-EHL(Catalan) GAY-bree-əl(English) GAB-ryehl(Polish) GA-bri-yehl(Czech)
From the Hebrew name
גַבְרִיאֵל (Ḡavriʾel) meaning
"God is my strong man", derived from
גֶּבֶר (gever) meaning "strong man, hero" and
אֵל (ʾel) meaning "God". Gabriel is an archangel in Hebrew tradition, often appearing as a messenger of God. In the
Old Testament he is sent to interpret the visions of the prophet
Daniel, while in the
New Testament he serves as the announcer of the births of
John to
Zechariah and
Jesus to
Mary. According to Islamic tradition he was the angel who dictated the
Quran to
Muhammad.
This name has been used occasionally in England since the 12th century. It was not common in the English-speaking world until the end of the 20th century.
Freya
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Norse Mythology, English (Modern), German
Pronounced: FRAY-ə(English) FRAY-a(German)
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.
Francesca
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, Catalan
Pronounced: fran-CHEHS-ka(Italian) frən-SEHS-kə(Catalan)
Italian and Catalan feminine form of
Franciscus (see
Francis).
Fleur
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French, Dutch, English (British)
Pronounced: FLUUR(French, Dutch) FLU(British English) FLUR(American English)
Means
"flower" in French.
Saint Fleur of Issendolus (
Flor in Gascon) was a 14th-century nun from Maurs, France. This was also the name of a character in John Galsworthy's novels
The Forsyte Saga (1922).
Felix
Gender: Masculine
Usage: German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, English, Romanian, Ancient Roman, Biblical, Biblical Latin
Pronounced: FEH-liks(German, Dutch, Swedish) FEE-liks(English) FEH-leeks(Latin)
From a Roman
cognomen meaning
"lucky, successful" in Latin. It was acquired as an
agnomen, or nickname, by the 1st-century BC Roman general Sulla. It also appears in the
New Testament belonging to the governor of Judea who imprisoned
Saint Paul.
Due to its favourable meaning, this name was popular among early Christians, being borne by many early saints and four popes. It has been used in England since the Middle Ages, though it has been more popular in continental Europe. A notable bearer was the German composer Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847).
Faye
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: FAY
Eve
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Estonian, Biblical
Other Scripts: חַוָּה(Ancient Hebrew)
Pronounced: EEV(English)
From the Hebrew name
חַוָּה (Ḥawwa), which was derived from the Hebrew word
חָוָה (ḥawa) meaning
"to breathe" or the related word
חָיָה (ḥaya) meaning
"to live". According to the
Old Testament Book of Genesis, Eve and
Adam were the first humans. God created her from one of Adam's ribs to be his companion. At the urging of a serpent she ate the forbidden fruit and shared some with Adam, causing their expulsion from the Garden of
Eden.
Despite this potentially negative association, the name was occasionally used by Christians during the Middle Ages. In the English-speaking world both Eve and the Latin form Eva were revived in the 19th century, with the latter being more common.
Eva
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, English, Czech, Slovak, German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Estonian, Danish, Icelandic, Faroese, Romanian, Greek, Slovene, Bulgarian, Croatian, Russian, Georgian, Armenian, Biblical Latin, Old Church Slavic
Other Scripts: Εύα(Greek) Ева(Bulgarian, Russian, Church Slavic) ევა(Georgian) Էվա(Armenian)
Pronounced: EH-ba(Spanish) EH-va(Italian, Czech, Slovak, Dutch, Swedish, Icelandic, Greek) EE-və(English) EH-fa(German) EH-vah(Danish) YEH-və(Russian) EH-VAH(Georgian) EH-wa(Latin)
Form of
Eve used in various languages. This form is used in the Latin translation of the
New Testament, while
Hava is used in the Latin
Old Testament. A notable bearer was the Argentine first lady Eva Perón (1919-1952), the subject of the musical
Evita. The name also appears in Harriet Beecher Stowe's novel
Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852) belonging to the character Little Eva, whose real name is in fact Evangeline.
This is also an alternate transcription of Russian Ева (see Yeva).
Esmé
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: EHZ-may, EHZ-mee
Means "esteemed" or "loved" in Old French. It was first recorded in Scotland, being borne by the first Duke of Lennox in the 16th century. It is now more common as a feminine name.
Emilia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, Spanish, Romanian, Finnish, Polish, German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, English, Greek, Bulgarian
Other Scripts: Αιμιλία(Greek) Емилия(Bulgarian)
Pronounced: eh-MEE-lya(Italian, Spanish, Polish) EH-mee-lee-ah(Finnish) eh-MEE-lee-ah(Swedish) i-MEE-lee-ə(English) eh-mee-LEE-a(Greek)
Feminine form of
Aemilius (see
Emily). In Shakespeare's tragedy
Othello (1603) this is the name of the wife of
Iago.
Ellie
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: EHL-ee
Diminutive of
Eleanor,
Ellen 1 and other names beginning with
El. This name became popular in the United Kingdom in the 1990s, being ranked second for girls in 2003.
Elle
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: EHL
Diminutive of
Eleanor and other names beginning with
El. This name can also be given in reference to the French pronoun
elle meaning "she".
Already growing in popularity due to Australian model Elle Macpherson (1964-), this name received a boost in the United States after the release of the 2001 movie Legally Blonde featuring the main character Elle Woods. In the United Kingdom the name was already fairly common at the time the movie came out, and it actually started declining there shortly afterwards. A famous bearer is American actress Elle Fanning (1998-).
Elijah
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, Hebrew, Biblical
Other Scripts: אֱלִיָּהוּ(Hebrew)
Pronounced: i-LIE-jə(English) i-LIE-zhə(English)
From the Hebrew name
אֱלִיָּהוּ (ʾEliyyahu) meaning
"my God is Yahweh", derived from the roots
אֵל (ʾel) and
יָהּ (yah), both referring to the Hebrew God. Elijah was a Hebrew prophet and miracle worker, as told in the two Books of Kings in the
Old Testament. He was active in the 9th century BC during the reign of King
Ahab of Israel and his Phoenician-born queen
Jezebel. Elijah confronted the king and queen over their idolatry of the Canaanite god
Ba'al and other wicked deeds. At the end of his life he was carried to heaven in a chariot of fire, and was succeeded by
Elisha. In the
New Testament, Elijah and
Moses appear next to
Jesus when he is transfigured.
Because Elijah was a popular figure in medieval tales, and because his name was borne by a few early saints (who are usually known by the Latin form Elias), the name came into general use during the Middle Ages. In medieval England it was usually spelled Elis. It died out there by the 16th century, but it was revived by the Puritans in the form Elijah after the Protestant Reformation. The name became popular during the 1990s and 2000s, especially in America where it broke into the top ten in 2016.
Electra
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Ἠλέκτρα(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: i-LEHK-trə(English)
Latinized form of Greek
Ἠλέκτρα (Elektra), derived from
ἤλεκτρον (elektron) meaning
"amber". In Greek
myth she was the daughter of
Agamemnon and
Clytemnestra and the sister of
Orestes. She helped her brother kill their mother and her lover Aegisthus in vengeance for Agamemnon's murder. Also in Greek mythology, this name was borne by one of the Pleiades, who were the daughters of
Atlas and
Pleione.
Eden
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: Hebrew, English (Modern), French (Modern)
Other Scripts: עֵדֶן(Hebrew)
Pronounced: EE-dən(English)
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.
Easton
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: EES-tən
From an English surname that was derived from place names meaning "east town" in Old English.
Drea
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Dre
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Short form of
Andre. A famous bearer is the American rapper and music producer Dr. Dre (1965-), born Andre Young.
Drake
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: DRAYK
From an English surname derived from the Old Norse byname
Draki or the Old English byname
Draca both meaning "dragon", both via Latin from Greek
δράκων (drakon) meaning "dragon, serpent". This name coincides with the unrelated English word
drake meaning "male duck". A famous bearer is the Canadian actor and rapper Drake (1986-), who was born as Aubrey Drake Graham.
Dorian
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, French, Romanian
Pronounced: DAWR-ee-ən(English) DAW-RYAHN(French)
The name was first used by Oscar Wilde in his novel The Picture of Dorian Gray (1891), which tells the story of a man whose portrait ages while he stays young. Wilde may have taken it from the name of the ancient Greek tribe the Dorians.
Dominic
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: DAHM-i-nik
From the Late Latin name
Dominicus meaning
"of the Lord". This name was traditionally given to a child born on Sunday. Several
saints have borne this name, including the 13th-century founder of the Dominican order of friars. It was in this saint's honour that the name was first used in England, starting around the 13th century. It has historically seen more use among Catholics.
Diego
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Spanish, Italian
Pronounced: DYEH-gho(Spanish) DYEH-go(Italian)
Spanish name, possibly a shortened form of
Santiago. In medieval records
Diego was Latinized as
Didacus, and it has been suggested that it in fact derives from Greek
διδαχή (didache) meaning
"teaching".
Saint Didacus (or Diego) was a 15th-century Franciscan brother based in Alcalá, Spain.
Other famous bearers of this name include Spanish painter Diego Velázquez (1599-1660), Mexican muralist Diego Rivera (1886-1957) and Argentine soccer player Diego Maradona (1960-2020).
Desmond
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, Irish
Pronounced: DEHZ-mənd(English)
Anglicized form of Irish Deasmhumhain meaning "south Munster", referring to the region of Desmond in southern Ireland, formerly a kingdom. It can also come from the related surname (an Anglicized form of Ó Deasmhumhnaigh), which indicated a person who came from that region. A famous bearer is the South African archbishop and activist Desmond Tutu (1931-2021).
Désirée
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French, Dutch, German
Pronounced: DEH-ZEE-REH(French)
French form of
Desiderata. In part it is directly from the French word meaning "desired, wished".
Delphine
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French
Pronounced: DEHL-FEEN
Dante
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Italian
Pronounced: DAN-teh(Italian) DAHN-tay(English) DAN-tee(English)
Medieval short form of
Durante. The most notable bearer of this name was Dante Alighieri (1265-1321), the Italian poet who wrote the
Divine Comedy.
Danica
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Serbian, Croatian, Slovene, Slovak, Macedonian, English
Other Scripts: Даница(Serbian, Macedonian)
Pronounced: DA-nee-tsa(Serbian, Croatian) DA-nyee-tsa(Slovak) DAN-i-kə(English)
From a Slavic word meaning "morning star, Venus". This name occurs in Slavic folklore as a personification of the morning star. It has sometimes been used in the English-speaking world since the 1970s.
Damon
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Greek Mythology, English
Other Scripts: Δάμων(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: DAY-mən(English)
Derived from Greek
δαμάζω (damazo) meaning
"to tame". According to Greek legend, Damon and Pythias were friends who lived on Syracuse in the 4th century BC. When Pythias was sentenced to death, he was allowed to temporarily go free on the condition that Damon take his place in prison. Pythias returned just before Damon was to be executed in his place, and the king was so impressed with their loyalty to one another that he pardoned Pythias. As an English given name, it has only been regularly used since the 20th century.
Cruz
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: Spanish, Portuguese
Pronounced: KROOTH(European Spanish) KROOS(Latin American Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese) KROOSH(European Portuguese)
Means "cross" in Spanish or Portuguese, referring to the cross of the crucifixion.
Colton
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: KOL-tən
From an English surname that was originally derived from a place name meaning
"Cola's town". It started being used as a given name in the 1980s. Likely in some cases it was viewed as an elaborated or full form of
Cole or
Colt.
Cleo
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: KLEE-o
Claire
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French, English
Pronounced: KLEHR
French form of
Clara. This was a common name in France throughout the 20th century, though it has since been eclipsed there by
Clara. It was also very popular in the United Kingdom, especially in the 1970s.
Chloé
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French
Pronounced: KLO-EH
Charisma
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: kə-RIZ-mə
From the English word meaning
"personal magnetism", ultimately derived from Greek
χάρις (charis) meaning "grace, kindness".
Celeste
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, English
Pronounced: cheh-LEH-steh(Italian) theh-LEHS-teh(European Spanish) seh-LEHS-teh(Latin American Spanish) sə-LEST(English)
Italian feminine and masculine form of
Caelestis. It is also the Portuguese, Spanish and English feminine form.
Cassius
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Ancient Roman
Pronounced: KAS-see-oos(Latin) KASH-əs(English) KAS-ee-əs(English)
Roman family name that was possibly derived from Latin
cassus meaning
"empty, vain". This name was borne by several early
saints. In modern times, it was the original first name of boxer Muhammad Ali (1942-2016), who was named after his father Cassius Clay, who was himself named after the American abolitionist Cassius Clay (1810-1903).
Carter
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: KAHR-tər
From an English surname that meant "one who uses a cart". A famous bearer of the surname is former American president Jimmy Carter (1924-).
Caroline
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French, English, German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Dutch
Pronounced: KA-RAW-LEEN(French) KAR-ə-lien(English) KAR-ə-lin(English) ka-ro-LEE-nə(German, Dutch) ka-ro-LEEN(Dutch)
Camila
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Spanish, Portuguese
Pronounced: ka-MEE-la(Spanish)
Spanish and Portuguese form of
Camilla.
Callie
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: KAL-ee
Calla
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: KAL-ə
From the name of two types of plants, the true calla (species Calla palustris) and the calla lily (species Calla aethiopica), both having white flowers and growing in marshy areas. Use of the name may also be inspired by Greek
κάλλος (kallos) meaning
"beauty".
Caleb
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, Biblical
Other Scripts: כָּלֵב(Ancient Hebrew)
Pronounced: KAY-ləb(English)
Most likely related to Hebrew
כֶּלֶב (kelev) meaning
"dog" [1]. An alternate theory connects it to Hebrew
כֹּל (kol) meaning "whole, all of"
[2] and
לֵב (lev) meaning "heart"
[3]. In the
Old Testament this is the name of one of the twelve spies sent by
Moses into Canaan. Of the Israelites who left Egypt with Moses, Caleb and
Joshua were the only ones who lived to see the Promised Land.
As an English name, Caleb came into use after the Protestant Reformation. It was common among the Puritans, who introduced it to America in the 17th century.
Bianca
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, Romanian
Pronounced: BYANG-ka
Italian
cognate of
Blanche. Shakespeare had characters named Bianca in
The Taming of the Shrew (1593) and
Othello (1603).
Bellatrix
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Astronomy
Pronounced: bə-LAY-triks(English) BEHL-ə-triks(English)
Means "female warrior" in Latin. This is the name of the star that marks the left shoulder of the constellation Orion.
Behati
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Afrikaans
Pronounced: bay-AH-tee
Possibly an Afrikaans variant of
Beata. It is the name of Namibian fashion model Behati Prinsloo (b. 1989).
Azure
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: AZH-ər
From the English word that means "sky blue". It is ultimately (via Old French, Latin and Arabic) from Persian
لاجورد (lājvard) meaning "azure, lapis lazuli".
Azura
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: ə-ZHUWR-ə, AZH-rə
Axel
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, German, French, English
Pronounced: A-ksehl(Swedish) A-ksəl(German) A-KSEHL(French) AK-səl(English)
Avalon
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: AV-ə-lahn
From the name of the island paradise to which King
Arthur was brought after his death. The name of this island is perhaps related to Welsh
afal meaning "apple", a fruit that was often linked with paradise.
Ava 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: AY-və
Variant of
Eve. A famous bearer was the American actress Ava Gardner (1922-1990). This name became very popular throughout the English-speaking world in the early 21st century, entering the top ten for girls in the United States, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. It began to rise sharply after 1997, possibly inspired by the actress Heather Locklear and musician Richie Sambora when they used it for their baby daughter that year.
Autumn
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: AW-təm
From the name of the season, ultimately from Latin autumnus. This name has been in general use since the 1960s.
Aurora
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, English, Romanian, Finnish, Norwegian, Swedish, Roman Mythology
Pronounced: ow-RAW-ra(Italian) ow-RO-ra(Spanish, Latin) ə-RAWR-ə(English) OW-ro-rah(Finnish)
Means "dawn" in Latin. Aurora was the Roman goddess of the morning. It has occasionally been used as a given name since the Renaissance.
Asia 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern), Italian (Modern)
Pronounced: AY-zhə(English) A-zya(Italian)
From the name of the continent, which is perhaps derived from Akkadian asu, meaning "east".
Asher
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Hebrew, English, Biblical, Biblical Hebrew [1]
Other Scripts: אָשֵׁר(Hebrew)
Pronounced: ASH-ər(English)
Means
"happy, blessed" in Hebrew, derived from
אָשַׁר (ʾashar) meaning "to be happy, to be blessed". Asher in the
Old Testament is a son of
Jacob by
Leah's handmaid
Zilpah, and the ancestor of one of the twelve tribes of Israel. The meaning of his name is explained in
Genesis 30:13.
Ariel
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: Hebrew, English, French, Spanish, Polish, Biblical, Biblical Greek
Other Scripts: אֲרִיאֵל(Hebrew) Ἀριήλ(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: a-ree-EHL(Hebrew) EHR-ee-əl(English) AR-ee-əl(English) A-RYEHL(French) a-RYEHL(Spanish) A-ryehl(Polish)
Means
"lion of God" in Hebrew, from
אֲרִי (ʾari) meaning "lion" and
אֵל (ʾel) meaning "God". In the
Old Testament it is used as another name for the city of Jerusalem. Shakespeare utilized it for a spirit in his play
The Tempest (1611) and Alexander Pope utilized it for a sylph in his poem
The Rape of the Lock (1712), and one of the moons of Uranus bears this name in his honour. As an English name, it became more common for females in the 1980s, especially after it was used for the title character in the Disney film
The Little Mermaid (1989).
Ariana
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Portuguese, English (Modern)
Pronounced: ar-ee-AN-ə(English) ar-ee-AHN-ə(English)
Portuguese form of
Ariadne. This name steadily grew in popularity in America in the last few decades of the 20th century. A famous bearer is the American pop singer Ariana Grande (1993-).
Aria 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: AHR-ee-ə
Means "song, melody" in Italian (literally means "air"). An aria is an elaborate vocal solo, the type usually performed in operas. As an English name, it has only been in use since the 20th century, its rise in popularity accelerating after the 2010 premier of the television drama Pretty Little Liars, featuring a character by this name. It is not traditionally used in Italy.
Ari 1
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Hebrew
Other Scripts: אֲרִי(Hebrew)
Means "lion" in Hebrew.
April
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: AY-prəl
From the name of the month, probably originally derived from Latin aperire "to open", referring to the opening of flowers. It has only been commonly used as a given name since the 1940s.
Annelise
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Danish
Angelina
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, English, Russian, Bulgarian, Serbian, German, Dutch, Spanish, Portuguese, Greek, Armenian
Other Scripts: Ангелина(Russian, Bulgarian, Serbian) Αγγελίνα(Greek) Անգելինա(Armenian)
Pronounced: ang-jeh-LEE-na(Italian) an-jə-LEE-nə(English) un-gyi-LYEE-nə(Russian) ang-kheh-LEE-na(Spanish)
Latinate
diminutive of
Angela. A famous bearer is American actress Angelina Jolie (1975-).
Angel
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English, Bulgarian, Macedonian
Other Scripts: Ангел(Bulgarian, Macedonian)
Pronounced: AYN-jəl(English)
From the medieval Latin masculine name
Angelus, which was derived from the name of the heavenly creature (itself derived from the Greek word
ἄγγελος (angelos) meaning "messenger"). It has never been very common in the English-speaking world, where it is sometimes used as a feminine name in modern times.
Andreas
Gender: Masculine
Usage: German, Greek, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Dutch, Welsh, Ancient Greek [1], Biblical Latin, Biblical Greek [2]
Other Scripts: Ανδρέας(Greek) Ἀνδρέας(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: an-DREH-as(German, Swedish) ahn-DREH-ahs(Dutch) AN-DREH-AS(Classical Greek)
Ancient Greek and Latin form of
Andrew. It is also the form used in Modern Greek, German and Welsh.
André
Gender: Masculine
Usage: French, Portuguese, Galician, German, Dutch
Pronounced: AHN-DREH(French) un-DREH(Portuguese) an-DREH(Galician, German) AHN-dreh(Dutch) ahn-DREH(Dutch)
French, Portuguese and Galician form of
Andreas (see
Andrew).
Anaïs
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French
Pronounced: A-NA-EES
Meaning uncertain, possibly a derivative of
Anne 1 or
Agnès. It was used in Jean-Henri Guy's opera
Anacréon chez Polycrate (1798), where it is borne by the daughter (otherwise unnamed in history) of the 6th-century BC tyrant
Polycrates of Samos. Guy could have adapted it from a classical name such as
Anaitis or
Athénaïs.
A famous bearer was the Cuban-French writer Anaïs Nin (1903-1977), known for her diaries.
Ana
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Spanish, Portuguese, Slovene, Bulgarian, Romanian, Croatian, Serbian, Albanian, Macedonian, Georgian, Fijian, Tongan
Other Scripts: Ана(Bulgarian, Serbian, Macedonian) ანა(Georgian)
Pronounced: A-na(Spanish, Romanian) U-nu(European Portuguese, Brazilian Portuguese) AH-NAH(Georgian)
Form of
Anna used in various languages.
Amethyst
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: AM-ə-thist
From the name of the purple semi-precious stone, which is derived from the Greek negative prefix
ἀ (a) and
μέθυστος (methystos) meaning "intoxicated, drunk", as it was believed to be a remedy against drunkenness. It is the traditional birthstone of February.
Allegra
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, English (Rare)
Pronounced: al-LEH-gra(Italian) ə-LEHG-rə(English)
Means "cheerful, lively" in Italian. It was borne by a short-lived illegitimate daughter of Lord Byron (1817-1822).
Alexandre
Gender: Masculine
Usage: French, Portuguese, Galician, Catalan
Pronounced: A-LEHK-ZAHNDR(French) u-li-SHUN-dri(European Portuguese) a-leh-SHUN-dree(Brazilian Portuguese) a-leh-SHAN-dreh(Galician) ə-lək-SAN-drə(Catalan)
Form of
Alexander in several languages. This name was borne by the French author Alexandre Dumas (1802-1870), who wrote
The Three Musketeers.
Alexander
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Icelandic, Hungarian, Slovak, Biblical, Ancient Greek (Latinized), Greek Mythology (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Ἀλέξανδρος(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: al-ig-ZAN-dər(English) a-leh-KSAN-du(German) a-lehk-SAHN-dər(Dutch) a-lehk-SAN-dehr(Swedish, Latin) A-lehk-san-tehr(Icelandic) AW-lehk-sawn-dehr(Hungarian) A-lehk-san-dehr(Slovak)
Latinized form of the Greek name
Ἀλέξανδρος (Alexandros), which meant
"defending men" from Greek
ἀλέξω (alexo) meaning "to defend, help" and
ἀνήρ (aner) meaning "man" (genitive
ἀνδρός). In Greek
mythology this was another name of the hero
Paris, and it also belongs to several characters in the
New Testament. However, the most famous bearer was Alexander the Great, king of Macedon. In the 4th century BC he built a huge empire out of Greece, Egypt, Persia, and parts of India. Due to his fame, and later medieval tales involving him, use of his name spread throughout Europe.
The name has been used by kings of Scotland, Poland and Yugoslavia, emperors of Russia, and eight popes. Other notable bearers include English poet Alexander Pope (1688-1744), American statesman Alexander Hamilton (1755-1804), Scottish-Canadian explorer Alexander MacKenzie (1764-1820), Russian poet Alexander Pushkin (1799-1837), and Alexander Graham Bell (1847-1922), the Scottish-Canadian-American inventor of the telephone.
Alexa
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, German, Hungarian
Pronounced: ə-LEHK-sə(English) AW-lehk-saw(Hungarian)
Alessandra
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian
Pronounced: a-lehs-SAN-dra
Adrienne
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French, English
Pronounced: A-DREE-YEHN(French)
French feminine form of
Adrian.
Adriana
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Romanian, Polish, Slovak, Czech, Bulgarian, English, Dutch
Other Scripts: Адриана(Bulgarian)
Pronounced: a-dree-A-na(Italian, Dutch) a-DHRYA-na(Spanish) a-DRYA-na(Polish) ay-dree-AN-ə(English) ay-dree-AHN-ə(English)
Feminine form of
Adrian. A famous bearer is the Brazilian model Adriana Lima (1981-).
Adrian
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, Romanian, Polish, German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Russian
Other Scripts: Адриан(Russian)
Pronounced: AY-dree-ən(English) a-dree-AN(Romanian) A-dryan(Polish) A-dree-an(German) u-dryi-AN(Russian)
Form of
Hadrianus (see
Hadrian) used in several languages. Several
saints and six popes have borne this name, including the only English pope, Adrian IV, and the only Dutch pope, Adrian VI. As an English name, it has been in use since the Middle Ages, though it was not popular until modern times.
Adam
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, French, German, Polish, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Czech, Slovak, Russian, Ukrainian, Croatian, Serbian, Macedonian, Romanian, Catalan, Greek, Hebrew, Arabic, Georgian, Malay, Indonesian, Dhivehi, Biblical, Biblical Latin, Biblical Greek [1], Biblical Hebrew [2]
Other Scripts: Адам(Russian, Ukrainian, Serbian, Macedonian) Αδάμ, Άνταμ(Greek) אָדָם(Hebrew) آدم(Arabic) ადამ(Georgian) އާދަމް(Dhivehi) Ἀδάμ(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: AD-əm(English) A-DAHN(French) A-dam(German, Polish, Czech, Arabic, Indonesian) A-dahm(Dutch) AH-dam(Swedish) u-DAM(Russian, Ukrainian) ə-DHAM(Catalan)
This is the Hebrew word for
"man". It could be ultimately derived from Hebrew
אדם (ʾaḏam) meaning
"to be red", referring to the ruddy colour of human skin, or from Akkadian
adamu meaning
"to make".
According to Genesis in the Old Testament Adam was created from the earth by God (there is a word play on Hebrew אֲדָמָה (ʾaḏama) meaning "earth"). He and Eve were supposedly the first humans, living happily in the Garden of Eden until they ate the forbidden fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. As a result they were expelled from Eden to the lands to the east, where they gave birth to the second generation, including Cain, Abel and Seth.
As an English Christian name, Adam has been common since the Middle Ages, and it received a boost after the Protestant Reformation. A famous bearer was Scottish economist Adam Smith (1723-1790).
Abel
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, Georgian, Armenian, Biblical, Biblical Latin, Biblical Greek [1]
Other Scripts: აბელ(Georgian) Աբել(Armenian) הֶבֶל(Ancient Hebrew) Ἄβελ, Ἅβελ(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: AY-bəl(English) A-BEHL(French) a-BEHL(Spanish, European Portuguese) a-BEW(Brazilian Portuguese) A-bəl(Dutch) ah-BEHL(Eastern Armenian) ah-PEHL(Western Armenian)
From the Hebrew name
הֶבֶל (Hevel) meaning
"breath". In the
Old Testament he is the second son of
Adam and
Eve, murdered out of envy by his brother
Cain. In England, this name came into use during the Middle Ages, and it was common during the
Puritan era.
Aaliyah
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Arabic, English (Modern), African American (Modern)
Other Scripts: عالية(Arabic)
Pronounced: ‘A-lee-ya(Arabic) ə-LEE-ə(English) ah-LEE-ə(English)
Feminine form of
Aali. It was popularized in the English-speaking world by the singer Aaliyah Haughton (1979-2001), who was known simply as Aaliyah. This name received a boost in popularity after she released her debut album in 1994, and also in 2001 after her untimely death in an airplane crash.
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