MSC's Personal Name List

Violet
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: VIE-lit, VIE-ə-lit
Rating: 63% based on 12 votes
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.
Viola
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Italian, Swedish, Danish, Finnish, German, Hungarian, Czech, Slovak
Pronounced: vie-O-lə(English) vi-O-lə(English) VIE-ə-lə(English) VYAW-la(Italian) vi-OO-la(Swedish) VEE-o-la(German) vee-O-la(German) VEE-o-law(Hungarian) VI-o-la(Czech) VEE-aw-la(Slovak)
Rating: 40% based on 7 votes
Means "violet" in Latin. This is the name of the heroine of William Shakespeare's comedy Twelfth Night (1602). In the play she is the survivor of a shipwreck who disguises herself as a man named Cesario. Working as a messenger for Duke Orsino, she attempts to convince Olivia to marry him. Instead Viola falls in love with the duke.
Vilde 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Norwegian
Rating: 20% based on 6 votes
Short form of Alvilde.
Vera 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Russian, English, German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Dutch, Portuguese, Italian, Spanish, Hungarian, Slovene, Serbian, Croatian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Belarusian, Georgian
Other Scripts: Вера(Russian, Serbian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Belarusian) ვერა(Georgian)
Pronounced: VYEH-rə(Russian) VEE-rə(English) VEHR-ə(English) VEH-ra(German, Dutch) VEH-rah(Swedish) BEH-ra(Spanish) VEH-raw(Hungarian)
Rating: 44% based on 7 votes
Means "faith" in Russian, though it is sometimes associated with the Latin word verus "true". It has been in general use in the English-speaking world since the late 19th century.
Uma
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Hinduism, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Tamil, Hindi
Other Scripts: उमा(Sanskrit, Hindi) ఉమ(Telugu) ಉಮಾ(Kannada) ഉമ(Malayalam) உமா(Tamil)
Rating: 37% based on 6 votes
Means "flax" in Sanskrit. This is another name of the Hindu goddess Parvati. In Hindu texts it is said to derive from the Sanskrit exclamation उ मा (u mā) meaning "O do not (practice austerities)!", which was addressed to Parvati by her mother.
Thora
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Norwegian, Danish
Rating: 46% based on 7 votes
Modern form of Þóra.
Sonia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Romanian, Polish
Pronounced: SON-yə(English) SAWN-yə(English) SAW-nya(Italian) SO-nya(Spanish)
Rating: 37% based on 6 votes
Variant of Sonya.
Selma 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Icelandic
Pronounced: SEHL-mə(English) ZEHL-ma(German) SEHL-ma(Dutch)
Rating: 32% based on 6 votes
Meaning unknown, possibly a short form of Anselma. It could also have been inspired by James Macpherson's 18th-century poems, in which it is the name of Ossian's castle.
Rhea
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology, Roman Mythology
Other Scripts: Ῥέα(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: REH-A(Classical Greek) REE-ə(English) REH-a(Latin)
Rating: 20% based on 6 votes
Meaning unknown, perhaps related to ῥέω (rheo) meaning "to flow" or ἔρα (era) meaning "ground". In Greek mythology Rhea was a Titan, the wife of Cronus, and the mother of the Olympian gods Zeus, Poseidon, Hades, Hera, Demeter and Hestia. Also, in Roman mythology a woman named Rhea Silvia was the mother of Romulus and Remus, the legendary founders of Rome.
Rania
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek, Romani (Archaic)
Other Scripts: Ράνια(Greek)
Rating: 41% based on 7 votes
Greek short form of Ourania and Romani short form of Urania.
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)
Rating: 54% based on 7 votes
Means "beloved" in Sanskrit. It appears briefly in the Puranas belonging to a daughter of King Daksha.
Pria
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Indian (Rare)
Rating: 49% based on 10 votes
Variant transcription of Priya.
Petra
Gender: Feminine
Usage: German, Dutch, Spanish, Czech, Slovak, Slovene, Croatian, Bulgarian, Hungarian, Swedish, Finnish, English
Other Scripts: Петра(Bulgarian) Πέτρα(Greek)
Pronounced: PEH-tra(German, Dutch, Spanish, Czech, Slovak) PEH-traw(Hungarian) PEHT-rah(Finnish) PEHT-rə(English)
Rating: 40% based on 10 votes
Feminine form of Peter. This was also the name of an ancient city in the region that is now Jordan.
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)
Rating: 47% based on 6 votes
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).

Nila
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Tamil, Hindi, Indonesian, Burmese
Other Scripts: நீலா(Tamil) नीला(Hindi) နီလာ(Burmese)
Pronounced: NEE-LA(Burmese)
Rating: 49% based on 7 votes
From Sanskrit नील (nīla) meaning "dark blue".
Nicola 2
Gender: Feminine
Usage: German, English
Pronounced: NI-ko-la(German) NIK-ə-lə(English)
Rating: 46% based on 8 votes
Feminine form of Nicholas. In the English-speaking world this name is more common outside of America, where Nicole is more usual.
Nanna 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, Icelandic, Norse Mythology
Pronounced: NAN-nah(Danish) NAHN-nah(Swedish, Norwegian, Icelandic)
Rating: 38% based on 6 votes
Possibly derived from Old Norse nanþ meaning "daring, brave". In Norse mythology she was a goddess who died of grief when her husband Balder was killed.
Malou
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Danish
Rating: 40% based on 6 votes
Short form of Marie-Louise.
Liv 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Norwegian, Swedish, Danish
Pronounced: LEEV
Rating: 34% based on 5 votes
Derived from the Old Norse name Hlíf meaning "protection". Its use has been influenced by the modern Scandinavian word liv meaning "life".
Leonora
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian
Rating: 62% based on 11 votes
Italian short form of Eleanor.
Léa
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French
Pronounced: LEH-A
Rating: 42% based on 6 votes
French form of Leah.
Lara 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Russian, English, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, Hungarian, Slovene, Croatian
Other Scripts: Лара(Russian)
Pronounced: LAHR-ə(English) LA-ra(German, Italian, Spanish, Dutch) LA-RA(French) LA-ru(Portuguese) LAW-raw(Hungarian)
Rating: 45% based on 6 votes
Russian short form of Larisa. It was introduced to the English-speaking world by a character from Boris Pasternak's novel Doctor Zhivago (1957) and the subsequent movie adaptation (1965). Between 1965 and 1969 it increased by almost 2,000 percent in the United States, however it is currently much more popular in the United Kingdom, Australia, Spain, Portugal, Italy, and Germany. Another famous fictional bearer is Lara Croft, first appearing in video games in 1996 and movies in 2001.
Johanna
Gender: Feminine
Usage: German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Dutch, Hungarian, Finnish, Estonian, English, Late Roman
Pronounced: yo-HA-na(German) yuw-HAN-na(Swedish) yo-HAHN-nah(Danish) yo-HAH-na(Dutch) YO-hawn-naw(Hungarian) YO-hahn-nah(Finnish) jo-HAN-ə(English) jo-AN-ə(English)
Rating: 53% based on 8 votes
Latinate form of Greek Ioanna (see Joanna).
Iris
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology, English, German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, French, Spanish, Catalan, Italian, Slovene, Croatian, Greek
Other Scripts: Ἶρις(Ancient Greek) Ίρις(Greek)
Pronounced: IE-ris(English) EE-ris(German, Dutch) EE-rees(Finnish, Spanish, Catalan, Italian) EE-REES(French)
Rating: 57% based on 6 votes
Means "rainbow" in Greek. Iris was the name of the Greek goddess of the rainbow, also serving as a messenger to the gods. This name can also be given in reference to the word (which derives from the same Greek source) for the iris flower or the coloured part of the eye.
Indra
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Hinduism, Hindi, Nepali, Indonesian
Other Scripts: इन्द्र(Sanskrit, Nepali) इन्द्र, इंद्र(Hindi)
Pronounced: IN-drə(English) EEN-dra(Indonesian)
Rating: 20% based on 5 votes
Means "possessing drops of rain" from Sanskrit इन्दु (indu) meaning "a drop" and (ra) meaning "acquiring, possessing". Indra is the name of the ancient Hindu warrior god of the sky and rain, frequently depicted riding the elephant Airavata. He is the chief god in the Rigveda.
Indira
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Hinduism, Hindi, Marathi, Kannada, Tamil
Other Scripts: इन्दिरा(Sanskrit) इन्दिरा, इंदिरा(Hindi) इंदिरा(Marathi) ಇಂದಿರಾ(Kannada) இந்திரா(Tamil)
Pronounced: IN-di-ra(Hindi)
Rating: 37% based on 6 votes
Means "beauty" in Sanskrit. This is another name of Lakshmi, the wife of the Hindu god Vishnu. A notable bearer was India's first female prime minister, Indira Gandhi (1917-1984).
Ida
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Dutch, Italian, French, Polish, Finnish, Hungarian, Slovak, Slovene, Germanic [1]
Pronounced: IE-də(English) EE-da(German, Dutch, Italian, Polish) EE-dah(Swedish, Norwegian, Danish) EE-daw(Hungarian)
Rating: 38% based on 5 votes
Derived from the Germanic element id possibly meaning "work, labour" (Proto-Germanic *idiz). The Normans brought this name to England, though it eventually died out there in the Middle Ages. It was strongly revived in the 19th century, in part due to the heroine in Alfred Tennyson's poem The Princess (1847), which was later adapted into the play Princess Ida (1884) by Gilbert and Sullivan.

Though the etymology is unrelated, this is the name of a mountain on the island of Crete where, according to Greek myth, the god Zeus was born.

Genevieve
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: JEHN-ə-veev
Rating: 49% based on 8 votes
English form of Geneviève.
Esla
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Indian (Rare)
Rating: 33% based on 6 votes
Emilie
Gender: Feminine
Usage: German, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, Czech
Pronounced: eh-MEE-lyə(German) eh-MEE-lee-eh(Norwegian) EHM-i-lee(Swedish)
Rating: 43% based on 6 votes
German, Scandinavian and Czech feminine form of Aemilius (see Emily).
Eliza
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Polish, Portuguese (Brazilian), Romanian, Hungarian, Georgian
Other Scripts: ელიზა(Georgian)
Pronounced: i-LIE-zə(English) eh-LEE-za(Polish) EH-lee-zaw(Hungarian)
Rating: 57% based on 10 votes
Short form of Elizabeth. It was borne by the character Eliza Doolittle in George Bernard Shaw's play Pygmalion (1913) and the subsequent musical adaptation My Fair Lady (1956).
Elisabeth
Gender: Feminine
Usage: German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, English, Biblical, Biblical Latin
Pronounced: eh-LEE-za-beht(German) eh-LEE-sa-beht(Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian) eh-LEE-sa-behd(Danish) i-LIZ-ə-bəth(English)
Rating: 69% based on 12 votes
German and Dutch form of Elizabeth. It is also a variant English form, reflecting the spelling used in the Authorized Version of the New Testament.
Elisa
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, German, Finnish, English
Pronounced: eh-LEE-za(Italian, German) eh-LEE-sa(Spanish) EH-lee-sah(Finnish) ə-LEE-sə(English)
Rating: 42% based on 6 votes
Short form of Elisabeth.
Elena
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, Spanish, Romanian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Slovak, Czech, Lithuanian, Estonian, Finnish, Russian, Greek, German, English
Other Scripts: Елена(Bulgarian, Macedonian, Russian) Έλενα(Greek)
Pronounced: EH-leh-na(Italian, Czech, German) eh-LEH-na(Spanish, German) eh-lyeh-NU(Lithuanian) yi-LYEH-nə(Russian) i-LYEH-nə(Russian) EHL-ə-nə(English) ə-LAY-nə(English)
Rating: 44% based on 10 votes
Form of Helen used in various languages, as well as an alternate transcription of Russian Елена (see Yelena).
Eleanor
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: EHL-ə-nawr
Rating: 58% based on 13 votes
From the Old French form of the Occitan name Alienòr. Among the name's earliest bearers was the influential Eleanor of Aquitaine (12th century), who was the queen of Louis VII, the king of France, and later Henry II, the king of England. She was named Aenor after her mother, and was called by the Occitan phrase alia Aenor "the other Aenor" in order to distinguish her from her mother. However, there appear to be examples of bearers prior to Eleanor of Aquitaine. It is not clear whether they were in fact Aenors who were retroactively recorded as having the name Eleanor, or whether there is an alternative explanation for the name's origin.

The popularity of the name Eleanor in England during the Middle Ages was due to the fame of Eleanor of Aquitaine, as well as two queens of the following century: Eleanor of Provence, the wife of Henry III, and Eleanor of Castile, the wife of Edward I. More recently, it was borne by first lady Eleanor Roosevelt (1884-1962), the wife of American president Franklin Roosevelt.

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)
Rating: 39% based on 9 votes
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.
Dana 2
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: DAY-nə
Rating: 38% based on 6 votes
From a surname that is of unknown origin. It was originally given in honour of American lawyer Richard Henry Dana Jr. (1815-1882), the author of the memoir Two Years Before the Mast.
Dagmar
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, Icelandic, German, Czech, Slovak
Pronounced: DOW-mar(Danish) DAK-mar(German) DAG-mar(Czech)
Rating: 21% based on 10 votes
From the Old Norse name Dagmær, derived from the elements dagr "day" and mær "maid". This was the name adopted by the popular Bohemian wife of the Danish king Valdemar II when they married in 1205. Her birth name was Markéta.
Camille
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: French, English
Pronounced: KA-MEE(French) kə-MEEL(English)
Rating: 57% based on 11 votes
French feminine and masculine form of Camilla. It is also used in the English-speaking world, where it is generally only feminine.
Barbara
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Italian, French, German, Polish, Hungarian, Slovene, Croatian, Dutch, Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, Late Roman
Pronounced: BAHR-bə-rə(English) BAHR-brə(English) BAR-BA-RA(French) BAR-ba-ra(German) bar-BA-ra(Polish) BAWR-baw-raw(Hungarian) BAHR-ba-ra(Dutch)
Rating: 48% based on 6 votes
Derived from Greek βάρβαρος (barbaros) meaning "foreign, non-Greek". According to legend, Saint Barbara was a young woman killed by her father Dioscorus, who was then killed by a bolt of lightning. She is the patron of architects, geologists, stonemasons and artillerymen. Because of her renown, the name came into general use in the Christian world in the Middle Ages. In England it became rare after the Protestant Reformation, but it was revived in the 19th century.
Ava 3
Gender: Feminine
Usage: German, Germanic [1]
Pronounced: A-va(German)
Rating: 47% based on 11 votes
Originally a short form of Germanic names beginning with the element awi, of unknown meaning. This was the name of a 9th-century Frankish saint. It was also borne by a 12th-century poet from Melk, Austria.
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