hun22's Personal Name List
Zhannochka
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Russian
Other Scripts: Жанночка(Russian)
Rating: 60% based on 2 votes
Wren
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: REHN
Rating: 53% based on 6 votes
From the English word for the small songbird. It is ultimately derived from Old English wrenna.
Winslow
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: WINZ-lo
Rating: 18% based on 4 votes
From a surname that was derived from an Old English place name meaning
"hill belonging to Wine". A famous bearer of this name was American painter Winslow Homer (1836-1910).
Willow
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: WIL-o
Rating: 70% based on 5 votes
From the name of the tree, which is ultimately derived from Old English welig.
William
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: WIL-yəm
Rating: 60% based on 5 votes
From the Germanic name
Willehelm meaning
"will helmet", composed of the elements
willo "will, desire" and
helm "helmet, protection". An early
saint by this name was the 8th-century William of Gellone, a cousin of
Charlemagne who became a monk. The name was common among the
Normans, and it became extremely popular in England after William the Conqueror was recognized as the first Norman king of England in the 11th century. From then until the modern era it has been among the most common of English names (with
John,
Thomas and
Robert).
This name was later borne by three other English kings, as well as rulers of Scotland, Sicily (of Norman origin), the Netherlands and Prussia. Other famous bearers include William Wallace, a 13th-century Scottish hero, and William Tell, a legendary 14th-century Swiss hero (called Wilhelm in German, Guillaume in French and Guglielmo in Italian). In the literary world it was borne by dramatist William Shakespeare (1564-1616), poet William Blake (1757-1827), poet William Wordsworth (1770-1850), dramatist William Butler Yeats (1865-1939), author William Faulkner (1897-1962), and author William S. Burroughs (1914-1997).
In the American rankings (since 1880) this name has never been out of the top 20, making it one of the most consistently popular names (although it has never reached the top rank). In modern times its short form, Liam, has periodically been more popular than William itself, in the United Kingdom in the 1990s and the United States in the 2010s.
Violette
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French
Pronounced: VYAW-LEHT
Rating: 82% based on 6 votes
Violet
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: VIE-lit, VIE-ə-lit
Rating: 85% based on 6 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.
Tom 1
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, Dutch, German, Norwegian, Danish, Swedish
Pronounced: TAHM(American English) TAWM(British English, Dutch, Norwegian)
Rating: 20% based on 4 votes
Short form of
Thomas. Tom Sawyer is the main character in several of Mark Twain's novels, first appearing in
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876). Other famous bearers include American actors Tom Hanks (1956-) and Tom Cruise (1962-), as well as American football player Tom Brady (1977-).
Thea
Gender: Feminine
Usage: German, Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, English
Pronounced: TEH-a(German) THEE-ə(English)
Rating: 62% based on 5 votes
Thalia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology (Latinized), Greek
Other Scripts: Θάλεια(Greek)
Pronounced: THAY-lee-ə(English) thə-LIE-ə(English)
Rating: 63% based on 6 votes
From the Greek name
Θάλεια (Thaleia), derived from
θάλλω (thallo) meaning
"to blossom". In Greek
mythology she was one of the nine Muses, presiding over comedy and pastoral poetry. This was also the name of one of the three Graces or
Χάριτες (Charites).
Tessa
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Dutch
Pronounced: TEHS-ə(English) TEH-sa(Dutch)
Rating: 56% based on 5 votes
Taisiya
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Russian, Ukrainian
Other Scripts: Таисия(Russian) Таїсія(Ukrainian)
Pronounced: tu-EE-syi-yə(Russian)
Rating: 65% based on 2 votes
Russian and Ukrainian form of
Thaïs (referring to the
saint).
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)
Rating: 50% based on 5 votes
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-).
Skye
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: SKIE
Rating: 66% based on 5 votes
From the name of the Isle of Skye off the west coast of Scotland. It is sometimes considered a variant of
Sky.
Sienna
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: see-EHN-ə
Rating: 63% based on 6 votes
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.
Shea
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Irish
Pronounced: SHAY(English)
Rating: 20% based on 4 votes
Anglicized form of
Séaghdha, sometimes used as a feminine name.
Scarlett
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: SKAHR-lit
Rating: 54% based on 5 votes
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.
Saffron
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: SAF-rən
Rating: 54% based on 5 votes
From the English word that refers either to a spice, the crocus flower from which it is harvested, or the yellow-orange colour of the spice. It is derived via Old French from Arabic
زعفران (zaʿfarān), itself probably from Persian meaning "gold leaves".
Rosemary
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: ROZ-mə-ree, ROZ-mehr-ee
Rating: 60% based on 5 votes
Combination of
Rose and
Mary. This name can also be given in reference to the herb, which gets its name from Latin
ros marinus meaning "dew of the sea". It came into use as a given name in the 19th century.
Rose
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, French
Pronounced: ROZ
Rating: 89% based on 7 votes
Originally a Norman French form of the Germanic name
Hrodohaidis meaning
"famous type", composed of the elements
hruod "fame" and
heit "kind, sort, type". The
Normans introduced it to England in the forms
Roese and
Rohese. From an early date it was associated with the word for the fragrant flower
rose (derived from Latin
rosa). When the name was revived in the 19th century, it was probably with the flower in mind.
Rory
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: Irish, Scottish, English
Pronounced: RAWR-ee(English)
Rating: 45% based on 4 votes
Anglicized form of
Ruaidhrí. Typically a masculine name, it gained some popularity for girls in the United States after it was used on the television series
Gilmore Girls (2000-2007), in this case as a nickname for
Lorelai. Despite this, the name has grown more common for boys in America, especially after 2011, perhaps due to Northern Irish golfer Rory McIlroy (1989-).
Roman
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Russian, Polish, Czech, Slovak, Ukrainian, Slovene, Croatian, Estonian, German, English
Other Scripts: Роман(Russian, Ukrainian)
Pronounced: ru-MAN(Russian) RAW-man(Polish, Slovak) RO-man(Czech, German) RO-mən(English)
Rating: 55% based on 4 votes
From the Late Latin name
Romanus meaning
"Roman". This name was borne by several early
saints including a 7th-century bishop of Rouen, as well as medieval rulers of Bulgaria, Kyiv and Moldavia.
Robin
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, French, Dutch, Swedish, Czech
Pronounced: RAHB-in(American English) RAWB-in(British English) RAW-BEHN(French) RAW-bin(Dutch) RO-bin(Czech)
Rating: 46% based on 5 votes
Medieval English
diminutive of
Robert, now usually regarded as an independent name. Robin Hood was a legendary hero and archer of medieval England who stole from the rich to give to the poor. In modern times it has also been used as a feminine name, and it may sometimes be given in reference to the red-breasted bird.
Rebecca
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Italian, Swedish, German, Dutch, Biblical, Biblical Latin
Other Scripts: רִבְקָה(Ancient Hebrew)
Pronounced: rə-BEHK-ə(English) reh-BEHK-ka(Italian) rə-BEH-ka(Dutch)
Rating: 40% based on 4 votes
From the Hebrew name
רִבְקָה (Rivqa), probably from a Semitic root meaning
"join, tie, snare". This is the name of the wife of
Isaac and the mother of
Esau and
Jacob in the
Old Testament. It came into use as an English Christian name after the
Protestant Reformation, and it was popular with the
Puritans in the 17th century. It has been consistently used since then, becoming especially common in the second half of the 20th century.
This name is borne by a Jewish woman in Walter Scott's novel Ivanhoe (1819), as well as the title character (who is deceased and unseen) in Daphne du Maurier's novel Rebecca (1938).
Quinn
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: KWIN
Rating: 20% based on 4 votes
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.
Primrose
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: PRIM-roz
Rating: 80% based on 6 votes
From the English word for the flower, ultimately deriving from Latin prima rosa "first rose".
Poppy
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: PAHP-ee
Rating: 58% based on 4 votes
From the word for the red flower, derived from Old English popæg.
Piper
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: PIE-pər
Rating: 53% based on 4 votes
From an English surname that was originally given to a person who played on a pipe (a flute). It was popularized as a given name by a character from the television series
Charmed, which debuted in 1998
[1].
Phoebe
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Greek Mythology (Latinized), Biblical, Biblical Latin
Other Scripts: Φοίβη(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: FEE-bee(English)
Rating: 60% based on 8 votes
Latinized form of the Greek name
Φοίβη (Phoibe), which meant
"bright, pure" from Greek
φοῖβος (phoibos). In Greek
mythology Phoibe was a Titan associated with the moon. This was also an epithet of her granddaughter, the moon goddess
Artemis. The name appears in
Paul's epistle to the Romans in the
New Testament, where it belongs to a female minister in the church at Cenchreae.
In England, it began to be used as a given name after the Protestant Reformation. It was moderately common in the 19th century. It began to rise in popularity again in the late 1980s, probably helped along by characters on the American television shows Friends (1994-2004) and Charmed (1998-2006). It is currently much more common in the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand than the United States.
A moon of Saturn bears this name, in honour of the Titan.
Opal
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: O-pəl
Rating: 56% based on 5 votes
From the English word
opal for the iridescent gemstone, the birthstone of October. The word ultimately derives from Sanskrit
उपल (upala) meaning "jewel".
Oliver
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Estonian, Catalan, Serbian, Croatian, Macedonian, Czech, Slovak, Carolingian Cycle
Other Scripts: Оливер(Serbian, Macedonian)
Pronounced: AHL-i-vər(English) O-lee-vu(German) O-lee-vehr(Finnish) oo-lee-BEH(Catalan) O-li-vehr(Czech) AW-lee-vehr(Slovak)
Rating: 50% based on 4 votes
From Old French
Olivier, which was possibly derived from Latin
oliva "olive tree" [1]. Alternatively there could be an underlying Germanic name, such as Old Norse
Áleifr (see
Olaf) or Frankish
Alawar (see
Álvaro), with the spelling altered by association with the Latin word. In the Middle Ages the name became well-known in Western Europe because of the French epic
La Chanson de Roland, in which Olivier is a friend and advisor to the hero
Roland.
In England Oliver was a common medieval name, however it became rare after the 17th century because of the military commander Oliver Cromwell, who ruled the country following the civil war. The name was revived in the 19th century, perhaps due in part to the title character in Charles Dickens' novel Oliver Twist (1838), about a poor orphan living on the streets of London. It became very popular at the beginning of the 21st century, reaching the top rank for boys in England and Wales in 2009 and entering the top ten in the United States in 2017.
Olive
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, French
Pronounced: AHL-iv(English) AW-LEEV(French)
Rating: 30% based on 4 votes
From the English and French word for the type of tree, ultimately derived from Latin oliva.
Odette
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French
Pronounced: AW-DEHT
Rating: 58% based on 5 votes
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.
Odessa
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Various
Rating: 54% based on 5 votes
From the name of a Ukrainian city that sits on the north coast of the Black Sea, which was named after the ancient Greek city of
Ὀδησσός (Odessos), of uncertain meaning. This name can also be used as a feminine form of
Odysseus.
Nova
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Swedish (Modern), Dutch (Modern)
Pronounced: NO-və(English) NO-va(Swedish, Dutch)
Rating: 83% based on 6 votes
Derived from Latin novus meaning "new". It was first used as a name in the 19th century.
Niamh
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Irish, Irish Mythology
Pronounced: NYEEW(Irish) NYEEV(Irish)
Rating: 57% based on 6 votes
Means
"bright" in Irish. She was the daughter of the sea god
Manannán mac Lir in Irish legends. She fell in love with the poet
Oisín, the son of
Fionn mac Cumhaill. It has been used as a given name for people only since the early 20th century.
Nessa 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: NEHS-ə
Rating: 54% based on 5 votes
Short form of
Vanessa and other names ending in
nessa.
Nessa 3
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Irish, Irish Mythology
Pronounced: NEHS-ə(English)
Rating: 54% based on 5 votes
Anglicized form of
Neasa.
Nataliya
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Russian, Ukrainian, Bulgarian
Other Scripts: Наталия(Russian, Bulgarian) Наталія(Ukrainian)
Pronounced: nu-TA-lyi-yə(Russian)
Rating: 62% based on 6 votes
Russian, Ukrainian and Bulgarian form of
Natalia (see
Natalie).
Naomi 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Hebrew, Biblical
Other Scripts: נָעֳמִי(Hebrew)
Pronounced: nay-O-mee(English) nie-O-mee(English)
Rating: 56% based on 7 votes
From the Hebrew name
נָעֳמִי (Naʿomi) meaning
"my pleasantness", a derivative of
נָעַם (naʿam) meaning "to be pleasant". In the
Old Testament this is the name of the mother-in-law of
Ruth. After the death of her husband and sons, she returned to Bethlehem with Ruth. There she declared that her name should be
Mara because of her misfortune (see
Ruth 1:20).
Though long common as a Jewish name, Naomi was not typically used as an English Christian name until after the Protestant Reformation. A notable bearer is the British model Naomi Campbell (1970-).
Minna
Gender: Feminine
Usage: German (Archaic), Finnish, Swedish
Pronounced: MI-na(German) MEEN-nah(Finnish)
Rating: 54% based on 5 votes
Means
"love" in Old German, specifically medieval courtly love. It is also used as a short form of
Wilhelmina. This is the name of the title character in the play
Minna von Barnhelm (1767) by Gotthold Ephraim Lessing.
Mina 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Dutch
Pronounced: MEE-nə(English) MEE-na(Dutch)
Rating: 23% based on 4 votes
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.
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)
Rating: 28% based on 4 votes
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.
Melanie
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, German, Dutch
Pronounced: MEHL-ə-nee(English) MEH-la-nee(German) meh-la-NEE(German)
Rating: 63% based on 7 votes
From
Mélanie, the French form of the Latin name
Melania, derived from Greek
μέλαινα (melaina) meaning
"black, dark". This was the name of a Roman
saint who gave all her wealth to charity in the 5th century. Her grandmother was also a saint with the same name.
The name was common in France during the Middle Ages, and was introduced from there to England, though it eventually became rare. Interest in it was revived by the character Melanie Wilkes from the novel Gone with the Wind (1936) and the subsequent movie adaptation (1939).
Melánia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Hungarian, Slovak
Pronounced: MEH-la-nee-aw(Hungarian) MEH-la-nee-a(Slovak)
Rating: 42% based on 5 votes
Hungarian and Slovak form of
Melania (see
Melanie).
Melania
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, Spanish, Polish, Romanian, Late Roman
Pronounced: meh-LA-nya(Italian, Spanish, Polish)
Rating: 48% based on 6 votes
Italian, Spanish, Polish and Romanian form of
Melanie.
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)
Rating: 45% based on 4 votes
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.
Maeve
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Irish, English, Irish Mythology
Pronounced: MAYV(English)
Rating: 54% based on 5 votes
Anglicized form of the Irish name
Medb meaning
"intoxicating". In Irish legend this was the name of a warrior queen of Connacht. She and her husband
Ailill fought against the Ulster king
Conchobar and the hero
Cúchulainn, as told in the Irish epic
The Cattle Raid of Cooley.
Louis
Gender: Masculine
Usage: French, English, Dutch
Pronounced: LWEE(French) LOO-is(English) LOO-ee(English) loo-EE(Dutch)
Rating: 70% based on 4 votes
French form of
Ludovicus, the Latinized form of
Ludwig. This was the name of 18 kings of France, starting with Louis I the son of
Charlemagne. Others include Louis IX (
Saint Louis) who led two crusades and Louis XIV (called the Sun King) who was the ruler of France during the height of its power, the builder of the Palace of Versailles, and the longest reigning monarch in the history of Europe. It was also borne by kings of Germany (as
Ludwig), Hungary (as
Lajos), and other places.
Apart from royalty, this name was only moderately popular in France during the Middle Ages. After the French Revolution, when Louis XVI was guillotined, it became less common.
The Normans brought the name to England, where it was usually spelled Lewis, though the spelling Louis has been more common in America. Famous bearers include French scientist Louis Pasteur (1822-1895), French actor Louis de Funès (1914-1983), Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894), who wrote Treasure Island and Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, and American jazz musician Louis Armstrong (1901-1971).
Lloyd
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: LOID
Rating: 15% based on 4 votes
From a Welsh surname that was derived from llwyd meaning "grey". The composer Andrew Lloyd Webber (1948-) is a famous bearer of this name.
Linnéa
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Swedish
Pronounced: lin-NEH-a
Rating: 60% based on 6 votes
From the name of a flower, also known as the twinflower. The Swedish botanist Carolus Linnaeus named it after himself, it being his favourite flower.
Lillian
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: LIL-ee-ən
Rating: 30% based on 4 votes
Probably originally a
diminutive of
Elizabeth. It may also be considered an elaborated form of
Lily, from the Latin word for "lily"
lilium. This name has been used in England since the 16th century.
Liliya
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Russian, Ukrainian, Bulgarian
Other Scripts: Лилия(Russian, Bulgarian) Лілія(Ukrainian)
Pronounced: LYEE-lyi-yə(Russian)
Rating: 53% based on 4 votes
Lieke
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Dutch
Pronounced: LEE-kə
Rating: 10% based on 4 votes
Lennox
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: LEHN-əks
Rating: 53% based on 4 votes
From a Scottish surname that was derived from the name of a district in Scotland. The district, called
Leamhnachd in Gaelic, possibly means "place of elms". This name steadily rose in popularity in the 2000s, at the same time as the similar-sounding (but unrelated) names
Lennon and
Knox.
Lavender
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: LAV-ən-dər
Rating: 58% based on 5 votes
From the English word for the aromatic flower or the pale purple colour.
Laelia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Ancient Roman
Pronounced: LIE-lee-a
Rating: 40% based on 5 votes
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.
Kurt
Gender: Masculine
Usage: German, English, Swedish, Danish, Norwegian
Pronounced: KUWRT(German) KURT(English)
Rating: 15% based on 4 votes
German contracted form of
Conrad. A famous bearer was the American musician Kurt Cobain (1967-1994).
Klara
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Icelandic, German, Russian, Ukrainian, Polish, Slovene, Croatian
Other Scripts: Клара(Russian, Ukrainian)
Pronounced: KLA-ra(German, Polish) KLA-rə(Russian)
Rating: 56% based on 5 votes
Form of
Clara in various languages.
Kirk
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: KURK
Rating: 20% based on 4 votes
From an English and Scottish surname meaning
"church" from Old Norse
kirkja, ultimately from Greek
κυριακόν (kyriakon). A famous bearer was American actor Kirk Douglas (1916-2020), whose birth name was Issur Danielovitch.
Juliette
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French
Pronounced: ZHUY-LYEHT
Rating: 85% based on 6 votes
Juliet
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: joo-lee-EHT, JOOL-yət
Rating: 83% based on 6 votes
Anglicized form of
Giulietta or
Juliette. This spelling was used for the ill-fated lover of
Romeo in the play
Romeo and Juliet (1596) by William Shakespeare. Shakespeare based his story on earlier Italian tales such as
Giulietta e Romeo (1524) by Luigi Da Porto.
Jessamine
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: JEHS-ə-min
Rating: 15% based on 4 votes
From a variant spelling of the English word
jasmine (see
Jasmine), used also to refer to flowering plants in the cestrum family.
Jem
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: JEHM
Rating: 25% based on 4 votes
James
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, Biblical
Pronounced: JAYMZ(English)
Rating: 78% based on 5 votes
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.
Jaime 2
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: JAY-mee
Rating: 20% based on 4 votes
Variant of
Jamie. The character Jaime Sommers from the television series
The Bionic Woman (1976-1978) helped to popularize the name. It can sometimes be given in reference to the French phrase
j'aime meaning "I love", though it is pronounced differently.
Jade
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English, French
Pronounced: JAYD(English) ZHAD(French)
Rating: 82% based on 6 votes
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.
Jacqueline
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French, English
Pronounced: ZHAK-LEEN(French) JAK-ə-lin(English) JAK-wə-lin(English) JAK-ə-leen(English)
Rating: 38% based on 6 votes
French feminine form of
Jacques, also commonly used in the English-speaking world.
Ivory
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: African American
Pronounced: IE-və-ree(English) IEV-ree(English)
Rating: 64% based on 5 votes
From the English word for the hard, creamy-white substance that comes from elephant tusks and was formerly used to produce piano keys.
Isla
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Scottish, English
Pronounced: IE-lə
Rating: 87% based on 6 votes
Variant of
Islay, typically used as a feminine name. It also coincides with the Spanish word
isla meaning "island".
Iryna
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Ukrainian, Belarusian
Other Scripts: Ірина(Ukrainian) Ірына(Belarusian)
Pronounced: ee-RI-nu(Ukrainian) yee-RI-na(Belarusian)
Rating: 48% based on 5 votes
Ukrainian and Belarusian form of
Irene.
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: 75% 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.
Irinushka
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Russian
Other Scripts: Иринушка(Russian)
Rating: 73% based on 3 votes
Irene
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, German, Dutch, Ancient Greek (Latinized), Greek Mythology (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Εἰρήνη(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: ie-REEN(English) ie-REE-nee(English) ee-REH-neh(Italian, Spanish) EE-reh-neh(Finnish) ee-REH-nə(German, Dutch)
Rating: 64% based on 5 votes
From Greek
Εἰρήνη (Eirene), derived from a word meaning
"peace". This was the name of the Greek goddess who personified peace, one of the
Ὥραι (Horai). It was also borne by several early Christian
saints. The name was common in the Byzantine Empire, notably being borne by an 8th-century empress, who was the first woman to lead the empire. She originally served as regent for her son, but later had him killed and ruled alone.
This name has traditionally been more popular among Eastern Christians. In the English-speaking world it was not regularly used until the 19th century.
Ingrid
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Estonian, German, Dutch
Pronounced: ING-rid(Swedish) ING-ri(Norwegian) ING-grit(German) ING-greet(German) ING-ghrit(Dutch)
Rating: 36% based on 5 votes
From the Old Norse name
Ingríðr meaning
"Ing is beautiful", derived from the name of the Germanic god
Ing combined with
fríðr "beautiful, beloved". A famous bearer was the Swedish actress Ingrid Bergman (1915-1982).
Indiana
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: in-dee-AN-ə
Rating: 52% based on 5 votes
From the name of the American state, which means "land of the Indians". This is the name of the hero in the Indiana Jones series of movies, starring Harrison Ford.
India
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Spanish (Modern)
Pronounced: IN-dee-ə(English) EEN-dya(Spanish)
Rating: 54% based on 5 votes
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.
Imke
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Frisian, Dutch, Low German
Pronounced: IM-kə(Dutch, Low German)
Rating: 13% based on 4 votes
Ilse
Gender: Feminine
Usage: German, Dutch
Pronounced: IL-zə(German) IL-sə(Dutch)
Rating: 25% based on 4 votes
Holly
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: HAHL-ee
Rating: 34% based on 5 votes
From the English word for the holly tree, ultimately derived from Old English holen. Holly Golightly is the main character in the novella Breakfast at Tiffany's (1958) by Truman Capote.
Helena
Gender: Feminine
Usage: German, Dutch, Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, Icelandic, Portuguese, Catalan, Polish, Czech, Slovak, Finnish, Estonian, Slovene, Croatian, Sorbian, English, Ancient Greek (Latinized), Greek Mythology (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Ἑλένη(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: HEH-leh-na(German, Czech) heh-LEH-na(German, Dutch) heh-LEH-nah(Swedish, Danish, Norwegian) i-LEH-nu(European Portuguese) eh-LEH-nu(Brazilian Portuguese) ə-LEH-nə(Catalan) kheh-LEH-na(Polish) HEH-leh-nah(Finnish) HEHL-ə-nə(English) hə-LAYN-ə(English) hə-LEEN-ə(English)
Rating: 82% based on 6 votes
Latinate form of
Helen. This is the name of the heroine of William Shakespeare's play
All's Well That Ends Well (1603).
Hazel
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: HAY-zəl
Rating: 40% based on 4 votes
From the English word hazel for the tree or the light brown colour, derived ultimately from Old English hæsel. It was coined as a given name in the 19th century and quickly became popular, reaching the 18th place for girls in the United States by 1897. It fell out of fashion in the second half of the 20th century, but has since recovered.
Harper
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: HAHR-pər
Rating: 58% based on 4 votes
From an English surname that originally belonged to a person who played or made harps (Old English hearpe). A notable bearer was the American author Harper Lee (1926-2016), who wrote To Kill a Mockingbird. It rapidly gained popularity in the 2000s and 2010s, entering the American top ten for girls in 2015.
Halina
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Polish, Belarusian
Other Scripts: Галіна(Belarusian)
Pronounced: kha-LEE-na(Polish) gha-LYEE-na(Belarusian)
Rating: 50% based on 5 votes
Polish and Belarusian form of
Galina.
Glenna
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: GLEHN-ə
Rating: 28% based on 5 votes
Ginger
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: JIN-jər
Rating: 35% based on 4 votes
From the English word
ginger for the spice or the reddish-brown colour. It can also be a
diminutive of
Virginia, as in the case of actress and dancer Ginger Rogers (1911-1995), by whom the name was popularized.
Gillian
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: JIL-ee-ən, GIL-ee-ən
Rating: 30% based on 4 votes
Medieval English feminine form of
Julian. This spelling has been in use since the 13th century, though it was not declared a distinct name from
Julian until the 17th century
[1].
Gia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian (Rare)
Pronounced: JEE-a
Rating: 48% based on 5 votes
Gemma
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, Catalan, English (British), Dutch
Pronounced: JEHM-ma(Italian) ZHEHM-mə(Catalan) JEHM-ə(British English) GHEH-ma(Dutch)
Rating: 77% based on 6 votes
Medieval Italian nickname meaning "gem, precious stone". It was borne by the wife of the 13th-century Italian poet Dante Alighieri.
Fríða
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Old Norse [1], Icelandic
Rating: 13% based on 3 votes
Freya
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Norse Mythology, English (Modern), German
Pronounced: FRAY-ə(English) FRAY-a(German)
Rating: 37% based on 6 votes
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.
Fred
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, Dutch, German, French, Portuguese, Swedish, Norwegian
Pronounced: FREHD(English, French, Portuguese) FREHT(Dutch, German)
Rating: 13% based on 4 votes
Short form of
Frederick and other names containing the same element. A famous bearer was the American actor and dancer Fred Astaire (1899-1987). It was also borne by the cartoon caveman Fred Flintstone on the television series
The Flintstones (1960-1966).
Faye
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: FAY
Rating: 30% based on 5 votes
Esther
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, French, Spanish, Dutch, German, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, Jewish, Biblical, Biblical Latin, Biblical Greek
Other Scripts: אֶסְתֵר(Hebrew) Ἐσθήρ(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: EHS-tər(English, Dutch) EHS-TEHR(French) ehs-TEHR(Spanish) EHS-tu(German)
Rating: 50% based on 5 votes
From the Hebrew name
אֶסְתֵר (ʾEsṯer), which possibly means
"star" in Persian. Alternatively it could be a derivative of the name of the Near Eastern goddess
Ishtar. The Book of Esther in the
Old Testament tells the story of Queen Esther, the Jewish wife of the king of Persia. The king's advisor
Haman persuaded the king to exterminate all the Jews in the realm. Warned of this plot by her cousin
Mordecai, Esther revealed her Jewish ancestry and convinced the king to execute Haman instead. Her original Hebrew name was
Hadassah.
This name has been used in the English-speaking world since the Protestant Reformation. In America it received a boost in popularity after the birth of Esther Cleveland (1893-1980), the daughter of President Grover Cleveland [1].
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)
Rating: 77% based on 6 votes
Feminine form of
Aemilius (see
Emily). In Shakespeare's tragedy
Othello (1603) this is the name of the wife of
Iago.
Emalee
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Rating: 28% based on 4 votes
Elsie
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Swedish
Pronounced: EHL-see(English)
Rating: 35% based on 4 votes
Drew
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: DROO
Rating: 33% based on 4 votes
Diana
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, Catalan, German, Dutch, Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, Russian, Ukrainian, Bulgarian, Estonian, Lithuanian, Polish, Czech, Slovak, Armenian, Georgian, Roman Mythology
Other Scripts: Диана(Russian, Bulgarian) Діана(Ukrainian) Դիանա(Armenian) დიანა(Georgian)
Pronounced: die-AN-ə(English) DYA-na(Spanish, Italian, Polish) dee-U-nu(European Portuguese) jee-U-nu(Brazilian Portuguese) dee-A-nə(Catalan) dee-A-na(German, Dutch, Latin) dyee-A-nu(Ukrainian) DI-ya-na(Czech) DEE-a-na(Slovak)
Rating: 80% based on 6 votes
Means
"divine, goddesslike", a derivative of Latin
dia or
diva meaning
"goddess". It is ultimately related to the same Indo-European root *
dyew- found in
Zeus. Diana was a Roman goddess of the moon, hunting, forests and childbirth, often identified with the Greek goddess
Artemis.
As a given name, Diana has been regularly used since the Renaissance. It became more common in the English-speaking world following Walter Scott's novel Rob Roy (1817), which featured a character named Diana Vernon. It also appeared in George Meredith's novel Diana of the Crossways (1885). A notable bearer was the British royal Diana Spencer (1961-1997), the Princess of Wales.
Cosette
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French, Literature
Pronounced: KAW-ZEHT(French)
Rating: 56% based on 5 votes
From French
chosette meaning
"little thing". This is the nickname of the illegitimate daughter of Fantine in Victor Hugo's novel
Les Misérables (1862). Her real name is
Euphrasie, though it is seldom used. In the novel young Cosette is the ward of the cruel Thénardiers until she is retrieved by Jean Valjean.
Colin 1
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Scottish, English
Pronounced: KAHL-in(English) KOL-in(English)
Rating: 20% based on 4 votes
Anglicized form of Scottish
Cailean.
Clyde
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: KLIED
Rating: 13% based on 4 votes
From the name of the River Clyde in Scotland, from Cumbric
Clud, which is of uncertain origin. It became a common given name in America in the middle of the 19th century, perhaps in honour of Colin Campbell (1792-1863) who was given the title Baron Clyde in 1858
[1].
Clover
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: KLO-vər
Rating: 25% based on 4 votes
From the English word for the wild flower, ultimately deriving from Old English clafre.
Clíona
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Irish
Pronounced: KLYEE-nə
Rating: 35% based on 4 votes
Clinton
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: KLIN-tən
Rating: 10% based on 5 votes
From an English surname that was originally derived from towns named Glinton, of uncertain meaning, or Glympton, meaning "settlement on the River Glyme". A famous bearer of the surname is former American president Bill Clinton (1946-).
Cleo
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: KLEE-o
Rating: 25% based on 4 votes
Christel
Gender: Feminine
Usage: German, French, Dutch, Swedish, Danish, Norwegian
Pronounced: KRIS-təl(German, Dutch) KREES-TEHL(French)
Rating: 40% based on 5 votes
Christa
Gender: Feminine
Usage: German, Danish, English
Pronounced: KRIS-ta(German) KRIS-tə(English)
Rating: 48% based on 6 votes
Chloe
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Biblical, Biblical Latin, Biblical Greek [1], Ancient Greek [2], Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Χλόη(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: KLO-ee(English)
Rating: 33% based on 4 votes
Means
"green shoot" in Greek, referring to new plant growth in the spring. This was an epithet of the Greek goddess
Demeter. The name is also mentioned by
Paul in one of his epistles in the
New Testament.
As an English name, Chloe has been in use since the Protestant Reformation. It started getting more popular in the 1980s in the United Kingdom and then the United States. It was the most popular name for girls in England and Wales from 1997 to 2002. This is one of the few English-language names that is often written with a diaeresis, as Chloë.
Cecily
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: SEHS-ə-lee
Rating: 54% based on 5 votes
English form of
Cecilia. This was the usual English form during the Middle Ages.
Camelia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Romanian
Pronounced: ka-MEH-lee-a
Rating: 43% based on 4 votes
From
camelie, the Romanian spelling of
camellia (see
Camellia).
Camden
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: KAM-dən
Rating: 16% based on 5 votes
From an English surname that was derived from a place name, perhaps meaning "enclosed valley" in Old English. A famous bearer of the surname was the English historian William Camden (1551-1623).
Callisto 2
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Καλλιστώ(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: kə-LIS-to(English)
Rating: 18% based on 4 votes
Latinized form of
Kallisto. A moon of Jupiter bears this name.
Brooke
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: BRUWK
Rating: 20% based on 4 votes
Variant of
Brook. The name came into use in the 1950s, probably influenced by American socialite Brooke Astor (1902-2007). It was further popularized by actress Brooke Shields (1965-).
Britton
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: BRIT-ən
Rating: 15% based on 4 votes
Derived from a Middle English surname meaning
"a Briton" (a Celt of England) or
"a Breton" (an inhabitant of Brittany). Both ethnonyms are related to the place name
Britain.
Britannia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Rating: 30% based on 5 votes
From the Latin name of the island of
Britain, in occasional use as an English given name since the 18th century. This is also the name of the Roman female personification of Britain pictured on some British coins.
Bree
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: BREE
Rating: 20% based on 4 votes
Anglicized form of
Brígh. It can also be a short form of
Brianna,
Gabriella and other names containing
bri.
Blanka
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Czech, Slovak, Polish, Hungarian, Croatian, Slovene
Pronounced: BLANG-ka(Czech, Slovak, Croatian) BLAN-ka(Polish) BLAWNG-kaw(Hungarian)
Rating: 35% based on 4 votes
Form of
Blanche in several languages.
Bianka
Gender: Feminine
Usage: German, Hungarian, Polish
Pronounced: bee-ANG-ka(German) BEE-awng-kaw(Hungarian) BYANG-ka(Polish)
Rating: 35% based on 4 votes
German, Hungarian and Polish form of
Bianca.
Avery
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: AY-və-ree, AYV-ree
Rating: 42% based on 5 votes
From an English surname that was itself derived from the Norman French form of the given names
Alberich or
Alfred.
As a given name, it was used on the American sitcom Murphy Brown (1988-1998) for both the mother and son of the main character. By 1998 it was more popular as a name for girls in the United States, perhaps further inspired by a character from the movie Jerry Maguire (1996).
Avalon
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: AV-ə-lahn
Rating: 38% based on 4 votes
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.
Astrid
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, German, French, English
Pronounced: AS-strid(Swedish) AHS-tri(Norwegian) AS-trit(German) AS-TREED(French) AS-trid(English)
Rating: 50% based on 5 votes
Modern Scandinavian form of
Ástríðr. This name was borne by the Swedish writer Astrid Lindgren (1907-2002), the author of
Pippi Longstocking. It was also borne by a Swedish princess (1905-1935) who became the queen of Belgium as the wife of Leopold III.
Arya 1
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: Persian, Hindi, Malayalam
Other Scripts: آریا(Persian) आर्य, आर्या(Hindi) ആര്യ, ആര്യാ(Malayalam)
Pronounced: aw-ree-YAW(Persian) awr-YAW(Persian) AR-yə(Hindi) AR-ya(Hindi, Malayalam) AR-yu(Malayalam)
Rating: 62% based on 6 votes
From an old Indo-Iranian root meaning "Aryan, noble". In India, this is a transcription of both the masculine form
आर्य and the feminine form
आर्या. In Iran it is only a masculine name.
Arwen
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Literature
Rating: 43% based on 4 votes
Means
"noble maiden" in the fictional language Sindarin. In
The Lord of the Rings (1954) by J. R. R. Tolkien, Arwen was the daughter of
Elrond and the lover of
Aragorn.
Ariadne
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Ἀριάδνη(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: A-REE-AD-NEH(Classical Greek) ar-ee-AD-nee(English)
Rating: 64% based on 7 votes
Means
"most holy", composed of the Greek prefix
ἀρι (ari) meaning "most" combined with Cretan Greek
ἀδνός (adnos) meaning "holy". In Greek
mythology, Ariadne was the daughter of King
Minos. She fell in love with
Theseus and helped him to escape the Labyrinth and the Minotaur, but was later abandoned by him. Eventually she married the god
Dionysus.
Arden
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: AHR-dən
Rating: 58% based on 4 votes
From an English surname, originally taken from various place names, which were derived from a Celtic word meaning "high".
Anne 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French, English, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Estonian, German, Dutch, Basque
Pronounced: AN(French, English) A-neh(Swedish) A-nə(Danish, German) AHN-neh(Finnish) AH-nə(Dutch)
Rating: 52% based on 5 votes
French form of
Anna. It was imported to England in the 13th century, but it did not become popular until three centuries later. The spelling variant
Ann was also commonly found from this period, and is still used to this day.
The name was borne by a 17th-century English queen and also by the second wife of Henry VIII, Anne Boleyn (the mother of Queen Elizabeth I), who was eventually beheaded in the Tower of London. Another notable bearer was the German-Jewish diarist Anne (Annelies) Frank, a young victim of the Holocaust in 1945. This is also the name of the heroine in the 1908 novel Anne of Green Gables by Canadian author L. M. Montgomery.
Annabeth
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: AN-ə-beth
Rating: 63% based on 7 votes
Anderson
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: AN-dər-sən
Rating: 20% based on 4 votes
From a surname meaning
"son of Andrew".
Anastasiya
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian, Bulgarian
Other Scripts: Анастасия(Russian, Bulgarian) Анастасія(Ukrainian, Belarusian)
Pronounced: u-nu-stu-SYEE-yə(Russian) u-nu-stu-SYEE-yu(Ukrainian) a-na-sta-SYEE-ya(Belarusian) a-na-sta-SEE-ya(Bulgarian)
Rating: 58% based on 6 votes
Russian, Ukrainian and Bulgarian form of
Anastasia. This name was borne by the wife of the Russian tsar Ivan the Terrible.
Amelia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Spanish, Italian, Polish, Medieval French
Pronounced: ə-MEE-lee-ə(English) ə-MEEL-yə(English) a-MEH-lya(Spanish, Italian, Polish)
Rating: 74% based on 7 votes
Variant of
Amalia, though it is sometimes confused with
Emilia, which has a different origin. The name became popular in England after the German House of Hanover came to the British throne in the 18th century — it was borne by daughters of both George II and George III. The author Henry Fielding used it for the title character in his novel
Amelia (1751). Another famous bearer was Amelia Earhart (1897-1937), the first woman to make a solo flight over the Atlantic Ocean.
This name experienced a rise in popularity at the end of the 20th century. It was the most popular name for girls in England and Wales from 2011 to 2015.
Allan
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, Scottish, Danish, Swedish, Estonian
Pronounced: AL-ən(English)
Rating: 18% based on 4 votes
Variant of
Alan. The American author Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849) got his middle name from the surname of the parents who adopted him.
Alla
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Russian, Ukrainian
Other Scripts: Алла(Russian, Ukrainian)
Pronounced: AL-lə(Russian) AL-lu(Ukrainian)
Rating: 35% based on 4 votes
Meaning unknown, possibly of German origin.
Alessia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian
Pronounced: a-LEHS-sya
Rating: 50% based on 5 votes
Aldona
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Lithuanian, Polish
Pronounced: ul-do-NU(Lithuanian) al-DAW-na(Polish)
Rating: 46% based on 5 votes
Meaning unknown. This was the name of a 14th-century Polish queen, the daughter of a Grand Duke of Lithuania.
Ailsa
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Scottish
Pronounced: AYL-sə(English)
Rating: 20% based on 4 votes
From Ailsa Craig, the name of an island off the west coast of Scotland, which is of uncertain derivation.
Aidan
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: Irish, English (Modern)
Pronounced: AY-dən(English)
Rating: 60% based on 4 votes
Anglicized form of
Aodhán. In the latter part of the 20th century it became popular in America due to its sound, since it shares a sound with such names as
Braden and
Hayden. It peaked ranked 39th for boys in 2003.
Adelaide
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Italian, Portuguese
Pronounced: A-də-layd(English) a-deh-LIE-deh(Italian) a-di-LIE-di(European Portuguese) a-di-LIED(European Portuguese) a-deh-LIE-jee(Brazilian Portuguese)
Rating: 28% based on 4 votes
Means
"nobleness, nobility", from the French form of the Germanic name
Adalheidis, which was composed of
adal "noble" and the suffix
heit "kind, sort, type". It was borne in the 10th century by
Saint Adelaide, the wife of the Holy Roman emperor Otto the Great.
In Britain the parallel form Alice, derived via Old French, has historically been more common than Adelaide, though this form did gain some currency in the 19th century due to the popularity of the German-born wife of King William IV, for whom the city of Adelaide in Australia was named in 1836.
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)
Rating: 35% based on 4 votes
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)
Rating: 22% based on 5 votes
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.
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