HJJ's Personal Name List

Probably a Breton form of Úna. This was the name of a 6th-century Welsh saint who settled in Brittany with her brother, Saint Gwenvael.

Derived from Cornish ysel "modest". This is a recently coined Cornish name.

Galician form of George.

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.

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.

Means "little bear", derived from a diminutive form of the Latin word ursa "she-bear". Saint Ursula was a legendary virgin princess of the 4th century who was martyred by the Huns while returning from a pilgrimage. In England the saint was popular during the Middle Ages, and the name came into general use at that time.

Probably derived from Old Irish úan meaning "lamb". This was a common name in medieval Ireland.

Use of this name in South Africa probably owes something to the Battle of Talana Hill in 1899.

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.

In the case of singer Shania Twain (1965-), who chose it as her stage name, it was apparently based on an Ojibwe phrase meaning "on my way".

The Portuguese word for mermaid. Found in use in Brazil as a given name but also well represented as a nickname.

From the name of the patron saint of Zennor, a village in Cornwall, which is of obscure origin. Conceivably it may be derived from the Breton name Azenor or the old Celtic Senovara. According to local legend Saint Senara was originally Princess Azenor of Brest in Lower Brittany, the mother of Saint Budoc. She is also said to have been a mermaid before her conversion (though even after becoming a Christian, "she continued to pine for the sea"). This name was given to 52 girls born in England and Wales in the years 1916-2005.

Norman form of Sibyl.

Feminine form of Romanus (see Roman).

Modern Scandinavian form of Ragnarr.

Meaning unknown. In Greek mythology Niobe was the daughter of Tantalos, a king of Asia Minor. Because she boasted that she was superior to Leto, Leto's children Apollo and Artemis killed her 14 children with poison arrows. In grief, Niobe was turned to stone by Zeus.

Spanish and Portuguese form of Naiara.

From Sanskrit नलिनी (nalinī) meaning "lotus".

From the Basque name of the Spanish city of Nájera, which is Arabic in origin. In the 12th century there was a reported apparition of the Virgin Mary in a nearby cave.

Means "pearl" or "amulet, charm" in Tagalog, of Sanskrit origin.

Means “to change” or "different" in Tonga, a language spoken in Zambia and Zimbabwe. The name is traditionally given to a baby girl born after the birth of two or more consecutive sons.

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.

From the surname of the Australian opera singer Nellie Melba (1861-1931). This was a stage name that she got from the name of the city Melbourne, where she was born.

Created by the author R. D. Blackmore for the title character in his novel Lorna Doone (1869), set in southern England, which describes the dangerous love between John Ridd and Lorna Doone. Blackmore may have based the name on the Scottish place name Lorne or on the title Marquis of Lorne (see Lorne).

Means "little fierce one", derived from Old Irish lorcc "fierce" combined with a diminutive suffix. Saint Lorcán was a 12th-century archbishop of Dublin.

Possibly from Lloegyr, the medieval Welsh name for a region of southeastern Britain, which is of unknown meaning. According to Geoffrey of Monmouth, the historical realm (which he Latinized as Loegria) was named after Locrinus, the eldest son of Brutus of Troy and Innogen.

Italian form of Lanzo (see Lance).

From Thai ลักษณะ (laksana) meaning "characteristic, quality" and นารา (nara) which can mean "radius, length", "water" or "human, person".

Variant of Laksanara.

Derived from Irish lasair "flame" combined with -án, a diminutive suffix. This was the name of several medieval Irish saints.

Possibly from Sanskrit ईशिनी (īśinī) meaning "supremacy".

An ancient Hittite goddess associated with love and oaths. Her name possibly comes from the Hittite word for "treaty, binding promise", or may be related to the name of the goddess Ishtar.

Variant of Inaara. This name was popularized in the United States by character Inara Serra on the space Western TV show Firefly (2002).

Breton form of Cecilia.

Derived from Spanish alondra meaning "lark".