emersontheauthor's Personal Name List

Means "dawn, aurora" in the South Slavic languages, as well as Czech and Slovak.

From the Xhosa root -zola meaning "calm".

Means "shade" in Hebrew. In the Old Testament she is the second wife of Lamech.

French feminine form of Zephyrinus (see Zeferino).

Elaborated form of Yara 1 or Yara 2 (using the same suffix as Maritza).

Feminine form of Xavier.

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

Feminine form of William.

Form of Violet in several languages.

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.

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.

Alternate transcription of Hebrew טוֹבָה (see Tova 1).

Modern form of Þóra.

From the Hebrew name תִּרְצָה (Tirtsa) meaning "favourable". Tirzah is the name of one of the daughters of Zelophehad in the Old Testament. It also occurs in the Old Testament as a place name, the early residence of the kings of the northern kingdom.

Means "hope" in Hebrew.

Medieval feminine form of Thomas.

From the name of an ancient Greek town in Boeotia, itself supposedly named after a nymph. In a Greek legend (the oldest surviving version appearing in Latin in Ovid's Metamorphoses) this is the name of a young woman from Babylon. Believing her to be dead, her lover Pyramus kills himself, after which she does the same to herself. The splashes of blood from their suicides is the reason mulberry fruit are red.

Apparently coined as a feminine form of Theodatus.

Short form of Dorothea, Theodora, Theresa and other names with a similar sound.

Means "warmth" in Welsh.

From an English surname that originally belonged to a person who was associated with the Knights Templar, a medieval religious military order.

Possibly means "evening" in Romani, deriving from the Wallachian word searla. Alternatively it is a variant of Tasorlo.

From the name of the flower, which is derived via Old French from Late Latin tanacita.

Meaning unknown. This was the name of the Phoenician goddess of love, fertility, the moon and the stars. She was particularly associated with the city of Carthage, being the consort of Ba'al Hammon.

Contracted form of Thomasina. It was traditionally used in Cornwall.

Means "little girl" in Aramaic. The name is taken from the phrase talitha cumi meaning "little girl arise" spoken by Jesus in order to restore a young girl to life (see Mark 5:41).

Means "gazelle" in Aramaic. Tabitha in the New Testament was a woman restored to life by Saint Peter. Her name is translated into Greek as Dorcas (see Acts 9:36). As an English name, Tabitha became common after the Protestant Reformation. It was popularized in the 1960s by the television show Bewitched, in which Tabitha (sometimes spelled Tabatha) is the daughter of the main character.

Means "star" in Cornish.

From Turkish son meaning "last, final" and gül meaning "rose".

Means "sun" in French. It is not commonly used as a name in France itself.

Means "succour, help, relief" in Spanish. It is taken from the title of the Virgin Mary María del Socorro meaning "Mary of Perpetual Succour".

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-).

From a Hebrew musical term that occurs many times in the Old Testament Psalms. It was probably meant to indicate a musical pause.

From the Old German element sahso meaning "a Saxon". The Saxons were a Germanic tribe, their name ultimately deriving from the Germanic word *sahsą meaning "knife". Saskia van Uylenburgh (1612-1642) was the wife of the Dutch painter Rembrandt.

Russian and Ukrainian diminutive of Aleksandr or Aleksandra.

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.

Galician form of Isabel.

Latin form of Ῥωξάνη (Rhoxane), the Greek form of an Old Persian or Bactrian name, from Old Iranian *rauxšnā meaning "bright, shining" [1]. This was the name of Alexander the Great's first wife, a daughter of the Bactrian nobleman Oxyartes. In the modern era it came into use during the 17th century. In the English-speaking world it was popularized by Daniel Defoe, who used it in his novel Roxana (1724).

Derived from the Old German elements hruod "fame" and swind "strong". This was the name of a 10th-century nun from Saxony who wrote several notable poems and dramas.

From Persian روشن (rōshan) meaning "light" and آرا (ārā) meaning "decorate, adorn". This was the name of the second daughter of the 17th-century Mughal emperor Shah Jahan.

Hebrew form of Rebecca.

Feminine form of Raziel.

From the Latin name Prosperus, which meant "fortunate, successful". This was the name of a 5th-century saint, a supporter of Saint Augustine. It has never been common as an English name, though the Puritans used it, partly because it is identical to the English word prosper.

From the word for the red flower, derived from Old English popæg.

From Latin pomus "fruit tree". This was the name of the Roman goddess of fruit trees.

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].

Medieval English form of Petronilla.

Feminine form of Peter. This was also the name of an ancient city in the region that is now Jordan.

Italian and Spanish cognate of Pearl.

Derived from Latin perditus meaning "lost". Shakespeare created this name for the daughter of Hermione and Leontes in his play The Winter's Tale (1610). Abandoned as an infant by her father the king, she grows up to be a shepherdess and falls in love with with Florizel.

Means "maiden's voice", derived from Greek παρθένος (parthenos) meaning "maiden, virgin" and ὄψ (ops) meaning "voice". In Greek legend this is the name of one of the Sirens who enticed Odysseus.

Means "dove, pigeon" in Spanish.

Derived from the Finnish word onerva meaning "aftergrass; the hay grown after harvesting".

Feminine form of Olympos.

Means "white footprint" from Welsh ol "footprint, track" and gwen "white, blessed". In the Welsh tale Culhwch and Olwen she was a beautiful maiden, the lover of Culhwch and the daughter of the giant Yspaddaden. Her father insisted that Culhwch complete several seemingly impossible tasks before he would allow them to marry.

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).

From the English and French word for the type of tree, ultimately derived from Latin oliva.

Means "buttercup (flower)" in Hebrew (genus Ranunculus).

Meaning uncertain, possibly a feminine form of Noll inspired by Lola. It has been most common in Australia and New Zealand, especially in the first half of the 20th century.

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).

Derived from South Slavic neven meaning "marigold".

Medieval Welsh diminutive of Agnes.

From the Late Latin name Natalia, which meant "Christmas Day" from Latin natale domini. This was the name of the wife of the 4th-century martyr Saint Adrian of Nicomedia. She is venerated as a saint in the Orthodox Church, and the name has traditionally been more common among Eastern Christians than those in the West. It was popularized in America by actress Natalie Wood (1938-1981), who was born to Russian immigrants.

Previously a medieval diminutive of Annis, though since the 18th century it has been a diminutive of Ann. It is now usually regarded as an independent name. During the 20th century it became very popular in the United States. A city in the Lorraine region of France bears this name, though it derives from a different source.

French diminutive of Nadia 1.

Variant of Nadya 1 used in Western Europe, as well as an alternate transcription of the Slavic name. It began to be used in France in the 19th century [1]. The name received a boost in popularity from the Romanian gymnast Nadia Comăneci (1961-) [2].

Means "hope" in Russian and Bulgarian.

From Japanese 瑞 (mizu) meaning "felicitous omen, auspicious" and 希 (ki) meaning "hope", besides other kanji combinations.

Form of Mary used in the Old Testament, where it belongs to the elder sister of Moses and Aaron. She watched over the infant Moses as the pharaoh's daughter drew him from the Nile. The name has long been popular among Jews, and it has been used as an English Christian name (alongside Mary) since the Protestant Reformation.

Diminutive of Wilhelmina. This name was used by Walt Disney for the cartoon character Minnie Mouse, introduced 1928.

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.

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.

Derived from Caló mermellí meaning "candle". This name is used as a Caló equivalent of Candelaria.

Probably a variant of Meliora. This name was (first?) used in the Arthurian romance The Adventures of Melora and Orlando (1696).

Usage of this still relatively new French given name first started with Mazarine Pingeot (b. 1974), the illegitimate daughter of former French president François Mitterrand (1916-1996) and his mistress Anne Pingeot (b. 1943), whose existence was only brought to light in 1994 or 1995. Her parents' love of books is said to have inspired them to name their daughter after the Bibliothèque Mazarine, the oldest public library in France. The library itself was named after the 17th-century cardinal Jules Raymond Mazarin, who had been born in Italy as Giulio Raimondo Mazzarino. He came from a family that was originally from Sicily and had taken their surname from their ancestral town, Mazzarino.

The town's name is said to have been derived from Mazzara, which either originates from Arabic mazari or mazar meaning "shrine", or is a corruption of Mactorium, the name of a town that had existed in the area in ancient times. That town had been founded by ancient Greek colonists, who had called it Μακτώριον (Maktorion). It is uncertain what the town's name meant in Greek, but it is possibly related to the Greek noun μακτήριον (makterion) meaning "food". Also compare Μαιμακτηριών (Maimakterion), which is the name of one of the lunar months of the Hellenic calendar used in ancient Attica. Alternatively, an etymological relation with the Greek adjective μακτός (maktos) meaning "kneaded" is also possible. This word is ultimately derived from the Greek verb μάσσω (masso) meaning "to knead, to press into a mould".

With that said, the given name Mazarine is quite rare in France today. It was virtually unknown in the country, until the existence of Mitterrand's illegitimate daughter was revealed in 1994 or 1995. The name gained quite a bit of exposure after that, which made it possible for prospective parents to take a liking to the name and bestow it upon their daughters. This clearly shows in the available statistics for the name Mazarine: it suddenly appeared on the radar in the mid-1990s and has remained on it ever since, whereas in previous decades, the name was not used on a noteworthy scale at all (as was to be expected, since this name was more or less "invented" as a given name).

Variant of Maite 1.

From the Germanic name Mahthilt meaning "strength in battle", from the elements maht "might, strength" and hilt "battle". Saint Matilda was the wife of the 10th-century German king Henry I the Fowler. The name was common in many branches of European royalty in the Middle Ages. It was brought to England by the Normans, being borne by the wife of William the Conqueror himself. Another notable royal by this name was a 12th-century daughter of Henry I of England, known as the Empress Matilda because of her first marriage to the Holy Roman emperor Henry V. She later invaded England, laying the foundations for the reign of her son Henry II.

The name was very popular until the 15th century in England, usually in the vernacular form Maud. Both forms were revived by the 19th century. This name appears in the popular Australian folk song Waltzing Matilda, written in 1895.

Variant of Marnie.

Blend of Maria and Magdalene. It refers, therefore, to Mary Magdalene, a character in the New Testament. The name was popularized by the German actress and singer Marlene Dietrich (1901-1992), whose real name was Maria Magdalene Dietrich.

Diminutive of Marija.

Elaboration of Maria used particularly in Latin America. The suffix could be inspired by the name of the Itza people of Central America (as seen in the name of the old Maya city of Chichen Itza, Mexico). It also nearly coincides with the name of the Maritsa River in southeastern Europe.

From the name of the flower, which comes from a combination of Mary and the English word gold.

Diminutive of Maria. In the case of the American actress Mariel Hemingway (1961-), the name was inspired by the Cuban town of Mariel.

Hungarian and Scandinavian form of Margaret.

French diminutive of Marie.

Variant of Maylis.

Feminine form of Maël, possibly influenced by the spelling of Mailys.

Feminine form of Maël.

Variant of May. A famous bearer was the American actress Mae West (1893-1980), whose birth name was Mary.

Means "little light", derived from Romanian lumina "light" combined with a diminutive suffix.

Means "snow" in Finnish.

Meaning unknown. In Finnish mythology Loviatar, also known as Louhi, was a goddess of death and plague.

French feminine form of Louis.

Short form of Olivia.

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.

German short form of Elisabeth.

Means "you are mine" in Hebrew.

Short form of names ending in lena, such as Helena, Magdalena or Yelena. It is often used independently.

Finnish and Estonian short form of Helena or Matleena.

Koštana is a popular play, written by Borisav Stanković, which features many themes of Serbian folklore and patriarchal customs which were still present in the late nineteenth century.

Diminutive of Christopher or Katherine. A notable bearer was Kit Carson (1809-1868), an American frontiersman and explorer.

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

From the Hebrew name קְטוּרָה (Qeṭura) meaning "incense". In the Old Testament she is Abraham's wife after Sarah dies.

Means "love" in Cornish.

Means "of the Kosala people" in Sanskrit. Kosala was an ancient Indian kingdom that was at its most powerful in the 6th century BC. Kausalya is the mother of the hero Rama in the Hindu epic the Ramayana.

Anglicized form of Caitlín.

Alternate transcription of Hebrew יָפֶה (see Yafe).

Polish form of Hedwig. This was the name of a 14th-century ruling queen of Poland who has recently been canonized as a saint.

Probably means "female who invites" in Japanese, from 誘 (izana) meaning "invite, lure, attract". In Japanese mythology she was a creator goddess, the wife of Izanagi. She died giving birth to Kagutsuchi, the god of fire.

Meaning uncertain, possibly from Classic Maya itz meaning "resin, nectar, dew, liquid, enchanted". Otherwise, it might be a variant of Ixchel.

Means "hope, wait" in Basque.

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.

Possibly from Greek ἰσμή (isme) meaning "knowledge". This was the name of the daughter of Oedipus and Jocasta in Greek legend.

Variant of Islay, typically used as a feminine name. It also coincides with the Spanish word isla meaning "island".

Means "spark" in South Slavic.

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.

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).

Spanish form of Agnes.

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).

Italian feminine form of Hilarius.

Variant of Honoria. It was brought to England and Ireland by the Normans.

Latinate form of Helen. This is the name of the heroine of William Shakespeare's play All's Well That Ends Well (1603).

Probably a variant of Gwynedd. It has been common in Wales since the 19th century, perhaps after the Welsh novelist Gwyneth Vaughan (1852-1910), whose real name was Ann Harriet Hughes. A modern famous bearer is the American actress Gwyneth Paltrow (1972-).

Derived from the Welsh elements gwen meaning "white, blessed" and possibly lliain meaning "flaxen, made of linen" or lliant meaning "flow, flood". This name was used by medieval Welsh royalty, notably by a 12th-century princess of Deheubarth who died in battle with the Normans. It was also borne by the 13th-century daughter of Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, the last prince of Gwynedd.

Scots form of Griselda.

German diminutive of Margareta.

From a Scottish surname that was derived from the given name Gregor.

Latinate feminine form of George. This is the name of an American state, which was named after the British king George II. The country of Georgia has an unrelated etymology. A famous bearer was the American painter Georgia O'Keeffe (1887-1986).

Medieval Italian nickname meaning "gem, precious stone". It was borne by the wife of the 13th-century Italian poet Dante Alighieri.

Feminine form of Francis. The distinction between Francis as a masculine name and Frances as a feminine name did not arise until the 17th century [1]. A notable bearer was Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini (1850-1917), a social worker and the first American to be canonized.

Anglicized form of Fionnuala.

Diminutive of Fiamma. This is the name of a character appearing in several works by the 14th-century Italian author Boccaccio. She was probably based on the Neapolitan noblewoman Maria d'Aquino.

Anglicized form of Forbflaith.

Latinate form of Old English Eoforhild (compare Everild).

Elaborated form of Eva.

From Old French Emeline, a diminutive of Germanic names beginning with the element amal meaning "unceasing, vigorous, brave". The Normans introduced this name to England.

Means "elm tree" in Cornish. This is a recently coined Cornish name.

Short form of Elizabeth.

Feminine form of Elior.

From an Old French form of Helen. It appears in Arthurian legend; in Thomas Malory's 15th-century compilation Le Morte d'Arthur Elaine was the daughter of Pelles, the lover of Lancelot, and the mother of Galahad. It was not commonly used as an English given name until after the publication of Alfred Tennyson's Arthurian epic Idylls of the King (1859).

Anglicized form of Eibhlín. It is also sometimes considered an Irish form of Helen. It first became popular in the English-speaking world outside of Ireland near the end of the 19th century.

Czech and Slovak feminine form of Dragomir.

From the English word for the variety of bird, seen as a symbol of peace.

From the Greek name Δωρίς (Doris), which meant "Dorian woman". The Dorians were a Greek tribe who occupied the Peloponnese starting in the 12th century BC. In Greek mythology Doris was a sea nymph, one of the many children of Oceanus and Tethys. It began to be used as an English name in the 19th century. A famous bearer is the American actress Doris Day (1924-2019).

Feminine diminutive of the Roman family name Domitius. This was the name of the wife of the Roman emperor Vespasian and the mother of emperors Titus and Domitian.

Italian feminine form of Dominicus (see Dominic).

Modern Greek form of Despoina.

Feminine form of Desideratus.

From an elaboration of Welsh del "pretty". This is a recently created name.

Possibly from the name of the Greek city of Delphi, the site of an oracle of Apollo, which is possibly related to Greek δελφύς (delphys) meaning "womb". It was used in the play The Prophetess (1647), in which it belongs to the title prophetess.

Means "delicate, weak, languishing" in Hebrew. In the Old Testament she is the lover of Samson, whom she betrays to the Philistines by cutting his hair, which is the source of his power. Despite her character flaws, the name began to be used by the Puritans in the 17th century. It has been used occasionally in the English-speaking world since that time.

From the aristocratic title, derived from Latin comitissa "countess". More commonly a word, it was occasionally used as a medieval given name.

Means "consoled" in Italian. It is taken from the title of the Virgin Mary, Maria Consolata.

Short form of Nicolette. Saint Colette was a 15th-century French nun who gave her money to the poor. This was also the pen name of the French author Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette (1873-1954).

Feminine form of Cloelius. In Roman legend Cloelia was a maiden who was given to an Etruscan invader as a hostage. She managed to escape by swimming across the Tiber, at the same time helping some of the other captives to safety.

French feminine form of Clement. This is also the name of a variety of orange (fruit).

Feminine form of Claudius. It is mentioned briefly in the New Testament. As a Christian name it was very rare until the 16th century.

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.

Variant of Citlalli.

Means "sky, heaven" in Spanish. In Mexico this name was popularized by a character named María del Cielo, called Cielo, on the telenovela Por tu amor (1999).

Feminine form of Chrysanthos.

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

Latinate feminine form of the Roman family name Caecilius, which was derived from Latin caecus meaning "blind". Saint Cecilia was a semi-legendary 2nd or 3rd-century martyr who was sentenced to die because she refused to worship the Roman gods. After attempts to suffocate her failed, she was beheaded. She was later regarded as the patron saint of music and musicians.

Due to the popularity of the saint, the name became common in the Christian world during the Middle Ages. The Normans brought it to England, where it was commonly spelled Cecily — the Latinate form Cecilia came into use in the 18th century.

Scandinavian contracted form of Katherine.

French feminine form of Carolus.

Latinate feminine form of Carolus. This is the name of two American states: North and South Carolina. They were named for Charles I, king of England.

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

Feminine form of Callistus. As an English name it might also be a variant of Kallisto.

From the name of a type of orchid, ultimately meaning "beautiful flower", derived from Greek καλός (kalos) meaning "beautiful" and ἄνθος (anthos) meaning "flower".

From the English word for the thorny plant.

From a Scottish surname that was derived from Gaelic blàr meaning "plain, field, battlefield". In Scotland this name is typically masculine.

In the United States it became more common for girls in the early 1980s, shortly after the debut of the television sitcom The Facts of Life (1979-1988), which featured a character named Blair Warner. The name left the American top 1000 rankings two decades later, but was resurrected by another television character, this time Blair Waldorf from the series Gossip Girl (2007-2012).

Means "jewel" in French. It is mostly used in French-speaking Africa.

Spanish form of Bethlehem, the name of the town in Judah where King David and Jesus were born. The town's name is from Hebrew בֵּית־לֶחֶם (Beṯ-leḥem) meaning "house of bread".

Probably from Viatrix, a feminine form of the Late Latin name Viator meaning "voyager, traveller". It was a common name amongst early Christians, and the spelling was altered by association with Latin beatus "blessed, happy". Viatrix or Beatrix was a 4th-century saint who was strangled to death during the persecutions of Diocletian.

In England the name became rare after the Middle Ages, but it was revived in the 19th century, more commonly in the spelling Beatrice. Famous bearers include the British author and illustrator Beatrix Potter (1866-1943), the creator of Peter Rabbit, and Beatrix of the Netherlands (1938-), the former queen.

Derived from the Turkic element ay meaning "moon" combined with Persian گل (gol) meaning "flower, rose". In some languages this is also a name for a variety of flowering plant that grows in central Asia (species Fritillaria eduardii).

Means "doe, female deer" in Hebrew.

Medieval diminutive of Æðelþryð. This was the name of a 7th-century saint, a princess of East Anglia who founded a monastery at Ely. It was also used by William Shakespeare for a character in his comedy As You Like It (1599). At the end of the Middle Ages the name became rare due to association with the word tawdry (which was derived from St. Audrey, the name of a fair where cheap lace was sold), but it was revived in the 19th century. A famous bearer was British actress Audrey Hepburn (1929-1993).

Ancient Greek personal name that was derived from the name of the Greek goddess Athena.

Probably created by the 16th-century Italian poet Torquato Tasso for his epic poem Jerusalem Delivered (1580). In the poem Armida is a beautiful enchantress who bewitches many of the crusaders.

French form of Herleva.

Variant of Arline. Since the onset of the 20th century, this is the most common spelling of this name.

Meaning uncertain; possibly a variant of Afra 1, or possibly a variant of Aphrah, a biblical place name meaning "dust". This name was borne by the English writer Aphra Behn (1640-1689).

From the Greek Ἄνθεια (Antheia), derived from ἄνθος (anthos) meaning "flower, blossom". This was an epithet of the Greek goddess Hera.

Means "announced" in Italian, referring to the event in the New Testament in which the angel Gabriel tells the Virgin Mary of the imminent birth of Jesus.

Medieval English variant of Honora.

Combination of Anna and Lena.

Spanish, Portuguese, Croatian and Slovene diminutive of Ana.

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.

Form of Anna used in various languages.

Means "protection, shelter, refuge" in Spanish. It is taken from the title of the Virgin Mary, Nuestra Señora del Amparo, meaning "Our Lady of Refuge".

Of uncertain meaning, possibly a corruption of Alethea (compare Alethaire). In the United States, this name was first found in 1768; in the United Kingdom, there were several uses throughout the 1800s (and most likely before that as well). While the background of the American bearers of this name is unknown, almost all British bearers were born to traveling Romani families.

Means "dream" or "vision" in Irish. This name was created in the 20th century.

Spanish and Portuguese form of Agatha.

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.

Feminine form of Adam.