Domofish's Personal Name List
Zemka
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Bosnian (Rare)
Pronounced: ZEM-kuh
Ysabelle
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Spanish (Rare)
Ximena
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Spanish
Pronounced: khee-MEH-na
Feminine form of
Ximeno. This was the name of the wife of El Cid.
Winter
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: WIN-tər
From the English word for the season, derived from Old English winter.
Winifred
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Welsh
Pronounced: WIN-ə-frid(English)
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.
William
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: WIL-yəm
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.
Wilhelmina
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Dutch, German (Rare), English
Pronounced: vil-hehl-MEE-na(Dutch, German) wil-ə-MEEN-ə(English) wil-hehl-MEEN-ə(English)
Dutch and German feminine form of
Wilhelm. This name was borne by a queen of the Netherlands (1880-1962).
Watson
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: WAHT-sən
From an English surname meaning
"son of Wat". A famous fictional bearer of the surname was Dr. Watson, the assistant to Sherlock Holmes in Arthur Conan Doyle's mystery stories beginning in 1887.
Veronica
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Italian, Romanian, Late Roman
Pronounced: və-RAHN-i-kə(American English) və-RAWN-i-kə(British English) veh-RAW-nee-ka(Italian)
Latin alteration of
Berenice, the spelling influenced by the ecclesiastical Latin phrase
vera icon meaning
"true image". This was the name of a legendary
saint who wiped
Jesus' face with a towel and then found his image imprinted upon it. Due to popular stories about her, the name was occasionally used in the Christian world in the Middle Ages. It was borne by the Italian saint and mystic Veronica Giuliani (1660-1727). As an English name, it was not common until the 19th century, when it was imported from France and Scotland.
Vanessa
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, French, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, German, Dutch
Pronounced: və-NEHS-ə(English) VA-NEH-SA(French) va-NEHS-sa(Italian) vu-NEH-su(European Portuguese) va-NEH-su(Brazilian Portuguese) ba-NEH-sa(Spanish) va-NEH-sa(German) vah-NEH-sa(Dutch)
Invented by author Jonathan Swift for his 1726 poem
Cadenus and Vanessa [1]. He arrived at it by rearranging the initial syllables of the first name and surname of
Esther Vanhomrigh, his close friend. Vanessa was later used as the name of a genus of butterfly. It was a rare given name until the mid-20th century, at which point it became fairly popular.
Ulysses
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Roman Mythology, English
Pronounced: yoo-LI-seez(Latin) yoo-LIS-eez(American English) YOOL-i-seez(British English)
Latin form of
Odysseus. It was borne by Ulysses S. Grant (1822-1885), the commander of the Union forces during the American Civil War, who went on to become an American president. Irish author James Joyce used it as the title of his book
Ulysses (1922), which loosely parallels
Homer's epic the
Odyssey.
Tiffany
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: TIF-ə-nee
Medieval form of
Theophania. This name was traditionally given to girls born on the Epiphany (January 6), the festival commemorating the visit of the Magi to the infant
Jesus. The name died out after the Middle Ages, but it was revived by the movie
Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961), the title of which refers to the Tiffany's jewelry store in New York.
Theodore
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: THEE-ə-dawr
From the Greek name
Θεόδωρος (Theodoros), which meant
"gift of god" from Greek
θεός (theos) meaning "god" and
δῶρον (doron) meaning "gift". The name
Dorothea is derived from the same roots in reverse order. This was the name of several
saints, including Theodore of Amasea, a 4th-century Greek soldier; Theodore of Tarsus, a 7th-century archbishop of Canterbury; and Theodore the Studite, a 9th-century Byzantine monk. It was also borne by two popes.
This was a common name in classical Greece, and, due to both the saints who carried it and the favourable meaning, it came into general use in the Christian world, being especially popular among Eastern Christians. It was however rare in Britain before the 19th century. Famous bearers include three tsars of Russia (in the Russian form Fyodor) and American president Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919).
Theodora
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Greek, Ancient Greek [1]
Other Scripts: Θεοδώρα(Greek)
Pronounced: thee-ə-DAWR-ə(English)
Feminine form of
Theodore. This name was common in the Byzantine Empire, being borne by several empresses including the influential wife of Justinian in the 6th century.
Teddy
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: TEHD-ee
Taseen
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Bengali (Muslim, Rare)
Other Scripts: طاسين(Arabic)
Pronounced: tah-SEEN
Taseen is a Quranic name for boys. Chapter 27 of the Quran (known as Surat an-Naml) begins with Taseen, just like Chapter 36 begins with Yaseen and chapter 20 starts with Taha. The meaning of these words are not known, but since they are in the Quran in the beginning of Quranic chapters, people use them as names.
Sutton
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: SUT-ən
From a surname, itself derived from the name of numerous English towns, of Old English origin meaning "south town".
Summer
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: SUM-ər
From the name of the season, ultimately from Old English sumor. It has been in use as a given name since the 1970s.
Sterling
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: STUR-ling
From a Scots surname that was derived from city of Stirling, which is itself of unknown meaning. The name can also be given in reference to the English word sterling meaning "excellent". In this case, the word derives from sterling silver, which was so named because of the emblem that some Norman coins bore, from Old English meaning "little star".
Starling
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: STAHR-ling
From the
English word for the type of bird. It is commonly associated with the name
Star.
It is the original name of children's illustrator Tasha Tudor.
Stanley
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: STAN-lee
From an English surname meaning
"stone clearing" (Old English
stan "stone" and
leah "woodland, clearing"). A notable bearer of the surname was the British-American explorer and journalist Henry Morton Stanley (1841-1904), the man who found David Livingstone in Africa. As a given name, it was borne by American director Stanley Kubrick (1928-1999), as well as the character Stanley Kowalski in Tennessee Williams' play
A Streetcar Named Desire (1947).
Spero
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Transferred use of the surname
Spero.
Soraya
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Persian, Spanish, French, Portuguese (Brazilian)
Other Scripts: ثریا(Persian)
Pronounced: so-ra-YAW(Persian) so-RA-ya(Spanish)
Persian form of
Thurayya. It became popular in some parts of Europe because of the fame of Princess Soraya (1932-2001), wife of the last Shah of Iran, who became a European socialite.
Sophie
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French, English, German, Dutch
Pronounced: SAW-FEE(French) SO-fee(English) zo-FEE(German) so-FEE(Dutch)
Skylar
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: SKIE-lər
Variant of
Skyler. Originally more common for boys during the 1980s, it was popularized as a name for girls after it was used on the American soap opera
The Young and the Restless in 1989 and the movie
Good Will Hunting in 1997
[1]. Its sharp rise in the United States in 2011 might be attributed to the character Skyler White from the television series
Breaking Bad (2008-2013) or the singer Skylar Grey (1986-), who adopted this name in 2010 after previously going by Holly Brook.
Siobhán
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Irish
Pronounced: SHI-wan, SHUW-wan, SHI-van, shə-VAN
Irish form of
Jehanne, a Norman French variant of
Jeanne.
Simeon
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Biblical, Bulgarian, Serbian
Other Scripts: שִׁםְעוֹן(Ancient Hebrew) Симеон(Bulgarian, Serbian, Macedonian)
Pronounced: SIM-ee-ən(English)
From
Συμεών (Symeon), the
Old Testament Greek form of the Hebrew name
Shimʿon (see
Simon 1). In the Old Testament this is the name of the second son of
Jacob and
Leah and the founder of one of the twelve tribes of Israel. In the
New Testament the Greek rendering
Σίμων (Simon) is more common, though
Συμεών occurs belonging to a man who blessed the newborn
Jesus. He is recognized as a
saint in most Christian traditions.
This name was also borne by a powerful 10th-century ruler of Bulgaria who expanded the empire to its greatest extent.
Sheridan
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: SHEHR-i-dən
From an Irish surname (Anglicized from Irish Gaelic Ó Sirideáin), which was derived from the given name Sirideán possibly meaning "searcher".
Serena
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Italian, Late Roman
Pronounced: sə-REEN-ə(English) seh-REH-na(Italian)
From a Late Latin name that was derived from Latin
serenus meaning
"clear, tranquil, serene". This name was borne by an obscure early
saint. Edmund Spenser also used it in his poem
The Faerie Queene (1590). A famous bearer from the modern era is tennis player Serena Williams (1981-).
Selenis
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Caribbean, South American
Saoirse
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Irish
Pronounced: SEER-shə
Means "freedom" in Irish Gaelic. It was first used as a given name in the 20th century.
Samuel
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, French, German, Dutch, Spanish, Portuguese, Polish, Czech, Slovak, Romanian, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Jewish, Amharic, Biblical
Other Scripts: שְׁמוּאֵל(Hebrew) ሳሙኤል(Amharic)
Pronounced: SAM-yoo-əl(English) SAM-yəl(English) SA-MWEHL(French) ZA-mwehl(German) SA-muy-ehl(Dutch) sa-MWEHL(Spanish) su-moo-EHL(European Portuguese) sa-moo-EW(Brazilian Portuguese) sa-MOO-ehl(Polish) SA-moo-ehl(Czech, Slovak, Swedish) SAH-moo-ehl(Finnish)
From the Hebrew name
שְׁמוּאֵל (Shemuʾel) meaning
"name of God", from the roots
שֵׁם (shem) meaning "name" and
אֵל (ʾel) meaning "God". Other interpretations have the first root being
שָׁמַע (shamaʿ) meaning "to hear" leading to a meaning of
"God has heard". As told in the Books of Samuel in the
Old Testament, Samuel was the last of the ruling judges. He led the Israelites during a period of domination by the Philistines, who were ultimately defeated in battle at Mizpah. Later he anointed
Saul to be the first king of Israel, and even later anointed his successor
David.
As a Christian name, Samuel came into common use after the Protestant Reformation. It has been consistently popular in the English-speaking world, ranking yearly in the top 100 names in the United States (as recorded since 1880) and performing similarly well in the United Kingdom.
Famous bearers include English poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834), American inventor Samuel Morse (1791-1872), Irish writer Samuel Beckett (1906-1989), and American actor Samuel L. Jackson (1948-). This was also the real name, Samuel Clemens, of the American author Mark Twain (1835-1910).
Samira 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Arabic, Persian
Other Scripts: سميرة(Arabic) سمیرا(Persian)
Pronounced: sa-MEE-ra(Arabic) sa-mee-RAW(Persian)
Safiya
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Hausa, Kazakh, Arabic
Other Scripts: Сафия(Kazakh) صفيّة(Arabic)
Pronounced: sa-FEE-ya(Arabic)
Hausa and Kazakh form of
Safiyya. It is also an alternate transcription of the Arabic name.
Sabrina
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Italian, German, French, Spanish, Portuguese
Pronounced: sə-BREEN-ə(English) sa-BREE-na(Italian, Spanish) za-BREE-na(German) SA-BREE-NA(French) su-BREE-nu(European Portuguese) sa-BREE-nu(Brazilian Portuguese)
Latinized form of
Habren, the original Welsh name of the River Severn. According to Geoffrey of Monmouth, Sabrina was the name of a princess who was drowned in the Severn. Supposedly the river was named for her, but it is more likely that her name was actually derived from that of the river, which is of unknown meaning. She appears as a water nymph in John Milton's masque
Comus (1634).
The name was brought to public attention by Samuel A. Taylor's play Sabrina Fair (1953) and the movie adaptation Sabrina that followed it the next year. This is also the name of a comic book character, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, first introduced 1962 and with television adaptations in 1970-1974 and 1996-2003, both causing minor jumps in popularity. Another jump occurred in 1976, when it was used for a main character on the television series Charlie's Angels.
Sabine
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French, German, Dutch, Danish
Pronounced: SA-BEEN(French) za-BEE-nə(German) sa-BEE-nə(Dutch)
French, German, Dutch and Danish form of
Sabina.
Ryland
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: RIE-lənd
From an English surname, which was originally derived from a place name meaning "rye land" in Old English.
Rudy
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: ROO-dee
Rory
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: Irish, Scottish, English
Pronounced: RAWR-ee(English)
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)
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.
Reem
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Arabic
Other Scripts: ريم(Arabic)
Pronounced: REEM
Alternate transcription of Arabic
ريم (see
Rim).
Raphael
Gender: Masculine
Usage: German, English, Biblical
Other Scripts: רָפָאֵל, רְפָאֵל(Ancient Hebrew)
Pronounced: RA-fa-ehl(German) RAF-ee-əl(English) RAF-ay-ehl(English) rah-fie-EHL(English)
From the Hebrew name
רָפָאֵל (Rafaʾel) meaning
"God heals", from the roots
רָפָא (rafa) meaning "to heal" and
אֵל (ʾel) meaning "God". In Hebrew tradition Raphael is the name of an archangel. He appears in the Book of Tobit, in which he disguises himself as a man named
Azarias and accompanies
Tobias on his journey to Media, aiding him along the way. In the end he cures Tobias's father
Tobit of his blindness. He is not mentioned in the
New Testament, though tradition identifies him with the angel troubling the water in
John 5:4.
This name has never been common in the English-speaking world, though it has been well-used elsewhere in Europe. A famous bearer was the Italian Renaissance master Raffaello Sanzio (1483-1520), usually known simply as Raphael in English.
Quinton
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: KWIN-tən
Variant of
Quentin, also coinciding with an English surname meaning "queen's town" in Old English.
Quinn
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: KWIN
From an Irish surname, an Anglicized form of Irish Gaelic
Ó Cuinn, itself derived from the given name
Conn. In the United States it was more common as a name for boys until 2010, the year after the female character Quinn Fabray began appearing on the television series
Glee.
Preston
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: PREHS-tən
From an English surname that was originally derived from a place name meaning "priest town" (Old English preost and tun).
Phoebe
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Greek Mythology (Latinized), Biblical, Biblical Latin
Other Scripts: Φοίβη(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: FEE-bee(English)
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.
Philomena
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, German, Ancient Greek (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Φιλουμένη(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: fil-ə-MEE-nə(English)
From Greek
Φιλουμένη (Philoumene) meaning
"to be loved", an inflection of
φιλέω (phileo) meaning "to love". This was the name of an obscure early
saint and martyr. The name came to public attention in 1802 after a tomb seemingly marked with the name
Filumena was found in Rome, supposedly belonging to another martyr named Philomena. This may have in fact been a representation of the Greek word
φιλουμένη, not a name.
Peyton
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: PAY-tən
From an English surname, originally a place name meaning
"Pæga's town". This was a rare masculine name until the 1990s. In 1992 it was used for a female character in the movie
The Hand That Rocks the Cradle, and, despite the fact that it was borne by the villain, the name began to rise in popularity for girls as well as boys
[1].
Famous bearers include Peyton Randolph (1721-1775), the first president of the Continental Congress, and American football quarterback Peyton Manning (1976-).
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)
Feminine form of
Peter. This was also the name of an ancient city in the region that is now Jordan.
Paris 1
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Πάρις(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: PA-REES(Classical Greek) PAR-is(English) PEHR-is(English)
Meaning unknown, possibly of Luwian or Hittite origin. In Greek
mythology he was the Trojan prince who kidnapped
Helen and began the Trojan War. Though presented as a somewhat of a coward in the
Iliad, he did manage to slay the great hero
Achilles. He was himself eventually slain in battle by Philoctetes.
Oksana
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Ukrainian, Russian
Other Scripts: Оксана(Ukrainian, Russian)
Pronounced: uk-SA-nə(Russian)
Normani
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Nolan
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, French (Modern)
Pronounced: NO-lən(English)
From an Irish surname, the Anglicized form of
Ó Nualláin, itself derived from the given name
Nuallán. The baseball player Nolan Ryan (1947-) is a famous bearer. This name has climbed steadily in popularity since the 1970s.
Noemi
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, Czech, Polish, Romanian, German, Biblical Latin
Pronounced: no-EH-mee(Italian)
Form of
Naomi 1 in several languages.
Newton
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: NOO-tən, NYOO-tən
From a surname that was originally derived from a place name meaning "new town" in Old English. A famous bearer of the surname was the English physicist Isaac Newton (1643-1727).
Nellie
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Swedish
Pronounced: NEHL-ee(English) NEH-li(Swedish)
Nabiha
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Arabic
Other Scripts: نبيهة(Arabic)
Pronounced: na-BEE-ha
Molly
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: MAHL-ee
Medieval
diminutive of
Mary, now often used independently. It developed from
Malle and
Molle, other medieval diminutives. James Joyce used this name in his novel
Ulysses (1922), where it belongs to Molly Bloom, the wife of the main character.
Mira 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Hindi, Marathi, Malayalam, Tamil, Kannada
Other Scripts: मीरा(Hindi, Marathi) മീര(Malayalam) மீரா(Tamil) ಮೀರಾ(Kannada)
From Sanskrit
मीर (mīra) meaning
"sea, ocean". This was the name of a 16th-century Indian princess who devoted her life to the god
Krishna.
Miles
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: MIELZ
From the Germanic name
Milo, introduced by the
Normans to England in the form
Miles. The meaning is not known for certain. It is possibly connected to the Slavic name element
milŭ meaning
"gracious, dear". From an early date it was associated with Latin
miles meaning
"soldier".
A notable bearer was the American musician Miles Davis (1926-1991). In Scotland this name was historically used to Anglicize Maoilios.
Melusine
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Mythology
Meaning unknown. In European folklore Melusine was a water fairy who turned into a serpent from the waist down every Saturday. She made her husband, Raymond of Poitou, promise that he would never see her on that day, and when he broke his word she left him forever.
Melody
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: MEHL-ə-dee
From the English word
melody, which is derived (via Old French and Late Latin) from Greek
μέλος (melos) meaning "song" combined with
ἀείδω (aeido) meaning "to sing".
Maia 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology, Roman Mythology, Portuguese, Georgian
Other Scripts: Μαῖα(Ancient Greek) მაია(Georgian)
Pronounced: MIE-A(Classical Greek) MAY-ə(English) MIE-ə(English) MIE-ya(Latin) MAH-EE-AH(Georgian)
From Greek
μαῖα (maia) meaning
"good mother, dame, foster mother", perhaps in origin a nursery form of
μήτηρ (meter). In Greek and Roman
mythology she was the eldest of the Pleiades, a group of stars in the constellation Taurus, who were the daughters of
Atlas and
Pleione. Her son by
Zeus was
Hermes.
Magnolia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: mag-NO-lee-ə
From the English word magnolia for the flower, which was named for the French botanist Pierre Magnol.
Madelyn
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: MAD-ə-lin
Lydia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, German, Dutch, Biblical, Biblical Latin, Biblical Greek [1]
Other Scripts: Λυδία(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: LID-ee-ə(English) LUY-dya(German) LEE-dee-ya(Dutch)
Means
"from Lydia" in Greek. Lydia was a region on the west coast of Asia Minor, said to be named for the legendary king
Lydos. In the
New Testament this is the name of a woman converted to Christianity by
Saint Paul. In the modern era the name has been in use since the
Protestant Reformation.
Levi
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Hebrew, English, Dutch, German, Biblical, Biblical Latin
Other Scripts: לֵוִי(Hebrew)
Pronounced: LEE-vie(English) LEH-vee(Dutch)
Possibly means
"joined, attached" in Hebrew. As told in the
Old Testament, Levi was the third son of
Jacob and
Leah, and the ancestor of one of the twelve tribes of the Israelites, known as the Levites. This was the tribe that formed the priestly class of the Israelites. The brothers
Moses and
Aaron were members. This name also occurs in the
New Testament, where it is borne by a son of
Alphaeus. He might be the same person as the apostle
Matthew.
As an English Christian name, Levi came into use after the Protestant Reformation.
Laurel
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: LAWR-əl
From the name of the laurel tree, ultimately from Latin laurus.
Langston
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: LANG-stən
From an English surname, itself from a place name, derived from Old English
lang "long" and
stan "stone". A famous bearer was the American author Langston Hughes (1901-1967).
Justine
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French, English
Pronounced: ZHUYS-TEEN(French) jus-TEEN(English)
French form of
Iustina (see
Justina). This is the name of the heroine in the novel
Justine (1791) by the Marquis de Sade.
Julian
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, Polish, German
Pronounced: JOO-lee-ən(English) JOOL-yən(English) YOO-lyan(Polish) YOO-lee-an(German)
From the Roman name
Iulianus, which was derived from
Julius. This was the name of the last pagan Roman emperor, Julian the Apostate (4th century). It was also borne by several early
saints, including the legendary Saint Julian the Hospitaller. This name has been used in England since the Middle Ages, at which time it was also a feminine name (from
Juliana, eventually becoming
Gillian).
Jenny
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Swedish, Norwegian, Finnish, German, Dutch, French, Spanish
Pronounced: JEHN-ee(English) YEH-nuy(Swedish) YEH-nee(German, Dutch) JEH-nee(German, Dutch) GYEH-nee(Spanish)
Originally a medieval English
diminutive of
Jane. Since the middle of the 20th century it has been primarily considered a diminutive of
Jennifer.
Jacqueline
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French, English
Pronounced: ZHAK-LEEN(French) JAK-ə-lin(English) JAK-wə-lin(English) JAK-ə-leen(English)
French feminine form of
Jacques, also commonly used in the English-speaking world.
Jack
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: JAK
Derived from
Jackin (earlier
Jankin), a medieval
diminutive of
John [1]. There could be some early influence from the unrelated French name
Jacques [2]. It is often regarded as an independent name. During the Middle Ages it was very common, and it became a slang word meaning "man", as seen in the terms
jack-o'-lantern,
jack-in-the-box,
lumberjack and so on. It was frequently used in fairy tales and nursery rhymes, such as
Jack and the Beanstalk,
Jack and Jill,
Little Jack Horner, and
Jack Sprat.
American writers Jack London (1876-1916) and Jack Kerouac (1922-1969) were two famous bearers of this name. It is also borne by the actor Jack Nicholson (1937-) and the golfer Jack Nicklaus (1940-). Apart from Nicklaus, none of these famous bearers were given the name Jack at birth.
In the United Kingdom this form has been bestowed more frequently than John since the 1990s, being the most popular name for boys from 1996 to 2008.
Isabella
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, German, English, Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, Finnish, Dutch, Romanian
Pronounced: ee-za-BEHL-la(Italian) ee-za-BEH-la(German, Dutch) iz-ə-BEHL-ə(English) is-a-BEHL-la(Swedish) EE-sah-behl-lah(Finnish)
Latinate form of
Isabel. This name was borne by many medieval royals, including queens consort of England, France, Portugal, the Holy Roman Empire and Hungary, as well as the powerful ruling queen Isabella of Castile (properly called
Isabel).
In the United States this form was much less common than Isabel until the early 1990s, when it began rapidly rising in popularity. It reached a peak in 2009 and 2010, when it was the most popular name for girls in America, an astounding rise over only 20 years.
A famous bearer is the Italian actress Isabella Rossellini (1952-).
Isa 2
Gender: Feminine
Usage: German, Dutch, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese
Pronounced: EE-za(German) EE-sa(Dutch, Spanish)
Igor
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Russian, Polish, Slovene, Croatian, Serbian, Macedonian, Slovak, Czech, Italian, Portuguese, Basque
Other Scripts: Игорь(Russian) Игор(Serbian, Macedonian)
Pronounced: EE-gər(Russian) EE-gawr(Polish, Slovak) EE-gor(Croatian, Serbian, Italian) I-gor(Czech) ee-GHOR(Basque)
Russian form of the Old Norse name
Yngvarr (see
Ingvar). The Varangians brought it with them when they began settling in Eastern Europe in the 9th century. It was borne by two grand princes of Kyiv, notably Igor I the son of
Rurik and the husband of
Saint Olga. Other famous bearers include Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971), a Russian composer known for
The Rite of Spring, and Igor Sikorsky (1889-1972), the Russian-American designer of the first successful helicopter.
Ian
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Scottish, English
Pronounced: EE-ən(English)
Anglicized form of Scottish Gaelic
Iain, itself from Latin
Iohannes (see
John). It became popular in the United Kingdom outside of Scotland in the first half of the 20th century, but did not begin catching on in America until the 1960s.
Hudson
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: HUD-sən
From an English surname meaning
"son of Hudde". A famous bearer of the surname was the English explorer Henry Hudson (1570-1611).
Holland
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English, Romani (Archaic)
Pronounced: HAH-lənd(English)
From the name of geographic places called
Holland 1, or transferred usage of the surname
Holland 1.
Harmony
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: HAHR-mə-nee
From the English word
harmony, ultimately deriving from Greek
ἁρμονία (harmonia).
Hannelore
Gender: Feminine
Usage: German
Pronounced: HA-nə-lo-rə
Guinevere
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Arthurian Cycle
Pronounced: GWIN-ə-vir(English)
From the Norman French form of the Welsh name
Gwenhwyfar meaning
"white phantom", ultimately from the old Celtic roots *
windos meaning "white" (modern Welsh
gwen) and *
sēbros meaning "phantom, magical being"
[1]. In Arthurian legend she was the beautiful wife of King
Arthur. According to the 12th-century chronicler Geoffrey of Monmouth, she was seduced by
Mordred before the battle of Camlann, which led to the deaths of both Mordred and Arthur. According to the 12th-century French poet Chrétien de Troyes, she engaged in an adulterous affair with Sir
Lancelot.
The Cornish form of this name, Jennifer, has become popular in the English-speaking world.
Greer
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: GRIR
From a Scottish surname that was derived from the given name
Gregor.
Grace
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: GRAYS
From the English word
grace, which ultimately derives from Latin
gratia. This was one of the virtue names created in the 17th century by the
Puritans. The actress Grace Kelly (1929-1982) was a famous bearer.
This name was very popular in the English-speaking world at the end of the 19th century. Though it declined in use over the next 100 years, it staged a successful comeback at the end of the 20th century. The American sitcom Will and Grace (1998-2006) may have helped, though the name was already strongly rising when it premiered. It was the top name for girls in England and Wales in 2006.
Ginger
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: JIN-jər
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.
Geraldine
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: JEHR-əl-deen
Feminine form of
Gerald. This name was created by the poet Henry Howard for use in a 1537 sonnet praising Lady Elizabeth FitzGerald, whom he terms
The Geraldine.
Garnet 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: GAHR-nət
From the English word garnet for the precious stone, the birthstone of January. The word is derived from Middle English gernet meaning "dark red".
Gaia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology, Italian
Other Scripts: Γαῖα(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: GIE-A(Classical Greek) GIE-ə(English) GAY-ə(English) GA-ya(Italian)
From the Greek word
γαῖα (gaia), a parallel form of
γῆ (ge) meaning
"earth". In Greek
mythology Gaia was the mother goddess who presided over the earth. She was the mate of
Uranus and the mother of the Titans and the Cyclopes.
Francesca
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, Catalan
Pronounced: fran-CHEHS-ka(Italian) frən-SEHS-kə(Catalan)
Italian and Catalan feminine form of
Franciscus (see
Francis).
Fox
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: FAHKS
Either from the English word fox or the surname Fox, which originally given as a nickname. The surname was borne by George Fox (1624-1691), the founder of the Quakers.
Fern
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: FURN
From the English word for the plant, ultimately from Old English fearn. It has been used as a given name since the late 19th century.
Fennec
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Felix
Gender: Masculine
Usage: German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, English, Romanian, Ancient Roman, Biblical, Biblical Latin
Pronounced: FEH-liks(German, Dutch, Swedish) FEE-liks(English) FEH-leeks(Latin)
From a Roman
cognomen meaning
"lucky, successful" in Latin. It was acquired as an
agnomen, or nickname, by the 1st-century BC Roman general Sulla. It also appears in the
New Testament belonging to the governor of Judea who imprisoned
Saint Paul.
Due to its favourable meaning, this name was popular among early Christians, being borne by many early saints and four popes. It has been used in England since the Middle Ages, though it has been more popular in continental Europe. A notable bearer was the German composer Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847).
Felicity
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: fə-LIS-i-tee
From the English word
felicity meaning
"happiness", which ultimately derives from Latin
felicitas "good luck". This was one of the virtue names adopted by the
Puritans around the 17th century. It can sometimes be used as an English form of the Latin name
Felicitas. This name jumped in popularity in the United States after the premiere of the television series
Felicity in 1998. It is more common in the United Kingdom.
Fauna
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Roman Mythology
Pronounced: FOW-na(Latin) FAW-nə(English)
Feminine form of
Faunus. Fauna was a Roman goddess of fertility, women and healing, a daughter and companion of Faunus.
Eugene
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: YOO-jeen, yoo-JEEN
English form of
Eugenius, the Latin form of the Greek name
Εὐγένιος (Eugenios), which was derived from the Greek word
εὐγενής (eugenes) meaning
"well born". It is composed of the elements
εὖ (eu) meaning "good" and
γενής (genes) meaning "born". This was the name of several
saints and four popes.
This name was not particularly common in Western Europe during the Middle Ages. It became more popular in part due to the fame of Prince Eugene of Savoy (1663-1736), a French-born general who served the Austrian Empire. A notable bearer was the American playwright Eugene O'Neill (1888-1953).
Eris
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Ἔρις(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: EHR-is(English)
Means
"strife, discord" in Greek. In Greek
mythology Eris was the goddess of discord. She was the sister and companion of
Ares.
Emmett
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: EHM-it
From an English surname that was derived from a
diminutive of the feminine given name
Emma.
Emma
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, French, Italian, Spanish, Catalan, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Icelandic, Finnish, Latvian, Dutch, German, Hungarian, Germanic [1]
Pronounced: EHM-ə(English) EH-MA(French) EHM-ma(Spanish) EHM-mah(Finnish) EH-ma(Dutch, German) EHM-maw(Hungarian)
Originally a short form of Germanic names that began with the element
irmin meaning
"whole" or
"great" (Proto-Germanic *
ermunaz). It was introduced to England by Emma of Normandy, who was the wife both of King Ethelred II (and by him the mother of Edward the Confessor) and later of King Canute. It was also borne by an 11th-century Austrian
saint, who is sometimes called
Hemma.
After the Norman Conquest this name became common in England. It was revived in the 18th century, perhaps in part due to Matthew Prior's 1709 poem Henry and Emma [2]. It was also used by Jane Austen for the central character, the matchmaker Emma Woodhouse, in her novel Emma (1816).
In the United States, it was third in rank in 1880 (behind only the ubiquitous Mary and Anna). It declined steadily over the next century, beginning another rise in the 1980s and eventually becoming the most popular name for girls in 2008. At this time it also experienced similar levels of popularity elsewhere, including the United Kingdom (where it began rising a decade earlier), Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Scandinavia and the Netherlands. Famous bearers include the actresses Emma Thompson (1959-), Emma Stone (1988-) and Emma Watson (1990-).
Elsinore
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (American, Rare)
Pronounced: EHL-sin-awr(American English) ehl-si-NAWR(American English)
From the name of
Hamlet's castle, which is an anglicized form of
Helsingør, a Danish place name meaning "neck, narrow strait" (see
Elsinore). Use of this place name as a feminine personal name is likely due to its similarity to
Eleanor and
Elsa.
Elektra
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Ἠλέκτρα(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: EH-LEHK-TRA(Classical Greek)
Edie
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: EE-dee
Eden
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: Hebrew, English (Modern), French (Modern)
Other Scripts: עֵדֶן(Hebrew)
Pronounced: EE-dən(English)
From the biblical place name, itself possibly from Hebrew
עֵדֶן (ʿeḏen) meaning "pleasure, delight"
[1], or perhaps derived from Sumerian
𒂔 (edin) meaning "plain". According to the
Old Testament the Garden of Eden was the place where the first people,
Adam and
Eve, lived before they were expelled.
Dove
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: DUV
From the English word for the variety of bird, seen as a symbol of peace.
Dominique
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: French
Pronounced: DAW-MEE-NEEK
French feminine and masculine form of
Dominicus (see
Dominic).
Dayanara
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Spanish (Latin American), American (Hispanic)
Possibly an elaboration of
Dayana or a variant of
Deyanira. This is borne by Dayanara Torres (1974-), a Puerto Rican actress, singer, model, writer and former Miss Universe.
Daphne
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology, English, Dutch
Other Scripts: Δάφνη(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: DA-PNEH(Classical Greek) DAF-nee(English) DAHF-nə(Dutch)
Means
"laurel" in Greek. In Greek
mythology she was a nymph turned into a laurel tree by her father in order that she might escape the pursuit of
Apollo. It has been used as a given name in the English-speaking world since the end of the 19th century.
Danielle
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French, English, Dutch
Pronounced: DA-NYEHL(French) dan-YEHL(English)
French feminine form of
Daniel. It has been commonly used in the English-speaking world only since the 20th century.
Daniel
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, Hebrew, French, German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Polish, Czech, Slovak, Spanish, Portuguese, Catalan, Romanian, Slovene, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Croatian, Finnish, Estonian, Armenian, Georgian, Biblical, Biblical Greek [1]
Other Scripts: דָּנִיֵּאל(Hebrew) Даниел(Bulgarian, Macedonian) Դանիէլ(Armenian) დანიელ(Georgian) Δανιήλ(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: DAN-yəl(English) DA-NYEHL(French) DA-nyehl(German) DA-nee-ehl(German, Slovak) DAH-ni-yəl(Norwegian) DA-nyəl(Danish) DA-nyehl(Polish) DA-ni-yehl(Czech) da-NYEHL(Spanish) du-nee-EHL(European Portuguese) du-nee-EW(Brazilian Portuguese) də-nee-EHL(Catalan) da-nee-EHL(Romanian)
From the Hebrew name
דָּנִיֵּאל (Daniyyel) meaning
"God is my judge", from the roots
דִּין (din) meaning "to judge" and
אֵל (ʾel) meaning "God". Daniel was a Hebrew prophet whose story is told in the Book of Daniel in the
Old Testament. He lived during the Jewish captivity in Babylon, where he served in the court of the king, rising to prominence by interpreting the king's dreams. The book also presents Daniel's four visions of the end of the world.
Due to the popularity of the biblical character, the name came into use in England during the Middle Ages. Though it became rare by the 15th century, it was revived after the Protestant Reformation. Famous bearers of this name include English author Daniel Defoe (1660-1731), Swiss mathematician Daniel Bernoulli (1700-1782), and American frontiersman Daniel Boone (1734-1820).
Dana 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Romanian, Czech, Slovak, German, Hebrew
Other Scripts: דָּנָה(Hebrew)
Pronounced: DA-na(Czech, Slovak, German)
Dallas
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: DAL-əs
From a surname that could either be of Old English origin meaning "valley house" or of Scottish Gaelic origin meaning "meadow dwelling". A city in Texas bears this name, probably in honour of American Vice President George M. Dallas (1792-1864).
Corinne
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French, English
Pronounced: KAW-REEN(French) kə-REEN(English) kə-RIN(English)
French form of
Corinna. The French-Swiss author Madame de Staël used it for her novel
Corinne (1807).
Coralee
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (American, Rare)
Constance
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, French
Pronounced: KAHN-stəns(English) KAWNS-TAHNS(French)
Medieval form of
Constantia. The
Normans introduced this name to England (it was the name of a daughter of William the Conqueror).
Colin 1
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Scottish, English
Pronounced: KAHL-in(English) KOL-in(English)
Anglicized form of Scottish
Cailean.
Coletta
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian (Rare), English (Rare)
Pronounced: ko-LET-tah
Clove
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Literature, English (Modern)
Pronounced: KLOV(Literature)
From the English word meaning either a slice of garlic or the dried flower bud of a tropical tree, used as a spice. This name was recently used in Suzanne Collins' popular book, The Hunger Games.
Cliff
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: KLIF
Clarence
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: KLAR-əns, KLEHR-əns
From the Latin title Clarensis, which belonged to members of the British royal family. The title ultimately derives from the name of the town of Clare in Suffolk. As a given name it has been in use since the 19th century.
Chord
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: CH-O-R-D
Meaning "chord" as of the musical triad, or the third. Actor Chord Overstreet is a famous bearer.
Chanel
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: shə-NEHL
From a French surname that meant either "channel", indicating a person who lived near a channel of water, or "jug, jar, bottle", indicating a manufacturer of jugs. It has been used as an American given name since 1970s, influenced by the Chanel brand name (a line of women's clothing and perfume), which was named for French fashion designer Coco Chanel (1883-1971).
Carol 1
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: KAR-əl
Short form of
Caroline. It was formerly a masculine name, derived from
Carolus. The name can also be given in reference to the English vocabulary word, which means "song" or "hymn".
Canela
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Spanish (Rare), American (Hispanic, Rare)
Pronounced: ka-NEH-la(Spanish)
Derived from the Spanish noun
canela meaning "cinnamon". It coincides with a Spanish surname (see
Canela).
Calvin
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: KAL-vin
Derived from the French surname
Cauvin, which was derived from
chauve meaning
"bald". The surname was borne by Jean Cauvin (1509-1564), a theologian from France who was one of the leaders of the
Protestant Reformation. His surname was Latinized as
Calvinus (based on Latin
calvus "bald") and he is known as John Calvin in English. It has been used as a given name in his honour since the 19th century.
In modern times, this name is borne by American fashion designer Calvin Klein (1942-), as well as one of the main characters from Bill Watterson's comic strip Calvin and Hobbes (published from 1985 to 1995).
Bryony
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: BRIE-ə-nee
From the name of a type of Eurasian vine, formerly used as medicine. It ultimately derives from Greek
βρύω (bryo) meaning "to swell".
Bryce
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: BRIES
Brie
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: BREE
Brenna
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: BREHN-ə
Bradley
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: BRAD-lee
From an English surname that originally came from a place name meaning "broad clearing" in Old English. A famous bearer of the surname was the World War II American general Omar Bradley (1893-1981).
Betsy
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: BEHT-see
Benedict
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: BEHN-ə-dikt
From the Late Latin name
Benedictus, which meant
"blessed".
Saint Benedict was an Italian monk who founded the Benedictines in the 6th century. After his time the name was common among Christians, being used by 16 popes. In England it did not come into use until the 12th century, at which point it became very popular. This name was also borne by the American general Benedict Arnold (1741-1801), who defected to Britain during the American Revolution.
Basil 1
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: BAZ-əl
From the Greek name
Βασίλειος (Basileios), which was derived from
βασιλεύς (basileus) meaning
"king".
Saint Basil the Great was a 4th-century bishop of Caesarea and one of the fathers of the early Christian church. Due to him, the name (in various spellings) has come into general use in the Christian world, being especially popular among Eastern Christians. It was also borne by two Byzantine emperors.
Ayana
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Amharic
Means "beautiful flower" in Amharic.
Avery
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: AY-və-ree, AYV-ree
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).
Ava 2
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Persian
Other Scripts: آوا(Persian)
Pronounced: aw-VAW
Means "voice, sound" in Persian.
Ash
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: ASH
Short form of
Ashley. It can also come directly from the English word denoting either the tree or the residue of fire.
Artemisia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Ancient Greek [1]
Other Scripts: Ἀρτεμισία(Ancient Greek)
Feminine form of
Artemisios. This was the name of the 4th-century BC builder of the Mausoleum, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. She built it in memory of her husband, the Carian prince Mausolus.
Arrietty
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Literature
Pronounced: ar-ee-EH-tee
Possibly a variant of
Harriet. This is the name of a character from 'The Borrowers' by Mary Norton.
Arden
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: AHR-dən
From an English surname, originally taken from various place names, which were derived from a Celtic word meaning "high".
Andre
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, African American
Pronounced: AHN-dray(English)
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)
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.
Ambrose
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: AM-broz
From the Late Latin name
Ambrosius, which was derived from the Greek name
Ἀμβρόσιος (Ambrosios) meaning
"immortal".
Saint Ambrose was a 4th-century theologian and bishop of Milan, who is considered a Doctor of the Church. Due to the saint, the name came into general use in Christian Europe, though it was never particularly common in England.
Amanda
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Hungarian, Latvian, Late Roman
Pronounced: ə-MAN-də(English) a-MAN-da(Spanish, Italian) a-MAHN-da(Dutch)
In part this is a feminine form of
Amandus. However, it was not used during the Middle Ages. In the 17th century it was recreated by authors and poets who based it directly on Latin
amanda meaning
"lovable, worthy of love". Notably, the playwright Colley Cibber used it for a character in his play
Love's Last Shift (1696). It came into regular use during the 19th century.
Amalia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Spanish, Italian, Romanian, Greek, Finnish, Swedish, Dutch, German, Germanic (Latinized) [1]
Other Scripts: Αμαλία(Greek)
Pronounced: a-MA-lya(Spanish, Italian, German) a-MA-lee-a(Dutch)
Short form of Germanic names beginning with the element
amal. This element means
"unceasing, vigorous, brave", or it can refer to the Gothic dynasty of the Amali (derived from the same root).
This was another name for the 7th-century saint Amalberga of Maubeuge.
Alice
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, French, Portuguese, Italian, German, Czech, Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, Dutch
Pronounced: AL-is(English) A-LEES(French) u-LEE-si(European Portuguese) a-LEE-see(Brazilian Portuguese) a-LEE-cheh(Italian) a-LEES(German) A-li-tseh(Czech)
From the Old French name
Aalis, a short form of
Adelais, itself a short form of the Germanic name
Adalheidis (see
Adelaide). This name became popular in France and England in the 12th century. It was among the most common names in England until the 16th century, when it began to decline. It was revived in the 19th century.
This name was borne by the heroine of Lewis Carroll's novels Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865) and Through the Looking Glass (1871).
Alexis
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: French, English, Greek, Spanish, Ancient Greek [1]
Other Scripts: Αλέξης(Greek) Ἄλεξις(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: A-LEHK-SEE(French) ə-LEHK-sis(English) a-LEHK-sees(Spanish)
From the Greek name
Ἄλεξις (Alexis) meaning
"helper" or
"defender", derived from Greek
ἀλέξω (alexo) meaning "to defend, to help". This was the name of a 3rd-century BC Greek comic poet, and also of several
saints. It is used somewhat interchangeably with the related name
Ἀλέξιος or
Alexius, borne by five Byzantine emperors.
In the English-speaking world this name is more commonly given to girls. This is due to the American actress Alexis Smith (1921-1993), who began appearing in movies in the early 1940s. It got a boost in popularity in the 1980s from a character on the soap opera Dynasty.
Alexandra
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, German, Dutch, French, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Icelandic, Greek, Portuguese, Romanian, Czech, Slovak, Hungarian, Catalan, Russian, Ukrainian, Ancient Greek [1], Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Αλεξάνδρα(Greek) Александра(Russian, Ukrainian) Ἀλεξάνδρα(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: al-ig-ZAN-drə(English) a-leh-KSAN-dra(German, Romanian) a-lehk-SAHN-dra(Dutch) A-LEHK-ZAHN-DRA(French) a-leh-KSAN-dhra(Greek) u-li-SHUN-dru(European Portuguese) a-leh-SHUN-dru(Brazilian Portuguese) A-lehk-san-dra(Czech, Slovak) AW-lehk-sawn-draw(Hungarian) A-LEH-KSAN-DRA(Classical Greek)
Feminine form of
Alexander. In Greek
mythology this was a Mycenaean epithet of the goddess
Hera, and an alternate name of
Cassandra. It was borne by several early Christian
saints, and also by the wife of Nicholas II, the last tsar of Russia. She was from Germany and had the birth name
Alix, but was renamed
Александра (Aleksandra) upon joining the Russian Church.
Aisha
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Arabic, Urdu, Hausa, Swahili, Kazakh, African American
Other Scripts: عائشة(Arabic) عائشہ(Urdu) Айша(Kazakh)
Pronounced: ‘A-ee-sha(Arabic) ie-EE-shə(English)
Means
"living, alive" in Arabic. This was the name of
Muhammad's third wife, the daughter of
Abu Bakr. Some time after Muhammad's death she went to war against
Ali, the fourth caliph, but was defeated. Her name is used more by Sunni Muslims and less by Shias.
This name began to be used in America in the 1970s, possibly inspired by Princess Aisha of Jordan (1968-), the daughter of King Hussein and his British-born wife. It received a boost in popularity after Stevie Wonder used it for his first daughter in 1975.
Aero
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (American, Modern, Rare), Popular Culture
From the English combining form (
aero-), ultimately from Greek ἀήρ
(aer) "air" (originally "the lower air, the air that surrounds the earth" as opposed to αἰθήρ
(aither) "the upper air"; compare
Aither). In the 1993 video game
Aero the Acro-Bat, this is the name of an anthropomorphic bat that performs in a circus.
Adam
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, French, German, Polish, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Czech, Slovak, Russian, Ukrainian, Croatian, Serbian, Macedonian, Romanian, Catalan, Greek, Hebrew, Arabic, Georgian, Malay, Indonesian, Dhivehi, Biblical, Biblical Latin, Biblical Greek [1], Biblical Hebrew [2]
Other Scripts: Адам(Russian, Ukrainian, Serbian, Macedonian) Αδάμ, Άνταμ(Greek) אָדָם(Hebrew) آدم(Arabic) ადამ(Georgian) އާދަމް(Dhivehi) Ἀδάμ(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: AD-əm(English) A-DAHN(French) A-dam(German, Polish, Czech, Arabic, Indonesian) A-dahm(Dutch) AH-dam(Swedish) u-DAM(Russian, Ukrainian) ə-DHAM(Catalan)
This is the Hebrew word for
"man". It could be ultimately derived from Hebrew
אדם (ʾaḏam) meaning
"to be red", referring to the ruddy colour of human skin, or from Akkadian
adamu meaning
"to make".
According to Genesis in the Old Testament Adam was created from the earth by God (there is a word play on Hebrew אֲדָמָה (ʾaḏama) meaning "earth"). He and Eve were supposedly the first humans, living happily in the Garden of Eden until they ate the forbidden fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. As a result they were expelled from Eden to the lands to the east, where they gave birth to the second generation, including Cain, Abel and Seth.
As an English Christian name, Adam has been common since the Middle Ages, and it received a boost after the Protestant Reformation. A famous bearer was Scottish economist Adam Smith (1723-1790).
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