Behind the Name: Proxima's Personal Name List

Toivo

Gender: Masculine

Usage: Finnish, Estonian

Pronounced: TOI-vo(Finnish)

Means "hope" in Finnish.

Terttu

Gender: Feminine

Usage: Finnish

Pronounced: TEHRT-too

Means "bunch, cluster" in Finnish.

Teddie

Gender: Masculine & Feminine

Usage: English

Pronounced: TEHD-ee

Diminutive of Edward or Theodore, sometimes a feminine form.

Sulo

Gender: Masculine

Usage: Finnish

Pronounced: SOO-lo

Means "charm, grace" in Finnish.

Stevie

Gender: Masculine & Feminine

Usage: English

Pronounced: STEE-vee

Diminutive of Stephen or Stephanie. A famous bearer is the American musician Stevie Wonder (1950-).

Solstråle

Gender: Feminine & Masculine

Usage: Swedish (Modern, Rare)

Pronounced: SOOL-staw-leh

Means "ray of sunshine" in Swedish (a combination of Swedish sol "sun" and stråle "ray, beam"). It's also used as an affectionate term for a happy person, often a child.

Sigismund

Gender: Masculine

Usage: German (Rare), Germanic [1]

Pronounced: ZEE-gis-muwnt(German)

Form of Sigmund in which the first element is sigis, an extended form of sigu. Saint Sigismund was a 6th-century king of the Burgundians. This was also the name of kings of Poland and a ruler of the Holy Roman Empire.

Orvokki

Gender: Feminine

Usage: Finnish

Pronounced: OR-vok-kee

Means "pansy, violet" in Finnish.

Nephele

Gender: Feminine

Usage: Greek Mythology

Other Scripts: Νεφέλη(Ancient Greek)

Pronounced: NEH-PEH-LEH(Classical Greek) NEHF-ə-lee(English)

From Greek νέφος (nephos) meaning "cloud". In Greek legend Nephele was created from a cloud by Zeus, who shaped the cloud to look like Hera in order to trick Ixion, a mortal who desired her. Nephele was the mother of the centaurs by Ixion, and was also the mother of Phrixus and Helle by Athamus.

Luella

Gender: Feminine

Usage: English

Pronounced: loo-EHL-ə

Variant of Louella.

Lotta

Gender: Feminine

Usage: Swedish, Finnish

Pronounced: LOT-tah(Finnish)

Short form of Charlotta.

Lempi

Gender: Feminine

Usage: Finnish

Pronounced: LEHM-pee

Means "love" in Finnish.

Lasse

Gender: Masculine

Usage: Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish

Pronounced: LA-sə(Danish) LAHS-seh(Finnish)

Scandinavian and Finnish form of Laurence 1.

Klas

Gender: Masculine

Usage: Swedish

Pronounced: KLAHS

Swedish short form of Nicholas.

Kielo

Gender: Feminine

Usage: Finnish

Pronounced: KEE-lo

Means "lily of the valley" in Finnish (species Convallaria majalis).

Kerttu

Gender: Feminine

Usage: Finnish

Pronounced: KEHRT-too

Finnish form of Gertrude.

Kaari

Gender: Feminine

Usage: Finnish (Rare), Estonian (Rare)

Finnish and Estonian form of Kari 1.

Jeff

Gender: Masculine

Usage: English

Pronounced: JEHF

Short form of Jeffrey.

Jackie

Gender: Masculine & Feminine

Usage: English

Pronounced: JAK-ee

Diminutive of Jack or Jacqueline. A notable bearer was baseball player Jackie Robinson (1919-1972), the first African American to play in Major League Baseball.

Galilea

Gender: Feminine

Usage: Italian (Rare), Spanish (Rare), English (Modern)

Pronounced: ga-lee-LEH-a(Italian, Spanish)

Feminine form of Galileo.

Elisabet

Gender: Feminine

Usage: Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Catalan, Spanish, Biblical Greek [1]

Other Scripts: Ἐλισάβετ(Ancient Greek)

Pronounced: eh-LEE-sa-beht(Swedish, Norwegian) eh-LEE-sa-behd(Danish) EH-lee-sah-beht(Finnish) eh-lee-sa-BEHT(Spanish)

Scandinavian and Finnish form of Elizabeth. It is also used in Spain alongside the traditional form Isabel.

Avonlea

Gender: Feminine

Usage: English (Rare)

Created by L. M. Montgomery as the setting for her novel Anne of Green Gables (1908). She may have based the name on the Arthurian island of Avalon, though it also resembles the river name Avon and leah "woodland, clearing".

Andy

Gender: Masculine & Feminine

Usage: English

Pronounced: AN-dee

Diminutive of Andrew or sometimes Andrea 2. American pop artist and filmmaker Andy Warhol (1928-1987) was a famous bearer of this name.

Amyntas

Gender: Masculine

Usage: Ancient Greek [1]

Other Scripts: Ἀμύντας(Ancient Greek)

Pronounced: A-MUYN-TAS

Derived from Greek ἀμύντωρ (amyntor) meaning "defender". This was the name of several kings of Macedon.