renfrogner's Personal Name List

Medieval French form of Ivo 1. This was the name of two French saints: an 11th-century bishop of Chartres and a 13th-century parish priest and lawyer, also known as Ivo of Kermartin, the patron saint of Brittany.

Hebrew form of Jael.

From a surname that was derived from the names of several English towns. The town names mean variously "willow town", "well town" or "town on the River Wylye" in Old English. The river name is itself of Celtic origin, possibly meaning "tricky".

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

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

Irish form of Jehanne, a Norman French variant of Jeanne.

From the English surname Sidney. It was first used as a given name in honour of executed politician Algernon Sidney (1622-1683). Another notable bearer of the surname was the poet and statesman Philip Sidney (1554-1586).

As a given name, it has traditionally been more masculine than feminine. In America however, after the variant Sydney became popular for girls, Sidney was used more for girls than boys between 1993 and 2019.

French, German, Dutch and Danish form of Sabina.

Italian feminine form of Rosario.

Means "rosary" in French.

Transferred use of the surname Rooney. A famous bearer is the American actress Patricia Rooney Mara (1985-). Rooney is her mother's family name used as middle name.

Diminutive of either Poma or Pomona, which are both given names that are ultimately derived from Latin pomus or pomum, both of which are nouns that can mean "fruit" as well as "fruit tree".

In some cases, the name Pomellina can also be a direct derivation of the word pomella, which means "apple" in some Italian dialects. In other Italian dialects, the same word means "grapefruit", as a variation on pomello, which is the usual word for the fruit. And finally, in the Venetian language (which is often mistakenly believed to be an Italian dialect), the word pomella means "red berry (of thorny bushes)".

As you can see, all etymological explanations for the name ultimately refer to some type of fruit. As such, we can conclude that the aforementioned Latin pomus and/or pomum are ultimately at the very root of each of the explanations, because Italian (as do its dialects) and Venetian are ultimately descended from the Latin language.

The name Pomellina was mainly used in the Republic of Genoa during the Late Middle Ages. A known bearer of this name was Pomellina Fregoso (c. 1387-1468), a Genovese noblewoman who was the wife of Jean I of Monaco (c. 1382-1454), who himself was ultimately of Genovese descent as well. Her name was gallicized to Pomelline in Monaco, as it was (and still is) predominantly a French-speaking country.

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.

Italian form of Paulus (see Paul). Paolo Uccello and Paolo Veronese were both Italian Renaissance painters.

Form of Uri used in the Greek Old Testament.

Alternate transcription of Hebrew אוֹרְלִי (see Orli).

Alternate transcription of Arabic نور (see Nur).

Means "bright" in Irish. She was the daughter of the sea god Manannán mac Lir in Irish legends. She fell in love with the poet Oisín, the son of Fionn mac Cumhaill. It has been used as a given name for people only since the early 20th century.

From Old Irish Ness, meaning uncertain. In Irish legend she was the mother of Conchobar. She installed her son as king of Ulster by convincing Fergus mac Róich (her husband and Conchobar's stepfather) to give up his throne to the boy for a year and then helping him rule so astutely that the Ulstermen demanded that he remain as king. According to some versions of the legend she was originally named Assa "gentle", but was renamed Ní-assa "not gentle" after she sought to avenge the murders of her foster fathers.

Derived from Greek μέλπω (melpo) meaning "to sing, to celebrate with song". This was the name of one of the nine Muses in Greek mythology, the muse of tragedy.

Possibly related to Latin mas meaning "male" (genitive maris). In Roman mythology Mars was the god of war, often equated with the Greek god Ares. This is also the name of the fourth planet in the solar system.

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.

Italian form of Marcellus.

Scottish Gaelic form of Margaret.

Means "for God" in Hebrew, from the proposition לְמוֹ (lemo) combined with אֵל (ʾel) meaning "God". This was the name of a king briefly mentioned in Proverbs in the Old Testament. In the Book of Mormon it is the name of a rebellious son of Lehi and Sariah. It is also borne by the hero of Jonathan Swift's novel Gulliver's Travels (1726).

From the Old Norse name Leifr meaning "descendant, heir". Leif Eriksson was a Norse explorer who reached North America in the early 11th century. He was the son of Erik the Red.

German short form of Nicholas, now used independently.

From Latin Iuppiter, which was ultimately derived from the vocative form of Indo-European *Dyēws-pətēr, composed of the elements Dyēws (see Zeus) and pətēr "father". Jupiter was the supreme god in Roman mythology. He presided over the heavens and light, and was responsible for the protection and laws of the Roman state. This is also the name of the fifth and largest planet in the solar system.

Means "taught by Yahweh" in Hebrew, from יָרָה (yara) meaning "to teach" and יָהּ (yah) referring to the Hebrew God. In the Old Testament, Jeriah is a descendant of Hebron.

Roman cognomen meaning "January" in Latin. The name of the month derives from the name of the Roman god Janus. Saint Januarius, the patron saint of Naples, was a bishop who was beheaded during the persecutions of Emperor Diocletian in the early 4th century.

Yiddish variant of Gabriel.

Derived from Greek εὔλαλος (eulalos) meaning "sweetly-speaking", itself from εὖ (eu) meaning "good" and λαλέω (laleo) meaning "to talk". This was the name of an early 4th-century saint and martyr from Mérida in Spain. Another martyr by this name, living at the same time, is a patron saint of Barcelona. These two saints might be the same person.

Italian and Spanish form of Aemilius (see Emil).

From the Roman family name Aemilius, which was derived from Latin aemulus meaning "rival".

Notable bearer is celebrity chef Emeril Lagasse.

Bulgarian and Macedonian form of Katherine, and an alternate transcription of Russian Екатерина (see Yekaterina).

From the English word for the flower also known as sweetbrier. It is derived via Old French from Vulgar Latin *aquilentum meaning "prickly". It was early used as a given name (in the form Eglentyne) in Geoffrey Chaucer's 14th-century story The Prioress's Tale (one of The Canterbury Tales).

Anglicized form of Donnchadh (see Duncan).

From the Greek name Κλεοπάτρα (Kleopatra) meaning "glory of the father", derived from κλέος (kleos) meaning "glory" combined with πατήρ (pater) meaning "father" (genitive πατρός). This was the name of queens of Egypt from the Ptolemaic royal family, including Cleopatra VII, the mistress of both Julius Caesar and Mark Antony. After being defeated by Augustus she committed suicide (according to popular belief, by allowing herself to be bitten by a venomous asp). Shakespeare's tragedy Antony and Cleopatra (1606) tells the story of her life.

English form of the Late Latin name Clemens (or sometimes of its derivative Clementius), which meant "merciful, gentle". This was the name of 14 popes, including Saint Clement I, the third pope, one of the Apostolic Fathers. Another saint by this name was Clement of Alexandria, a 3rd-century theologian and church father who attempted to reconcile Christian and Platonic philosophies. It has been in general as a given name in Christian Europe (in various spellings) since early times. In England it became rare after the Protestant Reformation, though it was revived in the 19th century.

From the name of an ancient region located in southern Asia Minor, which is of pre-Greek origin, possibly Anatolian. The capital city of Cilicia was Tarsus, where the apostle Paul came from.

Italian masculine form of Carmen.

This rare given name can be derived from the surname of Campion as well as from the name of the plant, both of which likely derive their name from Old French campion meaning "champion". A known bearer of this given name is the American writer and film director Campion Murphy (b. 1962).

In literature, Campion is the name of one of the Efafran rabbits in Richard Adams' 1972 novel Watership Down.

Derived from the Old German element brunna meaning "armour, protection" (Proto-Germanic *brunjǭ) or brun meaning "brown" (Proto-Germanic *brūnaz). Saint Bruno of Cologne was a German monk of the 11th century who founded the Carthusian Order. The surname has belonged to Giordano Bruno, a philosopher burned at the stake by the Inquisition. A modern bearer is the American singer Bruno Mars (1985-), born Peter Gene Hernandez.

French form of Benedict.

Means "son of Benito".

Possibly means "enduring" from Greek τλάω (tlao) meaning "to endure". In Greek mythology he was a Titan punished by Zeus by being forced to support the heavens on his shoulders.

Italian and Spanish form of Arthur.

Alternate transcription of Russian Аркадий (see Arkadiy).

Derived from Hebrew אֲרִי (ʾari) meaning "lion", an animal particularly associated with the tribe of Judah (see Genesis 49:9). This is the name of an officer of King Pekahiah in the Old Testament.

Means "altar of the sky" from Latin ara "altar" and coeli "sky". This is an epithet of the Virgin Mary in her role as the patron saint of Lucena, Spain.

Feminine form of Apollonios. This was the name of a 3rd-century saint and martyr from Alexandria.

Originally a short form of Germanic names beginning with the element alt meaning "old" (Proto-Germanic *aldaz), and sometimes also with adal meaning "noble" (Proto-Germanic *aþalaz).

Ancient Greek form of Katherine.

From the Greek Ἀχιλλεύς (Achilleus), which is of unknown meaning, perhaps derived from Greek ἄχος (achos) meaning "pain" or else from the name of the Achelous River. This was the name of a warrior in Greek legend, one of the central characters in Homer's Iliad. The bravest of the Greek heroes in the war against the Trojans, he was eventually killed by an arrow to his heel, the only vulnerable part of his body.

This name was sometimes used as a personal name, and was borne by a few early saints, including a Roman soldier martyred with Nereus in the 1st century.

French and Italian form of Achilles.