IanTheNameCorrector's Personal Name List
Zoraida
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Spanish
Pronounced: tho-RIE-dha(European Spanish) so-RIE-dha(Latin American Spanish)
Rating: 70% based on 2 votes
Perhaps means
"enchanting" or
"dawn" in Arabic. This was the name of a minor 12th-century Spanish
saint, a convert from Islam. The name was used by Cervantes for a character in his novel
Don Quixote (1606), in which Zoraida is a beautiful Moorish woman of Algiers who converts to Christianity and elopes with a Spanish officer.
Zoey
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: ZO-ee
Rating: 85% based on 2 votes
Zara 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Literature, English
Pronounced: ZAHR-ə(English)
Rating: 80% based on 2 votes
Used by William Congreve for a character in his tragedy
The Mourning Bride (1697), where it belongs to a captive North African queen. Congreve may have based it on the Arabic name
Zahra 1. In 1736 the English writer Aaron Hill used it to translate
Zaïre for his popular adaptation of Voltaire's French play
Zaïre (1732).
In England the name was popularized when Princess Anne gave it to her daughter in 1981. Use of the name may also be influenced by the trendy Spanish clothing retailer Zara.
Zach
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: ZAK
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
Yuna
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Popular Culture, Japanese
Pronounced: YUN-A(Japanese) YUUN-A(Japanese) YOU-NA(Japanese)
Rating: 73% based on 3 votes
Yuna is a supporting character in the videogame Final Fantasy X as well as the main character of Final Fantasy X-2. She was the High Summoner who defeated Sin and brought the Eternal Calm. She was named for
Yunalesca, who was the first Summoner to defeat Sin according to the franchise mythology.
Xander
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Dutch, English (Modern)
Pronounced: SAHN-dər(Dutch) KSAHN-dər(Dutch) ZAN-dər(English)
Rating: 60% based on 2 votes
Short form of
Alexander. It was popularized in the English-speaking world by a character on the television series
Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997-2003).
Wren
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: REHN
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
From the English word for the small songbird. It is ultimately derived from Old English wrenna.
Wolfgang
Gender: Masculine
Usage: German, Germanic [1]
Pronounced: VAWLF-gang(German) WUWLF-gang(English)
Rating: 45% based on 2 votes
Derived from the Old German elements
wolf meaning "wolf" and
gang meaning "path, way".
Saint Wolfgang was a 10th-century bishop of Regensburg. Two other famous bearers of this name were Austrian composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) and German novelist and poet Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832).
Winter
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: WIN-tər
Rating: 80% based on 2 votes
From the English word for the season, derived from Old English winter.
Willow
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: WIL-o
Rating: 80% based on 2 votes
From the name of the tree, which is ultimately derived from Old English welig.
Vivien 2
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Literature, Hungarian
Pronounced: VEE-vee-ehn(Hungarian)
Rating: 55% based on 2 votes
Used by Alfred Tennyson as the name of the Lady of the Lake in his Arthurian epic
Idylls of the King (1859). Tennyson may have based it on
Vivienne, but it possibly arose as a misreading of
Ninian [1]. A famous bearer was British actress Vivien Leigh (1913-1967), who played Scarlett O'Hara in
Gone with the Wind.
Violet
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: VIE-lit, VIE-ə-lit
Rating: 80% based on 2 votes
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.
Vinolia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian
Rating: 70% based on 2 votes
Means “peace” in Old English. This name increased in popularity in Italy in the 2000s.
Vincenzo
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Italian
Pronounced: veen-CHEHN-tso
Rating: 55% based on 2 votes
Viggo
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Norwegian, Danish, Swedish
Pronounced: VEE-go(Danish) VIG-go(Swedish)
Rating: 45% based on 2 votes
Short form of names containing the Old Norse element
víg "war".
Venus
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Roman Mythology
Pronounced: WEH-noos(Latin) VEE-nəs(English)
Rating: 50% based on 2 votes
Means
"love, sexual desire" in Latin. This was the name of the Roman goddess of love and sex. Her character was assimilated with that of the Greek goddess
Aphrodite. As the mother of
Aeneas she was considered an ancestor of the Roman people. The second planet from the sun is named after her.
Vaughan
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Welsh, English
Pronounced: VAWN(English)
Rating: 50% based on 1 vote
From a Welsh surname that was derived from bychan (mutated to fychan) meaning "little".
Vashti
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Biblical
Other Scripts: וַשְׁתִּי(Ancient Hebrew)
Pronounced: VASH-tee(English)
Rating: 70% based on 2 votes
Probably of Persian origin, possibly a superlative form of
𐎺𐎢 (vahu) meaning
"good". According to the
Old Testament this was the name of the first wife of King
Ahasuerus of Persia before he married
Esther.
Vanja
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: Croatian, Serbian, Slovene, Swedish, Norwegian
Other Scripts: Вања(Serbian)
Rating: 70% based on 2 votes
Croatian, Serbian and Slovene (masculine and feminine) form of
Vanya. It is also used in Scandinavia, where it is primarily feminine.
Vanity
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (American)
Pronounced: VAN-ə-tee(American English)
Rating: 53% based on 3 votes
From the English word vanity. This name surged in 1983 coinciding with the revival of the magazine 'Vanity Fair'.
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)
Rating: 70% based on 3 votes
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.
Vanellope
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Popular Culture, English (Rare)
Pronounced: van-el-OH-pee
Rating: 25% based on 2 votes
Coined in the Disney animated film 'Wreck-It Ralph' (2013), telling the story of the eponymous arcade game villain who rebels against his role and dreams of becoming a hero. He travels between games in the arcade and eventually meets Vanellope von Schweetz (the second protagonist), a glitchy character from the in-universe video game 'Sugar Rush', a candy themed kart-racing game. Her name is a combination of
Vanilla and
Penelope.
Valentina
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, Russian, Lithuanian, German, Croatian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Slovene, Albanian, Romanian, Spanish, Greek, Ancient Roman
Other Scripts: Валентина(Russian, Bulgarian, Macedonian) Βαλεντίνα(Greek)
Pronounced: va-lehn-TEE-na(Italian) və-lyin-TYEE-nə(Russian) vu-lyehn-tyi-NU(Lithuanian) ba-lehn-TEE-na(Spanish)
Rating: 73% based on 3 votes
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.
Ursula
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Swedish, Danish, German, Dutch, Finnish, Late Roman
Pronounced: UR-sə-lə(English) UR-syoo-lə(English) UWR-zoo-la(German) OOR-soo-lah(Finnish)
Rating: 25% based on 2 votes
Means
"little bear", derived from a
diminutive form of the Latin word
ursa "she-bear".
Saint Ursula was a legendary virgin princess of the 4th century who was martyred by the Huns while returning from a pilgrimage. In England the saint was popular during the Middle Ages, and the name came into general use at that time.
Uma
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Hinduism, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Tamil, Hindi
Other Scripts: उमा(Sanskrit, Hindi) ఉమ(Telugu) ಉಮಾ(Kannada) ഉമ(Malayalam) உமா(Tamil)
Rating: 45% based on 2 votes
Means
"flax" in Sanskrit. This is another name of the Hindu goddess
Parvati. In Hindu texts it is said to derive from the Sanskrit exclamation
उ मा (u mā) meaning "O do not (practice austerities)!", which was addressed to Parvati by her mother.
Tyler
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: TIE-lər
Rating: 45% based on 2 votes
From an English surname meaning "tiler of roofs", derived from Old English tigele "tile". The surname was borne by American president John Tyler (1790-1862).
Trinity
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: TRIN-i-tee
Rating: 45% based on 2 votes
From the English word Trinity, given in honour of the Christian belief that God has one essence, but three distinct expressions of being: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. It has only been in use as a given name since the 20th century.
Theo
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, German, Dutch
Pronounced: THEE-o(English) TEH-o(German) TEH-yo(Dutch)
Rating: 90% based on 3 votes
Tessa
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Dutch
Pronounced: TEHS-ə(English) TEH-sa(Dutch)
Rating: 80% based on 3 votes
Tatiana
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Romanian, French, Slovak, Polish, Finnish, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, German, Dutch, Greek, Georgian, English, Russian, Bulgarian, Ancient Roman
Other Scripts: Τατιάνα(Greek) ტატიანა(Georgian) Татьяна(Russian) Татяна(Bulgarian)
Pronounced: ta-TYA-na(Italian, Spanish, Polish, German) TAH-tee-ah-nah(Finnish) ta-TYAHN-ə(English) tu-TYA-nə(Russian)
Rating: 83% based on 3 votes
Feminine form of the Roman name
Tatianus, a derivative of the Roman name
Tatius. This was the name of a 3rd-century
saint who was martyred in Rome under the emperor Alexander Severus. She was especially venerated in Orthodox Christianity, and the name has been common in Russia (as
Татьяна) and Eastern Europe. It was not regularly used in the English-speaking world until the 1980s.
Tallula
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Rating: 67% based on 3 votes
Talia 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Hebrew
Other Scripts: טַלְיָה, טַלְיָא(Hebrew)
Rating: 100% based on 2 votes
Means
"dew from God" in Hebrew, from
טַל (ṭal) meaning "dew" and
יָהּ (yah) referring to the Hebrew God.
Sylvia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish
Pronounced: SIL-vee-ə(English) SIL-vee-ya(Dutch) SUYL-vee-ah(Finnish)
Rating: 83% based on 3 votes
Variant of
Silvia. This has been the most common English spelling since the 19th century.
Sydney
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: SID-nee
Rating: 75% based on 2 votes
From a surname that was a variant of the surname
Sidney. This is the name of the largest city in Australia, which was named for Thomas Townshend, 1st Viscount Sydney in 1788. Formerly used by both genders, since the 1980s this spelling of the name has been mostly feminine.
Summer
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: SUM-ər
Rating: 83% based on 3 votes
From the name of the season, ultimately from Old English sumor. It has been in use as a given name since the 1970s.
Stella 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Italian, Dutch, German
Pronounced: STEHL-ə(English) STEHL-la(Italian) STEH-la(Dutch)
Rating: 87% based on 3 votes
Means "star" in Latin. This name was created by the 16th-century poet Philip Sidney for the subject of his collection of sonnets Astrophel and Stella. It was a nickname of a lover of Jonathan Swift, real name Esther Johnson (1681-1728), though it was not commonly used as a given name until the 19th century. It appears in Tennessee Williams' play A Streetcar Named Desire (1947), belonging to the sister of Blanche DuBois and the wife of Stanley Kowalski.
Stacy
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: STAY-see
Rating: 63% based on 3 votes
As a feminine name it is commonly considered a
diminutive of
Anastasia, though it was originally used independently of that name, which was rare in America in the 1950s when Stacy began becoming popular. It had earlier been in use as an uncommon masculine name, borrowed from the surname Stacy or Stacey (derived from
Stace, a medieval form of
Eustace).
Sophia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Greek, German, Ancient Greek [1]
Other Scripts: Σοφία(Greek)
Pronounced: so-FEE-ə(English) sə-FIE-ə(British English) so-FEE-a(Greek) zo-FEE-a(German)
Rating: 75% based on 2 votes
Means
"wisdom" in Greek. This was the name of an early, probably mythical,
saint who died of grief after her three daughters were martyred during the reign of the emperor Hadrian. Legends about her probably arose as a result of a medieval misunderstanding of the phrase
Hagia Sophia "Holy Wisdom", which is the name of a large basilica in Constantinople.
This name was common among continental European royalty during the Middle Ages, and it was popularized in Britain by the German House of Hanover when they inherited the British throne in the 18th century. It was the name of characters in the novels Tom Jones (1749) by Henry Fielding and The Vicar of Wakefield (1766) by Oliver Goldsmith.
In the United States this name was only moderately common until the 1990s when it began rising in popularity, eventually becoming the most popular for girls from 2011 to 2013. A famous bearer is the Italian actress Sophia Loren (1934-).
Sloane
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: SLON
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
From an Irish surname, an Anglicized form of
Ó Sluaghadháin, itself derived from the given name
Sluaghadhán.
Skylar
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: SKIE-lər
Rating: 60% based on 1 vote
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.
Sierra
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: see-EHR-ə
Rating: 55% based on 2 votes
Means "mountain range" in Spanish, referring specifically to a mountain range with jagged peaks.
Shiloh
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: Biblical
Other Scripts: שִׁלוֹ, שִׁילֹה(Ancient Hebrew)
Pronounced: SHIE-lo(English)
Rating: 60% based on 1 vote
From an
Old Testament place name possibly meaning
"tranquil" in Hebrew. It is also used prophetically in the Old Testament to refer to a person, often understood to be the Messiah (see
Genesis 49:10). This may in fact be a mistranslation.
This name was brought to public attention after actors Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt gave it to their daughter in 2006.
Serenity
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: sə-REHN-ə-tee
Rating: 83% based on 3 votes
From the English word meaning "serenity, tranquility", ultimately from Latin serenus meaning "clear, calm".
Serena
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Italian, Late Roman
Pronounced: sə-REEN-ə(English) seh-REH-na(Italian)
Rating: 80% based on 3 votes
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-).
Selina
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, German
Pronounced: sə-LEEN-ə(English)
Rating: 77% based on 3 votes
Variant of
Celina or
Selena. As an English name, it first came into use in the 17th century.
Scarlett
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: SKAHR-lit
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
From an English surname that denoted a person who sold or made clothes made of scarlet (a kind of cloth, possibly derived from Persian
سقرلاط (saqrelāṭ)). Margaret Mitchell used it for the main character, Scarlett O'Hara, in her novel
Gone with the Wind (1936). Her name is explained as having come from her grandmother. Despite the fact that the book was adapted into a popular movie in 1939, the name was not common until the 21st century. It started rising around 2003, about the time that the career of American actress Scarlett Johansson (1984-) started taking off.
Sasha
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: Russian, Ukrainian, English, French
Other Scripts: Саша(Russian, Ukrainian)
Pronounced: SA-shə(Russian) SASH-ə(English) SAH-shə(English) SA-SHA(French)
Rating: 80% based on 3 votes
Sage
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: SAYJ
Rating: 85% based on 4 votes
From the English word sage, which denotes either a type of spice or else a wise person.
Ruby
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: ROO-bee
Rating: 80% based on 2 votes
Simply from the name of the precious stone (which ultimately derives from Latin
ruber "red"), which is the traditional birthstone of July. It came into use as a given name in the 16th century
[1].
Rosemary
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: ROZ-mə-ree, ROZ-mehr-ee
Rating: 87% based on 3 votes
Combination of
Rose and
Mary. This name can also be given in reference to the herb, which gets its name from Latin
ros marinus meaning "dew of the sea". It came into use as a given name in the 19th century.
Rosalin
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: RO-zə-lin, RAHZ-ə-lin
Rating: 70% based on 2 votes
Rita
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, English, German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Estonian, Hungarian, Spanish, Portuguese, Latvian, Lithuanian
Pronounced: REE-ta(Italian, German, Spanish) REET-ə(English) REE-taw(Hungarian) ryi-TU(Lithuanian)
Rating: 35% based on 2 votes
Short form of
Margherita and other names ending in
rita.
Saint Rita (born Margherita Lotti) was a 15th-century nun from Cascia, Italy. Another famous bearer was the American actress Rita Hayworth (1918-1987).
Riley
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: RIE-lee
Rating: 80% based on 2 votes
From a surname that comes from two distinct sources. As an Irish surname it is a variant of
Reilly. As an English surname it is derived from a place name meaning
"rye clearing" in Old English.
Before 1980, this was an uncommon masculine name in America. During the 1980s and 90s this name steadily increased in popularity for both boys and girls, and from 2003 onwards it has been more common for girls in the United States. Elsewhere in the English-speaking world, such as the United Kingdom and Australia, it has remained largely masculine.
Rebecca
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Italian, Swedish, German, Dutch, Biblical, Biblical Latin
Other Scripts: רִבְקָה(Ancient Hebrew)
Pronounced: rə-BEHK-ə(English) reh-BEHK-ka(Italian) rə-BEH-ka(Dutch)
Rating: 65% based on 2 votes
From the Hebrew name
רִבְקָה (Rivqa), probably from a Semitic root meaning
"join, tie, snare". This is the name of the wife of
Isaac and the mother of
Esau and
Jacob in the
Old Testament. It came into use as an English Christian name after the
Protestant Reformation, and it was popular with the
Puritans in the 17th century. It has been consistently used since then, becoming especially common in the second half of the 20th century.
This name is borne by a Jewish woman in Walter Scott's novel Ivanhoe (1819), as well as the title character (who is deceased and unseen) in Daphne du Maurier's novel Rebecca (1938).
Raylene
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: ray-LEEN
Rating: 57% based on 3 votes
Combination of
Rae and the popular name suffix
lene.
Raya
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Bulgarian, Russian
Other Scripts: Рая(Bulgarian, Russian)
Rating: 70% based on 2 votes
Raven
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: RAY-vən
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
From the name of the bird, ultimately from Old English
hræfn. The raven is revered by several Native American groups of the west coast. It is also associated with the Norse god
Odin.
Rachel
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Hebrew, French, Dutch, German, Biblical, Biblical Latin, Biblical Hebrew [1]
Other Scripts: רָחֵל(Hebrew)
Pronounced: RAY-chəl(English) RA-SHEHL(French) RAH-khəl(Dutch) RA-khəl(German)
Rating: 63% based on 4 votes
From the Hebrew name
רָחֵל (Raḥel) meaning
"ewe". In the
Old Testament this is the name of the favourite wife of
Jacob. Her father
Laban tricked Jacob into marrying her older sister
Leah first, though in exchange for seven years of work Laban allowed Jacob to marry Rachel too. Initially barren and facing her husband's anger, she offered her handmaid
Bilhah to Jacob to bear him children. Eventually she was herself able to conceive, becoming the mother of
Joseph and
Benjamin.
The name was common among Jews in the Middle Ages, but it was not generally used as a Christian name in the English-speaking world until after the Protestant Reformation. It was moderately popular in the first half of the 20th century, but starting in the 1960s it steadily rose, reaching highs in the 1980s and 90s. The character Rachel Green on the American sitcom Friends (1994-2004) may have only helped delay its downswing.
Notable bearers include American conservationist Rachel Carson (1907-1964), British actress Rachel Weisz (1970-), and Canadian actress Rachel McAdams (1978-).
Quinn
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: KWIN
Rating: 60% based on 1 vote
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.
Quincy
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: KWIN-see
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
From an English surname that was derived (via the place name
Cuinchy) from the personal name
Quintus. A famous bearer was John Quincy Adams (1767-1848), sixth president of the United States, who was born in the town of Quincy, Massachusetts. Both the town and the president were named after his maternal great-grandfather John Quincy (1689-1767). Another notable bearer is the American musician Quincy Jones (1933-).
Poppy
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: PAHP-ee
Rating: 55% based on 2 votes
From the word for the red flower, derived from Old English popæg.
Pia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, German, Slovene, Late Roman
Pronounced: PEE-a(Italian, Danish, Swedish, German)
Rating: 65% based on 2 votes
Phoebe
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Greek Mythology (Latinized), Biblical, Biblical Latin
Other Scripts: Φοίβη(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: FEE-bee(English)
Rating: 87% based on 3 votes
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.
Phaedra
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Φαίδρα(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: FEED-rə(English) FEHD-rə(English)
Rating: 70% based on 2 votes
From the Greek
Φαίδρα (Phaidra), derived from
φαιδρός (phaidros) meaning
"bright". Phaedra was the daughter of Minos and the wife of
Theseus in Greek
mythology.
Aphrodite caused her to fall in love with her stepson
Hippolytos, and after she was rejected by him she killed herself.
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)
Rating: 70% based on 2 votes
Feminine form of
Peter. This was also the name of an ancient city in the region that is now Jordan.
Persephone
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Περσεφόνη(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: PEHR-SEH-PO-NEH(Classical Greek) pər-SEHF-ə-nee(English)
Rating: 70% based on 2 votes
Meaning unknown, probably of Pre-Greek origin, but perhaps related to Greek
πέρθω (pertho) meaning "to destroy" and
φόνος (phonos) meaning "murder". In Greek
myth she was the daughter of
Demeter and
Zeus. She was abducted to the underworld by
Hades, but was eventually allowed to return to the surface for part of the year. The result of her comings and goings is the changing of the seasons. With her mother she was worshipped in the Eleusinian Mysteries, which were secret rites practiced at the city of Eleusis near Athens.
Penelope
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology, English
Other Scripts: Πηνελόπη(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: PEH-NEH-LO-PEH(Classical Greek) pə-NEHL-ə-pee(English)
Rating: 60% based on 1 vote
Probably derived from Greek
πηνέλοψ (penelops), a type of duck. Alternatively it could be from
πήνη (pene) meaning "threads, weft" and
ὄψ (ops) meaning "face, eye". In
Homer's epic the
Odyssey this is the name of the wife of
Odysseus, forced to fend off suitors while her husband is away fighting at Troy.
It has occasionally been used as an English given name since the 16th century. It was moderately popular in the 1940s, but had a more notable upswing in the early 2000s. This may have been inspired by the Spanish actress Penélope Cruz (1974-), who gained prominence in English-language movies at that time. It was already rapidly rising when celebrities Kourtney Kardashian and Scott Disick gave it to their baby daughter in 2012.
Pandora
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Πανδώρα(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: PAN-DAW-RA(Classical Greek) pan-DAWR-ə(English)
Rating: 70% based on 2 votes
Means
"all gifts", derived from a combination of Greek
πᾶν (pan) meaning "all" and
δῶρον (doron) meaning "gift". In Greek
mythology Pandora was the first mortal woman.
Zeus gave her a jar containing all of the troubles and ills that mankind now knows, and told her not to open it. Unfortunately her curiosity got the best of her and she opened it, unleashing the evil spirits into the world.
Paige
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: PAYJ
Rating: 67% based on 3 votes
From an English surname meaning
"servant, page" in Middle English. It is ultimately derived (via Old French and Italian) from Greek
παιδίον (paidion) meaning "little boy".
As a given name for girls, it received some public attention from a character in the 1958 novel Parrish and the 1961 movie adaptation [1]. It experienced a larger surge in popularity in the 1980s, probably due to the character Paige Matheson from the American soap opera Knots Landing.
Onyx
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: AHN-iks
Rating: 80% based on 3 votes
From the English word for the gemstone (a variety of chalcedony), which can be black, red or other colours. It is derived from Greek
ὄνυξ (onyx) meaning "claw, nail".
Olivia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Italian, Spanish, French, German, Finnish, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Dutch
Pronounced: o-LIV-ee-ə(English) ə-LIV-ee-ə(English) o-LEE-vya(Italian, German) o-LEE-bya(Spanish) AW-LEE-VYA(French) O-lee-vee-ah(Finnish) o-LEE-vee-ya(Dutch)
Rating: 60% based on 1 vote
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).
Olive
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, French
Pronounced: AHL-iv(English) AW-LEEV(French)
From the English and French word for the type of tree, ultimately derived from Latin oliva.
Nova
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Swedish (Modern), Dutch (Modern)
Pronounced: NO-və(English) NO-va(Swedish, Dutch)
Rating: 80% based on 2 votes
Derived from Latin novus meaning "new". It was first used as a name in the 19th century.
Noelle
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: no-EHL
Rating: 50% based on 2 votes
Noah 2
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Biblical
Other Scripts: נֹעָה, נוֹעָה(Ancient Hebrew)
Pronounced: NO-ə(English)
Rating: 80% based on 3 votes
From the Hebrew name
נֹעָה (Noʿa) meaning
"motion". In the
Old Testament this is the name of a daughter of
Zelophehad. In English this name is typically spelled the same as the name of the male biblical character
Noah, though in Hebrew they are written distinctly.
Nico
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Italian, Dutch, German, Spanish, Portuguese
Pronounced: NEE-ko(Italian, Dutch, Spanish)
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
Nathan
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, French, Hebrew, Biblical, Biblical Latin, Biblical Greek [1]
Other Scripts: נָתָן(Hebrew) Ναθάν(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: NAY-thən(English) NA-TAHN(French)
Rating: 70% based on 2 votes
From the Hebrew name
נָתָן (Naṯan) meaning
"he gave". In the
Old Testament this is the name of a prophet during the reign of King
David. He chastised David for his adultery with
Bathsheba and for the death of
Uriah the Hittite. Later he championed
Solomon as David's successor. This was also the name of a son of David and Bathsheba.
It has been used as a Christian given name in the English-speaking world since the Protestant Reformation. A famous bearer was Nathan Hale (1755-1776), an American spy executed by the British during the American Revolution.
Natalie
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, German, Dutch, Swedish, Danish, Norwegian
Pronounced: NAT-ə-lee(English) NA-ta-lee(German, Dutch)
Rating: 77% based on 3 votes
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.
Natalia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Polish, Italian, Spanish, Romanian, English, German, Dutch, Norwegian, Danish, Swedish, Greek, Georgian, Russian, Ukrainian, Bulgarian, Late Roman
Other Scripts: Ναταλία(Greek) ნატალია(Georgian) Наталия(Russian, Bulgarian) Наталія(Ukrainian)
Pronounced: na-TA-lya(Polish, Italian, Spanish) na-ta-LEE-a(Italian) na-TA-lee-a(Romanian) nə-TAHL-ee-ə(English)
Rating: 80% based on 2 votes
Latinate form of
Natalia (see
Natalie).
Nadia 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French, Italian, Spanish, English, Russian, Bulgarian, Ukrainian
Other Scripts: Надя(Russian, Bulgarian) Надія(Ukrainian)
Pronounced: NA-DYA(French) NA-dya(Italian) NA-dhya(Spanish) NAD-ee-ə(English) NAHD-ee-ə(English) NA-dyə(Russian)
Rating: 70% based on 3 votes
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].
Morgan 1
Gender: Unisex
Usage: Welsh, English, French
Pronounced: MAWR-gən(English) MAWR-GAN(French)
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
From the Old Welsh masculine name
Morcant, which was possibly derived from Welsh
mor "sea" and
cant "circle". Since the 1980s in America
Morgan has been more common for girls than boys, perhaps due to stories of
Morgan le Fay or the fame of actress Morgan Fairchild (1950-).
Misty
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: MIS-tee
Rating: 70% based on 2 votes
From the English word misty, ultimately derived from Old English. The jazz song Misty (1954) by Erroll Garner may have helped popularize the name.
Miranda
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Dutch
Pronounced: mi-RAN-də(English) mee-RAHN-da(Dutch)
Rating: 70% based on 2 votes
Derived from Latin
mirandus meaning
"admirable, worthy of being admired". The name was created by Shakespeare for the heroine in his play
The Tempest (1611), in which Miranda and her father
Prospero are stranded on an island. It did not become a common English given name until the 20th century. This is also the name of one of the moons of Uranus, named after the Shakespearean character.
Mina 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Dutch
Pronounced: MEE-nə(English) MEE-na(Dutch)
Rating: 55% based on 2 votes
Short form of
Wilhelmina and other names ending in
mina. This was the name of a character in the novel
Dracula (1897) by Bram Stoker.
Miles
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: MIELZ
Rating: 55% based on 2 votes
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.
Mila
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Serbian, Croatian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Slovene, Ukrainian, Russian
Other Scripts: Мила(Serbian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Russian) Міла(Ukrainian)
Pronounced: MYEE-lə(Russian)
Rating: 65% based on 2 votes
From the Slavic element
milŭ meaning
"gracious, dear", originally a short form of names containing that element.
Michelle
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French, English, Dutch
Pronounced: MEE-SHEHL(French) mi-SHEHL(English) mee-SHEHL(Dutch) mee-SHEH-lə(Dutch)
Rating: 73% based on 3 votes
French feminine form of
Michel. It has been common in the English-speaking world since the middle of the 20th century. A famous bearer is the former American first lady Michelle Obama (1964-).
Mia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Dutch, German, Italian, Slovene, Croatian, English
Pronounced: MEE-ah(Swedish, Norwegian, Danish) MEE-a(Dutch, German, Italian) MEE-ə(English)
Rating: 70% based on 2 votes
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.
Melody
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: MEHL-ə-dee
Rating: 80% based on 3 votes
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".
Melanie
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, German, Dutch
Pronounced: MEHL-ə-nee(English) MEH-la-nee(German) meh-la-NEE(German)
Rating: 78% based on 4 votes
From
Mélanie, the French form of the Latin name
Melania, derived from Greek
μέλαινα (melaina) meaning
"black, dark". This was the name of a Roman
saint who gave all her wealth to charity in the 5th century. Her grandmother was also a saint with the same name.
The name was common in France during the Middle Ages, and was introduced from there to England, though it eventually became rare. Interest in it was revived by the character Melanie Wilkes from the novel Gone with the Wind (1936) and the subsequent movie adaptation (1939).
Maya 2
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: MIE-ə, MAY-ə
Rating: 60% based on 2 votes
Variant of
Maia 1. This name can also be given in reference to the Maya, an indigenous people of southern Mexico and parts of Central America whose civilization flourished between the 3rd and 8th centuries. A famous bearer was the American poet and author Maya Angelou (1928-2014).
Mason
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: MAY-sən
Rating: 45% based on 2 votes
From an English surname (or vocabulary word) meaning "stoneworker", derived from an Old French word of Frankish origin (akin to Old English macian "to make"). In the United States this name began to increase in popularity in the 1980s, likely because of its fashionable sound. It jumped in popularity after 2009 when Kourtney Kardashian and Scott Disick gave it to their son, as featured on their reality show Keeping Up with the Kardashians in 2010. It peaked as the second most popular name for boys in 2011.
Marissa
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: mə-RIS-ə
Rating: 50% based on 2 votes
Marion 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French, English
Pronounced: MA-RYAWN(French) MEHR-ee-ən(English) MAR-ee-ən(English)
Rating: 70% based on 3 votes
Marigold
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: MAR-i-gold, MEHR-i-gold
Rating: 63% based on 3 votes
From the name of the flower, which comes from a combination of
Mary and the English word
gold.
Mariana
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Portuguese, Spanish, Romanian, Czech, Bulgarian, Ancient Roman
Other Scripts: Мариана, Марияна(Bulgarian)
Pronounced: mu-RYU-nu(European Portuguese) ma-RYU-nu(Brazilian Portuguese) ma-RYA-na(Spanish)
Rating: 70% based on 2 votes
Roman feminine form of
Marianus. After the classical era it was sometimes interpreted as a combination of
Maria and
Ana. In Portuguese it is further used as a form of
Mariamne.
Margo
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: MAHR-go
Rating: 60% based on 2 votes
Marcel
Gender: Masculine
Usage: French, Catalan, Romanian, Polish, Czech, Slovak, Dutch, German
Pronounced: MAR-SEHL(French) mər-SEHL(Catalan) mar-CHEHL(Romanian) MAR-tsehl(Polish, Czech, Slovak) mahr-SEHL(Dutch) mar-SEHL(German)
Rating: 50% based on 1 vote
Form of
Marcellus used in several languages. Notable bearers include the French author Marcel Proust (1871-1922) and the French artist Marcel Duchamp (1887-1968).
Mara 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Biblical, Biblical Hebrew [1], Italian, Spanish, Portuguese
Other Scripts: מָרָא(Ancient Hebrew)
Pronounced: MAHR-ə(English) MAR-ə(English) MEHR-ə(English) MA-ra(Spanish)
Rating: 75% based on 4 votes
Means
"bitter" in Hebrew. In the
Old Testament this is a name that
Naomi calls herself after the death of her husband and sons (see
Ruth 1:20).
Magnus
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Late Roman
Pronounced: MANG-nuys(Swedish) MAHNG-noos(Norwegian) MOW-noos(Danish) MAG-nəs(English)
Rating: 50% based on 1 vote
Late Latin name meaning
"great". It was borne by a 7th-century
saint who was a missionary in Germany. It became popular in Scandinavia after the time of the 11th-century Norwegian king Magnus I, who was said to have been named after
Charlemagne, or Carolus Magnus in Latin (however there was also a Norse name
Magni). The name was borne by six subsequent kings of Norway as well as three kings of Sweden. It was imported to Scotland and Ireland during the Middle Ages.
Maeve
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Irish, English, Irish Mythology
Pronounced: MAYV(English)
Rating: 85% based on 4 votes
Anglicized form of the Irish name
Medb meaning
"intoxicating". In Irish legend this was the name of a warrior queen of Connacht. She and her husband
Ailill fought against the Ulster king
Conchobar and the hero
Cúchulainn, as told in the Irish epic
The Cattle Raid of Cooley.
Madison
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: MAD-i-sən
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
From an English surname meaning
"son of Maud". It was not commonly used as a feminine name until after the movie
Splash (1984), in which the main character adopted it as her name after seeing a street sign for Madison Avenue in New York City. It was ranked second for girls in the United States by 2001. This rise from obscurity to prominence in only 18 years represents an unprecedented 550,000 percent increase in usage.
A famous bearer of the surname was James Madison (1751-1836), one of the authors of the American constitution who later served as president (and after whom Madison Avenue was named).
Mabel
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: MAY-bəl
Rating: 77% based on 3 votes
Medieval feminine form of
Amabilis. This spelling and
Amabel were common during the Middle Ages, though they became rare after the 15th century. It was revived in the 19th century after the publication of C. M. Yonge's 1854 novel
The Heir of Redclyffe [1], which featured a character named Mabel (as well as one named Amabel).
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)
Rating: 80% based on 2 votes
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.
Luna
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Roman Mythology, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, English
Pronounced: LOO-na(Latin, Spanish, Italian) LOO-nə(English)
Rating: 80% based on 2 votes
Means "the moon" in Latin (as well as Italian, Spanish and other Romance languages). Luna was the Roman goddess of the moon, frequently depicted driving a white chariot through the sky.
Lukas
Gender: Masculine
Usage: German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Dutch, Lithuanian
Pronounced: LOO-kas(German, Swedish) LUY-kahs(Dutch)
Rating: 77% based on 3 votes
German, Scandinavian, Dutch and Lithuanian form of
Lucas (see
Luke). This was the most popular name for boys in Germany, Austria and Lithuania in some years of the 1990s and 2000s.
Lucas
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, Dutch, French, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, Biblical Latin
Pronounced: LOO-kəs(English) LUY-kahs(Dutch) LUY-KA(French) LOO-kush(European Portuguese) LOO-kus(Brazilian Portuguese) LOO-kas(Spanish, Swedish, Latin)
Rating: 60% based on 3 votes
Latin form of Greek
Λουκᾶς (see
Luke), as well as the form used in several other languages.
This name became very popular in the second half of the 20th century. It reached the top ten names for boys in France (by 1997), Belgium (1998), Denmark (2003), Canada (2008), the Netherlands (2009), New Zealand (2009), Australia (2010), Scotland (2013), Spain (2015) and the United States (2018).
Lorelai
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: LAWR-ə-lie
Rating: 80% based on 2 votes
Variant of
Lorelei. This name featured on the television series
Gilmore Girls (2000-2007) where it was borne by the two main characters (the younger one went by the nickname
Rory).
Lola
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Spanish, English, French
Pronounced: LO-la(Spanish) LO-lə(English) LAW-LA(French)
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
Spanish
diminutive of
Dolores. A famous bearer was Lola Montez (1821-1861; birth name Eliza Gilbert), an Irish-born dancer, actress and courtesan.
Linden
Gender: Unisex
Usage: English
Pronounced: LIN-dən
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
From a German and Dutch surname that was derived from Old High German
linta meaning
"linden tree".
Lily
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: LIL-ee
Rating: 76% based on 5 votes
From the name of the flower, a symbol of purity. The word is ultimately derived from Latin lilium. This is the name of the main character, Lily Bart, in the novel The House of Mirth (1905) by Edith Wharton. A famous bearer is the American actress Lily Tomlin (1939-).
Leo
Gender: Masculine
Usage: German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Estonian, English, Croatian, Armenian, Late Roman
Other Scripts: Լեո(Armenian)
Pronounced: LEH-o(German, Danish, Finnish) LEH-yo(Dutch) LEE-o(English)
Rating: 68% based on 4 votes
Derived from Latin
leo meaning
"lion", a
cognate of
Leon. It was popular among early Christians and was the name of 13 popes, including
Saint Leo the Great who asserted the dominance of the Roman bishops (the popes) over all others in the 5th century. It was also borne by six Byzantine emperors and five Armenian kings. Another famous bearer was the Russian novelist Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910), name spelled
Лев in Russian, whose works include
War and Peace and
Anna Karenina. Leo is also a constellation and the fifth sign of the zodiac.
Lauren
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: LAWR-ən
Rating: 78% based on 4 votes
Variant or feminine form of
Laurence 1. Originally a masculine name, it was first popularized as a feminine name by actress Betty Jean Perske (1924-2014), who used Lauren Bacall as her
stage name.
Kyrsten
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
Krystal
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: KRIS-təl
Rating: 50% based on 3 votes
Kristy
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: KRIS-tee
Rating: 35% based on 2 votes
Kristina
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Estonian, Russian, German, Slovene, Czech, Lithuanian, Serbian, Croatian, Albanian, Faroese, English, Bulgarian
Other Scripts: Кристина(Russian, Serbian, Bulgarian)
Pronounced: kris-TEE-na(Swedish, German) KRIS-ti-na(Czech) kryis-tyi-NU(Lithuanian) kris-TEE-nə(English)
Rating: 73% based on 3 votes
Kristin
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Norwegian, Swedish, German, Estonian, English
Pronounced: kris-TEEN(Swedish, German) KRIS-tin(English)
Rating: 45% based on 2 votes
Kitty
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: KIT-ee
Rating: 50% based on 2 votes
Kennedy
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Irish
Pronounced: KEHN-ə-dee(English)
Rating: 70% based on 2 votes
From an Irish surname, an Anglicized form of Irish Gaelic
Ó Cinnéidigh, itself derived from the given name
Cennétig. The name has sometimes been given in honour of assassinated American president John F. Kennedy (1917-1963). It was popularized as a name for girls by Lisa Kennedy Montgomery (1972-), known simply as Kennedy, the host of the television program
Alternative Nation on MTV from 1992 to 1997.
Kenji
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 健二, 研二, 賢二, 謙二, 健司, etc.(Japanese Kanji) けんじ(Japanese Hiragana)
Pronounced: KEHN-JEE
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
From Japanese
健 (ken) meaning "healthy, strong" or
研 (ken) meaning "study, sharpen" combined with
二 (ji) meaning "two". This name can also be formed from other combinations of kanji characters.
Kelsey
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: KEHL-see
Rating: 70% based on 2 votes
From an English surname that is derived from town names in Lincolnshire. It may mean "Cenel's island", from the Old English name Cenel "fierce" in combination with eg "island".
Kandy
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: KAN-dee
Rating: 20% based on 2 votes
Kaja 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Norwegian, Danish, Swedish, Estonian, Slovene
Pronounced: KA-ya(Swedish) KAH-yah(Estonian)
Rating: 70% based on 3 votes
Kaitlyn
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: KAYT-lin
Rating: 65% based on 2 votes
Kai 3
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: Hawaiian
Pronounced: KIE
Rating: 65% based on 2 votes
Means "sea" in Hawaiian.
Julia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Dutch, Spanish, Polish, Finnish, Estonian, Russian, Ukrainian, Ancient Roman, Biblical
Other Scripts: Юлия(Russian) Юлія(Ukrainian)
Pronounced: JOO-lee-ə(English) YOO-lya(German, Danish, Polish) YOO-lee-ah(Swedish, Finnish) YUY-lee-a(Dutch) KHOO-lya(Spanish) YOO-lyi-yə(Russian) YOO-lee-a(Latin)
Rating: 83% based on 4 votes
Feminine form of the Roman family name
Julius. Among the notable women from this family were Julia Augusta (also known as Livia Drusilla), the wife of Emperor
Augustus, and Julia the Elder, the daughter of Augustus and the wife of
Tiberius. A person by this name has a brief mention in the
New Testament. It was also borne by a few early
saints and martyrs, including the patron saint of Corsica. Additionally, Shakespeare used it in his comedy
The Two Gentlemen of Verona (1594).
It has been common as a given name in the English-speaking world only since the 18th century. A famous modern bearer is American actress Julia Roberts (1967-).
Judy
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: JOO-dee
Rating: 50% based on 2 votes
Diminutive of
Judith. A well-known bearer of this name was the American singer and actress Judy Garland (1922-1969).
Josie
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: JO-zee
Rating: 65% based on 2 votes
Jolina
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Dutch, German (Modern), Flemish (Rare)
Rating: 63% based on 3 votes
Contraction of names starting with the element
Jo-, such as
Johanna, and any name ending in
-lina. The German pronunciation makes it likely that its use in Germany was also inspired by the English name
Jolene.
Jessica
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, French, German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Dutch, Italian, Spanish
Pronounced: JEHS-i-kə(English) ZHEH-SEE-KA(French) YEH-see-ka(German, Dutch) JEH-see-ka(German) YEHS-si-ka(Swedish, Norwegian, Danish) GYEH-see-ka(Spanish)
Rating: 73% based on 3 votes
This name was first used in this form by William Shakespeare in his play
The Merchant of Venice (1596), where it belongs to the daughter of
Shylock. Shakespeare probably based it on the biblical name
Iscah, which would have been spelled
Jescha in his time. It was not commonly used as a given name until the middle of the 20th century. It reached its peak of popularity in the United States in 1987, and was the top ranked name for girls between 1985 and 1995, excepting 1991 and 1992 (when it was unseated by
Ashley). Notable bearers include actresses Jessica Tandy (1909-1994) and Jessica Lange (1949-).
Jeremy
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, Biblical
Pronounced: JEHR-ə-mee(English) JEHR-mee(English)
Rating: 70% based on 2 votes
English form of
Jeremiah, originally a medieval vernacular form. This is the spelling used in some English versions of the
New Testament.
Jaxon
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: JAK-sən
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
Jasper
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, Dutch, Judeo-Christian-Islamic Legend
Pronounced: JAS-pər(English) YAHS-pər(Dutch)
Rating: 77% based on 3 votes
From Latin
Gaspar, perhaps from the Biblical Hebrew word
גִּזְבָּר (gizbar) meaning
"treasurer" [1], derived from Old Persian
ganzabarah. This name was traditionally assigned to one of the wise men (also known as the Magi, or three kings) who were said to have visited the newborn
Jesus. It has occasionally been used in the English-speaking world since the Middle Ages. The name can also be given in reference to the English word for the gemstone.
Jasmine
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, French
Pronounced: JAZ-min(English) ZHAS-MEEN(French)
Rating: 75% based on 2 votes
From the English word for the climbing plant with fragrant flowers that is used for making perfumes. It is derived via Arabic from Persian
یاسمین (yāsamīn), which is also a Persian name. In the United States this name steadily grew in popularity from the 1970s, especially among African Americans
[1]. It reached a peak in the early 1990s shortly after the release of the animated Disney movie
Aladdin (1992), which featured a princess by this name.
Jamie
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: Scottish [1], English
Pronounced: JAY-mee
Rating: 70% based on 4 votes
Originally a Lowland Scots
diminutive of
James. Since the late 19th century it has also been used as a feminine form.
Jaiden
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: JAY-dən
Rating: 70% based on 2 votes
Jade
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English, French
Pronounced: JAYD(English) ZHAD(French)
Rating: 78% based on 5 votes
From the name of the precious stone that is often used in carvings. It is derived from Spanish (piedra de la) ijada meaning "(stone of the) flank", relating to the belief that jade could cure renal colic. As a given name, it came into general use during the 1970s. It was initially unisex, though it is now mostly feminine.
Jacquelyn
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: JAK-ə-lin, JAK-wə-lin
Rating: 70% based on 2 votes
Izzy
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: IZ-ee
Rating: 40% based on 2 votes
Ivy
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: IE-vee
Rating: 90% based on 5 votes
From the English word for the climbing plant that has small yellow flowers. It is ultimately derived from Old English ifig.
Isla
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Scottish, English
Pronounced: IE-lə
Rating: 94% based on 5 votes
Variant of
Islay, typically used as a feminine name. It also coincides with the Spanish word
isla meaning "island".
Isidora
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Spanish, Serbian, Portuguese (Rare), Italian (Rare), English (Rare), Ancient Greek [1]
Other Scripts: Исидора(Serbian, Russian) Ἰσιδώρα(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: ee-see-DHO-ra(Spanish) ee-zee-DAW-ra(Italian) iz-ə-DAWR-ə(English)
Rating: 70% based on 3 votes
Feminine form of
Isidore. This was the name of a 4th-century Egyptian
saint and hermitess.
Isabelle
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French, English, German, Dutch, Swedish
Pronounced: EE-ZA-BEHL(French) IZ-ə-behl(English) ee-za-BEH-lə(German, Dutch)
Rating: 72% based on 6 votes
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)
Rating: 58% based on 5 votes
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-).
Iris
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology, English, German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, French, Spanish, Catalan, Italian, Slovene, Croatian, Greek
Other Scripts: Ἶρις(Ancient Greek) Ίρις(Greek)
Pronounced: IE-ris(English) EE-ris(German, Dutch) EE-rees(Finnish, Spanish, Catalan, Italian) EE-REES(French)
Rating: 83% based on 4 votes
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.
Irina
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Russian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Romanian, Georgian, Finnish, Estonian
Other Scripts: Ирина(Russian, Bulgarian, Macedonian) ირინა(Georgian)
Pronounced: i-RYEE-nə(Russian) EE-ree-nah(Finnish)
Rating: 73% based on 4 votes
Form of
Irene in several languages.
Ian
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Scottish, English
Pronounced: EE-ən(English)
Rating: 68% based on 5 votes
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.
Hunter
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: HUN-tər
Rating: 50% based on 2 votes
From an English occupational surname for a hunter, derived from Old English hunta. A famous bearer was the eccentric American journalist Hunter S. Thompson (1937-2005).
Hudson
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: HUD-sən
Rating: 60% based on 2 votes
From an English surname meaning
"son of Hudde". A famous bearer of the surname was the English explorer Henry Hudson (1570-1611).
Heidi
Gender: Feminine
Usage: German, Norwegian, Danish, Swedish, Finnish, English
Pronounced: HIE-dee(German, English) HAY-dee(Finnish)
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
German
diminutive of
Adelheid. This is the name of the title character in the children's novel
Heidi (1880) by the Swiss author Johanna Spyri. The name began to be used in the English-speaking world shortly after the 1937 release of the movie adaptation, which starred Shirley Temple.
Hayley
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: HAY-lee
Rating: 80% based on 2 votes
From an English surname that was originally derived from the name of an English town (meaning "hay clearing" from Old English
heg "hay" and
leah "clearing"). It was brought to public attention as a given name, especially in the United Kingdom, by the British child actress Hayley Mills (1946-)
[1].
This is the most common spelling of this name in the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand; in the United States the spellings Haley and Hailey are more popular.
Harper
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: HAHR-pər
Rating: 60% based on 1 vote
From an English surname that originally belonged to a person who played or made harps (Old English hearpe). A notable bearer was the American author Harper Lee (1926-2016), who wrote To Kill a Mockingbird. It rapidly gained popularity in the 2000s and 2010s, entering the American top ten for girls in 2015.
Harley
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: HAHR-lee
Rating: 70% based on 2 votes
From an English surname that was derived from a place name, itself from Old English
hara "hare" or
hær "rock, heap of stones" and
leah "woodland, clearing". An American name for boys since the 19th century, it began to be used for girls after a character with the name began appearing on the soap opera
Guiding Light in 1987.
Hadley
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: HAD-lee
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
From an English surname that was derived from a place name meaning "heather field" in Old English.
Gwen
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Welsh, English
Pronounced: GWEHN
Rating: 73% based on 3 votes
From Welsh
gwen, the feminine form of
gwyn meaning "white, blessed". It can also be a short form of
Gwendolen,
Gwenllian and other names beginning with
Gwen.
Giovanna
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian
Pronounced: jo-VAN-na
Rating: 67% based on 3 votes
Italian form of
Iohanna (see
Joanna), making it the feminine form of
Giovanni.
Ginger
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: JIN-jər
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
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.
Gianna
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, Greek, English (Modern)
Other Scripts: Γιάννα(Greek)
Pronounced: JAN-na(Italian) YA-na(Greek) jee-AHN-ə(English) JAHN-ə(English)
Rating: 100% based on 2 votes
Italian short form of
Giovanna and a Modern Greek variant of
Ioanna.
Its use in America started increasing in the late 20th century. It spiked in popularity in 2020 after the death of Gianna Bryant and her father, the basketball player Kobe Bryant, in a helicopter crash.
Geneva
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: jə-NEE-və
Possibly a shortened form of
Genevieve. It could also be inspired by the name of the city in Switzerland. It has been used as a given name in the English-speaking world since the 19th century.
Frankie
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: FRANGK-ee
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
Francesca
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, Catalan
Pronounced: fran-CHEHS-ka(Italian) frən-SEHS-kə(Catalan)
Rating: 73% based on 3 votes
Italian and Catalan feminine form of
Franciscus (see
Francis).
Fiorenza
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian
Pronounced: fyo-REHN-tsa
Rating: 67% based on 3 votes
Italian feminine form of
Florentius (see
Florence).
Finja
Gender: Feminine
Usage: German (Modern)
Pronounced: FIN-ya
Rating: 100% based on 2 votes
Meaning unknown, possibly a form of
Finya.
It is unclear whether this name was actually inspired by the same-sounding Russian nickname Finya or whether it was invented independently in Germany, by combining the popular masculine name Finn 1 or Finn 2 with the popular suffix ja.
The name does not have a Scandinavian etymology and is not popular in any Scandinavian country.
Felicity
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: fə-LIS-i-tee
Rating: 83% based on 4 votes
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.
Farrah
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Arabic
Other Scripts: فرح(Arabic)
Pronounced: FA-rah
Rating: 57% based on 3 votes
Alternate transcription of Arabic
فرح (see
Farah).
Everett
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: EHV-ə-rit, EHV-rit
Rating: 50% based on 1 vote
From an English surname that was derived from the given name
Everard.
Ethan
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, French, Biblical, Biblical Latin
Other Scripts: אֵיתָן(Ancient Hebrew)
Pronounced: EE-thən(English) EH-TAN(French)
Rating: 58% based on 4 votes
From the Hebrew name
אֵיתָן (ʾEṯan) meaning
"solid, enduring, firm". In the
Old Testament this name is borne by a few minor characters, including the wise man Ethan the Ezrahite, supposedly the author of Psalm 89.
After the Protestant Reformation it was occasionally used as a given name in the English-speaking world, and it became somewhat common in America due to the fame of the revolutionary Ethan Allen (1738-1789). It only became popular towards the end of the 20th century. It is the name of the main character in Edith Wharton's novel Ethan Frome (1911), about a man in love with his wife's cousin.
Enid
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Welsh, English, Arthurian Cycle
Pronounced: EH-nid(Welsh) EE-nid(English)
Rating: 68% based on 4 votes
Probably derived from Welsh
enaid meaning
"soul, spirit, life". In Arthurian tales she first appears in the 12th-century French poem
Erec and Enide by Chrétien de Troyes, where she is the wife of Erec. In later adaptations she is typically the wife of
Geraint. The name became more commonly used after the publication of Alfred Tennyson's Arthurian poem
Enid in 1859, and it was fairly popular in Britain in the first half of the 20th century.
Emily
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: EHM-ə-lee
Rating: 75% based on 6 votes
English feminine form of
Aemilius (see
Emil). In the English-speaking world it was not common until after the German House of Hanover came to the British throne in the 18th century; the princess Amelia Sophia (1711-1786) was commonly known as
Emily in English, even though
Amelia is an unrelated name.
This name was moderately popular through most of the 20th century, and became very popular around the turn of the 21st century. It was the highest ranked name for girls in the United States from 1996 to 2007, attaining similar levels in other English-speaking countries around the same time.
Famous bearers include the British author Emily Brontë (1818-1848), known for the novel Wuthering Heights, and the American poet Emily Dickinson (1830-1886).
Ember
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: EHM-bər
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
From the English word ember, ultimately from Old English æmerge.
Elsa
Gender: Feminine
Usage: German, Swedish, Norwegian, Icelandic, Finnish, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, English
Pronounced: EHL-za(German) EHL-sah(Finnish) EHL-sa(Italian, Spanish) EHL-sə(English)
Rating: 64% based on 5 votes
Short form of
Elisabeth, typically used independently. In medieval German tales Elsa von Brabant was the lover of the hero
Lohengrin. Her story was expanded by Richard Wagner for his opera
Lohengrin (1850). The name had a little spike in popularity after the 2013 release of the animated Disney movie
Frozen, which featured a magical princess by this name.
Elise
Gender: Feminine
Usage: German, Norwegian, Danish, Swedish, Finnish, Dutch, English
Pronounced: eh-LEE-zə(German) eh-LEE-seh(Norwegian, Danish, Swedish) i-LEES(English) EE-lees(English)
Rating: 80% based on 2 votes
Eleanor
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: EHL-ə-nawr
Rating: 100% based on 6 votes
From the Old French form of the Occitan name
Alienòr. Among the name's earliest bearers was the influential Eleanor of Aquitaine (12th century), who was the queen of Louis VII, the king of France, and later Henry II, the king of England. She was named
Aenor after her mother, and was called by the Occitan phrase
alia Aenor "the other Aenor" in order to distinguish her from her mother. However, there appear to be examples of bearers prior to Eleanor of Aquitaine. It is not clear whether they were in fact Aenors who were retroactively recorded as having the name Eleanor, or whether there is an alternative explanation for the name's origin.
The popularity of the name Eleanor in England during the Middle Ages was due to the fame of Eleanor of Aquitaine, as well as two queens of the following century: Eleanor of Provence, the wife of Henry III, and Eleanor of Castile, the wife of Edward I. More recently, it was borne by first lady Eleanor Roosevelt (1884-1962), the wife of American president Franklin Roosevelt.
Eden
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: Hebrew, English (Modern), French (Modern)
Other Scripts: עֵדֶן(Hebrew)
Pronounced: EE-dən(English)
Rating: 88% based on 5 votes
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.
Dylan
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Welsh, English, Welsh Mythology
Pronounced: DUL-an(Welsh) DIL-ən(English)
Rating: 70% based on 2 votes
From the Welsh prefix
dy meaning "to, toward" and
llanw meaning "tide, flow". According to the Fourth Branch of the
Mabinogi [1], Dylan was a son of
Arianrhod and the twin brother of
Lleu Llaw Gyffes. Immediately after he was baptized he took to the sea, where he could swim as well as a fish. He was slain accidentally by his uncle
Gofannon. According to some theories the character might be rooted in an earlier and otherwise unattested Celtic god of the sea.
Famous bearers include the Welsh poet Dylan Thomas (1914-1953) and the American musician Bob Dylan (1941-), real name Robert Zimmerman, who took his stage surname from the poet's given name. Due to those two bearers, use of the name has spread outside of Wales in the last half of the 20th century. It received a further boost in popularity in the 1990s due to a character on the television series Beverly Hills 90210.
Drake
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: DRAYK
Rating: 20% based on 2 votes
From an English surname derived from the Old Norse byname
Draki or the Old English byname
Draca both meaning "dragon", both via Latin from Greek
δράκων (drakon) meaning "dragon, serpent". This name coincides with the unrelated English word
drake meaning "male duck". A famous bearer is the Canadian actor and rapper Drake (1986-), who was born as Aubrey Drake Graham.
Draco
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Ancient Greek (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Δράκων(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: DRAY-ko(English)
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
From the Greek name
Δράκων (Drakon), which meant
"dragon, serpent". This was the name of a 7th-century BC Athenian legislator. This is also the name of a constellation in the northern sky.
Dominique
Gender: Unisex
Usage: French
Pronounced: DAW-MEE-NEEK
Rating: 70% based on 2 votes
French feminine and masculine form of
Dominicus (see
Dominic).
Demetria
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Ancient Greek [1], English
Other Scripts: Δημητρία(Ancient Greek)
Rating: 78% based on 4 votes
Delphina
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Late Roman
Rating: 65% based on 2 votes
Feminine form of the Latin name
Delphinus, which meant
"of Delphi". Delphi was a city in ancient Greece, the name of which is possibly related to Greek
δελφύς (delphys) meaning "womb". The Blessed Delphina was a 14th-century Provençal nun.
Darcy
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: DAHR-see
Rating: 70% based on 3 votes
From an English surname that was derived from Norman French d'Arcy, originally denoting one who came from the town of Arcy in La Manche, France. This is the surname of a character, Fitzwilliam Darcy, in Jane Austen's novel Pride and Prejudice (1813).
Daphne
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology, English, Dutch
Other Scripts: Δάφνη(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: DA-PNEH(Classical Greek) DAF-nee(English) DAHF-nə(Dutch)
Rating: 63% based on 4 votes
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.
Courtney
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: KAWRT-nee
Rating: 60% based on 4 votes
From an aristocratic English surname that was derived either from the French place name
Courtenay (originally a derivative of the personal name
Curtenus, itself derived from Latin
curtus "short") or else from a Norman nickname meaning "short nose".
Originally more common as a name for boys in America, it became more popular for girls in the 1960s. It began rapidly increasing after 1973, possibly due to a character (played by Natalie Wood) in the television movie The Affair. It reached an apex in the United States ranked 17th in 1990, though it has quickly fallen away since then.
Cody
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: KO-dee
Rating: 70% based on 3 votes
From an Irish surname, an Anglicized form of both Irish Gaelic
Ó Cuidighthigh meaning
"descendant of the helpful one" and
Mac Óda meaning
"son of Odo". A famous bearer of the surname was the American frontiersman and showman Buffalo Bill Cody (1846-1917).
Claudia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, German, Dutch, Swedish, Italian, Spanish, Romanian, Biblical, Biblical Latin, Ancient Roman
Pronounced: KLAW-dee-ə(English) KLOW-dya(German, Italian, Romanian) KLOW-dee-a(Dutch, Latin) KLOW-dhya(Spanish)
Rating: 90% based on 6 votes
Feminine form of
Claudius. It is mentioned briefly in the
New Testament. As a Christian name it was very rare until the 16th century.
Clara
Gender: Feminine
Usage: German, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, French, Catalan, Romanian, English, Swedish, Danish, Late Roman
Pronounced: KLA-ra(German, Spanish, Italian) KLA-ru(Portuguese) KLA-RA(French) KLEHR-ə(American English) KLAR-ə(American English) KLAH-rə(British English)
Rating: 80% based on 3 votes
Feminine form of the Late Latin name
Clarus, which meant
"clear, bright, famous". The name
Clarus was borne by a few early
saints. The feminine form was popularized by the 13th-century Saint Clare of Assisi (called
Chiara in Italian), a friend and follower of Saint Francis, who left her wealthy family to found the order of nuns known as the Poor Clares.
As an English name it has been in use since the Middle Ages, originally in the form Clare, though the Latinate spelling Clara overtook it in the 19th century and became very popular. It declined through most of the 20th century (being eclipsed by the French form Claire in English-speaking countries), though it has since recovered somewhat.
Claire
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French, English
Pronounced: KLEHR
Rating: 70% based on 5 votes
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.
Christina
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Dutch, Greek
Other Scripts: Χριστίνα(Greek)
Pronounced: kris-TEE-nə(English) kris-TEE-na(German, Swedish, Dutch)
Rating: 62% based on 5 votes
From
Christiana, the Latin feminine form of
Christian. This was the name of an early, possibly legendary,
saint who was tormented by her pagan father. It was also borne by a 17th-century Swedish queen and patron the arts who gave up her crown in order to become a Roman Catholic.
In the English-speaking world the form Christine was more popular for most of the 20th century, though Christina eventually overtook it. Famous bearers include actress Christina Ricci (1980-) and singer Christina Aguilera (1980-).
Chloe
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Biblical, Biblical Latin, Biblical Greek [1], Ancient Greek [2], Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Χλόη(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: KLO-ee(English)
Rating: 73% based on 4 votes
Means
"green shoot" in Greek, referring to new plant growth in the spring. This was an epithet of the Greek goddess
Demeter. The name is also mentioned by
Paul in one of his epistles in the
New Testament.
As an English name, Chloe has been in use since the Protestant Reformation. It started getting more popular in the 1980s in the United Kingdom and then the United States. It was the most popular name for girls in England and Wales from 1997 to 2002. This is one of the few English-language names that is often written with a diaeresis, as Chloë.
Charlotte
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French, English, German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Dutch
Pronounced: SHAR-LAWT(French) SHAHR-lət(English) shar-LAW-tə(German) sha-LOT(Swedish) shahr-LAW-tə(Dutch)
Rating: 70% based on 4 votes
French feminine
diminutive of
Charles. It was introduced to Britain in the 17th century. It was the name of a German-born 18th-century queen consort of Great Britain and Ireland. Another notable bearer was Charlotte Brontë (1816-1855), the eldest of the three Brontë sisters and the author of
Jane Eyre and
Villette. A famous fictional bearer is the spider in the children's novel
Charlotte's Web (1952) by E. B. White.
This name was fairly common in France, England and the United States in the early 20th century. It became quite popular in France and England at the end of the 20th century, just when it was at a low point in the United States. It quickly climbed the American charts and entered the top ten in 2014.
Channing
Gender: Unisex
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: CHAN-ing
Rating: 30% based on 1 vote
From an English surname of uncertain origin.
Celina
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Polish, Portuguese, German
Pronounced: tseh-LEE-na(Polish)
Rating: 82% based on 5 votes
Celeste
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, English
Pronounced: cheh-LEH-steh(Italian) theh-LEHS-teh(European Spanish) seh-LEHS-teh(Latin American Spanish) sə-LEST(English)
Rating: 77% based on 6 votes
Italian feminine and masculine form of
Caelestis. It is also the Portuguese, Spanish and English feminine form.
Cecilia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Italian, Spanish, Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, Dutch, Romanian, Finnish
Pronounced: seh-SEE-lee-ə(English) seh-SEEL-yə(English) cheh-CHEE-lya(Italian) theh-THEE-lya(European Spanish) seh-SEE-lya(Latin American Spanish) seh-SEEL-yah(Danish, Norwegian)
Rating: 70% based on 6 votes
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.
Catalina
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Spanish, Corsican
Pronounced: ka-ta-LEE-na(Spanish)
Rating: 72% based on 5 votes
Castor
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Greek Mythology (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Κάστωρ(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: KAS-tər(English)
From the Greek name
Κάστωρ (Kastor), possibly related to
κέκασμαι (kekasmai) meaning
"to excel, to shine" (pluperfect
κέκαστο). Alternatively it could be derived from the Greek word
κάστωρ (kastor) meaning
"beaver", though the legends about Castor do not mention beavers, which were foreign animals to the Greeks. In Greek
myth Castor was a son of
Zeus and the twin brother of
Pollux. The constellation Gemini, which represents the two brothers, contains a star by this name.
Cassius
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Ancient Roman
Pronounced: KAS-see-oos(Latin) KASH-əs(English) KAS-ee-əs(English)
Rating: 50% based on 1 vote
Roman family name that was possibly derived from Latin
cassus meaning
"empty, vain". This name was borne by several early
saints. In modern times, it was the original first name of boxer Muhammad Ali (1942-2016), who was named after his father Cassius Clay, who was himself named after the American abolitionist Cassius Clay (1810-1903).
Cassie
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: KAS-ee
Rating: 64% based on 5 votes
Cassidy
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: KAS-i-dee
Rating: 66% based on 5 votes
From an Irish surname (Anglicized from Irish Gaelic
Ó Caiside), which is derived from the byname
Caiside. Very rare as a given name before the 1970s, it established itself in the 80s and then surged in popularity during the 90s.
Casper
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish
Pronounced: KAHS-pər(Dutch) KAHS-pehr(Swedish) KAS-bu(Danish)
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
Dutch and Scandinavian form of
Jasper. This is the name of a friendly ghost in an American series of cartoons and comic books (beginning 1945).
Casilda
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Spanish
Pronounced: ka-SEEL-da
Rating: 78% based on 4 votes
Meaning uncertain. This is the name of the 11th-century patron
saint of Toledo, Spain. It might have an Arabic origin (Saint Casilda was a Moorish princess), perhaps from
قصيدة (qaṣīda) meaning
"poem" [1]. Alternatively it could be derived from a Visigothic name in which the second element is
hilds meaning "battle".
Carson
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: KAHR-sən
Rating: 45% based on 4 votes
From a Scottish surname of uncertain meaning. A famous bearer of the surname was the American scout Kit Carson (1809-1868).
Carina 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Portuguese, Spanish, German, Late Roman
Pronounced: kə-REE-nə(English) ka-REE-na(Spanish, German)
Rating: 78% based on 5 votes
Late Latin name derived from
cara meaning
"dear, beloved". This was the name of a 4th-century
saint and martyr. It is also the name of a constellation in the southern sky, though in this case it means "keel" in Latin, referring to a part of
Jason's ship the Argo.
Camille
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: French, English
Pronounced: KA-MEE(French) kə-MEEL(English)
Rating: 85% based on 6 votes
French feminine and masculine form of
Camilla. It is also used in the English-speaking world, where it is generally only feminine.
Camilla
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Italian, Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, Finnish, German, Ancient Roman, Roman Mythology
Pronounced: kə-MIL-ə(English) ka-MEEL-la(Italian) kah-MEEL-lah(Danish) KAH-meel-lah(Finnish) ka-MI-la(German)
Rating: 87% based on 6 votes
Feminine form of
Camillus. This was the name of a legendary warrior maiden of the Volsci, as told by
Virgil in the
Aeneid. It was popularized in the English-speaking world by Fanny Burney's novel
Camilla (1796).
Callum
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Scottish
Pronounced: KAL-əm
Rating: 73% based on 3 votes
Calliope
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Καλλιόπη(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: kə-LIE-ə-pee(English)
Rating: 63% based on 3 votes
Callie
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: KAL-ee
Rating: 73% based on 4 votes
Caitlin
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Irish, English
Pronounced: KAYT-lin(English)
Rating: 72% based on 5 votes
Cade
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: KAYD
Rating: 50% based on 3 votes
From an English surname that was originally derived from a nickname meaning "round" in Old English.
Bryson
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: BRIE-sən
Rating: 33% based on 3 votes
From an English surname meaning
"son of Brice". Starting in the 1970s this name began steadily growing in popularity, likely because it features the same popular sounds found in other names such as
Brice and
Tyson.
Brynn
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: BRIN
Rating: 40% based on 2 votes
Feminine variant of
Bryn. It was brought to limited public attention in 1978 when the actress Brynn Thayer (1949-) began appearing on the American soap opera
One Life to Live [1].
Brody
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: BRO-dee
Rating: 33% based on 3 votes
From a Scottish surname that was originally derived from a place in Moray, Scotland. It probably means "ditch, mire" in Gaelic.
Brittany
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: BRIT-ə-nee, BRIT-nee
Rating: 68% based on 4 votes
From the name of the region of
Brittany in the northwest of France, called in French
Bretagne. It was named for the Britons who settled there after the fall of the Western Roman Empire and the invasions of the Anglo-Saxons.
As a given name, it first came into common use in America in the early 1970s, reaching the third ranked spot for girls by 1989. This was an extraordinary increase over only two decades, though it has since fallen almost as dramatically as it climbed.
Bridget
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Irish, English
Pronounced: BRIJ-it(English)
Rating: 70% based on 5 votes
Anglicized form of the Irish name
Brighid, Old Irish
Brigit, from old Celtic *
Brigantī meaning
"the exalted one". In Irish
mythology this was the name of the goddess of fire, poetry and wisdom, the daughter of the god
Dagda. In the 5th century it was borne by
Saint Brigid, the founder of a monastery at Kildare and a patron saint of Ireland. Because of the saint, the name was considered sacred in Ireland, and it did not come into general use there until the 17th century. In the form
Birgitta this name has been common in Scandinavia, made popular by the 14th-century Saint Birgitta of Sweden, patron saint of Europe.
Brianna
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: bree-AN-ə, bree-AHN-ə
Rating: 73% based on 4 votes
Variant of
Briana. This is currently the more popular spelling of the name.
Braylen
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: BRAY-lən
Rating: 40% based on 3 votes
Bonnie
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: BAHN-ee
Rating: 57% based on 3 votes
Means "pretty" from the Scottish word bonnie, which was itself derived from Middle French bon "good". It has been in use as an American given name since the 19th century, and it became especially popular after the movie Gone with the Wind (1939), in which it was the nickname of Scarlett's daughter.
Bodhi
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: BO-dee
From a term referring to enlightenment in Buddhism, derived from Sanskrit
बोधि (bodhi).
Bianca
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, Romanian
Pronounced: BYANG-ka
Rating: 75% based on 2 votes
Italian
cognate of
Blanche. Shakespeare had characters named Bianca in
The Taming of the Shrew (1593) and
Othello (1603).
Bennett
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: BEHN-it
Rating: 75% based on 4 votes
Medieval form of
Benedict. This was the more common spelling in England until the 18th century. Modern use of the name is probably also influenced by the common surname
Bennett, itself a derivative of the medieval name.
Beckett
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: BEHK-it
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
From an English surname that could be derived from various sources, including from Middle English bec meaning "beak" or bekke meaning "stream, brook".
Beatriz
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Spanish, Portuguese
Pronounced: beh-a-TREETH(European Spanish) beh-a-TREES(Latin American Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese) byu-TREESH(European Portuguese)
Rating: 76% based on 5 votes
Spanish and Portuguese form of
Beatrix.
Azura
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: ə-ZHUWR-ə, AZH-rə
Rating: 73% based on 3 votes
Aziel
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Biblical, Biblical Hebrew [1]
Other Scripts: עֲזִיאֵל(Ancient Hebrew)
Rating: 55% based on 2 votes
Possibly means
"God comforts" in Hebrew, from the roots
עוּז (ʿuz) meaning "to take refuge" and
אֵל (ʾel) meaning "God". Otherwise it might a variant of
Uzziel. This is the name of a musician (also called Jaaziel) in the
Old Testament.
Azalea
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: ə-ZAY-lee-ə
Rating: 78% based on 4 votes
From the name of the flower (shrubs of the genus Rhododendron), ultimately derived from Greek
ἀζαλέος (azaleos) meaning "dry".
Axel
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, German, French, English
Pronounced: A-ksehl(Swedish) A-ksəl(German) A-KSEHL(French) AK-səl(English)
Rating: 40% based on 3 votes
Avery
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: AY-və-ree, AYV-ree
Rating: 87% based on 3 votes
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 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: AY-və
Rating: 84% based on 5 votes
Variant of
Eve. A famous bearer was the American actress Ava Gardner (1922-1990). This name became very popular throughout the English-speaking world in the early 21st century, entering the top ten for girls in the United States, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. It began to rise sharply after 1997, possibly inspired by the actress Heather Locklear and musician Richie Sambora when they used it for their baby daughter that year.
Autumn
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: AW-təm
Rating: 93% based on 6 votes
From the name of the season, ultimately from Latin autumnus. This name has been in general use since the 1960s.
Austin
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: AWS-tin
Rating: 53% based on 3 votes
Medieval contracted form of
Augustine 1. Modern use of the name is probably also partly inspired by the common surname
Austin, which is of the same origin. This is also the name of a city in Texas.
Aurora
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, English, Romanian, Finnish, Norwegian, Swedish, Roman Mythology
Pronounced: ow-RAW-ra(Italian) ow-RO-ra(Spanish, Latin) ə-RAWR-ə(English) OW-ro-rah(Finnish)
Rating: 80% based on 5 votes
Means "dawn" in Latin. Aurora was the Roman goddess of the morning. It has occasionally been used as a given name since the Renaissance.
Audrey
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, French
Pronounced: AWD-ree(English) O-DREH(French)
Rating: 80% based on 2 votes
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).
Attikus
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Greek
Other Scripts: αττικός(Greek)
Pronounced: AH-ti-kus
Rating: 77% based on 3 votes
Original spelling of the name
Atticus. This name come from the Greek Ἀττικός
Attikos means "from Attika" and was popularly used for Greek nobles.
Astrid
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, German, French, English
Pronounced: AS-strid(Swedish) AHS-tri(Norwegian) AS-trit(German) AS-TREED(French) AS-trid(English)
Rating: 70% based on 6 votes
Modern Scandinavian form of
Ástríðr. This name was borne by the Swedish writer Astrid Lindgren (1907-2002), the author of
Pippi Longstocking. It was also borne by a Swedish princess (1905-1935) who became the queen of Belgium as the wife of Leopold III.
Artemis
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology, Greek
Other Scripts: Ἄρτεμις(Ancient Greek) Άρτεμις(Greek)
Pronounced: AR-TEH-MEES(Classical Greek) AHR-tə-mis(English)
Rating: 78% based on 5 votes
Meaning unknown, possibly related either to Greek
ἀρτεμής (artemes) meaning
"safe" or
ἄρταμος (artamos) meaning
"a butcher". Artemis was the Greek goddess of the moon and hunting, the twin of
Apollo and the daughter of
Zeus and
Leto. She was known as
Diana to the Romans.
Ariel
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: Hebrew, English, French, Spanish, Polish, Biblical, Biblical Greek
Other Scripts: אֲרִיאֵל(Hebrew) Ἀριήλ(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: a-ree-EHL(Hebrew) EHR-ee-əl(English) AR-ee-əl(English) A-RYEHL(French) a-RYEHL(Spanish) A-ryehl(Polish)
Rating: 72% based on 5 votes
Means
"lion of God" in Hebrew, from
אֲרִי (ʾari) meaning "lion" and
אֵל (ʾel) meaning "God". In the
Old Testament it is used as another name for the city of Jerusalem. Shakespeare utilized it for a spirit in his play
The Tempest (1611) and Alexander Pope utilized it for a sylph in his poem
The Rape of the Lock (1712), and one of the moons of Uranus bears this name in his honour. As an English name, it became more common for females in the 1980s, especially after it was used for the title character in the Disney film
The Little Mermaid (1989).
Arianna
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, English (Modern)
Pronounced: a-RYAN-na(Italian) ar-ee-AN-ə(English) ar-ee-AHN-ə(English)
Rating: 64% based on 5 votes
Ariadne
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Ἀριάδνη(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: A-REE-AD-NEH(Classical Greek) ar-ee-AD-nee(English)
Rating: 55% based on 4 votes
Means
"most holy", composed of the Greek prefix
ἀρι (ari) meaning "most" combined with Cretan Greek
ἀδνός (adnos) meaning "holy". In Greek
mythology, Ariadne was the daughter of King
Minos. She fell in love with
Theseus and helped him to escape the Labyrinth and the Minotaur, but was later abandoned by him. Eventually she married the god
Dionysus.
Aria 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: AHR-ee-ə
Rating: 68% based on 4 votes
Means "song, melody" in Italian (literally means "air"). An aria is an elaborate vocal solo, the type usually performed in operas. As an English name, it has only been in use since the 20th century, its rise in popularity accelerating after the 2010 premier of the television drama Pretty Little Liars, featuring a character by this name. It is not traditionally used in Italy.
Araceli
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Spanish
Pronounced: a-ra-THEH-lee(European Spanish) a-ra-SEH-lee(Latin American Spanish)
Rating: 73% based on 4 votes
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.
Arabella
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: ar-ə-BEHL-ə
Rating: 80% based on 4 votes
Medieval Scottish name, probably a variant of
Annabel. It has long been associated with Latin
orabilis meaning "invokable, yielding to prayer", and the name was often recorded in forms resembling this.
Unrelated, this was an older name of the city of Irbid in Jordan, from Greek Ἄρβηλα (Arbela).
Annelise
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Danish
Rating: 75% based on 2 votes
Anika 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: German, Dutch, Danish, Polish, Slovene
Pronounced: A-nee-ka(German, Dutch)
Rating: 70% based on 2 votes
Anastasia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek, Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian, English, Spanish, Italian, Georgian, Ancient Greek [1]
Other Scripts: Αναστασία(Greek) Анастасия(Russian) Анастасія(Ukrainian, Belarusian) ანასტასია(Georgian) Ἀναστασία(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: a-na-sta-SEE-a(Greek) u-nu-stu-SYEE-yə(Russian) u-nu-stu-SYEE-yu(Ukrainian) a-na-sta-SYEE-ya(Belarusian) an-ə-STAY-zhə(English) a-na-STA-sya(Spanish) a-na-STA-zya(Italian) A-NA-STA-SEE-A(Classical Greek)
Rating: 90% based on 6 votes
Feminine form of
Anastasius. This was the name of a 4th-century Dalmatian
saint who was martyred during the persecutions of the Roman emperor Diocletian. Due to her, the name has been common in Eastern Orthodox Christianity (in various spellings). As an English name it has been in use since the Middle Ages. A famous bearer was the youngest daughter of the last Russian tsar Nicholas II, who was rumoured to have escaped the execution of her family in 1918.
Amerie
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Medieval English, English (Rare)
Rating: 66% based on 5 votes
Late medieval variant of
Ameria. It was revived in the 1800s.
Its modern-day usage might in part be inspired by the masculine name
Amery.
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)
Rating: 89% based on 7 votes
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.
Amber
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Dutch
Pronounced: AM-bər(English) AHM-bər(Dutch)
Rating: 50% based on 6 votes
From the English word
amber that denotes either the gemstone, which is formed from fossil resin, or the orange-yellow colour. The word ultimately derives from Arabic
عنبر (ʿanbar) meaning "ambergris". It began to be used as a given name in the late 19th century, but it only became popular after the release of Kathleen Winsor's novel
Forever Amber (1944).
Allison
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: AL-i-sən
Rating: 52% based on 6 votes
From the middle of the 20th century this has primarily been used as a variant of the feminine name
Alison 1. However, prior to that it was used as an uncommon masculine name, derived from the English and Scottish surname
Allison.
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)
Rating: 90% based on 7 votes
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)
Rating: 63% based on 6 votes
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.
Alessia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian
Pronounced: a-LEHS-sya
Rating: 70% based on 2 votes
Alannah
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Irish, English (Modern)
Pronounced: ə-LAN-ə(English)
Rating: 70% based on 2 votes
Variant of
Alana. It has been influenced by the affectionate Anglo-Irish word
alannah, from the Irish Gaelic phrase
a leanbh meaning "O child".
Ainsley
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: Scottish, English (Modern)
Pronounced: AYNZ-lee(English)
Rating: 50% based on 1 vote
From an English surname that was from a place name: either Annesley in Nottinghamshire or Ansley in Warwickshire. The place names themselves derive from Old English
anne "alone, solitary" or
ansetl "hermitage" and
leah "woodland, clearing".
In America, this name received a boost of popularity in 2000 when a character bearing it began appearing on the television series The West Wing.
Aidan
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Irish, English (Modern)
Pronounced: AY-dən(English)
Rating: 38% based on 5 votes
Anglicized form of
Aodhán. In the latter part of the 20th century it became popular in America due to its sound, since it shares a sound with such names as
Braden and
Hayden. It peaked ranked 39th for boys in 2003.
Adrienne
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French, English
Pronounced: A-DREE-YEHN(French)
Rating: 48% based on 5 votes
French feminine form of
Adrian.
Adrian
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, Romanian, Polish, German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Russian
Other Scripts: Адриан(Russian)
Pronounced: AY-dree-ən(English) a-dree-AN(Romanian) A-dryan(Polish) A-dree-an(German) u-dryi-AN(Russian)
Rating: 48% based on 5 votes
Form of
Hadrianus (see
Hadrian) used in several languages. Several
saints and six popes have borne this name, including the only English pope, Adrian IV, and the only Dutch pope, Adrian VI. As an English name, it has been in use since the Middle Ages, though it was not popular until modern times.
Aaliyah
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Arabic, English (Modern), African American (Modern)
Other Scripts: عالية(Arabic)
Pronounced: ‘A-lee-ya(Arabic) ə-LEE-ə(English) ah-LEE-ə(English)
Rating: 68% based on 4 votes
Feminine form of
Aali. It was popularized in the English-speaking world by the singer Aaliyah Haughton (1979-2001), who was known simply as Aaliyah. This name received a boost in popularity after she released her debut album in 1994, and also in 2001 after her untimely death in an airplane crash.
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