laraxx's Personal Name List

From the name of the tree, which is ultimately derived from Old English welig.

English form of Varianus.

Variant of Twila.

Meaning unknown. Perhaps based on the English word twilight, or maybe from a Cajun pronunciation of French étoile "star" [1]. It came into use as an American given name in the late 19th century.

Russian and Bulgarian form of Tatiana.

From the name of the Isle of Skye off the west coast of Scotland. It is sometimes considered a variant of Sky.

Of debated origin.

Some scholars argue that it might be a contracted form of Severine, others theorize a derivation from the Scandinavian name Sirin, while another theory assumes a derivation from Greek Seirenes (Σειρῆνας), the sirens or nymphs from Greek mythology.

Whatever theory might be true, in Norway this name was first recorded in the late 1700s.

Diminutive of Rose.

Variant of Rosalyn.

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.

From the eponymous flowering plant. The plant's name derives from Latin orchis, borrowed from Ancient Greek ὄρχις (orkhis), meaning "testicle" (the name was given to the plant because of the testicle-shaped subterranean parts of some European orchids).

French diminutive of Oda or Odilia. This is the name of a princess who has been transformed into a swan in the ballet Swan Lake (1877) by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.

The name of a lion in the animated movie The Lion King (1994). Though many sources claim it means "gift" or "beloved" in Swahili, it does not appear to have a meaning in that language.

Feminine form of Momin.

From Sanskrit मीर (mīra) meaning "sea, ocean". This was the name of a 16th-century Indian princess who devoted her life to the god Krishna.

From the English word meadow, ultimately from Old English mædwe. Previously very rare, it rose in popularity after it was used as the name of Tony Soprano's daughter on the television series The Sopranos (1999-2007).

Variant of Layton. It jumped in popularity as a feminine name after 2007, when actress Leighton Meester (1986-) began appearing on the television series Gossip Girl.

From a surname that was originally derived from the name of English towns meaning "town with a leek garden" in Old English. Like similar-sounding names such as Peyton and Dayton, this name began rising in popularity in the 1990s.

Feminine form of Laurianus.

Variant of Kristin.

Anglicized form of the Irish given name Ceallach or the surname derived from it Ó Ceallaigh. As a surname, it has been borne by actor and dancer Gene Kelly (1912-1996) and actress and princess Grace Kelly (1929-1982).

As a given name it was mostly masculine before 1940, but it rose in popularity as a name for girls during the 40s and 50s, probably due both to Grace Kelly (who married Prince Rainier III of Monaco in 1956) and a female character on the 1957 television series Bachelor Father [1]. By the end of the 1970s it was on the decline.

Anglicized form of Caitrìona.

Means "beautiful voice" from Greek κάλλος (kallos) meaning "beauty" and ὄψ (ops) meaning "voice". In Greek mythology she was a goddess of epic poetry and eloquence, one of the nine Muses.

Medieval English form of Jehanne, an Old French feminine form of Iohannes (see John). This became the most common feminine form of John in the 17th century, surpassing Joan. In the first half of the 20th century Joan once again overtook Jane for a few decades in both the United States and the United Kingdom.

Famous bearers include the uncrowned English queen Lady Jane Grey (1536-1554), who ruled for only nine days, British novelist Jane Austen (1775-1817), who wrote Sense and Sensibility and Pride and Prejudice, British primatologist Jane Goodall (1934-), and American actress Jane Fonda (1937-). This is also the name of the central character in Charlotte Brontë's novel Jane Eyre (1847), which tells of Jane's sad childhood and her relationship with Edward Rochester.

From the English word for the hard, creamy-white substance that comes from elephant tusks and was formerly used to produce piano keys.

Anglicized form of Iseabail.

From the Old German elements hun "bear cub" and fridu "peace". The Normans introduced this name to England, where it replaced the Old English cognate Hunfrith, and it was regularly used through the Middle Ages. A famous bearer was the American actor Humphrey Bogart (1899-1957), who starred in The Maltese Falcon and Casablanca.

From the English vocabulary word meaning "paradise". It is derived via Middle English hevene from Old English heofon "sky".

Diminutive of Gabrielle.

From an Irish surname, an Anglicized form of Ó Floinn, which was derived from the given name or byname Flann. A famous bearer of the surname was American actor Errol Flynn (1909-1959). As a given name, it grew in popularity after it was featured as a character in the Disney movie Tangled in 2010.

Spanish feminine form of Florentius (see Florence).

From the Latin name Florentius or the feminine form Florentia, which were derived from florens "prosperous, flourishing". Florentius was borne by many early Christian saints, and it was occasionally used in their honour through the Middle Ages. In modern times it is mostly feminine.

This name can also be given in reference to the city in Italy, as in the case of Florence Nightingale (1820-1910), who was born there to British parents. She was a nurse in military hospitals during the Crimean War and is usually considered the founder of modern nursing.

Derived from Latin flos meaning "flower" (genitive case floris). Flora was the Roman goddess of flowers and spring, the wife of Zephyr the west wind. It has been used as a given name since the Renaissance, starting in France. In Scotland it was sometimes used as an Anglicized form of Fionnghuala.

Means "good news" from Greek εὖ (eu) meaning "good" and ἄγγελμα (angelma) meaning "news, message". It was (first?) used by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow in his 1847 epic poem Evangeline [1][2]. It also appears in Harriet Beecher Stowe's novel Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852) as the full name of the character Eva.

Scandinavian form of Eric. This was the name of kings of Sweden, Denmark and Norway. King Erik IX of Sweden (12th century) is the patron saint of that country.

Means "ever ruler", from the Old Norse name Eiríkr, derived from the elements ei "ever, always" and ríkr "ruler, king". A notable bearer was Eiríkr inn Rauda (Eric the Red in English), a 10th-century navigator and explorer who discovered Greenland. This was also the name of several early kings of Sweden, Denmark and Norway.

This common Norse name was first brought to England by Danish settlers during the Anglo-Saxon period. It was not popular in England in the Middle Ages, but it was revived in the 19th century, in part due to the children's novel Eric, or Little by Little (1858) by Frederic William Farrar.

Bosnian variant of Amira 1.

From an English surname that was derived from a diminutive of the medieval name Elias.

Variant of Alicia.

Possibly inspired by the popular '80s soap opera of the same name. The name derives from the English word dynasty, which is ultimately derived from Greek dunasteia meaning "power, dominion".

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

Feminine form of Daniel.

Feminine form of the Late Latin name Constantius, which was itself derived from Constans.

Combination of Clara and the common name suffix bel, from Latin bella "beautiful". This name was used by Edmund Spenser in his poem The Faerie Queene (1590; in the form Claribell) and by Shakespeare in his play The Tempest (1611). Alfred Tennyson also wrote a poem entitled Claribel (1830).

Variant of Claribel. This is the name of Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks' cartoon character Clarabelle Cow.

From the English word meaning "to treasure".

Feminine form of the Roman family name Caelius. Shakespeare used it in his play As You Like It (1599), which introduced the name to the English-speaking public at large. It is sometimes used as a short form of Cecilia.

Spanish and Portuguese form of Charles.

Latinized form of Kalliope.

From an English word meaning "rhythm, flow". It has been in use only since the 20th century.

Short form of Brianna, Gabriella and other names containing bri.

Elaboration of Azure.

From the Norman French form of the Germanic name Avelina, a diminutive of Avila. The Normans introduced this name to Britain. After the Middle Ages it became rare as an English name, though it persisted in America until the 19th century [1].

Meaning unknown. Athena was the Greek goddess of wisdom and warfare and the patron goddess of the city of Athens in Greece. It is likely that her name is derived from that of the city, not vice versa. The earliest mention of her seems to be a 15th-century BC Mycenaean Greek inscription from Knossos on Crete.

The daughter of Zeus, she was said to have sprung from his head fully grown after he impregnated and swallowed her mother Metis. Athena is associated with the olive tree and the owl.

Variant of Ashlyn.

Feminine form of Ambrosios (see Ambrose).

Variant of Alyssa.

Medieval French variant of Alice, also sometimes used as a masculine name. This is the name of the hero (a young Gaulish man) of a French comic book series, which debuted in 1948.

Variant of Alice.

Feminine form of Alan.