ForeverRonniesWoman's Personal Name List

Xenia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek, Spanish, Ancient Greek [1]
Other Scripts: Ξένια(Greek) Ξενία(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: SEH-nya(Spanish)
Personal remark: The name of one of my great nieces.
Means "hospitality" in Greek, a derivative of ξένος (xenos) meaning "foreigner, guest". This was the name of a 5th-century saint who is venerated in the Eastern Church.
Verity
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: VEHR-i-tee
Personal remark: A most darling name.
From the English word meaning "verity, truth", from Latin verus "true, real". This was one of the virtue names adopted by the Puritans in the 17th century.
Paul
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, French, German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Estonian, Romanian, Biblical
Pronounced: PAWL(English, French) POWL(German, Dutch)
Personal remark: A good strong name.
From the Roman family name Paulus, which meant "small" or "humble" in Latin. Paul was an important leader of the early Christian church. According to Acts in the New Testament, he was a Jewish Roman citizen who converted to Christianity after the resurrected Jesus appeared to him. After this he travelled the eastern Mediterranean as a missionary. His original Hebrew name was Saul. Many of the epistles in the New Testament were authored by him.

Due to the renown of Saint Paul the name became common among early Christians. It was borne by a number of other early saints and six popes. In England it was relatively rare during the Middle Ages, but became more frequent beginning in the 17th century. In the United States it was in the top 20 names for boys from 1900 to 1968, while in the United Kingdom it was very popular from the 1950s to the 80s. It has also been heavily used in Germany and France and continues to be popular there, though it is currently on the decline in the English-speaking world.

A notable bearer was the American Revolutionary War figure Paul Revere (1735-1818), who warned of the advance of the British army. Famous bearers in the art world include the French impressionists Paul Cézanne (1839-1906) and Paul Gauguin (1848-1903), and the Swiss expressionist Paul Klee (1879-1940). It is borne by actor Paul Newman (1925-2008) and the musicians Paul Simon (1941-) and Paul McCartney (1942-). This is also the name of the legendary American lumberjack Paul Bunyan and the fictional Paul Atreides from Frank Herbert's novel Dune (1965).

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)
Personal remark: A name I really like.
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.

Naoise
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Irish, Irish Mythology
Pronounced: NEE-shə(Irish)
Personal remark: This name stuck with me since I heard the legend of him in childhood.
Meaning unknown, presumably of Irish origin. In Irish legend he was the young man who fled to Scotland with Deirdre, who was due to marry Conchobar the king of Ulster. Conchobar eventually succeeded in capturing Deirdre and killing Naoise, which caused Deirdre to die of grief.
Loretta
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Italian
Pronounced: lə-REHT-ə(English) lo-REHT-ta(Italian)
Personal remark: Always liked this name.
Perhaps a variant of Lauretta or Loreto. A famous bearer was the American actress Loretta Young (1913-2000), whose birth name was Gretchen.
Leslie
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: LEHZ-lee, LEHS-lee
Personal remark: Actually prefer this on a man.
From a Scottish surname that was derived from a place in Aberdeenshire, probably from Gaelic leas celyn meaning "garden of holly". It has been used as a given name since the 19th century. In America it was more common as a feminine name after the 1940s.
Eugene
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: YOO-jeen, yoo-JEEN
Personal remark: Rather distinguished.
English form of Eugenius, the Latin form of the Greek name Εὐγένιος (Eugenios), which was derived from the Greek word εὐγενής (eugenes) meaning "well born". It is composed of the elements εὖ (eu) meaning "good" and γενής (genes) meaning "born". This was the name of several saints and four popes.

This name was not particularly common in Western Europe during the Middle Ages. It became more popular in part due to the fame of Prince Eugene of Savoy (1663-1736), a French-born general who served the Austrian Empire. A notable bearer was the American playwright Eugene O'Neill (1888-1953).

Denzil
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: DEHN-zil
Personal remark: Different without being too obscure.
From a surname that originally denoted a person from the manor of Denzell in Cornwall. This given name was borne by several members of the noble Holles family starting in the 16th century, notably the statesman Denzil Holles (1599-1680). They were named for John Denzel, an ancestor whose home was Denzell.
Dennis
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, German, Dutch
Pronounced: DEHN-is(English) DEH-nis(German, Dutch)
Personal remark: A strong manly name.
Usual English, German and Dutch form of Denis.
Clive
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: KLIEV
Personal remark: Another not too common yet not too way out name.
From an English surname derived from Old English clif meaning "cliff", originally belonging to a person who lived near a cliff.
Brendan
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Irish, English, Breton
Pronounced: BREHN-dən(English) BREHN-dahn(Breton)
Personal remark: Nice name
From Brendanus, the Latinized form of the Old Irish name Bréanainn, which was derived from Old Welsh breenhin meaning "king, prince". Saint Brendan was a 6th-century Irish abbot who, according to legend, crossed the Atlantic and reached North America with 17 other monks.
Agnetha
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Swedish
Pronounced: ang-NEH-ta
Personal remark: The name I have been using since 1981.
Swedish variant of Agnes.
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