BiCHO's Personal Name List
Zoya
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian, Bulgarian
Other Scripts: Зоя(Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian, Bulgarian)
Pronounced: ZO-yə(Russian)
Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian and Bulgarian form of
Zoe.
Zack
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: ZAK
Zachary
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, Biblical
Pronounced: ZAK-ə-ree(English)
Usual English form of
Zacharias, used in some English versions of the
New Testament. This form has been in use since the Middle Ages, though it did not become common until after the
Protestant Reformation. It was borne by American military commander and president Zachary Taylor (1784-1850).
Zacharias
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Biblical, Biblical Greek [1], Greek
Other Scripts: Ζαχαρίας(Greek)
Pronounced: zak-ə-RIE-əs(English) za-kha-REE-as(Late Greek)
Greek form of
Zechariah. This form of the name is used in most English translations of the
New Testament to refer to the father of
John the Baptist. It was also borne by an 8th-century pope (called
Zachary in English).
Yuri 1
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian
Other Scripts: Юрий(Russian) Юрій(Ukrainian) Юрый(Belarusian)
Pronounced: YOO-ryee(Russian)
Alternate transcription of Russian
Юрий, Ukrainian
Юрій or Belarusian
Юрый (see
Yuriy).
Yuri 2
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 百合, etc.(Japanese Kanji) ゆり(Japanese Hiragana)
Pronounced: YOO-REE
From Japanese
百合 (yuri) meaning "lily". Other kanji or combinations of kanji can also form this name.
Yoshi
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 吉, 義, 良, etc.(Japanese Kanji) よし(Japanese Hiragana)
Pronounced: YO-SHEE
From Japanese
吉 (yoshi) meaning "good luck",
義 (yoshi) meaning "righteous", or
良 (yoshi) meaning "good, virtuous, respectable", as well as other kanji with the same reading.
Vulcan
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Roman Mythology (Anglicized)
Pronounced: VUL-kən(English)
From the Latin
Vulcanus, possibly related to
fulgere meaning
"to flash", but more likely of pre-Latin origin. In Roman
mythology Vulcan was the god of fire. He was later equated with the Greek god
Hephaestus.
Vittorio
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Italian
Pronounced: veet-TAW-ryo
Violette
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French
Pronounced: VYAW-LEHT
Violet
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: VIE-lit, VIE-ə-lit
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.
Viola
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Italian, Swedish, Danish, Finnish, German, Hungarian, Czech, Slovak
Pronounced: vie-O-lə(English) vi-O-lə(English) VIE-ə-lə(English) VYAW-la(Italian) vi-OO-la(Swedish) VEE-o-la(German) vee-O-la(German) VEE-o-law(Hungarian) VI-o-la(Czech) VEE-aw-la(Slovak)
Means
"violet" in Latin. This is the name of the heroine of William Shakespeare's comedy
Twelfth Night (1602). In the play she is the survivor of a shipwreck who disguises herself as a man named Cesario. Working as a messenger for Duke
Orsino, she attempts to convince
Olivia to marry him. Instead Viola falls in love with the duke.
Vincent
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, French, Dutch, Danish, Swedish, Slovak
Pronounced: VIN-sənt(English, Dutch) VEHN-SAHN(French) VIN-sent(Dutch) VEEN-tsent(Slovak)
From the Roman name
Vincentius, which was derived from Latin
vincere meaning
"to conquer". This name was popular among early Christians, and it was borne by many
saints. As an English name,
Vincent has been in use since the Middle Ages, though it did not become common until the 19th century. Famous bearers include the French priest Saint Vincent de Paul (1581-1660) and the Dutch post-impressionist painter Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890).
Vesta
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Roman Mythology
Pronounced: WEHS-ta(Latin) VEHS-tə(English)
Probably a Roman
cognate of
Hestia. Vesta was the Roman goddess of the hearth. A continuous fire, tended by the Vestal Virgins, was burned in the Temple of Vesta in Rome.
Vérène
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French (Rare)
Vance
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: VANS
From an English surname that was derived from Old English fenn meaning "marsh, fen".
Valora
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Esperanto
Pronounced: va-LO-ra
Means "valuable" in Esperanto.
Valeriana
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Spanish, Ancient Roman
Pronounced: ba-leh-RYA-na(Spanish)
Feminine form of
Valerianus (see
Valerian).
Valerian
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Russian, Georgian, Romanian, History
Other Scripts: Валериан(Russian) ვალერიან(Georgian)
Pronounced: və-LIR-ee-ən(English)
From the Roman
cognomen Valerianus, which was itself derived from the Roman name
Valerius. This was the name of a 3rd-century Roman emperor (Publius Licinius Valerianus) who was captured by the Persians. Several
saints have also borne this name, including a 2nd-century martyr of Lyons.
Valentino
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Italian
Pronounced: va-lehn-TEE-no
Usagi
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Popular Culture
Pronounced: OO-SA-GYEE(Japanese)
Means "rabbit" in Japanese. This name was used on the Japanese television show Sailor Moon, which first aired in the 1990s.
Umeko
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 梅子, etc.(Japanese Kanji) うめこ(Japanese Hiragana)
Pronounced: OO-MEH-KO
From Japanese
梅 (ume) meaning "apricot, plum" (referring to the species Prunus mume) and
子 (ko) meaning "child". Other kanji combinations are possible.
Tristan
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, French, Arthurian Cycle
Pronounced: TRIS-tən(English) TREES-TAHN(French)
Probably from the Celtic name
Drustan, a
diminutive of
Drust, which occurs as
Drystan in a few Welsh sources. As
Tristan, it first appears in 12th-century French tales, probably altered by association with Old French
triste "sad". According to the tales Tristan was sent to Ireland by his uncle King Mark of Cornwall in order to fetch
Iseult, who was to be the king's bride. On the way back, Tristan and Iseult accidentally drink a potion that makes them fall in love. Later versions of the tale make Tristan one of King
Arthur's knights. His tragic story was very popular in the Middle Ages, and the name has occasionally been used since then.
Titania
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Literature
Pronounced: tie-TAY-nee-ə(American English) ti-TAH-nee-ə(British English)
Perhaps based on Latin
Titanius meaning
"of the Titans". This name was (first?) used by William Shakespeare in his comedy
A Midsummer Night's Dream (1595) where it belongs to the queen of the fairies, the wife of
Oberon. This is also a moon of Uranus, named after the Shakespearean character.
Teddy
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: TEHD-ee
Teague
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Irish
Pronounced: TAYG(English) TEEG(English)
Anglicized form of
Tadhg. This name is also used as a slang term for an Irish Catholic.
Taylor
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: TAY-lər(American English) TAY-lə(British English)
From an English surname that originally denoted someone who was a tailor, from Norman French
tailleur, ultimately from Latin
taliare "to cut".
Its modern use as a feminine name may have been influenced by the British-American author Taylor Caldwell (1900-1985). Since 1990 it has been more popular for girls in the United States. Other England-speaking regions have followed suit, with the exception of England and Wales where it is still slightly more popular for boys. Its popularity peaked in America the mid-1990s for both genders, ranked sixth for girls and 51st for boys. A famous bearer is the American musician Taylor Swift (1989-).
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)
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.
Tamiko
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 多美子, etc.(Japanese Kanji) たみこ(Japanese Hiragana)
Pronounced: TA-MEE-KO
From Japanese
多 (ta) meaning "many",
美 (mi) meaning "beautiful" and
子 (ko) meaning "child". Other kanji combinations are also possible.
Talon
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: TAL-ən
From the English word meaning "talon, claw", ultimately derived (via Norman French) from Latin talus "anklebone".
Svea
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Swedish
Pronounced: SVEH-ah
From a personification of the country of Sweden, in use since the 17th century. It is a derivative of Svear, the Swedish name for the North Germanic tribe the Swedes. The Swedish name of the country of Sweden is Sverige, a newer form of Svear rike meaning "the realm of the Svear".
Suoma
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Finnish
Pronounced: SOO-mah
Derived from Finnish Suomi meaning "Finland".
Stuart
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, Scottish
Pronounced: STOO-ərt(American English) STYOO-ərt(American English) STOO-ət(British English) STYOO-ət(British English)
From a Scottish occupational surname originally belonging to a person who was a steward. It is ultimately derived from Old English stig "house" and weard "guard". As a given name, it arose in 19th-century Scotland in honour of the Stuart royal family, which produced several kings and queens of Scotland and Britain between the 14th and 18th centuries.
Steven
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, Dutch
Pronounced: STEE-vən(English) STEH-vən(Dutch)
Medieval English variant of
Stephen, and a Dutch variant of
Stefan. The filmmaker Steven Spielberg (1946-), director of
E.T. and
Indiana Jones, is a famous bearer of this name.
Sonny
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: SUN-ee
From a nickname that is commonly used to denote a young boy, derived from the English word son.
Sonal
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Hindi, Marathi, Gujarati
Other Scripts: सोनल(Hindi, Marathi) સોનલ(Gujarati)
From Hindi
सोना (sonā), Marathi
सोन (son) or Gujarati
સોનું (sonum) meaning
"gold", all derived from Sanskrit
सुवर्ण (suvarṇa) meaning literally "good colour".
Solène
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French
Pronounced: SAW-LEHN
Soledad
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Spanish
Pronounced: so-leh-DHADH
Means
"solitude" in Spanish. It is taken from the title of the Virgin
Mary,
María de la Soledad, meaning "Mary of Solitude".
Solange
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French, Portuguese
Pronounced: SAW-LAHNZH(French)
French form of the Late Latin name
Sollemnia, which was derived from Latin
sollemnis "religious". This was the name of a French shepherdess who became a
saint after she was killed by her master.
Skyler
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: SKIE-lər(American English) SKIE-lə(British English)
Variant of
Schuyler, based on the pronunciation of the surname but respelled as if it was a blend of the English word
sky with names such as
Tyler. It was rare before 1980, and first gained popularity as a name for boys. It is now more common for girls, though it is more evenly unisex than the mostly feminine variant
Skylar.
Simonetta
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian
Pronounced: see-mo-NEHT-ta
Silvio
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Italian, Spanish
Pronounced: SEEL-vyo(Italian) SEEL-byo(Spanish)
Italian and Spanish form of
Silvius.
Silvano
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Italian
Pronounced: seel-VA-no
Siena
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: see-EHN-ə
Variant of
Sienna, with the spelling perhaps influenced by that of the Italian city.
Siân
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Welsh
Pronounced: SHAN
Shou
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 翔, 奨, 祥, etc.(Japanese Kanji) しょう(Japanese Hiragana)
Pronounced: SHO
Alternate transcription of Japanese Kanji
翔 or
奨 or
祥 (see
Shō).
Shona
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Scottish
Anglicized form of
Seonag or
Seònaid. Though unconnected, this is also the name of an ethnic group who live in the south of Africa, mainly Zimbabwe.
Shelby
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: SHEHL-bee
From an English surname, which was possibly a variant of
Selby. Though previously in use as a rare masculine name, it was popularized as a feminine name by the main character in the movie
The Woman in Red (1935). It was later reinforced by the movie
Steel Magnolias (1989) in which Julia Roberts played a character by this name.
Serenity
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: sə-REHN-ə-tee
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)
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-).
Selena
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Spanish, English, Greek Mythology (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Σελήνη(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: seh-LEH-na(Spanish) sə-LEEN-ə(English)
Latinized form of
Selene. This name was borne by popular Mexican-American singer Selena Quintanilla (1971-1995), who was known simply as Selena. Another famous bearer is the American actress and singer Selena Gomez (1992-).
Sébastienne
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French
Pronounced: SEH-BAS-TYEHN
French feminine form of
Sebastianus (see
Sebastian).
Schuyler
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: SKIE-lər(American English) SKIE-lə(British English)
From a Dutch surname meaning
"scholar". Dutch settlers brought the surname to America, where it was subsequently adopted as a given name in honour of the American general and senator Philip Schuyler (1733-1804)
[1].
Scarlett
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: SKAHR-lit(American English) SKAH-lit(British English)
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.
Samuela 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian
Pronounced: sa-MWEH-la
Italian feminine form of
Samuel.
Samson
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Biblical, English, French, Biblical Latin
Other Scripts: שִׁמְשׁוֹן(Ancient Hebrew)
Pronounced: SAM-sən(English) SAHN-SAWN(French)
From the Hebrew name
שִׁמְשׁוֹן (Shimshon), derived from
שֶׁמֶשׁ (shemesh) meaning "sun". Samson was an
Old Testament hero granted exceptional strength by God. His mistress
Delilah betrayed him and cut his hair, stripping him of his power. Thus he was captured by the Philistines, blinded, and brought to their temple. However, in a final act of strength, he pulled down the pillars of the temple upon himself and his captors.
This name was known among the Normans due to the Welsh bishop Saint Samson, who founded monasteries in Brittany and Normandy in the 6th century. In his case, the name may have been a translation of his true Celtic name. As an English name, Samson was common during the Middle Ages, having been introduced by the Normans. It is currently most common in Africa, especially in countries that have an British colonial past.
Saffron
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: SAF-rən
From the English word that refers either to a spice, the crocus flower from which it is harvested, or the yellow-orange colour of the spice. It is derived via Old French from Arabic
زعفران (zaʿfarān), itself probably from Persian meaning "gold leaves".
Rusty
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: RUS-tee
From a nickname that was originally given to someone with a rusty, or reddish-brown, hair colour.
Rui
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Portuguese
Ruby
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: ROO-bee
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].
Roxanne
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, French
Pronounced: rahk-SAN(American English) rawk-SAN(British English) RAWK-SAN(French)
Roxanna
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: rahk-SAN-ə(American English) rawk-SAN-ə(British English)
Roxana
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Spanish, Romanian, Ancient Greek (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Ῥωξάνη(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: rahk-SAN-ə(American English) rawk-SAN-ə(British English) rok-SA-na(Spanish)
Latin form of
Ῥωξάνη (Rhoxane), the Greek form of an Old Persian or Bactrian name, from Old Iranian *
rauxšnā meaning
"bright, shining" [1]. This was the name of Alexander the Great's first wife, a daughter of the Bactrian nobleman Oxyartes. In the modern era it came into use during the 17th century. In the English-speaking world it was popularized by Daniel Defoe, who used it in his novel
Roxana (1724).
Rossella
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian
Pronounced: ros-SEHL-la
Rosette
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French
Pronounced: RO-ZEHT
Rosetta
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian
Pronounced: ro-ZEHT-ta
Rosella
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian
Rosario
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: Spanish, Italian
Pronounced: ro-SA-ryo(Spanish) ro-ZA-ryo(Italian)
Means
"rosary", and is taken from the Spanish title of the Virgin
Mary Nuestra Señora del Rosario meaning "Our Lady of the Rosary". This name is feminine in Spanish and masculine in Italian.
Rosaria
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian
Pronounced: ro-ZA-rya
Rosalia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, Late Roman
Pronounced: ro-za-LEE-a(Italian)
Late Latin name derived from
rosa "rose". This was the name of a 12th-century Sicilian
saint.
Rosalba
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian
Italian name meaning
"white rose", derived from Latin
rosa "rose" and
alba "white". A famous bearer was the Venetian painter Rosalba Carriera (1675-1757).
Romola
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian (Rare)
Pronounced: RAW-mo-la
Romeo
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Italian, Romanian
Pronounced: ro-MEH-o(Italian) RO-mee-o(English)
Italian form of the Late Latin
Romaeus or Late Greek
Ρωμαῖος (Romaios), which meant
"from Rome" or
"Roman". Romeo is best known as the lover of
Juliet in William Shakespeare's tragedy
Romeo and Juliet (1596). Shakespeare based his play on earlier Italian stories by Luigi Da Porto (1524) and Matteo Bandello (1554), which both featured characters named Giulietta and Romeo.
Rio 2
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 莉央, 莉緒, 里桜, etc.(Japanese Kanji) りお(Japanese Hiragana)
Pronounced: REE-O
From Japanese
莉 (ri) meaning "white jasmine" or
里 (ri) meaning "village" combined with
央 (o) meaning "center",
緒 (o) meaning "thread" or
桜 (o) meaning "cherry blossom". Other kanji combinations are also possible.
Riccardo
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Italian
Pronounced: reek-KAR-do
Rhea
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology, Roman Mythology
Other Scripts: Ῥέα(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: REH-A(Classical Greek) REE-ə(English) REH-a(Latin)
Rex
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: REHKS
From Latin rex meaning "king". It has been used as a given name since the 19th century.
Renate
Gender: Feminine
Usage: German, Dutch, Norwegian
Pronounced: reh-NA-tə(German) rə-NA-tə(Dutch)
German, Dutch and Norwegian feminine form of
Renatus.
Renata
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, German, Polish, Czech, Lithuanian, Croatian, Slovene, Romanian, Late Roman
Pronounced: reh-NA-ta(Italian, Spanish, German, Polish) REH-na-ta(Czech)
Ren
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 蓮, 恋, etc.(Japanese Kanji) れん(Japanese Hiragana)
Pronounced: REHN
From Japanese
蓮 (ren) meaning "lotus",
恋 (ren) meaning "romantic love", or other kanji that are pronounced the same way.
Reid
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: REED
From a surname, a Scots variant of
Reed.
Regina
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Lithuanian, Estonian, Polish, Czech, Slovak, Russian, Hungarian, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Late Roman
Other Scripts: Регина(Russian)
Pronounced: ri-JEE-nə(English) ri-JIE-nə(English) reh-GEE-na(German, Polish) reh-JEE-na(Italian) reh-KHEE-na(Spanish) ryeh-gyi-NU(Lithuanian) REH-gi-na(Czech) REH-gee-naw(Hungarian)
Means
"queen" in Latin (or Italian). It was in use as a Christian name from early times, and was borne by a 2nd-century
saint. In England it was used during the Middle Ages in honour of the Virgin
Mary, and it was later revived in the 19th century. A city in Canada bears this name, in honour of Queen Victoria.
Raphael
Gender: Masculine
Usage: German, English, Biblical
Other Scripts: רָפָאֵל, רְפָאֵל(Ancient Hebrew)
Pronounced: RA-fa-ehl(German) RAF-ee-əl(English) RAF-ay-ehl(English) rah-fie-EHL(English)
From the Hebrew name
רָפָאֵל (Rafaʾel) meaning
"God heals", from the roots
רָפָא (rafa) meaning "to heal" and
אֵל (ʾel) meaning "God". In Hebrew tradition Raphael is the name of an archangel. He appears in the Book of Tobit, in which he disguises himself as a man named
Azarias and accompanies
Tobias on his journey to Media, aiding him along the way. In the end he cures Tobias's father
Tobit of his blindness. He is not mentioned in the
New Testament, though tradition identifies him with the angel troubling the water in
John 5:4.
This name has never been common in the English-speaking world, though it has been well-used elsewhere in Europe. A famous bearer was the Italian Renaissance master Raffaello Sanzio (1483-1520), usually known simply as Raphael in English.
Ramses
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Ancient Egyptian (Anglicized, Latinized)
Pronounced: RAM-seez(English) RAM-zeez(English)
Rainier
Gender: Masculine
Usage: French (Rare)
Pronounced: REH-NYEH
Rafaela
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Spanish, Portuguese
Other Scripts: Рафаела(Macedonian)
Pronounced: ra-fa-EH-la(Spanish)
Spanish and Portuguese feminine form of
Raphael.
Rafael
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Spanish, Portuguese, German, Hungarian, Romanian, Slovene, Hebrew
Other Scripts: רָפָאֵל(Hebrew) Рафаел(Macedonian)
Pronounced: ra-fa-EHL(Spanish, European Portuguese) ha-fa-EW(Brazilian Portuguese) RA-fa-ehl(German) RAW-faw-ehl(Hungarian)
Form of
Raphael in various languages. A famous bearer is the Spanish tennis player Rafael Nadal (1986-).
Quyền
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Vietnamese
Pronounced: KWEEYN, KWEEYNG, WEEYNG
From Sino-Vietnamese
權 (quyền) meaning
"power, right, authority".
Quanah
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Comanche (Anglicized)
Pronounced: KWAHN-ə(English)
From Comanche kwana meaning "fragrant, smelly". Quanah Parker (1845-1911) was a 19th-century chief of the Kwahadi Comanche.
Placida
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Late Roman, Italian (Rare)
Pronounced: PLA-chee-da(Italian)
Feminine form of
Placidus (see
Placido).
Phelix
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Biblical Greek [1]
Other Scripts: Φῆλιξ(Ancient Greek)
Pharamond
Gender: Masculine
Usage: History
Variant of
Faramund. This form was used by Shakespeare in his historical play
Henry V (1599), referring to the Frankish king.
Petronella
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Dutch, Swedish, Hungarian
Pronounced: peh-tro-NEH-la(Dutch) PEH-tro-nehl-law(Hungarian)
Petrică
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Romanian
Percy
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: PUR-see(American English) PU-see(British English)
From an English surname that was derived from the name of a Norman town
Perci, which was itself perhaps derived from a Gaulish given name that was Latinized as
Persius. The surname was borne by a noble English family, and it first used as a given name in their honour. A famous bearer was Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822), an English romantic poet whose works include
Adonais and
Ozymandias. This name can also be used as a short form of
Percival.
Pëllumb
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Albanian
Means "dove" in Albanian.
Paxton
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: PAK-stən
From an English surname that was derived from a place name meaning "Pœcc's town". Pœcc is an Old English given name of unknown meaning.
Paulette
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French, English
Pronounced: PAW-LEHT(French) paw-LEHT(English)
Paul
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, French, German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Estonian, Romanian, Biblical
Pronounced: PAWL(English, French) POWL(German, Dutch, Swedish)
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).
Pau
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Catalan, Occitan
Pronounced: POW
Catalan and Occitan form of
Paul. It also coincides with the Catalan word for
"peace".
Patton
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: PAT-ən
From an English surname that was derived from a
diminutive of
Patrick. A notable bearer of the surname was the American World War II general George S. Patton (1885-1945), who played an important part in the allied offensive in France.
Patrizia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian
Pronounced: pa-TREET-tsya
Italian feminine form of
Patricius (see
Patrick).
Patience
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: PAY-shəns
From the English word
patience, ultimately from Latin
patientia, a derivative of
pati "to suffer". This was one of the virtue names coined by the
Puritans in the 17th century. It is now most commonly used in African countries where English is widely understood, such as Nigeria and Ghana.
Pastora
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Spanish
Pronounced: pas-TO-ra
Pascaline
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French
Pronounced: PAS-KA-LEEN
Pascal
Gender: Masculine
Usage: French, German, Dutch
Pronounced: PAS-KAL(French) pas-KAL(German) pahs-KAHL(Dutch)
From the Late Latin name
Paschalis, which meant
"relating to Easter" from Latin
Pascha "Easter", which was in turn from Hebrew
פֶּסַח (pesaḥ) meaning "Passover"
[1]. Passover is the ancient Hebrew holiday celebrating the liberation from Egypt. Because it coincided closely with the later Christian holiday of Easter, the same Latin word was used for both. The name Pascal can also function as a surname, as in the case of Blaise Pascal (1623-1662), the French philosopher, mathematician and inventor.
Paolo
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Italian
Pronounced: PA-o-lo
Italian form of
Paulus (see
Paul). Paolo Uccello and Paolo Veronese were both Italian Renaissance painters.
Pål
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Swedish, Norwegian
Pronounced: PAWL(Swedish)
Swedish and Norwegian form of
Paul.
Page
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: PAYJ
From a surname that was a variant of
Paige.
Pace
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: PAYS
From an English surname that was derived from the Middle English word pace meaning "peace".
Ossian
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Literature
Variant of
Oisín used by James Macpherson in his 18th-century poems, which he claimed to have based on early Irish legends. In the poems Ossian is the son of
Fingal, and serves as the narrator.
Oriana
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, Spanish
Pronounced: o-RYA-na
Possibly derived from Latin
aurum "gold" or from its derivatives, Spanish
oro or French
or. In medieval legend Oriana was the daughter of a king of England who married the knight
Amadis.
Oleksandra
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Ukrainian
Other Scripts: Олександра(Ukrainian)
Pronounced: aw-lehk-SAN-dru
Oksana
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Ukrainian, Russian
Other Scripts: Оксана(Ukrainian, Russian)
Pronounced: uk-SA-nə(Russian)
Odo
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Germanic [1]
Variant of
Otto. This form is typically Frankish, and used when referring to historical bearers from medieval France. It was the name of a 9th-century king of the West Franks. Another notable bearer was
Saint Odo, a 10th-century abbot of Cluny.
Octavia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Spanish, Romanian, Ancient Roman
Pronounced: ahk-TAY-vee-ə(American English) awk-TAY-vee-ə(British English) ok-TA-bya(Spanish) ok-TA-wee-a(Latin)
Feminine form of
Octavius. Octavia was the wife of Mark Antony and the sister of the Roman emperor Augustus. In 19th-century England it was sometimes given to the eighth-born child.
Nuka
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: Greenlandic
From Greenlandic
nukaa meaning
"younger sibling" [1].
Noemi
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, Czech, Polish, Romanian, German, Biblical Latin
Pronounced: no-EH-mee(Italian)
Form of
Naomi 1 in several languages.
Noelani
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Hawaiian
Pronounced: no-eh-LA-nee
Means "heavenly mist" from Hawaiian noe "mist" and lani "heaven, sky, royal, majesty".
Noël
Gender: Masculine
Usage: French
Pronounced: NAW-EHL
Means "Christmas" in French. In the Middle Ages it was used for children born on the holiday. A famous bearer was the English playwright and composer Noël Coward (1899-1973).
Noel
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: NOL, NO-əl
English form of
Noël or
Noëlle (rarely). It was fairly popular in the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand in the middle of the 20th century. It is occasionally written with a diaeresis, like in French. A famous bearer is British musician Noel Gallagher (1967-).
Noak
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Biblical Swedish
Noah 1
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, German, Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, Dutch (Modern), French (Modern), Biblical
Other Scripts: נֹחַ, נוֹחַ(Ancient Hebrew)
Pronounced: NO-ə(English) NO-a(German)
From the Hebrew name
נֹחַ (Noaḥ) meaning
"rest, repose", derived from the root
נוּחַ (nuaḥ). According to the
Old Testament, Noah was the builder of the Ark that allowed him, his family, and animals of each species to survive the Great Flood. After the flood he received the sign of the rainbow as a covenant from God. He was the father of
Shem,
Ham and
Japheth.
As an English Christian name, Noah has been used since the Protestant Reformation, being common among the Puritans. In the United States it was not overly popular in the 19th and 20th centuries, but it began slowly growing in the 1970s. Starting 1994 it increased rapidly — this was when actor Noah Wyle (1971-) began starring on the television series ER. A further boost in 2004 from the main character in the movie The Notebook helped it eventually become the most popular name for boys in America between 2013 and 2016. At the same time it has also been heavily used in other English-speaking countries, as well as Germany, the Netherlands, Scandinavia and France.
A famous bearer was the American lexicographer Noah Webster (1758-1843).
Nikolai
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Russian, Bulgarian
Other Scripts: Николай(Russian, Bulgarian)
Pronounced: nyi-ku-LIE(Russian)
Niek
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Dutch
Pronounced: NEEK
Nicoline
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Dutch, Danish
Pronounced: nee-ko-LEEN(Dutch) nee-ko-LEE-nə(Dutch)
Nicolina
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian
Pronounced: nee-ko-LEE-na
Nicolette
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French
Pronounced: NEE-KAW-LEHT
Nicoletta
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian
Pronounced: nee-ko-LEHT-ta
Nicolao
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Italian (Rare)
Nguyệt
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Vietnamese
Pronounced: NGWEEYT, NGWEEYK
From Sino-Vietnamese
月 (nguyệt) meaning
"moon".
Ngaio
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Maori
Maori name that is derived from the name of a type of tree, also called the mousehole tree. This name was borne by New Zealand crime writer Dame Ngaio Marsh (1895-1982).
Nerio
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Italian
Possibly a variant of
Nereo.
Nerina
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian
Probably from Greek
Νηρηΐδες (see
Nereida). This name was used by Torquato Tasso for a character in his play
Aminta (1573), and subsequently by Giacomo Leopardi in his poem
Le Ricordanze (1829).
Nekoda
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Biblical, Biblical Greek, Biblical Hebrew [1]
Other Scripts: נְקוֹדָא(Ancient Hebrew) Νεκωδά(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: nə-KO-də(English) NEH-ko-də(English)
Means
"marked" in Hebrew. In the
Old Testament this is the name of the head of a family of temple servants.
Nālani
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: Hawaiian
Pronounced: na-LA-nee
Means "the heavens" or "the chiefs" from Hawaiian nā, a definite article, and lani "heaven, sky, chief".
Naira
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Aymara
From Aymara nayra meaning "eye" or "early".
Moses
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, Jewish, Biblical, Biblical Latin
Other Scripts: מֹשֶׁה(Hebrew)
Pronounced: MOZ-is(English)
From the Hebrew name
מֹשֶׁה (Moshe), which is most likely derived from Egyptian
mes meaning
"son". The meaning suggested in the
Old Testament of
"drew out" from Hebrew
מָשָׁה (masha) is probably an invented etymology (see
Exodus 2:10).
The biblical Moses was drawn out of the Nile by the pharaoh's daughter and adopted into the royal family, at a time when the Israelites were slaves in Egypt. With his brother Aaron he demanded the pharaoh release the Israelites, which was only done after God sent ten plagues upon Egypt. Moses led the people across the Red Sea and to Mount Sinai, where he received the Ten Commandments from God. After 40 years of wandering in the desert the people reached Canaan, the Promised Land, but Moses died just before entering it.
In England, this name has been commonly used by Christians since the Protestant Reformation, though it had long been popular among Jews.
Moema
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Portuguese (Brazilian, Rare)
Means "lies" in Tupí. This name appears in the poem Caramuru (1781) by the Brazilian poet Santa Rita Durão.
Mitxel
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Basque
Mirella
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian
Pronounced: mee-REHL-la
Minako
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 美奈子, etc.(Japanese Kanji) みなこ(Japanese Hiragana)
Pronounced: MEE-NA-KO
From Japanese
美 (mi) meaning "beautiful",
奈 (na), a phonetic character, and
子 (ko) meaning "child". Other kanji combinations are possible.
Michelina
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian
Pronounced: mee-keh-LEE-na
Michelangelo
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Italian
Pronounced: mee-keh-LAN-jeh-lo(Italian) mie-kə-LAN-jə-lo(English)
Combination of
Michael and
Angelo, referring to the archangel Michael. The Renaissance painter and sculptor Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475-1564), from Florence, was the man who created such great works of art as the statue of
David and the mural on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. This name was also borne by the Baroque artist Michelangelo Merisi (1571-1610), better known as Caravaggio.
Michelangela
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian (Rare)
Pronounced: mee-keh-LAN-jeh-la
Michela
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian
Pronounced: mee-KEH-la
Michaela
Gender: Feminine
Usage: German, Swedish, English, Czech, Slovak, Greek, Hebrew
Other Scripts: Μιχαέλα(Greek) מִיכָאֵלָה(Hebrew)
Pronounced: mi-kha-EH-la(German) mi-KAY-lə(English) MI-kha-eh-la(Czech) MEE-kha-eh-la(Slovak)
Michaël
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Dutch, French
Pronounced: MEE-KA-EHL(French)
Micaela
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Spanish, Portuguese, Italian
Pronounced: mee-ka-EH-la(Spanish) mee-ku-EH-lu(European Portuguese) mee-ka-EH-lu(Brazilian Portuguese)
Mele
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Hawaiian, Tongan, Samoan
Pronounced: MEH-leh(Hawaiian)
Means
"song" in Hawaiian. This is also the Hawaiian, Tongan and Samoan form of
Mary.
Meint
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Dutch
Pronounced: MAYNT
Meical
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Welsh
Mayme
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Possibly a variant of
Mamie.
Maxwell
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: MAKS-wehl
From a Scottish surname meaning
"Mack's stream", from the name
Mack, a short form of the Scandinavian name
Magnus, combined with Old English
wille "well, stream". A famous bearer of the surname was James Maxwell (1831-1879), a Scottish physicist who studied gases and electromagnetism.
As a given name it has increased in popularity starting from the 1980s, likely because it is viewed as a full form of Max [1].
Maximilian
Gender: Masculine
Usage: German, English, Swedish, Norwegian (Rare), Danish (Rare)
Pronounced: mak-see-MEE-lee-an(German) mak-sə-MIL-yən(English)
From the Roman name
Maximilianus, which was derived from
Maximus. It was borne by a 3rd-century
saint and martyr. In the 15th century the Holy Roman emperor Frederick III gave this name to his son and eventual heir. In this case it was a blend of the names of the Roman generals Fabius Maximus and Cornelius Scipio Aemilianus (see
Emiliano), whom Frederick admired. It was subsequently borne by a second Holy Roman emperor, two kings of Bavaria, and a short-lived Habsburg emperor of Mexico.
Matfey
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Russian (Rare)
Other Scripts: Матфей(Russian)
Pronounced: mut-FYAY
Maryana
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Ukrainian, Russian
Other Scripts: Мар'яна(Ukrainian) Марьяна(Russian)
Ukrainian form of
Marianna, and a Russian variant.
Mark
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, Russian, Belarusian, Dutch, Danish, Armenian, Biblical
Other Scripts: Марк(Russian, Belarusian) Մարկ(Armenian)
Pronounced: MAHRK(American English, Dutch, Eastern Armenian) MAHK(British English) MARK(Russian) MAHRG(Western Armenian)
Form of Latin
Marcus used in several languages.
Saint Mark was the author of the second gospel in the
New Testament. Though the author's identity is not certain, some traditions hold him to be the same person as the John Mark who appears in the Book of Acts. He is the patron saint of Venice, where he is supposedly buried. Though in use during the Middle Ages,
Mark was not common in the English-speaking world until the 19th century, when it began to be used alongside the classical form
Marcus.
In the medieval legend of Tristan and Iseult this was the name of a king of Cornwall. It was also borne by the American author Mark Twain (1835-1910), real name Samuel Clemens, the author of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. He took his pen name from a call used by riverboat workers on the Mississippi River to indicate a depth of two fathoms. This is also the usual English spelling of the name of the 1st-century BC Roman triumvir Marcus Antonius (Mark Antony).
Marisol
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Spanish
Pronounced: ma-ree-SOL
Short form of
María Soledad. It is sometimes considered a combination of
María and
Sol 1, or from Spanish
mar y sol "sea and sun".
Marina
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Catalan, German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Dutch, English, Greek, Finnish, Estonian, Russian, Romanian, Czech, Bulgarian, Croatian, Serbian, Slovene, Macedonian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Georgian, Ancient Roman
Other Scripts: Μαρίνα(Greek) Марина(Russian, Bulgarian, Serbian, Macedonian) მარინა(Georgian)
Pronounced: ma-REE-na(Italian, Spanish, German, Dutch, Macedonian) mə-REE-nə(Catalan) mə-REEN-ə(English) mu-RYEE-nə(Russian) MA-ri-na(Czech)
Feminine form of
Marinus. This name was borne by a few early
saints. This is also the name by which Saint
Margaret of Antioch is known in the Eastern Orthodox Church.
Mariko
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 真里子, etc.(Japanese Kanji) まりこ(Japanese Hiragana)
Pronounced: MA-REE-KO
From Japanese
真 (ma) meaning "real, genuine",
里 (ri) meaning "village" and
子 (ko) meaning "child". Many different combinations of kanji characters can form this name.
Marianna
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, Hungarian, Slovak, Polish, Finnish, Estonian, Latvian, Russian, Greek, English
Other Scripts: Марианна(Russian) Μαριάννα(Greek)
Pronounced: ma-ree-AN-na(Italian) MAW-ree-awn-naw(Hungarian) MA-ree-a-na(Slovak) ma-RYAN-na(Polish) MAH-ree-ahn-nah(Finnish) mahr-ee-AHN-ə(English) mar-ee-AN-ə(English)
Combination of
Maria and
Anna. It can also be regarded as a variant of the Roman name
Mariana, or as a Latinized form of
Mariamne.
Mariangela
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian
Pronounced: ma-ree-AN-jeh-la, ma-RYAN-jeh-la
Marfa
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Russian
Other Scripts: Марфа(Russian)
Pronounced: MAR-fə
Traditional Russian form of
Martha.
Marcella
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, German, Ancient Roman
Pronounced: mar-CHEHL-la(Italian) mar-KEHL-la(Latin)
Manya
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Russian
Other Scripts: Маня(Russian)
Pronounced: MA-nyə
Mami
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 真美, 麻美, etc.(Japanese Kanji) まみ(Japanese Hiragana)
Pronounced: MA-MEE
From Japanese
真 (ma) meaning "real, genuine" or
麻 (ma) meaning "flax" combined with
美 (mi) meaning "beautiful". Other combinations of kanji can form this name as well.
Malcolm
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Scottish, English
Pronounced: MAL-kəm(English)
Anglicized form of Scottish Gaelic
Máel Coluim, which means
"disciple of Saint Columba". This was the name of four kings of Scotland starting in the 10th century, including Malcolm III, who became king after killing
Macbeth, the usurper who had defeated his father
Duncan. The character Malcolm in Shakespeare's tragedy
Macbeth (1606) is loosely based on him. Another famous bearer was Malcolm X (1925-1965), an American civil rights leader.
Maksimilian
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Russian (Rare)
Other Scripts: Максимилиан, Максимильян(Russian)
Makar
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian
Other Scripts: Макар(Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian)
Pronounced: mu-KAR(Russian)
Russian, Ukrainian and Belarusian form of
Makarios (see
Macario).
Mafalda
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Portuguese, Italian, Spanish
Pronounced: mu-FAL-du(European Portuguese) ma-FOW-du(Brazilian Portuguese) ma-FAL-da(Italian, Spanish)
Originally a medieval Portuguese form of
Matilda. This name was borne by the wife of Afonso, the first king of Portugal. In modern times it was the name of the titular character in a popular Argentine comic strip (published from 1964 to 1973) by Quino.
Madog
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Welsh (Rare)
Maddox
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: MAD-əks
From a Welsh surname meaning
"son of Madoc". It was brought to public attention when the actress Angelina Jolie gave this name to her adopted son in 2002.
Macario
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Spanish
Pronounced: ma-KA-ryo
Spanish form of the Latin name
Macarius, derived from the Greek name
Μακάριος (Makarios), which was in turn derived from Greek
μάκαρ (makar) meaning
"blessed, happy". This was the name of several early
saints.
Maayan
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: Hebrew
Other Scripts: מַעֲיָן(Hebrew)
Means "spring of water" in Hebrew.
Lyubov
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Russian, Ukrainian
Other Scripts: Любовь(Russian) Любов(Ukrainian)
Pronounced: lyuw-BOF(Russian)
Derived from the Slavic element
ľuby meaning
"love".
Lyubochka
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Russian, Ukrainian
Other Scripts: Любочка(Russian, Ukrainian)
Lyuba
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Russian, Ukrainian, Bulgarian
Other Scripts: Люба(Russian, Ukrainian, Bulgarian)
Pronounced: LYOO-bə(Russian)
Luna
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Roman Mythology, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, English
Pronounced: LOO-na(Latin, Spanish, Italian) LOO-nə(English)
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.
Lumi
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Finnish
Pronounced: LOO-mee
Means "snow" in Finnish.
Luka
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Croatian, Serbian, Slovene, Macedonian, Russian, Georgian, Old Church Slavic
Other Scripts: Лука(Serbian, Macedonian, Russian) ლუკა(Georgian) Лꙋка(Church Slavic)
Pronounced: LOO-ka(Croatian) LOO-KAH(Georgian)
Form of
Lucas (see
Luke) in several languages.
Luisella
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian
Pronounced: lwee-ZEHL-la
Ludwig
Gender: Masculine
Usage: German
Pronounced: LOOT-vikh
From the Germanic name
Hludwig meaning
"famous in battle", composed of the elements
hlut "famous, loud" and
wig "war, battle". This was the name of three Merovingian kings of the Franks (though their names are usually spelled as
Clovis) as well as several Carolingian kings and Holy Roman emperors (names often spelled in the French form
Louis). Other famous bearers include the German composer Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) and the Austrian philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889-1951), who contributed to logic and the philosophy of language.
Ludovico
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Italian
Pronounced: loo-do-VEE-ko
Lucrezia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian
Pronounced: loo-KREHT-tsya
Lucretia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Ancient Roman, Roman Mythology
Pronounced: loo-KREH-tee-a(Latin) loo-KREE-shə(English)
Feminine form of the Roman family name
Lucretius, possibly from Latin
lucrum meaning
"profit, wealth". According Roman legend Lucretia was a maiden who was raped by the son of the king of Rome. This caused a great uproar among the Roman citizens, and the monarchy was overthrown. This name was also borne by a 4th-century
saint and martyr from Mérida, Spain.
Lucille
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French, English
Pronounced: LUY-SEEL(French) loo-SEEL(English)
French form of
Lucilla. A famous bearer was American comedienne Lucille Ball (1911-1989).
Lucilla
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, Ancient Roman
Lucien
Gender: Masculine
Usage: French
Pronounced: LUY-SYEHN
Lucian
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Romanian, English
Pronounced: LOO-chyan(Romanian) LOO-shən(English)
Romanian and English form of
Lucianus. Lucian is the usual name of Lucianus of Samosata in English.
Luca 1
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Italian, Romanian
Pronounced: LOO-ka
Italian and Romanian form of
Lucas (see
Luke). This name was borne by Luca della Robbia, a Renaissance sculptor from Florence.
Luba
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Russian, Ukrainian
Other Scripts: Люба(Russian, Ukrainian)
Pronounced: LYOO-bə(Russian)
Alternate transcription of Russian/Ukrainian
Люба (see
Lyuba).
Luana
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Italian, Portuguese
Pronounced: loo-AN-ə(English) LWA-na(Italian)
From the movie
Bird of Paradise (1932), in which it was borne by the main character, a Polynesian girl
[1]. The movie was based on a 1912 play of the same name set in Hawaii.
Lorita
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian (Rare)
Loretta
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Italian
Pronounced: lə-REHT-ə(English) lo-REHT-ta(Italian)
Perhaps a variant of
Lauretta or
Loreto. A famous bearer was the American actress Loretta Young (1913-2000), whose birth name was Gretchen.
Loreta
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian
Pronounced: lo-REH-ta
Lorenza
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, Spanish
Pronounced: lo-REHN-tsa(Italian) lo-REHN-tha(European Spanish) lo-REHN-sa(Latin American Spanish)
Italian and Spanish feminine form of
Laurentius (see
Laurence 1).
Lorena 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian
Pronounced: lo-REH-na(Spanish, Italian)
Spanish, Italian, Portuguese and Romanian form of
Lorraine.
Lorelle
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Lorelei
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Literature, English
Pronounced: LAWR-ə-lie(English)
From German
Loreley, the name of a rock headland on the Rhine River. It is of uncertain meaning, though the second element is probably old German
ley meaning "rock" (of Celtic origin). German romantic poets and songwriters, beginning with Clemens Brentano in 1801, tell that a maiden named the Lorelei lives on the rock and lures boaters to their death with her song.
In the English-speaking world this name has been occasionally given since the early 20th century. It started rising in America after the variant Lorelai was used for the main character (and her daughter, nicknamed Rory) on the television series Gilmore Girls (2000-2007).
Loredana
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, Romanian
Used by the French author George Sand for a character in her novel Mattea (1833) and later by the Italian author Luciano Zuccoli in his novel L'amore de Loredana (1908). It was possibly based on the Venetian surname Loredan, which was derived from the place name Loreo.
Lolita
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Spanish
Pronounced: lo-LEE-ta
Diminutive of
Lola. This is the name of a 1955 novel by Vladimir Nabokov.
Lola
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Spanish, English, French
Pronounced: LO-la(Spanish) LO-lə(English) LAW-LA(French)
Spanish
diminutive of
Dolores. A famous bearer was Lola Montez (1821-1861; birth name Eliza Gilbert), an Irish-born dancer, actress and courtesan.
Liouba
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Russian
Other Scripts: Люба(Russian)
Alternate transcription of Russian
Люба (see
Lyuba).
Lilac
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: LIE-lək
From the English word for the shrub with purple or white flowers (genus Syringa). It is derived via Arabic from Persian.
Liesel
Gender: Feminine
Usage: German
Pronounced: LEE-zəl
Liên
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Vietnamese
Pronounced: LEEYN, LEEYNG
From Sino-Vietnamese
蓮 (liên) meaning
"lotus, water lily".
Lidochka
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Russian
Other Scripts: Лидочка(Russian)
Letizia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian
Pronounced: leh-TEET-tsya
Italian form of
Letitia. It was borne by Napoleon Bonaparte's mother.
Lestat
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Literature
Pronounced: lə-STAT(English)
Name used by author Anne Rice for a character in her Vampire Chronicles series of novels, first released in 1976, where it belongs to the French vampire Lestat de Lioncourt. Rice possibly intended the name to appear derived from Old French or Occitan l'estat "state, status", though apparently her husband's name Stan was inspiration.
Leopold
Gender: Masculine
Usage: German, Dutch, English, Czech, Slovak, Slovene, Polish
Pronounced: LEH-o-pawlt(German, Dutch) LEE-ə-pold(English) LEH-o-polt(Czech) LEH-aw-pawld(Slovak) leh-AW-pawlt(Polish)
Derived from the Old German elements
liut "people" and
bald "bold, brave". The spelling was altered due to association with Latin
leo "lion". This name was common among German royalty, first with the Babenbergs and then the Habsburgs.
Saint Leopold was a 12th-century Babenberg margrave of Austria, who is now considered the patron of that country. It was also borne by two Habsburg Holy Roman emperors, as well as three kings of Belgium. Since the 19th century this name has been occasionally used in England, originally in honour of Queen Victoria's uncle, a king of Belgium, after whom she named one of her sons. It was later used by James Joyce for the main character, Leopold Bloom, in his novel
Ulysses (1922).
Leontina
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Late Roman, Portuguese, Romanian
Leonti
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Russian
Other Scripts: Леонтий(Russian)
Pronounced: lyi-ON-tyee
Léonie
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French
Pronounced: LEH-AW-NEE
Leonidas
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Greek, Ancient Greek [1]
Other Scripts: Λεωνίδας(Greek)
Derived from Greek
λέων (leon) meaning "lion" combined with the patronymic suffix
ἴδης (ides). Leonidas was a Spartan king of the 5th century BC who sacrificed his life and his army defending the pass of Thermopylae from the Persians. This was also the name of a 3rd-century
saint and martyr, the father of Origen, from Alexandria.
Leonid
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Russian, Ukrainian
Other Scripts: Леонид(Russian) Леонід(Ukrainian)
Pronounced: lyi-u-NYEET(Russian)
Leonia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Late Roman
Lelia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian
Pronounced: LEH-lya
Leilani
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: Hawaiian
Pronounced: lay-LA-nee
Means "heavenly flowers" or "royal child" from Hawaiian lei "flowers, lei, child" and lani "heaven, sky, royal, majesty".
Léa
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French
Pronounced: LEH-A
Lea
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Hebrew, German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Estonian, Slovene, Croatian, Czech, Slovak, Hungarian, Italian, Biblical Hebrew [1]
Other Scripts: לֵאָה(Hebrew)
Pronounced: LEH-a(German) LEH-ah(Finnish) LEH-aw(Hungarian)
Form of
Leah used in several languages.
Lazar
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Russian, Bulgarian, Serbian, Croatian, Macedonian
Other Scripts: Лазарь(Russian) Лазар(Bulgarian, Serbian, Macedonian)
Pronounced: LA-zər(Russian) LA-zar(Serbian, Croatian)
Russian, Bulgarian, Serbian, Croatian and Macedonian form of
Lazarus. This name was borne by a 14th-century Serbian ruler who was killed at the Battle of Kosovo.
Lawan
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Thai
Other Scripts: ลาวัณย์, ลาวัลย์(Thai)
Pronounced: la-WAN
Means
"beauty" in Thai, ultimately from Sanskrit
लावण्य (lāvaṇya).
Lavrenty
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Russian
Other Scripts: Лаврентий(Russian)
Pronounced: lu-VRYEHN-tyee
Lavrenti
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Russian, Georgian
Other Scripts: Лаврентий(Russian) ლავრენტი(Georgian)
Pronounced: lu-VRYEHN-tyee(Russian)
Alternate transcription of Russian
Лаврентий (see
Lavrentiy), as well as the Georgian form.
Lauma
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Latvian, Baltic Mythology
Pronounced: LOW-ma(Latvian)
Meaning unknown. In Latvian
mythology this is the name of a forest spirit sometimes associated with childbirth and weaving.
Lani
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Hawaiian
Pronounced: LA-nee
Means "sky, heaven, royal, majesty" in Hawaiian.
Lance
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: LANS
From the Germanic name
Lanzo, originally a short form of names that began with the Old Frankish or Old Saxon element
land, Old High German
lant meaning
"land" (Proto-Germanic *
landą). During the Middle Ages it became associated with Old French
lance meaning "spear, lance". A famous bearer is American cyclist Lance Armstrong (1971-).
Lana
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Russian, Croatian, Slovene, Georgian
Other Scripts: Лана(Russian) ლანა(Georgian)
Pronounced: LAHN-ə(English)
Short form of
Alana (English) or
Svetlana (Russian). In the English-speaking world it was popularized by actress Lana Turner (1921-1995), who was born Julia Jean Turner.
Lan 1
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: Chinese, Vietnamese
Other Scripts: 兰, 岚, etc.(Chinese) 蘭, 嵐, etc.(Traditional Chinese)
Pronounced: LAN(Chinese, Vietnamese) LANG(Vietnamese)
From Chinese
兰 (lán) meaning "orchid, elegant" (which is usually only feminine) or
岚 (lán) meaning "mountain mist". Other Chinese characters can form this name as well. As a Vietnamese name, it is derived from Sino-Vietnamese
蘭 meaning "orchid".
Laine
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Estonian
Pronounced: LIE-neh
Means "wave" in Estonian.
Laima
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Lithuanian, Latvian, Baltic Mythology
Pronounced: LIE-ma(Latvian)
From Latvian laime and Lithuanian laimė, which mean "luck, fate". This was the name of the Latvian and Lithuanian goddess of fate, luck, pregnancy and childbirth. She was the sister of the goddesses Dēkla and Kārta, who were also associated with fate.
Laban
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Biblical
Other Scripts: לָבָן(Ancient Hebrew)
Pronounced: LAY-bən(English)
Kyle
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: KIEL, KIE-əl
From a Scottish surname that was derived from various place names, themselves from Gaelic caol meaning "narrows, channel, strait". As a given name it was rare in the first half of the 20th century. It rose steadily in popularity throughout the English-speaking world, entering the top 50 in most places by the 1990s. It has since declined in all regions.
Kuzma
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Russian, Ukrainian
Other Scripts: Кузьма(Russian, Ukrainian)
Pronounced: kuwz-MA(Russian)
Russian and Ukrainian form of
Cosmas.
Kumiko
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 久美子, etc.(Japanese Kanji) くみこ(Japanese Hiragana)
Pronounced: KOO-MEE-KO
From Japanese
久 (ku) meaning "long time",
美 (mi) meaning "beautiful" and
子 (ko) meaning "child". Other kanji combinations are possible.
Ksenia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Polish, Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian
Other Scripts: Ксения(Russian) Ксенія(Ukrainian, Belarusian)
Pronounced: KSEH-nya(Polish) KSYEH-nyi-yə(Russian)
Polish form of
Xenia, as well as an alternate transcription of Russian
Ксения or Ukrainian/Belarusian
Ксенія (see
Kseniya).
Konstantin
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Russian, Serbian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, German, Estonian, Finnish, Hungarian
Other Scripts: Константин(Russian, Serbian, Bulgarian, Macedonian)
Pronounced: kən-stun-TYEEN(Russian) KAWN-stan-teen(German) KON-stahn-teen(Finnish) KON-shtawn-teen(Hungarian)
Kōnane
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: Hawaiian
Means "bright" in Hawaiian.
Kolya
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Russian
Other Scripts: Коля(Russian)
Pronounced: KO-lyə
Koenraad
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Dutch
Pronounced: KOON-rat
Koen
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Dutch
Pronounced: KOON
Knox
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: NAHKS(American English) NAWKS(British English)
From a Scots surname that was derived from various places named Knock, from Gaelic cnoc "round hill". It jumped in popularity after the actors Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt had a baby by this name in 2008.
Kit
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: KIT
Kirk
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: KURK(American English) KUK(British English)
From an English and Scottish surname meaning
"church" from Old Norse
kirkja, ultimately from Greek
κυριακόν (kyriakon). A famous bearer was American actor Kirk Douglas (1916-2020), whose birth name was Issur Danielovitch.
Kian 2
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Modern)
Kevin
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, Irish, French (Modern), German (Modern), Dutch (Modern)
Pronounced: KEHV-in(English) KEH-VEEN(French) KEH-vin(German, Dutch)
Anglicized form of the Irish name
Caoimhín meaning
"beloved birth", derived from Old Irish
Cóemgein, composed of
cóem "dear, beloved, gentle" and
gein "birth".
Saint Caoimhín established a monastery in Glendalough, Ireland in the 6th century and is the patron saint of Dublin.
The name became popular in the English-speaking world outside of Ireland in the middle of the 20th century, and elsewhere in Europe in the latter half of the 20th century. Famous bearers include the American actors Kevin Costner (1955-) and Kevin Bacon (1958-). It was also borne by the character Kevin McCallister in the 1990 comedy movie Home Alone.
Kerenza
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Cornish
Kerensa
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Cornish
Means "love" in Cornish.
Keoni
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Hawaiian
Kent
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: KENT
From a surname that was originally derived from Kent, the name of a county in England, which may be derived from a Brythonic word meaning "coastal district".
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
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.
Kendra
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: KEHN-drə
Kekoa
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Hawaiian
Pronounced: keh-KO-a
Means "the warrior" from Hawaiian ke, a definite article, and koa "warrior, koa tree".
Keanu
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: Hawaiian
Pronounced: keh-A-noo
Means "the cool breeze" from Hawaiian ke, a definite article, and anu "coolness". This name is now associated with Canadian actor Keanu Reeves (1964-).
Keanna
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Kean
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: KEEN
From an Irish surname, a variant of
Kane.
Kasumi
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 霞, 花澄, etc.(Japanese Kanji) かすみ(Japanese Hiragana)
Pronounced: KA-SOO-MEE
From Japanese
霞 (kasumi) meaning "mist". It can also come from
花 (ka) meaning "flower, blossom" combined with
澄 (sumi) meaning "clear, pure". Other kanji combinations are also possible.
Kane
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: KAYN
From an Irish surname, an Anglicized form of
Ó Catháin, derived from the given name
Cathán.
Kandace
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: KAN-dis, KAN-də-see
Kanchana
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Tamil, Thai
Other Scripts: காஞ்சனா(Tamil) กาญจนา(Thai)
Pronounced: kan-cha-NA(Thai)
Kaleo
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Hawaiian
Pronounced: ka-LEH-o
Means "sound, voice" from Hawaiian ka "the" and leo "sound, voice".
Kalani
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: Hawaiian
Pronounced: ka-LA-nee
Means "the heavens" from Hawaiian ka "the" and lani "heaven, sky, royal, majesty".
Kaj
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, Finnish
Pronounced: KIE(Swedish)
Kain
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Biblical Greek [1]
Other Scripts: Κάϊν(Ancient Greek)
Form of
Cain used in the Greek Bible.
Kaimana
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: Hawaiian
Pronounced: kie-MA-na
From Hawaiian kai "ocean, sea" and mana "power". It is also Hawaiian meaning "diamond", derived from the English word diamond.
Kai 1
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Frisian, German, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, Finnish, Dutch, English
Pronounced: KIE(German, Swedish, Finnish, Dutch, English)
Meaning uncertain, possibly a Frisian
diminutive of
Gerhard,
Nicolaas,
Cornelis or
Gaius [1]. It is borne by a boy captured by the Snow Queen in an 1844 fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen. Spreading from Germany and Scandinavia, this name became popular in the English-speaking world and other places in Western Europe around the end of the 20th century.
Kai 3
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Hawaiian
Pronounced: KIE
Means "sea" in Hawaiian.
Juraj
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Slovak, Czech, Croatian
Pronounced: YOO-rie(Slovak, Croatian)
Slovak, Czech and Croatian form of
George.
Julien
Gender: Masculine
Usage: French
Pronounced: ZHUY-LYEHN
French form of
Iulianus (see
Julian).
Juliana
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Dutch, German, English, Spanish, Portuguese, Slovak, Ancient Roman
Pronounced: yuy-lee-A-na(Dutch) yoo-lee-A-na(German) joo-lee-AN-ə(English) joo-lee-AHN-ə(English) khoo-LYA-na(Spanish) YOO-lee-a-na(Slovak)
Feminine form of
Iulianus (see
Julian). This was the name of a 4th-century
saint and martyr from Nicomedia, and also of the Blessed Juliana of Norwich, also called Julian, a 14th-century mystic and author. The name was also borne by a 20th-century queen of the Netherlands. In England, this form has been in use since the 18th century, alongside the older form
Gillian.
Julian
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, Polish, German
Pronounced: JOO-lee-ən(English) JOOL-yən(English) YOO-lyan(Polish) YOO-lee-an(German)
From the Roman name
Iulianus, which was derived from
Julius. This was the name of the last pagan Roman emperor, Julian the Apostate (4th century). It was also borne by several early
saints, including the legendary Saint Julian the Hospitaller. This name has been used in England since the Middle Ages, at which time it was also a feminine name (from
Juliana, eventually becoming
Gillian).
Joshua
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, Biblical
Other Scripts: יְהוֹשֻׁעַ(Ancient Hebrew)
Pronounced: JAHSH-oo-ə(American English) JAWSH-oo-ə(British English)
From the Hebrew name
יְהוֹשֻׁעַ (Yehoshuaʿ) meaning
"Yahweh is salvation", from the roots
יְהוֹ (yeho) referring to the Hebrew God and
יָשַׁע (yashaʿ) meaning "to save". As told in the
Old Testament, Joshua was a companion of
Moses. He went up Mount Sinai with Moses when he received the Ten Commandments from God, and later he was one of the twelve spies sent into Canaan. After Moses died Joshua succeeded him as leader of the Israelites and he led the conquest of Canaan. His original name was
Hoshea.
The name Jesus comes from a Greek transcription of the Aramaic short form יֵשׁוּעַ (Yeshuaʿ), which was the real name of Jesus. As an English name, Joshua has been in use since the Protestant Reformation.
Josette
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French
Pronounced: ZHAW-ZEHT
Jorie
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: JAWR-ee
Jordana
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Spanish, Portuguese, Macedonian, Serbian, English (Rare)
Other Scripts: Јордана(Macedonian, Serbian)
Pronounced: khor-DHA-na(Spanish) jawr-DAN-ə(American English) jaw-DAN-ə(British English)
Joisse
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: JOIS
Joeri
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Dutch
Pronounced: YOO-ree
Joasia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Polish
Pronounced: yaw-A-sha
Jiro
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 二郎(Japanese Kanji) じろう(Japanese Hiragana)
Pronounced: JEE-RO
Alternate transcription of Japanese Kanji
二郎 (see
Jirō).
Jezebel
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Biblical
Other Scripts: אִיזֶבֶל(Ancient Hebrew)
Pronounced: JEHZ-ə-behl(English)
From Hebrew
אִיזֶבֶל (ʾIzevel), probably from a Phoenician name, possibly containing the Semitic root
zbl meaning
"to exalt, to dwell". According to one theory it might be an altered form of the Phoenician name
𐤁𐤏𐤋𐤀𐤆𐤁𐤋 (Baʿlʾizbel) meaning "Ba'al exalts" with the first element removed or replaced
[1].
According to the Old Testament Jezebel was the Phoenician wife of Ahab, a king of Israel. She is portrayed as an evil figure because she encouraged the worship of the god Ba'al. After she was thrown from a window to her death her body was eaten by dogs, fulfilling Elijah's prophecy.
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)
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-).
Jesse
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, Dutch, Finnish, Biblical
Other Scripts: יִשַׁי(Ancient Hebrew)
Pronounced: JEHS-ee(English) YEH-sə(Dutch) YEHS-seh(Finnish)
From
Ἰεσσαί (Iessai), the Greek form of the Hebrew name
יִשַׁי (Yishai). This could be a derivative of the word
שַׁי (shai) meaning
"gift" or
יֵשׁ (yesh) meaning
"existence". In the
Old Testament Jesse is the father of King
David. It began to be used as an English given name after the
Protestant Reformation.
A famous bearer was Jesse James (1847-1882), an American outlaw who held up banks and stagecoaches. He was eventually shot by a fellow gang member for a reward. Another famous bearer was the American athlete Jesse Owens (1913-1980), whose real name was James Cleveland (or J. C.) Owens.
Jeremy
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, Biblical
Pronounced: JEHR-ə-mee(English) JEHR-mee(American English)
English form of
Jeremiah, originally a medieval vernacular form. This is the spelling used in some English versions of the
New Testament.
Jeremiah
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, Biblical
Other Scripts: יִרְמְיָהוּ(Ancient Hebrew)
Pronounced: jehr-i-MIE-ə(English)
From the Hebrew name
יִרְמְיָהוּ (Yirmeyahu) meaning
"Yahweh will exalt", from the roots
רוּם (rum) meaning "to exalt" and
יָהּ (yah) referring to the Hebrew God. This is the name of one of the major prophets of the
Old Testament, the author of the Book of Jeremiah and the Book of Lamentations (supposedly). He lived to see the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem in the 6th century BC.
In England, though the vernacular form Jeremy had been occasionally used since the 13th century, the form Jeremiah was not common until after the Protestant Reformation.
Jeltje
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Frisian, Dutch
Pronounced: YEHL-chə(Dutch)
Jasper
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, Dutch, Judeo-Christian-Islamic Legend
Pronounced: JAS-pər(American English) JAS-pə(British English) YAHS-pər(Dutch)
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.
Jarl
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Norwegian, Swedish, Danish, Norse Mythology, Old Norse [1]
Pronounced: YAHRL(Norwegian, Swedish, Danish)
Means
"chieftain, nobleman" in Old Norse (a
cognate of the English word
earl). In the Norse poem
Rígsþula Jarl is the son of the god Ríg and the founder of the race of warriors.
Jake
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: JAYK
Medieval variant of
Jack. It is also sometimes used as a short form of
Jacob.
Jacob
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Jewish, Biblical
Other Scripts: יַעֲקֹב(Hebrew)
Pronounced: JAY-kəb(English) YA-kawp(Dutch) YAH-kawp(Swedish, Norwegian) YAH-kob(Danish)
From the Latin
Iacob, which was from the Greek
Ἰακώβ (Iakob), which was from the Hebrew name
יַעֲקֹב (Yaʿaqov). In the
Old Testament Jacob (later called
Israel) is the son of
Isaac and
Rebecca and the father of the twelve founders of the twelve tribes of Israel. He was born holding his twin brother
Esau's heel, and his name is explained as meaning
"holder of the heel" or
"supplanter", because he twice deprived his brother of his rights as the firstborn son (see
Genesis 27:36). Other theories claim that it is in fact derived from a hypothetical name like
יַעֲקֹבְאֵל (Yaʿaqovʾel) meaning
"may God protect".
The English names Jacob and James derive from the same source, with James coming from Latin Iacomus, a later variant of the Latin New Testament form Iacobus. Unlike English, many languages do not have separate spellings for the two names.
In England, Jacob was mainly regarded as a Jewish name during the Middle Ages [1], though the variant James was used among Christians. Jacob came into general use as a Christian name after the Protestant Reformation. In America, although already moderately common, it steadily grew in popularity from the early 1970s to the end of the 1990s, becoming the top ranked name from 1999 to 2012.
A famous bearer was Jacob Grimm (1785-1863), the German linguist and writer who was, with his brother Wilhelm, the author of Grimm's Fairy Tales.
Ivy
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: IE-vee
From the English word for the climbing plant that has small yellow flowers. It is ultimately derived from Old English ifig.
Ivory
Gender: Feminine
Usage: African American
Pronounced: IE-və-ree(English) IEV-ree(English)
From the English word for the hard, creamy-white substance that comes from elephant tusks and was formerly used to produce piano keys.
Ithai
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Biblical
Other Scripts: אִתַּי, אִיתַי(Ancient Hebrew)
Pronounced: ITH-ie(English)
Italo
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Italian
Pronounced: EE-ta-lo
Itala
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian
Pronounced: EE-ta-la
Italian feminine form of
Italus.
Isotta
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian
Pronounced: ee-ZAWT-ta
Isolde
Gender: Feminine
Usage: German, Arthurian Cycle
Pronounced: ee-ZAWL-də(German) i-SOL-də(English) i-ZOL-də(English) i-SOLD(English) i-ZOLD(English) EE-ZAWLD(French)
German form of
Iseult, appearing in the 13th-century German poem
Tristan by Gottfried von Strassburg. In 1865 the German composer Richard Wagner debuted his popular opera
Tristan und Isolde and also used the name for his first daughter.
Isidore
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, French, Georgian (Rare), Jewish
Other Scripts: ისიდორე(Georgian)
Pronounced: IZ-ə-dawr(American English) IZ-ə-daw(British English) EE-ZEE-DAWR(French)
From the Greek name
Ἰσίδωρος (Isidoros) meaning
"gift of Isis", derived from the name of the Egyptian goddess
Isis combined with Greek
δῶρον (doron) meaning "gift".
Saint Isidore of Seville was a 6th-century archbishop, historian and theologian.
Though it has never been popular in the English-speaking world among Christians, it has historically been a common name for Jews, who have used it as an Americanized form of names such as Isaac, Israel and Isaiah.
Iseul
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: Korean
Other Scripts: 이슬(Korean Hangul)
Pronounced: EE-SUL
Means "dew" in Korean.
Iscah
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Biblical
Other Scripts: יִסְכָּה(Ancient Hebrew)
From the Hebrew name
יִסְכָּה (Yiska) meaning
"to behold". In the
Old Testament this is the name of
Abraham's niece, mentioned only briefly. This is the basis of the English name
Jessica.
Isak
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Swedish, Norwegian, Danish
Pronounced: EE-sak
Scandinavian form of
Isaac.
Isaac
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, Spanish, Portuguese, Catalan, French, Jewish, Biblical, Biblical Latin
Other Scripts: יִצְחָק(Hebrew)
Pronounced: IE-zək(English) ee-sa-AK(Spanish) EE-ZAK(French) EE-ZA-AK(French)
From the Hebrew name
יִצְחָק (Yitsḥaq) meaning
"he will laugh, he will rejoice", derived from
צָחַק (tsaḥaq) meaning "to laugh". The
Old Testament explains this meaning, by recounting that
Abraham laughed when God told him that his aged wife
Sarah would become pregnant with Isaac (see
Genesis 17:17), and later Sarah laughed when overhearing the same prophecy (see
Genesis 18:12). When Isaac was a boy, God tested Abraham's faith by ordering him to sacrifice his son, though an angel prevented the act at the last moment. Isaac went on to become the father of
Esau and
Jacob with his wife
Rebecca.
As an English Christian name, Isaac was occasionally used during the Middle Ages, though it was more common among Jews. It became more widespread after the Protestant Reformation. Famous bearers include the physicist and mathematician Isaac Newton (1643-1727) and the science-fiction writer Isaac Asimov (1920-1992).
Iolanda
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, Portuguese, Catalan, Romanian
Pronounced: yo-LAN-da(Italian, Romanian) yoo-LAN-də(Catalan)
Italian, Portuguese, Catalan and Romanian form of
Yolanda.
Intan
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Indonesian, Malay
Pronounced: EEN-tan
Means "diamond" in Malay and Indonesian.
Inka
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Finnish, Frisian, German
Pronounced: EENG-kah(Finnish) ING-ka(German)
Finnish and Frisian feminine form of
Inge.
Imogene
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: IM-ə-jeen
Imogen
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (British)
Pronounced: IM-ə-jehn
The name of the daughter of King
Cymbeline in the play
Cymbeline (1609) by William Shakespeare. He based her on a legendary character named
Innogen, but it was printed incorrectly and never emended.
Innogen is probably derived from Gaelic
inghean meaning
"maiden". As a given name it is chiefly British and Australian.
Immacolata
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian
Pronounced: eem-ma-ko-LA-ta
Imelda
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, Spanish
Pronounced: ee-MEHL-da
Italian and Spanish form of
Irmhild. The Blessed Imelda Lambertini was a young 14th-century nun from Bologna.
Ilaria
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian
Pronounced: ee-LA-rya
Ikaia
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Hawaiian
Hugo
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Spanish, Portuguese, English, Dutch, German, French, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Germanic [1]
Pronounced: OO-gho(Spanish) OO-goo(Portuguese) HYOO-go(English) HUY-gho(Dutch) HOO-go(German) UY-GO(French)
Old German form of
Hugh. As a surname it has belonged to the French author Victor Hugo (1802-1885), the writer of
The Hunchback of Notre-Dame and
Les Misérables.
Hristina
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Bulgarian, Macedonian, Serbian
Other Scripts: Христина(Bulgarian, Macedonian, Serbian)
Pronounced: khree-STEE-nə(Bulgarian) khrees-TEE-na(Macedonian)
Bulgarian, Macedonian and Serbian form of
Christina.
Hōkūlani
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Hawaiian
Pronounced: ho-koo-LA-nee
Means "heavenly star" from Hawaiian hōkū "star" and lani "heaven, sky, royal, majesty".
Hitomi
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 瞳, 史美, etc.(Japanese Kanji) ひとみ(Japanese Hiragana)
Pronounced: KHEE-TO-MEE
From Japanese
瞳 (hitomi) meaning "pupil of the eye". It can also come from
史 (hito) meaning "history" and
美 (mi) meaning "beautiful", as well as other kanji combinations. This name is often written with the hiragana writing system.
Hero 2
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Ancient Greek (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Ἥρων(Ancient Greek)
Hephzibah
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Biblical
Other Scripts: חֶפְצִי־בָּה(Ancient Hebrew)
Pronounced: HEHF-zi-bə(English) HEHP-zi-bə(English)
Henderson
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: HEHN-dər-sən(American English) HEHN-də-sən(British English)
From a Scottish surname meaning
"son of Henry".
Hayden
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: HAY-dən
From an English surname that was derived from place names meaning either
"hay valley" or
"hay hill", derived from Old English
heg "hay" and
denu "valley" or
dun "hill". Its popularity at the end of the 20th century was due to the sound it shared with other trendy names of the time, such as
Braden and
Aidan.
Haukea
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Hawaiian
Means "white snow" from Hawaiian hau "snow" and kea "white".
Hannibal
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Phoenician (Latinized), History
Other Scripts: 𐤇𐤍𐤁𐤏𐤋(Phoenician)
Pronounced: HAN-i-bəl(English)
From the Punic name
𐤇𐤍𐤁𐤏𐤋 meaning
"my grace is Ba'al", derived from Phoenician
𐤇𐤍𐤍 (ḥann) meaning "grace, favour" combined with the name of the god
Ba'al. This name occurs often in Carthaginian history. It was most notably borne by the famed general and tactician Hannibal Barca, who threatened Rome during the Second Punic War in the 3rd century BC. It is also associated with the fictional villain Hannibal Lecter from the books by Thomas Harris (debuting 1981) and subsequent movie adaptations.
Haneul
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Korean
Other Scripts: 하늘(Korean Hangul)
Pronounced: HA-NUL
Means "heaven, sky" in Korean.
Hananiah
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Biblical
Other Scripts: חֲנַנְיָה(Ancient Hebrew)
Pronounced: han-ə-NIE-ə(English)
Hampus
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Swedish
Pronounced: HAHM-poos
Guy 1
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, French
Pronounced: GIE(English) GEE(French)
Old French form of
Wido. The
Normans introduced it to England, where it was common until the time of Guy Fawkes (1570-1606), a revolutionary who attempted to blow up the British parliament. The name was revived in the 19th century, due in part to characters in the novels
Guy Mannering (1815) by Walter Scott and
The Heir of Redclyffe (1854) by C. M. Yonge.
Graziella
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian
Pronounced: grat-TSYEHL-la
Grace
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: GRAYS
From the English word
grace, which ultimately derives from Latin
gratia. This was one of the virtue names created in the 17th century by the
Puritans. The actress Grace Kelly (1929-1982) was a famous bearer.
This name was very popular in the English-speaking world at the end of the 19th century. Though it declined in use over the next 100 years, it staged a successful comeback at the end of the 20th century. The American sitcom Will and Grace (1998-2006) may have helped, though the name was already strongly rising when it premiered. It was the top name for girls in England and Wales in 2006.
Goliath
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Biblical, Biblical Latin, Biblical Greek
Other Scripts: גָּלְיָת(Ancient Hebrew) Γολιάθ(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: gə-LIE-əth(English)
From the Hebrew name
גָּלְיָת (Golyaṯ), possibly derived from
גָּלָה (gala) meaning
"uncover, reveal" [1]. This is the name of the giant Philistine who is slain by
David in the
Old Testament.
Giustina
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian
Pronounced: joo-STEE-na
Italian form of
Iustina (see
Justina).
Giulietta
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian
Pronounced: joo-LYEHT-ta
Giuliana
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian
Pronounced: joo-LYA-na
Giuditta
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian
Pronounced: joo-DEET-ta
Giselle
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French, English (Modern)
Pronounced: ZHEE-ZEHL(French) ji-ZEHL(English)
Derived from the Old German element
gisal meaning
"hostage, pledge" (Proto-Germanic *
gīslaz). This name may have originally been a descriptive nickname for a child given as a pledge to a foreign court. This was the name of both a sister and daughter of
Charlemagne. It was also borne by a daughter of the French king Charles III who married the Norman leader Rollo in the 10th century. Another notable bearer was the 11th-century Gisela of Swabia, wife of the Holy Roman emperor Conrad II.
The name was popular in France during the Middle Ages (the more common French form is Gisèle). Though it became known in the English-speaking world due to Adolphe Adam's ballet Giselle (1841), it was not regularly used until the 20th century.
Gisella
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian
Pronounced: jee-ZEHL-la
Gisèle
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French
Pronounced: ZHEE-ZEHL
Gisa
Gender: Feminine
Usage: German
Pronounced: GEE-za
Giovannetta
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian (Rare)
Giorgina
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian
Pronounced: jor-JEE-na
Gioia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian
Pronounced: JAW-ya
Means "joy" in Italian.
Gilead
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Biblical
Other Scripts: גִּלְעָד(Ancient Hebrew)
From an
Old Testament place name meaning
"heap of witness" in Hebrew. This is a mountainous region east of the Jordan River. Besides being a place name, it is also borne by people in the Bible.
Giacomo
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Italian
Pronounced: JA-ko-mo
Italian form of
Iacomus (see
James). Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924) was an Italian composer of operas.
Genesis
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: JEHN-ə-sis
Means
"birth, origin" in Greek. This is the name of the first book of the
Old Testament in the Bible. It tells of the creation of the world, the expulsion of
Adam and
Eve,
Noah and the great flood, and the three patriarchs.
Gaetana
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian
Pronounced: ga-eh-TA-na
Gabriel
Gender: Masculine
Usage: French, Spanish, Portuguese, German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Catalan, English, Romanian, Polish, Czech, Slovak, Georgian, Biblical, Biblical Latin, Biblical Greek [1]
Other Scripts: გაბრიელ(Georgian) גַּבְרִיאֵל(Ancient Hebrew) Γαβριήλ(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: GA-BREE-YEHL(French) ga-BRYEHL(Spanish) ga-bree-EHL(European Portuguese, Romanian) ga-bree-EW(Brazilian Portuguese) GA-bree-ehl(German, Slovak, Latin) GAH-bri-ehl(Swedish) GAH-bree-ehl(Finnish) gə-bree-EHL(Catalan) GAY-bree-əl(English) GAB-ryehl(Polish) GA-bri-yehl(Czech)
From the Hebrew name
גַבְרִיאֵל (Ḡavriʾel) meaning
"God is my strong man", derived from
גֶּבֶר (gever) meaning "strong man, hero" and
אֵל (ʾel) meaning "God". Gabriel is an archangel in Hebrew tradition, often appearing as a messenger of God. In the
Old Testament he is sent to interpret the visions of the prophet
Daniel, while in the
New Testament he serves as the announcer of the births of
John to
Zechariah and
Jesus to
Mary. According to Islamic tradition he was the angel who dictated the
Quran to
Muhammad.
This name has been used occasionally in England since the 12th century. It was not common in the English-speaking world until the end of the 20th century.
Fruzsina
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Hungarian
Pronounced: FROO-zhee-naw
Francesco
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Italian
Pronounced: fran-CHEHS-ko
Italian form of
Franciscus (see
Francis). Francesco Petrarca (1304-1374) was an Italian Renaissance poet, usually known in English as Petrarch.
Francesca
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, Catalan
Pronounced: fran-CHEHS-ka(Italian) frən-SEHS-kə(Catalan)
Italian and Catalan feminine form of
Franciscus (see
Francis).
Franca
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian
Pronounced: FRANG-ka
Floriana
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, Romanian, Ancient Roman
Feminine form of
Florianus (see
Florian).
Florian
Gender: Masculine
Usage: German, French, Romanian, Polish, History
Pronounced: FLO-ree-an(German) FLAW-RYAHN(French) FLAW-ryan(Polish)
From the Roman
cognomen Florianus, a derivative of
Florus. This was the name of a short-lived Roman emperor of the 3rd century, Marcus Annius Florianus. It was also borne by
Saint Florian, a martyr of the 3rd century, the patron saint of Poland and Upper Austria.
Flavio
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Italian, Spanish
Pronounced: FLA-vyo(Italian) FLA-byo(Spanish)
Italian and Spanish form of
Flavius.
Flavia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, Spanish, Romanian, Ancient Roman
Pronounced: FLA-vya(Italian) FLA-bya(Spanish) FLA-wee-a(Latin)
Fiorenza
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian
Pronounced: fyo-REHN-tsa
Italian feminine form of
Florentius (see
Florence).
Fiona
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Scottish, English
Pronounced: fee-O-nə(English)
Feminine form of
Fionn. This name was (first?) used by the Scottish poet James Macpherson in his poem
Fingal (1761), in which it is spelled as
Fióna.
Femke
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Frisian, Dutch
Pronounced: FEHM-kə(Dutch)
Felicity
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: fə-LIS-i-tee
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.
Fausto
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Italian, Spanish, Portuguese
Pronounced: FOW-sto(Italian) FOWS-to(Spanish)
Italian, Spanish and Portuguese form of
Faustus.
Faolán
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Irish (Rare)
Pronounced: FEH-lan, FEE-lan
Means
"little wolf", derived from Old Irish
fáel "wolf" combined with a
diminutive suffix. This was the name of an Irish
saint who did missionary work in Scotland.
Fairuza
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Arabic (Rare)
Fabiola
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, Spanish, Ancient Roman
Pronounced: fa-BEE-o-la(Italian) fa-BYO-la(Spanish)
Evangeline
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: i-VAN-jə-leen, i-VAN-jə-lien
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.
Eunomia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Εὐνομία(Ancient Greek)
Means
"good order" in Greek, ultimately from
εὖ (eu) meaning "good" and
νόμος (nomos) meaning "law, custom". Eunomia was a Greek goddess, one of the
Ὥραι (Horai), presiding over law.
Eulalia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Spanish, Italian, Polish, English, Ancient Greek [1]
Other Scripts: Εὐλαλία(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: ew-LA-lya(Spanish, Italian) yoo-LAY-lee-ə(English)
Derived from Greek
εὔλαλος (eulalos) meaning
"sweetly-speaking", itself from
εὖ (eu) meaning "good" and
λαλέω (laleo) meaning "to talk". This was the name of an early 4th-century
saint and martyr from Mérida in Spain. Another martyr by this name, living at the same time, is a patron saint of Barcelona. These two saints might be the same person.
Eugenio
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Italian, Spanish
Pronounced: ew-JEH-nyo(Italian) ew-KHEH-nyo(Spanish)
Italian and Spanish form of
Eugenius (see
Eugene).
Eugenia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, Spanish, Romanian, Polish, English, Ancient Greek (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Εὐγένεια(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: ew-JEH-nya(Italian) ew-KHEH-nya(Spanish) eh-oo-JEH-nee-a(Romanian) ew-GEH-nya(Polish) yoo-JEE-nee-ə(English) yoo-JEEN-yə(English)
Feminine form of
Eugenius (see
Eugene). It was borne by a semi-legendary 3rd-century
saint who escaped persecution by disguising herself as a man. The name was occasionally found in England during the Middle Ages, but it was not regularly used until the 19th century.
Eufemia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, Spanish
Pronounced: ew-FEH-mya(Spanish)
Enzo
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Italian, French
Pronounced: EHN-tso(Italian) EHN-ZO(French)
The meaning of this name is uncertain. In some cases it seems to be an old Italian form of
Heinz, though in other cases it could be a variant of the Germanic name
Anzo. In modern times it is also used as a short form of names ending in
enzo, such as
Vincenzo or
Lorenzo.
A famous bearer was the Italian racecar driver and industrialist Enzo Ferrari (1898-1988).
Enrica
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian
Pronounced: ehn-REE-ka
Enok
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Biblical Swedish, Biblical Norwegian, Biblical Danish
Pronounced: EH-nok(Swedish)
Scandinavian form of
Enoch.
Endymion
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Ἐνδυμίων(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: EHN-DUY-MEE-AWN(Classical Greek) ehn-DIM-ee-ən(English)
Derived from Greek
ἐνδύω (endyo) meaning
"to dive into, to enter". In Greek
mythology he was an Aeolian mortal loved by the moon goddess
Selene, who asked
Zeus to grant him eternal life. Zeus complied by putting him into an eternal sleep in a cave on Mount Latmos.
Emese
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Hungarian
Pronounced: EH-meh-sheh
Possibly derived from Finno-Ugric eme meaning "mother". In Hungarian legend this was the name of the grandmother of Árpád, founder of the Hungarian state.
Elliott
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: EHL-ee-ət
From an English surname that was derived from a
diminutive of the medieval name
Elias.
Elliot
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: EHL-ee-ət
From a surname that was a variant of
Elliott.
Elke 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Low German, Frisian, German, Dutch
Pronounced: EHL-kə(German, Dutch)
Elkanah
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Biblical
Other Scripts: אֱלְקָנָה(Ancient Hebrew)
Pronounced: ehl-KAY-nə(English)
Means
"God has purchased" in Hebrew, from
אֵל (ʾel) meaning "God" and
קָנָה (qana) meaning "to acquire, to purchase". In the
Old Testament this is the name of the father of
Samuel.
Eliott
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: EHL-ee-ət
From a surname that was a variant of
Elliott.
Elijah
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, Hebrew, Biblical
Other Scripts: אֱלִיָּהוּ(Hebrew)
Pronounced: i-LIE-jə(English) i-LIE-zhə(English)
From the Hebrew name
אֱלִיָּהוּ (ʾEliyyahu) meaning
"my God is Yahweh", derived from the roots
אֵל (ʾel) and
יָהּ (yah), both referring to the Hebrew God. Elijah was a Hebrew prophet and miracle worker, as told in the two Books of Kings in the
Old Testament. He was active in the 9th century BC during the reign of King
Ahab of Israel and his Phoenician-born queen
Jezebel. Elijah confronted the king and queen over their idolatry of the Canaanite god
Ba'al and other wicked deeds. At the end of his life he was carried to heaven in a chariot of fire, and was succeeded by
Elisha. In the
New Testament, Elijah and
Moses appear next to
Jesus when he is transfigured.
Because Elijah was a popular figure in medieval tales, and because his name was borne by a few early saints (who are usually known by the Latin form Elias), the name came into general use during the Middle Ages. In medieval England it was usually spelled Elis. It died out there by the 16th century, but it was revived by the Puritans in the form Elijah after the Protestant Reformation. The name became popular during the 1990s and 2000s, especially in America where it broke into the top ten in 2016.
Elam
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Biblical, Biblical Hebrew [1]
Other Scripts: עֵילָם(Ancient Hebrew)
Pronounced: EE-ləm(English)
Possibly means either
"hidden" or
"eternity" in Hebrew. This is the name of several characters in the
Old Testament, including a son of
Shem who was the ancestor of the Elamite peoples.
Edward
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, Polish
Pronounced: EHD-wərd(American English) EHD-wəd(British English) EHD-vart(Polish)
Means
"rich guard", derived from the Old English elements
ead "wealth, fortune" and
weard "guard". This was the name of several Anglo-Saxon kings, the last being
Saint Edward the Confessor shortly before the
Norman Conquest in the 11th century. He was known as a just ruler, and because of his popularity his name remained in use after the conquest when most other Old English names were replaced by Norman ones. The 13th-century Plantagenet king Henry III named his son and successor after the saint, and seven subsequent kings of England were also named Edward.
This is one of the few Old English names to be used throughout Europe (in various spellings). A famous bearer was the British composer Edward Elgar (1857-1934). It was also used by author Charlotte Brontë for the character Edward Rochester, the main love interest of the title character in her novel Jane Eyre (1847).
Edmund
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, German, Polish
Pronounced: EHD-mənd(English) EHT-muwnt(German) EHD-moont(Polish)
Means
"rich protection", from the Old English elements
ead "wealth, fortune" and
mund "protection". This was the name of two Anglo-Saxon kings of England. It was also borne by two
saints, including a 9th-century king of East Anglia who, according to tradition, was shot to death with arrows after refusing to divide his Christian kingdom with an invading pagan Danish leader. This Old English name remained in use after the
Norman Conquest (even being used by King Henry III for one of his sons), though it became less common after the 15th century.
Famous bearers of the name include the English poet Edmund Spenser (1552-1599), the German-Czech philosopher Edmund Husserl (1859-1938) and New Zealand mountaineer Edmund Hillary (1919-2008), the first person to climb Mount Everest.
Edmonda
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian (Rare)
Italian feminine form of
Edmund.
Edison
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, Portuguese (Brazilian), Spanish (Latin American), Albanian
Pronounced: EHD-i-sən(English) EH-dhee-son(Spanish)
From an English surname that meant either
"son of Eda 2" or
"son of Adam". A famous bearer of the surname was the American inventor Thomas Edison (1847-1931).
Eddy
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, French, Dutch
Pronounced: EHD-ee(English) EH-dee(Dutch)
Dye
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Medieval English
Drew
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: DROO
Drake
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: DRAYK
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.
Douglas
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Scottish, English
Pronounced: DUG-ləs
From a Scottish surname that was from the name of a town in Lanarkshire, itself named after a tributary of the River Clyde called the Douglas Water. It means "dark river", derived from Gaelic dubh "dark" and glais "water, river" (an archaic word related to glas "grey, green"). This was a Scottish Lowland clan, the leaders of which were powerful earls in the medieval period. The Gaelic form is Dùghlas or Dùbhghlas. It has been used as a given name since the 16th century.
Dorian
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, French, Romanian, Polish
Pronounced: DAWR-ee-ən(English) DAW-RYAHN(French)
The name was first used by Oscar Wilde in his novel The Picture of Dorian Gray (1891), which tells the story of a man whose portrait ages while he stays young. Wilde may have taken it from the name of the ancient Greek tribe the Dorians.
Dorcas
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Biblical, English (African)
Other Scripts: Δορκάς(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: DAWR-kəs(American English) DAW-kəs(British English)
Derived from Greek
δορκάς (dorkas) meaning
"gazelle". This is the Greek translation of the name
Tabitha in the
New Testament (see
Acts 9:36). At present it is most commonly used in English-speaking Africa.
Donatello
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Italian
Pronounced: do-na-TEHL-lo
Diminutive of
Donato. The Renaissance sculptor Donato di Niccolò di Bette Bardi (1386-1466) was better known as Donatello.
Donatella
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian
Pronounced: do-na-TEHL-la
Donata
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, Polish, Lithuanian, Late Roman
Pronounced: do-NA-ta(Italian)
Feminine form of
Donatus (see
Donato).
Domitilla
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, Ancient Roman
Pronounced: do-mee-TEEL-la(Italian)
Feminine
diminutive of the Roman family name
Domitius. This was the name of the wife of the Roman emperor Vespasian and the mother of emperors Titus and Domitian.
Domitian
Gender: Masculine
Usage: History
Pronounced: də-MISH-ən(English)
From the Roman
cognomen Domitianus, itself derived from the family name
Domitius. This was the name of a 1st-century Roman emperor, born as Titus Flavius Domitianus.
Dionisia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, Spanish
Pronounced: dyo-NEE-zya(Italian) dyo-NEE-sya(Spanish)
Italian and Spanish feminine form of
Dionysius.
Diede
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: Dutch
Pronounced: DEE-də
Short form of names beginning with the Old High German element
diota (Old Frankish
þeoda) meaning "people".
Devon
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: DEHV-ən
Variant of
Devin. It may also be partly inspired by the name of the county of Devon in England, which got its name from the Dumnonii, a Celtic tribe.
Derek
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: DEHR-ik
From the older English name
Dederick, which was in origin a Low German form of
Theodoric. It was imported to England from the Low Countries in the 15th century.
Demyan
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Russian, Ukrainian
Other Scripts: Демьян(Russian) Дем'ян(Ukrainian)
Pronounced: dyi-MYAN(Russian) deh-MYAN(Ukrainian)
Russian and Ukrainian form of
Damian.
Demelza
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (British, Rare)
Pronounced: də-MEHL-zə
From a Cornish place name meaning "fort of Maeldaf". It has been used as a given name since the middle of the 20th century. It was popularized in the 1970s by a character from the British television series Poldark, which was set in Cornwall.
Dean
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: DEEN
From a surname, see
Dean 1 and
Dean 2. The actor James Dean (1931-1955) was a famous bearer of the surname.
Darren
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: DAR-ən
The meaning of this name is not known for certain. In the spelling
Daren, it was used by the novelist Zane Grey for the central character in his novel
The Day of the Beast (1922)
[1]. Grey may have based it on a rare Irish surname, or perhaps created it as a variant of
Darrell. It was brought to public attention in the late 1950s by the American actor Darren McGavin (1922-2006; born as William Lyle Richardson). It was further popularized in the 1960s by the character Darrin Stephens from the television show
Bewitched.
Dario
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Italian, Croatian
Pronounced: DA-ryo(Italian) DA-ree-o(Croatian)
Darien
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: DAR-ee-ən
Darian
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: DAR-ee-ən
Probably an elaborated form of
Darren.
Danica
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Serbian, Croatian, Slovene, Slovak, Macedonian, English
Other Scripts: Даница(Serbian, Macedonian)
Pronounced: DA-nee-tsa(Serbian, Croatian) DA-nyee-tsa(Slovak) DAN-i-kə(English)
From a Slavic word meaning "morning star, Venus". This name occurs in Slavic folklore as a personification of the morning star. It has sometimes been used in the English-speaking world since the 1970s.
Dai
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Welsh
Crocetta
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian (Rare)
Pronounced: kro-CHEHT-ta
Cristóbal
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Spanish
Pronounced: krees-TO-bal
Concetta
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian
Pronounced: kon-CHEHT-ta
Means
"conceived" in Italian, referring to the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin
Mary.
Côme
Gender: Masculine
Usage: French
Pronounced: KOM
Colette
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French
Pronounced: KAW-LEHT
Short form of
Nicolette.
Saint Colette was a 15th-century French nun who gave her money to the poor. This was also the
pen name of the French author Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette (1873-1954).
Cole
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: KOL
From an English surname, itself originally derived from either a medieval short form of
Nicholas or the byname
Cola. A famous bearer was the songwriter Cole Porter (1891-1964), while a bearer of the surname was the musician Nat King Cole (1919-1965).
This name got more popular in the early 1980s, then got a boost in 1990 when it was used by the main character in the movie Days of Thunder.
Clover
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: KLO-vər(American English) KLO-və(British English)
From the English word for the wild flower, ultimately deriving from Old English clafre.
Cloelia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Ancient Roman
Feminine form of
Cloelius. In Roman legend Cloelia was a maiden who was given to an Etruscan invader as a hostage. She managed to escape by swimming across the Tiber, at the same time helping some of the other captives to safety.
Clement
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: KLEHM-ənt
English form of the Late Latin name
Clemens (or sometimes of its derivative
Clementius), which meant
"merciful, gentle". This was the name of 14 popes, including
Saint Clement I, the third pope, one of the Apostolic Fathers. Another saint by this name was Clement of Alexandria, a 3rd-century theologian and church father who attempted to reconcile Christian and Platonic philosophies. It has been in general as a given name in Christian Europe (in various spellings) since early times. In England it became rare after the
Protestant Reformation, though it was revived in the 19th century.
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)
Feminine form of
Claudius. It is mentioned briefly in the
New Testament. As a Christian name it was very rare until the 16th century.
Cian
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Irish, Irish Mythology, Old Irish [1]
Pronounced: KYEEYN(Irish)
Means
"ancient, enduring" in Irish. In Irish
mythology this was the name of the father of
Lugh Lámfada. It was also borne by the mythical ancestor of the Ciannachta and by a son-in-law of
Brian Boru.
Cho
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Japanese (Rare)
Other Scripts: 蝶(Japanese Kanji) ちょう(Japanese Hiragana)
Pronounced: CHO
Alternate transcription of Japanese Kanji
蝶 (see
Chō).
Cherise
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: shə-REES
Chase
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: CHAYS
From an English surname meaning "chase, hunt" in Middle English, originally a nickname for a huntsman.
Celeste
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, English
Pronounced: cheh-LEH-steh(Italian) theh-LEHS-teh(European Spanish) seh-LEHS-teh(Latin American Spanish) sə-LEST(English)
Italian feminine and masculine form of
Caelestis. It is also the Portuguese, Spanish and English feminine form.
Carter
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: KAHR-tər(American English) KAH-tə(British English)
From an English surname that meant "one who uses a cart". A famous bearer of the surname is former American president Jimmy Carter (1924-).
Carmelo
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Spanish, Italian
Pronounced: kar-MEH-lo
Spanish and Italian masculine form of
Carmel.
Carmella
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: kahr-MEHL-ə(American English) kah-MEHL-ə(British English)
Calvin
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: KAL-vin
Derived from the French surname
Cauvin, which was derived from
chauve meaning
"bald". The surname was borne by Jean Cauvin (1509-1564), a theologian from France who was one of the leaders of the
Protestant Reformation. His surname was Latinized as
Calvinus (based on Latin
calvus "bald") and he is known as John Calvin in English. It has been used as a given name in his honour since the 19th century.
In modern times, this name is borne by American fashion designer Calvin Klein (1942-), as well as one of the main characters from Bill Watterson's comic strip Calvin and Hobbes (published from 1985 to 1995).
Calum
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Scottish Gaelic
Pronounced: KAL-əm
Caleb
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, Biblical
Other Scripts: כָּלֵב(Ancient Hebrew)
Pronounced: KAY-ləb(English)
Most likely related to Hebrew
כֶּלֶב (kelev) meaning
"dog" [1]. An alternate theory connects it to Hebrew
כֹּל (kol) meaning "whole, all of"
[2] and
לֵב (lev) meaning "heart"
[3]. In the
Old Testament this is the name of one of the twelve spies sent by
Moses into Canaan. Of the Israelites who left Egypt with Moses, Caleb and
Joshua were the only ones who lived to see the Promised Land.
As an English name, Caleb came into use after the Protestant Reformation. It was common among the Puritans, who introduced it to America in the 17th century.
Cain
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Biblical, Biblical Latin
Other Scripts: קָיִן(Ancient Hebrew)
Pronounced: KAYN(English)
From the Hebrew name
קָיִן (Qayin) possibly meaning
"acquired", from the root
קָנָה (qana) meaning "to acquire, to purchase". In Genesis in the
Old Testament Cain is the first son of
Adam and
Eve. He killed his brother
Abel after God accepted Abel's offering of meat instead of his offering of plant-based foods. After this Cain was banished to be a wanderer.
Cailean
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Scottish Gaelic [1]
Pronounced: KA-lan
Means "whelp, young dog" in Scottish Gaelic. This name was borne by Cailean Mór, a 13th-century Scottish lord and ancestor of Clan Campbell.
Caelan
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: KAY-lən
Anglicized form of
Caolán (masculine) or a variant of
Kaylyn (feminine).
Cade
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: KAYD
From an English surname that was originally derived from a nickname meaning "round" in Old English.
Búi
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Old Norse [1]
Bruno
Gender: Masculine
Usage: German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Croatian, Polish, Czech, Slovak, Latvian, Germanic [1]
Pronounced: BROO-no(German, Italian, Spanish, Czech) BROO-noo(European Portuguese, Brazilian Portuguese) BRUY-NO(French) BROO-naw(Polish, Slovak)
Derived from the Old German element
brunna meaning
"armour, protection" (Proto-Germanic *
brunjǭ) or
brun meaning
"brown" (Proto-Germanic *
brūnaz).
Saint Bruno of Cologne was a German monk of the 11th century who founded the Carthusian Order. The surname has belonged to Giordano Bruno, a philosopher burned at the stake by the Inquisition. A modern bearer is the American singer Bruno Mars (1985-), born Peter Gene Hernandez.
Bruna
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, Portuguese, Croatian
Pronounced: BROO-na(Italian)
Bruce
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Scottish, English
Pronounced: BROOS
From a Scottish surname, of Norman origin, which probably originally referred to the town of Brix in France. The surname was borne by Robert the Bruce, a Scottish hero of the 14th century who achieved independence from England and became the king of Scotland. It has been in use as a given name in the English-speaking world since the 19th century, becoming especially popular in the 1940s and 50s. Notable bearers include Chinese-American actor Bruce Lee (1940-1973), American musician Bruce Springsteen (1949-), and American actor Bruce Willis (1955-). It is also the real name of the comic book superheroes Batman (Bruce Wayne), created 1939, and the Hulk (Bruce Banner), created 1962.
Bronte
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: BRAHN-tee(American English) BRAWN-tee(British English)
From a surname, an Anglicized form of Irish
Ó Proinntigh, itself derived from the given name
Proinnteach, probably from Irish
bronntach meaning "generous". The Brontë sisters — Charlotte, Emily, and Anne — were 19th-century English novelists. Their father changed the spelling of the family surname from
Brunty to
Brontë, possibly to make it coincide with Greek
βροντή meaning "thunder".
Briallen
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Welsh (Rare)
Pronounced: bri-A-shehn
Derived from Welsh briallu meaning "primrose". This is a modern Welsh name.
Branka
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Serbian, Croatian, Slovene
Other Scripts: Бранка(Serbian)
Boyka
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Bulgarian
Other Scripts: Бойка(Bulgarian)
Blanche
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French, English
Pronounced: BLAHNSH(French) BLANCH(English)
From a medieval French nickname meaning
"white, fair-coloured". This word and its cognates in other languages are ultimately derived from the Germanic word *
blankaz. An early bearer was the 12th-century Blanca of Navarre, the wife of Sancho III of Castile. Her granddaughter of the same name married Louis VIII of France, with the result that the name became more common in France.
Blanch
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: BLANCH
Blanca
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Spanish, Catalan
Pronounced: BLANG-ka(Spanish) BLANG-kə(Catalan)
Blaise
Gender: Masculine
Usage: French
Pronounced: BLEHZ
From the Roman name
Blasius, which was derived from Latin
blaesus meaning
"lisping".
Saint Blaise was a 4th-century Armenian martyr. A famous bearer was the French mathematician and philosopher Blaise Pascal (1623-1662).
Björn
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Swedish, Icelandic, German
Pronounced: BYUUN(Swedish) PYUURTN(Icelandic) BYUURN(German)
From an Old Norse byname derived from
bjǫrn meaning
"bear".
Birger
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Swedish, Norwegian, Danish
Pronounced: BIR-yehr(Swedish) BIR-gər(Norwegian)
From the Old Norse name Birgir, probably derived from bjarga meaning "help, save, rescue".
Bijou
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: French (African)
Means "jewel" in French. It is mostly used in French-speaking Africa.
Bích
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: Vietnamese
Pronounced: BIK, BIT
From Sino-Vietnamese
碧 (bích) meaning
"bluish green, cyan".
Bice
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian
Pronounced: BEE-cheh
Bibiana
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Spanish, Italian, Late Roman
Pronounced: bee-BYA-na(Spanish, Italian)
Possibly an early variant of
Viviana. Alternatively, it may be a feminine derivative of the earlier Roman
cognomen Vibianus.
Bianca
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, Romanian
Pronounced: BYANG-ka(Italian, Romanian) bee-AHNG-kə(English) bee-ANG-kə(English)
Italian
cognate of
Blanche. Shakespeare had characters named Bianca in
The Taming of the Shrew (1593) and
Othello (1603). The German singer Freddy Breck's 1973 song
Bianca boosted the name's popularity elsewhere in Europe.
Berenice
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Italian, Ancient Greek (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Βερενίκη(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: bər-NEES(American English) bə-NEES(British English) behr-ə-NIE-see(English) behr-ə-NEE-see(English) beh-reh-NEE-cheh(Italian)
Latinized form of
Βερενίκη (Berenike), the Macedonian form of the Greek name
Φερενίκη (Pherenike), which meant
"bringing victory" from
φέρω (phero) meaning "to bring" and
νίκη (nike) meaning "victory". This name was common among the Ptolemy ruling family of Egypt, a dynasty that was originally from Macedon. It occurs briefly in Acts in the
New Testament (in most English Bibles it is spelled
Bernice) belonging to a sister of King Herod Agrippa II. As an English name,
Berenice came into use after the
Protestant Reformation.
Beau
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English, Dutch (Modern)
Pronounced: BO
Means
"beautiful, handsome" in French. It has been used as a given name since the middle of the 20th century. In Margaret Mitchell's novel
Gone with the Wind (1936) this is the name of Ashley and Melanie's son.
Although this is a grammatically masculine adjective in French, it is given to girls as well as boys in Britain and the Netherlands. In America it is more exclusively masculine. It is not commonly used as a name in France itself.
Beatrice
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, English, Swedish, Romanian
Pronounced: beh-a-TREE-cheh(Italian) BEE-ə-tris(English) BEET-ris(English) BEH-ah-trees(Swedish) beh-ah-TREES(Swedish)
Italian form of
Beatrix. Beatrice Portinari (1266-1290) was the woman who was loved by the Italian poet Dante Alighieri. She serves as Dante's guide through paradise in his epic poem the
Divine Comedy (1321). This is also the name of a character in Shakespeare's comedy
Much Ado About Nothing (1599), in which Beatrice and
Benedick are fooled into confessing their love for one another.
Basil 1
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: BAZ-əl
From the Greek name
Βασίλειος (Basileios), which was derived from
βασιλεύς (basileus) meaning
"king".
Saint Basil the Great was a 4th-century bishop of Caesarea and one of the fathers of the early Christian church. Due to him, the name (in various spellings) has come into general use in the Christian world, being especially popular among Eastern Christians. It was also borne by two Byzantine emperors.
Bai
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Chinese
Other Scripts: 白, 百, 柏, etc.(Chinese)
Pronounced: PIE
From Chinese
白 (bái) meaning "white, pure",
百 (bǎi) meaning "one hundred, many" or
柏 (bǎi) meaning "cypress tree, cedar" (which is usually only masculine). Other Chinese characters can form this name as well. This name was borne in the 8th century by the Tang dynasty poet Li Bai, whose given was
白.
Ba'al
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Semitic Mythology, Biblical Hebrew [1]
Other Scripts: בַּעַל(Ancient Hebrew) 𐤁𐤏𐤋(Phoenician)
Pronounced: BAY-əl(English) BAYL(English)
Hebrew form of Semitic root
bʿl meaning
"lord, master, possessor". This was the title of various deities, often associated with storms and fertility, who were worshipped by the Canaanites, Phoenicians, and other peoples of the ancient Near East. It was particularly applied to the god
Hadad.
Azubah
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Biblical
Other Scripts: עֲזוּבָה(Ancient Hebrew)
Pronounced: ə-ZOO-bə(English)
Axelle
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French
Pronounced: A-KSEHL
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)
Means "dawn" in Latin. Aurora was the Roman goddess of the morning. It has occasionally been used as a given name since the Renaissance.
Aureole
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: AWR-ee-ol
From the English word meaning "radiant halo", ultimately derived from Latin aureolus "golden".
Aston
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: AS-tən
From a surname that was originally derived from either a place name meaning "east town" in Old English or from the given name
Æðelstan.
Ariel
Gender: 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)
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)
Aranka
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Hungarian
Pronounced: AW-rawng-kaw
Derived from Hungarian
arany meaning
"gold". It is used as a vernacular form of
Aurélia.
Annibale
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Italian
Pronounced: an-NEE-ba-leh
Angelle
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Feminine variant of
Angel.
Angelita
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Spanish
Pronounced: ang-kheh-LEE-ta
Angelique
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Dutch
Pronounced: ahn-zhə-LEEK
Angelino
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Italian, Spanish, Portuguese
Pronounced: ang-jeh-LEE-no(Italian) ang-kheh-LEE-no(Spanish)
Angeline
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French
Pronounced: AHN-ZHU-LEEN, AHN-ZHLEEN
Angelien
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Dutch
Pronounced: ahn-zhə-LEEN
Angelica
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Italian, Romanian, Carolingian Cycle
Pronounced: an-JEHL-i-kə(English) an-JEH-lee-ka(Italian)
Derived from Latin
angelicus meaning
"angelic", ultimately related to Greek
ἄγγελος (angelos) meaning "messenger". The poets Boiardo and Ariosto used this name in their
Orlando poems (1483 and 1532), where she is the love interest of both
Orlando and
Rinaldo. It has been used as a given name since the 18th century.
Ambrosio
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Spanish
Pronounced: am-BRO-syo
Spanish form of
Ambrosius (see
Ambrose).
Ambrosine
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Ambrosia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Ancient Greek [1]
Other Scripts: Ἀμβροσία(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: AM-BRO-SEE-A
Feminine form of
Ambrosios (see
Ambrose).
Ambrose
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: AM-broz
From the Late Latin name
Ambrosius, which was derived from the Greek name
Ἀμβρόσιος (Ambrosios) meaning
"immortal".
Saint Ambrose was a 4th-century theologian and bishop of Milan, who is considered a Doctor of the Church. Due to the saint, the name came into general use in Christian Europe, though it was never particularly common in England.
Ambrogio
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Italian
Pronounced: am-BRAW-jo
Italian form of
Ambrosius (see
Ambrose).
Ambrogino
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Italian (Rare)
Pronounced: am-bro-JEE-no
Ambre
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French
Pronounced: AHNBR
Ambra
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian
Pronounced: AM-bra
Amber
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Dutch
Pronounced: AM-bər(American English) AM-bə(British English) AHM-bər(Dutch)
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).
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)
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).
Alessandro
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Italian
Pronounced: a-lehs-SAN-dro
Italian form of
Alexander. A famous bearer was Alessandro Volta (1745-1827), the Italian physicist who invented the battery.
Alda 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, Portuguese, Germanic [1]
Pronounced: AL-da(Italian)
Alba 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, Spanish, Catalan
Pronounced: AL-ba(Italian, Spanish) AL-bə(Catalan)
This name is derived from two distinct names,
Alba 2 and
Alba 3, with distinct origins, Latin and Germanic. Over time these names have become confused with one another. To further complicate the matter,
alba means "dawn" in Italian, Spanish and Catalan. This may be the main inspiration behind its use in Italy and Spain.
Akamu
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Hawaiian
Aimi
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 愛美, etc.(Japanese Kanji) あいみ(Japanese Hiragana)
Pronounced: A-EE-MEE
From Japanese
愛 (ai) meaning "love, affection" and
美 (mi) meaning "beautiful". Other combinations of kanji characters are possible.
Aidan
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Irish, English (Modern)
Pronounced: AY-dən(English)
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.
Agnese
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, Latvian
Pronounced: an-NYEH-zeh(Italian) AHG-neh-seh(Latvian)
Italian and Latvian form of
Agnes.
Aerona
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Welsh
Aeron
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: Welsh
From the name of the Welsh river Aeron, itself probably derived from the hypothetical Celtic goddess
Agrona. Alternatively, the name could be taken from Welsh
aeron meaning
"berries".
Adriano
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Italian, Portuguese
Pronounced: a-dree-A-no(Italian)
Italian and Portuguese form of
Adrian.
Adriana
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Romanian, Polish, Slovak, Czech, Bulgarian, English, Dutch
Other Scripts: Адриана(Bulgarian)
Pronounced: a-dree-A-na(Italian, Dutch) a-DHRYA-na(Spanish) a-DRYA-na(Polish) ay-dree-AN-ə(English) ay-dree-AHN-ə(English)
Feminine form of
Adrian. A famous bearer is the Brazilian model Adriana Lima (1981-).
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)
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.
Aden
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: AY-dən
Adelaida
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Spanish
Pronounced: a-dheh-LIE-dha
Aaron
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, French, German, Finnish, Jewish, Biblical, Biblical Latin, Biblical Greek [1]
Other Scripts: אַהֲרֹן(Hebrew) Ἀαρών(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: EHR-ən(English) AR-ən(English) A-RAWN(French) A-rawn(German) AH-ron(Finnish)
From the Hebrew name
אַהֲרֹן (ʾAharon), which is most likely of unknown Egyptian origin. Other theories claim a Hebrew derivation, and suggest meanings such as
"high mountain" or
"exalted". In the
Old Testament this name is borne by the older brother of
Moses. He acted as a spokesman for his brother when they appealed to the pharaoh to release the Israelites from slavery. Aaron's rod produced miracles and plagues to intimidate the pharaoh. After the departure from Egypt and arrival at Mount Sinai, God installed Aaron as the first high priest of the Israelites and promised that his descendants would become the priesthood.
As an English name, Aaron has been in use since the Protestant Reformation. This name was borne by the American politician Aaron Burr (1756-1836), notable for killing Alexander Hamilton in a duel.
behindthename.com · Copyright © 1996-2024