dove's Personal Name List

Old Welsh name, possibly from the Latin name Honorius [1]. This was the name of a 6th-century Brythonic poet, also known as Neirin or Aneurin [2], who is said to be the author of the poem Y Gododdin.

Derived from the Germanic name Ercanbald, composed of the elements erkan meaning "pure, holy, genuine" and bald meaning "bold, brave". The first element was altered due to the influence of Greek names beginning with the element ἀρχός (archos) meaning "master". The Normans brought this name to England. It first became common in Scotland in the Middle Ages (sometimes used to Anglicize the Gaelic name Gilleasbuig, for unknown reasons).

From an English surname, originally taken from various place names, which were derived from a Celtic word meaning "high".

Spanish form of Balthazar. This is also the form (of Belshazzar) used in the Greek Old Testament.

Derived from the Old German element bern "bear" combined with hart "hard, firm, brave, hardy". The Normans brought it to England, where it replaced the Old English cognate Beornheard. This was the name of several saints, including Saint Bernard of Menthon who built hospices in the Swiss Alps in the 10th century, and Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, a 12th-century theologian and Doctor of the Church. Other famous bearers include the Irish playwright and essayist George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) and the British World War II field marshal Bernard Montgomery (1887-1976).

Portuguese and Spanish form of Callistus.

Italian feminine and masculine form of Caelestis. It is also the Portuguese, Spanish and English feminine form.

Short form of Clifford or Clifton.

Variant of Colum.

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.

Dutch and Low German short form of Diederik. This name was borne by several counts of Frisia and Holland, beginning in the 10th century. It was popularized in the English-speaking world by actor Dirk Bogarde (1921-1999), who had some Dutch ancestry. This is also the Scots word for a type of dagger.

Derived from Frisian dou "dove."

From the Old Norse name Finnr, which meant "Sámi, person from Finland".

Derived from Old Irish finn "white, blessed". This was the name of several Irish saints, including the founders of monasteries at Clonard and Movilla (both 6th century).

Swedish form of Hákon (see Håkon).

From the Old English name Hereweald, derived from the elements here "army" and weald "powerful, mighty". The Old Norse cognate Haraldr was also common among Scandinavian settlers in England. This was the name of five kings of Norway and three kings of Denmark. It was also borne by two kings of England, both of whom were from mixed Scandinavian and Anglo-Saxon backgrounds, including Harold II who lost the Battle of Hastings (and was killed in it), which led to the Norman Conquest. After the conquest the name died out, but it was eventually revived in the 19th century.

French form of Hippolytos.

Welsh form of Hugh.

Germanic name, originally a short form of names beginning with the element iwa meaning "yew". Alternative theories suggest that it may in fact be derived from a cognate Celtic element [2]. This was the name of saints (who are also commonly known as Saint Yves or Ives), hailing from Cornwall, France, and Brittany.

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.

German and Russian form of Cassianus (see Cassian).

Swedish form of Louis.

Spanish and Portuguese form of Maximinus.

Masculine form of Nevena.

Diminutive of Aneirin.

Norwegian and Swedish short form of Olaf.

Anglicized form of Faolán.

Form of Raphael in various languages. A famous bearer is the Spanish tennis player Rafael Nadal (1986-).

Originally a short form of Germanic names beginning with the element regin meaning "advice, counsel, decision" (Proto-Germanic *raginą).

Anglicized form of the Irish name Ruadhán. As an English name, it can also be derived from the surname Rowan, itself derived from the Irish given name. It could also be given in reference to the rowan tree, a word of Old Norse origin (coincidentally sharing the same Indo-European root meaning "red" with the Irish name).

Spanish form of Reuben.

Diminutive of Rudolf.

Anglicized form of Séaghdha, sometimes used as a feminine name.

Means "sparkle" in Old Norse. In Norse mythology this was the name of a dwarf, also named Eitri. With his brother Brokkr he made several magical items for the gods, including Odin's ring Draupnir and Thor's hammer Mjölnir.

Anglicized form of Spyros.

German and Dutch form of Stephen.

Finnish form of Stephen.

Short form of Teodoro and other names that begin with Teo. In Georgian this is a feminine name, a short form of Teona.

Czech form of Laurentius (see Laurence 1).

From the Roman family name Vergilius, which is of unknown meaning. This name was borne by the 1st-century BC Roman poet Publius Vergilius Maro, commonly called Virgil, who was the writer of the Aeneid. Due to him, Virgil has been in use as a given name in the English-speaking world since the 19th century.

This name is often encountered as a variant form of Wignand (also compare Wigand). However, it can also be a name in its own right, in which case its first element is derived from Old High German wîh meaning "holy, sacred" and its second element from Gothic nand meaning "bravery" (or from Gothic nanthjan meaning "to venture, to risk, to dare").

Known bearers of this name include the Dutch geologist Winand Staring (1808-1877), the German composer Winand Nick (1831-1910) and the Polish long-distance runner Winand Osiński (1913-2006).