EkiAku's Personal Name List
Aalis
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Medieval French
Old French form of
Alice.
Adair
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: ə-DEHR
From an English surname that was derived from the given name
Edgar.
Adelina
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Romanian, Bulgarian, Germanic (Latinized) [1]
Other Scripts: Аделина(Bulgarian)
Pronounced: a-deh-LEE-na(Italian) a-dheh-LEE-na(Spanish)
From a Germanic name that was derived from the element
adal meaning
"noble" (Proto-Germanic *
aþalaz).
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.
Aiko
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 愛子, etc.(Japanese Kanji) あいこ(Japanese Hiragana)
Pronounced: A-EE-KO
From Japanese
愛 (ai) meaning "love, affection" and
子 (ko) meaning "child", as well as other character combinations.
Aisha
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Arabic, Urdu, Hausa, Swahili, Kazakh, African American
Other Scripts: عائشة(Arabic) عائشہ(Urdu) Айша(Kazakh)
Pronounced: ‘A-ee-sha(Arabic) ie-EE-shə(English)
Means
"living, alive" in Arabic. This was the name of
Muhammad's third wife, the daughter of
Abu Bakr. Some time after Muhammad's death she went to war against
Ali, the fourth caliph, but was defeated. Her name is used more by Sunni Muslims and less by Shias.
This name began to be used in America in the 1970s, possibly inspired by Princess Aisha of Jordan (1968-), the daughter of King Hussein and his British-born wife. It received a boost in popularity after Stevie Wonder used it for his first daughter in 1975.
Aki 1
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Finnish
Pronounced: AH-kee
Aldona
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Lithuanian, Polish
Pronounced: ul-do-NU(Lithuanian) al-DAW-na(Polish)
Meaning unknown. This was the name of a 14th-century Polish queen, the daughter of a Grand Duke of Lithuania.
Alec
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: AL-ik
Alexander
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Icelandic, Hungarian, Slovak, Biblical, Ancient Greek (Latinized), Greek Mythology (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Ἀλέξανδρος(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: al-ig-ZAN-dər(English) a-leh-KSAN-du(German) a-lehk-SAHN-dər(Dutch) a-lehk-SAN-dehr(Swedish, Latin) A-lehk-san-tehr(Icelandic) AW-lehk-sawn-dehr(Hungarian) A-lehk-san-dehr(Slovak)
Latinized form of the Greek name
Ἀλέξανδρος (Alexandros), which meant
"defending men" from Greek
ἀλέξω (alexo) meaning "to defend, help" and
ἀνήρ (aner) meaning "man" (genitive
ἀνδρός). In Greek
mythology this was another name of the hero
Paris, and it also belongs to several characters in the
New Testament. However, the most famous bearer was Alexander the Great, king of Macedon. In the 4th century BC he built a huge empire out of Greece, Egypt, Persia, and parts of India. Due to his fame, and later medieval tales involving him, use of his name spread throughout Europe.
The name has been used by kings of Scotland, Poland and Yugoslavia, emperors of Russia, and eight popes. Other notable bearers include English poet Alexander Pope (1688-1744), American statesman Alexander Hamilton (1755-1804), Scottish-Canadian explorer Alexander MacKenzie (1764-1820), Russian poet Alexander Pushkin (1799-1837), and Alexander Graham Bell (1847-1922), the Scottish-Canadian-American inventor of the telephone.
Alexei
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Russian
Other Scripts: Алексей(Russian)
Pronounced: u-lyi-KSYAY
Aliya 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Arabic, Kazakh, Tatar, Urdu
Other Scripts: عليّة(Arabic) Әлия(Kazakh) Алия(Tatar) عالیہ(Urdu)
Pronounced: ‘a-LEE-ya(Arabic)
Feminine form of
Ali 1. This can also be another way of transcribing the related name
عالية (see
Aaliyah).
Aloys
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Medieval Occitan
Medieval Occitan form of
Louis.
Amber
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Dutch
Pronounced: AM-bər(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).
Andile
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: Zulu, Xhosa, Ndebele
Means "they have increased" in Zulu, Xhosa and Ndebele.
Andrea 2
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, German, Spanish, Czech, Slovak, Hungarian, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Icelandic, Dutch, Croatian, Serbian
Other Scripts: Андреа(Serbian)
Pronounced: AN-dree-ə(English) an-DREH-a(German, Spanish) AN-dreh-a(Czech, Slovak) AWN-dreh-aw(Hungarian)
Feminine form of
Andrew. As an English name, it has been used since the 17th century, though it was not common until the 20th century.
Andries
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Dutch
Pronounced: AHN-drees
Andromeda
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Ἀνδρομέδα, Ἀνδρομέδη(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: AN-DRO-MEH-DA(Classical Greek) an-DRAH-mi-də(English)
Derived from Greek
ἀνήρ (aner) meaning "man" (genitive
ἀνδρός) combined with one of the related words
μέδομαι (medomai) meaning "to be mindful of, to provide for, to think on" or
μέδω (medo) meaning "to protect, to rule over". In Greek
mythology Andromeda was an Ethiopian princess rescued from sacrifice by the hero
Perseus. A constellation in the northern sky is named for her. This is also the name of a nearby galaxy, given because it resides (from our point of view) within the constellation.
Anton
Gender: Masculine
Usage: German, Russian, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Icelandic, Dutch, Bulgarian, Ukrainian, Belarusian, Slovene, Slovak, Macedonian, Croatian, Romanian, Estonian, Finnish, Georgian, English
Other Scripts: Антон(Russian, Bulgarian, Ukrainian, Belarusian, Macedonian) ანტონ(Georgian)
Pronounced: AN-ton(German) AN-tawn(German) un-TON(Russian) AHN-tawn(Dutch) un-TAWN(Ukrainian) an-TON(Belarusian, Slovene, Romanian) AHN-ton(Finnish) AN-TAWN(Georgian) AN-tahn(English)
Form of
Antonius (see
Anthony) used in various languages. A notable bearer was the Russian playwright Anton Chekhov (1860-1904).
Aslan
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Turkish, Kazakh, Azerbaijani, Chechen, Ossetian, Circassian, Literature
Other Scripts: Аслан(Kazakh, Chechen, Ossetian) Аслъан(Western Circassian) Аслъэн(Eastern Circassian)
Pronounced: as-LAN(Turkish)
From Turkic arslan meaning "lion". This was a byname or title borne by several medieval Turkic rulers, including the Seljuk sultan Alp Arslan (a byname meaning "brave lion") who drove the Byzantines from Anatolia in the 11th century. The author C. S. Lewis later used the name Aslan for the main protagonist (a lion) in his Chronicles of Narnia series of books, first appearing in 1950.
Aziz
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Arabic, Persian, Turkish, Urdu, Uzbek, Kyrgyz, Tajik
Other Scripts: عزيز(Arabic) عزیز(Persian, Urdu) Азиз(Uzbek, Kyrgyz, Tajik)
Pronounced: ‘a-ZEEZ(Arabic) a-ZEEZ(Persian, Turkish, Tajik Persian) ə-ZEEZ(Urdu)
Means
"powerful, respected, beloved" in Arabic, derived from the root
عزّ (ʿazza) meaning "to be powerful" or "to be cherished". In Islamic tradition
العزيز (al-ʿAzīz) is one of the 99 names of Allah. A notable bearer of the name was Al-'Aziz, a 10th-century Fatimid caliph.
Bastet
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Egyptian Mythology
Pronounced: BAS-teht(English)
From Egyptian
bꜣstt, which was possibly derived from
bꜣs meaning
"ointment jar" and a feminine
t suffix. In Egyptian
mythology Bastet was a goddess of cats, fertility and the sun who was considered a protector of Lower Egypt. In early times she was typically depicted with the head of a lioness. By the New Kingdom period she was more associated with domestic cats, while the similar cat goddess
Sekhmet took on the fierce lioness aspect.
Beatriz
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Spanish, Portuguese
Pronounced: beh-a-TREETH(European Spanish) beh-a-TREES(Latin American Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese) byu-TREESH(European Portuguese)
Spanish and Portuguese form of
Beatrix.
Blair
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: Scottish, English
Pronounced: BLEHR(English)
From a Scottish surname that was derived from Gaelic
blàr meaning
"plain, field, battlefield". In Scotland this name is typically masculine.
In the United States it became more common for girls in the early 1980s, shortly after the debut of the television sitcom The Facts of Life (1979-1988), which featured a character named Blair Warner. The name left the American top 1000 rankings two decades later, but was resurrected by another television character, this time Blair Waldorf from the series Gossip Girl (2007-2012).
Brandy
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: BRAN-dee
From the English word brandy for the alcoholic drink. It is ultimately from Dutch brandewijn "burnt wine". It has been in use as a given name since the 1960s.
Bridgette
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: BRIJ-it
Camille
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: French, English
Pronounced: KA-MEE(French) kə-MEEL(English)
French feminine and masculine form of
Camilla. It is also used in the English-speaking world, where it is generally only feminine.
Cassandra
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, French, Greek Mythology (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Κασσάνδρα(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: kə-SAN-drə(English) kə-SAHN-drə(English)
From the Greek name
Κασσάνδρα (Kassandra), possibly derived from
κέκασμαι (kekasmai) meaning "to excel, to shine" and
ἀνήρ (aner) meaning "man" (genitive
ἀνδρός). In Greek
myth Cassandra was a Trojan princess, the daughter of
Priam and
Hecuba. She was given the gift of prophecy by
Apollo, but when she spurned his advances he cursed her so nobody would believe her prophecies.
In the Middle Ages this name was common in England due to the popularity of medieval tales about the Trojan War. It subsequently became rare, but was revived in the 20th century.
Cassian
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Ancient Roman (Anglicized)
Pronounced: KASH-ən(English) KAS-ee-ən(English)
From the Roman family name
Cassianus, which was derived from
Cassius. This was the name of several
saints, including a 3rd-century martyr from Tangier who is the patron saint of stenographers and a 5th-century mystic who founded a monastery in Marseille.
Cecilia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Italian, Spanish, Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, Dutch, Romanian, Finnish
Pronounced: seh-SEE-lee-ə(English) seh-SEEL-yə(English) cheh-CHEE-lya(Italian) theh-THEE-lya(European Spanish) seh-SEE-lya(Latin American Spanish) seh-SEEL-yah(Danish, Norwegian)
Latinate feminine form of the Roman family name
Caecilius, which was derived from Latin
caecus meaning
"blind".
Saint Cecilia was a semi-legendary 2nd or 3rd-century martyr who was sentenced to die because she refused to worship the Roman gods. After attempts to suffocate her failed, she was beheaded. She was later regarded as the patron saint of music and musicians.
Due to the popularity of the saint, the name became common in the Christian world during the Middle Ages. The Normans brought it to England, where it was commonly spelled Cecily — the Latinate form Cecilia came into use in the 18th century.
Cephas
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Biblical, Biblical Latin
Other Scripts: Κηφᾶς(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: SEE-fəs(English)
Means
"rock" in Aramaic. The apostle
Simon was called Cephas by
Jesus because he was to be the rock upon which the Christian church was to be built. In most versions of the
New Testament Cephas is translated into Greek
Πέτρος (Petros) (in English
Peter).
Cerise
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French
Pronounced: SU-REEZ
Means "cherry" in French.
Chiyo
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 千代, 千世, etc.(Japanese Kanji) ちよ(Japanese Hiragana)
Pronounced: CHEE-YO
From Japanese
千 (chi) meaning "thousand" combined with
代 (yo) meaning "generation" or
世 (yo) meaning "world". Other kanji combinations are possible.
Citlalli
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Nahuatl
Pronounced: see-CHAL-lee
Means
"star" in Nahuatl
[1].
Citra
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Indonesian
Pronounced: CHEET-ra
Means
"image" in Indonesian, ultimately from Sanskrit
चित्र (citra).
Connor
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Irish, English (Modern)
Pronounced: KAHN-ər(English)
Variant of
Conor, based on the usual spelling of the surname that is derived from the name. This is currently the most common way of spelling it in the English-speaking world, apart from Ireland.
Cyril
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, French, Czech, Slovak
Pronounced: SIR-əl(English) SEE-REEL(French) TSI-ril(Czech)
From the Greek name
Κύριλλος (Kyrillos), which was derived from Greek
κύριος (kyrios) meaning
"lord", a word used frequently in the Greek Bible to refer to God or Jesus.
This name was borne by a number of important saints, including Cyril of Jerusalem, a 4th-century bishop and Doctor of the Church, and Cyril of Alexandria, a 5th-century theologian. Another Saint Cyril was a 9th-century Greek missionary to the Slavs, who is credited with creating the Glagolitic alphabet with his brother Methodius in order to translate the Bible into Slavic. The Cyrillic alphabet, named after him, is descended from Glagolitic.
This name has been especially well-used in Eastern Europe and other places where Orthodox Christianity is prevalent. It came into general use in England in the 19th century.
Daina
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Lithuanian, Latvian
Means "song" in Lithuanian and Latvian.
Delilah
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Biblical, English
Other Scripts: דְּלִילָה(Ancient Hebrew)
Pronounced: di-LIE-lə(English)
Means
"delicate, weak, languishing" in Hebrew. In the
Old Testament she is the lover of
Samson, whom she betrays to the Philistines by cutting his hair, which is the source of his power. Despite her character flaws, the name began to be used by the
Puritans in the 17th century. It has been used occasionally in the English-speaking world since that time.
Deryn
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: Welsh
Possibly from the Welsh word deryn, a variant of aderyn meaning "bird".
Desta
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: Amharic
Other Scripts: ደስታ(Amharic)
Means "joy" in Amharic.
Dipali
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Hindi, Marathi
Other Scripts: दीपाली(Hindi, Marathi)
Donovan
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: DAHN-ə-vən
From an Irish surname, an Anglicized form of
Ó Donndubháin, itself derived from the given name
Donndubán. This name is borne by the Scottish folk musician Donovan Leitch (1946-), known simply as Donovan.
Drest
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Pictish
Ealisaid
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Manx
Elias
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Portuguese, German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, English, Dutch, Greek, Amharic, Biblical, Biblical Latin, Biblical Greek [1]
Other Scripts: Ηλίας(Greek) ኤልያስ(Amharic) Ἠλίας(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: i-LEE-ush(European Portuguese) eh-LEE-us(Brazilian Portuguese) eh-LEE-as(German) EH-lee-ahs(Finnish) i-LIE-əs(English) ee-LIE-əs(English) EH-lee-yahs(Dutch)
Form of
Elijah used in several languages. This is also the form used in the Greek
New Testament, as well as some English translations.
Elisaveta
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Bulgarian, Macedonian
Other Scripts: Елисавета(Bulgarian, Macedonian)
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.
Elowen
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Cornish
Means "elm tree" in Cornish. This is a recently coined Cornish name.
Emira
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Bosnian
Endzela
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Georgian
Other Scripts: ენძელა(Georgian)
Pronounced: EHN-DZEH-LA
Means "snowdrop (flower)" in Georgian (genus Galanthus).
Eoin
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Irish
Pronounced: ON
Irish form of
Iohannes (see
John) used in the Bible.
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.
Evelyn
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English, German
Pronounced: EHV-ə-lin(English) EEV-lin(British English) EEV-ə-lin(British English) EH-və-leen(German)
From an English surname that was derived from the given name
Aveline. In the 17th century when it was first used as a given name it was more common for boys, but it is now regarded as almost entirely feminine, probably in part because of its similarity to
Eve and
Evelina.
This name was popular throughout the English-speaking world in the early 20th century. It staged a comeback in the early 21st century, returning to the American top ten in 2017.
Eysteinn
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Old Norse [1][2], Icelandic
Derived from the Old Norse elements
ey meaning "island" or "good fortune" and
steinn meaning "stone".
Faizel
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Arabic
Other Scripts: فيصل(Arabic)
Pronounced: FIE-sal
Alternate transcription of Arabic
فيصل (see
Faysal).
Faron
Gender: Masculine
Usage: French (Archaic), English
French form of
Faro. As an English name, it is probably from a French surname that was derived from the given name.
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.
Felix
Gender: Masculine
Usage: German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, English, Romanian, Ancient Roman, Biblical, Biblical Latin
Pronounced: FEH-liks(German, Dutch, Swedish) FEE-liks(English) FEH-leeks(Latin)
From a Roman
cognomen meaning
"lucky, successful" in Latin. It was acquired as an
agnomen, or nickname, by the 1st-century BC Roman general Sulla. It also appears in the
New Testament belonging to the governor of Judea who imprisoned
Saint Paul.
Due to its favourable meaning, this name was popular among early Christians, being borne by many early saints and four popes. It has been used in England since the Middle Ages, though it has been more popular in continental Europe. A notable bearer was the German composer Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847).
Feri
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Hungarian
Pronounced: FEH-ree
Fionntan
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Irish
Modern Irish Gaelic form of
Fintan.
Firuza
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Tajik, Azerbaijani
Other Scripts: Фирӯза(Tajik)
Pronounced: fee-roo-ZA(Azerbaijani)
Florent
Gender: Masculine
Usage: French
Pronounced: FLAW-RAHN
French masculine form of
Florentius (see
Florence).
Freyde
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Yiddish (Rare)
Other Scripts: פֿריידע(Yiddish)
From Yiddish
פֿרייד (freid) meaning
"joy".
Fuyuko
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 冬子, etc.(Japanese Kanji) ふゆこ(Japanese Hiragana)
Pronounced: FOO-YOO-KO
From Japanese
冬 (fuyu) meaning "winter" and
子 (ko) meaning "child", as well as other combinations of kanji.
Gareth
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Welsh, English (British), Arthurian Cycle
Pronounced: GAR-əth(British English)
Meaning uncertain. It appears in this form in Thomas Malory's 15th-century compilation of Arthurian legends
Le Morte d'Arthur, in which the knight Gareth (also named
Beaumains) is a brother of
Gawain. He goes with
Lynet to rescue her sister
Lyonesse from the Red Knight. Malory based the name on
Gaheriet or
Guerrehet, which was the name of a similar character in French sources. It may ultimately have a Welsh origin, possibly from the name
Gwrhyd meaning
"valour" (found in the tale
Culhwch and Olwen) or
Gwairydd meaning
"hay lord" (found in the chronicle
Brut y Brenhinedd).
Genoveva
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Spanish, Portuguese, Catalan
Pronounced: kheh-no-BEH-ba(Spanish) zhi-noo-VEH-vu(European Portuguese) zheh-no-VEH-vu(Brazilian Portuguese) zhə-noo-BEH-bə(Catalan)
Spanish, Portuguese and Catalan form of
Geneviève.
Ginger
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: JIN-jər
From the English word
ginger for the spice or the reddish-brown colour. It can also be a
diminutive of
Virginia, as in the case of actress and dancer Ginger Rogers (1911-1995), by whom the name was popularized.
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.
Gregor
Gender: Masculine
Usage: German, Scottish, Slovak, Slovene
Pronounced: GREH-go(German) GREH-gawr(Slovak)
German, Scottish, Slovak and Slovene form of
Gregorius (see
Gregory). A famous bearer was Gregor Mendel (1822-1884), a Czech monk and scientist who did experiments in genetics.
Gwenaëlle
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French, Breton
Pronounced: GWEH-NA-EHL(French)
Gwendolyn
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: GWEHN-də-lin
Variant of
Gwendolen. This is the usual spelling in the United States.
Haizea
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Basque
Pronounced: ie-SEH-a
Means "wind" in Basque.
Halle 2
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: HAL-ee
In the case of American actress Halle Berry (1966-), it is from the name of a department store in Cleveland where she was born (the store was founded by brothers bearing the German surname Halle, a
cognate of
Hall).
Hana 3
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 花, 華, etc.(Japanese Kanji) はな(Japanese Hiragana)
Pronounced: HA-NA
From Japanese
花 (hana) or
華 (hana) both meaning "flower". Other kanji or kanji combinations can form this name as well.
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.
Hassan
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Arabic, Persian, Urdu, Malay, Dhivehi
Other Scripts: حسن, حسّان(Arabic) حسن(Persian, Urdu) ޙަސަން(Dhivehi)
Pronounced: HA-san(Arabic) has-SAN(Arabic)
Most commonly this is a variant of the Arabic name
حسن, which is typically transcribed
Hasan.
Alternatively, this spelling can represent the distinct but related Arabic name حسّان (having a doubled middle consonant and a final long vowel) meaning "beautifier, improver". Hassan ibn Thabit was a 7th-century poet who was a companion of the Prophet Muhammad.
Helena
Gender: Feminine
Usage: German, Dutch, Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, Icelandic, Portuguese, Catalan, Polish, Czech, Slovak, Finnish, Estonian, Slovene, Croatian, Sorbian, English, Ancient Greek (Latinized), Greek Mythology (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Ἑλένη(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: HEH-leh-na(German, Czech) heh-LEH-na(German, Dutch) heh-LEH-nah(Swedish, Danish, Norwegian) i-LEH-nu(European Portuguese) eh-LEH-nu(Brazilian Portuguese) ə-LEH-nə(Catalan) kheh-LEH-na(Polish) HEH-leh-nah(Finnish) HEHL-ə-nə(English) hə-LAYN-ə(English) hə-LEEN-ə(English)
Latinate form of
Helen. This is the name of the heroine of William Shakespeare's play
All's Well That Ends Well (1603).
Hua
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: Chinese
Other Scripts: 华, 花, etc.(Chinese) 華, 花, etc.(Traditional Chinese)
Pronounced: KHWA
From Chinese
华 (huá) meaning "splendid, illustrious, Chinese" or
花 (huā) meaning "flower, blossom" (which is usually only feminine). Other Chinese characters can form this name as well.
Idony
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Archaic)
Medieval English vernacular form of
Idonea.
Ime 1
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: Ibibio
Means "patience" in Ibibio.
Ina
Gender: Feminine
Usage: German, Dutch, Norwegian, Danish, Swedish, English, Slovene, Latvian
Pronounced: EE-na(Dutch) EE-nah(Swedish) EE-nə(English) IE-nə(English)
Intan
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Indonesian, Malay
Pronounced: EEN-tan
Means "diamond" in Malay and Indonesian.
Inzhu
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Kazakh
Other Scripts: Інжу(Kazakh)
Means "pearl" in Kazakh.
Iolana
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Hawaiian
Means "to soar" in Hawaiian.
Iskandar
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Arabic, Indonesian, Malay
Other Scripts: إسكندر(Arabic)
Pronounced: ees-KAN-dar(Arabic)
Arabic, Indonesian and Malay form of
Alexander.
Issy
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English
Jae 2
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: JAY
Janina
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Polish, Finnish, Lithuanian, German, Swedish
Pronounced: ya-NYEE-na(Polish) YAH-nee-nah(Finnish) yu-nyi-NU(Lithuanian) ya-NEE-na(German)
Jarred
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: JAR-əd
Jeannette
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French, English, Dutch
Pronounced: ZHA-NEHT(French) jə-NEHT(English)
Ji-Min
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: Korean
Other Scripts: 지민(Korean Hangul) 志旼, 智敏, 志珉, etc.(Korean Hanja)
Pronounced: CHEE-MEEN
From Sino-Korean
志 (ji) meaning "will, purpose, ambition" or
智 (ji) meaning "wisdom, intellect" combined with
旼 (min) meaning "gentle, affable",
敏 (min) meaning "quick, clever, sharp" or
珉 (min) meaning "jade, stone resembling jade". Other hanja character combinations are possible.
Johannes
Gender: Masculine
Usage: German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Estonian, Late Roman
Pronounced: yo-HA-nəs(German) yo-HAH-nəs(Dutch) yo-HAN-əs(Danish) YO-hahn-nehs(Finnish)
Latin form of Greek
Ioannes (see
John). Notable bearers include the inventor of the printing press Johannes Gutenberg (1398-1468), astronomer Johannes Kepler (1571-1630), painter Johannes Vermeer (1632-1675), and composer Johannes Brahms (1833-1897).
Joscelin
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Old Norman [1]
Jyotsna
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Hindi
Other Scripts: ज्योत्स्ना(Hindi)
Jyrgal
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: Kyrgyz
Other Scripts: Жыргал(Kyrgyz)
Means "happiness" in Kyrgyz.
Kacey
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: KAY-see
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.
Kaori
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 香, 香織, etc.(Japanese Kanji) かおり(Japanese Hiragana)
Pronounced: KA-O-REE
From Japanese
香 (kaori) meaning "fragrance". It can also come from an alternate reading of
香 (ka) combined with
織 (ori) meaning "weaving". Other kanji combinations are possible. It is often written using the hiragana writing system.
Kateri
Gender: Feminine
Usage: History
From the Mohawk pronunciation of
Katherine. This was the name adopted by the 17th-century Mohawk
saint Tekakwitha upon her baptism.
Katida
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Esperanto
Pronounced: ka-TEE-da
From Esperanto katido meaning "kitten", ultimately from Latin cattus.
Kira 2
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: KEER-ə
Klas
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Swedish
Pronounced: KLAHS
Kotone
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 琴音, etc.(Japanese Kanji) ことね(Japanese Hiragana)
Pronounced: KO-TO-NEH
From Japanese
琴 (koto), which refers to a type of musical instrument similar to a harp, combined with
音 (ne) meaning "sound". Other kanji combinations are also possible.
Krista
Gender: Feminine
Usage: German, English, Finnish, Estonian, Latvian
Pronounced: KRIS-ta(German) KRIS-tə(English) KREES-tah(Finnish)
Laila 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Arabic, Urdu, English
Other Scripts: ليلى(Arabic) لیلیٰ(Urdu)
Pronounced: LIE-la(Arabic) LAY-lə(English)
Lia 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, Portuguese, Catalan, Georgian, Greek, Biblical Latin
Other Scripts: ლია(Georgian) Λεία(Greek)
Pronounced: LEE-a(Italian, Greek) LEE-u(Portuguese) LEE-AH(Georgian)
Italian, Portuguese, Georgian and Greek form of
Leah.
Lily
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: LIL-ee
From the name of the flower, a symbol of purity. The word is ultimately derived from Latin lilium. This is the name of the main character, Lily Bart, in the novel The House of Mirth (1905) by Edith Wharton. A famous bearer is the American actress Lily Tomlin (1939-).
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.
Lule
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Albanian
Means "flower" in Albanian.
Lumusi
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Ewe
Means "born face down" in Ewe.
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.
Lys
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French (Rare)
Pronounced: LEES
Magdalena
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Polish, German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Lithuanian, Spanish, Catalan, Occitan, Slovene, Czech, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Croatian, Serbian, Romanian, English
Other Scripts: Магдалена(Bulgarian, Macedonian, Serbian)
Pronounced: mag-da-LEH-na(Polish) mak-da-LEH-na(German) mahgh-da-LEH-na(Dutch) magh-dha-LEH-na(Spanish) məg-də-LEH-nə(Catalan) MAG-da-leh-na(Czech) mag-də-LAY-nə(English)
Mai 2
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 舞, 麻衣, 真愛, etc.(Japanese Kanji) まい(Japanese Hiragana)
Pronounced: MA-EE
From Japanese
舞 (mai) meaning "dance" or
麻衣 (mai) meaning "linen robe". It can also come from
真 (ma) meaning "real, genuine" combined with
愛 (ai) meaning "love, affection". Other kanji or kanji combinations can also form this name.
Malalai
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Pashto
Other Scripts: ملالۍ(Pashto)
Pronounced: ma-lah-LIE
Means "sad, grieved" in Pashto. This was the name of a Pashtun woman who encouraged the Afghan forces during the 1880 Battle of Maiwand against the British.
Maria
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: Italian, Portuguese, Catalan, Occitan, German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Faroese, Dutch, Frisian, Greek, Polish, Romanian, English, Finnish, Estonian, Corsican, Sardinian, Basque, Armenian, Russian, Bulgarian, Ukrainian, Biblical Greek [1], Biblical Latin, Old Church Slavic
Other Scripts: Μαρία(Greek) Մարիա(Armenian) Мария(Russian, Bulgarian) Марія(Ukrainian) Маріа(Church Slavic)
Pronounced: ma-REE-a(Italian, German, Swedish, Dutch, Greek, Romanian, Basque) mu-REE-u(European Portuguese) ma-REE-u(Brazilian Portuguese) mə-REE-ə(Catalan, English) mah-REE-ah(Norwegian, Danish) MAR-ya(Polish) MAH-ree-ah(Finnish) mu-RYEE-yə(Russian) mu-RYEE-yu(Ukrainian)
Latin form of Greek
Μαρία, from Hebrew
מִרְיָם (see
Mary).
Maria is the usual form of the name in many European languages, as well as a secondary form in other languages such as English (where the common spelling is
Mary). In some countries, for example Germany, Poland and Italy,
Maria is occasionally used as a masculine middle name.
This was the name of two ruling queens of Portugal. It was also borne by the Habsburg queen Maria Theresa (1717-1780), whose inheritance of the domains of her father, the Holy Roman emperor Charles VI, began the War of the Austrian Succession.
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".
Matthaios
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Biblical Greek [1], Greek
Other Scripts: Ματθαῖος, Μαθθαῖος(Ancient Greek) Ματθαίος(Greek)
Form of
Matthew used in the Greek
New Testament. It is more accurately transcribed
Mattheos in modern Greek.
Mei 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Chinese
Other Scripts: 美, 梅, etc.(Chinese)
Pronounced: MAY
From Chinese
美 (měi) meaning "beautiful" or
梅 (méi) meaning "Chinese plum" (species Prunus mume), as well as other characters that are pronounced similarly.
Mel
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: MEHL
Melanie
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, German, Dutch
Pronounced: MEHL-ə-nee(English) MEH-la-nee(German) meh-la-NEE(German)
From
Mélanie, the French form of the Latin name
Melania, derived from Greek
μέλαινα (melaina) meaning
"black, dark". This was the name of a Roman
saint who gave all her wealth to charity in the 5th century. Her grandmother was also a saint with the same name.
The name was common in France during the Middle Ages, and was introduced from there to England, though it eventually became rare. Interest in it was revived by the character Melanie Wilkes from the novel Gone with the Wind (1936) and the subsequent movie adaptation (1939).
Milosh
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Macedonian
Other Scripts: Милош(Macedonian)
Alternate transcription of Macedonian
Милош (see
Miloš).
Misha
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Russian
Other Scripts: Миша(Russian)
Pronounced: MYEE-shə
Moa
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Swedish
Pronounced: MOO-ah
Possibly derived from Swedish
moder meaning
"mother". This was the
pen name of the Swedish author Moa Martinson (real name Helga Maria Martinson).
Naomh
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Irish
Pronounced: NEEW, NEEV, NEHV
Means "holy" in Irish. This name was created in the 20th century.
Natalya
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Russian
Other Scripts: Наталья(Russian)
Pronounced: nu-TA-lyə
Russian form of
Natalia (see
Natalie).
Natsumi
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 夏美, 菜摘, etc.(Japanese Kanji) なつみ(Japanese Hiragana)
Pronounced: NA-TSOO-MEE
From Japanese
夏 (natsu) meaning "summer" and
美 (mi) meaning "beautiful". It can also come from
菜 (na) meaning "vegetables, greens" and
摘 (tsumi) meaning "pick, pluck". Other kanji combinations are possible.
Neil
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Irish, Scottish, English
Pronounced: NEEL(English)
From the Irish name
Niall, which is of disputed origin, possibly connected to the old Celtic root *
nītu- "fury, passion" or the (possibly related) Old Irish word
nia "hero" [1][2]. A derivation from Old Irish
nél "cloud" has also been suggested. This was the name of a few early Irish kings, notably Niall of the Nine Hostages, a semi-legendary high king of the 4th or 5th century.
In the early Middle Ages the name was adopted by Norse raiders and settlers in Ireland in the form Njáll. The Norse transmitted it to England and Scotland, as well as bringing it back to Scandinavia. It was also in use among the Normans, who were of Scandinavian origin. A famous bearer of this name was American astronaut Neil Armstrong (1930-2012), the first person to walk on the moon.
Nizhóní
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Navajo
From Navajo
nizhóní meaning
"beautiful" [1].
Nomusa
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Ndebele
Means "merciful" in Ndebele.
Noor 1
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: Arabic, Urdu
Other Scripts: نور(Arabic, Urdu)
Pronounced: NOOR(Arabic)
Alternate transcription of Arabic/Urdu
نور (see
Nur).
Nyah
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Meaning unknown, possibly a variant of
Nia 2 or
Nia 3. This name briefly entered the American popularity charts after it was featured in the movie
Mission: Impossible 2 (2000).
Oberon
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Literature
Pronounced: O-bər-ahn(English)
Variant of
Auberon. Oberon and
Titania are the king and queen of the fairies in Shakespeare's comedy
A Midsummer Night's Dream (1595). A moon of Uranus bears this name in his honour.
Olivier
Gender: Masculine
Usage: French, Dutch, Carolingian Cycle
Pronounced: AW-LEE-VYEH(French) O-lee-veer(Dutch)
French and Dutch form of
Oliver. This is also a French word meaning "olive tree".
Ophelia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Literature, Ancient Greek [1]
Other Scripts: Ὠφελία(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: o-FEEL-ee-ə(English) o-FEEL-yə(English)
Derived from Greek
ὠφέλεια (opheleia) meaning
"help, advantage". This was a rare ancient Greek name, which was either rediscovered or recreated by the poet Jacopo Sannazaro for a character in his poem
Arcadia (1480). It was borrowed by Shakespeare for his play
Hamlet (1600), in which it belongs to the daughter of
Polonius and the potential love interest of
Hamlet. She eventually goes insane and drowns herself after Hamlet kills her father. In spite of this negative association, the name has been in use since the 19th century.
Ori
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: Hebrew
Other Scripts: אוֹרִי(Hebrew)
Means "my light" in Hebrew.
Orion
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Ὠρίων(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: AW-REE-AWN(Classical Greek) o-RIE-ən(English)
Meaning uncertain, but possibly related to Greek
ὅριον (horion) meaning
"boundary, limit". Alternatively it may be derived from Akkadian
Uru-anna meaning
"light of the heavens". This is the name of a constellation, which gets its name from a legendary Greek hunter who was killed by a scorpion sent by the earth goddess
Gaia.
Patime
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Uyghur
Other Scripts: پاتىمە(Uyghur Arabic)
Petro
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Ukrainian, Esperanto
Other Scripts: Петро(Ukrainian)
Pronounced: PEH-tro(Esperanto)
Ukrainian and Esperanto form of
Peter.
Photine
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Ancient Greek [1]
Other Scripts: Φωτίνη(Ancient Greek)
Derived from Greek
φῶς (phos) meaning
"light" (genitive
φωτός (photos)). This is the name traditionally given to the Samaritan woman
Jesus met at the well (see
John 4:7). She is venerated as a
saint by the Eastern Church.
Pinja
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Finnish
Pronounced: PEEN-yah
Means "stone pine" in Finnish.
Primrose
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: PRIM-roz
From the English word for the flower, ultimately deriving from Latin prima rosa "first rose".
Quinn
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: KWIN
From an Irish surname, an Anglicized form of Irish Gaelic
Ó Cuinn, itself derived from the given name
Conn. In the United States it was more common as a name for boys until 2010, the year after the female character Quinn Fabray began appearing on the television series
Glee.
Rainer
Gender: Masculine
Usage: German, Germanic [1]
Pronounced: RIE-nu(German)
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.
Rayen
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Mapuche
Means "flower" in Mapuche.
Rebekah
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Biblical, English
Other Scripts: רִבְקָה(Ancient Hebrew)
Pronounced: rə-BEHK-ə(English)
Form of
Rebecca used in some versions of the Bible.
Roshanak
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Persian
Other Scripts: روشنک(Persian)
Feminine form of
Roshan, used in Persian to refer to
Roxana the wife of Alexander the Great.
Royse
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Medieval English
Medieval variant of
Rose.
Ruiha
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Maori
Saira
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Urdu
Other Scripts: سائرہ(Urdu)
Possibly means "traveller" in Arabic.
Sapphire
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: SAF-ie-ər
From the name of the gemstone, typically blue, which is the traditional birthstone of September. It is derived from Greek
σάπφειρος (sappheiros), ultimately from the Hebrew word
סַפִּיר (sappir).
Sara
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Hebrew, Greek, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, French, Catalan, Galician, Romanian, German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Icelandic, Finnish, Slovene, Croatian, Serbian, Bosnian, Albanian, Macedonian, Polish, English, Arabic, Persian, Biblical Hebrew [1], Biblical Latin
Other Scripts: שָׂרָה(Hebrew) Σάρα(Greek) Сара(Serbian, Macedonian) سارة(Arabic) سارا(Persian)
Pronounced: SA-ra(Greek, Spanish, Italian, Dutch, Danish, Icelandic, Croatian, Serbian, Bosnian, Macedonian, Polish, Arabic) SA-RA(French) ZA-ra(German) SAH-rah(Finnish) SEHR-ə(English) SAR-ə(English) saw-RAW(Persian)
Form of
Sarah used in various languages.
Seisyll
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Old Welsh
Old Welsh form of
Sextilius. This name was borne by a 7th-century king of Ceredigion.
Sethunya
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Tswana
Means "bloom, flower" in Tswana, derived from thunya "to bloom".
Shiva 2
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Persian
Other Scripts: شیوا(Persian)
Pronounced: shee-VAW
Means "charming, eloquent" in Persian.
Sindri
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Norse Mythology, Old Norse [1], Icelandic
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.
Sophia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Greek, German, Ancient Greek [1]
Other Scripts: Σοφία(Greek)
Pronounced: so-FEE-ə(English) sə-FIE-ə(British English) so-FEE-a(Greek) zo-FEE-a(German)
Means
"wisdom" in Greek. This was the name of an early, probably mythical,
saint who died of grief after her three daughters were martyred during the reign of the emperor Hadrian. Legends about her probably arose as a result of a medieval misunderstanding of the phrase
Hagia Sophia "Holy Wisdom", which is the name of a large basilica in Constantinople.
This name was common among continental European royalty during the Middle Ages, and it was popularized in Britain by the German House of Hanover when they inherited the British throne in the 18th century. It was the name of characters in the novels Tom Jones (1749) by Henry Fielding and The Vicar of Wakefield (1766) by Oliver Goldsmith.
In the United States this name was only moderately common until the 1990s when it began rising in popularity, eventually becoming the most popular for girls from 2011 to 2013. A famous bearer is the Italian actress Sophia Loren (1934-).
Sylvia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish
Pronounced: SIL-vee-ə(English) SIL-vee-ya(Dutch) SUYL-vee-ah(Finnish)
Variant of
Silvia. This has been the most common English spelling since the 19th century.
Tamara
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian, Czech, Slovak, Polish, Slovene, Croatian, Serbian, Macedonian, Hungarian, English, Dutch, Spanish, Italian, Lithuanian, Georgian
Other Scripts: Тамара(Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian, Serbian, Macedonian) თამარა(Georgian)
Pronounced: tu-MA-rə(Russian) TA-ma-ra(Czech, Slovak) ta-MA-ra(Polish, Dutch, Spanish, Italian) TAW-maw-raw(Hungarian) tə-MAR-ə(English) tə-MAHR-ə(English) TAM-ə-rə(English) tu-mu-RU(Lithuanian)
Russian form of
Tamar. Russian performers such as Tamara Karsavina (1885-1978), Tamara Drasin (1905-1943), Tamara Geva (1907-1997) and Tamara Toumanova (1919-1996) introduced it to the English-speaking world. It rapidly grew in popularity in the United States starting in 1957. Another famous bearer was the Polish cubist painter Tamara de Lempicka (1898-1980).
Tea
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Croatian, Slovene, Finnish, Georgian
Other Scripts: თეა(Georgian)
Pronounced: TEH-ah(Finnish)
Tielo
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Medieval German
Timur
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Tatar, Chechen, Kazakh, Uzbek, Turkish, Russian, History
Other Scripts: Тимур(Tatar, Chechen, Kazakh, Uzbek, Russian) Төмөр(Mongolian Cyrillic)
Pronounced: tyi-MOOR(Russian) ti-MUWR(English)
From the Turkic and Mongol name
Temür meaning
"iron". This was the name of several Mongol, Turkic and Yuan leaders. A notable bearer was Timur, also known as
Tamerlane (from Persian
تیمور لنگ (Tīmūr e Lang) meaning "Timur the lame"), a 14th-century Turkic leader who conquered large areas of western Asia.
Tsubasa
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 翼, etc.(Japanese Kanji) つばさ(Japanese Hiragana)
Pronounced: TSOO-BA-SA
From Japanese
翼 (tsubasa) meaning "wing", as well as other kanji or kanji combinations with the same pronunciation.
Tuuli
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Finnish, Estonian
Pronounced: TOO-lee(Finnish)
Means "wind" in Finnish and Estonian.
Tzipora
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Hebrew
Other Scripts: צִפּוֹרָה(Hebrew)
Udane
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Basque
Derived from Basque uda meaning "summer".
Ume
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 梅, etc.(Japanese Kanji) うめ(Japanese Hiragana)
Pronounced: OO-MEH
From Japanese
梅 (ume) meaning "Japanese apricot, plum" (refers specifically to the species Prunus mume). In Japan the ume blossom is regarded as a symbol of spring and a ward against evil. Different kanji or kanji combinations can also form this name.
Undine
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Literature
Pronounced: UN-deen(English) un-DEEN(English)
Derived from Latin unda meaning "wave". The word undine was created by the 16th-century Swiss author Paracelsus, who used it for female water spirits.
Uriel
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Biblical, Hebrew
Other Scripts: אוּרִיאֵל(Hebrew)
Pronounced: YUWR-ee-əl(English)
From the Hebrew name
אוּרִיאֵל (ʾUriʾel) meaning
"God is my light", from
אוּר (ʾur) meaning "light, flame" and
אֵל (ʾel) meaning "God". Uriel is an archangel in Hebrew tradition. He is mentioned only in the Apocrypha, for example in the Book of Enoch where he warns
Noah of the coming flood.
Ursula
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Swedish, Danish, German, Dutch, Finnish, Late Roman
Pronounced: UR-sə-lə(English) UR-syoo-lə(English) UWR-zoo-la(German) OOR-soo-lah(Finnish)
Means
"little bear", derived from a
diminutive form of the Latin word
ursa "she-bear".
Saint Ursula was a legendary virgin princess of the 4th century who was martyred by the Huns while returning from a pilgrimage. In England the saint was popular during the Middle Ages, and the name came into general use at that time.
Usoa
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Basque
Pronounced: oo-SO-a
Means "dove" in Basque.
Uzoma
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: Igbo
Means "good way" in Igbo.
Uzzi
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Biblical, Biblical Hebrew [1]
Other Scripts: עֻזִּי(Hebrew)
Means
"my power" in Hebrew, a possessive form of
עֹז (ʿoz) meaning "strength, power". This is the name of several minor characters in the
Old Testament.
Vanna 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian
Pronounced: VAN-na
Vasant
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Marathi, Gujarati
Other Scripts: वसंत(Marathi) વસંત(Gujarati)
Vera 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Russian, English, German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Dutch, Portuguese, Italian, Spanish, Hungarian, Slovene, Serbian, Croatian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Belarusian, Georgian
Other Scripts: Вера(Russian, Serbian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Belarusian) ვერა(Georgian)
Pronounced: VYEH-rə(Russian) VEE-rə(English) VEHR-ə(English) VEH-ra(German, Dutch) VEH-rah(Swedish) BEH-ra(Spanish) VEH-raw(Hungarian)
Means "faith" in Russian, though it is sometimes associated with the Latin word verus "true". It has been in general use in the English-speaking world since the late 19th century.
Vincenza
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian
Pronounced: veen-CHEHN-tsa
Violetta
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, Russian, Hungarian
Other Scripts: Виолетта(Russian)
Pronounced: vyo-LEHT-ta(Italian) vyi-u-LYEHT-tə(Russian) VEE-o-leht-taw(Hungarian)
Italian, Russian and Hungarian form of
Violet.
Vivian
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish
Pronounced: VIV-ee-ən(English)
From the Latin name
Vivianus, which was derived from Latin
vivus "alive".
Saint Vivian was a French bishop who provided protection during the Visigoth invasion of the 5th century. It has been occasionally used as an English (masculine) name since the Middle Ages. In modern times it is also used as a feminine name, in which case it is either an Anglicized form of
Bébinn or a variant of
Vivien 2.
Vivienne
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French
Pronounced: VEE-VYEHN
Vlassis
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Greek
Other Scripts: Βλάσσης(Greek)
Volker
Gender: Masculine
Usage: German
Pronounced: FAWL-ku
Derived from the Old German element
folk "people" combined with
heri "army".
Wade
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: WAYD
Weston
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: WEHS-tən
From an English surname that was derived from a place name, itself from Old English
west "west" and
tun "enclosure, yard, town".
Whitney
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: WIT-nee
From an English surname that was originally derived from a place name meaning "white island" in Old English. Its popular use as a feminine name was initiated by actress Whitney Blake (1925-2002) in the 1960s, and further boosted in the 1980s by singer Whitney Houston (1963-2012).
Willow
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: WIL-o
From the name of the tree, which is ultimately derived from Old English welig.
Winfred
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: WIN-frid
Means
"friend of peace" from the Old English elements
wine "friend" and
friþ "peace". This was the birth name of the 8th-century missionary
Saint Boniface. It became rare after the
Norman Conquest, though it was revived in the 19th century.
Winona
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Sioux
Pronounced: wi-NO-nə(English)
Means
"firstborn daughter" in Dakota or Lakota. According to folklore, this was the name of a daughter of a Dakota chief (possibly
Wapasha III) who leapt from a cliff to her death rather than marry a man she hated. Numerous places in the United States have been named after her. The actress Winona Ryder (1971-) was named after the city in Minnesota where she was born.
Winter
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: WIN-tər
From the English word for the season, derived from Old English winter.
Wolfgang
Gender: Masculine
Usage: German, Germanic [1]
Pronounced: VAWLF-gang(German) WUWLF-gang(English)
Derived from the Old German elements
wolf meaning "wolf" and
gang meaning "path, way".
Saint Wolfgang was a 10th-century bishop of Regensburg. Two other famous bearers of this name were Austrian composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) and German novelist and poet Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832).
Wren
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: REHN
From the English word for the small songbird. It is ultimately derived from Old English wrenna.
Wymond
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Medieval English
Middle English form of the Old English name
Wigmund, composed of the elements
wig "battle" and
mund "protection".
Xanthe
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology, Ancient Greek [1]
Other Scripts: Ξάνθη(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: KSAN-TEH(Classical Greek)
Derived from Greek
ξανθός (xanthos) meaning
"yellow, blond, fair-haired". This was the name of a few minor figures in Greek
mythology.
Xavi
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Catalan
Pronounced: SHA-bee
Xavier
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, French, Portuguese, Catalan, Spanish
Pronounced: ZAY-vyər(English) ig-ZAY-vyər(English) GZA-VYEH(French) shu-vee-EHR(European Portuguese) sha-vee-EKH(Brazilian Portuguese) shə-bee-EH(Catalan) kha-BYEHR(Spanish) sa-BYEHR(Spanish)
Derived from the Basque place name
Etxeberria meaning
"the new house". This was the surname of the Jesuit priest
Saint Francis Xavier (1506-1552) who was born in a village by this name. He was a missionary to India, Japan, China, and other areas in East Asia, and he is the patron saint of the Orient and missionaries. His surname has since been adopted as a given name in his honour, chiefly among Catholics.
Ximeno
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Medieval Spanish
Medieval Spanish or Basque name of uncertain meaning. It is possibly a form of
Simon 1, though it may in fact derive from Basque
seme meaning "son".
Xoana
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Galician
Pronounced: SHWA-nu
Galician feminine form of
John.
Xue
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: Chinese
Other Scripts: 雪, 学, etc.(Chinese) 雪, 學, etc.(Traditional Chinese)
Pronounced: SHWEH
From Chinese
雪 (xuě) meaning "snow" or
学 (xué) meaning "study, learning, school", besides other characters pronounced similarly.
Yasmine
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Arabic, French (Modern), English (Modern)
Other Scripts: ياسمين(Arabic)
Pronounced: yas-MEEN(Arabic) YAS-MEEN(French) YAZ-min(English)
Yelena
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Russian
Other Scripts: Елена(Russian)
Pronounced: yi-LYEH-nə, i-LYEH-nə
Yessenia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Spanish (Latin American)
Pronounced: gyeh-SEH-nya
Yorick
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Literature, English, Dutch
Pronounced: YAWR-ik(English) YO-rik(Dutch)
Possibly an altered form of
Jörg. Shakespeare used this name for a deceased court jester in his play
Hamlet (1600).
Yoshi
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
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.
Yvonne
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French, English, German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish
Pronounced: EE-VAWN(French) i-VAHN(English) ee-VAWN(German) ee-VAW-nə(Dutch)
French feminine form of
Yvon. It has been regularly used in the English-speaking world since the late 19th century.
Zabel
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Armenian
Other Scripts: Զաբել(Armenian)
Pronounced: zah-BEHL(Eastern Armenian) zah-PEHL(Western Armenian)
Armenian form of
Isabel. A 13th-century ruling queen of Cilician Armenia bore this name.
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).
Zahir
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Arabic, Persian, Punjabi, Urdu, Bengali
Other Scripts: ظهير(Arabic) ظهیر(Persian) ظہیر(Shahmukhi, Urdu) জহির(Bengali)
Pronounced: dha-HEER(Arabic)
Means
"helper, supporter" in Arabic, related to
ظهر (ẓahara) meaning "to be visible, to be clear". This can also be an alternate transcription of Arabic
زاهر (see
Zaahir 1) or
ظاهر (see
Zaahir 2).
Zelda 2
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: ZEHL-də
Short form of
Griselda. This is the name of a princess in the
Legend of Zelda video games, debuting in 1986 and called
ゼルダ (Zeruda) in Japanese. According to creator Shigeru Miyamoto she was named after the American socialite Zelda Fitzgerald (1900-1948).
Zhaleh
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Persian
Other Scripts: ژاله(Persian)
Pronounced: zhaw-LEH
Means "dew" or "hoarfrost" in Persian.
Zoe
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Italian, Spanish, German, Czech, Ancient Greek [1]
Other Scripts: Ζώη, Ζωή(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: ZO-ee(English) DZAW-eh(Italian) THO-eh(European Spanish) SO-eh(Latin American Spanish)
Means
"life" in Greek. From early times it was adopted by Hellenized Jews as a translation of
Eve. It was borne by two early Christian
saints, one martyred under Emperor Hadrian, the other martyred under Diocletian. The name was common in the Byzantine Empire, being borne by a ruling empress of the 11th century.
As an English name, Zoe (sometimes with a diaeresis as Zoë) has only been in use since the 19th century. It has generally been more common among Eastern Christians (in various spellings).
Zoran
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Croatian, Serbian, Slovene, Macedonian
Other Scripts: Зоран(Serbian, Macedonian)
Zsuzsi
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Hungarian
Pronounced: ZHOO-zhee
Zvonimir
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Croatian
Derived from the Slavic elements
zvonŭ "sound, chime" and
mirŭ "peace, world". Dmitar Zvonimir was an 11th-century Croatian king.
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