Cosmicdaze's Personal Name List
Aaliyah
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Arabic, English (Modern), African American (Modern)
Other Scripts: عالية(Arabic)
Pronounced: ‘A-lee-ya(Arabic) ə-LEE-ə(English) ah-LEE-ə(English)
Feminine form of
Aali. It was popularized in the English-speaking world by the singer Aaliyah Haughton (1979-2001), who was known simply as Aaliyah. This name received a boost in popularity after she released her debut album in 1994, and also in 2001 after her untimely death in an airplane crash.
Abigail
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Biblical, Biblical German, Biblical Italian, Biblical Portuguese, Biblical Latin
Other Scripts: אֲבִיגַיִל(Ancient Hebrew)
Pronounced: AB-i-gayl(English)
From the Hebrew name
אֲבִיגָיִל (ʾAviḡayil) meaning
"my father is joy", derived from the roots
אָב (ʾav) meaning "father" and
גִּיל (gil) meaning "joy". In the
Old Testament this is the name of Nabal's wife. After Nabal's death she became the third wife of King
David.
As an English name, Abigail first became common after the Protestant Reformation, and it was popular among the Puritans. The biblical Abigail refers to herself as a servant, and beginning in the 17th century the name became a slang term for a servant, especially after the release of the play The Scornful Lady (1616), which featured a character named Abigail. The name went out of fashion at that point, but it was revived in the 20th century.
Adelaida
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Spanish
Pronounced: a-dheh-LIE-dha
Personal remark: nn Ada
Adelaide
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Italian, Portuguese
Pronounced: A-də-layd(English) a-deh-LIE-deh(Italian) a-di-LIE-di(European Portuguese) a-di-LIED(European Portuguese) a-deh-LIE-jee(Brazilian Portuguese)
Means
"nobleness, nobility", from the French form of the Germanic name
Adalheidis, which was composed of
adal "noble" and the suffix
heit "kind, sort, type". It was borne in the 10th century by
Saint Adelaide, the wife of the Holy Roman emperor Otto the Great.
In Britain the parallel form Alice, derived via Old French, has historically been more common than Adelaide, though this form did gain some currency in the 19th century due to the popularity of the German-born wife of King William IV, for whom the city of Adelaide in Australia was named in 1836.
Adelheid
Gender: Feminine
Usage: German, Dutch (Rare)
Pronounced: A-dəl-hiet(German) A-dəl-hayt(Dutch)
Adeline
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French, English
Pronounced: A-DU-LEEN(French) AD-ə-lien(English)
Personal remark: nn Ada
French and English form of
Adelina.
Aella
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Ἄελλα(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: A-EHL-LA(Classical Greek)
Means
"whirlwind" in Greek. In Greek
myth this was the name of an Amazon warrior killed by
Herakles during his quest for Hippolyta's girdle.
Ai 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 愛, 藍, etc.(Japanese Kanji) あい(Japanese Hiragana)
Pronounced: A-EE
From Japanese
愛 (ai) meaning "love, affection",
藍 (ai) meaning "indigo", or other kanji with the same pronunciation.
Aino
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Finnish, Estonian, Finnish Mythology
Pronounced: IE-no(Finnish)
Means
"the only one" in Finnish. In the Finnish epic the
Kalevala this is the name of a girl who drowns herself when she finds out she must marry the old man
Väinämöinen.
Aisling
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Irish
Pronounced: ASH-lyən
Means "dream" or "vision" in Irish. This name was created in the 20th century.
Akane
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 茜, etc.(Japanese Kanji) あかね(Japanese Hiragana)
Pronounced: A-KA-NEH
From Japanese
茜 (akane) meaning "deep red, dye from the rubia plant". Other kanji or combinations of kanji can form this name as well.
Akiyoshi
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 昭良, 章良, 明義, 明好(Japanese Kanji) あきよし(Japanese Hiragana) アキヨシ(Japanese Katakana)
Pronounced: A-KEE-YO-SHEE
From the Japanese kanji 昭 (
aki) meaning "shining" or 章 (
aki) meaning "chapter; section" combined with 良 (
yoshi) meaning "good". It can also derive from 明 (
aki) meaning "clear; bright; tomorrow" and 義 (
yoshi) meaning "justice" or 好 (
yoshi) meaning "fondness; what one likes".
Other kanji combinations are possible.
Akumi
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Japanese
Pronounced: Ah-ku-me
"The Dark"
-------------------------------------
Means "evil beauty" (aku - evil, mi - beauty)
Alfie
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: AL-fee
Alfred
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, French, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, German, Polish, Dutch, Albanian
Pronounced: AL-frəd(English) AL-FREHD(French) AL-freht(German, Polish) AHL-frət(Dutch)
Means
"elf counsel", derived from the Old English name
Ælfræd, composed of the elements
ælf "elf" and
ræd "counsel, advice". Alfred the Great was a 9th-century king of Wessex who fought unceasingly against the Danes living in northeastern England. He was also a scholar, and he translated many Latin books into Old English. His fame helped to ensure the usage of this name even after the
Norman Conquest, when most Old English names were replaced by Norman ones. It became rare by the end of the Middle Ages, but was revived in the 18th century.
Famous bearers include the British poet Alfred Tennyson (1809-1892), the Swedish inventor and Nobel Prize founder Alfred Nobel (1833-1896), and the British-American film director Alfred Hitchcock (1899-1980).
Alja
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Bosnian
Pronounced: AHL-yah
Alois
Gender: Masculine
Usage: German, Czech
Pronounced: A-lois(German, Czech) A-lo-is(German)
Aloisia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: German (Rare)
Pronounced: a-LOI-zya
Alya 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Arabic, Indonesian, Malay, Turkish
Other Scripts: علياء(Arabic)
Pronounced: ‘al-YA(Arabic)
Means "sky, heaven, loftiness" in Arabic.
Amane
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Basque
From Basque ama "mother". It was coined by the Basque writer Sabino Arana as the equivalent of the rare Spanish devotional name Maternidad.
Amity
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: A-mi-tee
From the English word meaning "friendship", ultimately deriving from Latin amicitia.
Amma
Gender: Feminine
Usage: African Mythology
The god of fertility and of rain among the Dogon of Mali and Sudan.
Anastasia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek, Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian, English, Spanish, Italian, Georgian, Ancient Greek [1]
Other Scripts: Αναστασία(Greek) Анастасия(Russian) Анастасія(Ukrainian, Belarusian) ანასტასია(Georgian) Ἀναστασία(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: a-na-sta-SEE-a(Greek) u-nu-stu-SYEE-yə(Russian) u-nu-stu-SYEE-yu(Ukrainian) a-na-sta-SYEE-ya(Belarusian) an-ə-STAY-zhə(English) a-na-STA-sya(Spanish) a-na-STA-zya(Italian) A-NA-STA-SEE-A(Classical Greek)
Feminine form of
Anastasius. This was the name of a 4th-century Dalmatian
saint who was martyred during the persecutions of the Roman emperor Diocletian. Due to her, the name has been common in Eastern Orthodox Christianity (in various spellings). As an English name it has been in use since the Middle Ages. A famous bearer was the youngest daughter of the last Russian tsar Nicholas II, who was rumoured to have escaped the execution of her family in 1918.
Angela
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Italian, German, Dutch, Romanian, Slovene, Slovak, Russian, Macedonian, Greek, Late Roman
Other Scripts: Ангела(Russian, Macedonian) Άντζελα(Greek)
Pronounced: AN-jəl-ə(English) AN-jeh-la(Italian) ANG-geh-la(German) ANG-gə-la(German) AN-gyi-lə(Russian)
Feminine form of
Angelus (see
Angel). As an English name, it came into use in the 18th century. A notable bearer is the former German chancellor Angela Merkel (1954-).
Angelina
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, English, Russian, Bulgarian, Serbian, German, Dutch, Spanish, Portuguese, Greek, Armenian
Other Scripts: Ангелина(Russian, Bulgarian, Serbian) Αγγελίνα(Greek) Անգելինա(Armenian)
Pronounced: ang-jeh-LEE-na(Italian) an-jə-LEE-nə(English) un-gyi-LYEE-nə(Russian) ang-kheh-LEE-na(Spanish)
Latinate
diminutive of
Angela. A famous bearer is American actress Angelina Jolie (1975-).
Anja
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Slovene, Croatian, Serbian, German, Dutch
Other Scripts: Ања(Serbian)
Pronounced: AN-ya(Swedish, Croatian, Serbian, German) AHN-yah(Finnish) AHN-ya(Dutch)
Form of
Anya in several languages.
Anna
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Italian, German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Estonian, Latvian, Greek, Hungarian, Polish, Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian, Czech, Slovak, Bulgarian, Armenian, Icelandic, Faroese, Catalan, Occitan, Breton, Scottish Gaelic, Biblical, Biblical Greek [1], Biblical Latin, Old Church Slavic
Other Scripts: Άννα(Greek) Анна(Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian, Bulgarian, Church Slavic) Աննա(Armenian) Ἄννα(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: AN-ə(English) AN-na(Italian, Polish, Icelandic) A-na(German, Swedish, Danish, Greek, Czech) AH-na(Dutch) AHN-nah(Norwegian, Finnish, Armenian) AWN-naw(Hungarian) AN-nə(Russian, Catalan) ahn-NAH(Armenian)
Form of
Hannah used in the Greek and Latin
Old Testament. Many later Old Testament translations, including the English, use the
Hannah spelling instead of
Anna. The name appears briefly in the
New Testament belonging to a prophetess who recognized
Jesus as the Messiah. It was a popular name in the Byzantine Empire from an early date, and in the Middle Ages it became common among Western Christians due to veneration of
Saint Anna (usually known as Saint Anne in English), the name traditionally assigned to the mother of the Virgin
Mary.
In England, this Latin form has been used alongside the vernacular forms Ann and Anne since the late Middle Ages. Anna is currently the most common of these spellings in all English-speaking countries (since the 1970s), however the biblical form Hannah is presently more popular than all three.
The name was borne by several Russian royals, including an 18th-century empress of Russia. It is also the name of the main character in Leo Tolstoy's novel Anna Karenina (1877), about a married aristocrat who begins an ultimately tragic relationship with Count Vronsky.
Annabelle
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, French
Pronounced: AN-ə-behl(English)
Variant of
Annabel. It can also be interpreted as a combination of
Anna and French
belle "beautiful".
Annelies
Gender: Feminine
Usage: German, Dutch
Pronounced: a-nə-LEES(German) ah-nə-LEES(Dutch)
Anneliese
Gender: Feminine
Usage: German, Dutch
Pronounced: A-nə-lee-zə(German) ah-nə-LEE-sə(Dutch)
Antonia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, Spanish, English, German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Dutch, Romanian, Greek, Croatian, Bulgarian, Ancient Roman
Other Scripts: Αντωνία(Greek) Антония(Bulgarian)
Pronounced: an-TO-nya(Italian, Spanish, German) an-TO-nee-ə(English) ahn-TO-nee-a(Dutch) an-TO-nee-a(Latin)
Feminine form of
Antonius (see
Anthony).
Aoi
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 葵, 碧, etc.(Japanese Kanji) あおい(Japanese Hiragana)
Pronounced: A-O-EE
From Japanese
葵 (aoi) meaning "hollyhock, althea" or an adjectival form of
碧 (ao) meaning "green, blue". Other kanji with the same reading can form this name as well.
April
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: AY-prəl
From the name of the month, probably originally derived from Latin aperire "to open", referring to the opening of flowers. It has only been commonly used as a given name since the 1940s.
Arabella
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: ar-ə-BEHL-ə
Medieval Scottish name, probably a variant of
Annabel. It has long been associated with Latin
orabilis meaning "invokable, yielding to prayer", and the name was often recorded in forms resembling this.
Unrelated, this was an older name of the city of Irbid in Jordan, from Greek Ἄρβηλα (Arbela).
Aravis
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare), Literature
Pronounced: ER-ə-vis
Aravis is a main character in C.S. Lewis'
The Horse and his Boy. She is a Tarkheena, a female member of the ruling class of the fictional empire of Calormen, located far to the south of Narnia.
The name possibly originates from this cartographic reference:
The Aravis (French: Chaîne des Aravis) is a mountain range in Haute-Savoie, eastern France. It is part of the French Prealps, a lower chain of mountain ranges west of the main chain of the Alps. Its highest summit is the Pointe Percée, at 2752m. The orientation of the Aravis is north-south, and it stretches from Cluses in the north, to Ugine in the south. The Bornes massif, sometimes considered part of the Aravis, lies to its west. The Aravis is separated from the Chablais mountains in the north-east by the Arve river valley, and from the Pennine Alps in the south-east by the Arly river valley.
Arella
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Hebrew (Rare)
Other Scripts: אראלה(Hebrew)
Pronounced: ar-EL-ə(English)
Aria 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: AHR-ee-ə
Means "song, melody" in Italian (literally means "air"). An aria is an elaborate vocal solo, the type usually performed in operas. As an English name, it has only been in use since the 20th century, its rise in popularity accelerating after the 2010 premier of the television drama Pretty Little Liars, featuring a character by this name. It is not traditionally used in Italy.
Ariel
Gender: Masculine & 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).
Arietta
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Popular Culture (Rare)
Pronounced: ahr-ee-ET-ə, ar-ee-ET-ə
Either a diminutive of
Aria 1, or from the major antagonist and God-General in Tales of the Abyss. Given after the musical term for a small song, from the Italian word "arietta."
Arja
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Finnish
Pronounced: AHR-yah
Variant of
Irja. The Finnish poet Eino Leino used it in his poem
Arja and Selinä (1916), though belonging to a male character.
Arya 1
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: Persian, Hindi, Malayalam
Other Scripts: آریا(Persian) आर्य, आर्या(Hindi) ആര്യ, ആര്യാ(Malayalam)
Pronounced: aw-ree-YAW(Persian) awr-YAW(Persian) AR-yə(Hindi) AR-ya(Hindi, Malayalam) AR-yu(Malayalam)
From an old Indo-Iranian root meaning "Aryan, noble". In India, this is a transcription of both the masculine form
आर्य and the feminine form
आर्या. In Iran it is only a masculine name.
Ashley
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: ASH-lee
From an English surname that was originally derived from place names meaning
"ash tree clearing", from a combination of Old English
æsc and
leah. Until the 1960s it was more commonly given to boys in the United States, but it is now most often used on girls. It reached its height of popularity in America in 1987, but it did not become the highest ranked name until 1991, being overshadowed by the likewise-popular
Jessica until then. In the United Kingdom it is still more common as a masculine name.
Ashlynn
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: ASH-lin
Aspen
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: AS-pən
From the English word for a variety of deciduous trees in the genus Populus, derived from Old English æspe. It is also the name of a ski resort in Colorado.
Astoria
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: as-TAWR-ee-ə
Feminine form of
Astor. This is also the name of several American towns, after the businessman John Jacob Astor.
Astrid
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, German, French, English
Pronounced: AS-strid(Swedish) AHS-tri(Norwegian) AS-trit(German) AS-TREED(French) AS-trid(English)
Modern Scandinavian form of
Ástríðr. This name was borne by the Swedish writer Astrid Lindgren (1907-2002), the author of
Pippi Longstocking. It was also borne by a Swedish princess (1905-1935) who became the queen of Belgium as the wife of Leopold III.
Asuka
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 明日香, 飛鳥, etc.(Japanese Kanji) あすか(Japanese Hiragana)
Pronounced: A-SOO-KA, A-SKA
From Japanese
明日 (asu) meaning "tomorrow" and
香 (ka) meaning "fragrance", or from
飛 (asu) meaning "to fly" and
鳥 (ka) meaning "bird". Other kanji combinations can be possible as well.
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.
Autumn
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: AW-təm
From the name of the season, ultimately from Latin autumnus. This name has been in general use since the 1960s.
Avaline
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: AV-ə-lien, AV-ə-leen
Avril
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French (Rare), English (Rare)
Pronounced: A-VREEL(French) AV-ril(English)
French form of
April. A famous bearer is the Canadian musician Avril Lavigne (1984-).
Axel
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, German, French, English
Pronounced: A-ksehl(Swedish) A-ksəl(German) A-KSEHL(French) AK-səl(English)
Axelle
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French
Pronounced: A-KSEHL
Aya 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 彩, 綾, etc.(Japanese Kanji) あや(Japanese Hiragana)
Pronounced: A-YA
From Japanese
彩 (aya) meaning "colour",
綾 (aya) meaning "design", or other kanji characters with the same pronunciation.
Ayaka
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 彩花, 彩華, 彩香, etc.(Japanese Kanji) あやか(Japanese Hiragana)
Pronounced: A-YA-KA
From Japanese
彩 (aya) meaning "colour" combined with
花 (ka) or
華 (ka) both meaning "flower". Other kanji combinations are possible.
Ayame
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 菖蒲, etc.(Japanese Kanji) あやめ(Japanese Hiragana)
Pronounced: A-YA-MEH
From Japanese
菖蒲 (ayame) meaning "iris (flower)". Other kanji or combinations of kanji can also form this name.
Ayo
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: Yoruba
Pronounced: A-YAW
From Yoruba
ayọ̀ meaning
"joy", or a short form of other names containing this element.
Ayumi
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 亜由美, 歩, etc.(Japanese Kanji) あゆみ(Japanese Hiragana)
Pronounced: A-YOO-MEE
From Japanese
歩 (ayumi) meaning "walk, step". It can also be from
亜 (a) meaning "second, Asia" combined with
由 (yu) meaning "reason, cause" and
美 (mi) meaning "beautiful". Otherwise it can be written with different combinations of kanji, or with the hiragana writing system.
Babette
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French, German, Dutch, English
Pronounced: BA-BEHT(French)
Bellamy
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (Modern)
From an English surname derived from Old French bel ami meaning "beautiful friend".
Belle
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: BEHL
Short form of
Isabella or names ending in
belle. It is also associated with the French word
belle meaning "beautiful". A famous bearer was Belle Starr (1848-1889), an outlaw of the American west, whose real given name was Maybelle.
Bessie
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: BEHS-ee
Bettie
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: BEHT-ee
Bettina
Gender: Feminine
Usage: German, Italian, Hungarian
Pronounced: beh-TEE-na(German) beht-TEE-na(Italian) BEHT-tee-naw(Hungarian)
Betty
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: BEHT-ee
Bliss
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: BLIS
Transferred use of the surname
Bliss or simply from the English word "bliss".
Blythe
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: BLIEDH
From a surname meaning "cheerful" in Old English.
Briella
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: bree-EHL-ə
Brielle
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: bree-EHL
Short form of
Gabrielle. This is also the name of towns in the Netherlands and New Jersey, though their names derive from a different source.
Brook
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: BRUWK
From an English surname that denoted one who lived near a brook.
Brooke
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: BRUWK
Variant of
Brook. The name came into use in the 1950s, probably influenced by American socialite Brooke Astor (1902-2007). It was further popularized by actress Brooke Shields (1965-).
Brünhild
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Germanic Mythology
Pronounced: BRUYN-hilt(German)
German form of
Brunhild, used when referring to the character from the
Nibelungenlied.
Brunhilda
Gender: Feminine
Usage: History
Variant of
Brunhild, referring to the Frankish queen.
Brunhilde
Gender: Feminine
Usage: German
Pronounced: bruwn-HIL-də
Byakuya
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Popular Culture
Other Scripts: 白夜(Japanese Kanji) びゃくや(Japanese Hiragana) ビャクヤ(Japanese Katakana)
Pronounced: BYA-ku-ya, bya-koo-ya
Means "white night" or "arctic night" in Japanese. It is the name of a character in the popular Japanese manga and anime, "Bleach"
Caitlin
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Irish, English
Pronounced: KAYT-lin(English)
Carla
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Catalan, English, German, Dutch
Pronounced: KAR-la(Italian, Spanish, German) KAHR-lə(English) KAHR-la(Dutch)
Carolien
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Dutch
Pronounced: ka-ro-LEEN
Carolin
Gender: Feminine
Usage: German
Pronounced: ka-ro-LEEN, KA-ro-leen
Celeste
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
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.
Charity
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: CHEHR-ə-tee, CHAR-ə-tee
From the English word
charity, ultimately derived from Late Latin
caritas "generous love", from Latin
carus "dear, beloved".
Caritas was in use as a Roman Christian name. The English name
Charity came into use among the
Puritans after the
Protestant Reformation. It is currently most common in parts of English-influenced Africa.
Charlotta
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Swedish
Pronounced: sha-LO-ta
Charlotte
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French, English, German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Dutch
Pronounced: SHAR-LAWT(French) SHAHR-lət(English) shar-LAW-tə(German) sha-LOT(Swedish) shahr-LAW-tə(Dutch)
French feminine
diminutive of
Charles. It was introduced to Britain in the 17th century. It was the name of a German-born 18th-century queen consort of Great Britain and Ireland. Another notable bearer was Charlotte Brontë (1816-1855), the eldest of the three Brontë sisters and the author of
Jane Eyre and
Villette. A famous fictional bearer is the spider in the children's novel
Charlotte's Web (1952) by E. B. White.
This name was fairly common in France, England and the United States in the early 20th century. It became quite popular in France and England at the end of the 20th century, just when it was at a low point in the United States. It quickly climbed the American charts and entered the top ten in 2014.
Chastity
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: CHAS-ti-tee
From the English word chastity, which is ultimately from Latin castus "pure". It was borne by the child of Sonny Bono and Cher, which probably led to the name's increase in popularity during the 1970s.
Chlodovech
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Germanic (Latinized) [1]
From
Chlodovechus, a Latinized form of the Germanic name
Hludwig (see
Ludwig).
Chou
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).
Chouko
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 蝶子(Japanese Kanji) ちょうこ(Japanese Hiragana)
Pronounced: CHO-KO
Alternate transcription of Japanese Kanji
蝶子 (see
Chōko).
Cindy
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: SIN-dee
Claiborne
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: KLAY-bawrn
Transferred use of the surname
Claiborne.
A notable bearer of this name is former US senator Claiborne Pell (1918-2009).
Clair
Gender: Masculine
Usage: French, English
Pronounced: KLEHR
French form of
Clarus (see
Clara).
Claire
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French, English
Pronounced: KLEHR
French form of
Clara. This was a common name in France throughout the 20th century, though it has since been eclipsed there by
Clara. It was also very popular in the United Kingdom, especially in the 1970s.
Clara
Gender: Feminine
Usage: German, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, French, Catalan, Romanian, English, Swedish, Danish, Late Roman
Pronounced: KLA-ra(German, Spanish, Italian) KLA-ru(Portuguese) KLA-RA(French) KLEHR-ə(American English) KLAR-ə(American English) KLAH-rə(British English)
Feminine form of the Late Latin name
Clarus, which meant
"clear, bright, famous". The name
Clarus was borne by a few early
saints. The feminine form was popularized by the 13th-century Saint Clare of Assisi (called
Chiara in Italian), a friend and follower of Saint Francis, who left her wealthy family to found the order of nuns known as the Poor Clares.
As an English name it has been in use since the Middle Ages, originally in the form Clare, though the Latinate spelling Clara overtook it in the 19th century and became very popular. It declined through most of the 20th century (being eclipsed by the French form Claire in English-speaking countries), though it has since recovered somewhat.
Clare
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: KLEHR, KLAR
Medieval English form of
Clara. The preferred spelling in the English-speaking world is now the French form
Claire, though
Clare has been fairly popular in the United Kingdom and Australia.
This is also the name of an Irish county, which was itself probably derived from Irish clár meaning "plank, level surface".
Clarette
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Clarity
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: KLAR-i-tee
Simply means "clarity, lucidity" from the English word, ultimately from Latin clarus "clear".
Clay
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: KLAY
From an English surname that originally referred to a person who lived near or worked with clay. This name can also be a short form of
Clayton.
Clyde
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: KLIED
From the name of the River Clyde in Scotland, from Cumbric
Clud, which is of uncertain origin. It became a common given name in America in the middle of the 19th century, perhaps in honour of Colin Campbell (1792-1863) who was given the title Baron Clyde in 1858
[1].
Consuelo
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Spanish
Pronounced: kon-SWEH-lo
Means
"consolation" in Spanish. It is taken from the title of the Virgin
Mary,
Nuestra Señora del Consuelo, meaning "Our Lady of Consolation".
Cosette
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French, Literature
Pronounced: KAW-ZEHT(French)
From French
chosette meaning
"little thing". This is the nickname of the illegitimate daughter of Fantine in Victor Hugo's novel
Les Misérables (1862). Her real name is
Euphrasie, though it is seldom used. In the novel young Cosette is the ward of the cruel Thénardiers until she is retrieved by Jean Valjean.
Curtis
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: KUR-tis
From an English surname that originally meant "courteous" in Old French.
Cynthia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, French, Greek Mythology (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Κυνθία(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: SIN-thee-ə(English) SEEN-TYA(French)
Latinized form of Greek
Κυνθία (Kynthia), which means
"woman from Cynthus". This was an epithet of the Greek moon goddess
Artemis, given because Cynthus was the mountain on Delos on which she and her twin brother
Apollo were born. It was not used as a given name until the Renaissance, and it did not become common in the English-speaking world until the 19th century. It reached a peak of popularity in the United States in 1957 and has declined steadily since then.
Czesław
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Polish
Pronounced: CHEHS-waf
Derived from the Slavic elements
čĭstĭ "honour" and
slava "glory".
Daisuke
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 大輔, etc.(Japanese Kanji) だいすけ(Japanese Hiragana)
Pronounced: DA-EE-SOO-KEH, DA-EE-SKEH
From Japanese
大 (dai) meaning "big, great" and
輔 (suke) meaning "help". Other kanji combinations are possible.
Daisy
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: DAY-zee
Simply from the English word for the white flower, ultimately derived from Old English
dægeseage meaning "day eye". It was first used as a given name in the 19th century, at the same time many other plant and flower names were coined.
This name was fairly popular at the end of the 19th century and beginning of the 20th. The American author F. Scott Fitzgerald used it for the character of Daisy Buchanan in The Great Gatsby (1925). The Walt Disney cartoon character Daisy Duck was created in 1940 as the girlfriend of Donald Duck. It was at a low in popularity in the United States in the 1970s when it got a small boost from a character on the television series The Dukes of Hazzard in 1979.
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.
Elisabet
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Catalan, Spanish, Biblical Greek [1]
Other Scripts: Ἐλισάβετ(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: eh-LEE-sa-beht(Swedish, Norwegian) eh-LEE-sa-behd(Danish) EH-lee-sah-beht(Finnish) eh-lee-sa-BEHT(Spanish)
Scandinavian and Finnish form of
Elizabeth. It is also used in Spain alongside the traditional form
Isabel.
Elisabetta
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian
Pronounced: eh-lee-za-BEHT-ta
Elisabette
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Portuguese (Brazilian, Rare), Portuguese (African, Rare)
Ella 2
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Hungarian
Pronounced: EHL-ə(English) EHL-lah(Finnish) EHL-law(Hungarian)
Elle
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: EHL
Diminutive of
Eleanor and other names beginning with
El. This name can also be given in reference to the French pronoun
elle meaning "she".
Already growing in popularity due to Australian model Elle Macpherson (1964-), this name received a boost in the United States after the release of the 2001 movie Legally Blonde featuring the main character Elle Woods. In the United Kingdom the name was already fairly common at the time the movie came out, and it actually started declining there shortly afterwards. A famous bearer is American actress Elle Fanning (1998-).
Ellie
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: EHL-ee
Diminutive of
Eleanor,
Ellen 1 and other names beginning with
El. This name became popular in the United Kingdom in the 1990s, being ranked second for girls in 2003.
Eloise
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: EHL-o-eez, ehl-o-EEZ
From the Old French name
Héloïse, which was probably from the Germanic name
Helewidis, composed of the elements
heil meaning "healthy, whole" and
wit meaning "wide". It is sometimes associated with the Greek word
ἥλιος (helios) meaning "sun" or the name
Louise, though there is no etymological connection. This name was borne by the 12th-century French scholar and philosopher Héloïse. Secretly marrying the theologian Peter Abelard at a young age, she became a nun (and eventually an abbess) after Abelard was violently castrated by order of her uncle Fulbert.
There was a medieval English form of this name, Helewis, though it died out after the 13th century. In the 19th century it was revived in the English-speaking world in the form Eloise.
Elsa
Gender: Feminine
Usage: German, Swedish, Norwegian, Icelandic, Finnish, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, English
Pronounced: EHL-za(German) EHL-sah(Finnish) EHL-sa(Italian, Spanish) EHL-sə(English)
Short form of
Elisabeth, typically used independently. In medieval German tales Elsa von Brabant was the lover of the hero
Lohengrin. Her story was expanded by Richard Wagner for his opera
Lohengrin (1850). The name had a little spike in popularity after the 2013 release of the animated Disney movie
Frozen, which featured a magical princess by this name.
Elsie
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Swedish
Pronounced: EHL-see(English)
Emi
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 恵美, 絵美, etc.(Japanese Kanji) えみ(Japanese Hiragana)
Pronounced: EH-MEE
From Japanese
恵 (e) meaning "favour, benefit" or
絵 (e) meaning "picture, painting" combined with
美 (mi) meaning "beautiful". Other kanji combinations are possible.
Emiko
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 恵美子, etc.(Japanese Kanji) えみこ(Japanese Hiragana)
Pronounced: EH-MEE-KO
From Japanese
恵 (e) meaning "favour, benefit" and
美 (mi) meaning "beautiful" and
子 (ko) meaning "child". Other combinations of kanji characters can also form this name.
Erina
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 恵里奈, 恵里菜, 恵利奈, 絵里奈, 絵梨奈, 絵理奈, 衣梨奈, 衣理那, 依里奈, etc.(Japanese Kanji) えり菜(Kanji/Hiragana)
Pronounced: EH-RYEE-NA
From Japanese 恵
(e) meaning "favour, benefit", 絵
(e) meaning "picture, painting", or 衣
(e) meaning "clothing, clothes" combined with 里
(ri) meaning "village", 利
(ri) meaning "benefit, advantage", 理
(ri) meaning "reason, logic", or 梨
(ri) meaning "pear", and finished with 奈
(na), a phonetic character, 菜
(na) meaning "vegetables, greens", or 那
(na) meaning "that, that one". Other combinations of kanji characters can also form this name.
Esmeralda
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Spanish, Portuguese, English, Albanian, Literature
Pronounced: ehz-meh-RAL-da(Spanish) izh-mi-RAL-du(European Portuguese) ehz-meh-ROW-du(Brazilian Portuguese) ehz-mə-RAHL-də(English)
Means "emerald" in Spanish and Portuguese. Victor Hugo used this name in his novel The Hunchback of Notre-Dame (1831), in which Esmeralda is the Romani girl who is loved by Quasimodo. It has occasionally been used in the English-speaking world since that time.
Etsuyo
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Japanese
Pronounced: EH-TSOO-YO
Japanese
etsu
悦 rejoice
e
1. 枝 branch
2. 恵 grace/beauty
3. 江 cove/inlet
4. 絵 picture
5. 愛 love (rare prn., but is possible and occurs in a prefecture's name)
tsu
1. 津 by the sea
2. 連 through road/ connection
3. 次 (means next, but it's usually a man's name kanji rather than fem.)
4. 都
5. 付
6. 亜 Asia
yo
代 generation
世 world
淑 gentle
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.
Euphrasie
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French
Pronounced: UU-FRA-ZEE
Eva
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, English, Czech, Slovak, German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Estonian, Danish, Icelandic, Faroese, Romanian, Greek, Slovene, Bulgarian, Croatian, Russian, Georgian, Armenian, Biblical Latin, Old Church Slavic
Other Scripts: Εύα(Greek) Ева(Bulgarian, Russian, Church Slavic) ევა(Georgian) Էվա(Armenian)
Pronounced: EH-ba(Spanish) EH-va(Italian, Czech, Slovak, Dutch, Swedish, Icelandic, Greek) EE-və(English) EH-fa(German) EH-vah(Danish) YEH-və(Russian) EH-VAH(Georgian) EH-wa(Latin)
Form of
Eve used in various languages. This form is used in the Latin translation of the
New Testament, while
Hava is used in the Latin
Old Testament. A notable bearer was the Argentine first lady Eva Perón (1919-1952), the subject of the musical
Evita. The name also appears in Harriet Beecher Stowe's novel
Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852) belonging to the character Little Eva, whose real name is in fact Evangeline.
This is also an alternate transcription of Russian Ева (see Yeva).
Ever
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: EHV-ər
Simply from the English word ever, derived from Old English æfre.
Fable
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: FAY-bel
Derived from the word for a succinct story, in prose or verse, that features animals, plants, inanimate objects, or forces of nature which are given human qualities, and that illustrates a moral lesson.
The word "fable" comes from the Latin fabula (a "story"), itself derived from fari ("to speak") with the -ula suffix that signifies "little".
Fae
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: FAY
Faith
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: FAYTH
Simply from the English word
faith, ultimately from Latin
fidere "to trust". This was one of the virtue names adopted by the
Puritans in the 17th century.
Fay
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: FAY
In part from the English word
fay meaning
"fairy", derived from Middle English
faie meaning "magical, enchanted", ultimately (via Old French) from Latin
fata meaning "the Fates". It appears in Geoffrey of Monmouth's chronicles in the name of
Morgan le Fay. In some cases it may be used as a short form of
Faith. It has been used as a feminine given name since the 19th century.
As a rarer (but older) masculine name it is probably derived from a surname: see Fay 1 or Fay 2.
Faye
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: FAY
Feliciano
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Spanish, Portuguese, Italian
Pronounced: feh-lee-THYA-no(European Spanish) feh-lee-SYA-no(Latin American Spanish) feh-lee-CHA-no(Italian)
Spanish, Portuguese and Italian form of the Roman name
Felicianus, which was itself derived from the Roman name
Felix. It was borne by a number of early
saints, including a 3rd-century bishop of Foligno.
Fergus
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Irish, Scottish, Irish Mythology, Old Irish [1]
Pronounced: FUR-gəs(English)
Means
"man of vigour", derived from the Old Irish elements
fer "man" and
guss "vigour, strength, force". This was the name of several early rulers of Ireland and Dál Riata, as well as many characters from Irish legend. Notably it was borne by the hero Fergus mac Róich, who was tricked into giving up the kingship of Ulster to
Conchobar. However, he remained loyal to the new king until Conchobar betrayed
Deirdre and
Naoise, at which point he defected to Connacht in anger. The name was also borne by an 8th-century
saint, a missionary to Scotland.
This is the Old Irish form of the name, as well as the usual Anglicized form of Modern Irish Fearghas or Fearghus.
Finley
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: FIN-lee
Variant of
Finlay. This is by far the preferred spelling in the United States, where it has lately been more common as a feminine name.
Finn 1
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Irish Mythology, Old Irish [1], Irish, English, Dutch, German
Pronounced: FIN(English, Dutch, German)
Old Irish form of
Fionn, as well as the usual Anglicized spelling (with the Irish hero's name Anglicized as Finn McCool). As a surname it is borne by Huckleberry Finn, a character in Mark Twain's novels.
Fionn
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Irish, Irish Mythology
Pronounced: FYIN(Irish) FYUWN(Irish) FYOON(Irish) FIN(English)
From the Old Irish name
Finn, derived from
finn meaning
"white, blessed". It occurs frequently in Irish history and legends, the most noteworthy bearer being Fionn mac Cumhaill, the central character of one of the four main cycles of Irish
mythology, the Fenian Cycle. Fionn was born as
Deimne, and acquired his nickname because of his fair hair. He grew all-wise by eating an enchanted salmon, and later became the leader of the Fianna after defeating the fire-breathing demon Áillen. He was the father of
Oisín and grandfather of
Oscar.
Fionnlagh
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Scottish Gaelic
Means
"white warrior", derived from Old Irish
finn "white, blessed" and
láech "warrior". An earlier form was
Findláech — this was the name of the father of the 11th-century Scottish king Macbeth.
Floor
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: Dutch
Pronounced: FLOR
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.
Florina
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Romanian, Spanish, Late Roman
Pronounced: flo-REE-na(Romanian, Spanish)
Francis
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English, French
Pronounced: FRAN-sis(English) FRAHN-SEES(French)
English form of the Late Latin name
Franciscus meaning
"Frenchman", ultimately from the Germanic tribe of the Franks, who were named for a type of spear that they used (Proto-Germanic *
frankô). This name was borne by the 13th-century
Saint Francis of Assisi, who was originally named Giovanni but was given the nickname Francesco by his father, an admirer of the French. Francis went on to renounce his father's wealth and devote his life to the poor, founding the Franciscan order of friars. Later in his life he apparently received the stigmata.
Due to the renown of the saint, this name became widespread in Western Europe during the Middle Ages. However, it was not regularly used in Britain until the 16th century. Famous bearers include Saint Francis Xavier (1506-1552), a missionary to East Asia, the philosopher and scientist Francis Bacon (1561-1626), the explorer and admiral Francis Drake (1540-1595), and Pope Francis (1936-).
In the English-speaking world this name is occasionally used for girls, as a variant of the homophone Frances.
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.
Gabriella
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, Hungarian, English, Swedish
Pronounced: ga-bree-EHL-la(Italian) GAWB-ree-ehl-law(Hungarian) ga-bree-EHL-ə(English) gah-bree-EHL-lah(Swedish)
Gabrielle
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French, English
Pronounced: GA-BREE-YEHL(French) gab-ree-EHL(English)
French feminine form of
Gabriel. This was the real name of French fashion designer Coco Chanel (1883-1971).
Gay
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: GAY
From the English word gay meaning "gay, happy". By the mid-20th century the word had acquired the additional meaning of "homosexual", and the name has subsequently dropped out of use.
Georgette
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French
Pronounced: ZHAWR-ZHEHT
French feminine form of
George.
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.
Gracia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Spanish
Pronounced: GRA-thya(European Spanish) GRA-sya(Latin American Spanish)
Gracie
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: GRAY-see
Graeme
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Scottish, English
Pronounced: GRAY-əm(English) GRAM(English)
From a surname that was a variant of
Graham. This particular spelling for the given name has been most common in Scotland, New Zealand and Australia.
Grant
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, Scottish
Pronounced: GRANT(English)
From an English and Scottish surname that was derived from Norman French grand meaning "great, large". A famous bearer of the surname was Ulysses Grant (1822-1885), the commander of the Union forces during the American Civil War who later served as president. In America the name has often been given in his honour.
Griffin
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: GRIF-in
Latinized form of
Gruffudd. This name can also be inspired by the English word
griffin, a creature with the body of a lion and the head and wings of an eagle, ultimately from Greek
γρύψ (gryps).
Griselda
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Spanish, Literature
Pronounced: gri-ZEHL-də(English) gree-SEHL-da(Spanish)
Possibly derived from the Old German elements
gris "grey" and
hilt "battle". It is not attested as a Germanic name. This was the name of a patient wife in medieval folklore, adapted into tales by Boccaccio (in
The Decameron) and Chaucer (in
The Canterbury Tales).
Gwendoline
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Welsh, English (British), French
Pronounced: GWEHN-də-lin(British English) GWEHN-DAW-LEEN(French)
Gwendolyn
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: GWEHN-də-lin
Variant of
Gwendolen. This is the usual spelling in the United States.
Hachirou
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 八郎, etc.(Japanese Kanji) はちろう(Japanese Hiragana)
Pronounced: HA-CHEE-RO
Alternate transcription of Japanese Kanji
八郎 (see
Hachirō).
Hank
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: HANGK
Originally a short form of
Hankin, which was a medieval
diminutive of
John. Since the 17th century in the United States this name has also been used as a diminutive of
Henry, probably under the influence of the Dutch diminutive
Henk. A famous bearer is the American former baseball player Hank Aaron (1934-2021).
Harper
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: HAHR-pər
From an English surname that originally belonged to a person who played or made harps (Old English hearpe). A notable bearer was the American author Harper Lee (1926-2016), who wrote To Kill a Mockingbird. It rapidly gained popularity in the 2000s and 2010s, entering the American top ten for girls in 2015.
Harry
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: HAR-ee, HEHR-ee
Medieval English form of
Henry. In modern times it is used as a
diminutive of both
Henry and names beginning with
Har. Famous bearers include the American president Harry S. Truman (1884-1972), who was named after his uncle Harrison, and the British royal Prince Harry (1984-), who is actually named Henry. It is also the name of the boy wizard in J. K. Rowling's
Harry Potter series of books, first released in 1997.
Haruhi
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: Japanese, Popular Culture
Other Scripts: 晴日, 晴妃, 晴姫, 陽日, 陽妃, 陽姫, 春日, 春妃, 春姫, 遥日, 遥妃, 遥姫(Japanese Kanji) はるひ(Japanese Hiragana) ハルヒ(Japanese Katakana)
Pronounced: HA-ROO-KHEE(Japanese)
This name can be used to combine 晴 (sei, ha.re, haru) meaning "clear up," 陽 (you, hi) meaning "positive, sunshine, yang principle," 春 (shun, haru) meaning "spring(time)" or 遥 (you, haru.ka) meaning "distant" with 日 (jitsu, nichi, -ka, hi, -bi) meaning "day, sun," 妃 (hi, kisaki, ki) meaning "empress, queen" or 姫 (ki, hime, hime-) meaning "princess" (the last two kanji used for girls).
When used as 春日, it is also a word that refers to a spring day or otherwise spring sunlight (also transcribed as shunjitsu).
Bearers of this name include, in real life, music artist Haruhi Aiso (相曽 晴日) (1964-) and voice actress Haruhi Nanao (七緒 はるひ), formerly Haruhi Terada (寺田 はるひ) (1973-) and, in fictional media, main characters Haruhi Fujioka (藤岡 ハルヒ) and Haruhi Suzumiya (涼宮 ハルヒ) from the Ouran High School Host Club and Haruhi Suzumiya franchises respectively.
Haruko
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 春子, 陽子, etc.(Japanese Kanji) はるこ(Japanese Hiragana)
Pronounced: HA-ROO-KO
From Japanese
春 (haru) meaning "spring" or
陽 (haru) meaning "light, sun, male" combined with
子 (ko) meaning "child", as well as other kanji combinations.
Haruna 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 晴菜, 遥菜, 春菜, etc.(Japanese Kanji) はるな(Japanese Hiragana)
Pronounced: HA-ROO-NA
From Japanese
晴 (haru) meaning "clear weather",
遥 (haru) meaning "distant, remote" or
春 (haru) meaning "spring" combined with
菜 (na) meaning "vegetables, greens". Other kanji combinations are possible.
Hattie
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: HAT-ee
Hedwig
Gender: Feminine
Usage: German, Dutch
Pronounced: HEHT-vikh(German)
From the Old German name
Hadewig, derived from the Old German elements
hadu "battle, combat" and
wig "war". This was the name of a 13th-century German
saint, the wife of the Polish duke Henry the Bearded. It was subsequently borne by a 14th-century Polish queen (usually known by her Polish name
Jadwiga) who is now also regarded as a saint.
Heidi
Gender: Feminine
Usage: German, Norwegian, Danish, Swedish, Finnish, English
Pronounced: HIE-dee(German, English) HAY-dee(Finnish)
German
diminutive of
Adelheid. This is the name of the title character in the children's novel
Heidi (1880) by the Swiss author Johanna Spyri. The name began to be used in the English-speaking world shortly after the 1937 release of the movie adaptation, which starred Shirley Temple.
Heike
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: Low German, German
Pronounced: HIE-kə(Low German)
Heinrich
Gender: Masculine
Usage: German, Germanic [1]
Pronounced: HIEN-rikh(German)
German form of
Henry. This was the name of several German kings.
Helewidis
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Germanic (Latinized) [1]
Henriëtte
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Dutch
Pronounced: hehn-ree-EH-tə
Henriette
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French, German, Dutch, Danish, Norwegian
Pronounced: AHN-RYEHT(French) hehn-ree-EH-tə(German, Dutch) hehn-ree-EH-də(Danish) hehn-ree-EHT-teh(Norwegian)
Henry
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: HEHN-ree
From the Germanic name
Heimirich meaning
"home ruler", composed of the elements
heim "home" and
rih "ruler". It was later commonly spelled
Heinrich, with the spelling altered due to the influence of other Germanic names like
Haganrich, in which the first element is
hag "enclosure".
Heinrich was popular among continental royalty, being the name of seven German kings, starting with the 10th-century Henry I the Fowler (the first of the Saxon kings), and four French kings. In France it was usually rendered Henri from the Latin form Henricus.
The Normans introduced the French form to England, and it was subsequently used by eight kings, ending with the infamous Henry VIII in the 16th century. During the later Middle Ages it was fairly popular, and was generally rendered as Harry or Herry in English pronunciation. Notable bearers include arctic naval explorer Henry Hudson (1570-1611), American-British novelist Henry James (1843-1916), American automobile manufacturer Henry Ford (1863-1947), and American actor Henry Fonda (1905-1982).
Hikari
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 光, etc.(Japanese Kanji) ひかり(Japanese Hiragana)
Pronounced: KHEE-KA-REE
From Japanese
光 (hikari) meaning "light". Other kanji can also form this name. It is often written with the hiragana writing system.
Hikaru
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 光, 輝, etc.(Japanese Kanji) ひかる(Japanese Hiragana)
Pronounced: KHEE-KA-ROO
From Japanese
光 (hikaru) meaning "light" or
輝 (hikaru) meaning "brightness". Other kanji can also form this name.
Hilda
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Spanish, Hungarian, Anglo-Saxon (Latinized), Germanic [1]
Pronounced: HIL-də(English) HIL-da(German, Dutch) EEL-da(Spanish) HEEL-daw(Hungarian)
Originally a short form of names containing the Old Frankish element
hildi, Old High German
hilt, Old English
hild meaning
"battle" (Proto-Germanic *
hildiz). The short form was used for both Old English and continental Germanic names.
Saint Hilda (or Hild) of Whitby was a 7th-century English saint and abbess. The name became rare in England during the later Middle Ages, but was revived in the 19th century.
Hilde
Gender: Feminine
Usage: German, Dutch, Norwegian
Pronounced: HIL-də(German, Dutch)
German, Dutch and Norwegian variant of
Hilda.
Hildegard
Gender: Feminine
Usage: German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Germanic [1]
Pronounced: HIL-də-gart(German)
Derived from the Old German elements
hilt "battle" and
gart "enclosure, yard". This was the name of the second wife of
Charlemagne (8th century). Also,
Saint Hildegard was a 12th-century mystic from Bingen in Germany who was famous for her writings and poetry and also for her prophetic visions.
Hildegarde
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French (Rare)
Pronounced: EEL-DU-GARD
Hina
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 陽菜, 日菜, etc.(Japanese Kanji) ひな(Japanese Hiragana)
Pronounced: KHEE-NA
From Japanese
陽 (hi) meaning "light, sun" or
日 (hi) meaning "sun, day" combined with
菜 (na) meaning "vegetables, greens". Other kanji combinations are possible.
Hinoiri
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Japanese
Means "sunset" in Japanese.
Hiraku
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 拓, etc.(Japanese Kanji) ひらく(Japanese Hiragana)
Pronounced: KHEE-RA-KOO
From Japanese
拓 (hiraku) meaning "expand, open, support". Other kanji can also form this name.
Hiroko
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 寛子, 裕子, 浩子, 弘子, etc.(Japanese Kanji) ひろこ(Japanese Hiragana)
Pronounced: KHEE-RO-KO
From Japanese
寛 (hiro) meaning "tolerant, generous",
裕 (hiro) meaning "abundant" or
浩 (hiro) meaning "prosperous" combined with
子 (ko) meaning "child". Other kanji combinations are possible.
Hiroshi
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 寛, 浩, 裕, 博, etc.(Japanese Kanji) ひろし(Japanese Hiragana)
Pronounced: KHEE-RO-SHEE
From Japanese
寛 (hiroshi) meaning "tolerant, generous",
浩 (hiroshi) meaning "prosperous", or other kanji and kanji combinations that are read the same way.
Hiroto
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 大翔, 博人, 博斗, 浩人, 寛人, etc.(Japanese Kanji) ひろと(Japanese Hiragana)
Pronounced: KHEE-RO-TO
From Japanese
大 (hiro) meaning "big, great" or
博 (hiro) meaning "command, esteem" combined with
人 (to) meaning "person",
翔 (to) meaning "soar, glide" or
斗 (to), which refers to a Chinese constellation. Other kanji combinations can also form this name.
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.
Hollie
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: HAHL-ee
Hoshi
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 星, etc.(Japanese Kanji) ほし(Japanese Hiragana)
Pronounced: HO-SHEE
From Japanese
星 (hoshi) meaning "star" or other kanji with the same pronunciation.
Hoshiko
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 星子, etc.(Japanese Kanji) ほしこ(Japanese Hiragana)
Pronounced: HO-SHEE-KO, HO-SHKO
From Japanese
星 (hoshi) meaning "star" and
子 (ko) meaning "child". Other kanji combinations are possible.
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.
Ishild
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Germanic (Hypothetical)
Germanic name, a hypothetical early form of
Iseult.
Izayoi
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: Japanese
sixteen-day-old moon
James
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, Biblical
Pronounced: JAYMZ(English)
English form of the Late Latin name
Iacomus, a variant of the Biblical Latin form
Iacobus, from the Hebrew name
Yaʿaqov (see
Jacob). This was the name of two apostles in the
New Testament. The first was
Saint James the Greater, the apostle
John's brother, who was beheaded under Herod Agrippa in the Book of Acts. The second was James the Lesser, son of
Alphaeus. Another James (known as James the Just) is also mentioned in the Bible as being the brother of
Jesus.
This name has been used in England since the 13th century, though it became more common in Scotland where it was borne by several kings. In the 17th century the Scottish king James VI inherited the English throne, becoming the first ruler of all Britain, and the name grew much more popular. In American name statistics (recorded since 1880) this name has never been out of the top 20, making it arguably the era's most consistently popular name. It was the top ranked name for boys in the United States from 1940 to 1952.
Famous bearers include the English explorer James Cook (1728-1779), the Scottish inventor James Watt (1736-1819), and the Irish novelist and poet James Joyce (1882-1941). This name has also been borne by six American presidents. A notable fictional bearer is the British spy James Bond, created by author Ian Fleming in 1953.
Janetta
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: jə-NEHT-ə
Elaborated form of
Janet.
Jannik
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Danish
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.
Jessie 2
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: JEHS-ee
Jet
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Dutch
Pronounced: YEHT
Jimmy
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: JIM-ee
Diminutive of
James. This was the usual name of American actor James Stewart (1908-1997). It is also used by the former American president Jimmy Carter (1924-).
Jody
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: JO-dee
Diminutive of
Josephine,
Joseph,
Joanna and other names beginning with
Jo. It was popularized by the young hero (a boy) in Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings' novel
The Yearling (1938) and the subsequent film adaptation (1946). As a feminine name, it probably received an assist from the similar-sounding name
Judy, which was at the height of its American popularity when Jody was rising.
Jonas 2
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, German, Dutch, French, Biblical
Other Scripts: Ἰωνᾶς(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: YOO-nas(Swedish) YO-nas(German) YO-nahs(Dutch) JO-nəs(English)
From
Ἰωνᾶς (Ionas), the Greek form of
Jonah. This spelling is used in some English translations of the
New Testament.
Julia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Dutch, Spanish, Polish, Finnish, Estonian, Russian, Ukrainian, Ancient Roman, Biblical
Other Scripts: Юлия(Russian) Юлія(Ukrainian)
Pronounced: JOO-lee-ə(English) YOO-lya(German, Danish, Polish) YOO-lee-ah(Swedish, Finnish) YUY-lee-a(Dutch) KHOO-lya(Spanish) YOO-lyi-yə(Russian) YOO-lee-a(Latin)
Feminine form of the Roman family name
Julius. Among the notable women from this family were Julia Augusta (also known as Livia Drusilla), the wife of Emperor
Augustus, and Julia the Elder, the daughter of Augustus and the wife of
Tiberius. A person by this name has a brief mention in the
New Testament. It was also borne by a few early
saints and martyrs, including the patron saint of Corsica. Additionally, Shakespeare used it in his comedy
The Two Gentlemen of Verona (1594).
It has been common as a given name in the English-speaking world only since the 18th century. A famous modern bearer is American actress Julia Roberts (1967-).
Julianna
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Hungarian, Polish, English
Pronounced: YOO-lee-awn-naw(Hungarian) yoo-LYAN-na(Polish) joo-lee-AN-ə(English) joo-lee-AHN-ə(English)
Feminine form of
Iulianus (see
Julian). It can also be considered a combination of
Julia and
Anna.
Julie
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French, Danish, Norwegian, Czech, English, German, Dutch
Pronounced: ZHUY-LEE(French) YOO-lyə(Danish, German) YOO-li-yeh(Czech) JOO-lee(English)
French, Danish, Norwegian and Czech form of
Julia. It has spread to many other regions as well. It has been common in the English-speaking world since the early 20th century.
Juliet
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: joo-lee-EHT, JOOL-yət
Anglicized form of
Giulietta or
Juliette. This spelling was used for the ill-fated lover of
Romeo in the play
Romeo and Juliet (1596) by William Shakespeare. Shakespeare based his story on earlier Italian tales such as
Giulietta e Romeo (1524) by Luigi Da Porto.
Julietta
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare), Polish (Rare), Hungarian
Polish and Hungarian form and English elaboration of
Juliet.
Juliette
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French
Pronounced: ZHUY-LYEHT
Julika
Gender: Feminine
Usage: German, Literature, Estonian, Croatian, Serbian, Hungarian, Slovene
Pronounced: YOO-lee-ka(German)
Hungarian and Slovene diminutive of
Julia. Swiss author Max Frisch used this name on one of his characters in his novel 'I'm not Stiller', published in 1954.
Julius
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Ancient Roman, English, German, Finnish, Lithuanian, Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, Dutch, Czech
Pronounced: YOO-lee-oos(Latin, Swedish) JOO-lee-əs(English) YOO-lee-uws(German) YOO-leews(Finnish) YUW-lyuws(Lithuanian) YOO-lyoos(Danish) YUY-lee-uys(Dutch) YOO-li-yuws(Czech)
From a Roman family name that was possibly derived from Greek
ἴουλος (ioulos) meaning
"downy-bearded". Alternatively, it could be related to the name of the Roman god
Jupiter. This was a prominent patrician family of Rome, who claimed descent from the mythological Julus, son of
Aeneas. Its most notable member was Gaius Julius Caesar, who gained renown as a military leader for his clever conquest of Gaul. After a civil war he became the dictator of the Roman Republic, but was eventually stabbed to death in the senate.
Although this name was borne by several early saints, including a pope, it was rare during the Middle Ages. It was revived in Italy and France during the Renaissance, and was subsequently imported to England.
Juniper
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: JOON-i-pər
From the English word for the type of tree, derived ultimately from Latin iuniperus.
Juno
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Roman Mythology
Pronounced: YOO-no(Latin) JOO-no(English)
Meaning unknown, possibly related to an Indo-European root meaning
"young", or possibly of Etruscan origin. In Roman
mythology Juno was the wife of
Jupiter and the queen of the heavens. She was the protectress of marriage and women, and was also the goddess of finance.
Kaede
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 楓, etc.(Japanese Kanji) かえで(Japanese Hiragana)
Pronounced: KA-EH-DEH
From Japanese
楓 (kaede) meaning "maple" or other kanji that are pronounced the same way.
Kagome
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: Japanese, Popular Culture
Other Scripts: 籠目, 香籠(Japanese Kanji) かごめ(Japanese Hiragana)
From Japanese kanji 籠目 (
kagome) that indicates the shape of the holes in a traditional basket (hexagon), the woven material and the basket itself which was often used as a birdcage. Kagome can derive also from 香籠 (
kagome) an obsolete combination meaning "fragrance; incense".
Other kanji combinations are possible.
Kagome Kagome (かごめかごめ, or 籠目籠目) is a Japanese children's game and the song associated with it.
Kagome Higurashi is the main character in the famous franchise 'Inuyasha'. Her name was referred to the caged bird in the traditional song.
Kai
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: Navajo
Means "willow" or "hazel" in Navajo.
Kaisa
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Finnish, Estonian
Pronounced: KIE-sah(Finnish)
Kaiser
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Various
German form of the Roman title
Caesar (see
Caesar). It is not used as a given name in Germany itself.
Kaja 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Norwegian, Danish, Swedish, Estonian, Slovene
Pronounced: KA-ya(Swedish) KAH-yah(Estonian)
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.
Karl
Gender: Masculine
Usage: German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Icelandic, English, Finnish, Estonian, Germanic, Old Norse [1]
Pronounced: KARL(German) KAHL(Swedish, Danish) KAHRL(English, Finnish)
German and Scandinavian form of
Charles. This was the name of seven rulers of the Franks and the Holy Roman Empire. It was also borne by a beatified emperor of Austria (1887-1922), as well as ten kings of Sweden. Other famous bearers include the German philosophers Karl Marx (1818-1883), one of the developers of communism, and Karl Jaspers (1883-1969), an existentialist and psychiatrist.
Karla
Gender: Feminine
Usage: German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Czech, Croatian, English
Pronounced: KAR-la(German, Czech) KAHR-lə(English)
Katarina
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, German, Croatian, Serbian, Slovene, Sorbian
Other Scripts: Катарина(Serbian)
Pronounced: ka-ta-REE-na(Swedish, German)
Kayla
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: KAY-lə
Combination of the popular phonetic elements
kay and
la. Use of the name greatly increased after 1982 when the character Kayla Brady began appearing on the American soap opera
Days of Our Lives [1].
Kazuko
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 一子, 和子, etc.(Japanese Kanji) かずこ(Japanese Hiragana)
Pronounced: KA-ZOO-KO
From Japanese
一 (kazu) meaning "one" or
和 (kazu) meaning "harmony, peace" combined with
子 (ko) meaning "child". This name can also be formed from other kanji combinations.
Kei
Gender: Masculine
Usage: West Frisian, North Frisian
Pronounced: KIE(West Frisian)
Keiko
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 慶子, 敬子, 啓子, 恵子, etc.(Japanese Kanji) けいこ(Japanese Hiragana)
Pronounced: KEH-KO
From Japanese
慶 (kei) meaning "celebration",
敬 (kei) meaning "respect",
啓 (kei) meaning "open, begin" or
恵 (kei) meaning "favour, benefit" combined with
子 (ko) meaning "child". Other kanji combinations are possible.
Kendra
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: KEHN-drə
Keoni
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Hawaiian
Kikyō
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Japanese (Rare)
Other Scripts: 桔梗(Japanese Kanji) ききょう(Japanese Hiragana) キキョウ(Japanese Katakana)
From the Japanese kanji 桔梗 (
kikyō) referred to the flower known as
Platycodon grandiflorus. Traditionally, it is one of the Seven Autumn Flowers.
Other kanji combinations are possible.
Kiyoko
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 清子, 聖子, etc.(Japanese Kanji) きよこ(Japanese Hiragana)
Pronounced: KYEE-YO-KO
From Japanese
清 (kiyo) meaning "clear, pure, clean" or
聖 (kiyo) meaning "holy" and
子 (ko) meaning "child". This name can also be formed from other combinations of kanji characters.
Kiyoshi
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 清, 淳, etc.(Japanese Kanji) きよし(Japanese Hiragana)
Pronounced: KYEE-YO-SHEE
From Japanese
清 (kiyoshi) or
淳 (kiyoshi) both meaning "pure". Other kanji or kanji combinations can also form this name.
Klaas
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Dutch, Low German
Pronounced: KLAS(Dutch)
Dutch and Low German short form of
Nicholas.
Klara
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Icelandic, German, Russian, Ukrainian, Polish, Slovene, Croatian
Other Scripts: Клара(Russian, Ukrainian)
Pronounced: KLA-ra(German, Polish) KLA-rə(Russian)
Form of
Clara in various languages.
Klaus
Gender: Masculine
Usage: German, Danish, Norwegian, Finnish
Pronounced: KLOWS(German, Finnish)
German short form of
Nicholas, now used independently.
Konrad
Gender: Masculine
Usage: German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Polish, Slovene
Pronounced: KAWN-rat(German, Polish)
German, Scandinavian, Polish and Slovene form of
Conrad.
Kriemhild
Gender: Feminine
Usage: German (Rare), Germanic Mythology
Pronounced: KREEM-hilt(German)
Derived from the Old German elements
grimo "mask" and
hilt "battle". Kriemhild was a beautiful heroine in the medieval German saga the
Nibelungenlied, where she is the sister of
Gunther and the wife of
Siegfried. After her husband is killed by
Hagen with the consent of Gunther, Kriemhild tragically exacts her revenge. She is called
Gudrun in Norse versions of the tale.
Kurt
Gender: Masculine
Usage: German, English, Swedish, Danish, Norwegian
Pronounced: KUWRT(German) KURT(English)
German contracted form of
Conrad. A famous bearer was the American musician Kurt Cobain (1967-1994).
Kurtis
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: KUR-tis
Lake
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: LAYK
From the English word lake, for the inland body of water. It is ultimately derived from Latin lacus.
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.
Lara 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Russian, English, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, Hungarian, Slovene, Croatian
Other Scripts: Лара(Russian)
Pronounced: LAHR-ə(English) LA-ra(German, Italian, Spanish, Dutch) LA-RA(French) LA-ru(Portuguese) LAW-raw(Hungarian)
Russian short form of
Larisa. It was introduced to the English-speaking world by a character from Boris Pasternak's novel
Doctor Zhivago (1957) and the subsequent movie adaptation (1965). Between 1965 and 1969 it increased by almost 2,000 percent in the United States, however it is currently much more popular in the United Kingdom, Australia, Spain, Portugal, Italy, and Germany. Another famous fictional bearer is Lara Croft, first appearing in video games in 1996 and movies in 2001.
Laura
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, Catalan, French, Finnish, Estonian, Hungarian, Polish, Slovene, Croatian, Czech, Slovak, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, German, Dutch, Lithuanian, Latvian, Late Roman
Pronounced: LAWR-ə(English) LOW-ra(Spanish, Italian, Romanian, Polish, Czech, Slovak, German, Dutch) LOW-ru(Portuguese) LOW-rə(Catalan) LAW-RA(French) LOW-rah(Finnish, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish) LAW-oo-raw(Hungarian)
Feminine form of the Late Latin name
Laurus, which meant
"laurel". This meaning was favourable, since in ancient Rome the leaves of laurel trees were used to create victors' garlands. The name was borne by the 9th-century Spanish martyr
Saint Laura, who was a nun thrown into a vat of molten lead by the Moors. It was also the name of the subject of poems by the 14th-century Italian poet Petrarch.
As an English name, Laura has been used since the 13th century. Famous bearers include Laura Secord (1775-1868), a Canadian heroine during the War of 1812, and Laura Ingalls Wilder (1867-1957), an American author who wrote the Little House on the Prairie series of novels.
Laurie
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English, Dutch
Pronounced: LAWR-ee(English) LOW-ree(Dutch)
Layth
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Arabic
Other Scripts: ليث(Arabic)
Pronounced: LIETH
Means "lion" in Arabic.
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.
Leah
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Hebrew, Biblical
Other Scripts: לֵאָה(Hebrew)
Pronounced: LEE-ə(English)
From the Hebrew name
לֵאָה (Leʾa), which was probably derived from the Hebrew word
לָאָה (laʾa) meaning
"weary, grieved" [1]. Alternatively it might be related to Akkadian
littu meaning
"cow". In the
Old Testament Leah is the first wife of
Jacob and the mother of seven of his children. Jacob's other wife was Leah's younger sister
Rachel, whom he preferred. Leah later offered Jacob her handmaid
Zilpah in order for him to conceive more children.
Although this name was used by Jews in the Middle Ages, it was not typical as an English Christian name until after the Protestant Reformation, being common among the Puritans.
Leanna
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: lee-AN-ə
Probably this was originally a variant of
Liana. It is now often considered a combination of
Lee and
Anna [1].
Leigh
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: LEE
From a surname that was a variant of
Lee.
Lena
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, German, Dutch, Polish, Finnish, Russian, Ukrainian, English, Italian, Portuguese, Greek, Georgian, Armenian
Other Scripts: Лена(Russian, Ukrainian) Λένα(Greek) ლენა(Georgian) Լենա(Armenian)
Pronounced: LEH-na(Swedish, German, Dutch, Polish, Italian) LYEH-nə(Russian) LEE-nə(English) LEH-NA(Georgian) leh-NAH(Armenian)
Leonard
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, Dutch, German, Polish, Romanian, Germanic [1]
Pronounced: LEHN-ərd(English) LEH-o-nahrt(Dutch) LEH-o-nart(German) leh-AW-nart(Polish)
Means
"brave lion", derived from the Old German elements
lewo "lion" (of Latin origin) and
hart "hard, firm, brave, hardy". This was the name of a 6th-century Frankish
saint from Noblac who is the patron of prisoners and horses. The
Normans brought this name to England, where it was used steadily through the Middle Ages, becoming even more common in the 20th century.
Leonhard
Gender: Masculine
Usage: German
Pronounced: LEH-awn-hart
German form of
Leonard. A famous bearer was the Swiss mathematician Leonhard Euler (1707-1783), who made many important contributions to calculus, number theory, geometry and theoretical physics.
Leonia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Late Roman
Leonie
Gender: Feminine
Usage: German, Dutch
Pronounced: LEH-o-nee(German) leh-o-NEE(Dutch)
German and Dutch feminine form of
Leonius.
Leroy
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: LEE-roi
From the French nickname
le roi meaning
"the king". It has been common as an English given name since the 19th century. Since 1920 in the United States it has been mainly used by African Americans
[1].
Letitia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: li-TISH-ə
From the Late Latin name
Laetitia meaning
"joy, happiness". This was the name of an obscure
saint, who is revered mainly in Spain. It was in use in England during the Middle Ages, usually in the spelling
Lettice, and it was revived in the 18th century.
Letty
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: LEHT-ee
Levy
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, Hebrew
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.
Liana
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, English, Georgian
Other Scripts: ლიანა(Georgian)
Pronounced: LYA-na(Italian)
Short form of
Juliana,
Liliana and other names that end in
liana. This is also the word for a type of vine that grows in jungles.
Libbie
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: LIB-ee
Libby
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: LIB-ee
Lies
Gender: Feminine
Usage: German, Dutch
Pronounced: LEES
Liesa
Gender: Feminine
Usage: German
Pronounced: LEE-za
Liese
Gender: Feminine
Usage: German, Dutch
Pronounced: LEE-zə(German) LEE-sə(Dutch)
Liesel
Gender: Feminine
Usage: German
Pronounced: LEE-zəl
Personal remark: My favourite female name
Liesje
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Dutch
Pronounced: LEE-shə
Lili
Gender: Feminine
Usage: German, French, Hungarian
Pronounced: LI-lee(German) LEE-LEE(French) LEE-lee(Hungarian)
German, French and Hungarian
diminutive of
Elisabeth and other names containing
li. It is also sometimes connected to the German word
lilie meaning
"lily".
Lilia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Spanish, Italian, Russian, Ukrainian
Other Scripts: Лилия(Russian) Лілія(Ukrainian)
Pronounced: LEE-lya(Spanish) LYEE-lyi-yə(Russian)
Spanish and Italian form of
Lily, as well as an alternate transcription of Russian
Лилия or Ukrainian
Лілія (see
Liliya).
Lilibeth
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Lilith
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Semitic Mythology, Judeo-Christian-Islamic Legend
Other Scripts: לילית(Ancient Hebrew)
Pronounced: LIL-ith(English)
Derived from Akkadian
lilitu meaning
"of the night". This was the name of a demon in ancient Assyrian myths. In Jewish tradition she was
Adam's first wife, sent out of Eden and replaced by
Eve because she would not submit to him. The offspring of Adam (or
Samael) and Lilith were the evil spirits of the world.
Lillia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: LIL-ee-ə
Lillie
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: LIL-ee
Lizzie
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: LIZ-ee
Lleu
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Welsh Mythology
Pronounced: SHAY(Welsh)
Probably a Welsh form of
Lugus. In the Fourth Branch of the
Mabinogi [1], Lleu Llaw Gyffes is the son of
Arianrhod. He was raised by his uncle
Gwydion, who helped him overcome the curses that his mother placed upon him. His wife
Blodeuwedd and her lover
Gronw conspired to overcome his near invincibility and murder him, but they were not successful. Eventually he became the king of Gwynedd.
Lolek
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Polish
Lolita
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Spanish
Pronounced: lo-LEE-ta
Diminutive of
Lola. This is the name of a 1955 novel by Vladimir Nabokov.
Lou
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English, French
Pronounced: LOO
Short form of
Louise or
Louis. Famous bearers include the baseball player Lou Gehrig (1903-1941) and the musician Lou Reed (1942-2013).
Louis
Gender: Masculine
Usage: French, English, Dutch
Pronounced: LWEE(French) LOO-is(English) LOO-ee(English) loo-EE(Dutch)
French form of
Ludovicus, the Latinized form of
Ludwig. This was the name of 18 kings of France, starting with Louis I the son of
Charlemagne. Others include Louis IX (
Saint Louis) who led two crusades and Louis XIV (called the Sun King) who was the ruler of France during the height of its power, the builder of the Palace of Versailles, and the longest reigning monarch in the history of Europe. It was also borne by kings of Germany (as
Ludwig), Hungary (as
Lajos), and other places.
Apart from royalty, this name was only moderately popular in France during the Middle Ages. After the French Revolution, when Louis XVI was guillotined, it became less common.
The Normans brought the name to England, where it was usually spelled Lewis, though the spelling Louis has been more common in America. Famous bearers include French scientist Louis Pasteur (1822-1895), French actor Louis de Funès (1914-1983), Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894), who wrote Treasure Island and Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, and American jazz musician Louis Armstrong (1901-1971).
Louisa
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, German, Dutch
Pronounced: loo-EEZ-ə(English) loo-EE-za(German)
Latinate feminine form of
Louis. A famous bearer was the American novelist Louisa May Alcott (1832-1888), the author of
Little Women.
Lowell
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: LO-əl
From an English surname that was derived from a Norman French nickname, from
lou "wolf" and a
diminutive suffix. The surname was borne by American poet and satirist James Russell Lowell (1819-1891).
Lowri
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Welsh
Pronounced: LOW-ri
Lucie
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French, Czech
Pronounced: LUY-SEE(French) loo-TSI-yeh(Czech)
French and Czech form of
Lucia.
Lucina
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Roman Mythology
Pronounced: loo-KEE-na(Latin) loo-SIE-nə(English) loo-SEE-nə(English)
Derived from Latin lucus meaning "grove", but later associated with lux meaning "light". This was the name of a Roman goddess of childbirth.
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.
Lucy
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: LOO-see
English form of
Lucia, in use since the Middle Ages.
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.
Luningning
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Tagalog
Pronounced: loo-neeng-NEENG
Means "brilliance" in Tagalog.
Lux
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Various
Pronounced: LUKS(English)
Derived from Latin lux meaning "light".
Lyndon
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: LIN-dən
From an English surname that was derived from a place name meaning "linden tree hill" in Old English. A famous bearer was American president Lyndon B. Johnson (1908-1973).
Lysander
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Ancient Greek (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Λύσανδρος(Ancient Greek)
Latinized form of the Greek name
Λύσανδρος (Lysandros), derived from Greek
λύσις (lysis) meaning "a release, loosening" and
ἀνήρ (aner) meaning "man" (genitive
ἀνδρός). This was the name of a notable 5th-century BC Spartan general and naval commander.
Maaike
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Dutch
Pronounced: MIE-kə
Madonna
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: mə-DAHN-ə
From a title of the Virgin
Mary meaning "my lady" in Italian. A famous bearer of the name is American singer Madonna Ciccone (1958-), known simply as Madonna.
Mae
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: MAY
Variant of
May. A famous bearer was the American actress Mae West (1893-1980), whose birth name was Mary.
Mæja
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Icelandic
Pronounced: MIE-yah
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.
Maja 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Croatian, Serbian, Slovene, German, Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, Polish, Hungarian
Other Scripts: Маја(Serbian)
Pronounced: MA-ya(German, Polish)
Form of
Maia 1 in various languages.
Maja 2
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Croatian, Serbian, Macedonian, Slovene, German, Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, Polish, Czech, Slovak, Hungarian
Other Scripts: Маја(Serbian, Macedonian)
Pronounced: MA-ya(German, Polish)
Malika
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Arabic
Other Scripts: ملكة(Arabic)
Pronounced: MA-lee-ka
Means
"queen" in Arabic, the feminine form of
Malik 1.
Malina 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Scottish
Manon
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French, Dutch
Pronounced: MA-NAWN(French) ma-NAWN(Dutch)
Margaret
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: MAHR-grit, MAHR-gə-rit
Derived from Latin
Margarita, which was from Greek
μαργαρίτης (margarites) meaning
"pearl", a word that was probably ultimately a borrowing from an Indo-Iranian language.
Saint Margaret, the patron of expectant mothers, was martyred at Antioch in the 4th century. Later legends told of her escape from a dragon, with which she was often depicted in medieval art. The saint was popular during the Middle Ages, and her name has been widely used in the Christian world.
As an English name it has been very popular since the Middle Ages. It was the top name for girls in England and Wales in the 1920s, 30s and 40s, but it declined in the latter half of the 20th century.
Other saints by this name include a queen of Scotland and a princess of Hungary. It was also borne by Queen Margaret I of Denmark, who united Denmark, Sweden, and Norway in the 14th century. Famous literary bearers include American writer Margaret Mitchell (1900-1949), the author of Gone with the Wind, and Canadian writer Margaret Atwood (1939-). Others include American anthropologist Margaret Mead (1901-1978) and British prime minister Margaret Thatcher (1925-2013).
Margot
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French
Pronounced: MAR-GO
Mariëtte
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Dutch
Marigold
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: MAR-i-gold, MEHR-i-gold
From the name of the flower, which comes from a combination of
Mary and the English word
gold.
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.
Maris 2
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: MEHR-is, MAR-is
Means
"of the sea", taken from the Latin title of the Virgin
Mary,
Stella Maris, meaning "star of the sea".
Marjolijn
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Dutch
Pronounced: MAHR-yo-layn
Masaru
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 勝, 優, etc.(Japanese Kanji) まさる(Japanese Hiragana)
Pronounced: MA-SA-ROO
From Japanese
勝 (masaru) meaning "victory" or
優 (masaru) meaning "excellence". Other kanji or kanji combinations can also form this name.
Max
Gender: Masculine
Usage: German, English, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Dutch, Czech, Russian, French, Catalan
Other Scripts: Макс(Russian)
Pronounced: MAKS(German, English, Czech, Russian, French, Catalan) MAHKS(Dutch)
Short form of
Maximilian or
Maxim. In English it can also be short for
Maxwell, and it coincides with the informal word
max, short for
maximum.
Famous bearers include the German intellectual Max Weber (1864-1920) and the German physicist Max Planck (1858-1947). This name is also borne by the title character in the Mad Max series of movies, starting 1979.
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.
May
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: MAY
Derived from the name of the month of May, which derives from
Maia, the name of a Roman goddess. May is also another name of the hawthorn flower. It is also used as a
diminutive of
Mary,
Margaret or
Mabel.
Maya 2
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: MIE-ə, MAY-ə
Variant of
Maia 1. This name can also be given in reference to the Maya, an indigenous people of southern Mexico and parts of Central America whose civilization flourished between the 3rd and 8th centuries. A famous bearer was the American poet and author Maya Angelou (1928-2014).
Mayu
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 真優, 満夕, etc.(Japanese Kanji) まゆ(Japanese Hiragana)
Pronounced: MA-YOO
From Japanese
真 (ma) meaning "real, genuine" or
満 (ma) meaning "full" combined with
優 (yu) meaning "excellence, superiority, gentleness" or
夕 (yu) meaning "evening". This name can also be constructed from other kanji combinations.
Meadow
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: MEHD-o
From the English word meadow, ultimately from Old English mædwe. Previously very rare, it rose in popularity after it was used as the name of Tony Soprano's daughter on the television series The Sopranos (1999-2007).
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).
Melina
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Greek
Other Scripts: Μελίνα(Greek)
Pronounced: mə-LEE-nə(English)
Elaboration of
Mel, either from names such as
Melissa or from Greek
μέλι (meli) meaning "honey". A famous bearer was Greek-American actress Melina Mercouri (1920-1994), who was born Maria Amalia Mercouris.
Mia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Dutch, German, Italian, Slovene, Croatian, English
Pronounced: MEE-ah(Swedish, Norwegian, Danish) MEE-a(Dutch, German, Italian) MEE-ə(English)
Diminutive of
Maria. It coincides with the Italian word
mia meaning
"mine".
This name was common in Sweden and Denmark in the 1970s [1]. It rose in popularity in the English-speaking world in the 1990s, entering the top ten for girls in the United States in 2009. It was also popular in many other countries at that time. Famous bearers include American actress Mia Farrow (1945-) and American soccer player Mia Hamm (1972-), birth names Maria and Mariel respectively.
Michiko
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 美智子, etc.(Japanese Kanji) みちこ(Japanese Hiragana)
Pronounced: MEE-CHEE-KO
From Japanese
美 (mi) meaning "beautiful",
智 (chi) meaning "wisdom, intellect" and
子 (ko) meaning "child". This name can also be comprised of other combinations of kanji.
Midori
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 緑, etc.(Japanese Kanji) みどり(Japanese Hiragana)
Pronounced: MEE-DO-REE
From Japanese
緑 (midori) meaning "green", as well as other kanji or kanji combinations that have the same pronunciation.
Mihael
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Slovene, Croatian
Pronounced: MEE-kha-ehl(Slovene)
Slovene and Croatian form of
Michael.
Mihoshi
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 美星, 海星, 三星, 実星, 弥星, 満星, 仁星, etc.(Japanese Kanji) みほし(Japanese Hiragana) ミホシ(Japanese Katakana)
Pronounced: MYEE-HO-SHEE
From
Hoshi prefixed with a
mi kanji, like 美 meaning "beauty," 海 meaning "sea, ocean," 三 meaning "three," 実 meaning "seed; fruit," 弥 meaning "increase," 満 meaning "full, whole" or 仁 meaning "benevolence, compassion, humanity."
Mikasa
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: Japanese
A Japanese battleship built in 1902, named after Mount Wakakusa, aka Mount Mikasa in Nara (literally: “three bamboo hats”). Mikasa Ackerman is a character in Attack on Titan.
Mikuru
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Japanese, Popular Culture (Rare)
Mikuru has multiple kanji possibilities, but for the notable character Mikuru Asahina (in popular light novel, manga, and anime 'The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya') her name means "yet to come". There's also a gravure idol called Mikuru Natsuki.
Miley
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: MIE-lee
In the case of actress and singer Miley Cyrus (1992-), it is a shortened form of the nickname
Smiley, given to her by her father because she often smiled. Although it was not at all common before she brought it to public attention, there are some examples of its use before her time, most likely as a
diminutive of
Miles.
Mina 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Dutch
Pronounced: MEE-nə(English) MEE-na(Dutch)
Short form of
Wilhelmina and other names ending in
mina. This was the name of a character in the novel
Dracula (1897) by Bram Stoker.
Minerva
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Roman Mythology, English, Spanish
Pronounced: mee-NEHR-wa(Latin) mi-NUR-və(English) mee-NEHR-ba(Spanish)
Possibly derived from Latin
mens meaning
"intellect", but more likely of Etruscan origin. Minerva was the Roman goddess of wisdom and war, approximately equivalent to the Greek goddess
Athena. It has been used as a given name in the English-speaking world since after the Renaissance.
Miriam
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Hebrew, English, German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Italian, Portuguese, Czech, Slovak, Polish, Biblical
Other Scripts: מִרְיָם(Hebrew)
Pronounced: MIR-ee-əm(English) MI-ryam(German) MI-ri-yam(Czech) MEE-ree-am(Slovak)
Form of
Mary used in the
Old Testament, where it belongs to the elder sister of
Moses and
Aaron. She watched over the infant Moses as the pharaoh's daughter drew him from the Nile. The name has long been popular among Jews, and it has been used as an English Christian name (alongside
Mary) since the
Protestant Reformation.
Mirjam
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Dutch, German, Finnish, Estonian, Slovene
Pronounced: MIR-yahm(Dutch) MIR-yam(German) MEER-yahm(Finnish)
Form of
Miriam in several languages.
Misa
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 美沙, 海沙, 三幸, 三桜(Japanese Kanji) みさ(Japanese Hiragana) ミサ(Japanese Katakana)
From the Japanese kanji 美 (
mi) meaning "beauty, beautiful", 海 (
mi) meaning "sea" or 三 (
mi) meaning "three" combined with 沙 (
sa) meaning "fine sand" or 幸 (
sa) meaning "happiness".
Other Kanji combinations available.
Misaki
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 美咲, etc.(Japanese Kanji) みさき(Japanese Hiragana)
Pronounced: MEE-SA-KYEE
From Japanese
美 (mi) meaning "beautiful" and
咲 (saki) meaning "blossom". This name can be formed from other combinations of kanji as well.
Misha
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Russian
Other Scripts: Миша(Russian)
Pronounced: MYEE-shə
Mitsuki
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 美月, 光希, etc.(Japanese Kanji) みつき(Japanese Hiragana)
Pronounced: MEE-TSOO-KYEE, MEETS-KYEE
From Japanese
美 (mi) meaning "beautiful" and
月 (tsuki) meaning "moon". It can also come from
光 (mitsu) meaning "light" and
希 (ki) meaning "hope", as well as several other kanji combinations.
Mitsuko
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 光子, etc.(Japanese Kanji) みつこ(Japanese Hiragana)
Pronounced: MEE-TSOO-KO, MEETS-KO
From Japanese
光 (mitsu) meaning "light" and
子 (ko) meaning "child". Other kanji combinations are possible.
Miyako
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 美夜子, etc.(Japanese Kanji) みやこ(Japanese Hiragana)
Pronounced: MEE-YA-KO
From Japanese
美 (mi) meaning "beautiful",
夜 (ya) meaning "night" and
子 (ko) meaning "child". This name can be formed from other combinations of kanji as well.
Miyoko
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 美代子, etc.(Japanese Kanji) みよこ(Japanese Hiragana)
Pronounced: MEE-YO-KO
From Japanese
美 (mi) meaning "beautiful",
代 (yo) meaning "generation" and
子 (ko) meaning "child". Other kanji combinations can also form this name.
Miyu
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 美優, 美結, 実優, 美夕, etc.(Japanese Kanji) みゆ(Japanese Hiragana)
Pronounced: MEE-YOO
From Japanese
美 (mi) meaning "beautiful" or
実 (mi) meaning "fruit, good result, truth" combined with
優 (yu) meaning "excellence, superiority, gentleness" or
結 (yu) meaning "tie, bind" or
夕 (yu) meaning "evening". Other kanji combinations are possible.
Mizu
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 水(Japanese Kanji)
Pronounced: Mee-zoo, mIzu
Water
-------------------------------------
Japaneese for 'water'
-------------------------------------
Means 'Water' in Japanese
Mizuki
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 瑞希, etc.(Japanese Kanji) みずき(Japanese Hiragana)
Pronounced: MEE-ZOO-KYEE
From Japanese
瑞 (mizu) meaning "felicitous omen, auspicious" and
希 (ki) meaning "hope", besides other kanji combinations.
Molly
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: MAHL-ee
Personal remark: nanowrimo character
Medieval
diminutive of
Mary, now often used independently. It developed from
Malle and
Molle, other medieval diminutives. James Joyce used this name in his novel
Ulysses (1922), where it belongs to Molly Bloom, the wife of the main character.
Momoka
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 百花, 桃花, 桃香(Japanese Kanji) ももか(Japanese Hiragana)
Pronounced: MO-MO-KA
From Japanese
百 (momo) meaning "hundred" or
桃 (momo) meaning "peach" combined with
花 (ka) meaning "flower" or
香 (ka) meaning "fragrance". Other kanji combinations are possible.
Momoko
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 百子, 桃子, etc.(Japanese Kanji) ももこ(Japanese Hiragana)
Pronounced: MO-MO-KO
From Japanese
百 (momo) meaning "hundred" or
桃 (momo) meaning "peach" combined with
子 (ko) meaning "child". This name can be constructed from other kanji combinations as well.
Morgan 1
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: Welsh, English, French
Pronounced: MAWR-gən(English) MAWR-GAN(French)
From the Old Welsh masculine name
Morcant, which was possibly derived from Welsh
mor "sea" and
cant "circle". Since the 1980s in America
Morgan has been more common for girls than boys, perhaps due to stories of
Morgan le Fay or the fame of actress Morgan Fairchild (1950-).
Morgana
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: mawr-GAN-ə
Nanase
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Japanese
Pronounced: nanase
History Unknown.
If you write it in Japanese characters, it means seven stars.
Naomi 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Hebrew, Biblical
Other Scripts: נָעֳמִי(Hebrew)
Pronounced: nay-O-mee(English) nie-O-mee(English)
From the Hebrew name
נָעֳמִי (Naʿomi) meaning
"my pleasantness", a derivative of
נָעַם (naʿam) meaning "to be pleasant". In the
Old Testament this is the name of the mother-in-law of
Ruth. After the death of her husband and sons, she returned to Bethlehem with Ruth. There she declared that her name should be
Mara because of her misfortune (see
Ruth 1:20).
Though long common as a Jewish name, Naomi was not typically used as an English Christian name until after the Protestant Reformation. A notable bearer is the British model Naomi Campbell (1970-).
Natalya
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Russian
Other Scripts: Наталья(Russian)
Pronounced: nu-TA-lyə
Russian form of
Natalia (see
Natalie).
Natsu
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 夏(Japanese Kanji)
Pronounced: NA-TSOO
Means "summer" in Japanese.
Natsuki
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 菜月, 夏希, etc.(Japanese Kanji) なつき(Japanese Hiragana)
Pronounced: NA-TSOO-KYEE, NATS-KYEE
From Japanese
菜 (na) meaning "vegetables, greens" and
月 (tsuki) meaning "moon". Alternatively, it can come from
夏 (natsu) meaning "summer" and
希 (ki) meaning "hope". Other kanji combinations can form this name as well.
Natsuko
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 夏子, etc.(Japanese Kanji) なつこ(Japanese Hiragana)
Pronounced: NA-TSOO-KO, NATS-KO
From Japanese
夏 (natsu) meaning "summer" and
子 (ko) meaning "child", as well as other kanji combinations.
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.
Niall
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Irish, Old Irish [1]
Pronounced: NYEEL(Irish)
Niklaus
Gender: Masculine
Usage: German (Swiss)
Nikola 1
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Serbian, Croatian, Slovene, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Czech, Basque
Other Scripts: Никола(Serbian, Bulgarian, Macedonian)
Pronounced: NI-ko-la(Czech) nee-KO-la(Basque)
Form of
Nicholas in several languages. Note, in Czech this is also a feminine name (see
Nikola 2). A famous bearer was the Serbian-American inventor Nikola Tesla (1856-1943).
Nikolai
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Russian, Bulgarian
Other Scripts: Николай(Russian, Bulgarian)
Pronounced: nyi-ku-LIE(Russian)
Noam
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: Hebrew, French
Other Scripts: נוֹעַם(Hebrew)
Pronounced: NO-am(Hebrew) NOM(English) NAW-AM(French)
Means "pleasantness" in Hebrew. A famous bearer is Noam Chomsky (1928-), an American linguist and philosopher.
Nozomi
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 希実, 希美, 望(Japanese Kanji)
Means Hope in Japanese
-------------------------------------
From Japanese
希 (nozo) "hope" and
実 (mi) "fruit" or
美 (mi) "beautiful". Another kanji for Nozomi is
望 (nozomi) "wish, desire, hope" (which can be read as
Nozomu). Another kanji combination is
希 (nozo) "hope" and
海 (mi) "sea".
Nozomu
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 望(Japanese Kanji)
From Nozomu 望 (nozomu), meaning "hope, wish, desire". It can also be read as
Nozomi.
Oren
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Hebrew
Other Scripts: אֹרֶן(Hebrew)
Means "pine tree" in Hebrew.
Owain
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Welsh, Arthurian Cycle
Pronounced: O-wien(Welsh)
From an Old Welsh name (
Ougein,
Eugein and other spellings), which was possibly from the Latin name
Eugenius. Other theories connect it to the Celtic roots *
owi- "sheep", *
wesu- "good" or *
awi- "desire" combined with the Old Welsh suffix
gen "born of". This is the name of several figures from British history, including Owain mab Urien, a 6th-century prince of Rheged who fought against the Angles. The 12th-century French poet Chrétien de Troyes adapted him into
Yvain for his Arthurian romance
Yvain, the Knight of the Lion. Regarded as one of the Knights of the Round Table, Yvain or Owain has since appeared in many other Arthurian tales, typically being the son of King
Urien of Gore, and the errant husband of
Laudine, the Lady of the Fountain.
Other notable bearers include Owain the Great, a 12th-century king of Gwynedd, and Owain Glyndwr, a 14th-century leader of the Welsh resistance to English rule.
Pansy
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: PAN-zee
From the English word for a type of flower, ultimately deriving from Old French pensee "thought".
Paris 1
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Πάρις(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: PA-REES(Classical Greek) PAR-is(English) PEHR-is(English)
Meaning unknown, possibly of Luwian or Hittite origin. In Greek
mythology he was the Trojan prince who kidnapped
Helen and began the Trojan War. Though presented as a somewhat of a coward in the
Iliad, he did manage to slay the great hero
Achilles. He was himself eventually slain in battle by Philoctetes.
Passion
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
First recorded as a given name in the 16th century, the name Passion was originally used by Christian parents in reference to the "Passion of Christ", a term denoting the suffering of Jesus. The word itself is derived from Latin passio "suffering", ultimately from Latin patior "to suffer; to endure" and was originally used to describe any suffering or pain concerning the body. Its meaning of sexual desire dates to the 17th century. The name had gone extinct and was revived in the 20th century, no doubt for its current English meaning.
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.
Penelope
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology, English
Other Scripts: Πηνελόπη(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: PEH-NEH-LO-PEH(Classical Greek) pə-NEHL-ə-pee(English)
Probably derived from Greek
πηνέλοψ (penelops), a type of duck. Alternatively it could be from
πήνη (pene) meaning "threads, weft" and
ὄψ (ops) meaning "face, eye". In
Homer's epic the
Odyssey this is the name of the wife of
Odysseus, forced to fend off suitors while her husband is away fighting at Troy.
It has occasionally been used as an English given name since the 16th century. It was moderately popular in the 1940s, but had a more notable upswing in the early 2000s. This may have been inspired by the Spanish actress Penélope Cruz (1974-), who gained prominence in English-language movies at that time. It was already rapidly rising when celebrities Kourtney Kardashian and Scott Disick gave it to their baby daughter in 2012.
Persephone
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Περσεφόνη(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: PEHR-SEH-PO-NEH(Classical Greek) pər-SEHF-ə-nee(English)
Meaning unknown, probably of Pre-Greek origin, but perhaps related to Greek
πέρθω (pertho) meaning "to destroy" and
φόνος (phonos) meaning "murder". In Greek
myth she was the daughter of
Demeter and
Zeus. She was abducted to the underworld by
Hades, but was eventually allowed to return to the surface for part of the year. The result of her comings and goings is the changing of the seasons. With her mother she was worshipped in the Eleusinian Mysteries, which were secret rites practiced at the city of Eleusis near Athens.
Petal
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: PEHT-əl
From the English word for the flower part, derived from Greek
πέταλον (petalon) meaning "leaf".
Philomel
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Literature
Pronounced: FIL-ə-mehl(English)
From an English word meaning
"nightingale" (ultimately from
Philomela). It has been used frequently in poetry to denote the bird.
Pia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, German, Slovene, Late Roman
Pronounced: PEE-a(Italian, Danish, Swedish, German)
Piper
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: PIE-pər
From an English surname that was originally given to a person who played on a pipe (a flute). It was popularized as a given name by a character from the television series
Charmed, which debuted in 1998
[1].
Ponyo
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Popular Culture
Pronounced: PAWN-yo
In the popular animated movie by Hayao Miyazakio, Ponyo is a goldfish who becomes human, daughter of prestigious ruler Fujimoto and the goddess of mercy, known as Gran Mamare.
Priya
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Hinduism, Hindi, Marathi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, Bengali
Other Scripts: प्रिया(Sanskrit, Hindi, Marathi) பிரியா(Tamil) ప్రియ(Telugu) പ്രിയാ(Malayalam) ಪ್ರಿಯಾ(Kannada) প্রিয়া(Bengali)
Means
"beloved" in Sanskrit. It appears briefly in the
Puranas belonging to a daughter of King
Daksha.
Puck
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: Anglo-Saxon Mythology, Dutch
Pronounced: PUK(English) PUYK(Dutch)
Meaning unknown, from Old English puca. It could ultimately be of either Germanic or Celtic origin. In English legend this was the name of a mischievous spirit, also known as Robin Goodfellow. He appears in Shakespeare's play A Midsummer Night's Dream (1595). It is used in the Netherlands as mainly a feminine name.
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.
Rei
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 鈴, 麗, 玲, etc.(Japanese Kanji) れい(Japanese Hiragana)
Pronounced: REH
From Japanese
鈴 (rei) meaning "bell",
麗 (rei) meaning "beautiful, lovely" or
玲 (rei) meaning "the tinkling of jade". This name can also be formed by other kanji with the same pronunciation.
Reiko
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 玲子, 礼子, 麗子, etc.(Japanese Kanji) れいこ(Japanese Hiragana)
Pronounced: REH-KO
From Japanese
玲 (rei) meaning "the tinkling of jade" or
礼 (rei) meaning "ceremony" combined with
子 (ko) meaning "child". Other combinations of kanji can also form this name.
Renesmee
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Literature
Pronounced: rə-NEHZ-may(English)
Invented by the American author Stephenie Meyer for a character in her novel
Breaking Dawn (2008), the fourth book of her
Twilight series. The character is the baby daughter of Bella Swan and Edward Cullen, with her name combining the names of her grandmothers:
Renée and
Esme.
Rin
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 凛, etc.(Japanese Kanji) りん(Japanese Hiragana)
Pronounced: REEN
From Japanese
凛 (rin) meaning "dignified, severe, cold" or other kanji that are pronounced the same way.
Rinda
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Popular Culture, English, Norse Mythology
Pronounced: Rindah(Popular Culture)
Short form of names ending in -rinda (
Florinda,
Lorinda, etc.).
Rindr (Old Norse) or Rinda (Latin) (sometimes Anglicized Rind) is a female character in Norse mythology, alternatively described as a giantess, a goddess or a human princess from the east (somewhere in present-day Russia).
Roelof
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Dutch
Pronounced: ROO-lawf
Rolf
Gender: Masculine
Usage: German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, English
Pronounced: RAWLF(German) ROLF(English)
From the Old German name
Hrolf (or its Old Norse
cognate Hrólfr), a contracted form of
Hrodulf (see
Rudolf). The
Normans introduced this name to England but it soon became rare. In the modern era it has occasionally been used in the English-speaking world as a German import.
Romano
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Italian
Pronounced: ro-MA-no
Italian form of
Romanus (see
Roman).
Rosalie
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French, German, Dutch, English
Pronounced: RAW-ZA-LEE(French) ro-za-LEE(German, Dutch) RO-sa-lee(Dutch) ro-sa-LEE(Dutch) RO-za-lee(Dutch) RO-zə-lee(English)
French, German and Dutch form of
Rosalia. In the English-speaking this name received a boost after the release of the movie
Rosalie (1938), which was based on an earlier musical.
Rose
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, French
Pronounced: ROZ
Originally a Norman French form of the Germanic name
Hrodohaidis meaning
"famous type", composed of the elements
hruod "fame" and
heit "kind, sort, type". The
Normans introduced it to England in the forms
Roese and
Rohese. From an early date it was associated with the word for the fragrant flower
rose (derived from Latin
rosa). When the name was revived in the 19th century, it was probably with the flower in mind.
Roselle
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Various
Diminutive of
Rose. This is the name of a type of flowering shrub (species Hibiscus sabdariffa) native to Africa but now grown in many places, used to make hibiscus tea.
Rosetta
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian
Pronounced: ro-ZEHT-ta
Rosette
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French
Pronounced: RO-ZEHT
Rowan
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: Irish, English (Modern)
Pronounced: RO-ən(English)
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).
Rudolf
Gender: Masculine
Usage: German, Czech, Slovak, Hungarian, Dutch, Russian, Armenian
Other Scripts: Рудольф(Russian) Ռուդոլֆ(Armenian)
Pronounced: ROO-dawlf(German, Slovak) ROO-dolf(Czech, Hungarian) RUY-dawlf(Dutch)
From the Germanic name
Hrodulf, which was derived from the elements
hruod meaning "fame" and
wolf meaning "wolf". It was borne by three kings of Burgundy and a king of West Francia, as well as several Habsburg rulers of the Holy Roman Empire and Austria. Anthony Hope used this name for the hero in his popular novel
The Prisoner of Zenda (1894).
Rudy
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: ROO-dee
Ruka
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 琉花(Japanese Kanji)
Pronounced: ṘOO-KAH
From 琉 (ru) "gem" and 花 (ka) "flower."
Rumiko
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 留美子, 流実子, 瑠実子, etc.(Japanese Kanji) ルミ子(Kanji/Katakana) るみ子(Kanji/Hiragana)
Pronounced: ROO-MYEE-KO
From Japanese 留
(ru) meaning "detain, fasten", 流
(ru) meaning "current, flow", or 瑠
(ru) meaning "lapis lazuli" combined with 美
(mi) meaning "beautiful" and 子
(ko) meaning "child". Other kanji combinations are possible.
Ryoga
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: Japanese
This was the name of Echizen Ryoma's older adopted brother in the Prince of Tennis anime
-------------------------------------
Means "Good Fang"
Ryouichi
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 良一, 亮一, etc.(Japanese Kanji) りょういち(Japanese Hiragana)
Pronounced: RYO-EE-CHEE
Alternate transcription of Japanese Kanji
良一 or
亮一 (see
Ryōichi).
Ryuu
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 竜, 龍, etc.(Japanese Kanji) りゅう(Japanese Hiragana)
Pronounced: RYOO
Alternate transcription of Japanese Kanji
竜 or
龍 (see
Ryū).
Ryuunosuke
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 竜之介, 龍之介, 隆之介, etc.(Japanese Kanji) りゅうのすけ(Japanese Hiragana)
Pronounced: RYOO-NO-SOO-KEH, RYOO-NO-SKEH
Alternate transcription of Japanese Kanji
竜之介 or
龍之介 or
隆之介 (see
Ryūnosuke).
Sabella
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: sə-BEHL-ə
Sachiko
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 幸子, etc.(Japanese Kanji) さちこ(Japanese Hiragana)
Pronounced: SA-CHEE-KO
From Japanese
幸 (sachi) meaning "happiness, good luck" and
子 (ko) meaning "child". Other kanji combinations are possible.
Sadako
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 定子, 貞子, 禎子, 節子(Japanese Kanji) さだこ(Japanese Hiragana) サダコ(Japanese Katakana)
Pronounced: SA-DA-KO
From Japanese
貞 (
sada) "chastity; virtue, faithfulness, uprighteousness" or "chaste; virtuous, faithful, uprighteous",
節 (
sada) "season",
定 (
sada) "determined", or
禎 (
sada) "lucky, auspicious" or "blessed, good fortune" combined with Japanese
子(
ko) "child".
貞子 "chaste child" or "child of chastity" was by far the most common combination.
A famous bearer of the name was Sadako Sasaki (Japanese: 佐々木 禎子 Sasaki Sadako) (1943-1955), a child who died from leukemia after the Hiroshima bomb. Her endeavour to fold 1,000 paper cranes in order to have her wish granted has become a symbol of peace.
The name was also borne by Sadako Yamamura (Japanese: 山村 貞子 Yamamura Sadako), the fictional antagonist of the Japanese horror franchise "Ringu" (also known and adapted as "The Ring" in Western countries), which began as a book first published in 1991. Although malevolent and considered very frightening, the character also has a tragic and sympathetic backstory, a combination that has made her very popular within the horror community. This may have influenced the popularity of her name's kanji combination, at least during the 1990s and afterward. (Prior to the franchise, the literal meaning of this combination was probably its chief attraction, especially to conservative parents.)
(See also Kayako, the name borne by the main fictional antagonist of the Japanese horror franchise "Ju-On", also known and adapted as "The Grudge" in the West. Indeed, these two characters - Sadako and Kayako - eventually became so popular that they starred in a crossover film together: 2016's "Sadako vs. Kayako".)
The name, regardless of kanji, is written as さだこ (Sadako) in hiragana and as サダコ (Sadako) in katakana.
Sadie
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: SAY-dee
Sage
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: SAYJ
From the English word sage, which denotes either a type of spice or else a wise person.
Saki
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 咲希, 沙紀, 早紀, etc.(Japanese Kanji) さき(Japanese Hiragana)
Pronounced: SA-KYEE
From Japanese
咲 (sa) meaning "blossom" and
希 (ki) meaning "hope", besides other combinations of kanji characters.
Sakura
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 桜, 咲良, etc.(Japanese Kanji) さくら(Japanese Hiragana)
Pronounced: SA-KOO-RA
From Japanese
桜 (sakura) meaning "cherry blossom", though it is often written using the hiragana writing system. It can also come from
咲 (saku) meaning "blossom" and
良 (ra) meaning "good, virtuous, respectable" as well as other kanji combinations.
Sakurako
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 桜子, etc.(Japanese Kanji) さくらこ(Japanese Hiragana)
Pronounced: SA-KOO-RA-KO
From Japanese
桜 (sakura) meaning "cherry blossom" and
子 (ko) meaning "child". Other kanji combinations are also possible.
Sakuya
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: Japanese, Japanese Mythology
Other Scripts: 咲也, 咲哉, 咲弥, 朔夜, 朔椰, 咲耶, 沙久椰, 作哉, 朔也, 朔哉, 朔弥, 朔矢, 佐玖哉, 開耶, 佐久夜(Japanese Kanji) さくや(Japanese Hiragana) サクヤ(Japanese Katakana)
Pronounced: SAH-KUU-YAH(Japanese) sah-kuu-yah(Japanese Mythology)
As a unisex name, it can be used as 咲也, 咲哉, 咲弥, 朔夜 or 朔椰 with 咲 (shou, sa.ku, -zaki) meaning "bloom, blossom", 朔 (saku, tsuitachi) meaning "conjuction (astronomy), first day of the month", 也 (e, ya, ka, nari, mata) meaning "to be (archaic form)", 哉 (sai, kana, ya) meaning "alas, how, question mark, what", 弥 (bi, mi, amaneshi, iya, iyoiyo, tooi, hisashi, hisa.shii, ya, wata.ru) meaning "all the more, increasingly", 夜 (ya, yo, yoru) meaning "evening, night" and 椰 (ya, yashi) meaning "coconut tree."
As a feminine name, it can be used as 咲耶 or 沙久椰 with 耶 (ja, ya, ka) meaning "question mark", 沙 (sa, sha, suna, yonageru) meaning "sand" and 久 (kyuu, ku, hisa.shii) meaning "long time, old story."
As a masculine name, it can be used as 作哉, 朔也, 朔哉, 朔弥, 朔矢 or 佐玖哉 with 作 (sa, saku, tsuku.ri, tsuku.ru, -dzuku.ri) meaning "build, make, prepare, production", 矢 (shi, ya) meaning "arrow, dart" and 玖 (kyuu, ku) meaning "beautiful black jewel, nine (used in legal documents)."
One bearer from Japanese mythology is Konohananosakuya-hime (このはなのさくやひめ), simply known as Sakuya-hime (さくやひめ), who is a blossom-princess and symbol of delicate earthly life. "Sakuya" in Sakuya-hime is popularly written as 咲耶 but it can also be written as 佐久夜 (with 佐 - sa - meaning "assistant, help"), as used in the Kojiki, or 開耶 (with 開 - kai, a.ku, a.keru, hira.ki, hira.ku, hira.keru, -bira.ki - meaning "open, unfold, unseal"), as used in the Nihon Shoki.
Sango
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Popular Culture
Means "coral" in Japanese. This name is used in the Japanese comic book and television show InuYasha.
Sanja
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Croatian, Serbian, Slovene
Other Scripts: Сања(Serbian)
Pronounced: SA-nya(Croatian, Serbian)
Derived from South Slavic sanjati meaning "to dream".
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.
Sarai
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Biblical, Biblical Latin, Biblical Hebrew [1], Spanish
Other Scripts: שָׂרָי(Ancient Hebrew)
Pronounced: SEHR-ie(English) sə-RIE(English)
Satchel
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: SACH-əl
From an English surname derived from Old English sacc meaning "sack, bag", referring to a person who was a bag maker. A famous bearer was the American baseball player Satchel Paige (1906-1982). In his case it was a childhood nickname acquired because he sold bags.
Sayo
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 紗世, 咲代, etc.(Japanese Kanji)
Pronounced: SAH-YO
From Japanese 小 (sa) meaning "small" or 咲 (sa) meaning "bloom" combined with 世 (yo) meaning "world" or 代 (yo) meaning "generation". Other kanji combinations are possible.
Sayuri
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 小百合, etc.(Japanese Kanji) さゆり(Japanese Hiragana)
Pronounced: SA-YOO-REE
From Japanese
小 (sa) meaning "small" and
百合 (yuri) meaning "lily". This name can also be composed of other kanji combinations.
Scarlet
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: SKAHR-lit
Either a variant of
Scarlett or else from the English word for the red colour (both of the same origin, a type of cloth).
Scarlett
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: SKAHR-lit
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.
Scarlette
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: SKAHR-lit
Scheherazade
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Literature
Pronounced: shə-HEHR-ə-zahd(English)
Schuyler
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: SKIE-lər
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].
Seung
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: Korean
Other Scripts: 승(Korean Hangul) 昇, 勝, 承, etc.(Korean Hanja)
Pronounced: SUNG
From Sino-Korean
昇 (seung) meaning "rise, ascend",
勝 (seung) meaning "victory" or
承 (seung) meaning "inherit", as well as other characters that are pronounced similarly.
Severa
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Ancient Roman, Late Greek, Italian, Russian (Rare), Spanish, Portuguese, Sardinian, Galician
Other Scripts: Σεβήρα(Ancient Greek) Севера(Russian)
Feminine form of
Severus. This name was borne by Aquilia Severa, the second and fourth wife of the Roman emperor
Elagabalus (3rd century AD).
Severina
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, Portuguese, Ancient Roman
Pronounced: seh-veh-REE-na(Italian)
Shahrazad
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Persian (Rare), Arabic
Other Scripts: شهرزاد(Persian, Arabic)
Pronounced: shahr-ZAWD(Persian) shah-ra-ZAD(Arabic)
Possibly means
"noble lineage" from Persian
چهر (chehr) meaning "lineage, origin" and
آزاد (āzād) meaning "free, noble"
[1]. Alternatively, it might mean
"child of the city" from
شهر (shahr) meaning "city, land" combined with the suffix
زاد (zād) meaning "child of". This is the name of the fictional storyteller in
The 1001 Nights. She tells a story to her husband the king every night for 1001 nights in order to delay her execution.
Shinobu
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 忍, etc.(Japanese Kanji) しのぶ(Japanese Hiragana)
Pronounced: SHEE-NO-BOO
From Japanese
忍 (shinobu) meaning "endurance, patience", as well as other kanji or kanji combinations having the same pronunciation.
Siemen
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Dutch, Frisian
Pronounced: SEE-mən(Dutch)
Siobhán
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Irish
Pronounced: SHI-wan, SHUW-wan, SHI-van, shə-VAN
Irish form of
Jehanne, a Norman French variant of
Jeanne.
Sisel
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Yiddish (Rare)
Other Scripts: סיסל(Yiddish)
Sofana
Gender: Feminine
Usage: New World Mythology
Pronounced: so-fan-a
Nicaragua-spanish
Air Headed
Sofia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek, Italian, Portuguese, Catalan, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, German, Finnish, Estonian, Slovak, Romanian, English, Russian, Ukrainian, Bulgarian
Other Scripts: Σοφία(Greek) София(Russian, Bulgarian) Софія(Ukrainian)
Pronounced: saw-FEE-a(Greek) so-FEE-a(Italian) soo-FEE-u(European Portuguese) so-FEE-u(Brazilian Portuguese) soo-FEE-ə(Catalan) suw-FEE-a(Swedish) zo-FEE-a(German) SO-fee-ah(Finnish) su-FYEE-yə(Russian)
Form of
Sophia used in various languages.
Sofiya
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Russian, Ukrainian, Bulgarian
Other Scripts: София(Russian, Bulgarian) Софія(Ukrainian)
Pronounced: su-FYEE-yə(Russian)
Russian, Ukrainian and Bulgarian form of
Sophia.
Sommer
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Variant of
Summer, coinciding with the German word for summer.
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-).
Sophie
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French, English, German, Dutch
Pronounced: SAW-FEE(French) SO-fee(English) zo-FEE(German) so-FEE(Dutch)
Spring
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: SPRING
From the name of the season, ultimately from Old English springan "to leap, to burst forth".
Star
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: STAHR
From the English word for the celestial body, ultimately from Old English steorra.
Starla
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: STAHR-lə
Stefanie
Gender: Feminine
Usage: German, Dutch, Danish
Pronounced: SHTEH-fa-nee(German) STEH-fa-nee(Dutch)
Steffi
Gender: Feminine
Usage: German
Pronounced: SHTEH-fee
Stella 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Italian, Dutch, German
Pronounced: STEHL-ə(English) STEHL-la(Italian) STEH-la(Dutch)
Means "star" in Latin. This name was created by the 16th-century poet Philip Sidney for the subject of his collection of sonnets Astrophel and Stella. It was a nickname of a lover of Jonathan Swift, real name Esther Johnson (1681-1728), though it was not commonly used as a given name until the 19th century. It appears in Tennessee Williams' play A Streetcar Named Desire (1947), belonging to the sister of Blanche DuBois and the wife of Stanley Kowalski.
Stephanie
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, German
Pronounced: STEHF-ə-nee(English) SHTEH-fa-nee(German)
Summer
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: SUM-ər
From the name of the season, ultimately from Old English sumor. It has been in use as a given name since the 1970s.
Suzaku
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: Japanese (Rare), Popular Culture
Other Scripts: 朱雀(Japanese Kanji) すざく(Japanese Hiragana) スザク(Japanese Katakana)
Pronounced: SOO-ZA-KOO(Japanese)
This name is used as 朱雀, referring to the Vermilion Bird, one of the Four Symbols of the Chinese constellations, that is said to rule over the southern heavens. It is made up of 朱 (shu, ake,
su) meaning "vermillion, cinnabar" and 雀 (jaku, jan,
saku, shaku, suzume) meaning "sparrow."
Fictional bearers of this name include Suzaku Kururugi (枢木 スザク) from the anime series Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion and Suzaku (朱雀), one of the Four Beasts from the manga and anime series Yū Yū Hakusho.
This name is rarely used.
Svetlana
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Russian, Slovak, Bulgarian, Serbian, Macedonian, Estonian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Armenian, Georgian
Other Scripts: Светлана(Russian, Bulgarian, Serbian, Macedonian) Սվետլանա(Armenian) სვეტლანა(Georgian)
Pronounced: svyit-LA-nə(Russian) svyeht-lu-NU(Lithuanian)
Derived from Russian
свет (svet) meaning
"light, world". It was popularized by the poem
Svetlana (1813) by the poet Vasily Zhukovsky. It is sometimes used as a translation of
Photine.
Tegan
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Welsh, English (Modern)
Pronounced: TEH-gan(Welsh) TEE-gən(English)
Means
"darling" in Welsh, derived from a
diminutive of Welsh
teg "beautiful, pretty". It was somewhat common in Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and Canada in the 1980s and 90s. It was borne by an Australian character on the television series
Doctor Who from 1981 to 1984.
Tess
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Dutch
Pronounced: TEHS
Short form of
Theresa. This is the name of the main character in Thomas Hardy's novel
Tess of the d'Urbervilles (1891).
Tessie
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: TEHS-ee
Theophania
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Ancient Greek [1]
Other Scripts: Θεοφάνια(Ancient Greek)
Titty
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: TIT-ee
Diminutive of
Letitia. This is now a slang word for the female breast, and the name has subsequently dropped out of common use.
Tomoko
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 智子, 朋子, etc.(Japanese Kanji) ともこ(Japanese Hiragana)
Pronounced: TO-MO-KO
From Japanese
智 (tomo) meaning "wisdom, intellect" or
朋 (tomo) meaning "friend" combined with
子 (ko) meaning "child". This name can be formed of other kanji characters as well.
Trudy
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Dutch
Pronounced: TROO-dee(English) TRUY-dee(Dutch)
Truett
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: TROO-it
Transferred use of the surname
Truett.
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.
Unity
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: YOO-ni-tee
From the English word unity, which is ultimately derived from Latin unitas.
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.
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.
Verity
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: VEHR-i-tee
From the English word meaning
"verity, truth", from Latin
verus "true, real". This was one of the virtue names adopted by the
Puritans in the 17th century.
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.
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.
Violette
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French
Pronounced: VYAW-LEHT
Wakana
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 和奏, etc.(Japanese Kanji) わかな(Japanese Hiragana)
Pronounced: WA-KA-NA
From Japanese
和 (wa) meaning "harmony, peace" and
奏 (kana) meaning "play music, complete", as well as other combinations of kanji that are pronounced the same way.
Walker
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: WAWK-ər
From an English surname that referred to the medieval occupational of a walker, also known as a fuller. Walkers would tread on wet, unprocessed wool in order to clean and thicken it. The word ultimately derives from Old English wealcan "to walk".
Wanda
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Polish, English, German, French
Pronounced: VAN-da(Polish, German) WAHN-də(English) WAHN-DA(French)
Possibly from a Germanic name meaning "a Wend", referring to the Slavic people who inhabited eastern Germany. In Polish legends this was the name of the daughter of King Krak, the legendary founder of Krakow. It was introduced to the English-speaking world by the author Ouida, who used it for the heroine in her novel Wanda (1883).
Wendy
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: WEHN-dee
In the case of the character from J. M. Barrie's play
Peter Pan (1904), it was created from the nickname
fwendy "friend", given to the author by a young friend. However, the name was used prior to the play (rarely), in which case it could be related to the Welsh name
Gwendolen and other names beginning with the element
gwen meaning "white, blessed". The name only became common after Barrie's play ran.
Wesley
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: WEHS-lee, WEHZ-lee
From an English surname that was derived from a place name, itself meaning
"west meadow" from Old English
west "west" and
leah "woodland, clearing". It has been sometimes given in honour of John Wesley (1703-1791), the founder of Methodism.
Wilhelmina
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Dutch, German (Rare), English
Pronounced: vil-hehl-MEE-na(Dutch, German) wil-ə-MEEN-ə(English) wil-hehl-MEEN-ə(English)
Dutch and German feminine form of
Wilhelm. This name was borne by a queen of the Netherlands (1880-1962).
Wilhelmine
Gender: Feminine
Usage: German
Pronounced: vil-hehl-MEE-nə
Willow
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: WIL-o
From the name of the tree, which is ultimately derived from Old English welig.
Winter
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: WIN-tər
From the English word for the season, derived from Old English winter.
Wioletta
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Polish
Pronounced: vyaw-LEHT-ta
Wojciech
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Polish
Pronounced: VOI-chekh
Derived from the Slavic elements
vojĭ "warrior, soldier" and
utěxa "solace, comfort, joy".
Saint Wojciech (also known by the Czech form of his name
Vojtěch or his adopted name
Adalbert) was a Bohemian missionary to Hungary, Poland and Prussia, where he was martyred in the 10th century.
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).
Wolfram
Gender: Masculine
Usage: German
Pronounced: VAWL-fram
Derived from the Old German element
wolf meaning "wolf" combined with
hram meaning "raven".
Saint Wolfram (or Wulfram) was a 7th-century archbishop of Sens. This name was also borne by the 13th-century German poet Wolfram von Eschenbach, the author of
Parzival.
Xavia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Modern feminine form of
Xavier.
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.
Xena
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Popular Culture
Pronounced: ZEE-nə(English)
Probably a variant of
Xenia. This was the name of the main character in the 1990s television series
Xena: Warrior Princess.
Xenia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek, Spanish, Ancient Greek [1]
Other Scripts: Ξένια(Greek) Ξενία(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: SEH-nya(Spanish)
Means
"hospitality" in Greek, a derivative of
ξένος (xenos) meaning "foreigner, guest". This was the name of a 5th-century
saint who is venerated in the Eastern Church.
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.
Yoshiko
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 良子, 芳子, 悦子, etc.(Japanese Kanji) よしこ(Japanese Hiragana)
Pronounced: YO-SHEE-KO, YO-SHKO
From Japanese
良 (yoshi) meaning "good, virtuous, respectable",
芳 (yoshi) meaning "fragrant, virtuous, beautiful" or
悦 (yoshi) meaning "joy, pleased" combined with
子 (ko) meaning "child". This name can be formed from other kanji combinations as well.
Yoshiro
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 義郎, etc.(Japanese Kanji) よしろう(Japanese Hiragana)
Pronounced: YO-SHEE-RO
Alternate transcription of Japanese Kanji
義郎 (see
Yoshirō).
Yoshirou
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 義郎, etc.(Japanese Kanji) よしろう(Japanese Hiragana)
Pronounced: YO-SHEE-RO
Alternate transcription of Japanese Kanji
義郎 (see
Yoshirō).
Yui
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 結衣, 優衣, 結, etc.(Japanese Kanji) ゆい(Japanese Hiragana)
Pronounced: YOO-EE
From Japanese
結 (yu) meaning "tie, bind" or
優 (yu) meaning "excellence, superiority, gentleness" combined with
衣 (i) meaning "clothing, garment". It can also come from stand-alone
結 (yui) using a different
nanori reading. This name can be formed of other kanji or kanji combinations as well.
Yuka
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: Inuit
Pronounced: Yoo - kah(Inuktitut)
Means "bright star" in Inuit.
Yuki
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 幸, 雪, 由貴, 由紀, etc.(Japanese Kanji) ゆき(Japanese Hiragana)
Pronounced: YOO-KYEE
From Japanese
幸 (yuki) meaning "happiness" or
雪 (yuki) meaning "snow". It can also come from
由 (yu) meaning "reason, cause" combined with
貴 (ki) meaning "valuable" or
紀 (ki) meaning "chronicle". Other kanji or kanji combinations are also possible.
Yukio
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 幸雄, 幸男, 由紀男, etc.(Japanese Kanji) ゆきお(Japanese Hiragana)
Pronounced: YOO-KYEE-O
From Japanese
幸 (yuki) meaning "happiness" combined with
雄 (o) meaning "hero, manly" or
男 (o) meaning "male, man". Other kanji combinations can form this name as well.
Yumi
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 弓, 由美, 友美, 弓美, etc.(Japanese Kanji) ゆみ(Japanese Hiragana)
Pronounced: YOO-MEE
From Japanese
弓 (yumi) meaning "archery bow". It can also come from
由 (yu) meaning "reason, cause",
友 (yu) meaning "friend" or a
nanori reading of
弓 (yu) meaning "archery bow" combined with
美 (mi) meaning "beautiful". Other kanji or kanji combinations are also possible.
Yumiko
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 弓子, 由美子, etc.(Japanese Kanji) ゆみこ(Japanese Hiragana)
Pronounced: YOO-MEE-KO
From Japanese
弓 (yumi) meaning "archery bow" or
由 (yu) meaning "reason, cause" with
美 (mi) meaning "beautiful" combined with
子 (ko) meaning "child". Other kanji combinations are possible.
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.
Yuriko
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 百合子(Japanese Kanji)
Pronounced: YOO-REE-KO
From Japanese 百合 (yuri) meaning "lily" and 子 (ko) meaning "child". Other kanji combinations are possible.
This is the real name of Princess Mikasa, the wife of Prince Takahito of Mikasa, the uncle of Japanese emperor Akihito.
Yvain
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Arthurian Cycle
Form of
Owain used by the 12th-century French poet Chrétien de Troyes for his Arthurian romance
Yvain, the Knight of the Lion.
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.
Zaki
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Arabic
Other Scripts: زكيّ(Arabic)
Pronounced: ZA-keey
Means "pure" in Arabic.
Zara 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Literature, English
Pronounced: ZAHR-ə(English)
Used by William Congreve for a character in his tragedy
The Mourning Bride (1697), where it belongs to a captive North African queen. Congreve may have based it on the Arabic name
Zahra 1. In 1736 the English writer Aaron Hill used it to translate
Zaïre for his popular adaptation of Voltaire's French play
Zaïre (1732).
In England the name was popularized when Princess Anne gave it to her daughter in 1981. Use of the name may also be influenced by the trendy Spanish clothing retailer Zara.
Zaria
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: ZAHR-ee-ə
Possibly based on
Zahra 2 or the Nigerian city of Zaria.
Zavia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: ZAY-vee-ə
Modern feminine form of
Xavier.
Zavier
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: ZAY-vyər
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).
Zena
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Meaning unknown. It could be a variant of
Xenia or a
diminutive of names featuring this sound, such as
Alexina,
Rosina or
Zenobia. This name has occasionally been used since the 19th century.
Zenobia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Ancient Greek [1]
Other Scripts: Ζηνοβία(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: ZDEH-NO-BEE-A(Classical Greek) zə-NO-bee-ə(English)
Means
"life of Zeus", derived from Greek
Ζηνός (Zenos) meaning "of
Zeus" and
βίος (bios) meaning "life". This was the name of the queen of the Palmyrene Empire, which broke away from Rome in the 3rd-century and began expanding into Roman territory. She was eventually defeated by the emperor
Aurelian. Her Greek name was used as an approximation of her native Aramaic name.
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