pennydeadful's Personal Name List

Form of Aisha used in parts of French-influenced West Africa.

Medieval English variant of Honora.

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).

Modern Hebrew name meaning both "willow tree" and "desert" or "savanna, prairie". Traditionally the ערבה (aravah), a leafy willow branch, is used in a waving ceremony during the Jewish holiday of Sukkot. In Israel the name also refers to a geographical plain near the Jordan, appearing in Deuteronomy 3, 17 as Arabah. (Interestingly, the Hebrew word arabha "desert" may ultimately relate to English Arab.)

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.

Strictly feminine form of Ariel.

Combination of Old Norse arn "eagle" and vé meaning "holy" or "devoted, dedicated".

French form of Aspasia.

Both a French elaboration of Aude and a variant of Odélia. In the Jewish community, however, this name is considered and used as a variant of Odelia 2.

Feminine form of Aurelius.

Means "dawn" in Latin. Aurora was the Roman goddess of the morning. It has occasionally been used as a given name since the Renaissance.

Possibly a variant of Azalaïs.

Possibly a feminization of Azel.

Hungarian form, German variant and Luxembourgish vernacular form of Babette. Babett Peter is a football player who had 118 appearances in the German national team winning among other titles the 2007 FIFA Wolrd Cup.

Feminine form of Basileios.

Short form of Brianna, Gabriella and other names containing bri.

Variant of Brynja.

Variant transcription of Kalia.

Alternate transcription of Κάλλια or Καλλία (see Kallia).

Variant of Caliste.

Feminine form of Cassius.

From the name of a tropical American orchid (genus Cattleya) with purple, pink or white flowers, which was named after William Cattley (1788-1835).

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

Feminine form of Caelestius.

English form of Caelestinus. It is more commonly used as a feminine name, from the French feminine form Célestine.

Name of Hebrew and Yiddish origin. In musical Fiddler On The Roof, used as alternative name for Chava. Meaning of Chava is "life" so Chaveleh must have a similar meaning.

Means "pleasant, beloved, darling" in Hebrew, making it a cognate of Habiba.

German variant and East Prussian German form of Celestine.

Variant of Celestine (see also Zölestina).

Form of Criseida used by Shakespeare in his play Troilus and Cressida (1602).

Feminine form of Czesław.

Means "sea, ocean" in Turkish, ultimately from Persian.

Feminine form of Desiderio. This was the Latin name of a 19th-century queen of Sweden, the wife of Karl XIV. She was born in France with the name Désirée.

Feminine form of Dragomir.

Diminutive for names that starting with "Ef" like Efraim and Efrat

This name is derived from the Germanic name stem agil "edge (of a sword)".

Means "white snow" from the Welsh elements eira "snow" and gwen "white, blessed". This name was created in the early 20th century.

German diminutive of Elfriede and Estonian diminutive of Elfriide.

Variant of Elfi.

A dithematic name composed from the Germanic name elements alb "elf" and drud "strength".

It is a High German cognate of the Anglo-Saxon name Ælfþryð.

Variant of Elftraud.

Italian, Spanish and Portuguese form of Éliane.

Feminine form of Eliav.

Diminutive of Élisabeth, possibly influenced by Eliška.

Czech and Slovak diminutive of Elizabeth.

From the Hebrew name אֶסְתֵר (ʾEsṯer), which possibly means "star" in Persian. Alternatively it could be a derivative of the name of the Near Eastern goddess Ishtar. The Book of Esther in the Old Testament tells the story of Queen Esther, the Jewish wife of the king of Persia. The king's advisor Haman persuaded the king to exterminate all the Jews in the realm. Warned of this plot by her cousin Mordecai, Esther revealed her Jewish ancestry and convinced the king to execute Haman instead. Her original Hebrew name was Hadassah.

This name has been used in the English-speaking world since the Protestant Reformation. In America it received a boost in popularity after the birth of Esther Cleveland (1893-1980), the daughter of President Grover Cleveland [1].

Derived from the Ancient Greek name Eúdēmos, composed of two elements: eû meaning "well" plus dêmos meaning "district, country, land".

French form of Eulalia.

Alternate transcription of Greek Φαίδρα (see Fedra and Phaedra).

Variant of Fay.

Medieval German hypochoristic form of Sophie.

Diminutive of Sofia and other names containing the element -fia-.

Diminutive of Fiamma. This is the name of a character appearing in several works by the 14th-century Italian author Boccaccio. She was probably based on the Neapolitan noblewoman Maria d'Aquino.

Italian feminine form of Florentius (see Florence).

This name is believed to have derived "from the town of Gaunt, now Ghent, in Flanders."

An infamous bearer of the name is John of Gaunt, an English prince. Another bearer is Elizabeth Gaunt, who was last woman executed for a political crime in England, having taken part in the Rye House Plot of 1683.

This surname is also used for Merope Gaunt, the mother of Lord Voldemort from the Harry Potter series.

Variant of Genovefa.

English form of Geneviève.

From the Norman French form of the Welsh name Gwenhwyfar meaning "white phantom", ultimately from the old Celtic roots *windos meaning "white" (modern Welsh gwen) and *sēbros meaning "phantom, magical being" [1]. In Arthurian legend she was the beautiful wife of King Arthur. According to the 12th-century chronicler Geoffrey of Monmouth, she was seduced by Mordred before the battle of Camlann, which led to the deaths of both Mordred and Arthur. According to the 12th-century French poet Chrétien de Troyes, she engaged in an adulterous affair with Sir Lancelot.

The Cornish form of this name, Jennifer, has become popular in the English-speaking world.

Modern Hebrew name meaning "lady, mistress" (identical to the biblical title גְּבִירָה (gebirah), which suggested female royal power, and ultimately relates to the first element in Gabriel).

Hebrew form of Hadassah, as well as the usual spelling in Portuguese and German.

From Hebrew הֲדַס (haḏas) meaning "myrtle tree". In the Old Testament this is the Hebrew name of Queen Esther.

From the English word hazel for the tree or the light brown colour, derived ultimately from Old English hæsel. It was coined as a given name in the 19th century and quickly became popular, reaching the 18th place for girls in the United States by 1897. It fell out of fashion in the second half of the 20th century, but has since recovered.

Latinate form of Helen. This is the name of the heroine of William Shakespeare's play All's Well That Ends Well (1603).

Medieval Polish variant of Alina.

Anglicized form of Irish Gaelic Ó hArgáin.

Modern Greek form of Elektra.

The origins of this name are uncertain, though some Celtic roots have been suggested. It is possible that the name is ultimately Germanic, from a hypothetical name like *Ishild, composed of the elements is "ice" and hilt "battle".

According to tales first recorded in Old French in the 12th century, Yseut or Ysolt was an Irish princess betrothed to King Mark of Cornwall. After accidentally drinking a love potion, she became the lover of his nephew Tristan. Their tragic story, which was set in the Arthurian world, was popular during the Middle Ages and the name became relatively common in England at that time. It was rare by the 19th century, though some interest was generated by Richard Wagner's opera Tristan und Isolde (1865).

Means "strawberry" in South Slavic, and "berry" in Polish. Also in Poland, this can be a diminutive of Jadwiga.

Means "ravine" or "valley" in Hebrew.

Swedish diminutive of Katarina.

In modern Greek Κάλλια (Kallia) can function as a short form of Kalliopi or Kallirroi.

Καλλία (Kallia) is recorded as an ancient Greek name; it may have been a feminine form of Kallias.

Original Hebrew form of Carmel, also used in other languages. In Basque, it is exclusively a masculine name.

Feminine form of Kassianos. This was the name of a 9th-century Byzantine saint famous as a hymnographer, who supposedly fell in love with the emperor Theophilos but was rejected when she proved to be more intelligent than he.

Variant of Catalina.

Form of Katya in various languages.

Feminine form of Kazimierz (Polish) or Kazimieras (Lithuanian).

The origin of this name is uncertain. It coincides with (or derives from) the name of a former genus of palm trees, which was supposedly derived from the surname of British botanist William Kent (died 1828).

Derived from Greek κερά (kerá) meaning "lady, mistress" (an alternative form of κυρά (kurá)). It is also associated with the Greek word κερασιά (kerasiá) meaning "cherry tree".

The 15th-century Greek saint Matrona of Chios was also known by the names Kerasia, Kera and Kyratso.

Means "love" in Cornish.

From the Hebrew name קְצִיעָה (Qetsiʿa) meaning "cassia, cinnamon", from the name of the spice tree. In the Old Testament she is a daughter of Job.

Variant transcription of Kyveli.

Polish form of Xenia, as well as an alternate transcription of Russian Ксения or Ukrainian/Belarusian Ксенія (see Kseniya).

Feminine form of Kyrenius.

Means "nights" in Arabic.

"Flame, tongue of fire." The name is commonly given symbolically to girls born on Hanukkah or Lag b'Omer.

A Hebrew name meaning incense. Form of Levana 1.

Combination of the name Lev 2 means "heart" with the letters ya (יה) (which are part of the name of God) means "Heart of God" in Hebrew.

Of debated origin and meaning. Theories include a derivation from Eulalia.

Variant of Linnéa.

From the word for the type of flower, also called the twinflower (see Linnéa).

Combination of Li 2 and Nor. A known bearer of this name is Israeli beauty queen, lawyer and activist Linor Abargil (1980-), who won the Miss World beauty pageant in 1998.

Strictly feminine form of Lior.

From German Loreley, the name of a rock headland on the Rhine River. It is of uncertain meaning, though the second element is probably old German ley meaning "rock" (of Celtic origin). German romantic poets and songwriters, beginning with Clemens Brentano in 1801, tell that a maiden named the Lorelei lives on the rock and lures boaters to their death with her song.

In the English-speaking world this name has been occasionally given since the early 20th century. It started rising in America after the variant Lorelai was used for the main character (and her daughter, nicknamed Rory) on the television series Gilmore Girls (2000-2007).

Diminutive of names beginning with Lou or Lu, such as Louise or Lucinda.

Means "the moon" in Latin (as well as Italian, Spanish and other Romance languages). Luna was the Roman goddess of the moon, frequently depicted driving a white chariot through the sky.

Combination of Luna and Bella.

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).

French form of Margaret. This is also the French word for the daisy flower (species Leucanthemum vulgare).

Sicilian and Sardinian form of Maura 1.

Alternate transcription of Arabic نادرة (see Nadira), as well as a Malay and Indonesian variant.

Means "river" in Hebrew.

Means "wild rose" in Persian.

This name has some meanings: The first is "beautiful" (from the name Nava). And the second is "oasis" (from the name Neveh).

Variant transliteration of Νεφέλη (see Nefeli).

Feminine form of Ner. It also means "candle" in Hebrew (hence may be given to girls born during Hanukkah).

Italian form of Nereida.

Means "my candle" in Hebrew.

Variant of Neriya.
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Modern Hebrew variant of Neriah.

Probably from Greek Νηρηΐδες (see Nereida). This name was used by Torquato Tasso for a character in his play Aminta (1573), and subsequently by Giacomo Leopardi in his poem Le Ricordanze (1829).

Variant of Nasrin.

Short form of Honora or Eleanor. Henrik Ibsen used it for a character in his play A Doll's House (1879).

Noreia used to be considered the epithet of an unidentified pre-Roman mother goddess who left her name in inscriptions throughout the Roman province Noricum (present-day Austria and Slovenia). Current theories suggest, however, that she might have been a Roman "creation" to gain the loyalty of the Norici (ever since Vespasian's time, she was associated with the goddess Isis and referred to as Isisi-Noreia). It has been claimed that she was a goddess of fate and fortune, life's happiness, fertility, mining and healing waters. The origin and meaning of her name are lost to time.

Variant transliteration of نورية (see Nouria).

Alternate transcription of Arabic نورة or نورا (see Nura).

Derived from Arabic نَوْرَة (nawra) meaning "blossom, bloom".

Alternate transcription of Arabic نورة or نورا (see Nura).

Alternate transcription of Arabic نورة or نورا (see Nura).

French variant of Odélie and Portuguese form of Odelia 1. Also compare Odília.

Derived from the Old German element uodil meaning "heritage" or ot meaning "wealth, fortune". Saint Odilia (or Odila) was an 8th-century nun who is considered the patron saint of Alsace. She was apparently born blind but gained sight when she was baptized.

Spanish and Italian form of Ophelia.

Medieval Silesian form of Euphemia.

Coined as a diminutive of Italian ombra "shade; shadow", this name first came into usage after Antonio Fogazzaro used it for a character in his novel Piccolo mondo antico (The Little World of the Past in English) (1895).

Medieval Italian name directly taken from the noun onestà "honesty" or the (feminine) adjective onesta "honest; sincere".

From the English word for the gemstone (a variety of chalcedony), which can be black, red or other colours. It is derived from Greek ὄνυξ (onyx) meaning "claw, nail".

Derived from Greek ὠφέλεια (opheleia) meaning "help, advantage". This was a rare ancient Greek name, which was either rediscovered or recreated by the poet Jacopo Sannazaro for a character in his poem Arcadia (1480). It was borrowed by Shakespeare for his play Hamlet (1600), in which it belongs to the daughter of Polonius and the potential love interest of Hamlet. She eventually goes insane and drowns herself after Hamlet kills her father. In spite of this negative association, the name has been in use since the 19th century.

Alternate transcription of Hebrew אוֹפִירָה (see Ofira).

Diminutive of Oria.

Possibly related to Greek ὀρίνω (orino) meaning "to excite, to agitate". George Bernard Shaw used this name in his play The Apple Cart (1929).

Created by the Italian author Gabriele d'Annunzio for his novel La Figlia di Jorio (1904). It is derived from Tuscan Italian ornello meaning "flowering ash tree".

French form of Orpheus. Although the mythological character is masculine, this name is now more frequently borne by women than by men.

Italian form of Hosanna. This was the name of a 15th-century Italian saint and mystic, as well as a 16th-century Montenegrin saint.

Derived from Old High German ōt meaning "wealth, riches" and heri meaning "host, army".

Variant of Ottilia.

Hellenized form of Valeria. Also compare the names Silvanus and Silouanos, which show that the letter -v- was usually hellenized to -ou- by the ancient Greeks.

Feminine of Pyrrhos.

In Greek mythology, Pyrrha and her husband, Deucalion, built an arc to survive a great flood created by Zeus. When they reached land, they threw rocks over their shoulders, and the rocks became men and women.

From Japanese 麗 (rei) meaning "lovely, graceful, beautiful", 玲 (rei) meaning "the sound of jewels", 禮 (rei) meaning "courtesy", 礼 (rei) meaning "ceremony" or 令 (rei) meaning "good, law" combined with Japanese 花 (ka) or 華 (ka) both meaning "flower", 香 (ka) meaning "fragrance" or 加 (ka) meaning "increase". Other kanji combinations are possible.

Means "overflowing, saturated" in Hebrew, from the element רָוָה (ravah) "to be saturated, drink one's fill". A modern Hebrew word name.

A made up name similar to Rebekah, River, or Vaia. "Little purple flower by the river" (a meaning I put together with the meanings of River and Vaia!)

From the English word that denotes a flowing body of water. The word is ultimately derived (via Old French) from Latin ripa "riverbank".

Hebrew form of Rebecca.

Hebrew origin meaning “rose of grace”.

"Procyon. The brightest star in the constellation of Canis Minor."
Romaissa

Feminine form of Rune.

Modern Irish form of Sadb.

Possibly a variant of Safia.

Sallow comes from the medieval word for willow tree. It is a location surname.

From the Old German element sahso meaning "a Saxon". The Saxons were a Germanic tribe, their name ultimately deriving from the Germanic word *sahsą meaning "knife". Saskia van Uylenburgh (1612-1642) was the wife of the Dutch painter Rembrandt.

Greek feminine name, a cognate of the given name Sabine.

Italian, Spanish and Portuguese form of Seraphina.

Variant of Seraphine.

Norman form of Seraphina.

French form of Seraphia.

Silesian German diminutive of Seraphia.

Diminutive of Serena. It also coincides with one of the Italian words for "lilac".

Variant of Seraphia.

Variant of Severina.

A modern English feminine variant of the Hebrew masculine name Shai.

Combination of the name Shai "gift" and El "Lord"

Combination of Shai and Li 2; means "gift for me" from Hebrew שַׁי (shai) meaning "gift" and לִי (li) meaning "to me, for me".

" A girl who is as high as a mountain "

Anglicised form of Siobhán.

Means "fairy, sprite, elf" in Irish.

Derived from Slavic elements, probably sebě "to oneself" and slava "glory". This name (in the Czech form Soběslav) was borne by two 12th-century dukes of Bohemia.

Variant of Sonya.

Diminutive of Stanisława or Anastazja.

Feminine form of Stelios.

Derived from Old High German and Old Norse sunna meaning "sun". This was the name of the Germanic goddess who personified the sun. In Scandinavia it has also been used as a short form of Sunniva and Susanna. Use of the name in Iceland has been influenced by a character (Sunna Angelíka) from Margit Sandemo's Ísfólkið series of books (known in English as The Legend of the Ice People), first published in 1982.

Variant of Sunniva.

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.

Probably of Persian origin, possibly a superlative form of 𐎺𐎢 (vahu) meaning "good". According to the Old Testament this was the name of the first wife of King Ahasuerus of Persia before he married Esther.

Derived from Greek βελούδο (veloudo) meaning "velvet".

Means "of the evening", derived from Esperanto vespero "evening", ultimately from Latin vesper.

Of debated origin and meaning. Some scholars consider this name a short form of Elvezia, while other see a connection to the Ancient Roman masculine Vetius. Others again consider it an Italian form of Ancient Roman Vettius or Vectius.

Diminutive of Genevieve.

Swedish form of Vibeke.

Feminine form of Vivius.

Swiss German diminutive of Verena, which has also been used as an official name in the Netherlands. Vreneli is also the informal name for a range of legal tender gold coins produced in Switzerland.

Known bearers of this name include the Dutch actress Vreneli van Helbergen (b. 1987) and the Dutch author and feminist Vreneli Stadelmaier (b. 1962), whose official first name is Verena.

Hebrew form of Jael.

Variant of Yael.

Diminutive of Yael.

In Turkish origin the name means “beautiful” it’s a common name in turkey

The Arabic meaning of the name is “One who brings peace and prosperity wherever she goes”

Alternate transcription of Greek Γενοβέφα (Genovefa), the Greek form of Geneviève via Italian Genoveffa.

Russian, Ukrainian and Armenian form of Eve.

Possibly a variant transcription of Giasemi, which means "jasmine" in Greek (from the vocabulary word γιασεμί (yiasemi)).

Means "she-wolf", a derivative of Old Norse úlfr "wolf".

Combination of Ylva and the popular name suffix -li (compare Novalie).

Old French form of Iseult, appearing in the 12th-century Norman French poem Tristan by Béroul.

It is most probable that it is the feminine form of the name Yvain. Though, it is commonly thought of as a combination of Yvonne and Elaine.

The name is most popularly recognized as the name of the fallen star in Neil Gaiman's novella 'Stardust'.

Feminine form of Yves (or an elaboration using Élise). It was (first?) borne by the title character in the Italian novel Yvelise (1923) by Guido da Verona. It later appeared in the photonovel Yvelise devant l'amour published in the French magazine Nous Deux in 1950.

French feminine form of Yves.

Czech form of Yvonne.

French feminine form of Yvon. It has been regularly used in the English-speaking world since the late 19th century.

Variant of Yvonne.

Feminine form of Zafir.

From Greek ζαφείρι ή σαπφειρός meaning "sapphire".

From Persian زرین (zarīn) meaning "golden". According to the 5th-century BC Greek historian Ctesias, this was the name of a Scythian queen.

French diminutive of Isabelle. The French author Raymond Queneau used this for the title character of his novel 'Zazie dans le métro' (1959; English: 'Zazie in the Metro'), which was adapted by Louis Malle into a film (1960).

Means "brightness" in Hebrew.

Alternate transcription of Greek Ζηνοβία (see Zinovia).

Short form of Joséphine. Victor Hugo used this name in his novel 'Les Misérables' (1862).

Variant of Séraphine.

Unknown origin, possibly a variant of a last name.

The name of a character in Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's opera 'Don Giovanni' (1787), to an Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte, which was based on the legend of Don Juan.

It is not entirely clear where Mozart found this name: either he (thought he) invented it (possibly based on the Italian surname Zerla) or he adopted and adapted the old Yiddish name Zerline and Zerlina.
Zerline and Zerlina themselves are elaborated forms and diminutives of the Yiddish names Zerle and Zaerle, all of which have first been recorded, in the German-speaking world, between the late 1300s and early 1500s. They have been occasionally used up until the late 1800s and early 1900s, although their later uses might have been inspired by the opera.

Short form of names ending in -zetta, -cetta and -setta.

Means "dew" or "hoarfrost" in Persian.

Russian, Belarusian and Ukrainian form of Zenaida.

Sephardic form of Tzvia.

Combination of the name Ziv and the letters יה (ya) which are part of the name of God.

Possibly a variant of Zofia.

Feminine form of Zölestin.

Greek form of the French name Joséphine. Also compare Iosifina.

Variant of Xylina.