evgen's Personal Name List

Form of Abd Allah in several languages, as well as an alternate transcription of the Arabic name.

Means "born to me with wealth" in Yoruba.

From the name of a colony in New France in North America, derived from Arcadia and coinciding with Mi'kmaq suffix -akadie, meaning "place of abundance". This is also the name of a National Park in Maine.

Variant of Achilleia.

Means "my lord" in Hebrew. This was the title used to refer to the God of the Israelites, Yahweh, whose name was forbidden to be spoken.

Russian form of Athanasius.

Russian and Ukrainian form of Athena.

Possibly means "very steadfast" in Greek. In Greek mythology he was the brother of Menelaus. He led the Greek expedition to Troy to recover his brother's wife Helen. After the Trojan War Agamemnon was killed by his wife Clytemnestra.

Greek masculine form of Agatha.

Means "splendour, beauty" in Greek. In Greek mythology she was one of the three Graces or Χάριτες (Charites). This name was also borne by a 4th-century saint from Rome.

Bulgarian form of Aglaurus.

Polish form of Agnes.

Perhaps derived from the old Celtic root *agro- meaning "battle, slaughter". This is possibly the name of a Brythonic goddess for whom the River Ayr in Scotland and River Aeron in Wales were named.

Means "wise moon" in Kazakh, from ай (ay) meaning "moon" and дана (dana) meaning "wise".

Means "moon-like" in Kazakh, from ай (ay) meaning "moon" and the suffix дай (day) meaning "like".

Ancient Greek form of Katherine.

From Japanese 愛 (ai) meaning "love, affection" combined with 芽 (me) meaning "bud, sprout, shoot" or 夢 (me) meaning "dream". Other kanji combinations are possible.

Alternate transcription of Arabic عقيلة (see Aqila).

Russian form of the Roman name Aquilina, a feminine derivative of Aquila.

Russian form of Joachim.

Variant of Kseniya.

Variant of Akilina.

The meaning of this name is not known for certain. It was used in Brittany at least as early as the 6th century, and it possibly means either "little rock" or "handsome" in Breton. Alternatively, it may derive from the tribal name of the Alans, an Iranian people who migrated into Europe in the 4th and 5th centuries.

This was the name of several dukes of Brittany, and Breton settlers introduced it to England after the Norman Conquest. Famous modern bearers include Alan Shepard (1923-1998), the first American in space and the fifth man to walk on the moon, and Alan Turing (1912-1954), a British mathematician and computer scientist.

Form of Albinus in several languages.

Likely a Latinization of Alcestis.

Possibly a variant of Valentina.

Feminine form of Alexis.

Means "learned, expert, scholar" in Arabic.

This name became popular after the Battle of Alma (1854), which took place near the River Alma in Crimea and ended in a victory for Britain and France. However, the name was in rare use before the battle; it was probably inspired by Latin almus "nourishing". It also coincides with the Spanish word meaning "the soul".

Means "diamond" in Arabic, ultimately from Persian الماس (almās).

Means "high grace", taken from the Spanish title of the Virgin Mary Nuestra Señora de la Altagracia, meaning "Our Lady of High Grace". She is considered the patron saint of the Dominican Republic, and it is there that this name is most often used.

Derived from Italian alta, the feminine form of the adjective alto, meaning "high; deep; big; towering; elevated" and, when used in a poetic context, "grand; sublime; noble" and luna "moon".

A known bearer of this name was Altaluna della Scala, daughter of Mastino II della Scala, a 14th-cenutry lord of Verona, sister of Viridis and wife of Louis V, Duke of Bavaria.

Whether Altalune, the name Uma Thurman gave her daughter born in 2012, is a medieval variant of this name, is still debated.

Means "golden rose" in Mongolian, from алтан (altan) meaning "golden" and сарнай (sarnai) meaning "rose".

Latinized form of Althaia.

Late Roman and German feminine form of Amadeus, Italian and Galician feminine form of Amadeo, Sicilian feminine form of Amadeu, Hungarian and Polish feminine form of Amadeusz and Slovene variant of Amadeja.

Diminutive of Amada.

From the Greek Ἀμάλθεια (Amaltheia), derived from μαλθάσσω (malthasso) meaning "to soften, to soothe". In Greek myth she was a nymph (in some sources a goat) who nursed the infant Zeus.

French diminutive of Amanda.

Old German form of Emmeline.

Feminine form of Amir 1.

English form of the Old French name Amée meaning "beloved" (modern French aimée), a vernacular form of the Latin Amata. As an English name, it was in use in the Middle Ages (though not common) and was revived in the 19th century.

Feminine form of Anatolius. This was the name of a 3rd-century Italian saint and martyr. This is also a place name (from the same Greek origin) referring to the large peninsula that makes up the majority of Turkey.

Feminine form of Anatolianus.

Latinized form of Anaxandros. This name was borne by a king of Sparta (Greece) from the 7th century BC.

Feminine form of Anaxandros. In Greek legend this name was borne by the wife of King Procles of Sparta. It was also the name of a 3rd-century BC Greek painter, who is mentioned in Clement of Alexandria's essay 'Women as Well as Men Capable of Perfection'.

Derived from Greek ἀνήρ (aner) meaning "man" (genitive ἀνδρός) combined with one of the related words μέδομαι (medomai) meaning "to be mindful of, to provide for, to think on" or μέδω (medo) meaning "to protect, to rule over". In Greek mythology Andromeda was an Ethiopian princess rescued from sacrifice by the hero Perseus. A constellation in the northern sky is named for her. This is also the name of a nearby galaxy, given because it resides (from our point of view) within the constellation.

Romanian variant of Anemone.

From the name of the anemone flower, which is derived from Greek ἄνεμος (anemos) meaning "wind".

Diminutive of Anna.

French form of Anna. It was imported to England in the 13th century, but it did not become popular until three centuries later. The spelling variant Ann was also commonly found from this period, and is still used to this day.

The name was borne by a 17th-century English queen and also by the second wife of Henry VIII, Anne Boleyn (the mother of Queen Elizabeth I), who was eventually beheaded in the Tower of London. Another notable bearer was the German-Jewish diarist Anne (Annelies) Frank, a young victim of the Holocaust in 1945. This is also the name of the heroine in the 1908 novel Anne of Green Gables by Canadian author L. M. Montgomery.

Medieval English variant of Honora.

Georgian form of Henri.

Albanian and Croatian form of Antigone.

Derived from Greek ἀντί (anti) meaning "against, compared to, like" and γονή (gone) meaning "birth, offspring". In Greek legend Antigone was the daughter of Oedipus and Jocasta. King Creon of Thebes declared that her slain brother Polynices was to remain unburied, a great dishonour. She disobeyed and gave him a proper burial, and for this she was sealed alive in a cave.

Diminutive of Ana.

Means "very beautiful" in Welsh, from the intensive prefix an- combined with gwen "white, blessed".

Spanish and Polish feminine form of Apollinaris and Romanian form of Apollinaria. This is also attested as an ancient Greek name.

Bulgarian, Macedonian and Romanian form of Apostolos.

Derived from Latin aqua meaning "water". It is also used in English in reference to a bluish-green colour.

Means "altar of the sky" from Latin ara "altar" and coeli "sky". This is an epithet of the Virgin Mary in her role as the patron saint of Lucena, Spain.

Feminine form of Arcadius. This is the name of a region on the Greek Peloponnese, long idealized for its natural beauty.

Perhaps from either Greek ἀρή (are) meaning "bane, ruin" or ἄρσην (arsen) meaning "male". The name first appears as a-re in Mycenaean Greek writing. Ares was the bloodthirsty god of war in Greek mythology, a son of Zeus and Hera.

Means "desire" in Persian.

Russian form of Aristarchus.

Alternate transcription of Russian Аркадий (see Arkadiy).

From the English word armistice meaning "truce, ceasefire", ultimately derived from Latin arma "arms" and -stitium "stoppage". This is the name of a character on the HBO series 'Westworld'.

Persian and Urdu form of Aslan.

Feminine form of Arsenios.

Meaning unknown, possibly related either to Greek ἀρτεμής (artemes) meaning "safe" or ἄρταμος (artamos) meaning "a butcher". Artemis was the Greek goddess of the moon and hunting, the twin of Apollo and the daughter of Zeus and Leto. She was known as Diana to the Romans.

Means "beautiful soul" in Kazakh.

Means "happy, blessed" in Hebrew, derived from אָשַׁר (ʾashar) meaning "to be happy, to be blessed". Asher in the Old Testament is a son of Jacob by Leah's handmaid Zilpah, and the ancestor of one of the twelve tribes of Israel. The meaning of his name is explained in Genesis 30:13.

From Turkic arslan meaning "lion". This was a byname or title borne by several medieval Turkic rulers, including the Seljuk sultan Alp Arslan (a byname meaning "brave lion") who drove the Byzantines from Anatolia in the 11th century. The author C. S. Lewis later used the name Aslan for the main protagonist (a lion) in his Chronicles of Narnia series of books, first appearing in 1950.

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.

A famous bearer is Brazilian vocalist Astrud Gilberto (1940-).

Meaning unknown. Athena was the Greek goddess of wisdom and warfare and the patron goddess of the city of Athens in Greece. It is likely that her name is derived from that of the city, not vice versa. The earliest mention of her seems to be a 15th-century BC Mycenaean Greek inscription from Knossos on Crete.

The daughter of Zeus, she was said to have sprung from his head fully grown after he impregnated and swallowed her mother Metis. Athena is associated with the olive tree and the owl.

Variant of Athena.

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

From the name of the island paradise to which King Arthur was brought after his death. The name of this island is perhaps related to Welsh afal meaning "apple", a fruit that was often linked with paradise.

Russian form of Eudocia.

Diminutive of Avila.

From an English surname that was itself derived from the Norman French form of the given names Alberich or Alfred.

As a given name, it was used on the American sitcom Murphy Brown (1988-1998) for both the mother and son of the main character. By 1998 it was more popular as a name for girls in the United States, perhaps further inspired by a character from the movie Jerry Maguire (1996).

Russian and Ukrainian form of Aurora.

Meaning uncertain. In 1970 it was featured in The Book of African Names by Chief Osuntoki [1][2] with a listed meaning of "beautiful flower". American comedian and activist Dick Gregory used it for his daughter in 1971.

Alternate transcription of Arabic عائشة or Urdu عائشہ (see Aisha), as well as the usual Bengali transcription.

Derived from Turkish and Azerbaijani ay meaning "moon" and su meaning "water".

Hebrew form of Azariah (masculine), as well as a feminine variant in the English-speaking world.

Form of Beelzebub used in many English versions of the Old Testament.

Means "spring" in Persian, Turkish and Azerbaijani.

Meaning unknown. This is the name of the Ossetian ruler of the underworld who assigns dead souls either to paradise or his realm, comparable to the Greek Hades.

Derived from Greek βάρβαρος (barbaros) meaning "foreign, non-Greek". According to legend, Saint Barbara was a young woman killed by her father Dioscorus, who was then killed by a bolt of lightning. She is the patron of architects, geologists, stonemasons and artillerymen. Because of her renown, the name came into general use in the Christian world in the Middle Ages. In England it became rare after the Protestant Reformation, but it was revived in the 19th century.

Old Church Slavic form of Bartholomew.

From the English word for the animal, derived from Old English bera, probably derived from a root meaning "brown".

Italian form of Beatrix. Beatrice Portinari (1266-1290) was the woman who was loved by the Italian poet Dante Alighieri. She serves as Dante's guide through paradise in his epic poem the Divine Comedy (1321). This is also the name of a character in Shakespeare's comedy Much Ado About Nothing (1599), in which Beatrice and Benedick are fooled into confessing their love for one another.

Polish form of Beatrix.

From the name of a toxic plant, also called deadly nightshade (species Atropa belladonna). The plant's name is of Italian origin, probably derived from Latin bladona "mullein plant" and altered through association with the Italian words bella "beautiful, fair" and donna "lady".

Means "white flowers" from Welsh blodau "flowers" combined with gwen "white, blessed". This is the name of an 1878 Welsh opera by Joseph Parry.

From the English word blossom, ultimately from Old English blóstm. It came into use as a rare given name in the 19th century.

Czech feminine form of Bolesław.

Feminine form of Branko.

Means "full moons" in Arabic (a plural form of Badr).

From an English word meaning "rhythm, flow". It has been in use only since the 20th century.

Latinized form of Kalliope.

Variant of Calum.

From Greek Καλυψώ (Kalypso), which probably meant "she that conceals", derived from καλύπτω (kalypto) meaning "to cover, to conceal". In Greek myth this was the name of the nymph who fell in love with Odysseus after he was shipwrecked on her island of Ogygia. When he refused to stay with her she detained him for seven years until Zeus ordered her to release him.

From a Scottish surname meaning "crooked nose" from Gaelic cam "crooked" and sròn "nose". As a given name it is mainly used for boys. It got a little bump in popularity for girls in the second half of the 1990s, likely because of the fame of actress Cameron Diaz (1972-). In the United States, the forms Camryn and Kamryn are now more popular than Cameron for girls.

Means "Candlemas" in Spanish, ultimately derived from Spanish candela "candle". This name is given in honour of the church festival of Candlemas, which commemorates the presentation of Christ in the temple and the purification of the Virgin Mary.

From the Greek name Κασσάνδρα (Kassandra), possibly derived from κέκασμαι (kekasmai) meaning "to excel, to shine" and ἀνήρ (aner) meaning "man" (genitive ἀνδρός). In Greek myth Cassandra was a Trojan princess, the daughter of Priam and Hecuba. She was given the gift of prophecy by Apollo, but when she spurned his advances he cursed her so nobody would believe her prophecies.

In the Middle Ages this name was common in England due to the popularity of medieval tales about the Trojan War. It subsequently became rare, but was revived in the 20th century.

Latinized form of Greek Κασσιόπεια (Kassiopeia) or Κασσιέπεια (Kassiepeia), possibly meaning "cassia juice". In Greek myth Cassiopeia was the wife of Cepheus and the mother of Andromeda. She was changed into a constellation and placed in the northern sky after she died.

Latinate feminine form of the Roman family name Caecilius, which was derived from Latin caecus meaning "blind". Saint Cecilia was a semi-legendary 2nd or 3rd-century martyr who was sentenced to die because she refused to worship the Roman gods. After attempts to suffocate her failed, she was beheaded. She was later regarded as the patron saint of music and musicians.

Due to the popularity of the saint, the name became common in the Christian world during the Middle Ages. The Normans brought it to England, where it was commonly spelled Cecily — the Latinate form Cecilia came into use in the 18th century.

Means "cranberry" in Mordvin.

Means "Platanus" (a type of tree) in Uzbek.

Means "grace" in Chewa.

Simply means "clarity, lucidity" from the English word, ultimately from Latin clarus "clear".

From the English word for the wild flower, ultimately deriving from Old English clafre.

Feminine form of Cornelius. In the 2nd century BC it was borne by Cornelia Scipionis Africana (the daughter of the military hero Scipio Africanus), the mother of the two reformers known as the Gracchi. After her death she was regarded as an example of the ideal Roman woman. The name was revived in the 18th century.

Derived from Slovene cvet meaning "blossom, flower".

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.

From an English surname that was originally derived from a place name in Cumbria, of Brythonic origin meaning "trickling stream".

Means "laurel" in Albanian, Bulgarian and Macedonian, of Greek origin.

Derived from the Slavic elements dalĭ "distance" and borti "to fight".

According to the legend of the Aboriginals, the original settlers of Australia, Darana was one of the Deities during Dreamtime (the time before humans occupied Earth).
According to legend, Darana created witchetty grubs and put two in a bag. He then hung the bag from a tree in Australia. Later, two human young men killed the grubs with a boomerang. Apparenty, this was a no-no because the dust of the destroyed grubs glowed with a light that turned the sunset red, which alerted evil spirits who killed the humans.
Daran felt bad for this, and turned the young men's bodies into sacred stones. If the stones are scratched, there will be famine. And if they are destroyed, the universe will turn to dust. For this reason, the stones were hidden in a bag in a secret location where they remain untouched to this very day.

Derived from the Slavic word darŭ meaning "gift". It is sometimes used as a diminutive of names beginning with Dar.

Feminine form of Davor.

Feminine form of Dejan.

Russian and Ukrainian form of Damian.

From Denys or Denis, the medieval French forms of Dionysius. Saint Denis was a 3rd-century missionary to Gaul and the first bishop of Paris. He was martyred by decapitation, after which legend says he picked up his own severed head and walked for a distance while preaching a sermon. He is credited with converting the Gauls to Christianity and is considered the patron saint of France.

This name was common in France during the Middle Ages, and it was imported by the Normans to England. It is now regularly spelled Dennis in the English-speaking world. A notable bearer was the French philosopher Denis Diderot (1713-1784).

Alternate transcription of Bulgarian Десислава (see Desislava).

Hebrew form of Deborah.

Variant of Diamond.

Means "divine, goddesslike", a derivative of Latin dia or diva meaning "goddess". It is ultimately related to the same Indo-European root *dyew- found in Zeus. Diana was a Roman goddess of the moon, hunting, forests and childbirth, often identified with the Greek goddess Artemis.

As a given name, Diana has been regularly used since the Renaissance. It became more common in the English-speaking world following Walter Scott's novel Rob Roy (1817), which featured a character named Diana Vernon. It also appeared in George Meredith's novel Diana of the Crossways (1885). A notable bearer was the British royal Diana Spencer (1961-1997), the Princess of Wales.

From dianthus, the name of a type of flower (ultimately from Greek meaning "heavenly flower").

Form of Dorothea in several languages.

Usual English form of Dorothea. It has been in use since the 16th century. The author L. Frank Baum used it for the central character, Dorothy Gale, in his fantasy novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900) and several of its sequels.

Feminine form of Dragoslav.

Diminutive of Avdotya.

Means "rich protection", from the Old English elements ead "wealth, fortune" and mund "protection". This was the name of two Anglo-Saxon kings of England. It was also borne by two saints, including a 9th-century king of East Anglia who, according to tradition, was shot to death with arrows after refusing to divide his Christian kingdom with an invading pagan Danish leader. This Old English name remained in use after the Norman Conquest (even being used by King Henry III for one of his sons), though it became less common after the 15th century.

Famous bearers of the name include the English poet Edmund Spenser (1552-1599), the German-Czech philosopher Edmund Husserl (1859-1938) and New Zealand mountaineer Edmund Hillary (1919-2008), the first person to climb Mount Everest.

From the English word for the flower also known as sweetbrier. It is derived via Old French from Vulgar Latin *aquilentum meaning "prickly". It was early used as a given name (in the form Eglentyne) in Geoffrey Chaucer's 14th-century story The Prioress's Tale (one of The Canterbury Tales).

Anglicized form of Eibhlín. It is also sometimes considered an Irish form of Helen. It first became popular in the English-speaking world outside of Ireland near the end of the 19th century.

Latinate form of Eleanor.

From the Hebrew name אֶלְעָזָר (ʾElʿazar) meaning "God has helped", derived from אֵל (ʾel) meaning "God" and עָזַר (ʿazar) meaning "to help". In the Old Testament this is the name of one of the sons of Aaron. The name also appears in the New Testament belonging to one of the ancestors of Jesus in the genealogy in the Gospel of Matthew.

Form of Helen used in various languages, as well as an alternate transcription of Russian Елена (see Yelena).

Feminine form of Elex.

Form of Elijah used in several languages. This is also the form used in the Greek New Testament, as well as some English translations.

From the Hebrew name אֱלִיָּהוּ (ʾEliyyahu) meaning "my God is Yahweh", derived from the roots אֵל (ʾel) and יָהּ (yah), both referring to the Hebrew God. Elijah was a Hebrew prophet and miracle worker, as told in the two Books of Kings in the Old Testament. He was active in the 9th century BC during the reign of King Ahab of Israel and his Phoenician-born queen Jezebel. Elijah confronted the king and queen over their idolatry of the Canaanite god Ba'al and other wicked deeds. At the end of his life he was carried to heaven in a chariot of fire, and was succeeded by Elisha. In the New Testament, Elijah and Moses appear next to Jesus when he is transfigured.

Because Elijah was a popular figure in medieval tales, and because his name was borne by a few early saints (who are usually known by the Latin form Elias), the name came into general use during the Middle Ages. In medieval England it was usually spelled Elis. It died out there by the 16th century, but it was revived by the Puritans in the form Elijah after the Protestant Reformation. The name became popular during the 1990s and 2000s, especially in America where it broke into the top ten in 2016.

Finnish, Estonian and Swedish form of Helen.

Means "my God is my light" in Hebrew.

Spanish form of Emmeline.

From the Roman family name Aemilius, which was derived from Latin aemulus meaning "rival".

Feminine form of Aemilius (see Emily). In Shakespeare's tragedy Othello (1603) this is the name of the wife of Iago.

French feminine form of Emmanuel.

Variant of Emery.

Means "empress" in Spanish.

Means "snowdrop (flower)" in Georgian (genus Galanthus).

Means "rainbow" in Welsh. This name was first used in the 19th century.

English form of Éponine.

Alternate transcription of Russian Ермолай (see Yermolay).

Feminine form of Esmé.

Means "ether, air" in Georgian. This name features in the opera Abesalom and Eteri (1918), which was based on a medieval Georgian folktale.

Form of Eter with the nominative suffix, used when the name is written stand-alone.

Feminine form of Eugenius (see Eugene). It was borne by a semi-legendary 3rd-century saint who escaped persecution by disguising herself as a man. The name was occasionally found in England during the Middle Ages, but it was not regularly used until the 19th century.

From a Greek word meaning "good conduct", derived from εὖ (eu) meaning "good" and πρᾶξις (praxis) meaning "action, exercise".

Latinate form of Evangeline.

Means "good news" from Greek εὖ (eu) meaning "good" and ἄγγελμα (angelma) meaning "news, message". It was (first?) used by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow in his 1847 epic poem Evangeline [1][2]. It also appears in Harriet Beecher Stowe's novel Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852) as the full name of the character Eva.

Bulgarian feminine form of Evangelos.

Modern Greek form of Eugenia. It is also an alternate transcription of Russian Евгения (see Yevgeniya) or Bulgarian Евгения (see Evgeniya).

Alternate transcription of Russian Евпраксия (see Yevpraksiya).

Derived from Arabic فطم (faṭama) meaning "to abstain, to wean" [1]. Fatima was a daughter of the Prophet Muhammad and the wife of Ali, the fourth caliph. She is regarded as the exemplary Muslim woman, especially among Shias.

Means "little raven" from Old Irish fiach "raven" combined with a diminutive suffix. This was the name of an Irish saint of the 7th century, the founder of the monastery at Fore. He died of the yellow plague.

Feminine form of Felinus.

Russian form of Theophanes.

Russian form of Therapon.

Alternate transcription of Persian فریدون (see Fereydoun).

Either from the English word fox or the surname Fox, which originally given as a nickname. The surname was borne by George Fox (1624-1691), the founder of the Quakers.

Feminine form of Francis. The distinction between Francis as a masculine name and Frances as a feminine name did not arise until the 17th century [1]. A notable bearer was Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini (1850-1917), a social worker and the first American to be canonized.

From Fuchsia, a genus of flowering plants, itself named after the German botanist Leonhart Fuchs (1501-1566), whose surname means "fox" in German.

It was most famously used by British author Mervyn Peake for the character Fuchsia Groan in his Gormenghast books (1946-1959).

Means "maiden crowned with a radiant garland" in the fictional language Sindarin. Galadriel was a Noldorin elf princess renowned for her beauty and wisdom in J. R. R. Tolkien's novels. The elements are galad "radiant" and riel "garlanded maiden". Alatáriel is the Quenya form of her name.

Latinized form of Greek Γαλάτεια (Galateia), probably derived from γάλα (gala) meaning "milk". This was the name of several characters in Greek mythology including a sea nymph who was the daughter of Doris and Nereus and the lover of Acis. According to some sources, this was also the name of the ivory statue carved by Pygmalion that came to life.

Means "birth, origin" in Greek. This is the name of the first book of the Old Testament in the Bible. It tells of the creation of the world, the expulsion of Adam and Eve, Noah and the great flood, and the three patriarchs.

From a biblical place name, the garden where Jesus was arrested, located on the Mount of Olives near Jerusalem. It is derived from Γεθσημανί (Gethsemani), the Greek form of an Aramaic name meaning "oil vat". It is very rarely used as a given name.

From the Hebrew name גִּדְעוֹן (Giḏʿon) meaning "feller, hewer", derived from גָּדַע (gaḏaʿ) meaning "to cut, to hew" [1]. Gideon is a hero and judge of the Old Testament. He led the vastly outnumbered Israelites against the Midianites, defeated them, and killed their two kings. In the English-speaking world, Gideon has been used as a given name since the Protestant Reformation, and it was popular among the Puritans.

French variant of Giselle.

Dutch (Flemish) form of Godeliva.

Latinized form of the Old English name Godgifu meaning "gift of god", from the elements god and giefu "gift". Lady Godiva was an 11th-century English noblewoman who, according to legend, rode naked through the streets of Coventry to protest the high taxes imposed by her husband upon the townspeople.

Armenian, Bulgarian and Macedonian form of Gregory. This is the name of the patron saint of Armenia (known as Saint Gregory the Illuminator in English).

Alternate transcription of Russian Григорий (see Grigoriy), as well as the usual transcription of the medieval Slavic form.

Diminutive of Grigoriy.

Means "to dawn" in Norwegian, Danish and Swedish.

From a Spanish title of the Virgin Mary, Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe, meaning "Our Lady of Guadalupe". Guadalupe is a Spanish place name, the site of a famous convent, derived from Arabic وادي (wādī) meaning "valley, river" possibly combined with Latin lupus meaning "wolf". In the 16th century Our Lady of Guadalupe supposedly appeared in a vision to a native Mexican man, and she is now regarded as a patron saint of the Americas.

Means "the people of Hermes" from the name of the messenger god Hermes combined with Greek λαός (laos) meaning "people".

Latin form of Jerome, formerly common in Germany and the Netherlands. Hieronymus Bosch (1450-1516) was a Dutch painter known for his depictions of the torments of hell.

Latinized form of Hippolyte 1. In Shakespeare's comedy A Midsummer Night's Dream (1595) she is the queen of the Amazons, due to marry Theseus the Duke of Athens.

From a surname that was originally derived from a place name meaning "deep valley" in Old English. This is the name of the main character in J. D. Salinger's novel The Catcher in the Rye (1951), Holden Caulfield.

Latinized form of the Greek name Ὑάκινθος (Hyakinthos), which was derived from the name of the hyacinth flower. In Greek legend Hyakinthos was accidentally killed by the god Apollo, who mournfully caused this flower to arise from his blood. The name was also borne by several early saints, notably a 3rd-century martyr who was killed with his brother Protus.

Means "violet flower", derived from Greek ἴον (ion) meaning "violet" and ἄνθος (anthos) meaning "flower". This was the name of an ocean nymph in Greek mythology.

Arabic form of Abraham, also used in several other languages. This form appears in the Quran.

Catalan cognate of Inmaculada.

Alternate transcription of Russian Иннокентий (see Innokentiy).

Meaning unknown. In Greek mythology Io was a princess loved by Zeus, who changed her into a heifer in order to hide her from Hera. A moon of Jupiter bears this name in her honour.

Alternate transcription of Russian Ипатий (see Ipatiy).

Derived from Greek ἴφιος (iphios) meaning "strong, stout" and γενής (genes) meaning "born". In Greek myth Iphigenia was the daughter of King Agamemnon. When her father offended Artemis it was divined that the only way to appease the goddess was to sacrifice Iphigenia. Just as Agamemnon was about to sacrifice his daughter she was magically transported to the city of Taurus.

In Christian tradition this was also the name of a legendary early saint, the daughter of an Ethiopian king Egippus.

Italian form of Hippolyte 1.

Variant of Iracema.

A known bearer of this name was the Brazilian actress Irasema Dilián (1924-1996), who was of Polish descent.

Form of Irene in several languages.

Alternate transcription of Russian Ириней (see Iriney).

German short form of names beginning with the Old German element irmin meaning "whole, great" (Proto-Germanic *ermunaz). It is thus related to Emma. It began to be regularly used in the English-speaking world in the 19th century.

French form of Isaura.

Reconstructed Egyptian form of Isis.

From the Semitic root ʿṯtr, which possibly relates to the Evening Star. Ishtar was an Akkadian, Assyrian and Babylonian goddess who presided over love, war and fertility. She was cognate with the Canaanite and Phoenician Ashtoreth, and she was also identified with the Sumerian goddess Inanna. Her name in Akkadian cuneiform 𒀭𒈹 was the same as the Sumerian cuneiform for Inanna.

German and Russian form of Isidore.

Feminine form of Isidore. This was the name of a 4th-century Egyptian saint and hermitess.

Greek form of Egyptian ꜣst (reconstructed as Iset, Aset or Ueset), possibly from st meaning "throne". In Egyptian mythology Isis was the goddess of the sky and nature, the wife of Osiris and the mother of Horus. She was originally depicted wearing a throne-shaped headdress, but in later times she was conflated with the goddess Hathor and depicted having the horns of a cow on her head. She was also worshipped by people outside of Egypt, such as the Greeks and Romans.

Possibly from Greek ἰσμή (isme) meaning "knowledge". This was the name of the daughter of Oedipus and Jocasta in Greek legend.

Modern Greek form of Ismene.

Scandinavian form of Ivor.

Hungarian Latinization of Ivett and Slovak variant of Iveta.

Meaning unknown. This name was borne by Saint Ia of Persia, a 4th-century martyr who is venerated in the Eastern Orthodox Church.

Means "blossoming, prospering" in Arabic, a derivative of زهر (zahara) meaning "to shine, to bloom".

Derived from Jackin (earlier Jankin), a medieval diminutive of John [1]. There could be some early influence from the unrelated French name Jacques [2]. It is often regarded as an independent name. During the Middle Ages it was very common, and it became a slang word meaning "man", as seen in the terms jack-o'-lantern, jack-in-the-box, lumberjack and so on. It was frequently used in fairy tales and nursery rhymes, such as Jack and the Beanstalk, Jack and Jill, Little Jack Horner, and Jack Sprat.

American writers Jack London (1876-1916) and Jack Kerouac (1922-1969) were two famous bearers of this name. It is also borne by the actor Jack Nicholson (1937-) and the golfer Jack Nicklaus (1940-). Apart from Nicklaus, none of these famous bearers were given the name Jack at birth.

In the United Kingdom this form has been bestowed more frequently than John since the 1990s, being the most popular name for boys from 1996 to 2008.

Dutch feminine form of Iacomus (see James).

Polish form of Hedwig. This was the name of a 14th-century ruling queen of Poland who has recently been canonized as a saint.

From the Hebrew name יִרְםְיָהוּ (Yirmeyahu) meaning "Yahweh will exalt", from the roots רוּם (rum) meaning "to exalt" and יָהּ (yah) referring to the Hebrew God. This is the name of one of the major prophets of the Old Testament, the author of the Book of Jeremiah and the Book of Lamentations (supposedly). He lived to see the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem in the 6th century BC.

In England, though the vernacular form Jeremy had been occasionally used since the 13th century, the form Jeremiah was not common until after the Protestant Reformation.

From the name of the river that flows between the countries of Jordan and Israel. The river's name in Hebrew is יַרְדֵן (Yarḏen), and it is derived from יָרַד (yaraḏ) meaning "descend, flow down". In the New Testament John the Baptist baptizes Jesus Christ in its waters, and it was adopted as a personal name in Europe after crusaders brought water back from the river to baptize their children. There may have been some influence from the Latin name Jordanes, notably borne by a 6th-century Gothic historian.

This name died out after the Middle Ages, but was revived in the 19th century. In America and other countries it became fairly popular in the second half of the 20th century. A famous bearer of the surname is former basketball star Michael Jordan (1963-).

Simply from the English word joy, ultimately derived from Norman French joie, Latin gaudium. It has been regularly used as a given name since the late 19th century.

Means "beautiful army" from the Greek elements κάλλος (kallos) meaning "beauty" and στρατός (stratos) meaning "army".

Russian form of Karpos (see Carpus).

Belarusian form of Katherine.

Croatian, Slovene and Russian form of Casimir.

Means "onager, wild donkey" in Mongolian. This was the name of a wife of Genghis Khan.

Means "skin of a tree or fruit" in Maori. This name has been brought to public attention by New Zealand opera singer Kiri Te Kanawa (1944-).

Means "fate" in Turkish, ultimately from Arabic.

Short form of Kliment.

From Japanese 心 (kokoro) meaning "heart, mind, soul" or other kanji and kanji combinations having the same pronunciation. It is often written using the hiragana writing system.

Ewe form of Kwaku.

Bulgarian form of Cornelia.

Derived from the Slavic elements krasa "beauty, adornment" and mirŭ "peace, world".

Polish form of Kunigunde. The 13th-century Saint Kunegunda was the daughter of Bela IV, king of Hungary. She married Boleslaus V of Poland, but after his death refused to assume power and instead became a nun.

Greek form of Cynthia.

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.

From the English word for the type of songbird.

French form of Laura.

French form of Laurentinus.

Meaning unknown. In Greek myth she was a Spartan queen and the mother of Castor, Pollux, Helen and Clytemnestra by the god Zeus, who came upon her in the form of a swan.

Alternate transcription of Lina 3.

Means "heavenly flowers" or "royal child" from Hawaiian lei "flowers, lei, child" and lani "heaven, sky, royal, majesty".

Meaning uncertain, possibly from the name of a type of plant.

Derived from Greek λέων (leon) meaning "lion". During the Christian era this Greek name was merged with the Latin cognate Leo, with the result that the two forms are used somewhat interchangeably across European languages. In England during the Middle Ages this was a common name among Jews. A famous bearer was the communist revolutionary Leon Trotsky (1879-1940), whose name is Лев in Russian.

Feminine form of Leon.

Russian and Ukrainian form of Leonidas.

French form of Leontina.

Derived from the Old German elements liut "people" and bald "bold, brave". The spelling was altered due to association with Latin leo "lion". This name was common among German royalty, first with the Babenbergs and then the Habsburgs. Saint Leopold was a 12th-century Babenberg margrave of Austria, who is now considered the patron of that country. It was also borne by two Habsburg Holy Roman emperors, as well as three kings of Belgium. Since the 19th century this name has been occasionally used in England, originally in honour of Queen Victoria's uncle, a king of Belgium, after whom she named one of her sons. It was later used by James Joyce for the main character, Leopold Bloom, in his novel Ulysses (1922).

French feminine form of Leopold.

Means "lion" in Russian, functioning as a vernacular form of Leo. This was the real Russian name of both author Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910) and revolutionary Leon Trotsky (1879-1940).

Derived from Slovak lev "lion" and the Slavic name element slava "glory".

Italian, Portuguese, Georgian and Greek form of Leah.

Means "play, amusement" in Sanskrit.

From the English word for the shrub with purple or white flowers (genus Syringa). It is derived via Arabic from Persian.

Form of Lillian found in Scotland from about the 16th century [1].

Greek form of Linus.

Means "my light" in Hebrew, from לִי (li) "for me" and אוֹר (ʾor) "light".

Diminutive of Luigia.

Form of Lunete used in the Welsh tale Owain, or the Lady of the Fountain (which was based on Chrétien's poem).

The name of the constellation in the northern sky containing the star Vega. It is said to be shaped after the lyre of Orpheus. This is the name of the main character in the His Dark Materials series of books by Philip Pullman (beginning 1995).

Elaborated form of Lyric.

Derived from the Slavic element ľuby meaning "love".

Later Welsh form of Maponos [1][2][3]. In the Welsh tale Culhwch and Olwen he is a prisoner freed by Arthur's warriors in order to help hunt the great boar Trwyth. His mother is Modron.

Old Church Slavic form of Magdalene, as well as a Bulgarian variant form.

From the English word magnolia for the flower, which was named for the French botanist Pierre Magnol.

French form of Maia 1.

Derived from Georgian მაყვალი (maqvali) meaning "blackberry".

Derived from Pashto مرغلره (marghalara) meaning "pearl".

Polish form of Malvina.

From the English word for the tree (comprising the genus Acer), derived from Old English mapul. This is the name of a girl in Robert Frost's poem Maple (1923) who wonders about the origin of her unusual name.

Means "wish, desire" in Arabic.

Traditional Russian form of Martha.

Latin form of Greek Μαρία, from Hebrew מִרְיָם (see Mary). Maria is the usual form of the name in many European languages, as well as a secondary form in other languages such as English (where the common spelling is Mary). In some countries, for example Germany, Poland and Italy, Maria is occasionally used as a masculine middle name.

This was the name of two ruling queens of Portugal. It was also borne by the Habsburg queen Maria Theresa (1717-1780), whose inheritance of the domains of her father, the Holy Roman emperor Charles VI, began the War of the Austrian Succession.

Means "Mary of Mount Carmel" in Spanish, a devotional title of the Virgin Mary (see Carmen).

Form of Maria used in the Greek Old Testament. In the Greek New Testament both this spelling and Μαρία (Maria) are used. It is also the Georgian, Armenian and Malay form, as well as an alternate transcription of Arabic مريم (see Maryam).

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.

French, Armenian and Georgian form of Marina.

Blend of Marx and Lenin. This name was created by communist parents who were eager to reject traditional names.

French, Dutch and Norwegian form of Martina.

From the Arabic name of a fragrant plant. Al-Marwa is the name of one of the two sacred hills near Mecca.

Russian variant form of Maria.

Arabic form of Miryam (see Mary) appearing in the Quran. It is also the form used in several other languages. In Iran it is also the name of a flower, the tuberose, which is named after the Virgin Mary.

Polish form of Morana.

Means "lady" in Late Latin, a derivative of Latin mater "mother". This was the name of three early saints.

Russian variant of Matrona 1.

Czech form of Mieczysław.

Kazakh and Bosnian form of Madina.

Russian form of Methodius.

Probably a combination of Mel (from names such as Melanie or Melissa) with the suffix antha (from Greek ἄνθος (anthos) meaning "flower"). John Dryden used this name in his play Marriage a la Mode (1672).

Means "son of the wise man" in Ge'ez and Amharic. According to the legend Menelik was the first emperor of Ethiopia. In the 10th century BC, he is said to have inaugurated the Solomonic dynasty of Ethiopia, so named because Menelik I is supposed to be the son of the biblical King Solomon of ancient Israel and Makeda, the Ethiopian Queen of Sheba.

Modern Greek transcription of Michael. It is also an alternate transcription of Russian Михаил (see Mikhail).

Polish feminine form of Michael.

Welsh name of the archangel Michael, formed from a contraction of Michael and angel.

From the Slavic element milŭ meaning "gracious, dear", originally a short form of names containing that element.

Short form of Miroslava and other names beginning with Mir (often the Slavic element mirŭ meaning "peace, world").

Alternate transcription of Macedonian Мирче (see Mirče).

Derived from the Slavic elements mirŭ "peace, world" and slava "glory". This was the name of a 10th-century king of Croatia who was deposed by one of his nobles after ruling for four years.

Means "memory" in Greek. In Greek mythology she was one of the original three muses, the muse of memory.

From an English surname meaning "Gumarich's mountain" in Norman French. A notable bearer of this surname was Bernard Montgomery (1887-1976), a British army commander during World War II.

From Old Slavic morŭ meaning "death, plague" [1]. In Slavic mythology this was the name of a goddess associated with winter and death.

Means "servant of Marduk" in Persian. In the Old Testament Mordecai is the cousin and foster father of Esther. He thwarted a plot to kill the Persian king, though he made an enemy of the king's chief advisor Haman.

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-).

Means "bright, shining" in Arabic, related to the root نوّر (nawwara) meaning "to illuminate, to light".

Means "wish, desire" in Arabic, related to the root منا (manā) meaning "to tempt, to put to the test".

Means "hope" in South Slavic.

Means "hope" in Russian and Bulgarian.

Means "found", derived from Bulgarian найда (nayda) meaning "to find".

From Greek νέφος (nephos) meaning "cloud". In Greek legend Nephele was created from a cloud by Zeus, who shaped the cloud to look like Hera in order to trick Ixion, a mortal who desired her. Nephele was the mother of the centaurs by Ixion, and was also the mother of Phrixus and Helle by Athamus.

Derived from South Slavic neven meaning "marigold".

Alternate transcription of Russian/Bulgarian Николай (see Nikolay).

Means "blessing" in Arabic.

Means "light" in Arabic. In Islamic tradition النور (al-Nūr) is one of the 99 names of Allah.

Means "light of Allah", from Arabic نور (nūr) meaning "light" combined with الله (Allah).

Means "night" in Greek. This was the name of the Greek goddess of the night, the daughter of Khaos and the wife of Erebos.

From the name of the tenth month. It is derived from Latin octo meaning "eight", because it was originally the eighth month of the Roman year.

French form of Undine.

Feminine form of Onofrio.

Anglicized form of Úna, as well as a Finnish form.

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.

Anglicized form of Órlaith.

Russian form of Joseph.

Greek form of the Egyptian wsjr (reconstructed as Asar, Usir and other forms), which is of unknown meaning, possibly related to wsr "mighty" or jrt "eye". In Egyptian mythology Osiris was the god of fertility, agriculture, and the dead and served as the judge of the underworld. In one tale he was slain by his brother Seth, but restored to life by his wife Isis in order to conceive their son Horus, who would go on to avenge his father.

Ukrainian form of Eustathius.

Russian form of Paphnutius.

Spanish, Catalan, Italian and Croatian word for "palm". This name typically referred to Palm Sunday, the Sunday before Easter, and was historically given to girls born on this day.

Feminine form of Palmiro.

Means "dove, pigeon" in Spanish.

Means "all gifts", derived from a combination of Greek πᾶν (pan) meaning "all" and δῶρον (doron) meaning "gift". In Greek mythology Pandora was the first mortal woman. Zeus gave her a jar containing all of the troubles and ills that mankind now knows, and told her not to open it. Unfortunately her curiosity got the best of her and she opened it, unleashing the evil spirits into the world.

Variant transcription of Panteley.

From the Greek Πάνθεια (Pantheia) meaning "all goddess", derived from πᾶν (pan) meaning "all" combined with θεά (thea) meaning "goddess" (compare Pasithea and the Greek adjective πάνθειος (pantheios) meaning "of all gods" or "common to all gods"). According to the 4th-century BC Greek historian Xenophon, Pantheia was the wife of the possibly legendary king Abradatas of Susa, in Iran. After her husband died heroically in battle, she committed suicide by his grave.

In ancient Rome, Diva Drusilla Panthea was the name under which the emperor Caligula deified his favourite sister, Julia Drusilla (16-38), after her death at age 21. This name was also borne by a mistress of Roman co-emperor Lucius Verus (130-169).

In theatre, it was used by Beaumont and Fletcher for a princess in their play A King and No King (1619) and by Percy Bysshe Shelley for an Oceanid in his play Prometheus Unbound (1820). Oscar Wilde also wrote a poem entitled Panthea (1881). Panthea Vyne was the titular lady in the television film The Lady and the Highwayman (1989), based on Barbara Cartland's historical novel Cupid Rides Pillion (1952).

Means "like a fairy" in Persian, derived from پری (parī) meaning "fairy, sprite, supernatural being".

Means "maiden's voice", derived from Greek παρθένος (parthenos) meaning "maiden, virgin" and ὄψ (ops) meaning "voice". In Greek legend this is the name of one of the Sirens who enticed Odysseus.

Means "peace" in Spanish. It is taken from the title of the Virgin Mary, Nuestra Señora de la Paz, meaning "Our Lady of Peace".

From the English word for the type of flower. It was originally believed to have healing qualities, so it was named after the Greek medical god Pæon.

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.

Feminine form of Petronius.