Carolinax1's Personal Name List
Aldous
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: AWL-dəs
Probably a
diminutive of names beginning with the Old English element
eald "old". It has been in use as an English given name since the Middle Ages, mainly in East Anglia
[1]. The British author Aldous Huxley (1894-1963) was a famous bearer of this name.
Aleksy
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Polish
Pronounced: a-LEH-ksi
Almon
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: AH-mun
Variant of
Amon used in the 19th century.
Ansel
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: AN-səl
From an English surname that was derived from the given name
Anselm. A famous bearer was American photographer Ansel Adams (1902-1984).
Anselm
Gender: Masculine
Usage: German, English (Rare), Germanic [1]
Pronounced: AN-zelm(German) AN-selm(English)
Derived from the Old German elements
ansi "god" and
helm "helmet, protection". This name was brought to England in the late 11th century by
Saint Anselm, who was born in northern Italy. He was archbishop of Canterbury and a Doctor of the Church.
Anshel
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Yiddish (Rare)
Other Scripts: אַנשיל(Yiddish, Hebrew)
Yiddish form of
Anselm, used as a vernacular form of
Asher.
Anthony
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: AN-thə-nee(American English) AN-tə-nee(British English)
English form of the Roman family name
Antonius, which is of unknown Etruscan origin. The most notable member of the Roman family was the general Marcus Antonius (called Mark Antony in English), who for a period in the 1st century BC ruled the Roman Empire jointly with Augustus. When their relationship turned sour, he and his mistress Cleopatra were attacked and forced to commit suicide, as related in Shakespeare's tragedy
Antony and Cleopatra (1606).
The name became regularly used in the Christian world due to the fame of Saint Anthony the Great, a 4th-century Egyptian hermit who founded Christian monasticism. Its popularity was reinforced in the Middle Ages by the 13th-century Saint Anthony of Padua, the patron saint of Portugal. It has been commonly (but incorrectly) associated with Greek ἄνθος (anthos) meaning "flower", which resulted in the addition of the h to this spelling in the 17th century.
Anton
Gender: Masculine
Usage: German, Russian, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Icelandic, Dutch, Bulgarian, Ukrainian, Belarusian, Slovene, Slovak, Macedonian, Croatian, Romanian, Estonian, Finnish, Georgian, English
Other Scripts: Антон(Russian, Bulgarian, Ukrainian, Belarusian, Macedonian) ანტონ(Georgian)
Pronounced: AN-ton(German) AN-tawn(German) un-TON(Russian) AHN-tawn(Dutch) un-TAWN(Ukrainian) an-TON(Belarusian, Slovene, Romanian) AHN-ton(Finnish) AN-TAWN(Georgian) AN-tahn(English)
Form of
Antonius (see
Anthony) used in various languages. A notable bearer was the Russian playwright Anton Chekhov (1860-1904).
Anwar
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Arabic, Urdu, Indonesian
Other Scripts: أنور(Arabic) انور(Urdu)
Pronounced: AN-war(Arabic, Indonesian)
Means
"brighter, more luminous" in Arabic, related to
نور (nūr) meaning "light". This name was borne by Egyptian president Anwar Sadat (1918-1981), who was assassinated three years after being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
Archie
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Scottish, English
Pronounced: AHR-chee
Diminutive of
Archibald. This name is borne by Archie Andrews, an American comic-book character created in 1941. It was also used by Prince Harry and Meghan Markle for the name of their son born 2019.
Armistead
Gender: Masculine
Usage: American
Pronounced: ARM-i-sted
Reached it's peak populularty in 1800's United States
Asahel
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Hebrew
Other Scripts: עשהאל(Hebrew) Ἀσεάλ(Ancient Greek)
Means "made by God" in Hebrew.
In the Bible, Asahel was the nephew of King David, as well as the younger brother of Abishai, David's General, and of Joab. Asahel is mentioned in the book of 2 Samuel in Chapters 2 and 3.
Austen
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: AWS-tin
Austin
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: AWS-tin
Medieval contracted form of
Augustine 1. Modern use of the name is probably also partly inspired by the common surname
Austin, which is of the same origin. This is also the name of a city in Texas.
Avner
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Hebrew, Biblical Hebrew [1]
Other Scripts: אַבְנֵר(Hebrew)
Baldwin
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, Germanic [1]
Pronounced: BAWLD-win(English)
Means
"bold friend", derived from the Old German elements
bald "bold, brave" and
wini "friend". In the Middle Ages this was a popular name in Flanders and among the
Normans, who brought it to Britain. It was borne by one of the leaders of the First Crusade, an 11th-century nobleman from Flanders. After the crusaders conquered Jerusalem, he was crowned as the king of the Kingdom of Jerusalem.
Bevan
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
From a Welsh surname that was derived from
ap Evan meaning
"son of Evan". As a given name, it is particularly common in New Zealand and Australia.
Bradford
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: BRAD-fərd
From an English surname that originally came from a place name that meant "broad ford" in Old English.
Cassian
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Ancient Roman (Anglicized)
Pronounced: KASH-ən(English) KAS-ee-ən(English)
From the Roman family name
Cassianus, which was derived from
Cassius. This was the name of several
saints, including a 3rd-century martyr from Tangier who is the patron saint of stenographers and a 5th-century mystic who founded a monastery in Marseille.
Charles
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, French
Pronounced: CHAHRLZ(English) SHARL(French)
French and English form of
Carolus, the Latin form of the Germanic name
Karl, which was derived from a word meaning
"man" (Proto-Germanic *
karlaz). However, an alternative theory states that it is derived from the common Germanic name element *
harjaz meaning "army".
The popularity of the name in continental Europe was due to the fame of Charles the Great (742-814), commonly known as Charlemagne, a king of the Franks who came to rule over most of Europe. His grandfather Charles Martel had also been a noted leader of the Franks. It was subsequently the name of several Holy Roman emperors, as well as rulers of France, Spain, Portugal, Sweden and Hungary (in various spellings). After Charlemagne, his name was adopted as a word meaning "king" in many Eastern European languages, for example Czech král, Hungarian király, Russian король (korol), and Turkish kral.
The name did not become common in Britain until the 17th century when it was borne by the Stuart king Charles I. It had been introduced into the Stuart royal family by Mary Queen of Scots, who had been raised in France. Two other kings of the United Kingdom have borne this name, including the current monarch.
Other famous bearers include naturalist Charles Darwin (1809-1882) who revolutionized biology with his theory of evolution, novelist Charles Dickens (1812-1870) who wrote such works as Great Expectations and A Tale of Two Cities, French statesman Charles de Gaulle (1890-1970), and American cartoonist Charles Schulz (1922-2000), the creator of the Peanuts comic strip.
Clarence
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: KLAR-əns, KLEHR-əns
From the Latin title Clarensis, which belonged to members of the British royal family. The title ultimately derives from the name of the town of Clare in Suffolk. As a given name it has been in use since the 19th century.
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].
Connor
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Irish, English (Modern)
Pronounced: KAHN-ər(English)
Variant of
Conor, based on the usual spelling of the surname that is derived from the name. This is currently the most common way of spelling it in the English-speaking world, apart from Ireland.
Conway
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: KAHN-way
From a Welsh surname that was derived from the name of the River Conwy, which possibly means "foremost water" in Welsh.
Crawford
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: KRAW-fərd
From a surname that was derived from a place name meaning "crow ford" in Old English.
Cuthbert
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: KUTH-bərt
Derived from the Old English elements
cuþ "known, familiar" and
beorht "bright".
Saint Cuthbert was a 6th-century hermit who became the bishop of Lindisfarne, an island off the coast of England. He was known as performer of healing miracles. Because of the saint, this name remained in use in England even after the
Norman Conquest. It became rare after the
Protestant Reformation, but it was (briefly) revived in the 19th century.
Delmar
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: DEHL-mər
From an English surname that was derived from Norman French de la mare meaning "from the pond".
Dewey
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: DYOO-ee, DOO-ee
Dwight
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: DWIET
From an English surname that was derived from the medieval feminine name
Diot, a
diminutive of
Dionysia, the feminine form of
Dionysius. In America it was sometimes given in honour of Yale president Timothy Dwight (1752-1817). A famous bearer was the American president Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890-1969).
Easton
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: EES-tən
From an English surname that was derived from place names meaning "east town" in Old English.
Edmund
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, German, Polish
Pronounced: EHD-mənd(English) EHT-muwnt(German) EHD-moont(Polish)
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.
Edward
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, Polish
Pronounced: EHD-wərd(English) EHD-vart(Polish)
Means
"rich guard", derived from the Old English elements
ead "wealth, fortune" and
weard "guard". This was the name of several Anglo-Saxon kings, the last being
Saint Edward the Confessor shortly before the
Norman Conquest in the 11th century. He was known as a just ruler, and because of his popularity his name remained in use after the conquest when most other Old English names were replaced by Norman ones. The 13th-century Plantagenet king Henry III named his son and successor after the saint, and seven subsequent kings of England were also named Edward.
This is one of the few Old English names to be used throughout Europe (in various spellings). A famous bearer was the British composer Edward Elgar (1857-1934). It was also used by author Charlotte Brontë for the character Edward Rochester, the main love interest of the title character in her novel Jane Eyre (1847).
Efraim
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Hebrew
Other Scripts: אֶףְרָיִם(Hebrew)
Egbert
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, Dutch
Pronounced: EHG-bərt(English) EKH-bərt(Dutch)
Means
"bright edge" from the Old English elements
ecg "edge, blade" and
beorht "bright". This was the name of kings of Kent and Wessex as well as two English
saints. The name was rarely used after the
Norman Conquest but was revived in the 19th century.
Eldred
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: EHL-drid
From an English surname that was derived from
Ealdræd.
Elia
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Italian
Pronounced: eh-LEE-a
Elkanah
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Biblical
Other Scripts: אֱלְקָנָה(Ancient Hebrew)
Pronounced: ehl-KAY-nə(English)
Means
"God has purchased" in Hebrew, from
אֵל (ʾel) meaning "God" and
קָנָה (qana) meaning "to acquire, to purchase". In the
Old Testament this is the name of the father of
Samuel.
Elkin
Patronymic of a diminutive of the given name Elis.
Ellery
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: EHL-ə-ree
From an English surname that was originally derived from the medieval masculine name
Hilary.
Elwood
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: EHL-wuwd
From an English surname that was derived from a place name meaning "elder tree forest" in Old English.
Emlyn
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Welsh
Pronounced: EHM-lin
From the name of an ancient region of southwestern Wales, its name meaning
"around the valley" from Welsh
am "around" and
glyn "valley". It has also been suggested that this name is a Welsh form of Latin
Aemilianus (see
Emiliano), though this appears to be unfounded.
Emmerich
Gender: Masculine
Usage: German, Germanic [1]
Pronounced: EH-mə-rikh(German)
Germanic name, in which the second element is
rih "ruler, king". The first element may be
irmin "whole, great" (making it a relative of
Ermenrich),
amal "unceasing, vigorous, brave" (making it a relative of
Amalric) or
heim "home" (making it a relative of
Henry). It is likely that several forms merged into a single name.
Ennis
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
From an Irish surname that was derived from inis meaning "island".
Enver
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Turkish, Bosnian, Albanian
Turkish, Bosnian and Albanian form of
Anwar.
Ephraim
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Biblical, Hebrew, Biblical Latin, Biblical Greek
Other Scripts: אֶףְרָיִם(Hebrew) Ἐφραίμ(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: EEF-ree-əm(English) EEF-rəm(English)
From the Hebrew name
אֶףְרָיִם (ʾEfrayim) meaning
"fruitful". In the
Old Testament Ephraim is a son of
Joseph and
Asenath and the founder of one of the twelve tribes of Israel. This name was also borne by two early
saints: Ephraim or Ephrem the Syrian, a 4th-century theologian, and Ephraim of Antioch, a 6th-century patriarch of Antioch.
Erast
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Russian (Rare), Ukrainian (Rare)
Other Scripts: Эраст(Russian) Ераст(Ukrainian)
Pronounced: eh-RAST(Russian)
Russian and Ukrainian form of
Erastus.
Eshan
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Indian
Pronounced: e-sh-aan
it is the 19 name of lord shiva. So in sort in means god.
Ethelbert
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Archaic)
Middle English form of
Æþelbeorht. The name was very rare after the
Norman Conquest, but it was revived briefly in the 19th century.
Eugene
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: YOO-jeen, yoo-JEEN
English form of
Eugenius, the Latin form of the Greek name
Εὐγένιος (Eugenios), which was derived from the Greek word
εὐγενής (eugenes) meaning
"well born". It is composed of the elements
εὖ (eu) meaning "good" and
γενής (genes) meaning "born". This was the name of several
saints and four popes.
This name was not particularly common in Western Europe during the Middle Ages. It became more popular in part due to the fame of Prince Eugene of Savoy (1663-1736), a French-born general who served the Austrian Empire. A notable bearer was the American playwright Eugene O'Neill (1888-1953).
Farley
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: FAHR-lee
From a surname that was originally from a place name meaning "fern clearing" in Old English. A notable bearer of this name was Canadian author Farley Mowat (1921-2014).
Flanagan
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: FLAN-ə-gən
From an Irish surname, the Anglicized form of
Ó Flannagáin, itself from the given name
Flannagán, which was derived from Irish
flann "blood red" and a
diminutive suffix.
Ford
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: FAWRD
From an English surname that was derived from a place name meaning "ford" in Old English. A famous bearer of the surname was the American industrialist Henry Ford (1863-1947).
Forsythe
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Transferred use of the surname
Forsythe.
Garland
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: GAHR-lənd
From a surname meaning "triangle land" from Old English gara and land. The surname originally belonged to a person who owned a triangle-shaped piece of land.
Gideon
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Biblical, Hebrew, English, Dutch
Other Scripts: גִּדְעוֹן(Hebrew)
Pronounced: GID-ee-ən(English) GHEE-deh-awn(Dutch)
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.
Gilbert
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, French, Dutch, Germanic [1]
Pronounced: GIL-bərt(English) ZHEEL-BEHR(French) GHIL-bərt(Dutch)
Means
"bright pledge", derived from the Old German elements
gisal "pledge, hostage" and
beraht "bright". The
Normans introduced this name to England, where it was common during the Middle Ages. It was borne by a 12th-century English
saint, the founder of the religious order known as the Gilbertines.
Graham
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Scottish, English
Pronounced: GRAY-əm(English) GRAM(English)
From a Scottish surname, originally derived from the English place name
Grantham, which probably meant
"gravelly homestead" in Old English. The surname was first taken to Scotland in the 12th century by the Norman baron William de Graham
[1]. A famous bearer of the surname was Alexander Graham Bell (1847-1922), the Scottish-Canadian-American inventor who devised the telephone. A famous bearer of the given name was the British author Graham Greene (1904-1991).
During the 20th century, Graham was more common in the United Kingdom, Australia and Canada than it was in the United States. However, it has been rising on the American charts since around 2006.
Gwyn
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Welsh, Welsh Mythology
Pronounced: GWIN(Welsh)
Means
"white, blessed" in Welsh. In Welsh legend Gwyn was a king of the Otherworld and the leader of the Wild Hunt. He appears in the Welsh tale
Culhwch and Olwen, where he is one of the many who help
Culhwch hunt the monstrous boar Trwyth. The story also tells of his rivalry with
Gwythyr for the beautiful
Creiddylad.
Hallam
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: HAL-əm
From a surname that was derived from a place name meaning either "at the rocks" or "at the nook" in Old English.
Hamish
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Scottish
Pronounced: HAY-mish(English)
Anglicized form of
a Sheumais, the vocative case of
Seumas.
Harsha
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Kannada, Telugu, Sanskrit
Other Scripts: ಹರ್ಷ(Kannada) హర్ష(Telugu) हर्ष(Sanskrit)
Means "happiness" in Sanskrit. Harsha (or Harṣa, also called Harshavardhana) was a 7th-century emperor of northern India. He was also noted as an author.
Haskell
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Derived from the English surname
Haskell, which in turn is derived from the Old Norse personal name
Ásketill. However, it should be noted that in some cases, Haskell (as a given name) can also be a variant spelling of the Yiddish given name
Haskel.
Known bearers of this name include the American mathematician and logician Haskell Curry (1900-1982) and the American cinematographer and director Haskell Wexler (b. 1922).
Havelock
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Variant spelling of
Havelok; this spelling is most often encountered in the form of the surname
Havelock.
Havish
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Indian
Pronounced: huh-veesh
Another name for Lord Shiva
Isidore
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, French, Georgian (Rare), Jewish
Other Scripts: ისიდორე(Georgian)
Pronounced: IZ-ə-dawr(English) EE-ZEE-DAWR(French)
From the Greek name
Ἰσίδωρος (Isidoros) meaning
"gift of Isis", derived from the name of the Egyptian goddess
Isis combined with Greek
δῶρον (doron) meaning "gift".
Saint Isidore of Seville was a 6th-century archbishop, historian and theologian.
Though it has never been popular in the English-speaking world among Christians, it has historically been a common name for Jews, who have used it as an Americanized form of names such as Isaac, Israel and Isaiah.
Jamison
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: JAYM-ə-sən
From an English surname meaning
"son of James".
Jasha
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Russian
Variant spelling of
Yasha.
Jasper
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, Dutch, Judeo-Christian-Islamic Legend
Pronounced: JAS-pər(English) YAHS-pər(Dutch)
From Latin
Gaspar, perhaps from the Biblical Hebrew word
גִּזְבָּר (gizbar) meaning
"treasurer" [1], derived from Old Persian
ganzabarah. This name was traditionally assigned to one of the wise men (also known as the Magi, or three kings) who were said to have visited the newborn
Jesus. It has occasionally been used in the English-speaking world since the Middle Ages. The name can also be given in reference to the English word for the gemstone.
Jay 1
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: JAY
Short form of names beginning with the sound
J, such as
James or
Jason. It was originally used in America in honour of founding father John Jay (1749-1825), whose surname was derived from the jaybird.
Jennings
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: JEN-ings
Transferred use of the surname
Jennings.
Joshua
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, Biblical
Other Scripts: יְהוֹשֻׁעַ(Ancient Hebrew)
Pronounced: JAHSH-oo-ə(English)
From the Hebrew name
יְהוֹשֻׁעַ (Yehoshuaʿ) meaning
"Yahweh is salvation", from the roots
יְהוֹ (yeho) referring to the Hebrew God and
יָשַׁע (yashaʿ) meaning "to save". As told in the
Old Testament, Joshua was a companion of
Moses. He went up Mount Sinai with Moses when he received the Ten Commandments from God, and later he was one of the twelve spies sent into Canaan. After Moses died Joshua succeeded him as leader of the Israelites and he led the conquest of Canaan. His original name was
Hoshea.
The name Jesus comes from a Greek transcription of the Aramaic short form יֵשׁוּעַ (Yeshuaʿ), which was the real name of Jesus. As an English name, Joshua has been in use since the Protestant Reformation.
Josiah
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Biblical, English
Other Scripts: יֹאשִׁיָהוּ(Ancient Hebrew)
Pronounced: jo-SIE-ə(English)
From the Hebrew name
יֹאשִׁיָהוּ (Yoshiyahu) meaning
"Yahweh supports", from
אָשְׁיָה (ʾashya) meaning "support" and
יָהּ (yah) referring to the Hebrew God. In the
Old Testament this is the name of a king of Judah famous for his religious reforms. He was killed fighting the Egyptians at Megiddo in the 7th century BC. In England this name came into use after the
Protestant Reformation.
Julian
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, Polish, German
Pronounced: JOO-lee-ən(English) JOOL-yən(English) YOO-lyan(Polish) YOO-lee-an(German)
From the Roman name
Iulianus, which was derived from
Julius. This was the name of the last pagan Roman emperor, Julian the Apostate (4th century). It was also borne by several early
saints, including the legendary Saint Julian the Hospitaller. This name has been used in England since the Middle Ages, at which time it was also a feminine name (from
Juliana, eventually becoming
Gillian).
Kay 2
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Welsh Mythology, Arthurian Cycle
From the Welsh name
Cai or
Cei, possibly a form of the Roman name
Gaius. Sir Kay was one of the Knights of the Round Table in Arthurian legend. He first appears in Welsh tales as a brave companion of Arthur. In later medieval tales, notably those by the 12th-century French poet Chrétien de Troyes, he is portrayed as an unrefined boor.
Kenyon
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
From a surname that was derived from an English place name, of uncertain meaning.
Kyle
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: KIEL
From a Scottish surname that was derived from various place names, themselves from Gaelic caol meaning "narrows, channel, strait". As a given name it was rare in the first half of the 20th century. It rose steadily in popularity throughout the English-speaking world, entering the top 50 in most places by the 1990s. It has since declined in all regions.
Laird
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: LEHRD
From a Scottish surname meaning "landowner" in Scots.
Lanford
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: LAN-fərd
From a surname that was derived from a place name meaning "long ford" in Old English.
Lawrence
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: LAWR-əns
Variant of
Laurence 1. This spelling of the name is now more common than
Laurence in the English-speaking world, probably because
Lawrence is the usual spelling of the surname. The surname was borne by the author and poet D. H. Lawrence (1885-1930), as well as the revolutionary T. E. Lawrence (1888-1935), who was known as Lawrence of Arabia.
Leif
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Swedish, Norwegian, Danish
Pronounced: LAYF
From the Old Norse name Leifr meaning "descendant, heir". Leif Eriksson was a Norse explorer who reached North America in the early 11th century. He was the son of Erik the Red.
Leon
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, German, Dutch, Polish, Slovene, Croatian, Greek, Ancient Greek [1]
Other Scripts: Λέων(Greek)
Pronounced: LEE-ahn(English) LEH-awn(German, Dutch, Polish, Slovene)
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.
Lester
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: LEHS-tər
From an English surname that was derived from the name of the city of Leicester, originally denoting a person who was from that place. The city's name is derived from the river name Ligore combined with Latin castra "camp".
Levi
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Hebrew, English, Dutch, German, Biblical, Biblical Latin
Other Scripts: לֵוִי(Hebrew)
Pronounced: LEE-vie(English) LEH-vee(Dutch)
Possibly means
"joined, attached" in Hebrew. As told in the
Old Testament, Levi was the third son of
Jacob and
Leah, and the ancestor of one of the twelve tribes of the Israelites, known as the Levites. This was the tribe that formed the priestly class of the Israelites. The brothers
Moses and
Aaron were members. This name also occurs in the
New Testament, where it is borne by a son of
Alphaeus. He might be the same person as the apostle
Matthew.
As an English Christian name, Levi came into use after the Protestant Reformation.
Linwood
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: LIN-wuwd
From an English surname that was originally from a place name meaning "stream forest" in Old English.
Lionel
Gender: Masculine
Usage: French, English, Arthurian Cycle
Pronounced: LYAW-NEHL(French) LIE-ə-nəl(English) LIE-nəl(English)
French
diminutive of
Léon. It appears in Arthurian legend in the 13th-century
Lancelot-Grail Cycle, belonging to a knight who was the brother of Sir
Bors. A notable modern bearer is the Argentine soccer star Lionel Messi (1987-).
Llewelyn
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Welsh
Variant of
Llywelyn influenced by the Welsh word
llew "lion".
Loring
Gender: Masculine
Usage: American (Rare, Archaic)
Pronounced: Lor-ing
Probably a variant of
Lorin.
It is the given name of the Kansas medical doctor Loring Miner who was the first one to contact the U.S. Public Health Service about an unuasual and deadly form of influenza later known as the Spanish flu.
Lynwood
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: LIN-wuwd
Lytton
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
From an Old English place name which meant "settlement on the hill". A famous bearer is author Lytton Strachey.
Marlowe
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: MAHR-lo
From a surname that was derived from a place name meaning "remnants of a lake" in Old English. A famous bearer of the surname was the English playwright Christopher Marlowe (1564-1593).
Maxwell
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: MAKS-wehl
From a Scottish surname meaning
"Mack's stream", from the name
Mack, a short form of the Scandinavian name
Magnus, combined with Old English
wille "well, stream". A famous bearer of the surname was James Maxwell (1831-1879), a Scottish physicist who studied gases and electromagnetism.
As a given name it has increased in popularity starting from the 1980s, likely because it is viewed as a full form of Max [1].
Merton
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: MUR-tən
From a surname that was derived from a place name meaning "town on a lake" in Old English.
Morton
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: MAWR-tən
From an English surname that was originally derived from a place name meaning "moor town" in Old English.
Nahum
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Biblical
Other Scripts: נַחוּם(Ancient Hebrew)
Pronounced: NAY-əm(English) NAY-həm(English)
Means
"comforter" in Hebrew, from the root
נָחַם (naḥam) meaning "to comfort, to console". Nahum is one of the twelve minor prophets of the
Old Testament. He authored the Book of Nahum in which the downfall of Nineveh is foretold.
Napier
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Rare)
From an English and Scots surname meaning "linen keeper" in Middle English, from Old French nappe "table cloth".
Nehemiah
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Biblical
Other Scripts: ןְחֶםְיָה(Ancient Hebrew)
Pronounced: nee-hi-MIE-ə(English)
Means
"Yahweh comforts" in Hebrew, derived from
נָחַם (naḥam) meaning "to comfort" and
יָהּ (yah) referring to the Hebrew God. According to the Book of Nehemiah in the
Old Testament he was a leader of the Jews who was responsible for the rebuilding of Jerusalem after the return from the Babylonian captivity.
Paul
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, French, German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Estonian, Romanian, Biblical
Pronounced: PAWL(English, French) POWL(German, Dutch)
From the Roman family name
Paulus, which meant
"small" or
"humble" in Latin. Paul was an important leader of the early Christian church. According to Acts in the
New Testament, he was a Jewish Roman citizen who converted to Christianity after the resurrected
Jesus appeared to him. After this he travelled the eastern Mediterranean as a missionary. His original Hebrew name was
Saul. Many of the epistles in the New Testament were authored by him.
Due to the renown of Saint Paul the name became common among early Christians. It was borne by a number of other early saints and six popes. In England it was relatively rare during the Middle Ages, but became more frequent beginning in the 17th century. In the United States it was in the top 20 names for boys from 1900 to 1968, while in the United Kingdom it was very popular from the 1950s to the 80s. It has also been heavily used in Germany and France and continues to be popular there, though it is currently on the decline in the English-speaking world.
A notable bearer was the American Revolutionary War figure Paul Revere (1735-1818), who warned of the advance of the British army. Famous bearers in the art world include the French impressionists Paul Cézanne (1839-1906) and Paul Gauguin (1848-1903), and the Swiss expressionist Paul Klee (1879-1940). It is borne by actor Paul Newman (1925-2008) and the musicians Paul Simon (1941-) and Paul McCartney (1942-). This is also the name of the legendary American lumberjack Paul Bunyan and the fictional Paul Atreides from Frank Herbert's novel Dune (1965).
Raleigh
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: RAW-lee, RAH-lee
From an English surname that was derived from a place name meaning either "red clearing" or "roe deer clearing" in Old English. A city in North Carolina bears this name, after the English courtier, poet and explorer Walter Raleigh (1552-1618).
Ray
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: RAY
Short form of
Raymond, often used as an independent name. It coincides with an English word meaning "beam of light". Science-fiction author Ray Bradbury (1920-2012) and musician Ray Charles (1930-2004) are two notable bearers of the name.
Raylan
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (American), Popular Culture
A variant of
Rylan, incorporating the diminutive
Ray.
Raza
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Urdu
Other Scripts: رضا(Urdu)
Reginald
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: REHJ-ə-nəld
From
Reginaldus, a Latinized form of
Reynold.
René
Gender: Masculine
Usage: French, German, Dutch, Spanish, Slovak, Czech
Pronounced: RU-NEH(French) rə-NEH(German, Dutch) reh-NEH(Dutch, Spanish) REH-neh(Slovak, Czech)
French form of
Renatus. Famous bearers include the French mathematician and rationalist philosopher René Descartes (1596-1650) and the Belgian surrealist painter René Magritte (1898-1967).
River
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: RIV-ər
From the English word that denotes a flowing body of water. The word is ultimately derived (via Old French) from Latin ripa "riverbank".
Rocco
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Italian, Germanic [1]
Pronounced: RAWK-ko(Italian)
Germanic name possibly derived from
hruoh meaning
"crow, rook". This was the name of a 14th-century French
saint who nursed victims of the plague but eventually contracted the disease himself. He is the patron saint of the sick.
Roy
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Scottish, English, Dutch
Pronounced: ROI(English, Dutch)
Anglicized form of
Ruadh. A notable bearer was the Scottish outlaw and folk hero Rob Roy (1671-1734). It is often associated with French
roi "king".
Royce
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: ROIS
From an English surname that was derived from the medieval given name
Royse, a variant of
Rose.
Rylan
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: RIE-lən
Possibly a variant of
Ryland, though it could also be an invented name inspired by other names like
Ryan and
Riley.
Salva
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Spanish
Sanford
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: SAN-fərd
From an English surname, originally from a place name, which meant "sand ford" in Old English.
Sawyer
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: SOI-ər, SAW-yər
From an English surname meaning
"sawer of wood". Mark Twain used it for the hero in his novel
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876).
Very rare as an American given name before 1980, it increased in popularity in the 1980s and 90s. It got a boost in 2004 after the debut of the television series Lost, which featured a character by this name.
Scott
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, Scottish
Pronounced: SKAHT(American English) SKAWT(British English)
From an English and Scottish surname that referred to a person from Scotland or a person who spoke Scottish Gaelic. It is derived from Latin Scoti meaning "Gael, Gaelic speaker", with the ultimate origin uncertain.
Selah
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Biblical
Other Scripts: סֶלַה(Ancient Hebrew)
Pronounced: SEE-lə(English)
From a Hebrew musical term that occurs many times in the
Old Testament Psalms. It was probably meant to indicate a musical pause.
Selim
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Turkish, Albanian
Pronounced: seh-LEEM(Turkish)
Turkish and Albanian form of
Salim. This was the name of three Ottoman sultans, including the father of Süleyman the Magnificent.
Seth 1
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, Biblical, Biblical Latin, Biblical Greek [1]
Other Scripts: שֵׁת(Ancient Hebrew) Σήθ(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: SETH(English)
Seychelle
Gender: Feminine
Usage: American (Modern, Rare), Filipino (Modern, Rare)
Seymour
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: SEE-mawr
From a Norman surname that originally belonged to a person coming from the French town of
Saint Maur (which means "Saint
Maurus").
Shiva 1
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Hinduism, Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, Nepali
Other Scripts: शिव(Sanskrit, Nepali) శివ(Telugu) சிவா(Tamil) ಶಿವ(Kannada) ശിവ(Malayalam)
Pronounced: SHEE-və(English)
Derived from Sanskrit
शिव (śiva) meaning
"benign, kind, auspicious". Shiva is the Hindu god of destruction and restoration, the husband of the mother goddess
Parvati. Though he does not appear in the
Vedas, Shiva nevertheless incorporates elements of Vedic deities such as the storm god
Rudra. He is often depicted with four arms and a third eye, and has both fierce and gentle aspects.
In Shaivism, a Hindu denomination, he is regarded as the supreme god. The other major sect, Vaishnavism, views Vishnu and his avatars as supreme.
Somerled
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Old Norse (Anglicized)
Anglicized form of the Old Norse name Sumarliði meaning "summer traveller". This was the name of a 12th-century Norse-Gaelic king of Mann and the Scottish Isles.
Taffy
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Welsh
Pronounced: TAF-ee(English)
Anglicized form of
Dafydd. It has been used as a slang term for a Welshman.
Teague
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Irish
Pronounced: TAYG(English) TEEG(English)
Anglicized form of
Tadhg. This name is also used as a slang term for an Irish Catholic.
Teymuraz
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Georgian
Other Scripts: თეიმურაზ(Georgian)
Théophane
Gender: Masculine
Usage: French, French (Belgian, Rare)
Vivien 1
Gender: Masculine
Usage: French
Pronounced: VEE-VYEHN
French form of
Vivianus (see
Vivian).
Wade
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: WAYD
Waldo 1
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: WAWL-do
From a surname that was derived from the Anglo-Scandinavian given name
Waltheof [1]. Its present use in the English-speaking world is usually in honour of Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882), an American transcendentalist, poet and author. His name came from a surname from his father's side of the family.
Walter
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Polish, Italian, Germanic [1]
Pronounced: WAWL-tər(English) VAL-tu(German) VAL-tehr(Swedish, Italian)
From the Germanic name
Waltheri meaning
"power of the army", from the elements
walt "power, authority" and
heri "army". In medieval German tales (notably
Waltharius by Ekkehard of
Saint Gall) Walter of Aquitaine is a heroic king of the Visigoths. The name was also borne by an 11th-century French saint, Walter of Pontoise. The
Normans brought it to England, where it replaced the Old English
cognate Wealdhere.
A famous bearer of the name was the English courtier, poet and explorer Walter Raleigh (1552-1618). It was also borne by Walter Scott (1771-1832), a Scottish novelist who wrote Ivanhoe and other notable works.
Weston
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: WEHS-tən
From an English surname that was derived from a place name, itself from Old English
west "west" and
tun "enclosure, yard, town".
Willis
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: WIL-is
Winslow
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: WINZ-lo
From a surname that was derived from an Old English place name meaning
"hill belonging to Wine". A famous bearer of this name was American painter Winslow Homer (1836-1910).
Winston
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: WIN-stən
From an English surname that was derived from the Old English given name
Wynnstan. A famous bearer was Winston Churchill (1874-1965), the British prime minister during World War II. This name was also borne by the fictional Winston Smith, the protagonist in George Orwell's 1949 novel
1984.
Wyatt
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: WIE-ət
From an English surname that was derived from the medieval given name
Wyard or
Wyot, from the Old English name
Wigheard. Wyatt Earp (1848-1929) was an American lawman and gunfighter involved in the famous shootout at the OK Corral.
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