30lehner03's Personal Name List

Adeleigh
Gender: Feminine
Usage: American
Pronounced: Ad-Eh-Lee
Rating: 38% based on 10 votes
Variant of Adelie.
Alaina
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: ə-LAYN-ə
Rating: 37% based on 10 votes
Variant of Alana, probably influenced by Elaine.
Anya
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Russian, English
Other Scripts: Аня(Russian)
Pronounced: A-nyə(Russian) AN-yə(English)
Rating: 56% based on 12 votes
Russian diminutive of Anna.
Emily
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: EHM-ə-lee
Rating: 63% based on 11 votes
English feminine form of Aemilius (see Emil). In the English-speaking world it was not common until after the German House of Hanover came to the British throne in the 18th century; the princess Amelia Sophia (1711-1786) was commonly known as Emily in English, even though Amelia is an unrelated name.

This name was moderately popular through most of the 20th century, and became very popular around the turn of the 21st century. It was the highest ranked name for girls in the United States from 1996 to 2007, attaining similar levels in other English-speaking countries around the same time.

Famous bearers include the British author Emily Brontë (1818-1848), known for the novel Wuthering Heights, and the American poet Emily Dickinson (1830-1886).

Emma
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, French, Italian, Spanish, Catalan, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Icelandic, Finnish, Latvian, Dutch, German, Hungarian, Germanic [1]
Pronounced: EHM-ə(English) EH-MA(French) EHM-ma(Spanish) EHM-mah(Finnish) EH-ma(Dutch, German) EHM-maw(Hungarian)
Rating: 45% based on 11 votes
Originally a short form of Germanic names that began with the element irmin meaning "whole" or "great" (Proto-Germanic *ermunaz). It was introduced to England by Emma of Normandy, who was the wife both of King Ethelred II (and by him the mother of Edward the Confessor) and later of King Canute. It was also borne by an 11th-century Austrian saint, who is sometimes called Hemma.

After the Norman Conquest this name became common in England. It was revived in the 18th century, perhaps in part due to Matthew Prior's 1709 poem Henry and Emma [2]. It was also used by Jane Austen for the central character, the matchmaker Emma Woodhouse, in her novel Emma (1816).

In the United States, it was third in rank in 1880 (behind only the ubiquitous Mary and Anna). It declined steadily over the next century, beginning another rise in the 1980s and eventually becoming the most popular name for girls in 2008. At this time it also experienced similar levels of popularity elsewhere, including the United Kingdom (where it began rising a decade earlier), Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Scandinavia and the Netherlands. Famous bearers include the actresses Emma Thompson (1959-), Emma Stone (1988-) and Emma Watson (1990-).

Karla
Gender: Feminine
Usage: German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Czech, Croatian, English
Pronounced: KAR-la(German, Czech) KAHR-lə(American English) KAH-lə(British English)
Rating: 21% based on 10 votes
Feminine form of Karl, Karel or Karlo.
Kate
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Croatian
Pronounced: KAYT(English)
Rating: 55% based on 11 votes
Short form of Katherine, often used independently. It is short for Katherina in Shakespeare's play The Taming of the Shrew (1593). It has been used in England since the Middle Ages. A famous bearer is the British actress Kate Winslet (1975-).
Kyla
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: KIE-lə
Personal remark: 4
Rating: 26% based on 11 votes
Feminine form of Kyle, or a combination of the popular phonetic elements ky and la.
Lauren
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: LAWR-ən
Rating: 37% based on 10 votes
Variant or feminine form of Laurence 1. Originally a masculine name, it was first popularized as a feminine name by actress Betty Jean Perske (1924-2014), who used Lauren Bacall as her stage name.
Lilly
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Norwegian, Danish, Swedish
Pronounced: LIL-ee(English)
Rating: 44% based on 11 votes
English variant of Lily. It is also used in Scandinavia, as a form of Lily or a diminutive of Elisabeth.
Megan
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Welsh, English
Pronounced: MEHG-ən(English)
Rating: 47% based on 12 votes
Welsh diminutive of Margaret. In the English-speaking world outside of Wales it has only been regularly used since the middle of the 20th century.
Olivia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Italian, Spanish, French, German, Finnish, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Dutch
Pronounced: o-LIV-ee-ə(English) ə-LIV-ee-ə(English) o-LEE-vya(Italian, German) o-LEE-bya(Spanish) AW-LEE-VYA(French) O-lee-vee-ah(Finnish) o-LEE-vee-a(Dutch)
Rating: 37% based on 12 votes
This name was used in this spelling by William Shakespeare for a character in his comedy Twelfth Night (1602). This was a rare name in Shakespeare's time [1] that may have been based on Oliva or Oliver, or directly on the Latin word oliva meaning "olive". In the play Olivia is a noblewoman wooed by Duke Orsino. Instead she falls in love with his messenger Cesario, who is actually Viola in disguise.

Olivia has been used in the English-speaking world since the 18th century, though it did not become overly popular until the last half of the 20th century. Its rise in popularity in the 1970s may have been inspired by a character on the television series The Waltons (1972-1982) [2] or the singer Olivia Newton-John (1948-2022). In 1989 it was borne by a young character on The Cosby Show, which likely accelerated its growth. It reached the top rank in England and Wales by 2008 and in the United States by 2019.

A famous bearer was the British-American actress Olivia de Havilland (1916-2020).

Rilyn
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern, Rare)
Rating: 29% based on 10 votes
Variant of Rylin.
Sedona
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (American)
Pronounced: se-DO-na(American English)
Rating: 52% based on 12 votes
In the United States, this name is usually given in honour of the city of Sedona in Arizona. The city itself had been named after Sedona Arabella Schnebly (née Miller), who was the wife of Theodore Carlton Schnebly, the city's first postmaster. Sedona herself is said to have gotten her name from her mother, who had allegedly thought up the name herself, thinking it sounded pretty. However, it could just as well be that her mother had taken the existing names Sidonia or Sidony and slightly altered them to her liking. She may even have been inspired by Cydonia to some degree, which is the Latin name of the quince plant.
Susanna
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, Catalan, Swedish, Finnish, Russian, Ukrainian, Dutch, English, Armenian, Biblical, Biblical Latin, Old Church Slavic
Other Scripts: Сусанна(Russian, Ukrainian) Սուսաննա(Armenian) שׁוֹשַׁנָּה(Ancient Hebrew) Сꙋсанна(Church Slavic)
Pronounced: soo-ZAN-na(Italian) soo-ZAN-nə(Catalan) suy-SAN-na(Swedish) SOO-sahn-nah(Finnish) suw-SAN-nə(Russian) suw-SAN-nu(Ukrainian) suy-SAH-na(Dutch) soo-ZAN-ə(English)
Rating: 82% based on 11 votes
From Σουσάννα (Sousanna), the Greek form of the Hebrew name שׁוֹשַׁנָּה (Shoshanna). This was derived from the Hebrew word שׁוֹשָׁן (shoshan) meaning "lily" (in modern Hebrew this also means "rose"), perhaps ultimately from Egyptian sšn "lotus". In the Old Testament Apocrypha this is the name of a woman falsely accused of adultery. The prophet Daniel clears her name by tricking her accusers, who end up being condemned themselves. It also occurs in the New Testament belonging to a woman who ministers to Jesus.

As an English name, it was occasionally used during the Middle Ages in honour of the Old Testament heroine. It did not become common until after the Protestant Reformation, at which time it was often spelled Susan.

behindthename.com   ·   Copyright © 1996-2024