futuremother99's Personal Name List
Aadesh
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Indian, Hindi, Marathi
Other Scripts: आदेश(Hindi, Marathi)
Pronounced: ah-desh(Hindi)
Derived from Sanskrit आदेश (ādeśa) meaning "order, mandate, injunction".
Aadhya
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Hindi
Other Scripts: आदया(Hindi)
Means "original power" or "first creator" in Sanskrit.
Aafia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Arabic, Urdu
Other Scripts: عافية(Arabic) عافیہ(Urdu)
Means "health, well-being, freedom from illness" in Arabic.
Abaynesh
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Amharic
Means "you are the Nile" in Amharic.
Adaeze
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Igbo
Means "eldest daughter of the king" in Igbo.
Ədalət
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Azerbaijani
Means "justice" in Azerbaijani, of Arabic origin.
Ade 1
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: Yoruba
Pronounced: A-DEH
From Yoruba
adé meaning
"crown", also a short form of other names beginning with this element.
Adia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Igede, Swahili
Pronounced: A-dee-ya(Igede)
Means "queen" in Igede and "(valuable) gift" in Swahili, from Hausa adia "gift".
Adina 1
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Biblical, Biblical Latin, Biblical Greek
Other Scripts: Ἀδινά(Ancient Greek)
From the Hebrew name
עֲדִינָא (ʿAḏina), derived from
עָדִין (ʿaḏin) meaning
"delicate". This name is borne by a soldier in the
Old Testament.
The feminine name Adina 3 is from the same root, but is spelled differently in Hebrew.
Adir
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Hebrew
Other Scripts: אַדִּיר(Hebrew)
Means "strong, mighty" in Hebrew. This word is used in the Hebrew Bible to describe God.
Adira
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Hebrew (Rare), Arabic (Rare)
Pronounced: ah-DEER-ah(Arabic)
Adrina
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Old Persian
Pronounced: ad-ree-na
Means "fiery" in Persian, figuratively "beautiful".
Aegyptus
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Greek Mythology (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Αἴγυπτος(Ancient Greek)
Latinized form of the Greek
Aigyptos (Αἴγυπτος), derived from Amarna
Hikuptah, which corresponds to Egyptian
Ha(t)-ka-ptah "temple of the soul of
Ptah". Historically one of the names of
Memphis, it was taken by the Greeks to be the name of the whole country.
In Greek myth Aegyptus, a descendent of Io and Neilus, was the twin and enemy of Danaus, king of Argos. Aegyptus had 50 sons who all but one were slain by forty-nine of the fifty daughters of Danaus (the exceptions being Lynceus and Hypermnestra who married instead). He is said to have fled to Egypt, where he ruled as the eponym king.
Afia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Akan
Ahian
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Biblical
Ahmose
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: Ancient Egyptian (Anglicized)
Pronounced: AH-mos(English)
From Egyptian
jꜥḥ-ms meaning
"born of Iah" [1], derived from the name of the Egyptian god
Iah combined with
msj meaning "be born". This was the name of the first pharaoh of the 18th dynasty (16th century BC). He defeated the Hyksos and drove them from Egypt. It was also borne by others among Egyptian royalty from the same era, including several queens consort.
Aisling
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Irish
Pronounced: ASH-lyən
Means "dream" or "vision" in Irish. This name was created in the 20th century.
Alera
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: Ogoni
Means "enough" or "it is enough" in Khana.
Alessandra
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian
Pronounced: a-lehs-SAN-dra
Algeria
Gender: Feminine
Usage: African American (Modern)
From the name of the African country.
Alia 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Arabic
Other Scripts: علياء, عالية, عليّة(Arabic)
Pronounced: ‘al-YA, ‘A-lee-ya, ‘a-LEE-ya
Alira
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Indigenous Australian, Wurundjeri, Arrernte
Pronounced: A-LEE-rah(Indigenous Australian)
Means "clear quartz crystal" from the word
allirea in Wurundjeri, spoken near Melbourne, Australia.
Means "niece" in Arrernte, spoken in Alice Springs, central Australia. It can also mean "daughter" in other Aboriginal languages.
Alizia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Basque, Aragonese (Rare)
Basque and Aragonese form of
Alice.
Almeda
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Spanish, English, Breton (Archaic)
Transferred use of the Spanish surname
Almeda.
In the English-speaking world, Almeda is as much a borrowing of the Spanish name as it used to be the traditional "translated" form of a Welsh saint's name. Which saint exactly would have been Anglicized as Almeda is debated by modern-day academics: the most popular theory opts for Eluned or Eiliwedd (via its old Latinization Almedha).
Aminah
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Arabic, Malay, Indonesian
Other Scripts: آمنة, أمينة(Arabic)
Pronounced: A-mee-na(Arabic) a-MEE-na(Arabic)
Alternate transcription of Arabic
Amina 1 or
Amina 2, as well as the usual form in Malay and Indonesian.
Amir 2
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Hebrew
Other Scripts: אָמִיר(Hebrew)
Pronounced: ah-MEER
Means "treetop" in Hebrew.
Amira 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Arabic, Bosnian, Malay
Other Scripts: أميرة(Arabic)
Pronounced: a-MEE-ra(Arabic)
Amiri
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: あみり(Japanese Hiragana)
Pronounced: Ah-Mee-Ree
From Japanese 亜 (a) meaning "second, Asia", 美 (mi) meaning "beautiful" combined with 莉 (ri) meaning "white jasmine" or 理 (ri) meaning "reason, logic". Other kanji combinations are possible.
Amit 2
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: Hebrew
Other Scripts: עָמִית(Hebrew)
Pronounced: ah-MEET
Means "friend" in Hebrew.
Amon
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Egyptian Mythology (Anglicized)
Pronounced: AH-mən(English)
From
Ἄμμων (Ammon), the Greek form of Egyptian
jmn (reconstructed as
Yamanu) meaning
"the hidden one". In early Egyptian
mythology he was a god of the air, creativity and fertility, who was particularly revered in Thebes. Later, during the Middle Kingdom, his attributes were combined with those of the god
Ra and he was worshipped as the supreme solar deity
Amon-Ra.
Anahera
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Maori
Means "angel" in Maori.
André
Gender: Masculine
Usage: French, Portuguese, Galician, German, Dutch
Pronounced: AHN-DREH(French) un-DREH(Portuguese) an-DREH(Galician, German) AHN-dreh(Dutch) ahn-DREH(Dutch)
French, Portuguese and Galician form of
Andreas (see
Andrew).
Andrea 1
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Italian
Pronounced: an-DREH-a
Italian form of
Andreas (see
Andrew). A notable bearer of this name was Andrea Verrocchio, a Renaissance sculptor who taught Leonardo da Vinci and Perugino.
Angel
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English, Bulgarian, Macedonian
Other Scripts: Ангел(Bulgarian, Macedonian)
Pronounced: AYN-jəl(English)
From the medieval Latin masculine name
Angelus, which was derived from the name of the heavenly creature (itself derived from the Greek word
ἄγγελος (angelos) meaning "messenger"). It has never been very common in the English-speaking world, where it is sometimes used as a feminine name in modern times.
Anir
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Berber, Northern African
Other Scripts: ⴰⵏⵉⵔ(Berber Tifinagh)
Pronounced: ə-NEER
Means "angel" in Tamazight.
Anjelica
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: an-JEHL-i-kə
Archana
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Hindi, Marathi, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Tamil
Other Scripts: अर्चना(Hindi, Marathi) అర్చన(Telugu) ಅರ್ಚನ(Kannada) അര്ചന(Malayalam) அர்ச்சனா(Tamil)
From Sanskrit
अर्चन (arcana) meaning
"honouring, praising". This is the name of a Hindu ritual.
Arima
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Indian (Rare)
Meaning unknown.
Asenath
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Biblical
Other Scripts: אָסְנַת(Ancient Hebrew)
Pronounced: AS-i-nath(English)
Ashanti
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: Various
From the name of an African people who reside in southern Ghana. It possibly means "warlike" in the Twi language.
Ashley
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: ASH-lee
From an English surname that was originally derived from place names meaning
"ash tree clearing", from a combination of Old English
æsc and
leah. Until the 1960s it was more commonly given to boys in the United States, but it is now most often used on girls. It reached its height of popularity in America in 1987, but it did not become the highest ranked name until 1991, being overshadowed by the likewise-popular
Jessica until then. In the United Kingdom it is still more common as a masculine name.
Ashtoreth
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Biblical, Semitic Mythology
Other Scripts: עַשְׁתֹרֶת(Ancient Hebrew) 𐤏𐤔𐤕𐤓𐤕(Phoenician)
From
עַשְׁתֹרֶת (ʿAshṯoreṯ), the Hebrew form of the name of a Phoenician goddess of love, war and fertility. Her name is
cognate to that of the East Semitic goddess
Ishtar.
Asia 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern), Italian (Modern)
Pronounced: AY-zhə(English) A-zya(Italian)
From the name of the continent, which is perhaps derived from Akkadian asu, meaning "east".
Asphodel
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Literature
Pronounced: AS-fə-dehl
From the name of the flower. J. R. R. Tolkien used this name on one of his characters in The Lord of the Rings.
Aştî
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: Kurdish
Other Scripts: ئاشتی(Kurdish Sorani)
Means "peace, tranquility" in Kurdish.
Aurelia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Ancient Roman, Romanian, Italian, Spanish, Polish
Pronounced: ow-REH-lee-a(Latin) ow-REH-lya(Italian, Spanish, Polish)
Aveline
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: AV-ə-lien, AV-ə-leen
From the Norman French form of the Germanic name
Avelina, a
diminutive of
Avila. The
Normans introduced this name to Britain. After the Middle Ages it became rare as an English name, though it persisted in America until the 19th century
[1].
Azalee
Gender: Feminine
Usage: German (Rare)
Azu
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Igbo
Means "fish" in Igbo.
Belcalis
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Caribbean (Rare)
Pronounced: BEHL-kə-leez
Possibly an elaboration of
Belkis. This is the real name of American rapper, songwriter and television personality Cardi B (1992-), born Belcalis Marlenis Almánzar to Caribbean immigrants (a Dominican father and a Trinidadian mother).
Belén
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Spanish
Pronounced: beh-LEHN
Spanish form of
Bethlehem, the name of the town in Judah where King
David and
Jesus were born. The town's name is from Hebrew
בֵּית־לֶחֶם (Beṯ-leḥem) meaning "house of bread".
Brandy
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: BRAN-dee
From the English word brandy for the alcoholic drink. It is ultimately from Dutch brandewijn "burnt wine". It has been in use as a given name since the 1960s.
Bronte
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: BRAHN-tee
From a surname, an Anglicized form of Irish
Ó Proinntigh, itself derived from the given name
Proinnteach, probably from Irish
bronntach meaning "generous". The Brontë sisters — Charlotte, Emily, and Anne — were 19th-century English novelists. Their father changed the spelling of the family surname from
Brunty to
Brontë, possibly to make it coincide with Greek
βροντή meaning "thunder".
Cain
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Biblical, Biblical Latin
Other Scripts: קָיִן(Ancient Hebrew)
Pronounced: KAYN(English)
From the Hebrew name
קָיִן (Qayin) possibly meaning
"acquired", from the root
קָנָה (qana) meaning "to acquire, to purchase". In Genesis in the
Old Testament Cain is the first son of
Adam and
Eve. He killed his brother
Abel after God accepted Abel's offering of meat instead of his offering of plant-based foods. After this Cain was banished to be a wanderer.
Cara
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: KAHR-ə, KEHR-ə, KAR-ə
From an Italian word meaning "beloved" or an Irish word meaning "friend". It has been used as a given name since the 19th century, though it did not become popular until after the 1950s.
Caresha
Gender: Feminine
Usage: African American
Pronounced: Ka-REE-shə
Meaning unknown, possibly a combination of the phonetic elements
ka,
ree and
sha or an elaborated form of
Cara. A notable bearer is the American rapper Caresha Brownlee (1994-) from the rap duo City Girls, who goes by the stage name 'Yung Miami'.
Carina 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Portuguese, Spanish, German, Late Roman
Pronounced: kə-REE-nə(English) ka-REE-na(Spanish, German)
Late Latin name derived from
cara meaning
"dear, beloved". This was the name of a 4th-century
saint and martyr. It is also the name of a constellation in the southern sky, though in this case it means "keel" in Latin, referring to a part of
Jason's ship the Argo.
Chanel
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: shə-NEHL
From a French surname that meant either "channel", indicating a person who lived near a channel of water, or "jug, jar, bottle", indicating a manufacturer of jugs. It has been used as an American given name since 1970s, influenced by the Chanel brand name (a line of women's clothing and perfume), which was named for French fashion designer Coco Chanel (1883-1971).
Chavazelet
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Hebrew
Other Scripts: חֲבַצֶלֶת(Hebrew)
Means "lily" in Hebrew, presumably taken from the phrase חבצלת השרון (Chavatzelet HaSharon) "rose of Sharon" found in the Old Testament book the Song of Solomon. (In Israel, Solomon's "rose of Sharon" is popularly accepted to have been the sand lily, which grows in the Sharon plain in coastal sands, though technically the flower has not been identified.)
Chesed
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: Hebrew
Other Scripts: חֶסֶד(Hebrew)
Means "kindness, goodness" in Hebrew.
Chinyere
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Igbo
Means
"God gave" in Igbo, derived from
Chi 2, referring to God, and
nyè meaning "give".
Chione
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Χιόνη(Ancient Greek)
From Greek
χιών (chion) meaning
"snow". In Greek
mythology this is the name of a daughter of the north wind
Boreas. Another figure by this name is the daughter of the naiad
Callirrhoe who was transformed into a snow cloud.
Cleo
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: KLEE-o
Contessa
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern, Rare), Medieval Italian, Judeo-Anglo-Norman
From the aristocratic title, derived from Latin comitissa "countess". More commonly a word, it was occasionally used as a medieval given name.
Dáirine
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Irish, Irish Mythology
Possibly derived from
Dáire. This was the name of the daughter of the legendary Irish king
Túathal Techtmar.
Dajana
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Serbian, Croatian, Albanian
Other Scripts: Дајана(Serbian)
Pronounced: DA-ya-na(Serbian, Croatian)
Serbian, Croatian and Albanian variant of
Diana, reflecting the English pronunciation.
Dalia 2
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Lithuanian, Baltic Mythology
Pronounced: du-LYEH(Lithuanian)
Personal remark: mn Safine
From Lithuanian
dalis meaning
"portion, share". This was the name of the Lithuanian goddess of weaving, fate and childbirth, often associated with
Laima.
Damien
Gender: Masculine
Usage: French
Pronounced: DA-MYEHN
Dana 4
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: Persian, Arabic
Other Scripts: دانا(Persian, Arabic)
Pronounced: daw-NAW(Persian) DA-na(Arabic)
Means "wise" in Persian.
Dania 2
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Arabic
Other Scripts: دانية(Arabic)
Pronounced: DA-nee-ya
Daniyah
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Arabic
Other Scripts: دانية(Arabic)
Pronounced: DA-nee-ya
Dante
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Italian
Pronounced: DAN-teh(Italian) DAHN-tay(English) DAN-tee(English)
Medieval short form of
Durante. The most notable bearer of this name was Dante Alighieri (1265-1321), the Italian poet who wrote the
Divine Comedy.
Davida
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Dean
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: DEEN
From a surname, see
Dean 1 and
Dean 2. The actor James Dean (1931-1955) was a famous bearer of the surname.
DeAndre
Gender: Masculine
Usage: African American
Combination of the popular name prefix
de and
Andre.
Degania
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Hebrew
Other Scripts: דגניה(Hebrew)
Pronounced: DIY-GEY-NiyAH
Means 'grain'.
Deion
Gender: Masculine
Usage: African American (Modern)
Pronounced: DEE-ahn(English)
Variant of
Dion. A notable bearer is retired American football player Deion Sanders (1967-).
Desita
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Amharic
Pronounced: DE-SEE-TA
Means "joy, happiness" in Amharic.
Devina
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Indian
Dia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: African, Mbama
Pronounced: dee-ya
Means "love" in Lembaama.
Diana
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, Catalan, German, Dutch, Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, Russian, Ukrainian, Bulgarian, Estonian, Lithuanian, Polish, Czech, Slovak, Armenian, Georgian, Roman Mythology
Other Scripts: Диана(Russian, Bulgarian) Діана(Ukrainian) Դիանա(Armenian) დიანა(Georgian)
Pronounced: die-AN-ə(English) DYA-na(Spanish, Italian, Polish) dee-U-nu(European Portuguese) jee-U-nu(Brazilian Portuguese) dee-A-nə(Catalan) dee-A-na(German, Dutch, Latin) dyee-A-nu(Ukrainian) DI-ya-na(Czech) DEE-a-na(Slovak)
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.
Diego
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Spanish, Italian
Pronounced: DYEH-gho(Spanish) DYEH-go(Italian)
Spanish name, possibly a shortened form of
Santiago. In medieval records
Diego was Latinized as
Didacus, and it has been suggested that it in fact derives from Greek
διδαχή (didache) meaning
"teaching".
Saint Didacus (or Diego) was a 15th-century Franciscan brother based in Alcalá, Spain.
Other famous bearers of this name include Spanish painter Diego Velázquez (1599-1660), Mexican muralist Diego Rivera (1886-1957) and Argentine soccer player Diego Maradona (1960-2020).
Dihya
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Berber
Other Scripts: ⴷⵉⵀⵢⴰ(Tifinagh)
Meaning unknown. This was the real name of the Berber queen
Kahina.
Dimien
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: Ijaw
Means "God's work" or "the hand of God" in Ijaw.
Dipti
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Hindi, Marathi, Kannada
Other Scripts: दीप्ती(Hindi, Marathi) ದೀಪ್ತಿ(Kannada)
From Sanskrit
दीपति (dīpti) meaning
"brightness, light".
Djoser
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Ancient Egyptian
From Egyptian
ḏsr meaning
"splendour, glory" [1][2]. This was the name of the founding pharaoh of the 3rd dynasty of Egypt's Old Kingdom (27th century BC).
Dominica
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare), Late Roman
Pronounced: dahm-i-NEE-kə(English) də-MIN-i-kə(English)
Dushyant
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Hindi
Other Scripts: दुष्यन्त(Hindi)
Eden
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: Hebrew, English (Modern), French (Modern)
Other Scripts: עֵדֶן(Hebrew)
Pronounced: EE-dən(English)
Personal remark: mn Leanne/Maxene/Melia
From the biblical place name, itself possibly from Hebrew
עֵדֶן (ʿeḏen) meaning "pleasure, delight"
[1], or perhaps derived from Sumerian
𒂔 (edin) meaning "plain". According to the
Old Testament the Garden of Eden was the place where the first people,
Adam and
Eve, lived before they were expelled.
Edom
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Biblical, Biblical Hebrew [1]
Other Scripts: אֱדוֹם(Ancient Hebrew)
Pronounced: EE-dəm(English)
From Hebrew
אָדֹם (ʾaḏom) meaning
"red" [2]. According to the
Old Testament,
Esau, who is described as having red skin, was given this name because he traded his birthright for a helping of red broth. The bible goes on to tell that Esau was the founder of the ancient nation of Edom, located to the south of the kingdom of Judah.
Egypt
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: EE-jipt
From the name of the North African country, which derives from Greek
Αἴγυπτος (Aigyptos), itself probably from Egyptian
ḥwt-kꜣ-ptḥ meaning
"the house of the soul of Ptah", the name of the temple to the god
Ptah in Memphis.
Ellora
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, French (Modern)
Of uncertain origin and meaning. It might be a variant of
Elora or an adoption of the name of the
Ellora Caves of India, an ancient network of caverns containing hieroglyphic writings archeologists still have not deciphered the meaning of.
Esfir
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Russian
Other Scripts: Эсфирь(Russian)
Pronounced: is-FYEER
Fadil
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Arabic, Albanian
Other Scripts: فاضل(Arabic)
Pronounced: FA-deel(Arabic)
Means "virtuous, generous" in Arabic.
Fadime
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Turkish
Turkish variant of
Fatma.
Fae
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: FAY
Fasina
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Nigerian
Feona
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Russian (Archaic)
Fetia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Polynesian, Tahitian
Means "star" in Tahitian.
Fia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Irish (Modern, Rare)
Pronounced: fyee-ə
Allegedly derived from Irish fia "deer" (via Old Irish fíad "wild animals, game, especially deer", ultimately from fid "wood").
Fiamma
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian
Pronounced: FYAM-ma
Means "flame" in Italian.
Fianna
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Irish (Modern)
Pronounced: FYEE-nə
From Irish fiann meaning "band of warriors".
Fife
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Scottish (Rare)
From a Scottish place name that was formerly the name of a kingdom in Scotland. It is said to be named for a Pictish kingdom called Fib.
Filadelfia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, Spanish, Portuguese
Fiore
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: Italian
Pronounced: FYO-reh
Means
"flower" in Italian. It can also be considered an Italian form of the Latin names
Flora and
Florus.
Gabriella
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, Hungarian, English, Swedish
Pronounced: ga-bree-EHL-la(Italian) GAWB-ree-ehl-law(Hungarian) ga-bree-EHL-ə(English) gah-bree-EHL-lah(Swedish)
Genie
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: JEE-nee
Genus
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Rare)
Gregory
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: GREHG-ə-ree
English form of Latin
Gregorius, which was from the Late Greek name
Γρηγόριος (Gregorios), derived from
γρήγορος (gregoros) meaning
"watchful, alert". This name was popular among early Christians, being borne by a number of important
saints including Saint Gregory Thaumaturgus (3rd century), Saint Gregory the Illuminator (4th century), Saint Gregory of Nyssa (4th century), Saint Gregory of Nazianzus (4th century), and Saint Gregory of Tours (6th century). It was also borne by the 6th-century pope Saint Gregory I the Great, a reformer and Doctor of the Church, as well as 15 subsequent popes.
Due to the renown of the saints by this name, Gregory (in various spellings) has remained common in the Christian world through the Middle Ages and to the present day. It has been used in England since the 12th century. A famous bearer from the modern era was American actor Gregory Peck (1916-2003).
Gretchen
Gender: Feminine
Usage: German, English
Pronounced: GREHT-khən(German) GRECH-ən(English)
Hadassah
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Biblical, Hebrew
Other Scripts: הֲדַסָּה(Hebrew)
Pronounced: hə-DAS-ə(English)
Helena
Gender: Feminine
Usage: German, Dutch, Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, Icelandic, Portuguese, Catalan, Polish, Czech, Slovak, Finnish, Estonian, Slovene, Croatian, Sorbian, English, Ancient Greek (Latinized), Greek Mythology (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Ἑλένη(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: HEH-leh-na(German, Czech) heh-LEH-na(German, Dutch) heh-LEH-nah(Swedish, Danish, Norwegian) i-LEH-nu(European Portuguese) eh-LEH-nu(Brazilian Portuguese) ə-LEH-nə(Catalan) kheh-LEH-na(Polish) HEH-leh-nah(Finnish) HEHL-ə-nə(English) hə-LAYN-ə(English) hə-LEEN-ə(English)
Latinate form of
Helen. This is the name of the heroine of William Shakespeare's play
All's Well That Ends Well (1603).
Hennessy
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (Modern, Rare), American (Hispanic, Modern, Rare)
Pronounced: HEHN-ə-see(English)
Transferred use of the surname
Hennessy. It is the name of a brand of cognac (which is a type of brandy) that is frequently referenced in rap music lyrics.
Use of the name among Hispanic Americans may be due in part to its phonetic similarity to Génesis.
Idris 1
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Arabic, Malay, Indonesian
Other Scripts: إدريس(Arabic)
Pronounced: eed-REES(Arabic) EE-drees(Malay, Indonesian)
Possibly means
"interpreter, teacher" in Arabic, related to the root
درس (darasa) meaning "to study, to learn". According to the
Quran this was the name of an ancient prophet. He is traditionally equated with the Hebrew prophet
Enoch.
Ingrid
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Estonian, German, Dutch
Pronounced: ING-rid(Swedish) ING-ri(Norwegian) ING-grit(German) ING-greet(German) ING-ghrit(Dutch)
From the Old Norse name
Ingríðr meaning
"Ing is beautiful", derived from the name of the Germanic god
Ing combined with
fríðr "beautiful, beloved". A famous bearer was the Swedish actress Ingrid Bergman (1915-1982).
Itri
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Berber
Other Scripts: ⵉⵜⵔⵉ(Tifinagh)
Means "star" in Tamazight.
Ixchel
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Mayan Mythology, Mayan
Pronounced: eesh-CHEHL(Mayan)
Possibly means "rainbow lady", from Classic Maya ix "lady" and chel "rainbow". Ixchel was a Maya goddess associated with the earth, jaguars, medicine and childbirth. She was often depicted with a snake in her hair and crossbones embroidered on her skirt.
Izebboudjen
Usage: Berber
Pronounced: Iz-ah-bu-Jen
From the berber word meaning "Olive tree".
Jamal
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Arabic, Urdu, Indonesian, Malay, African American
Other Scripts: جمال(Arabic, Urdu)
Pronounced: ja-MAL(Arabic) jə-MAHL(English)
Means
"beauty" in Arabic, from the root
جمل (jamala) meaning "to be beautiful".
Jerusha
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Biblical
Other Scripts: יְרוּשָׁה(Ancient Hebrew)
Pronounced: jə-ROO-shə(English)
Jessa
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: JEHS-ə
Jethro
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Biblical
Other Scripts: יִתְרוֹ(Ancient Hebrew)
Pronounced: JETH-ro(English)
From the Hebrew name
יִתְרוֹ (Yiṯro), which was derived from the Hebrew word
יֶתֶר (yeṯer) meaning
"abundance" [1]. According to the
Old Testament, Jethro was a Midianite priest who sheltered
Moses when he fled Egypt. He was the father of
Zipporah, who became Moses's wife. A famous bearer of the name was Jethro Tull (1674-1741), an English inventor and agriculturist.
José
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: Spanish, Portuguese, French
Pronounced: kho-SEH(Spanish) zhoo-ZEH(European Portuguese) zho-ZEH(Brazilian Portuguese) ZHO-ZEH(French)
Spanish and Portuguese form of
Joseph, as well as a French variant. In Spanish and Portuguese-speaking regions it is occasionally used as a feminine middle name (or the second part of a double name), often paired with
María. This was the most popular name for boys in Spain for the first half of the 20th century. A famous bearer was the Portuguese novelist José Saramago (1922-2010).
Joy
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: JOI
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.
June
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: JOON
From the name of the month, which was originally derived from the name of the Roman goddess
Juno. It has been used as a given name since the 19th century.
Junie
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French (Rare), French (Quebec, Rare), French (Belgian, Rare), Biblical French
Leanne
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: lee-AN
Leihana
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Micronesian
Pronounced: Lay-hah-na, Lay-ana
The name Leihana is unknown where it originated, but has been used in many islands in the Pacific Ocean, especially in Micronesia. The first recorded use of the name Leihana was for the name of Princess Leihana of an unamed island in the Pacific. Princess Leihana was the daughter of Queen Morgana and her husband King Uraia and had a sister, Princess Nevada, and a brother, Prince Tekai. They lived in a village on the island.
The name meaning of Leihana is:
Ocean princess or Ocean Goddess
Lilo
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Hawaiian
Pronounced: LEE-lo
Means "generous" in Hawaiian. It was the name of a title character in Disney's 'Lilo and Stitch'.
Liora
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Hebrew
Other Scripts: לִיאוֹרָה(Hebrew)
Strictly feminine form of
Lior.
Love 2
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: LUV
Simply from the English word love, derived from Old English lufu.
Lunja
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Berber (Rare)
Other Scripts: ⵍⵓⵏⵊⴰ(Berber Tifinagh)
Lunja stands for a fairytale princess.
Mae
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: MAY
Variant of
May. A famous bearer was the American actress Mae West (1893-1980), whose birth name was Mary.
Mala
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Hindi
Other Scripts: माला(Hindi)
Means "necklace" in Sanskrit.
Məlahət
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Azerbaijani
Pronounced: mah-lah-HAHT
From Persian ملاحت (malahat) meaning "sweetness, elegance, grace".
Malaya
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Filipino, Tagalog
Other Scripts: ᜋᜎᜌ(Baybayin)
Pronounced: mu-LA-ya(Tagalog)
Means "free, independent" in Tagalog.
Malayzha
Gender: Feminine
Usage: African American (Modern, Rare)
Pronounced: mə-LAY-zhə
Manaia
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: Maori
From the name of a stylized design common in Maori carvings. It represents a mythological creature with the head of a bird and the body of a human.
Maria
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: Italian, Portuguese, Catalan, Occitan, German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Faroese, Dutch, Frisian, Greek, Polish, Romanian, English, Finnish, Estonian, Corsican, Sardinian, Basque, Armenian, Russian, Bulgarian, Ukrainian, Biblical Greek [1], Biblical Latin, Old Church Slavic
Other Scripts: Μαρία(Greek) Մարիա(Armenian) Мария(Russian, Bulgarian) Марія(Ukrainian) Маріа(Church Slavic)
Pronounced: ma-REE-a(Italian, German, Swedish, Dutch, Greek, Romanian, Basque) mu-REE-u(European Portuguese) ma-REE-u(Brazilian Portuguese) mə-REE-ə(Catalan, English) mah-REE-ah(Norwegian, Danish) MAR-ya(Polish) MAH-ree-ah(Finnish) mu-RYEE-yə(Russian) mu-RYEE-yu(Ukrainian)
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.
Marina
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 真里奈(Japanese Kanji) まりな(Japanese Hiragana)
Pronounced: MA-REE-NA
From Japanese 真 (ma) meaning "true, reality" combined with 里 (ri) meaning "village" and 奈 (na) a phonetic kanji. Other kanji combinations are possible.
Mark
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, Russian, Belarusian, Dutch, Danish, Armenian, Biblical
Other Scripts: Марк(Russian, Belarusian) Մարկ(Armenian)
Pronounced: MAHRK(English, Dutch, Eastern Armenian) MARK(Russian) MAHRG(Western Armenian)
Form of Latin
Marcus used in several languages.
Saint Mark was the author of the second gospel in the
New Testament. Though the author's identity is not certain, some traditions hold him to be the same person as the John Mark who appears in the Book of Acts. He is the patron saint of Venice, where he is supposedly buried. Though in use during the Middle Ages,
Mark was not common in the English-speaking world until the 19th century, when it began to be used alongside the classical form
Marcus.
In the medieval legend of Tristan and Iseult this was the name of a king of Cornwall. It was also borne by the American author Mark Twain (1835-1910), real name Samuel Clemens, the author of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. He took his pen name from a call used by riverboat workers on the Mississippi River to indicate a depth of two fathoms. This is also the usual English spelling of the name of the 1st-century BC Roman triumvir Marcus Antonius (Mark Antony).
Maxene
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: mak-SEEN
Mazel
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Yiddish
In Hebrew, the word is generally transliterated as mazal, and literally refers to a "star" or "planet in the night sky" or "zodiac constellation." It came to mean "lucky" in medieval times due to the widespread belief in astrology and that the planets and constellations can influence one's fate.
Méabh
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Irish, Irish Mythology
Pronounced: MYEW(Irish) MYEHV(Irish)
Modern Irish form of
Medb (see
Maeve).
Meave
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Irish
Medina
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Kazakh, Bosnian
Other Scripts: Медина(Kazakh)
Kazakh and Bosnian form of
Madina.
Medine
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Crimean Tatar
Mehetav'el
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Biblical Hebrew [1]
Other Scripts: םְהֵיטַבְאֵל(Ancient Hebrew)
Melia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Μελία(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: MEH-LEE-A(Classical Greek)
Means
"ash tree" in Greek, a derivative of
μέλι (meli) meaning "honey". This was the name of a nymph in Greek
myth, the daughter of the Greek god Okeanos.
Menahem
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Biblical, Hebrew
Other Scripts: םְנַחֵם(Hebrew)
From the Hebrew name
םְנַחֵם (Menaḥem) meaning
"comforter", a derivative of
נָחַם (naḥam) meaning "to comfort". This was the name of a king of Israel, appearing in the
Old Testament. His reign was noted for its brutality.
Merindah
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Indigenous Australian
Pronounced: meh-RIN-da
Means "beautiful" in one of the Indigenous languages of the Sydney area, possibly Darug.
Merit
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Ancient Egyptian, Arabic (Egyptian)
Other Scripts: ميريت(Egyptian Arabic) 𓌸𓇋𓇋𓏏𓁐(Hieroglyphs)
Pronounced: mehr-eet(modern Egyptological)
From Egyptian
mryt meaning "the beloved one", the feminine perfective relative form of
mrj "to love, to have affection for, to be fond of" as well as "to want, to wish, to desire".
Meshi
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Hebrew
Other Scripts: מֶשִׁי(Hebrew)
Pronounced: MEH-shee
Means "silk" in Hebrew.
Meskhenet
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Egyptian Mythology
In Egyptian mythology she was a goddess of childbirth, and the creator of each child's 'ka', a part of their soul, which she breathed into them at the moment of their birth. Because she was responsible for 'ka', she was also associated with fate, and so would sometimes be associated with
Shai. In ancient Egypt, women would deliver babies while squatting on a pair of brick, known as birth bricks, and because of this Meskhenet is sometimes depicted as a brick with a woman's head wearing a cow uterus, though typically she would just be depicted as a woman wearing a cow uterus.
Midian
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Biblical
Other Scripts: מִדְיָן(Hebrew) مدين(Arabic)
Pronounced: Mid-ee-in(Biblical English)
Means "strife" or "judgment" in Hebrew. In the Hebrew Bible, Midian was a son of
Abraham and
Keturah.
Mikha'el
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Biblical Hebrew [1]
Other Scripts: מִיכָאֵל(Ancient Hebrew)
Mira 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Hindi, Marathi, Malayalam, Tamil, Kannada
Other Scripts: मीरा(Hindi, Marathi) മീര(Malayalam) மீரா(Tamil) ಮೀರಾ(Kannada)
From Sanskrit
मीर (mīra) meaning
"sea, ocean". This was the name of a 16th-century Indian princess who devoted her life to the god
Krishna.
Mirabelle
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French (Rare), English (Rare)
Derived from Latin mirabilis meaning "wonderful". This name was coined during the Middle Ages, though it eventually died out. It was briefly revived in the 19th century.
Miraç
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Turkish
Miray
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Armenian
Other Scripts: Միրեյ(Armenian)
Pronounced: mi-Ray
Means "glowing like a moon" in Armenian.
Moira
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Irish, Scottish, English
Pronounced: MOI-rə(English)
Anglicized form of
Máire. It also coincides with Greek
Μοῖρα (Moira) meaning "fate, destiny", the singular of
Μοῖραι, the Greek name for the Fates. They were the three female personifications of destiny in Greek
mythology.
Monte
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, Armenian
Other Scripts: Մոնթէ(Armenian)
Pronounced: MAHN-tee(English)
Either a
diminutive of
Montgomery or from the Spanish or Italian vocabulary word meaning "mountain". Its use as an Armenian name is inspired by the Armenian-American revolutionary Monte Melkonian (1957-1993).
Moriah
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Other Scripts: מֹרִיָה(Ancient Hebrew)
Pronounced: mah-RIE-ə
From Hebrew
מֹרִיָה (Moriya) possibly meaning "seen by
Yahweh". This is a place name in the
Old Testament, both the land where
Abraham is to sacrifice
Isaac and the mountain upon which
Solomon builds the temple. They may be the same place. Since the 1980s it has occasionally been used as a feminine given name in America.
Moshe
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Hebrew, Biblical Hebrew [1]
Other Scripts: מֹשֶׁה(Hebrew)
Pronounced: mo-SHEH(Hebrew)
Muḥand
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Berber
Other Scripts: ⵎⵓⵃⴰⵏⴷ(Tifinagh)
Myra
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: MIE-rə
Created by the 17th-century poet Fulke Greville. He possibly based it on Latin
myrra meaning "myrrh" (a fragrant resin obtained from a tree). Otherwise, he may have simply rearranged the letters from the name
Mary. Although unrelated etymologically, this is also the name of an ancient city of Anatolia.
Myriah
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English
Variant of
Myria or
Miriah. Usage of this name began in England in the 18th century, though at that time, it was rarely given to girls. In the United States, it began to be used in the 19th century, where it was concentrated most in the American South.
After the 1970s, it can also be considered as a variant of
Mariah, which might be influenced by
Myra or other names that start with
My-.
Mzia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Georgian
Other Scripts: მზია(Georgian)
Derived from Georgian
მზე (mze) meaning
"sun".
Nabirye
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Eastern African
Meaning unknown.
Nai'a
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: Hawaiian
Means "dolphin" in Hawaiian.
Naia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Basque
Pronounced: NIE-a
Means "wave, sea foam" in Basque.
Nalina
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Indian
Nani
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Hawaiian
Means "beauty, glory" in Hawaiian.
Naom'iy
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Hebrew
Means "pleasantness".
Naria
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Celtic Mythology
Naria was a Gallo-Roman goddess worshiped in western Switzerland. While her functions have been lost to time, it can be deduced from the sole image of her that she may have been a goddess of good luck and blessings, as her image was done in the generic style of
Fortuna, the Roman goddess of luck. The origin and meaning of her name are unknown.
Nasir
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Arabic, Persian, Urdu, Bengali, Malay
Other Scripts: ناصر, نصير(Arabic) ناصر, نصیر(Persian, Urdu) নাসির(Bengali)
Pronounced: NA-seer(Arabic) na-SEER(Arabic)
Means
"helper" in Arabic, from the root
نصر (naṣara) meaning "to help, to aid". This transcription represents two related yet distinct Arabic names:
ناصر, in which the first vowel is long, and
نصير, in which the second vowel is long.
Nayeli
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Zapotec (Hispanicized), Spanish (Mexican)
Pronounced: na-YEH-lee(Spanish)
Possibly from Zapotec nadxiie lii meaning "I love you" or nayele' meaning "open".
Nazia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Urdu, Bengali
Other Scripts: نازیہ(Urdu) নাজিয়া(Bengali)
From Persian
نازی (nāzī) meaning
"sweet, coy".
Neoma
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: nee-O-mə
Altered form of
Naomi 1 (compare
Naoma), though it is popularly claimed to mean "new moon" in Greek (apparently by association with the prefix
neo "new, young" and
mene "moon").
Nerida
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Indigenous Australian
Possibly means "water lily" in an Australian Aboriginal language.
Nesreen
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Arabic (Egyptian), Arabic
Other Scripts: نسرين(Egyptian Arabic, Arabic)
Nia 2
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Swahili, African American
Means
"purpose, aim" in Swahili, borrowed from Arabic
نيّة (nīya) [1].
Niamh
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Irish, Irish Mythology
Pronounced: NYEEW(Irish) NYEEV(Irish)
Means
"bright" in Irish. She was the daughter of the sea god
Manannán mac Lir in Irish legends. She fell in love with the poet
Oisín, the son of
Fionn mac Cumhaill. It has been used as a given name for people only since the early 20th century.
Nir
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Hebrew
Other Scripts: נִיר(Hebrew)
Means "plowed field" in Hebrew.
Nizhóní
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Navajo
From Navajo
nizhóní meaning
"beautiful" [1].
Noumidia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Berber (Rare), Arabic (Maghrebi, Rare)
A modern coinage derived from the name of the Ancient Berber kingdom and later Roman province
Numidia.
It is probably not directly linked to Late Roman name Numidia.
Ochieng
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Luo
Means "born when the sun shines", derived from Luo chieng meaning "sun".
Odelia 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Odera
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: Nigerian
Nigerian name meaning "fate, fortune, destiny".
Odessa
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Various
From the name of a Ukrainian city that sits on the north coast of the Black Sea, which was named after the ancient Greek city of
Ὀδησσός (Odessos), of uncertain meaning. This name can also be used as a feminine form of
Odysseus.
Ofir
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: Hebrew, Biblical Hebrew [1]
Other Scripts: אוֹפִיר(Hebrew)
Hebrew form of
Ophir. In modern times it is also used as a feminine name.
Ora 1
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English
Perhaps based on Latin oro "to pray". It was first used in America in the 19th century.
Orna 2
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Hebrew
Other Scripts: אָרְנָה(Hebrew)
Pablo
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Spanish
Pronounced: PA-blo
Spanish form of
Paulus (see
Paul). Spanish painter and sculptor Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) and Chilean poet Pablo Neruda (1904-1973) were famous bearers of this name.
Persia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: PUR-zhə
From the name of the Middle Eastern country
Persia, now referred to as Iran. Its name is derived from Avestan
Parsa, the ancient tribal name of the people ruled by Cyrus the Great.
As a given name, it has been occasionally found in the English-speaking world from the early 19th century onwards.
Peter
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, German, Dutch, Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, Slovene, Slovak, Biblical
Pronounced: PEE-tər(English) PEH-tu(German) PEH-tər(Dutch, Danish, Slovene) PEH-tehr(Slovak)
Derived from Greek
Πέτρος (Petros) meaning
"stone". This is a translation used in most versions of the
New Testament of the name
Cephas, meaning "stone" in Aramaic, which was given to the apostle
Simon by
Jesus (compare
Matthew 16:18 and
John 1:42). Simon Peter was the most prominent of the apostles during Jesus' ministry and is often considered the first pope.
Due to the renown of the apostle, this name became common throughout the Christian world (in various spellings). In England the Normans introduced it in the Old French form Piers, which was gradually replaced by the spelling Peter starting in the 15th century [1].
Besides the apostle, other saints by this name include the 11th-century reformer Saint Peter Damian and the 13th-century preacher Saint Peter Martyr. It was also borne by rulers of Aragon, Portugal, and Russia, including the Russian tsar Peter the Great (1672-1725), who defeated Sweden in the Great Northern War. Famous fictional bearers include Peter Rabbit from Beatrix Potter's children's books, Peter Pan, the boy who refused to grow up in J. M. Barrie's 1904 play, and Peter Parker, the real name of the comic book superhero Spider-Man.
Pheme
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Φήμη(Ancient Greek)
Means
"rumour, reputation" in Greek. In Greek
mythology she was the personification of fame and rumours.
Philomena
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, German, Ancient Greek (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Φιλουμένη(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: fil-ə-MEE-nə(English)
From Greek
Φιλουμένη (Philoumene) meaning
"to be loved", an inflection of
φιλέω (phileo) meaning "to love". This was the name of an obscure early
saint and martyr. The name came to public attention in 1802 after a tomb seemingly marked with the name
Filumena was found in Rome, supposedly belonging to another martyr named Philomena. This may have in fact been a representation of the Greek word
φιλουμένη, not a name.
Phoebe
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Greek Mythology (Latinized), Biblical, Biblical Latin
Other Scripts: Φοίβη(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: FEE-bee(English)
Personal remark: mn Roisin/Leanne
Latinized form of the Greek name
Φοίβη (Phoibe), which meant
"bright, pure" from Greek
φοῖβος (phoibos). In Greek
mythology Phoibe was a Titan associated with the moon. This was also an epithet of her granddaughter, the moon goddess
Artemis. The name appears in
Paul's epistle to the Romans in the
New Testament, where it belongs to a female minister in the church at Cenchreae.
In England, it began to be used as a given name after the Protestant Reformation. It was moderately common in the 19th century. It began to rise in popularity again in the late 1980s, probably helped along by characters on the American television shows Friends (1994-2004) and Charmed (1998-2006). It is currently much more common in the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand than the United States.
A moon of Saturn bears this name, in honour of the Titan.
Phoibe
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology, Ancient Greek [1], Biblical Greek [2]
Other Scripts: Φοίβη(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: POI-BEH(Classical Greek)
Potira
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Brazilian, Tupi
Pronounced: paw-TI-ra(Tupi)
Quirina
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Late Roman
Ramiro
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Spanish, Portuguese
Pronounced: ra-MEE-ro(Spanish) ra-MEE-roo(European Portuguese) ha-MEE-roo(Brazilian Portuguese)
Spanish and Portuguese form of
Ramirus, earlier
Ranimirus, a Latinized form of a Visigothic name derived from the Gothic element
rana "wedge" or perhaps
ragin "law, decree, assessment, responsibility" combined with
mers "famous".
Saint Ramirus was a 6th-century prior of the Saint Claudius Monastery in León. He and several others were executed by the Arian Visigoths, who opposed orthodox Christianity. This name was subsequently borne by kings of León, Asturias and Aragon.
Rashad
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Arabic, Azerbaijani
Other Scripts: رشاد(Arabic)
Pronounced: ra-SHAD(Arabic)
Means
"good sense, good guidance" in Arabic, from the root
رشد (rashada) meaning "to be on the right path".
Raveena
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Indian (Modern)
Other Scripts: रवीना(Hindi)
Punjabi in origin, this name means "sunflower" (literally "the beauty of the sun", compare Sanskrit
ravi "sun").
Raveena Tandon (born 1974) is an Indian actress, producer, and a former model.
Reem
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Arabic
Other Scripts: ريم(Arabic)
Pronounced: REEM
Alternate transcription of Arabic
ريم (see
Rim).
Regina
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Lithuanian, Estonian, Polish, Czech, Slovak, Hungarian, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Late Roman
Pronounced: ri-JEE-nə(English) ri-JIE-nə(English) reh-GEE-na(German, Polish) reh-JEE-na(Italian) reh-KHEE-na(Spanish) ryeh-gyi-NU(Lithuanian) REH-gi-na(Czech) REH-gee-naw(Hungarian)
Means
"queen" in Latin (or Italian). It was in use as a Christian name from early times, and was borne by a 2nd-century
saint. In England it was used during the Middle Ages in honour of the Virgin
Mary, and it was later revived in the 19th century. A city in Canada bears this name, in honour of Queen Victoria.
Reuel
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Biblical, Biblical Hebrew [1]
Other Scripts: רְעוּאֵל(Ancient Hebrew)
Pronounced: ROOL(English)
Means
"friend of God" in Hebrew, from
רֵעַ (reaʿ) meaning "friend" and
אֵל (ʾel) meaning "God". In the
Old Testament this is another name for
Jethro. The fantasy author John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (1892-1973) was a famous bearer.
Rina 2
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Hebrew
Other Scripts: רִינָה(Hebrew)
Means "joy, singing" in Hebrew.
Rira
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 梨来, 吏良, 季来, 綾羅, 鈴浦, 律楽, etc.(Japanese Kanji) りら(Japanese Hiragana)
Pronounced: ṘEE-ṘAH
From Japanese 梨 (ri) meaning "pear" combined with 来 (ra) meaning "to come". Other kanji combinations are possible.
Usage of this name is, most likely, influenced by the name Lila 2.
Róisín
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Irish
Pronounced: ro-SHEEN
Diminutive of
Róis or the Irish word
rós meaning
"rose" (of Latin origin). It appears in the 17th-century song
Róisín Dubh.
Romedia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Various (Rare)
Pronounced: ro-MAY-dee-a
Rosa 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Catalan, Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, Finnish, Dutch, German, English
Pronounced: RO-sa(Spanish, Dutch) RAW-za(Italian) RAW-zu(European Portuguese) HAW-zu(Brazilian Portuguese) RAW-zə(Catalan) RO-za(German) RO-zə(English)
Generally this can be considered to be from Latin
rosa meaning
"rose", though originally it may have come from the unrelated Germanic name
Roza 2. This was the name of a 13th-century
saint from Viterbo in Italy. In the English-speaking world it was first used in the 19th century. Famous bearers include the Polish-German revolutionary Rosa Luxemburg (1871-1919) and the American civil rights activist Rosa Parks (1913-2005).
Ruchira
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: Thai, Sinhalese, Indian, Bengali, Hindi
Other Scripts: รุจิรา(Thai) රුචිර(Sinhala) রুচিরা(Bengali) रुचिरा(Hindi)
Pronounced: roo-chee-RA(Thai)
From Sanskrit रुचिर (rucira) meaning "brilliant, radiant, agreeable, splendid". It is used as a feminine name in Thailand and India while it is unisex in Sri Lanka.
Rue
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: ROO
From the name of the bitter medicinal herb, ultimately deriving from Greek
ῥυτή (rhyte). This is also sometimes used as a short form of
Ruth 1.
Sabina
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Romanian, Polish, Czech, Slovene, Russian, Croatian, Swedish, Ancient Roman
Other Scripts: Сабина(Russian)
Pronounced: sa-BEE-na(Italian, Spanish, Polish) SA-bi-na(Czech)
Feminine form of
Sabinus, a Roman
cognomen meaning
"a Sabine" in Latin. The Sabines were an ancient people who lived in central Italy, their lands eventually taken over by the Romans after several wars. According to legend, the Romans abducted several Sabine women during a raid, and when the men came to rescue them, the women were able to make peace between the two groups. This name was borne by several early
saints.
Sade
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Sa'dia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Arabic
Other Scripts: سعدية(Arabic)
Pronounced: SA‘-dee-ya
Alternate transcription of Arabic
سعدية (see
Sadia).
Sadie
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: SAY-dee
Safae
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Arabic (Maghrebi)
Other Scripts: صفاء(Arabic)
Maghrebi transcription of
Safaa used in Morocco.
Safina
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Indian, Malaysian
Safiya
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Hausa, Kazakh, Arabic
Other Scripts: Сафия(Kazakh) صفيّة(Arabic)
Pronounced: sa-FEE-ya(Arabic)
Hausa and Kazakh form of
Safiyya. It is also an alternate transcription of the Arabic name.
Salacia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Roman Mythology
Pronounced: sa-LA-kee-a(Latin)
Derived from Latin sal meaning "salt". This was the name of the Roman goddess of salt water.
Salem 1
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Arabic
Other Scripts: سالم(Arabic)
Pronounced: SA-leem
Alternate transcription of Arabic
سالم (see
Salim).
Saliha
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Arabic
Other Scripts: صالحة(Arabic)
Pronounced: SA-lee-ha
Salome
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare), German (Rare), Georgian, Biblical, Biblical Latin, Biblical Greek [1]
Other Scripts: სალომე(Georgian) Σαλώμη(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: sə-LO-mee(English)
From an Aramaic name that was related to the Hebrew word
שָׁלוֹם (shalom) meaning
"peace". According to the historian Josephus this was the name of the daughter of
Herodias (the consort of Herod Antipas, the tetrarch of Galilee). In the
New Testament, though a specific name is not given, it was a daughter of Herodias who danced for Herod and was rewarded with the head of
John the Baptist, and thus Salome and the dancer have traditionally been equated.
As a Christian given name, Salome has been in occasional use since the Protestant Reformation. This was due to a second person of this name in the New Testament: one of the women who witnessed the crucifixion and later discovered that Jesus' tomb was empty. It is used in Georgia due to the 4th-century Salome of Ujarma, who is considered a saint in the Georgian Church.
Samaya
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Sanskrit, Indian
Means "tranquil, peaceful" in Sanskrit. From the Sanskrit सामय (sAmaya), from सामयति (sAmayati).
Sameah
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Hebrew
Pronounced: SA-MEE-ah
Means “happy” in Hebrew.
Samina
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Arabic, Urdu
Other Scripts: ثمينة(Arabic) ثمینہ(Urdu)
Pronounced: tha-MEE-na(Arabic)
Alternate transcription of Arabic
ثمينة (see
Thamina), as well as the usual Urdu transcription.
Samira 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Arabic, Persian
Other Scripts: سميرة(Arabic) سمیرا(Persian)
Pronounced: sa-MEE-ra(Arabic) sa-mee-RAW(Persian)
Samiya
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Arabic
Other Scripts: سامية(Arabic)
Pronounced: SA-mee-ya
Saniyya
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Arabic
Other Scripts: سنيّة(Arabic)
Pronounced: sa-NEE-ya
Saoirse
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Irish
Pronounced: SEER-shə
Means "freedom" in Irish Gaelic. It was first used as a given name in the 20th century.
Sarai
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Biblical, Biblical Latin, Biblical Hebrew [1], Spanish
Other Scripts: שָׂרָי(Ancient Hebrew)
Pronounced: SEHR-ie(English) sə-RIE(English)
Sasha
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: Russian, Ukrainian, English, French
Other Scripts: Саша(Russian, Ukrainian)
Pronounced: SA-shə(Russian) SASH-ə(English) SAH-shə(English) SA-SHA(French)
Saskia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Dutch, German
Pronounced: SAHS-kee-a(Dutch) ZAS-kya(German)
From the Old German element
sahso meaning
"a Saxon". The Saxons were a Germanic tribe, their name ultimately deriving from the Germanic word *
sahsą meaning "knife". Saskia van Uylenburgh (1612-1642) was the wife of the Dutch painter Rembrandt.
Savera
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Hindi, Urdu, Arabic
"dawn, new beginning"
Sayen
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Mapuche
Meaning uncertain, possibly a derivative of Mapuche ayün "love".
Séaghdha
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Irish (Rare)
Pronounced: SHEH
From Old Irish
Ségdae, probably derived from
ségda meaning
"fine, good, favourable, learned". According to an Irish legend this was the name of a boy who was set to be sacrificed but was saved by his mother
[1].
Sedef
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Turkish
Seffora
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Biblical Latin
Selene
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Σελήνη(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: SEH-LEH-NEH(Classical Greek) si-LEE-nee(English) si-LEEN(English)
Means
"moon" in Greek. This was the name of a Greek goddess of the moon, a Titan. She was sometimes identified with the goddess
Artemis.
Selina
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, German
Pronounced: sə-LEEN-ə(English)
Variant of
Celina or
Selena. As an English name, it first came into use in the 17th century.
Semira
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Hebrew
Means "highest heaven" in Hebrew.
Sepehr
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Persian Mythology, Persian
Other Scripts: سپهر(Persian)
Means "sky" or "heaven" in Persian.
Seraphina
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare), German (Rare), Late Roman
Pronounced: sehr-ə-FEEN-ə(English) zeh-ra-FEE-na(German)
Feminine form of the Late Latin name
Seraphinus, derived from the biblical word
seraphim, which was Hebrew in origin and meant
"fiery ones". The seraphim were an order of angels, described by Isaiah in the Bible as having six wings each.
This was the name of a 13th-century Italian saint who made clothes for the poor. As an English name, it has never been common.
Shem
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Biblical, Biblical Hebrew [1]
Other Scripts: שֵׁם(Ancient Hebrew)
Pronounced: SHEHM(English)
Means
"name" in Hebrew. In the
Old Testament, Shem is one of
Noah's three sons (along with
Japheth and
Ham) and the ancestor of the Semitic peoples.
Shifra
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Hebrew, Biblical Hebrew [1]
Other Scripts: שִׁףְרָה(Hebrew)
Shirona
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: シロナ(Japanese Katakana)
From 白南天 shironanten, white-fruited nandina. Symbolizes "love growing stronger" and "good home" in the language of flowers.
Shlomit
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Hebrew
Other Scripts: שְׁלוֹמִית(Hebrew)
Means "peaceful" in Hebrew.
Shlomtzion
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Hebrew
Other Scripts: שְׁלוֹמְצִיּוֹן(Hebrew)
Pronounced: shlom-tzee-yon
Means "peace of
Zion" in Hebrew. Queen
Salome Alexandra of Judaea (141-67 BCE) is known as Shlomtzion in Hebrew. It is borne by journalist Shlomzion Kenan, daughter of the late Israeli writer Amos Kenan.
Siena
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: see-EHN-ə
Variant of
Sienna, with the spelling perhaps influenced by that of the Italian city.
Simidele
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Yoruba
Means "follow me home" in Yoruba.
Simidele Adeagbo is a Canadian-born Nigerian skeleton racer who competed at 2018 Winter Olympics. She is Nigeria and Africa’s first female skeleton athlete, as well as the first black female athlete in the sport of skeleton.
Simona
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, Czech, Slovak, Romanian, Lithuanian, Slovene, Bulgarian, Macedonian
Other Scripts: Симона(Bulgarian, Macedonian)
Pronounced: see-MO-na(Italian) SI-mo-na(Czech) SEE-maw-na(Slovak)
Şine
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Kurdish
Means "breeze" in Kurdish.
Siola'a
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Tongan
Means "sunflower" in Tongan.
Sirena
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: sə-REEN-ə
Derived from Spanish sirena "mermaid". The Spanish dramatist Jacinto Benavente used this name in his play 'Los intereses creados' (1907), where it belongs to a poor widow and matchmaker called Doña Sirena.
Sofiya
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Russian, Ukrainian, Bulgarian
Other Scripts: София(Russian, Bulgarian) Софія(Ukrainian)
Pronounced: su-FYEE-yə(Russian)
Russian, Ukrainian and Bulgarian form of
Sophia.
Solange
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French
Pronounced: SAW-LAHNZH
French form of the Late Latin name
Sollemnia, which was derived from Latin
sollemnis "religious". This was the name of a French shepherdess who became a
saint after she was killed by her master.
Solène
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French
Pronounced: SAW-LEHN
Somayeh
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Persian
Other Scripts: سمیه(Persian)
Sonia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Romanian, Polish
Pronounced: SON-yə(English) SAWN-yə(English) SAW-nya(Italian) SO-nya(Spanish)
Sopheary
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Khmer
Sorne
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Basque (Rare)
Means
"conception" in Basque. It was coined by Sabino Arana in 1910 as an equivalent of the Spanish name
Concepción.
Surina
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Hinduism
Pronounced: suw-REE-nah
Derived from Sanskrit sura meaning "goddess."
Sydelle
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Syeira
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Romani
Pronounced: sie-ER-ə, see-ER-ə
Means "princess" in Romani, possibly a cognate of
Sarah.
Tahlia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Australian)
Tahpenes
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Biblical
Other Scripts: תַּחְףְּנֵיס(Ancient Hebrew)
Probably of Egyptian origin, possibly meaning
"the wife of the king", derived from the feminine determiner
tꜣ and
ḥmt "woman, wife" combined with the masculine determiner
pꜣ and
nsw "king". Queen Tahpenes was a wife of an Egyptian pharaoh according to the Book of Kings in the
Old Testament.
Tegan
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Welsh, English (Modern)
Pronounced: TEH-gan(Welsh) TEE-gən(English)
Means
"darling" in Welsh, derived from a
diminutive of Welsh
teg "beautiful, pretty". It was somewhat common in Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and Canada in the 1980s and 90s. It was borne by an Australian character on the television series
Doctor Who from 1981 to 1984.
Teos
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Ancient Egyptian
Teos was the name of Pharaon Teos of the Thirtieth Dynasty of Egypt (380-343 BC).
Tess
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Dutch
Pronounced: TEHS
Short form of
Theresa. This is the name of the main character in Thomas Hardy's novel
Tess of the d'Urbervilles (1891).
Thurayya
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Arabic
Other Scripts: ثريّا, ثريّة(Arabic)
Pronounced: thoo-RIE-ya
Means "the Pleiades" in Arabic. The Pleiades are a group of stars in the constellation Taurus.
Tiare
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Tahitian
Means "flower" in Tahitian, also specifically referring to the species Gardenia taitensis.
Tifawt
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Berber
Other Scripts: ⵜⵉⴼⴰⵡⵜ(Tifinagh)
Means
"light" in Tamazight
[1].
Toccara
Gender: Feminine
Usage: African American (Modern)
From the name of a 1981 Avon perfume, derived from the Italian verb toccare "to touch".
Tre
Gender: Masculine
Usage: African American (Rare)
Trey
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: TRAY
From an English nickname meaning "three".
Tzarina
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Russian (Rare)
Pronounced: Zar-ee-na
Derived from the notable wife of the Tzar and popularized in the newer 21st century due to it's exotic pronunciation. It means "wife of the great Tzar"
Tzefaniyah
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Hebrew
Pronounced: Zeh-Fah-Nee-Ah or Zeh-Fae-Nee-Ah
Variation of the name Tzephanya or Tzephanyahu. Means (Hebrew): 'Secret of God'.
Tzippora
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Biblical Hebrew [1], Hebrew
Other Scripts: צִפּוֹרָה(Hebrew)
Vaea
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: Tongan, Samoan, Tahitian, Polynesian Mythology
Meaning unknown, though it likely means "king, prince, noble, chief" based on the fact that the meaning of Mapu 'a Vaea, natural blowholes in Houma on the island of Tongatapu in Tonga, is known to be 'Whistle of the Noble/Chief/King' in Tongan.
The name has been born by Tongan kings and chiefs in antiquity. Baron Vaea, born Siaosi Tuʻihala ʻAlipate Vaea Tupou, was the Prime Minister of Tonga from 1991-2000. Mount Vaea is a mountain overlooking the Samoan capital of Apia on the island of Upolu, and is best known as the burial site of writer Robert Louis Stevenson. The name of the mountain comes from the Samoan myth of the giant Vaea who, in grieving for the loss of his son, petrified and became the mountain.
Vaihere
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Tahitian
From Tahitian vai "water" and here "loved, dear".
Vaimiti
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Tahitian
From Tahitian vai "water" and miti "sea, salt".
Valencia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Various
Pronounced: ba-LEHN-sya(Latin American Spanish) ba-LEHN-thya(European Spanish) və-LEHN-see-ə(English)
From the name of cities in Spain and Venezuela, both derived from Latin valentia meaning "strength, vigour".
Valentina
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, Russian, Lithuanian, German, Croatian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Slovene, Albanian, Romanian, Spanish, Greek, Ancient Roman
Other Scripts: Валентина(Russian, Bulgarian, Macedonian) Βαλεντίνα(Greek)
Pronounced: va-lehn-TEE-na(Italian) və-lyin-TYEE-nə(Russian) vu-lyehn-tyi-NU(Lithuanian) ba-lehn-TEE-na(Spanish)
Feminine form of
Valentinus (see
Valentine 1). A famous bearer is the Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova (1937-), who in 1963 became the first woman to visit space.
Vandenė
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Lithuanian
Derived from the Lithuanian noun
vandenė meaning "mermaid", which is derived from the Lithuanian adjective
vandens meaning "aqueous, aquatic", itself ultimately derived from the Lithuanian noun
vanduo meaning "water". Also compare
Undinė, which is etymologically related.
Vanessa
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, French, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, German, Dutch
Pronounced: və-NEHS-ə(English) VA-NEH-SA(French) va-NEHS-sa(Italian) vu-NEH-su(European Portuguese) va-NEH-su(Brazilian Portuguese) ba-NEH-sa(Spanish) va-NEH-sa(German) vah-NEH-sa(Dutch)
Invented by author Jonathan Swift for his 1726 poem
Cadenus and Vanessa [1]. He arrived at it by rearranging the initial syllables of the first name and surname of
Esther Vanhomrigh, his close friend. Vanessa was later used as the name of a genus of butterfly. It was a rare given name until the mid-20th century, at which point it became fairly popular.
Vashti
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Biblical
Other Scripts: וַשְׁתִּי(Ancient Hebrew)
Pronounced: VASH-tee(English)
Probably of Persian origin, possibly a superlative form of
𐎺𐎢 (vahu) meaning
"good". According to the
Old Testament this was the name of the first wife of King
Ahasuerus of Persia before he married
Esther.
Veasanea
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Khmer
Pronounced: Vee-san-ee-uh
Means "destiny" in Khmer.
Vena
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Hinduism
Other Scripts: वेन(Sanskrit)
Means "yearning, desire" in Sanskrit. According to Hindu scripture this was the name of an evil and irreligious king.
Vera 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Russian, English, German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Dutch, Portuguese, Italian, Spanish, Hungarian, Slovene, Serbian, Croatian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Belarusian, Georgian
Other Scripts: Вера(Russian, Serbian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Belarusian) ვერა(Georgian)
Pronounced: VYEH-rə(Russian) VEE-rə(English) VEHR-ə(English) VEH-ra(German, Dutch) VEH-rah(Swedish) BEH-ra(Spanish) VEH-raw(Hungarian)
Means "faith" in Russian, though it is sometimes associated with the Latin word verus "true". It has been in general use in the English-speaking world since the late 19th century.
Vera 2
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Albanian
Derived from Albanian verë meaning "summer".
Verena
Gender: Feminine
Usage: German, Late Roman
Pronounced: veh-REH-na(German)
Possibly related to Latin
verus "true". This might also be a Coptic form of the Ptolemaic name
Berenice.
Saint Verena was a 3rd-century Egyptian-born nurse who went with the Theban Legion to Switzerland. After the legion was massacred she settled near Zurich.
Vienna
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: vee-EHN-ə
From the name of the capital city of Austria,
Vienna.
Vilay
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: Lao
Other Scripts: ວິໄລ(Lao)
Alternate transcription of
Vilai.
Vina
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Kurdish
Other Scripts: وینا(Kurdish Sorani)
Pronounced: Viina
A person who can see beyond what others see , and a person who understands everything.
Whitney
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: WIT-nee
From an English surname that was originally derived from a place name meaning "white island" in Old English. Its popular use as a feminine name was initiated by actress Whitney Blake (1925-2002) in the 1960s, and further boosted in the 1980s by singer Whitney Houston (1963-2012).
Winter
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: WIN-tər
From the English word for the season, derived from Old English winter.
Xiadani
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Zapotec
Meaning uncertain, said to mean "the flower that arrived" in Zapotec.
Yadira
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Spanish (Latin American), American (Hispanic)
Pronounced: gya-DHEE-ra(Spanish)
Meaning unknown, possibly derived from an Arabic name. It has been used in Mexico since at least the 1940s
[1], perhaps inspired by the Colombian actress Yadira Jiménez (1928-?), who performed in Mexican films beginning in 1946.
Yaqub
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Arabic
Other Scripts: يعقوب(Arabic)
Pronounced: ya‘-KOOB
Arabic form of
Yaʿaqov (see
Jacob) appearing in the
Quran.
Yara
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Hebrew, Italian
Other Scripts: יַעֲרָה(Hebrew)
Italian form and variant transcription of
Yaara.
Yared
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Biblical Hebrew [1], Ethiopian
Other Scripts: יָרֶד(Ancient Hebrew) ያሬድ(Amharic)
Hebrew form of
Jared. This form is also used in Ethiopia. It was borne by a semi-legendary 6th-century Ethiopian musician who is considered a
saint in the Ethiopian Orthodox Church.
Yash
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Hindi, Marathi, Punjabi, Gujarati, Kannada
Other Scripts: यश(Hindi, Marathi) ਯਸ਼(Gurmukhi) યશ(Gujarati) ಯಶ್(Kannada)
Derived from Sanskrit
यशस् (yaśas) meaning
"fame, praise, glory".
Yasmin
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Arabic, Hebrew, Urdu, English (Modern), Spanish (Modern), Portuguese (Modern)
Other Scripts: ياسمين(Arabic) יַסְמִין(Hebrew) یاسمین(Urdu)
Pronounced: yas-MEEN(Arabic) YAZ-min(English) gyas-MEEN(Spanish)
Means
"jasmine" in Arabic and Hebrew, derived from Persian
یاسمین (yāsamīn). In modern times it has been used in the western world, as an Arabic-influenced variant of
Jasmine.
Yasmine
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Arabic, French (Modern), English (Modern)
Other Scripts: ياسمين(Arabic)
Pronounced: yas-MEEN(Arabic) YAS-MEEN(French) YAZ-min(English)
Yedida
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Biblical Hebrew [1]
Other Scripts: יְדִידָה(Ancient Hebrew)
Yemima
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Hebrew, Biblical Hebrew [1]
Other Scripts: יְמִימָה(Hebrew)
Yenna
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern, Rare)
Yerusha
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Biblical Hebrew [1]
Other Scripts: יְרוּשָׁה(Ancient Hebrew)
Yesenia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Spanish (Latin American)
Pronounced: gyeh-SEH-nya
From
Jessenia, the genus name of a variety of palm trees found in South America. As a given name, it was popularized by the writer Yolanda Vargas Dulché in the 1970 Mexican telenovela
Yesenia and the 1971 film adaptation
[1].
Yeşim
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Turkish
Pronounced: yeh-SHEEM
Means "jade" in Turkish.
Yileen
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Indigenous Australian
Means 'A dream,' in an Indigenous Australian language.
Yocheved
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Hebrew, Biblical Hebrew [1]
Other Scripts: יוֹכֶבֶד(Hebrew)
Pronounced: yo-KHEH-vehd(Hebrew)
Yonina
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Hebrew
Other Scripts: יוֹנִינָה(Hebrew)
Yosefina
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Yiddish
Pronounced: Yo-seh-fee-nah
Yozeph
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Biblical Hebrew
Pronounced: Yo-zeff
Ytu
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: Punu, African
Pronounced: ee-tu
Means "hope" in Punu.
Yulia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian
Other Scripts: Юлия(Russian) Юлія(Ukrainian, Belarusian)
Pronounced: YOO-lyi-yə(Russian)
Alternate transcription of Russian
Юлия or Ukrainian/Belarusian
Юлія (see
Yuliya).
Zachriel
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Judeo-Christian-Islamic Legend
Pronounced: Zak-Ri-El
The Angel of Memory in all three of the main Abrahamic faiths.
Zephaniah
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Biblical
Other Scripts: ץְפַןְיָה(Ancient Hebrew)
Pronounced: zeh-fə-NIE-ə(English)
From the Hebrew name
ץְפַןְיָה (Tsefanya) meaning
"Yahweh has hidden", derived from
צָפַן (tsafan) meaning "to hide" and
יָהּ (yah) referring to the Hebrew God. This is the name of one of the twelve minor prophets of the
Old Testament, the author of the Book of Zephaniah.
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