WriterNeedsNames's Personal Name List

From the Hebrew name הֶבֶל (Hevel) meaning "breath". In the Old Testament he is the second son of Adam and Eve, murdered out of envy by his brother Cain. In England, this name came into use during the Middle Ages, and it was common during the Puritan era.

From an English surname that was derived from the given name Edgar.

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.

Derived from the Old English element ælf "elf" combined with swiþ "strong".

Old English form of Elfreda.

Means "ash tree" in Old English. This was the nickname of a 5th-century king of Kent, whose birth name was Oeric.

Derived from the Old English elements æðele "noble" and ræd "counsel, advice". This was the name of two Saxon kings of England including Æðelræd II "the Unready" whose realm was overrun by the Danes in the early 11th century. The name was rarely used after the Norman Conquest.

From the Roman cognomen Albanus, which meant "from Alba". Alba (from Latin albus "white") was the name of various places within the Roman Empire, including the city Alba Longa. This name was borne by Saint Alban, the first British martyr (4th century). According to tradition, he sheltered a fugitive priest in his house. When his house was searched, he disguised himself as the priest, was arrested in his stead, and was beheaded. Another 4th-century martyr by this name was Saint Alban of Mainz.

As an English name, Alban was occasionally used in the Middle Ages and was revived in the 18th century, though it is now uncommon.

Means "son of Alf 1".

Meaning unknown. This was the name of the god of the underworld, called Annwfn, in Welsh mythology.

From the Roman name Blasius, which was derived from Latin blaesus meaning "lisping". Saint Blaise was a 4th-century Armenian martyr. A famous bearer was the French mathematician and philosopher Blaise Pascal (1623-1662).

Short form of Abraham. This name was borne by Bram Stoker (1847-1912), the Irish author who wrote Dracula.

This surname is taken from the word which refers to a common blackberry (British) or any of several closely related thorny plants in the Rubus genus (US). It also refers to any thorny shrub. The word is derived from Old English bræmbel with a euphonic -b- inserted from the earlier bræmel or brémel, which is then derived from Proto-Germanic *bræmaz meaning "thorny bush."

Transferred use of the surname Bramwell.

Means "raven" in Irish. In Irish legend Bran mac Febail was a mariner who was involved in several adventures on his quest to find the Otherworld.

Unaccented variant of Brân. This is also the Middle Welsh form.

Roman family name that was derived from Latin caelum meaning "heaven".

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.

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.

Italian form of Caesar.

The name was first used by Oscar Wilde in his novel The Picture of Dorian Gray (1891), which tells the story of a man whose portrait ages while he stays young. Wilde may have taken it from the name of the ancient Greek tribe the Dorians.

Derived from Old Irish dub "dark, black" and either slán "challenge, defiance" or Sláine, the Irish name of the River Slaney [1].

From Sino-Vietnamese 容 (dung) meaning "appearance, form" or 庸 (dung) meaning "use, employ".

Derived from the Old English elements eofor "boar" and hild "battle". This name was rarely used after the Norman Conquest.

Derived from the Old English elements eofor "boar" and wine "friend" (a cognate of Eberwin). This name was rarely used after the Norman Conquest.

Middle English form of Æðelræd. The name was very rare after the Norman Conquest, but it was revived briefly in the 19th century.

Transferred use of the surname Fenwick.

From the Hebrew name גַבְרִיאֵל (Ḡavriʾel) meaning "God is my strong man", derived from גֶּבֶר (gever) meaning "strong man, hero" and אֵל (ʾel) meaning "God". Gabriel is an archangel in Hebrew tradition, often appearing as a messenger of God. In the Old Testament he is sent to interpret the visions of the prophet Daniel, while in the New Testament he serves as the announcer of the births of John to Zechariah and Jesus to Mary. According to Islamic tradition he was the angel who dictated the Quran to Muhammad.

This name has been used occasionally in England since the 12th century. It was not common in the English-speaking world until the end of the 20th century.

From the English word gay meaning "gay, happy". By the mid-20th century the word had acquired the additional meaning of "homosexual", and the name has subsequently dropped out of use.

From an English surname that was derived from Old French gaillard "high-spirited, boisterous". This name was rarely used after the mid-20th century, when the word gay acquired the slang meaning "homosexual".

Meaning unknown, possibly a Welsh form of Gerontius. This was the name of a figure in various Welsh legends. He was also incorporated into Arthurian tales (the romance Geraint and Enid) as one of the Knights of the Round Table and the husband of Enid.

From the name of the American state, which means "land of the Indians". This is the name of the hero in the Indiana Jones series of movies, starring Harrison Ford.

Means "beauty" in Sanskrit. This is another name of Lakshmi, the wife of the Hindu god Vishnu. A notable bearer was India's first female prime minister, Indira Gandhi (1917-1984).

Derived from the Old English element leof "dear, beloved" combined with dæg "day".

Means "the sea" in Old Irish. Ler was probably an Irish god or personification of the sea, best known as the father of Manannán mac Lir.

Possibly from the patronymic Manannán mac Lir, in which case Lir is the genitive case of the name Ler. The medieval Irish legend the Children of Lir tells how Lir of the Tuatha Dé Danann had his children transformed into swans by his third wife Aoife. The legendary characters Lir and Ler seem to be distinct.

Unaccented variant of Llŷr.

Means "little fierce one", derived from Old Irish lorcc "fierce" combined with a diminutive suffix. Saint Lorcán was a 12th-century archbishop of Dublin.

Variant of Lydia, occasionally used in Norway as a masculine form. In some cases it may be directly from the word which means "of ancient Lydia" (and also refers to "a mode of ancient Greek music, reputed to be light and effeminate").

Variant of Michael.

Old English form of Mildred.

Short form of Maureen, Maurice, Morris and other names beginning with a similar sound.

Probably derived from Old English os "god". This was the given name of a 5th-century king of Kent, more commonly known as Oisc (see Æsc). He ruled for twenty-four years, from 488 to 516 AD. He may have been the son or the grandson of Hengest, who led the initial Anglo-Saxon conquest and settlement of Kent.

According to Bede's Ecclesiastical History of the English People, Oisc's given name was Orric. Bede indicates that he was the son of Hengest and travelled to Britain with him, with the permission of the British king Vortigern. He was the father of Octa, who succeeded him. His descendants called themselves 'Oiscingas' after him.

Derived from Old Norse rún meaning "secret lore, rune".

Means "venom of God" in Hebrew. This is the name of an archangel in Jewish tradition, described as a destructive angel of death.

Derived from Irish sluaghadh meaning "raid, mobilization" and a diminutive suffix.

Scottish Gaelic form of Toirdhealbhach. It is sometimes Anglicized as Charles.

Feminine form of Teàrlach. It is sometimes Anglicized as Charlotte.

Means "king over warriors" from Gaulish wer "on, over" combined with kingeto "marching men, warriors" and rix "king". This name was borne by a 1st-century BC chieftain of the Gaulish tribe the Arverni. He led the resistance against Julius Caesar's attempts to conquer Gaul, but he was eventually defeated, brought to Rome, and executed.