hello_1234's Personal Name List
Abelia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Spanish (Rare), Catalan (Rare)
Rating: 50% based on 1 vote
Feminine form of
Abel. Abelia is also a type of flowering shrub in the honeysuckle family, named after British surgeon and naturalist Clarke Abel (1780-1826).
Acacia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: ə-KAY-shə
From the name of a type of tree, ultimately derived from Greek
ἀκή (ake) meaning "thorn, point".
Acanthus
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Greek Mythology (Latinized), Ancient Greek (Latinized)
Pronounced: AH-kan-thus(Greek Mythology)
Latinized form of Greek Άκανθος
(Akanthos), which is derived from Greek ακανθος
(akanthos), the name of a plant with large spiny leaves. The plant ultimately derives its name from Greek ακη
(ake) "thorn, point" and Greek ανθος
(anthos) "flower, blossom". Also see
Acantha. This was the name of several characters in Greek mythology, including a son of
Autonous and
Hippodamia who was named after the acanthus bush, a plant common in his infertile homeland. Acanthus was also the name of multiple ancient Greek cities. Finally, in real life, this name was borne by Acanthus of Sparta, a sportsman who participated in the Olympic Games of 720 BC.
Acca
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Roman Mythology
In Roman legend this was another name of
Larentia, the foster mother of the twins
Romulus and
Remus, and wife of the shepherd Faustulus. In her honour the Romans celebrated in December a feast called Larentalia or Accalia. This name also occurs in Virgil's
Aeneid, belonging to a companion of
Camilla.
Acer
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Jewish
Medieval variant of
Asher.
Achillea
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian
Rating: 60% based on 1 vote
Feminine form of
Achille. It is also the botanical name of the genus of flowering plants (Yarrow).
Acorn
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Romani (Archaic)
Pronounced: AY-kawrn
In Romani lore, the acorn was an ancient fertility and phallic symbol.
Adenia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (American), American (South)
Adolphia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: African American (Rare)
Adonis
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Ἄδωνις(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: A-DAW-NEES(Classical Greek) ə-DAHN-is(English) ə-DO-nis(English)
From Phoenician
𐤀𐤃𐤍 (ʾadon) meaning
"lord, master". In Greek
myth Adonis was a handsome young shepherd killed while hunting a wild boar. The anemone flower is said to have sprung from his blood. Because he was loved by
Aphrodite,
Zeus allowed him to be restored to life for part of each year. The Greeks borrowed this character from Semitic traditions, originally Sumerian (see
Dumuzi).
Adriana
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Romanian, Polish, Slovak, Czech, Bulgarian, English, Dutch
Other Scripts: Адриана(Bulgarian)
Pronounced: a-dree-A-na(Italian, Dutch) a-DHRYA-na(Spanish) a-DRYA-na(Polish) ay-dree-AN-ə(English) ay-dree-AHN-ə(English)
Feminine form of
Adrian. A famous bearer is the Brazilian model Adriana Lima (1981-).
Agave
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Αγαυη(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: a-GA-vay, ə-GAH-vay, ə-GAH-vee
Aglaia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology, Greek
Other Scripts: Ἀγλαΐα(Ancient Greek) Αγλαΐα(Greek)
Pronounced: ə-GLIE-ə(English)
Rating: 70% based on 1 vote
Means
"splendour, beauty" in Greek. In Greek
mythology she was one of the three Graces or
Χάριτες (Charites). This name was also borne by a 4th-century
saint from Rome.
Agnesia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: German (East Prussian, Rare), German (Bessarabian), Medieval Italian
Aira
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Finnish
Pronounced: IE-rah
Akala
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Hawaiian
Pronounced: AH-KAH-LAH
Probably from Hawaiian ākala meaning "pink".
Akia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 明空, etc.(Japanese Kanji)
Pronounced: AH-KEE-AH
Personal remark: 'Ākia
From Japanese 明 (aki) meaning "clear, tomorrow, bright" combined with 空 (a) meaning "sky". Other kanji combinations are possible.
Alamania
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Romani (Archaic)
Alania
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Portuguese (Brazilian), English (Modern)
As a Brazilian Portuguese name, the origin and meaning are unknown. As an English name, it is likely a feminine form of
Alan.
It may also be given as a personal name in reference to the medieval kingdom of Alania, whose territory spanned the North Caucasus. In the case of the kingdom, Alania derives from the Old Iranian stem Aryāna-, a derivative form of the Indo-Iranian stem arya-. It is cognate with the name of Iran (Ērān), which stems from the Old Persian Aryānām, "of the Aryans."
Alberta
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish
Pronounced: al-BUR-tə(English) al-BEHR-ta(Italian, Spanish) al-BEHR-tu(European Portuguese) ow-BEKH-tu(Brazilian Portuguese)
Feminine form of
Albert. This is the name of a Canadian province, which was named in honour of a daughter of Queen Victoria.
Alcea
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian
Alder
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: AWL-dər
From the English word for the tree (comprising the genus Alnus), derived from Old English alor.
Aldina 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Portuguese
Alecrim
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Portuguese
Pronounced: A-leh-creen
Alecrim is a woody, perennial herb with fragrant, evergreen, needle-like leaves and white, pink, purple, or blue flowers, native to the Mediterranean region.
It is a member of the mint family Lamiaceae, which includes many other herbs. The plant is also sometimes called anthos, from the ancient Greek word ἄνθος, meaning "flower".
Alena 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: German, Czech, Slovak, Slovene
Pronounced: A-leh-na(Czech, Slovak)
Rating: 60% based on 1 vote
Short form of
Magdalena or
Helena. This was the name of a
saint, possibly legendary, who was martyred near Brussels in the 7th century.
Aletris
Gender: Feminine
Usage: American (Modern, Rare)
Pronounced: Ah-leh-tris
From the genus name of a bell-shaped flower also known as colic root, blazing star, unicorn root, or stargrass. Its roots have medicinal properties and are used to aid digestive and muscle problems. Its name derives from Greek ἀλετρίς (aletris) meaning "corn grinder, female slave who grinds corn" (a derivative of ἀλέω (aleo) "to grind, to pound") because of the mealy texture of the flowers.
Alexa
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, German, Hungarian
Pronounced: ə-LEHK-sə(English) AW-lehk-saw(Hungarian)
Alexander
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Icelandic, Hungarian, Slovak, Biblical, Ancient Greek (Latinized), Greek Mythology (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Ἀλέξανδρος(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: al-ig-ZAN-dər(English) a-leh-KSAN-du(German) a-lehk-SAHN-dər(Dutch) a-lehk-SAN-dehr(Swedish, Latin) A-lehk-san-tehr(Icelandic) AW-lehk-sawn-dehr(Hungarian) A-lehk-san-dehr(Slovak)
Latinized form of the Greek name
Ἀλέξανδρος (Alexandros), which meant
"defending men" from Greek
ἀλέξω (alexo) meaning "to defend, help" and
ἀνήρ (aner) meaning "man" (genitive
ἀνδρός). In Greek
mythology this was another name of the hero
Paris, and it also belongs to several characters in the
New Testament. However, the most famous bearer was Alexander the Great, king of Macedon. In the 4th century BC he built a huge empire out of Greece, Egypt, Persia, and parts of India. Due to his fame, and later medieval tales involving him, use of his name spread throughout Europe.
The name has been used by kings of Scotland, Poland and Yugoslavia, emperors of Russia, and eight popes. Other notable bearers include English poet Alexander Pope (1688-1744), American statesman Alexander Hamilton (1755-1804), Scottish-Canadian explorer Alexander MacKenzie (1764-1820), Russian poet Alexander Pushkin (1799-1837), and Alexander Graham Bell (1847-1922), the Scottish-Canadian-American inventor of the telephone.
Alfalfa
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (American)
Rating: 60% based on 1 vote
A type of flowering plant. A notable fictional bearer of this name is Alfalfa Switzer from the series of early short films "The Little Rascals" also known as "Our Gang". There was a movie adaptation in 1994. His original actor, Carl Dean Switzer, also commonly went by the name Alfalfa Switzer.
Alfredia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: American
Pronounced: al-FREE-da
variant of Alfreda, a genus of flowering plants in the daisy family
Alicia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Spanish, English, Swedish, French
Pronounced: a-LEE-thya(European Spanish) a-LEE-sya(Latin American Spanish) ə-LEE-shə(English) ə-LEE-see-ə(English)
Almond
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (American, Rare)
Aloe
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern, Rare)
Aloe is a genus containing over 500 species of flowering succulent plants. The most widely known species is Aloe vera, or "true aloe". It is called this because it is cultivated as the standard source for assorted pharmaceutical purposes.
Aloysia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: German (Rare)
Pronounced: a-LOI-zya
Althea
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Ἀλθαία(Ancient Greek)
From the Greek name
Ἀλθαία (Althaia), perhaps related to Greek
ἄλθος (althos) meaning
"healing". In Greek
myth she was the mother of Meleager. Soon after her son was born she was told that he would die as soon as a piece of wood that was burning on her fire was fully consumed. She immediately extinguished the piece of wood and sealed it in a chest, but in a fit of rage many years later she took it out and set it alight, thereby killing her son.
Alula
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Chamorro
Means "hasten" in Chamorro.
Alyssum
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: AL-IS-UM
Personal remark: Alyssa
From the flowering plant native to the Mediterranean. The name alyssum actually comes from the Greek word 'lyssa', meaning “rage” or “madness” and the 'a', meaning “against” giving it its meaning today, “without madness”, since it was believed to cure madness.
Amapola
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Spanish
Amapola is the name by which plants of the genus Papaver Hroeas are known, that is the poppies. One type of poppy to Papave Sonipherum is the plant with which makes up the opium and morphine, because its elements have hallucinogenic and anesthetic power. Amapola is the title of an Argentine film 2014.
Amaranth
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Personal remark: amarantha
Rating: 70% based on 1 vote
From the name of the amaranth flower, which is derived from Greek αμαραντος (amarantos) meaning "unfading".
Amaryllis
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Literature
Pronounced: am-ə-RIL-is(English)
Personal remark: Amaryllida
Derived from Greek
ἀμαρύσσω (amarysso) meaning
"to sparkle". This is the name of a character appearing in
Virgil's pastoral poems
Eclogues [1]. The amaryllis flower is named for her.
Ambrosia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Ancient Greek [1]
Other Scripts: Ἀμβροσία(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: AM-BRO-SEE-A
Feminine form of
Ambrosios (see
Ambrose).
Amicia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Medieval English (Latinized)
Rating: 80% based on 1 vote
Ammi
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Biblical, Ancient Aramaic
Other Scripts: עמי(Ancient Hebrew)
Means "my people" in Hebrew, from עַם
(ʿam) meaning "people, nation, kinsman" with the suffix י
(i) "my". This is the name of a character in the Old Testament, the prophet
Hosea's second son, who was originally named
Lo-Ammi meaning "not my people" but was renamed
Ammi "my people". (Also compare
Lo-Ruhamah and
Ruhamah, the names of his sister.) This was also the name of a 3rd-century Talmudic sage.
Amyris
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: Ancient Greek, English (Rare)
Other Scripts: Ἄμυρις(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: A-MUY-RIS(Classical Greek) ə-MEER-is(English)
Both a personal name and the name of a resin, it is derived from the Greek word αμυρων (amyron), which means "intensely scented" and refers to the resin's strong, aromatic odor.
Andriana
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek, Bulgarian
Other Scripts: Ανδριάνα(Greek) Андриана(Bulgarian)
Andromeda
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Ἀνδρομέδα, Ἀνδρομέδη(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: AN-DRO-MEH-DA(Classical Greek) an-DRAH-mi-də(English)
Derived from Greek
ἀνήρ (aner) meaning "man" (genitive
ἀνδρός) combined with one of the related words
μέδομαι (medomai) meaning "to be mindful of, to provide for, to think on" or
μέδω (medo) meaning "to protect, to rule over". In Greek
mythology Andromeda was an Ethiopian princess rescued from sacrifice by the hero
Perseus. A constellation in the northern sky is named for her. This is also the name of a nearby galaxy, given because it resides (from our point of view) within the constellation.
Anemone
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: ə-NEHM-ə-nee
From the name of the anemone flower, which is derived from Greek
ἄνεμος (anemos) meaning "wind".
Angelica
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Italian, Romanian, Carolingian Cycle
Pronounced: an-JEHL-i-kə(English) an-JEH-lee-ka(Italian)
Rating: 80% based on 1 vote
Derived from Latin
angelicus meaning
"angelic", ultimately related to Greek
ἄγγελος (angelos) meaning "messenger". The poets Boiardo and Ariosto used this name in their
Orlando poems (1483 and 1532), where she is the love interest of both
Orlando and
Rinaldo. It has been used as a given name since the 18th century.
Angelonia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
From the genus of about 30 species of herbaceous plants.
Anise
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: AN-is, a-NEES
From the English word for the herb, also called aniseed.
Annona
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Roman Mythology
Pronounced: an-NO-na
In Roman Mythology, Annona is the divine personification of the grain supply to the city of Rome. The name itself is derived from Latin annona "yearly produce; corn, grain".
Anticlea
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Ἀντίκλεια(Ancient Greek)
Antonia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, Spanish, English, German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Dutch, Romanian, Greek, Croatian, Bulgarian, Ancient Roman
Other Scripts: Αντωνία(Greek) Антония(Bulgarian)
Pronounced: an-TO-nya(Italian, Spanish, German) an-TO-nee-ə(English) ahn-TO-nee-a(Dutch) an-TO-nee-a(Latin)
Feminine form of
Antonius (see
Anthony).
Apple
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: AP-əl
From the English word for the fruit, derived from Middle English appel, Old English æppel. The American actress Gwenyth Paltrow and British musician Chris Martin gave this name to their daughter in 2004.
Aralia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: American (South, Archaic)
Araluen
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Australian, Rare)
Personal remark: Zieria
From the name of the Araluen Creek valley in southeastern Australia, which is said to mean "water lily" or "place of the water lilies" in the Walbunja language. It was borne by a short-lived daughter of the Australian poet Henry Kendall (1839-1882).
Ardisia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
From the name of the genus of flowering plants that is also called coralberry or marlberry.
Arethusa
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Ἀρέθουσα(Ancient Greek)
From Greek
Ἀρέθουσα (Arethousa) meaning
"quick water", which is possibly derived from
ἄρδω (ardo) meaning "water" and
θοός (thoos) meaning "quick, nimble". This was the name of a nymph in Greek
mythology who was transformed into a fountain.
Aristea
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek, Spanish (Mexican), English (American, Modern, Rare, ?)
Other Scripts: Αριστέα(Greek)
Pronounced: a-rees-TEH-a(Spanish)
Feminine form of
Aristeo (Spanish). As a Greek name, it is a feminine form of names beginning with the element ἄριστος
(aristos) meaning "best".
Aristea is also a genus of purple/lilac flowers of African origin; the species
Aristea ecklonii is known under the common names blue flies, blue stars, blue-eyed iris, or blue corn-lily.
Arjona
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Albanian
Arjun
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Hindi, Marathi, Kannada, Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, Gujarati, Bengali, Nepali
Other Scripts: अर्जुन(Hindi, Marathi, Nepali) ಅರ್ಜುನ್(Kannada) అర్జున్(Telugu) அர்ஜுன்(Tamil) അർജുൻ(Malayalam) અર્જુન(Gujarati) অর্জুন(Bengali)
Arjuna
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Hinduism
Other Scripts: अर्जुन(Sanskrit)
Means
"white, clear" in Sanskrit. In the Hindu epic the
Mahabharata this is the name of one of the five Pandavas, the sons of
Pandu. He was actually fathered by the god
Indra and Pandu's wife
Kunti. Arjuna was known as a skilled archer.
The Bhagavad Gita (a part of the Mahabharata) takes the form of a philosophical dialogue between Arjuna and Krishna.
Aronia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Norwegian
Rating: 80% based on 1 vote
Variant of
Arona. This is also the name of a genus of deciduous shrubs, producing
aronia berries, commonly known as
chokeberry.
Artemisia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Ancient Greek [1]
Other Scripts: Ἀρτεμισία(Ancient Greek)
Feminine form of
Artemisios. This was the name of the 4th-century BC builder of the Mausoleum, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. She built it in memory of her husband, the Carian prince Mausolus.
Arum
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Javanese
Pronounced: A-ruwm
Means "fragrant, aromatic, sweet" in Javanese.
Ash
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: ASH
Short form of
Ashley. It can also come directly from the English word denoting either the tree or the residue of fire.
Asimina
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek
Other Scripts: Ασημίνα(Greek)
Derived from Greek ασήμι
(asemi) meaning "silver", literally "without mark" from α
(a), a negative prefix, combined with σῆμα
(sema) "sign, mark, token". This name is sometimes regarded as a feminine form of
Asimakis.
Aspen
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: AS-pən
From the English word for a variety of deciduous trees in the genus Populus, derived from Old English æspe. It is also the name of a ski resort in Colorado.
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.
Aster
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: AS-tər
Personal remark: Astera
From the name of the flower, which is derived via Latin from Greek
ἀστήρ (aster) meaning "star".
Asteropeia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology, Ancient Greek
Other Scripts: Ἀστερόπεια(Ancient Greek)
Derived from or related to
Asterope, meaning "lightning". This was the name of a daughter of
Pelias in Greek mythology.
Astraea
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Ἀστραία(Ancient Greek)
Latinized form of the Greek
Ἀστραία (Astraia), derived from Greek
ἀστήρ (aster) meaning
"star". Astraea was a Greek goddess of justice and innocence. After wickedness took root in the world she left the earth and became the constellation Virgo.
Aubrieta
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Elaboration of
Aubrey. Also from the "trailing purple-flowered plant."
Augusta
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, Portuguese, English, German, Ancient Roman
Pronounced: ow-GOOS-ta(Italian) ə-GUS-tə(English) ow-GUWS-ta(German)
Feminine form of
Augustus. It was introduced to Britain when King George III, a member of the German House of Hanover, gave this name to his second daughter in 1768.
Aurinia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Germanic (Latinized)
According to the 1st-century Roman historian Tacitus in his book "Germania", Aurinia was the name of an ancient Germanic prophetess, who was venerated by her people (i.e. the ancient Germans). Aurinia is most likely a latinized form of the prophetess' actual name; some sources have said that her actual name may have been Albruna, Alioruna, Aliruna or Alrynia.
Avellina
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Obscure
Avens
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English
Avonia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare), African American
Pronounced: Av-o-nee-uh(English) Uh-voh-nee-uh(English)
The meaning of this name is uncertain at this time. Its best known bearer was American actress Avonia Jones (1839-1867), whose parents may possibly have named her after the village of Avonia (in Pennsylvania, USA), or after the genus of plants of the same name. It is uncertain what the village and the plant genus derived their name from. The village's name may be of the same etymology as the many places named Avon in the United States, while the plant genus' name may be a corruption of Greek ἀνομία (anomia) meaning "lawlessness, wickedness" (that is, if the plant genus is not named after its discoverer, about whom I can't find any information). The term 'avonia' is found several times in Biblical Greek (with the meaning of "lawlessness"), as one will see if one googles the words 'avonia' and 'lawlessness' at the same time. Finally, for the plant genus, an other possibility is that it is derived from Latin avus "grandfather", in which case it would be a reference to the plant's white, old-looking stipular scales.
Azalea
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: ə-ZAY-lee-ə
From the name of the flower (shrubs of the genus Rhododendron), ultimately derived from Greek
ἀζαλέος (azaleos) meaning "dry".
Azara
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Persian
Allegedly a variant of
Azar.
Azorina
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
From the name of the monotypic genus of flowering plants within the family Campanulaceae, whose sole species, the Azorina vidalii, is endemic to the Azores.
Balsam
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Arabic (Rare)
Banksia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Australian)
Pronounced: BANK-see-ə(Australian English)
Banksia is an uncommon name deriving from the Native Australian plant that produces honeysuckle like flowers. The plant species were originally named after Sir Joseph Banks, who first collected its samples in 1770.
Banyan
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (American, Rare)
Transferred use of the surname
Banyan.
Barley
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (British, Rare, Archaic)
Transferred use of the surname
Barley.
Basil 1
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: BAZ-əl
From the Greek name
Βασίλειος (Basileios), which was derived from
βασιλεύς (basileus) meaning
"king".
Saint Basil the Great was a 4th-century bishop of Caesarea and one of the fathers of the early Christian church. Due to him, the name (in various spellings) has come into general use in the Christian world, being especially popular among Eastern Christians. It was also borne by two Byzantine emperors.
Bay
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: Medieval English, English
Pronounced: BAY(Middle English)
From the Middle English personal name
Baye, from Old English
Beaga (masculine) or
Beage (feminine).
A diminutive of Baylee, or any name containing the element or sound -bay-.
May also be given in reference to the English word "bay," from the Middle English baye, from the Old English beġ 'berry', as in beġbēam 'berry-tree'.
Bean
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: BEEN
Begonia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare), Spanish (Rare), Romani (Archaic)
From the name of a flowering plant, which was named for the French botanist Michel
Bégon. In some cases it may be a variant of the Spanish
Begoña.
Belladonna
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Various
Pronounced: behl-ə-DAHN-ə(English)
From the name of a toxic plant, also called deadly nightshade (species Atropa belladonna). The plant's name is of Italian origin, probably derived from Latin bladona "mullein plant" and altered through association with the Italian words bella "beautiful, fair" and donna "lady".
Bellina
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Medieval Italian, Sardinian (Archaic)
Bellis
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Danish
It can also be inspired by the Latin word bellis "daisy".
Berry 2
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: BEHR-ee
From the English word referring to the small fruit. It is ultimately derived from Old English berie. This name has only been in use since the 20th century.
Betel
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Tamil
Pronounced: BEH-təl
Betel is a "type of plant from South and South East Asia."
Betony
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: BEHT-nee, BEHT-ə-nee
From the name of the minty medicinal herb.
Betula
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: BET-yoo-lə
Derived from Latin betula meaning "birch".
Birch
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: BURCH
From the English word for the birch tree. Famous bearers include Birch Evans Bayh III, senator from Indiana, who assumed office in 1999. Birch Evans Bayh II was a senator from Indiana 1963-1981.
Bluebell
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Popular Culture
Pronounced: BLOO-bel(English)
From the name of the flower, used to some extent as a first name when flower names were in vogue at the end of the 19th century.
Boronia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Australian, Rare)
Pronounced: bor-OH-nee-uh(Australian English)
An Australian shrub with pink or red flowers which are famed for their exquisite scent. The plant is named after Francesco Borone, a talented botanical field assistant who came to a tragic end.
Borya
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Russian
Other Scripts: Боря(Russian)
Bower
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: BOW-wər
Transferred use of the surname
Bower. It was the middle name of
John Bower "
Bouse"
Hutton (1877-1962), a Canadian ice hockey goaltender and member of the Hockey Hall of Fame.
Bramble
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: BRAM-bool
Transferred use of the surname
Bramble.
Briar
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: BRIE-ər
From the English word for the thorny plant.
Brier
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: BRIE-ər
Broom
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Very rare, in reference to the plant or another use of the surnames
Broom or
Broome.
Brunonia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: German
Pronounced: broo-NO-nee-ya
Allegoric personification of the city (and the fromer state) of Braunschweig (Brunswick), Germany. Very rarely used as a given name.
Bryonia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
From the Latin name for bryony, the wild twining plant (see
Bryony).
Bryony
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: BRIE-ə-nee
From the name of a type of Eurasian vine, formerly used as medicine. It ultimately derives from Greek
βρύω (bryo) meaning "to swell".
Buttercup
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Literature
Pronounced: BUT-ər-kup(English)
From the English word for the yellow flower (genus Ranunculus). Author William Goldman used it for Princess Buttercup in his book The Princess Bride (1973) and the subsequent film adaptation (1987).
Butterfly
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Used to invoke the brilliantly-colored winged insect, which is widely seen as a symbol of metamorphosis, renewal, and rebirth, as well as one of youth and beauty. This is the birth name of a noted Australian folk singer, Butterfly Boucher, among others.
Calanthe
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: kə-LAN-thee
From the name of a type of orchid, ultimately meaning "beautiful flower", derived from Greek
καλός (kalos) meaning "beautiful" and
ἄνθος (anthos) meaning "flower".
Calendula
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
The scientific name for a genus of flowers, comprised of several kinds of marigolds. From the Latin diminutive of calendae, meaning "little calendar", "little clock" or possibly "little weather-glass".
Caliandra
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Portuguese
Pronounced: kah-lee-aun-drah
Caliandra is the name of a flower, whose scientific name is Calliandra harrisii, and its denomination derives from the combination of the Greek elements Kallio (beautiful) and Andros (man), probably meaning "beautiful and masculine" or "beautiful and manlike".
Calla
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: KAL-ə
From the name of two types of plants, the true calla (species Calla palustris) and the calla lily (species Calla aethiopica), both having white flowers and growing in marshy areas. Use of the name may also be inspired by Greek
κάλλος (kallos) meaning
"beauty".
Calluna
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare), Dutch (Rare)
From the genus name of common heather, a flowering shrub. It comes from the Greek verb καλλύνω
(kalluno) meaning "to beautify, sweep clean", ultimately from καλός
(kalos) "beautiful".
Calypso
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Καλυψώ(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: kə-LIP-so(English)
From Greek
Καλυψώ (Kalypso), which probably meant
"she that conceals", derived from
καλύπτω (kalypto) meaning "to cover, to conceal". In Greek
myth this was the name of the nymph who fell in love with
Odysseus after he was shipwrecked on her island of Ogygia. When he refused to stay with her she detained him for seven years until
Zeus ordered her to release him.
Calytrix
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (American)
From the name of a flowering plant.
Camellia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: kə-MEE-lee-ə, kə-MEHL-ee-ə
From the name of the flowering shrub, which was named for the botanist and missionary Georg Josef Kamel.
Campanula
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: kam-pə-NYOO-lə
From the name of the flower, which means "little bell" in Latin, diminutive of Late Latin campana "bell" (originally "metal vessel made in Campania", region around Naples). The flower is widespread across the whole temperate regions of Europe, but has the most species diversity in the Mediterranean region. This name has been used rarely since the late 19th century when flower names became popular.
Campion
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Rare), Literature
Pronounced: KAM-pee-ən(English)
This rare given name can be derived from the surname of
Campion as well as from the name of the plant, both of which likely derive their name from Old French
campion meaning "champion". A known bearer of this given name is the American writer and film director Campion Murphy (b. 1962).
In literature, Campion is the name of one of the Efafran rabbits in Richard Adams' 1972 novel Watership Down.
Canna
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Rare name of uncertain origin and meaning that first appeared in the 19th century.
One theory derives Canna from the tropical flower of the same name, placing Canna among the many Victorian flower names. If that is true - and in some cases it certainly is -, then the roots of this name lie with Greek kanna "reed".
Another theory, however, considers Canna a borrowing of the name of the Scottish island Canna (Canaigh in Gaelic). The meaning of Canaigh is unclear; some scholars argue that it might be related to an Irish Gaelic word for "wolf-pup", while another group of academics derive the name from a Scottish Gaelic word for "porpoise" and yet another theory believes that, thanks to the island's shape, Canaigh might be related to an Old Norse word for "knee".
Carlina
Gender: Feminine
Usage: German, English, Dutch, Flemish, Sicilian, Romansh
German and Dutch variant of
Karlina and Sicilian, Romansh and English feminine diminutive of
Carl.
Carnation
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare), Romani (Archaic)
Pronounced: kah-NAY-shən(British English) kahr-NAY-shən(American English)
Derived from the flower of the same name; its etymology is uncertain. It has been suggested that it may ultimately come from English coronation (which in turn ultimately comes from Anglo-French coroner "to crown"). An other suggested possibility is Latin carn(e) or caro "flesh", because the original colour of the flower was said to be as red as flesh. Alternatively, it may be derived from Middle French carnation "person's color or complexion".
Carolus
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Germanic (Latinized) [1]
Pronounced: KA-ro-loos(Late Latin)
Caspia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
From the name of the caspia plant and feminization of
Caspian.
Cassia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Ancient Roman
Pronounced: KAS-see-a(Latin) KA-shə(English) KAS-ee-ə(English)
Cassinia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Obscure
The name of a family of daisy flowers.
Cato 2
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Dutch
Cattleya
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (American, Modern)
Pronounced: kat-LEE-ə(American English) KAT-lee-ə(American English)
From the name of a tropical American orchid (genus
Cattleya) with purple, pink or white flowers, which was named after William
Cattley (1788-1835).
Cayenne
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (Modern, Rare)
Pronounced: kie-EHN, kay-EHN
From Old Tupi quiínia meaning "hot pepper," referring to any of several very hot chilli peppers or a powder condiment or spice formed from these varieties.
Cedar
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: SEE-dər
From the English word for the coniferous tree, derived (via Old French and Latin) from Greek
κέδρος (kedros). Besides the true cedars from the genus Cedrus, it is also used to refer to some tree species in the cypress family.
Celandine
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: SEHL-ən-deen, SEHL-ən-dien
From the name of the flower, which is derived from Greek
χελιδών (chelidon) meaning "swallow (bird)".
Celosia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (American, Rare, Archaic)
Taken from the name of the flower, whose name is derived from Greek κηλος (kelos) "burned".
Cereus
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English
From the genus name of a type of night-blooming cacti found from California to Chile, from Latin cereus "waxen, waxy", which was also used as a substantive to mean "a wax-light, -taper" ("particularly those brought by clients to their patrons as presents at the time of the Saturnalia"), and so called because the cactus' shape "suggests a candle."
Cerintha
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
From the name of a flower, literally "wax-flower" from Greek κηρος (keros) "beeswax" combined with ανθος (anthos) "flower".
Chamomile
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (American, Rare)
Pronounced: KA-mo-miel(American English)
After the herb used for tea. Ultimately from Greek khamaimēlon "earth apple", because the flowers smell reminiscent of apples.
Cherry
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: CHEHR-ee
Simply means "cherry" from the name of the fruit. It can also be a
diminutive of
Charity. It has been in use since the late 19th century.
Chestnut
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (American)
From the English word "chestnut" referring to "a tree or shrub of the genus Castanea; the nut or wood of said tree; and a dark, reddish-brown color". From the Middle English chasteine, from the Old French chastaigne, from the Latin castanea, from the Ancient Greek καστάνεια (kastaneia) 'chestnut'.
Chili
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Spanish
Christia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French (Modern, Rare)
Christiana
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Late Roman
Pronounced: kris-tee-AN-ə(English) kris-tee-AHN-ə(English)
Chrysanta
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: kri-SAN-tə
Shortened form of the word chrysanthemum, the name of a flowering plant, which means "golden flower" in Greek.
Chrysanth
Gender: Masculine
Usage: German
Chrysanthemum
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: kris-AN-the-mum
Taken directly from the name of the flower, which is derived from Greek khrusos "gold" and anthemon "flower".
This name has been in occasional use from the 19th century onwards, making it one of the many Victorian flower names.
Chunia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Aragonese
Cicely
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: SIS-ə-lee
Cinnamon
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: SIN-ə-mən
Personal remark: Cannelle
From the English word cinnamon, denoting a type of spice obtained from the bark of several tree species belonging to the genus Cinnamomum. It is derived from Latin cinnamomum "cinnamon", which was also used as a term of endearment. It began to be used in the United States after the debut of the television series Mission: Impossible (1966-1973), which featured the character Cinnamon Carter.
Citrus
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: SI-tris, SI-trus
Refers to a genus of flowering trees that produce fruits.
Clarisia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Spanish (Latin American, Rare)
Clematis
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: KLEHM-ə-tis, klə-MAT-is
From the English word for a type of flowering vine, ultimately derived from Greek
κλήμα (klema) meaning "twig, branch".
Clémentine
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French
Pronounced: KLEH-MAHN-TEEN
French feminine form of
Clement. This is also the name of a variety of orange (fruit).
Cleome
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: kli-O-mi
Derived from the name of the flowering plants cleome, commonly known as "spider flowers, spider plants, spider weeds, bee plants".
Clintonia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: African American
Clivia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: German, Theatre
Pronounced: KLEE-vee-a
Derived from the English name of the plant (the German name for it being
Klivie) which itself is a Latinization of
Clive. The plant was named by botanist John Lindley (1799-1865) after Charlotte Florentina Clive (died 1866).
Clivia is a 1933 operetta by Nico Dostal to a libretto by Charles Amberg. The plot concerns the adventures of a film star, Clivia Gray, in the South American republic of Boliguay and her romance with the Boliguayan president.
Clove
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Literature, English (Modern)
Pronounced: KLOV(Literature)
From the English word meaning either a slice of garlic or the dried flower bud of a tropical tree, used as a spice. This name was recently used in Suzanne Collins' popular book, The Hunger Games.
Clover
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: KLO-vər
From the English word for the wild flower, ultimately deriving from Old English clafre.
Cocoa
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: Pet, English (American, Rare)
Pronounced: KO-ko(English)
Either a variant of
Coco or from the English word
cocoa for the cocoa bean.
The word cocoa comes from the Spanish word cacao, which is derived from the Nahuatl word cacahuatl. The Nahuatl word, in turn, ultimately derives from the reconstructed Proto-Mije-Sokean word *kakawa. The confusion of this with coco is popularized by Samuel Johnson's A Dictionary of the English Language.
Columbine
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: KAHL-əm-bien
From the name of a variety of flower. It is also an English form of
Colombina, the pantomime character.
Cordia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Ancient Roman, English (Rare)
Feminine form of
Cordius. In the English-speaking world, this name can sometimes be a short form of
Cordelia. A known bearer of this name is the American entrepreneur Cordia Harrington (b. 1954).
Coriander
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: KAWR-ee-an-dər, kawr-ee-AN-dər
From the name of the spice, also called cilantro, which may ultimately be of Phoenician origin (via Latin and Greek).
Cornel
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Romanian
Cornelian
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: kor-NEE-li-ən, CAWR-NEEL-ian
Named for the deep red gemstone which is also known as a carnelian. The word comes from the Latin
cornum, meaning "cornel cherry" - a flowering dogwood tree with small, dark red fruit.
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English form of the Latin name
Cornelianus.
Correa
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Australian)
Pronounced: KOR-ee-uh(Australian English)
A small Australian shrub whose leaves give off a fruity smell when crushed. Named in honour of the Portuguese botanist José Correia
da Serra;
Correia is a common Portuguese surname meaning “leather strap”, originally given to those who worked in the leather trade.
Corymbia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Australian)
Rating: 60% based on 1 vote
Rare Australian name derived from the name of the tree.
Cosmos
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (African)
Cotton
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Transferred use of the surname
Cotton.
Cress
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Rare)
Crimson
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (Modern, Rare)
From the English word for the purplish-red color. It originally meant the color of the kermes dye produced from a scale insect, Kermes vermilio, but the name is now sometimes also used as a generic term for slightly bluish-red colors that are between red and rose.
The word came from Late Middle English cremesyn, which came from obsolete French cramoisin or Old Spanish cremesin, which by itself came from Arabic قِرْمِز (qirmiz), ultimately from Persian کرمست (kirmist), which came from Middle Persian; related to Proto-Indo-Iranian *kŕ̥miš. Cognate with Sanskrit कृमिज (kṛmija).
According to the USA Social Security Administration, 70 girls and 44 boys were named Crimson in 2016. Also in 2012, 59 girls and 32 boys in the USA were named Crimsion.
Crocus
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Greek Mythology (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Κρόκος(Ancient Greek)
Derived from Greek κρόκος (krokos) "crocus". In Greek mythology, Crocus was a mortal youth who was changed by the gods into a saffron flower.
Cullen
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: KUL-ən
From a surname, either
Cullen 1 or
Cullen 2. It jumped a little in popularity as a given name after Stephenie Meyer's novel
Twilight (2005), featuring a vampire named Edward Cullen, was adapted into a movie in 2008.
Cynara
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Literature
A Greek "plant" name, from a genus of thistles, of which a leading member is the purple flowered artichoke.
Probably originated from Zinara, in the Aegean, hence it is also considered a "place" name. The poet Horace sang of Cynara. Ernest Dowson revived the ancient Greek favourite with the poem, "I have been faithful to thee, Cynara..."
Cypress
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: American (Rare)
Pronounced: SIE-pris
From the English word cypress, a group of coniferous trees. Ultimately from Greek kuparissos.
Cyrilla
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Daffodil
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: DAF-ə-dil
From the name of the flower, ultimately derived from Dutch de affodil meaning "the asphodel".
Dahlia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: DAL-yə, DAHL-yə, DAYL-yə
From the name of the flower, which was named for the Swedish botanist Anders Dahl.
Daisy
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: DAY-zee
Simply from the English word for the white flower, ultimately derived from Old English
dægeseage meaning "day eye". It was first used as a given name in the 19th century, at the same time many other plant and flower names were coined.
This name was fairly popular at the end of the 19th century and beginning of the 20th. The American author F. Scott Fitzgerald used it for the character of Daisy Buchanan in The Great Gatsby (1925). The Walt Disney cartoon character Daisy Duck was created in 1940 as the girlfriend of Donald Duck. It was at a low in popularity in the United States in the 1970s when it got a small boost from a character on the television series The Dukes of Hazzard in 1979.
Damiana
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian
Pronounced: da-MYA-na
Italian feminine form of
Damian.
Dandelion
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: DAN-de-lie-on
The English name, Dandelion, is a corruption of the French dent de lion meaning "lion's tooth", referring to the coarsely toothed leaves. It is usually is used as a nickname.
Daphne
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology, English, Dutch
Other Scripts: Δάφνη(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: DA-PNEH(Classical Greek) DAF-nee(English) DAHF-nə(Dutch)
Means
"laurel" in Greek. In Greek
mythology she was a nymph turned into a laurel tree by her father in order that she might escape the pursuit of
Apollo. It has been used as a given name in the English-speaking world since the end of the 19th century.
Darnel
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Davana
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (American)
Possible variant of
Devana or
Devona, or from the name of a plant called Davana.
Daylily
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (American)
Pronounced: Day-lih-lee(American English)
From a type of flower. A lily that bears large yellow, red, or orange flowers, each flower lasting only one day.
Delphinium
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Literature (Rare)
Pronounced: del FIN ee um
Personal remark: Delphine, Delphina
A genus of flowering plant and the name of the teacher character in the children's book "Chrysanthemum" by Kevin Henkes.
Dianella
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Spanish (Latin American), Italian, English (Rare)
Dianthus
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: Obscure
Personal remark: Diantha
The name of a flowering plant.
Dicentra
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
A genus of flowering herbs, also known as “bleeding-hearts”. Originally from Ancient Greek δίκεντρος (díkentros) “having two stings”, itself from δίς (dís) “double” combined with κέντρον (kéntron) “goad, spur, sting”.
Dill
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (American)
Pronounced: DIL(American English)
Dill
Harris was the childhood friend of Jem and Scout in
Harper Lee's book To Kill a Mockingbird. Dill, whose given name was
Charles Baker Harris, is believed to be based on Lee's real-life friend,
Truman Capote.
Possibly used as a diminutive of Dillan.
Douglas
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Scottish, English
Pronounced: DUG-ləs
From a Scottish surname that was from the name of a town in Lanarkshire, itself named after a tributary of the River Clyde called the Douglas Water. It means "dark river", derived from Gaelic dubh "dark" and glais "water, river" (an archaic word related to glas "grey, green"). This was a Scottish Lowland clan, the leaders of which were powerful earls in the medieval period. The Gaelic form is Dùghlas or Dùbhghlas. It has been used as a given name since the 16th century.
Dove
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: DUV
From the English word for the variety of bird, seen as a symbol of peace.
Dracaena
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: drə-SEE-nə
From the name of a genus of about forty species of trees and succulent shrubs, which is the Latinized form of Greek δράκαινα
(drakaina) meaning "she-dragon", the feminine form of δράκων
(drakon) - compare
Drakon. In Greek mythology a drakaina is a female dragon, sometimes with human-like features; the mythological characters of
Ceto,
Lamia,
Echidna, and
Scylla were all considered drakaina.
Drosera
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Derived from Greek δρόσος (drosos) meaning "dew, dewdrops". This was the name of a naiad in Greek myth.
Ebony
Gender: Feminine
Usage: African American
Pronounced: EHB-ən-ee(English)
From the English word ebony for the black wood that comes from the ebony tree. It is ultimately from the Egyptian word hbnj. In America this name is most often used in the black community.
Edelweiss
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Various
Pronounced: AY-dəl-vies(English) EH-DEHL-VIES(French) EH-DEHL-VEHS(French) eh-dehl-VIES(Italian) EH-dehl-vies(Italian)
From the name of the edelweiss flower (species Leontopodium alpinum). It is derived from the German elements edel "noble" and weiß "white." The name of the flower is spelled Edelweiß in German; Edelweiss is an Anglicized spelling.
Edera
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, Albanian (Rare), Romanian (Rare), Maltese (Rare)
Means "ivy" in Italian, from Latin hedera "ivy", perhaps related to the Latin root -hendere "to grasp; to take; to cling onto".
Edmondia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (American, Rare, Archaic)
Derived from the name of the plant.
Eglantine
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: EHG-lən-tien, EHG-lən-teen
From the English word for the flower also known as sweetbrier. It is derived via Old French from Vulgar Latin *aquilentum meaning "prickly". It was early used as a given name (in the form Eglentyne) in Geoffrey Chaucer's 14th-century story The Prioress's Tale (one of The Canterbury Tales).
Elder
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Portuguese
Elm
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Catalan, English
Catalan form of
Elmo, as well as a short form of
Elmer. The name may also be taken directly from the English word
elm, a type of tree.
Emilia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, Spanish, Romanian, Finnish, Polish, German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, English, Greek, Bulgarian
Other Scripts: Αιμιλία(Greek) Емилия(Bulgarian)
Pronounced: eh-MEE-lya(Italian, Spanish, Polish) EH-mee-lee-ah(Finnish) eh-MEE-lee-ah(Swedish) i-MEE-lee-ə(English) eh-mee-LEE-a(Greek)
Feminine form of
Aemilius (see
Emily). In Shakespeare's tragedy
Othello (1603) this is the name of the wife of
Iago.
Erica
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Swedish, Italian
Pronounced: EHR-i-kə(English)
Feminine form of
Eric. It was first used in the 18th century. It also coincides with the Latin word for
"heather".
Eucharis
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: Ancient Greek, Literature, Nigerian (Rare)
Other Scripts: Εὔχαρις, Εὐχαρίς(Ancient Greek)
Derived from the Greek adjective εὔχαρις
(eucharis) meaning "charming, gracious". It consists of Greek εὖ
(eu) meaning "good, well" combined with the Greek noun χάρις
(charis) meaning "grace, kindness" (see
Chares).
In literature, this is the name of one of the nymph Calypso's attendants in François Fénelon's novel Les Aventures de Télémaque (1699).
Euphrasia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Ancient Greek [1]
Other Scripts: Εὐφρασία(Ancient Greek)
Means
"good cheer" in Greek, a derivative of
εὐφραίνω (euphraino) meaning
"to delight, to cheer". This name was borne by a 5th-century
saint from Constantinople.
Fabiana
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Ancient Roman
Pronounced: fa-BYA-na(Italian, Spanish) fu-BYU-nu(European Portuguese) fa-BYU-nu(Brazilian Portuguese)
Feminine form of
Fabianus (see
Fabian).
Fern
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: FURN
From the English word for the plant, ultimately from Old English fearn. It has been used as a given name since the late 19th century.
Fig
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English, Literature
Fig is the name of Hannah's cousin in Curtis Sittenfield's 'The Man of My Dreams'.
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Nature name referring to the tree which is cultivated for its fruit. In Christian symbolism, the fig symbolises chastity and humility, since fig leaves were said to be used by Adam and Eve to cover their genitals in The Book of Genesis.
Floss
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: FLAHS
Forsythia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: fawr-SITH-ee-ə, for-SIDH-ee-ə
From the name of
forsythia, any of a genus of shrubs that produce yellow flowers in spring. They were named in honour of the British botanist William Forsyth (1737-1804), whose surname was derived from Gaelic
Fearsithe, a personal name meaning literally "man of peace" (cf.
Fearsithe,
Forsythe).
Foxglove
Used in Jill Murphy's books, The Worst Witch, as well as the television adaptations for the surname of Felicity Foxglove. It is a combination of "fox" and "glove".
Freesia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: FREE-zhə
Derived from the English word for the flower.
The flower itself was named after the German physician Friedrich Freese whose surname is a variant of Friese "a Frisian".
This name has been occasionally used in the English-speaking world from the late 1800s onwards.
Fuchsia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (British, Rare), Literature
Pronounced: FYOO-shə(English)
From
Fuchsia, a genus of flowering plants, itself named after the German botanist Leonhart
Fuchs (1501-1566), whose surname means "fox" in German.
It was most famously used by British author Mervyn Peake for the character Fuchsia Groan in his Gormenghast books (1946-1959).
Gale 1
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: GAYL
Variant of
Gail. It also coincides with the English word
gale meaning
"storm".
Gardenia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: gahr-DEEN-ee-ə
From the name of the tropical flower, which was named for the Scottish naturalist Alexander Garden (1730-1791).
Gaura
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Indian
Rating: 80% based on 1 vote
It is a flower and it means "Fair Skinned"
Genista
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Various (Rare)
Pronounced: jeh-NIS-tə(English)
From the Latin name of the broom plant.
Gentian
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Albanian
From the name of the flowering plant called the gentian, the roots of which are used to create a tonic. It is derived from the name of the Illyrian king
Gentius, who supposedly discovered its medicinal properties.
Gentiana
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Albanian
Geranium
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Romani (Archaic)
Ginger
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: JIN-jər
From the English word
ginger for the spice or the reddish-brown colour. It can also be a
diminutive of
Virginia, as in the case of actress and dancer Ginger Rogers (1911-1995), by whom the name was popularized.
Gladiolus
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Personal remark: Gladiola
Gloriosa
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Spanish
Pronounced: Glor-ee-oh-sa
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
"Gloriosa" means glorious in Spanish. Most often used in Spain, or mexico where Spanish is originated.
Grapes
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English
Rating: 50% based on 1 vote
Transferred from the English surname
Grapes.
Hala
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Arabic
Other Scripts: هالة(Arabic)
Pronounced: HA-la
Rating: 70% based on 1 vote
Means
"halo around the moon" in Arabic. This was the name of a sister-in-law of the Prophet
Muhammad.
Harlequin
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: Popular Culture, English (Modern)
Pronounced: HAHR-lə-kwin
Refers to the comedic servant character of Italian
Commedia dell'arte. It is derived (via Old French) from Old English
Herla, a character often identified with Woden.
Historically it is a masculine concept, with Columbina being its feminine counterpart. However, in recent times it has seen feminine usage, most likely due to the villain Harley Quinn in various Batman stories (the character's real name being Harleen Frances Quinzel).
Hawthorn
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, Romani (Archaic)
Transferred use of the surname
Hawthorn.
Hazel
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: HAY-zəl
From the English word hazel for the tree or the light brown colour, derived ultimately from Old English hæsel. It was coined as a given name in the 19th century and quickly became popular, reaching the 18th place for girls in the United States by 1897. It fell out of fashion in the second half of the 20th century, but has since recovered.
Heath
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: HEETH
From an English surname that denoted one who lived on a heath. It was popularized as a given name by the character Heath Barkley from the 1960s television series
The Big Valley [1].
Heather
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: HEDH-ər
From the English word heather for the variety of small shrubs with pink or white flowers, which commonly grow in rocky areas. It is derived from Middle English hather. It was first used as a given name in the late 19th century, though it did not become popular until the last half of the 20th century.
Hebe
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Ἥβη(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: HEH-BEH(Classical Greek) HEE-bee(English)
Rating: 90% based on 1 vote
Derived from Greek
ἥβη (hebe) meaning
"youth". In Greek
mythology Hebe was the daughter of
Zeus and
Hera. She was a goddess of youth who acted as the cupbearer to the gods.
Helen
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Estonian, Greek Mythology (Anglicized)
Other Scripts: Ἑλένη(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: HEHL-ən(English)
English form of the Greek
Ἑλένη (Helene), probably from Greek
ἑλένη (helene) meaning
"torch" or
"corposant", or possibly related to
σελήνη (selene) meaning
"moon". In Greek
mythology Helen was the daughter of
Zeus and
Leda, whose kidnapping by
Paris was the cause of the Trojan War. The name was also borne by the 4th-century
Saint Helena, mother of the Roman emperor
Constantine, who supposedly found the True Cross during a trip to Jerusalem.
The name was originally used among early Christians in honour of the saint, as opposed to the classical character. In England it was commonly spelled Ellen during the Middle Ages, and the spelling Helen was not regularly used until after the Renaissance. A famous bearer was Helen Keller (1880-1968), an American author and lecturer who was both blind and deaf.
Heliotrope
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: HEE-lee-o-trope
Refers to a flowering plant (Heliotropium) whose tiny flowers range from white to blue or purple, and by extension the color, a pink-purple tint, inspired by the flower. It is derived from the Ancient Greek Ἥλιος (helios) "sun" and τροπεῖν (tropein) "to turn", because of the belief that heliotrope flowers turned to face the direction of the sun.
Hemlock
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Rare), Romani (Archaic), Theatre
Transferred use of the surname
Hemlock. Hemlock Marreau is a fictional Francophone detective created by Robert Farrow who appeared in eleven plays (1991-2014).
Henna
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Finnish
Pronounced: HEHN-nah
Rating: 100% based on 1 vote
Finnish feminine form of
Heinrich (see
Henry).
Herb
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: HURB
Holly
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: HAHL-ee
Rating: 80% based on 1 vote
From the English word for the holly tree, ultimately derived from Old English holen. Holly Golightly is the main character in the novella Breakfast at Tiffany's (1958) by Truman Capote.
Honesty
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Pronounced: AH-nes-tee
From the English word "honesty" referring to "fairness and truthfulness". Also the name of a plant with purple flowers, Lunaria annua, also known as 'money plant'. Ultimately from Latin honōrāre 'honor, repute'.
Honeybelle
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
A combination of the names
Honey and
Belle. A type of honeysuckle flower, and a type of small orange. Honeybell Adams is a character in the 1940 movie The Primrose Path.
Honeysuckle
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: HUN-ee-sə-kəl
Named after the plant and flower, the honeysuckle, as borne by British actress Honeysuckle Weeks.
Hortensia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Ancient Roman, Spanish
Pronounced: or-TEHN-sya(Spanish)
Feminine form of the Roman family name Hortensius, possibly derived from Latin hortus meaning "garden".
Hosta
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Late Roman
Huckleberry
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Literature
Pronounced: HUK-əl-behr-ee(English)
From the name of the variety of shrubs (genus Vaccinium) or the berries that grow on them. It was used by author Mark Twain for the character of Huckleberry (Huck) Finn in his novels The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876) and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884).
Hyacinth 2
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: HIE-ə-sinth
From the name of the flower (or the precious stone that also bears this name), ultimately from Greek
hyakinthos (see
Hyacinthus).
Hyssop
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Medieval English (Rare)
Derived from Latin hyssopus "hyssop" (Middle English ysope). This rare name was not used outside of England.
Ilima
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: Hawaiian
Flower of O'ahu
Used in Pokémon Sun and Moon as the name of a trial captain
Indica
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (American, Rare)
Indigo
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: IN-di-go
From the English word
indigo for the purplish-blue dye or the colour. It is ultimately derived from Greek
Ἰνδικόν (Indikon) meaning "Indic, from India".
Iris
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology, English, German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, French, Spanish, Catalan, Italian, Slovene, Croatian, Greek
Other Scripts: Ἶρις(Ancient Greek) Ίρις(Greek)
Pronounced: IE-ris(English) EE-ris(German, Dutch) EE-rees(Finnish, Spanish, Catalan, Italian) EE-REES(French)
Rating: 70% based on 1 vote
Means "rainbow" in Greek. Iris was the name of the Greek goddess of the rainbow, also serving as a messenger to the gods. This name can also be given in reference to the word (which derives from the same Greek source) for the iris flower or the coloured part of the eye.
Irupé
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Guarani, Spanish (Latin American)
Pronounced: ee-roo-PE(Guarani, Latin American Spanish)
Name of Guaraní origin, used in Paraguay and Argentina.
Irupé is the name of an aquatic plant/flower (scientific name: Victoria cruziana) that grows in Paraguay and Argentina. The word comes from Guarani, a native language of the area, and it means "disc in the water" or "plate in the water", in reference to the shape of its leaves. This remarkable and beautiful plant has enormous round green leaves (it is known as one of the biggest species of aquatic plants in the world), and white and red giant flowers of around 30 centimeters (12 inches) of diameter. Its flowers bloom at night.
The Guarani legend tells the story of a young woman who fell in love with the moon. One day, seeing the moon reflected on a lake, she went in the water to reach it and could not come out. The supreme god of he Guarani people (Tupâ), had compassion for her and turned her into the Irupé plant. The huge leaves are shaped like the moon, and the flowers bloom during the night, forever looking at her beloved in the sky.
Ivy
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: IE-vee
Rating: 80% based on 1 vote
From the English word for the climbing plant that has small yellow flowers. It is ultimately derived from Old English ifig.
Ixia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Ixora
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: iks OR uh
Jacaranda
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Spanish (Latin American, Rare)
Pronounced: ha-ka-ran-da(Latin American Spanish)
A species of tree from south america and grown throughout the world, known for its vibrant purple foliage, it is the national tree of Mexico and its blooming is hailed as a sign of spring.
Jade
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English, French
Pronounced: JAYD(English) ZHAD(French)
From the name of the precious stone that is often used in carvings. It is derived from Spanish (piedra de la) ijada meaning "(stone of the) flank", relating to the belief that jade could cure renal colic. As a given name, it came into general use during the 1970s. It was initially unisex, though it is now mostly feminine.
Jamesia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (American, Rare)
Feminine form of
James. In some cases it might also be derived from
Jamesia, the name of a genus of shrubs in the Hydrangeaceae also known as cliffbush or waxflower. The genus is named in honor of Edwin James, the botanist on Stephen Long's expedition in 1820 that explored the territory between the Platte and Arkansas Rivers.
Jarrah
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Indigenous Australian, Nyungar
Pronounced: JARR-uh
From the Nyungar word djarraly referred to a kind of Eucalyptus (Eucalyptus marginata). Nyungar language is spoken in the southwest of Western Australia, near Perth.
Jasmine
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, French
Pronounced: JAZ-min(English) ZHAS-MEEN(French)
From the English word for the climbing plant with fragrant flowers that is used for making perfumes. It is derived via Arabic from Persian
یاسمین (yāsamīn), which is also a Persian name. In the United States this name steadily grew in popularity from the 1970s, especially among African Americans
[1]. It reached a peak in the early 1990s shortly after the release of the animated Disney movie
Aladdin (1992), which featured a princess by this name.
Jessamine
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: JEHS-ə-min
From a variant spelling of the English word
jasmine (see
Jasmine), used also to refer to flowering plants in the cestrum family.
Jonquil
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: JAHNG-kwəl
From the English word for the type of flower, derived ultimately from Latin iuncus "reed".
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.
Junellia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Derived from the plant of the same name.
Juniper
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: JOON-i-pər
From the English word for the type of tree, derived ultimately from Latin iuniperus.
Jurema
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Tupi, Brazilian
Pronounced: zhoo-REHN-mu(Brazilian)
Derived from Old Tupi yu "thorn" and rema "bad odor", oftentimes interpreted as "stinky thorn tree". The jurema plant (also known as black jurema, binho de jurema and mimosa tenuiflora) is a perennial tree or shrub native to the northeastern region of Brazil.
Justicia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (African), Indonesian (Rare), Puerto Rican
An elaborated form of the English word justice. Justicia is also a genus of flowering plants in the bear's breeches family, Acanthaceae. The genus name honors the Scottish horticulturist James Justice.
Kaki
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Georgian
Other Scripts: კაკი(Georgian)
Kale
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Hawaiian
Pronounced: KA-leh
Kalmia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: American (Rare)
Kamilla
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Russian, Hungarian, Polish, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish
Other Scripts: Камилла(Russian)
Pronounced: KAW-meel-law(Hungarian)
Russian and Hungarian form of
Camilla, as well as a Polish and Scandinavian variant. This is also the Hungarian word for the chamomile flower (species Matricaria chamomilla).
Karri
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Indigenous Australian
Pronounced: Carrie
Australian Aboriginal word for the Eucalypt Tree, Eucalyptus Diversicolour, which is found in the South Western Region of Western Australia.
Katniss
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Literature
Pronounced: KAT-nis(English)
From the English word katniss, the name of a variety of edible aquatic flowering plants (genus Sagittaria). Katniss Everdeen is the protagonist of The Hunger Games series of novels by Suzanne Collins, released 2008 to 2010, about a young woman forced to participate in a violent televised battle.
Kauri
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Maori
From the name of a type of tree found in New Zealand (species Agathis australis).
Kerria
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (American, Rare)
Of uncertain origin and meaning. Theories include a Latinization of
Kerri, a feminine form of
Kerr and a direct adoption of the plant name
kerria which was named after Scottish gardener and plant hunter William
Kerr, the first Western professional full-time plant collector (d. 1814).
Koa
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Hawaiian
Pronounced: KO-a
Means "warrior, koa tree" in Hawaiian.
Laelia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Ancient Roman
Pronounced: LIE-lee-a
Rating: 80% based on 1 vote
Feminine form of Laelius, a Roman family name of unknown meaning. This is also the name of a type of flower, an orchid found in Mexico and Central America.
Lantana
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
From the name of the plant.
Larkspur
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: American (Modern, Rare)
Pronounced: LAHRK-spər
From the English word for the flowering plant with many purplish-blue flowers, which is so called (1578) from its resemblance to the lark's large hind claws. Other names for it are lark's heel (Shakespeare), lark's claw and knight's spur. See
Lark.
Laurel
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: LAWR-əl
Personal remark: Lauren, Laurence, Laura
From the name of the laurel tree, ultimately from Latin laurus.
Laurelia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Elaboration of
Laura. In some cases it may also be an adoption of the plant name.
Laurentia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Ancient Roman
Laurus
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Late Roman
Rating: 80% based on 1 vote
Original masculine form of
Laura. It was borne by a 2nd-century
saint and martyr from Illyricum.
Lavender
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: LAV-ən-dər
From the English word for the aromatic flower or the pale purple colour.
Lehua
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: Hawaiian
Pronounced: leh-HOO-a
Means "ohia flower" in Hawaiian.
Lemon
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: American (Rare, Archaic), Popular Culture
Pronounced: LEM-un(American)
Transferred use of the surname
Lemon.
Liana
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, English, Georgian
Other Scripts: ლიანა(Georgian)
Pronounced: LYA-na(Italian)
Short form of
Juliana,
Liliana and other names that end in
liana. This is also the word for a type of vine that grows in jungles.
Liatris
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: lie-A-tris
Variant of
Leatrice. In some cases it may also be an adoption of the name of genus of flowering plants commonly known as
gayfeather.
Lilac
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: LIE-lək
From the English word for the shrub with purple or white flowers (genus Syringa). It is derived via Arabic from Persian.
Lilium
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern, Rare)
Pronounced: Lil-ee-uhm
Lily
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: LIL-ee
From the name of the flower, a symbol of purity. The word is ultimately derived from Latin lilium. This is the name of the main character, Lily Bart, in the novel The House of Mirth (1905) by Edith Wharton. A famous bearer is the American actress Lily Tomlin (1939-).
Linaria
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: li-NER-ee-ə, lie-NER-ee-ə
From the flower linaria, whose name is derived from a Latin phrase meaning, "resembling flax" (why the flower is also called "toadflax" in English).
Linden
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: LIN-dən
From a German and Dutch surname that was derived from Old High German
linta meaning
"linden tree".
Linnaea
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: li-NAY-ə, li-NEE-ə
From the word for the type of flower, also called the twinflower (see
Linnéa).
Liriope
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology (Latinized)
Latinized form of Leiriope, which literally means "the face of leirion". Leirion was another name that the ancient Greeks had for the daffodil flower. In Greek mythology, Liriope was the name of a nymph.
Lobelia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Literature
Pronounced: lo-BEEL-yə
From the name of the flowering herb, which was named for the Belgian botanist Matthias de Lobel (1538-1616). It was used by the author J. R. R. Tolkien in his novel 'The Lord of the Rings' (1954), in which it belongs to the hobbit Lobelia Sackville-Baggins.
Lotus
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: LO-təs
From the name of the lotus flower (species Nelumbo nucifera) or the mythological lotus tree. They are ultimately derived from Greek
λωτός (lotos). In Greek and Roman
mythology the lotus tree was said to produce a fruit causing sleepiness and forgetfulness.
Lunaria
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare), Brazilian (Rare), Filipino (Rare), Spanish (Latin American, Rare), Spanish (Mexican, Rare)
Means "moon-like" in Latin. Lunaria is a genus of flowering plants.
Lupin
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Modern, Rare)
Pronounced: LOO-pin
Transferred use of the surname
Lupin. Fictional bearers of the surname are Arsène Lupin, a gentleman thief turned detective extraordinaire in novels by French writer Maurice Leblanc (introduced in 1905), and Remus Lupin, a werewolf in the
Harry Potter book series written by J. K. Rowling (introduced in 1999).
Lycaste
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Λυκάστη(Ancient Greek)
Latinized form of Greek Λυκαστη (Lykaste), which might be related to Λύκαστος (Lykastos), the name of a town in the southern part of Crete. This was borne by several characters in Greek mythology, including a woman of Lemnos who slew her twin brother Cydimus.
Madonna
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: mə-DAHN-ə
From a title of the Virgin
Mary meaning "my lady" in Italian. A famous bearer of the name is American singer Madonna Ciccone (1958-), known simply as Madonna.
Magnolia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: mag-NO-lee-ə
From the English word magnolia for the flower, which was named for the French botanist Pierre Magnol.
Mahogany
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: mah-HAW-go-nee
From the English word mahogany, a tropical tree of the genus Swietenia, valued for their hard, reddish-brown wood; or after the color of the wood. Ultimately from Spanish mahogani, perhaps of Mayan origin.
Maile
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Hawaiian
Pronounced: MIE-leh
From the name of a type of vine that grows in Hawaii and is used in making leis.
Malva
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Swedish, Finnish (Rare), German, Danish, Spanish (Latin American)
Pronounced: MAHL-vah(Finnish)
Short form of
Malvina. It may be partly inspired by Latin, Swedish and Finnish
malva "mallow, hollyhock (flower)".
Mango
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Estonian (Rare)
Manuka
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Maori
Pronounced: ma-NOO-ka, MAH-nuh-ka
A New Zealand name for the flowering shrub/tree whose scientific name is Leptospermum scoparium, famous for the strong honey produced from its blossoms. The tree gets its name from Maori tradition, because Manuka was the name of one of the great ocean-going canoes which brought the Maoris to New Zealand.
An area of the Australian city of Canberra is called Manuka after the trees, but this is pronounced with the second pronunciation.
Maple
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: MAY-pəl
From the English word for the tree (comprising the genus Acer), derived from Old English mapul. This is the name of a girl in Robert Frost's poem Maple (1923) who wonders about the origin of her unusual name.
Marigold
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: MAR-i-gold, MEHR-i-gold
From the name of the flower, which comes from a combination of
Mary and the English word
gold.
Mariposa
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern, Rare)
Pronounced: mehr-i-PO-sə, mar-i-PO-zə
From the Spanish word for "butterfly".
Marjoram
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: American (Rare, Archaic)
Possibly a transferred use of the surname
Marjoram.
Maryam
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Arabic, Persian, Urdu, Indonesian, Bashkir, Tatar
Other Scripts: مريم(Arabic) مریم(Persian, Urdu) Мәрйәм(Bashkir) Мәрьям(Tatar)
Pronounced: MAR-yam(Arabic) mar-YAM(Persian) MUR-yəm(Urdu)
Arabic form of
Miryam (see
Mary) appearing in the
Quran. It is also the form used in several other languages. In Iran it is also the name of a flower, the tuberose, which is named after the Virgin Mary.
Melantha
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: mə-LAN-thə
Probably a combination of
Mel (from names such as
Melanie or
Melissa) with the suffix
antha (from Greek
ἄνθος (anthos) meaning "flower"). John Dryden used this name in his play
Marriage a la Mode (1672).
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.
Melissa
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Dutch, Ancient Greek [1], Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Μέλισσα(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: mə-LIS-ə(English) MEH-LEES-SA(Classical Greek)
Means
"bee" in Greek. In Greek
mythology this was the name of a daughter of Procles, as well as an epithet of various Greek nymphs and priestesses. According to the early Christian writer Lactantius
[2] this was the name of the sister of the nymph
Amalthea, with whom she cared for the young
Zeus. Later it appears in Ludovico Ariosto's 1532 poem
Orlando Furioso [3] belonging to the fairy who helps
Ruggiero escape from the witch
Alcina. As an English given name,
Melissa has been used since the 18th century.
Menodora
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Ancient Greek [1]
Other Scripts: Μηνοδώρα(Ancient Greek)
Mentha
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare), Literature
Pronounced: MEN-thə(English)
Latinate form of
Minthe. Mentha is the name of the mint genus. Mint is a wild flower and an important herb.
Mignonette
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare), Literature, Popular Culture
Pronounced: mee-yə-NET(English) min-yə-NET(English)
Diminutive of
Mignon, as
-ette is a French feminine diminutive suffix. As such, this given name literally means "little darling" in French.
In the Anglosphere, Mignonette is the name of a flower (genus Reseda). As a given name, Mignonette was especially popular in Victorian times, as that is when more floral names began to be used as given names.
Last but not least, in literature, Mignonette is the middle name of Amelia "Mia" Thermopolis, the main character of the book The Princess Diaries written by the American author Meg Cabot (b. 1967). The book was later adapted into a film with the same title and starred American actress Anne Hathaway (b. 1982) as Mia.
Milla
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Finnish, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish
Pronounced: MEEL-lah(Finnish)
Short form of
Camilla and other names that end in
milla.
Mimosa
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Finnish, French, Spanish, Danish, Filipino, Italian
Pronounced: MI-maw-sah(Finnish) Mim-osa(French) mee-MO-sah(Spanish)
From Mimosa, a genus of plants that are sensitive to touch. The best known plant from that genus is the Mimosa pudica, better known in English as the touch-me-not. The plant genus derives its name from Spanish mimosa, which is the feminine form of the Spanish adjective mimoso meaning "cuddly".
Mint
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare), Dutch
Pronounced: MINT(English)
Diminutive of
Minthe or
Minta, or else directly from the English word for the plant (ultimately from Latin
menta).
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.
Moon 1
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: Korean
Other Scripts: 문(Korean Hangul) 文, etc.(Korean Hanja)
Pronounced: MOON
Alternate transcription of Korean Hangul
문 (see
Mun).
Mora
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: MAWR-ə
Morinda
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (American, Archaic)
From the genus of flowering plants. The generic name is derived from the Latin words morus "mulberry", from the appearance of the fruits, and indica "of India".
Moss
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Archaic), Jewish
Pronounced: MAWS(English)
Mulberry
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Literature
'Nicholas Nickleby'
Murraya
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Australian)
Possibly from the name of a genus of plants.
Musa
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Arabic, Turkish, Hausa, Urdu, Bengali, Indonesian, Malay
Other Scripts: موسى(Arabic) موسیٰ(Urdu) মুসা(Bengali)
Pronounced: MOO-sa(Arabic, Indonesian, Malay) moo-SA(Turkish)
Myosotis
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian (Rare), Spanish (Latin American, Rare), American (Hispanic, Rare)
Derived from the Greek μυοσωτίς meaning "mouse's ear," referring to the leaves of flowering plants belonging to a genus more commonly known as forget-me-nots.
Myrtle
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: MUR-təl
Simply from the English word
myrtle for the evergreen shrub, ultimately from Greek
μύρτος (myrtos). It was first used as a given name in the 19th century, at the same time many other plant and flower names were coined.
Myrto
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek, Ancient Greek [1], Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Μυρτώ(Greek)
From Greek
μύρτος (myrtos) meaning
"myrtle". This was the name of a few characters from Greek
mythology, including one of the Maenads.
Nandina
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: nan-DEE-nə
From the species of flowering plant, also known as heavenly bamboo or sacred bamboo.
Naranja
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Swedish (Rare, ?), Finnish (Rare, ?)
Rating: 100% based on 1 vote
From the Spanish word
naranja meaning "orange (fruit)", a cognate of
Orange.
Narcissus
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Greek Mythology (Latinized), Late Roman, Biblical
Other Scripts: Νάρκισσος(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: nahr-SIS-əs(English)
Personal remark: Narcissa
Latinized form of Greek
Νάρκισσος (Narkissos), possibly derived from
νάρκη (narke) meaning
"sleep, numbness". Narkissos was a beautiful youth in Greek
mythology who stared at his own reflection for so long that he eventually died and was turned into the narcissus flower.
This name appears briefly in the epistles in the New Testament and was also borne by a few early saints, including a 2nd-century patriarch of Jerusalem. It has been used to the present, especially in Catholic regions, usually in honour of the saint as opposed to the mythological character.
Nargis
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Bengali, Urdu, Tajik
Other Scripts: নার্গিস(Bengali) نرگس(Urdu) Наргис(Tajik)
Bengali, Urdu and Tajik form of
Narges.
Nectarine
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: NEK-TAHR-EEN
From the type of peach native to Greece, where the juice was treasured and called a "drink of the gods" or "nectar".
Nellia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Nemesia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Spanish
Nepeta
Gender: Feminine
Usage: American (Modern, Rare)
Nerine
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Afrikaans (Rare), English (Rare)
Nettle
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (British)
Pronounced: NEHTL(British English)
Transferred from the surname "Nettle". Meaning "a person from a place overgrown with nettles", which are a type of ivy that can cause itching when touched. Notable bearers include Bea Nettles (born 1946), American photographer and Bill Nettles (born 1961), American lawyer.
Ngaio
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Maori
Maori name that is derived from the name of a type of tree, also called the mousehole tree. This name was borne by New Zealand crime writer Dame Ngaio Marsh (1895-1982).
Nicandra
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian
Italian feminine form of Greek
Nikandros, mainly found in southern Italy.
Nigella
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Nightshade
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: niet-shayd
From the common name for plants in the Solanaceae, especially Atropa belladonna, a highly toxic perennial also known as deadly nightshade and belladonna. Ultimately from Old English niht "night" and sceadu "shadow, shade".
Nīkau
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Maori
From the name of a type of palm tree found in New Zealand (species Rhopalostylis sapida).
Niviarsiaq
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greenlandic
Means
"young girl" in Greenlandic
[1]. This is the name of a variety of flower that grows on Greenland, the dwarf fireweed (species Chamaenerion latifolium).
Nolana
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Either derived from the flower of the same name or else intended as a feminine form of
Nolan.
Nymphaea
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Obscure
Latin for "water lily"
Nyssa
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Various (Rare)
From the name of an ancient town of Asia Minor where
Saint Gregory was bishop in the 4th century. Nyssa is also the genus name of a type of tree, also called the Tupelo.
Oak
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Old English āc, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch eik and German Eiche.
Oats
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Transferred use of the surname
Oats.
Olea
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Norwegian, Swedish (Rare), Faroese
Oleander
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: Greek (Rare), English (Rare)
Pronounced: AW-lee-an-der(Greek)
The name Oleander originated as an Greek name. In Greek, the name Oleander means "an evergreen tree."
The origin of the name was said to have come from a young man whose ardour to his Lady Love ended in a tragedy. The young man was named Leander, and his precious lady longing for his love shouting with such forlorn “O Leander!”, “O Leander!” in the banks, until finally he was found. And clasped in his hands were sweet flowers, who have become a symbol of everlasting love, known as oleanders.
Possibly taken from the plant family, Nerium oleander (flowering shrub known as oleanders), Cascabela thevetia (yellow oleander), Acacia neriifolia (oleander wattle); or a species of moth, Daphnis nerii (oleander hawk-moth).
In the complex language of love practiced during the time of Queen Victoria, the Oleander flower means caution.
A diminutive use of Oleander could be Ollie, Lee, Lee-Ann, or Anders.
Olive
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, French
Pronounced: AHL-iv(English) AW-LEEV(French)
From the English and French word for the type of tree, ultimately derived from Latin oliva.
Orange
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: AWR-inj
First found as a feminine given name in medieval times, in the forms
Orenge and
Orengia. The etymology is uncertain, and may be after the place in France named
Orange. This is a corruption of
Arausio, the name of a Celtic water god which possibly meant "temple (of the forehead)". Later it was conflated with the name of the fruit, which comes from the Sanskrit for "orange tree",
naranga. The word was used to describe the fruit's colour in the 16th century.
Orange is also a surname, which may be derived from the medieval feminine name, or directly from the French place name. First used with the modern spelling in the 17th century, apparently due to William, Prince of Orange, who later became William III. His title is from the French place name.
Orchid
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: AW-kid(British English) AWR-kid(American English)
From the eponymous flowering plant. The plant's name derives from Latin orchis, borrowed from Ancient Greek ὄρχις (orkhis), meaning "testicle" (the name was given to the plant because of the testicle-shaped subterranean parts of some European orchids).
Ornus
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Spanish (Philippines)
Palash
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Bengali
Other Scripts: পলাশ(Bengali)
From Sanskrit पलाश (palasha) meaning "leaf, foliage", also referring to the petals or flowers of a type of tree (Butea monosperma).
Palm
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Medieval Dutch, Medieval German, Limburgish (Archaic)
Pronounced: PAHLM(Medieval Dutch, Limburgish)
Short form of
Palmarius and
Palmatius.
Today, this name is obsolete, but it still survives in several patronymic surnames, of which Palm and Palmen are the most notable. They are chiefly prevalent in the historical Rhineland region in western Germany, and in the Limburgish language area (primarily located in the southern Netherlands and eastern Flanders in Belgium).
Pandorea
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Australian)
Pronounced: pan-DOR-ee-uh(Australian English)
A genus of climbing vines native to Australasia. Named after
Pandora from Greek mythology, because the plant's tightly packed seed pod recalls the myth of "Pandora's box".
Pansy
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: PAN-zee
From the English word for a type of flower, ultimately deriving from Old French pensee "thought".
Papaya
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
From the fruit papaya, which is a large, yellow, melonlike fruit of a tropical American shrub or small tree, Carica papaya, eaten raw or cooked.
Parsley
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Transferred use of the surname
Parsley.
Patchouli
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Popular Culture, English (Rare)
Pronounced: PACH-OO-LEE(Popular Culture)
Patchouli comes from the bushy herb of the mint family and bears tiny pink-white flowers. A bearer of this name is Patchouli Knowledge, a character from the Touhou Project.
Peach
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern), Popular Culture
Pronounced: peech
Derived from the name of the fruit, which itself derived its name from Late Latin persica, which came from older Latin malum persicum meaning "Persian fruit." In popular culture, this is the name of the Nintendo video game character Princess Peach, whom Mario often rescues from the evil Bowser.
Peaches
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: peech-əz
Literally derived from the English word peaches, which is the plural form of peach, the fruit. It is derived from Late Middle English from Old French pesche, from medieval Latin persica, from Latin persicum, meaning "Persian apple".
Peanut
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Back-formation from pease, originally an uncountable noun meaning "peas" that was construed as a plural, combined with Middle English nute, note, from Old English hnutu, from Proto-Germanic *hnuts (“nut”) (compare West Frisian nút, Dutch noot, German Nuss, Danish nød, Swedish nöt, Norwegian nøtt), from Proto-Indo-European *knew- (compare Irish cnó, Latin nux (“walnut”), Albanian nyç (“a gnarl”)).
Pear
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Thai
Peony
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: PEE-ə-nee
From the English word for the type of flower. It was originally believed to have healing qualities, so it was named after the Greek medical god Pæon.
Pepper
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: PEHP-ər
From the English word for the spice, which is prepared from the dried berries of the pepper plant. The word is derived from Latin piper, ultimately from an Indo-Aryan source. In popular culture, Pepper is the nickname of Virginia Potts from the Iron Man series of comic books and movies, created 1963.
Peregrina
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Spanish, Galician, Slovene (Rare), Hungarian (Rare)
Spanish and Galician feminine form of either
Peregrino and Slovene feminine form of
Peregrin.
Periwinkle
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
From the English word for the color "periwinkle", from Middle English parwynke, referring to a "light blue and purple shade". It's also the name of a flower.
Persea
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian
Persimmon
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: per-SIM-un
From the name of the Persimmon, a brightly colored fruit. The word persimmon is derived from Powhatan, an Algonquian language of the eastern United States, meaning "a dry fruit".
As a given name, it has been occasionally found in the English-speaking world from the 19th century onwards.
Petunia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: pə-TOON-yə
From the name of the flower, derived ultimately from a Tupi (South American) word.
Phlox
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Taken from the name of the flower, whose name is derived from Greek phlox "flame". As a given name, it has been in occasional use in the English-speaking world from the late 19th century onwards.
Phoenix
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: FEE-niks
From the name of a beautiful immortal bird that appears in Egyptian and Greek
mythology. After living for several centuries in the Arabian Desert, it would be consumed by fire and rise from its own ashes, with this cycle repeating every 500 years. The name of the bird was derived from Greek
φοῖνιξ (phoinix) meaning "dark red".
Pimpernel
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Literature, English (Rare), Dutch (Rare)
Pronounced: pim-per-NEL(English)
From the flower Scarlet Pimpernel, a low growing annual plant. It is well known for being the emblem of the fictional hero of the same name. Tolkien used the name for one of the Took sisters.
Pine
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: German (East Prussian)
Piper
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: PIE-pər
From an English surname that was originally given to a person who played on a pipe (a flute). It was popularized as a given name by a character from the television series
Charmed, which debuted in 1998
[1].
Pleione
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Πλειόνη, Πληιόνη(Ancient Greek)
Possibly from Greek
πλείων (pleion) meaning
"more, greater". According to Greek
mythology Pleione was an Oceanid nymph who was the husband of
Atlas. Together with her seven daughters and Atlas she forms the group of stars called the Pleiades, part of the constellation Taurus.
Plum
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: PLUM
From Middle English ploume, from Old English plume "plum, plum tree," from an early Germanic borrowing (Middle Dutch prume, Dutch pruim, Old High German pfluma, pfruma, German Pflaume) from Vulgar Latin *pruna, from Latin prunum "plum," from Greek prounon, a later form of proumnon, a word of unknown origin, which is probably, like the tree itself, of Anatolian origin.
Plumeria
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
From the name of the flowering plant that is also known as frangipani.
Poinsettia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
From the flower Euphorbia pulcherrima, which was named for an American Minister to Mexico, Joel Roberts Poinsett, who discovered the flower in 1828.
Poppy
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: PAHP-ee
From the word for the red flower, derived from Old English popæg.
Primrose
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: PRIM-roz
From the English word for the flower, ultimately deriving from Latin prima rosa "first rose".
Primula
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare), Italian (Rare)
Pronounced: PRIM-yuw-lə(English) PREE-moo-la(Italian)
From the name of a genus of several species of flowers, including the primrose. It is derived from the Latin word primulus meaning "very first".
Prune
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French
Pronounced: PRUYN
Means "plum" in French.
Prunella
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: proo-NEHL-ə
From the English word for the type of flower, also called self-heal, ultimately a derivative of the Latin word pruna "plum".
Quince
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: KWINS
Personal remark: Cydon
“Quince, citrus, fruit”
Raphia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (American)
Pronounced: rah-FEE-ah(American English)
Could be used as a feminine variant of
Raphael, or a twist on
Sophia.
Rapunzel
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Literature
Pronounced: rə-PUN-zəl(English)
From the name of an edible plant. It is borne by a long-haired young woman locked in a tower in an 1812 German fairy tale recorded by the Brothers Grimm. An evil sorceress gave her the name after she was taken as a baby from her parents, who had stolen the rapunzel plant from the sorceress's garden. The Grimms adapted the story from earlier tales (which used various names for the heroine).
Ravenia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (American)
Likely an elaboration of
Raven, though it is also a flowering plant and a very small village in Greece.
Reed
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: REED
From an English surname that was derived from Old English read meaning "red", originally a nickname given to a person with red hair or a ruddy complexion. Unconnected, this is also the English word for tall grass-like plants that grow in marshes.
Rhodanthe
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare), Literature
Other Scripts: Ῥοδάνθη(Greek)
Means "rose flower" from Greek ‘ροδον
(rhodon) "rose" combined with ανθος
(anthos) "flower, blossom". According to the 6th-century Byzantine poet and historian Agathias Scholasticus, this name was borne by a contemporary actress, who may have been his lover; in her case it was likely a stage name. It was later used by the 12th-century Byzantine writer Theodore Prodromos for the heroine of his romance 'Rhodanthe and Dosikles'.
Rhodora
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Filipino
Pronounced: ro-DO-ra
From the name of the flower.
Rhoeo
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Ροιω(Ancient Greek)
Derived from Greek ροή (rhoē) "flow, stream". In Greek mythology, this was the name of a woman loved by Apollo.
Rhubarb
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (American)
Pronounced: ROO-barb(American English)
Rivea
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: ri-VAY-ah
A made up name similar to Rebekah, River, or Vaia. "Little purple flower by the river" (a meaning I put together with the meanings of River and Vaia!)
Rivina
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Indonesian
Pronounced: ree-vee-na
Rivina is the name of a plant in the pokeweed family.
The plant was named to honour the German botanist August Quirinus Rivinus. His surname is a humanist latinisation of the original German surname Bachmann.
Robert
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, French, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, German, Dutch, Finnish, Estonian, Czech, Polish, Russian, Slovene, Croatian, Albanian, Romanian, Catalan, Germanic [1]
Other Scripts: Роберт(Russian)
Pronounced: RAHB-ərt(American English) RAWB-ət(British English) RAW-BEHR(French) RO-beht(Swedish) RO-behrt(German, Finnish, Czech) RO-bərt(Dutch) RAW-bərt(Dutch) RAW-behrt(Polish) RO-byirt(Russian) roo-BEHRT(Catalan)
From the Germanic name
Hrodebert meaning
"bright fame", derived from the elements
hruod "fame" and
beraht "bright". The
Normans introduced this name to Britain, where it replaced the rare Old English
cognate Hreodbeorht. It has been consistently among the most common English names from the 13th to 20th century. In the United States it was the most popular name for boys between 1924 and 1939 (and again in 1953).
This name has been borne by two kings of the Franks, two dukes of Normandy, and three kings of Scotland, including Robert the Bruce who restored the independence of Scotland from England in the 14th century. Several saints have also had the name, the earliest known as Saint Rupert, from an Old German variant. The author Robert Browning (1812-1889) and poets Robert Burns (1759-1796) and Robert Frost (1874-1963) are famous literary namesakes. Other bearers include Robert E. Lee (1807-1870), the commander of the Confederate army during the American Civil War, and American actors Robert Redford (1936-), Robert De Niro (1943-) and Robert Downey Jr. (1965-).
Robinia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Various
A feminine form of
Robin or inspired by the botanical name
Robinia "black locust, false acacia".
Romaine
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French, English
Pronounced: RAW-MEHN(French) ro-MAYN(English)
French feminine form of
Romanus (see
Roman).
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).
Rose
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, French
Pronounced: ROZ
Personal remark: Rosie, Rosa, Rosalie, Rosalia, Rosalva, Rosalba
Originally a Norman French form of the Germanic name
Hrodohaidis meaning
"famous type", composed of the elements
hruod "fame" and
heit "kind, sort, type". The
Normans introduced it to England in the forms
Roese and
Rohese. From an early date it was associated with the word for the fragrant flower
rose (derived from Latin
rosa). When the name was revived in the 19th century, it was probably with the flower in mind.
Roselle
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Various
Diminutive of
Rose. This is the name of a type of flowering shrub (species Hibiscus sabdariffa) native to Africa but now grown in many places, used to make hibiscus tea.
Rosemary
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: ROZ-mə-ree, ROZ-mehr-ee
Combination of
Rose and
Mary. This name can also be given in reference to the herb, which gets its name from Latin
ros marinus meaning "dew of the sea". It came into use as a given name in the 19th century.
Rosewood
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
The name Rosewood is boy's name meaning "rose wood".
Rotem
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: Hebrew
Other Scripts: רוֹתֶם(Hebrew)
From the name of a desert plant (species Retama raetam), possibly related to Hebrew
רָתַם (ratam) meaning "to harness, to bind".
Rowan
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: Irish, English (Modern)
Pronounced: RO-ən(English)
Anglicized form of the Irish name
Ruadhán. As an English name, it can also be derived from the surname Rowan, itself derived from the Irish given name. It could also be given in reference to the rowan tree, a word of Old Norse origin (coincidentally sharing the same Indo-European root meaning "red" with the Irish name).
Rúbia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Portuguese (Brazilian)
Feminine form of
Rúbio as well as a Brazilian Portuguese borrowing of
Ruby via Portuguese
rubi.
Rue
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
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.
Rush
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (American)
Pronounced: RUSH(American English)
From French
rousse, meaning "red hair." May also be transferred use of the surname
Rush.
Russelia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: American (Rare)
Pronounced: ruh-SEE-lee-uh
It is from the genus of flowering plants that are commonly known as Firecracker plants or Coralblows. The genus is named after the Scottish naturalist Alexander Russel.
Ruta
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Polish, Latvian
Pronounced: ROO-ta(Polish)
Polish and Latvian form of
Ruth 1.
Rye
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: RIE
Transferred use of the English surname
Rye.
It is occasionally used as a diminutive of names that contain the -rye sound/element, for example Zachariah and Rylie.
Sabia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Irish Mythology
Saffron
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: SAF-rən
From the English word that refers either to a spice, the crocus flower from which it is harvested, or the yellow-orange colour of the spice. It is derived via Old French from Arabic
زعفران (zaʿfarān), itself probably from Persian meaning "gold leaves".
Sage
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: SAYJ
From the English word sage, which denotes either a type of spice or else a wise person.
Sakura
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 桜, 咲良, etc.(Japanese Kanji) さくら(Japanese Hiragana)
Pronounced: SA-KOO-RA
From Japanese
桜 (sakura) meaning "cherry blossom", though it is often written using the hiragana writing system. It can also come from
咲 (saku) meaning "blossom" and
良 (ra) meaning "good, virtuous, respectable" as well as other kanji combinations.
Salix
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: Various
Exact origins unknown, however this is the botanical name for willows.
Salvadora
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Spanish
Salvia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Medieval French, English (Rare), Spanish (Rare), Galician (Rare), Italian (Rare)
Pronounced: SAL-vi-ə(English) SAL-bya(Spanish, Galician) SAL-vya(Italian)
From the genus name of sage, an herb formerly used as medicine, which comes from Latin
salvus "healthy, safe" (related to
salvere "to save, to be saved"), referring to the plant's supposed healing properties. The Latin
salvia was corrupted to
sauja and
sauge (the Old French form), which eventually became the modern English
sage (see
Sage).
In the English-speaking world, this name has been occasionally used since the 19th century. As an Italian name, it can be regarded as a feminine form of
Salvo.
Sassafras
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: American (Modern, Rare)
Pronounced: SAS-a-fras
Named for the tree, which is native to North America and Asia. The name comes from French, derived from the Latin saxifraga or saxifragus, meaning "stone-breaking".
Sativa
Gender: Feminine
Usage: American (Rare)
Pronounced: sə-TEE-və
Derived from the Latin sativa, meaning "sown, cultivated". This name can be given in reference to Cannabis sativa, a plant which produces the drug cannabis.
Scaevola
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Ancient Roman
Pronounced: SKIE-wo-la
Scilla
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian
Pronounced: SHEEL-la
Short form of
Priscilla. This is also the Italian word for the squill flower (genus Scilla).
Senna
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: Dutch (Modern)
Pronounced: SEH-na
Meaning uncertain. In some cases it is given in honour of the Brazilian racecar driver Ayrton Senna (1960-1994). It could also be inspired by the senna plant.
Sequoia
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: sə-KWOI-ə
From the name of huge trees that grow in California. The tree got its name from the 19th-century Cherokee scholar
Sequoyah (also known as George Guess), the inventor of the Cherokee writing system.
Sericea
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (American)
The name of a plant.
Sharon
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English, Hebrew
Other Scripts: שׁרון(Hebrew)
Pronounced: SHAR-ən(English) SHEHR-ən(English)
From an
Old Testament place name, in Hebrew
שָׁרוֹן (Sharon) meaning
"plain", referring to a fertile plain on the central west coast of Israel. This is also the name of a flowering plant in the Bible, the rose of Sharon, a term now used to refer to several different species of flowers.
It has been in use as a feminine given name in the English-speaking world since the 1920s, possibly inspired by the heroine in the serial novel The Skyrocket (1925) by Adela Rogers St. Johns [1]. As a Hebrew name it is unisex.
Shasta
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern, Rare), Literature
Pronounced: SHAS-tə(English)
20th-century adoption of the name of Mount Shasta in Northern California (or the Shasta daisy, named after the mountain), which comes from the name of a Native American tribe that lived in the area; its origin and meaning is lost to time.
While the main character Shasta in the 1954 C. S. Lewis novel The Horse and His Boy was male, this is now generally considered a feminine name in the English-speaking world.
Shirley
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: SHUR-lee
From an English surname that was originally derived from a place name meaning "bright clearing" in Old English. This is the name of a main character in Charlotte Brontë's semi-autobiographical novel Shirley (1849). Though the name was already popular in the United States, the child actress Shirley Temple (1928-2014) gave it a further boost. By 1935 it was the second most common name for girls.
Sida
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Thai
Other Scripts: สีดา(Thai)
Pronounced: see-DA
Silene
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: sie-LEE-nee
After a large genus of flowering plants that contains almost 900 species. It's commonly known as the campion or catchfly. It's also the feminine form of Silenus.
Skylark
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern, Rare)
Pronounced: SKIE-lahrk
From the English word for the type of songbird, i.e., the common European lark (Alauda arvensis; which is "famed for its melodious song"). Use of the name is probably inspired by the similar name
Skylar; it could also be viewed as a combination of
Sky and
Lark.
This name has been in occasional use since the late 20th century.
Snowdrop
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: SNO-drahp
The name of the flower used as a first name, mainly between the 1890s and 1920s, but never one of the more popular names of this kind.
Sorrel
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: SAWR-əl
From the name of the sour tasting plant, derived from Old French sur "sour", a word of Frankish origin.
Spruce
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (American)
An English word referring to a type of evergreen tree; also a synonym of dapper. Both originally referring to imports, an alternation of Pruce "from Prussia".
Star
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: STAHR
From the English word for the celestial body, ultimately from Old English steorra.
Stellaria
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare), Italian (Rare)
Pronounced: stə-LAHR-ee-ə(English)
Probably an elaboration of
Stella 1. A genus of small flowers also known as chickweed, after the star-like shape of the flowers.
Stipa
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: Croatian
Croatian male and occasionally female name, derived from
Stipan.
Strawberry
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: straa-behr-ee
From the widely grown hybrid species of the genus Fragaria. A bright red fruit known for its sweetness and texture. The most well-known namesake is Strawberry Shortcake.
Strelitzia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Obscure
Pronounced: streh-LIT-see-ə(English)
From the name of the flower native to South Africa, also known as bird of paradise flower due to its resemblance to the animal. The genus was named by Joseph Banks in honour of Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, queen consort of George III.
Sundari
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Indonesian, Indian, Tamil
Other Scripts: சுந்தரி(Tamil)
Sunflower
Gender: Feminine
Usage: American (Rare)
Pronounced: SUN-flow-er
From the English word, sunflower.
Susan
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: SOO-zən
English variant of
Susanna. This has been most common spelling since the 18th century. It was especially popular both in the United States and the United Kingdom from the 1940s to the 1960s. A notable bearer was the American feminist Susan B. Anthony (1820-1906).
Sycamore
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: SI-kə-mawr(American English) SI-kə-maw(British English)
From the English word sycamore for various types of trees, ultimately from Greek συκόμορος (sūkomoros) meaning "fig-mulberry".
Syringa
Gender: Feminine
Usage: American (Rare), Various
Pronounced: sə-RING-gə(American)
From
Syringa, the name of a genus of plants commonly known as lilacs, which is derived from Greek σῦριγξ
(syrinx) meaning "hollow tube, pipe" (compare
Syrinx), referring to the broad pith in the shoots of some species. A known bearer of this name was Syringa Marshall-Burnett (1935-2014), a Jamaican nurse, educator and politician.
Tangerine
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Popular Culture
Presumably from the English word, which refers to a red or orange colored citrus fruit. Mentioned as a name in the songs 'Tangerine' by Led Zeppelin and 'Tangerine' by Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra.
Tansy
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: TAN-zee
From the name of the flower, which is derived via Old French from Late Latin tanacita.
Taro
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 太郎, etc.(Japanese Kanji) たろう(Japanese Hiragana)
Pronounced: TA-RO
Alternate transcription of Japanese Kanji
太郎 (see
Tarō).
Tea
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Croatian, Slovene, Finnish, Georgian
Other Scripts: თეა(Georgian)
Pronounced: TEH-ah(Finnish)
Thalia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology (Latinized), Greek
Other Scripts: Θάλεια(Greek)
Pronounced: THAY-lee-ə(English) thə-LIE-ə(English)
From the Greek name
Θάλεια (Thaleia), derived from
θάλλω (thallo) meaning
"to blossom". In Greek
mythology she was one of the nine Muses, presiding over comedy and pastoral poetry. This was also the name of one of the three Graces or
Χάριτες (Charites).
Thistle
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (Modern, Rare)
Pronounced: THIHS-uhl
From the name of the flowering plant, or in some cases taken from the surname.
Thyme
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (Rare)
From Old French thym, from Latin thymum, from Ancient Greek θύμον (thúmon).
Tiarella
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Elaboration of
Tiara and
Tiare. Also the name of a small woodland flower also known as foamflower.
Tigerlily
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: TIE-gər-lil-ee
From tiger lily, a name that has been applied to several orange varieties of lily (such as the species Lilium lancifolium). Tiger Lily is also the name of the Native American princess in J. M. Barrie's play Peter Pan (1904).
Tilia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Swedish (Rare), Norwegian (Rare), Danish (Rare)
Pronounced: TEE-lee-ah(Swedish)
Timothy
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, Biblical
Pronounced: TIM-ə-thee(English)
English form of the Greek name
Τιμόθεος (Timotheos) meaning
"honouring God", derived from
τιμάω (timao) meaning "to honour" and
θεός (theos) meaning "god".
Saint Timothy was a companion of
Paul on his missionary journeys and was the recipient of two of Paul's epistles that appear in the
New Testament. He was of both Jewish and Greek ancestry. According to tradition, he was martyred at Ephesus after protesting the worship of
Artemis. As an English name,
Timothy was not used until after the
Protestant Reformation.
Tulip
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: TOO-lip, TYOO-lip
From the name of the flower. Ultimately from Persian
dulband, "turban", from the shape of the opened flower.
As a given name, it has been occasionally used from the 19th century onwards.
Tulipa
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Portuguese
Pronounced: Too-LEE-pa
From Portuguese tulipa "tulip".
Tulsi
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: Hinduism, Indian, Bengali, Hindi, Nepali
Other Scripts: টালসি(Bengali) तुलसी(Hindi, Nepali)
Pronounced: tuwl-SEE(Hindi)
From Sanskrit तुलसी
(tulasī) meaning "holy basil (a type of plant)". The plant is considered sacred in Hinduism, and it is sometimes personified as an avatar of
Lakshmi.
Tupelo
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Obscure
Pronounced: TOO-pi-lo
From the name of a type of tree, derived from Creek ito meaning "tree" and opilwa meaning "swamp", for which the city of Tupelo, Mississippi, was named. This is borne by American author Tupelo Hassman. It was also used by American actress Riley Keough, granddaughter of Elvis Presley, for her daughter born 2022 (inspired by Elvis's birthplace).
Typha
Gender: Feminine
Usage: American (Rare, Archaic)
Pronounced: TIE-fa
Genus of the cattail plant. Derived from Greek typhos, meaning "marsh".
Ursinia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Obscure
Ursula
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Swedish, Danish, German, Dutch, Finnish, Late Roman
Pronounced: UR-sə-lə(English) UR-syoo-lə(English) UWR-zoo-la(German) OOR-soo-lah(Finnish)
Means
"little bear", derived from a
diminutive form of the Latin word
ursa "she-bear".
Saint Ursula was a legendary virgin princess of the 4th century who was martyred by the Huns while returning from a pilgrimage. In England the saint was popular during the Middle Ages, and the name came into general use at that time.
Valerian
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Russian, Georgian, Romanian, History
Other Scripts: Валериан(Russian) ვალერიან(Georgian)
Pronounced: və-LIR-ee-ən(English)
From the Roman
cognomen Valerianus, which was itself derived from the Roman name
Valerius. This was the name of a 3rd-century Roman emperor (Publius Licinius Valerianus) who was captured by the Persians. Several
saints have also borne this name, including a 2nd-century martyr of Lyons.
Vanda
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Portuguese, Italian, Czech, Slovak, Hungarian, Lithuanian, Latvian
Pronounced: VAN-da(Czech, Slovak) VAWN-daw(Hungarian) VAN-du(Lithuanian)
Form of
Wanda in several languages.
Vanilla
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: və-NIL-ə
From the English word vanilla referring to "the fruit or bean of the vanilla plant, or the extract made from it, or the distinctive fragrant flavour/flavor characteristic of vanilla extract". The word is derived from Spanish vainilla, literally "little pod", a diminutive form of vaina "pod, scabbard, sheath", from Latin vagina "sheath (of an ear of grain), husk, hull of a plant".
Velvet
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: VEHL-vət
From the English word for the soft fabric. It became used as a given name after the main character in Enid Bagnold's book National Velvet (1935) and the movie (1944) and television (1960) adaptations.
Venus
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Roman Mythology
Pronounced: WEH-noos(Latin) VEE-nəs(English)
Means
"love, sexual desire" in Latin. This was the name of the Roman goddess of love and sex. Her character was assimilated with that of the Greek goddess
Aphrodite. As the mother of
Aeneas she was considered an ancestor of the Roman people. The second planet from the sun is named after her.
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.
Verbena
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Various (Rare)
Pronounced: vər-BEEN-ə(English)
From the name of the verbena plant, which is derived from Latin verbena meaning "leaves, twigs".
Vernonia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
From the genus of flowering plants also known as ironweed.
Veronica
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Italian, Romanian, Late Roman
Pronounced: və-RAHN-i-kə(American English) və-RAWN-i-kə(British English) veh-RAW-nee-ka(Italian)
Latin alteration of
Berenice, the spelling influenced by the ecclesiastical Latin phrase
vera icon meaning
"true image". This was the name of a legendary
saint who wiped
Jesus' face with a towel and then found his image imprinted upon it. Due to popular stories about her, the name was occasionally used in the Christian world in the Middle Ages. It was borne by the Italian saint and mystic Veronica Giuliani (1660-1727). As an English name, it was not common until the 19th century, when it was imported from France and Scotland.
Vetivera
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Indonesian
Elaboration of vetiver.
Victoria
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Spanish, Romanian, German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, French, Late Roman, Roman Mythology
Pronounced: vik-TAWR-ee-ə(English) beek-TO-rya(Spanish) vik-TO-rya(German) VEEK-TAW-RYA(French) week-TO-ree-a(Latin)
Means
"victory" in Latin, being borne by the Roman goddess of victory. It is also a feminine form of
Victorius. This name was borne by a 4th-century
saint and martyr from North Africa.
Though in use elsewhere in Europe, the name was very rare in the English-speaking world until the 19th century, when Queen Victoria began her long rule of Britain. She was named after her mother, who was of German royalty. Many geographic areas are named after the queen, including an Australian state and a Canadian city.
Vinca
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare), French (Rare), French (Belgian, Rare), Dutch (Rare)
Derived from vinca, the Latin name for the "periwinkle", ultimately from Latin vincio "to bind". This name has been in use since the 20th century.
Viola
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Italian, Swedish, Danish, Finnish, German, Hungarian, Czech, Slovak
Pronounced: vie-O-lə(English) vi-O-lə(English) VIE-ə-lə(English) VYAW-la(Italian) vi-OO-la(Swedish) VEE-o-la(German) vee-O-la(German) VEE-o-law(Hungarian) VI-o-la(Czech) VEE-aw-la(Slovak)
Means
"violet" in Latin. This is the name of the heroine of William Shakespeare's comedy
Twelfth Night (1602). In the play she is the survivor of a shipwreck who disguises herself as a man named Cesario. Working as a messenger for Duke
Orsino, she attempts to convince
Olivia to marry him. Instead Viola falls in love with the duke.
Violet
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: VIE-lit, VIE-ə-lit
Personal remark: Violeta
From the English word violet for the purple flower, ultimately derived from Latin viola. It was common in Scotland from the 16th century, and it came into general use as an English given name during the 19th century.
Vitaliana
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, Spanish, Portuguese
Italian, Spanish and Portuguese feminine form of
Vitaliano.
Wedelia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Indonesian (Rare, ?)
William
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: WIL-yəm
From the Germanic name
Willehelm meaning
"will helmet", composed of the elements
willo "will, desire" and
helm "helmet, protection". An early
saint by this name was the 8th-century William of Gellone, a cousin of
Charlemagne who became a monk. The name was common among the
Normans, and it became extremely popular in England after William the Conqueror was recognized as the first Norman king of England in the 11th century. From then until the modern era it has been among the most common of English names (with
John,
Thomas and
Robert).
This name was later borne by three other English kings, as well as rulers of Scotland, Sicily (of Norman origin), the Netherlands and Prussia. Other famous bearers include William Wallace, a 13th-century Scottish hero, and William Tell, a legendary 14th-century Swiss hero (called Wilhelm in German, Guillaume in French and Guglielmo in Italian). In the literary world it was borne by dramatist William Shakespeare (1564-1616), poet William Blake (1757-1827), poet William Wordsworth (1770-1850), dramatist William Butler Yeats (1865-1939), author William Faulkner (1897-1962), and author William S. Burroughs (1914-1997).
In the American rankings (since 1880) this name has never been out of the top 20, making it one of the most consistently popular names (although it has never reached the top rank). In modern times its short form, Liam, has periodically been more popular than William itself, in the United Kingdom in the 1990s and the United States in the 2010s.
Willow
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: WIL-o
From the name of the tree, which is ultimately derived from Old English welig.
Winika
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Maori
From the Maori name of Christmas orchids (Dendrobium cunninghamii), a type of orchid that is endemic to the New Zealand. This name could also be written as Te Winika, which means "the Christmas orchid".
Wisteria
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: wis-TEHR-ee-ə, wis-TEER-ee-ə
From the name of the flowering plant, which was named for the American anatomist Caspar Wistar.
Woodsia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (American)
Yam
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Semitic Mythology
Means
"sea" in Ugaritic. Yam was the Ugaritic god of the sea, also associated with chaos, storms and destruction. He was a son of the chief god
El.
Yarrow
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Rare), Afro-American (Slavery-era)
Pronounced: YAR-o(English)
Transferred use of the surname
Yarrow, and/or from the word for the flowering plant (Achillea millefolium).
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].
Yoshino
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 吉野, 吉乃, 芳野, 芳乃, 好野, 好乃, 良野, 良乃, 美野, 美乃, 佳野, 佳乃, 嘉野, 嘉乃, 由野, 由乃(Japanese Kanji) よしの(Japanese Hiragana) ヨシノ(Japanese Katakana)
Pronounced: YO-SHEE-NO
This name can be used to combine 吉 (kichi, kitsu,
yoshi) meaning "good luck," 芳 (hou, kanba.shii,
yoshi) meaning "fragrant, aromatic," 好 (kou, i.i, kono.mu, su.ku, yo.i,
yoshi) or 良 (ryou, (-)yo.i, (-)i.i,
yoshi), both meaning "good," 美 (bi, mi, utsuku.shii,
yoshi) meaning "beauty," 佳 (ka,
yoshi) meaning "beautiful, excellent, good," 嘉 (ka, yomi.suru, yoi,
yoshi) meaning "auspicious" or 由 (yu, yuu, yui,
yoshi, yo.ru) meaning "reason, cause" with 野 (ya, sho,
no(-)) meaning "plain, field" or 乃 (nai, dai, ai,
no, sunawa.chi, nanji), a possessive particle.
Bearers of this name include video game music composer Yoshino Aoki (青木 佳乃) (1971-), actress Yoshino Kimura (木村 佳乃) (1976-) and photojournalist Yoshino Ōishi (大石 芳野) (1944-).
Zahara
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Hebrew
Other Scripts: זָהֳרָה(Hebrew)
Zea
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (Rare), Afrikaans (Rare)
Zenobia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Ancient Greek [1]
Other Scripts: Ζηνοβία(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: ZDEH-NO-BEE-A(Classical Greek) zə-NO-bee-ə(English)
Means
"life of Zeus", derived from Greek
Ζηνός (Zenos) meaning "of
Zeus" and
βίος (bios) meaning "life". This was the name of the queen of the Palmyrene Empire, which broke away from Rome in the 3rd-century and began expanding into Roman territory. She was eventually defeated by the emperor
Aurelian. Her Greek name was used as an approximation of her native Aramaic name.
Zinnia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: ZIN-ee-ə
Personal remark: reseda, myrica, Retama
From the name of the flower, which was itself named for the German botanist Johann Zinn.
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