cyrusdean's Personal Name List
Achilles
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Greek Mythology (Latinized), Ancient Greek (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Ἀχιλλεύς(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: ə-KIL-eez(English) a-KEEL-lehs(Latin)
Rating: 70% based on 2 votes
From the Greek
Ἀχιλλεύς (Achilleus), which is of unknown meaning, perhaps derived from Greek
ἄχος (achos) meaning
"pain" or else from the name of the Achelous River. This was the name of a warrior in Greek legend, one of the central characters in
Homer's
Iliad. The bravest of the Greek heroes in the war against the Trojans, he was eventually killed by an arrow to his heel, the only vulnerable part of his body.
This name was sometimes used as a personal name, and was borne by a few early saints, including a Roman soldier martyred with Nereus in the 1st century.
Actorion
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Greek Mythology (Latinized)
Rating: 65% based on 2 votes
Latinized form of Greek
Aktorion, which is a diminutive form of
Aktor (see
Actor).
Adina 1
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Biblical, Biblical Latin, Biblical Greek
Other Scripts: Ἀδινά(Ancient Greek)
Rating: 0% based on 1 vote
From the Hebrew name
עֲדִינָא (ʿAḏina), derived from
עָדִין (ʿaḏin) meaning
"delicate". This name is borne by a soldier in the
Old Testament.
The feminine name Adina 3 is from the same root, but is spelled differently in Hebrew.
Aesop
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Ancient Greek (Anglicized)
Other Scripts: Αἴσωπος(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: EE-sahp(American English) EE-sawp(British English)
Rating: 100% based on 1 vote
From the Greek
Αἴσωπος (Aisopos), which is of unknown meaning. This was the name of a Greek fabulist of the 6th century BC, famous for such tales as
The Tortoise and the Hare. Though his existence is uncertain, he was later said to have been a slave on the island of Samos.
Alia 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Arabic
Other Scripts: علياء, عالية, عليّة(Arabic)
Pronounced: ‘al-YA, ‘A-lee-ya, ‘a-LEE-ya
Rating: 65% based on 2 votes
Aliki
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek
Other Scripts: Αλίκη(Greek)
Rating: 100% based on 1 vote
Greek form of
Alice. It also corresponds with the Greek word
άλικη meaning "scarlet".
Alpha
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: AL-fə
Rating: 55% based on 2 votes
From the name of the first letter in the Greek alphabet,
Α.
Amari
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: African American (Modern)
Pronounced: ə-MAHR-ee(English)
Rating: 100% based on 1 vote
Meaning uncertain, perhaps from Arabic
Ammar. This name has risen in popularity in America at the same time as similar-sounding names such as
Jamari and
Kamari.
Amaryllis
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Literature
Pronounced: am-ə-RIL-is(English)
Rating: 65% based on 2 votes
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.
Amber
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Dutch
Pronounced: AM-bər(American English) AM-bə(British English) AHM-bər(Dutch)
Rating: 65% based on 2 votes
From the English word
amber that denotes either the gemstone, which is formed from fossil resin, or the orange-yellow colour. The word ultimately derives from Arabic
عنبر (ʿanbar) meaning "ambergris". It began to be used as a given name in the late 19th century, but it only became popular after the release of Kathleen Winsor's novel
Forever Amber (1944).
Ambrose
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: AM-broz
Rating: 65% based on 2 votes
From the Late Latin name
Ambrosius, which was derived from the Greek name
Ἀμβρόσιος (Ambrosios) meaning
"immortal".
Saint Ambrose was a 4th-century theologian and bishop of Milan, who is considered a Doctor of the Church. Due to the saint, the name came into general use in Christian Europe, though it was never particularly common in England.
Amethyst
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: AM-ə-thist
Rating: 65% based on 2 votes
From the name of the purple semi-precious stone, which is derived from the Greek negative prefix
ἀ (a) and
μέθυστος (methystos) meaning "intoxicated, drunk", as it was believed to be a remedy against drunkenness. It is the traditional birthstone of February.
Anara
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Kazakh, Kyrgyz
Other Scripts: Анара(Kazakh, Kyrgyz)
Pronounced: ah-nah-RAH(Kazakh)
Rating: 70% based on 2 votes
From Kazakh and Kyrgyz
анар (anar) meaning
"pomegranate", a word ultimately derived from Persian.
Angel
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English, Bulgarian, Macedonian
Other Scripts: Ангел(Bulgarian, Macedonian)
Pronounced: AYN-jəl(English)
Rating: 15% based on 2 votes
From the medieval Latin masculine name
Angelus, which was derived from the name of the heavenly creature (itself derived from the Greek word
ἄγγελος (angelos) meaning "messenger"). It has never been very common in the English-speaking world, where it is sometimes used as a feminine name in modern times.
Anila 3
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Albanian
Rating: 100% based on 1 vote
Anissa
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
This name was first brought to public attention in 1966 by the child actress Anissa Jones (1958-1976)
[1]. In her case it was a transcription of the Arabic name
أنيسة (see
Anisa), given to honour her Lebanese heritage. Other parents who have since used this name may view it simply as an elaboration of
Anna using the popular name suffix
issa.
Anneth
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Cornish (?)
Rating: 0% based on 1 vote
From the Cornish word annedh "home". A fictional bearer is Anneth Sizemore in Silas House's 2001 novel 'Clay's Quilt'.
Anouk
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Dutch, French
Pronounced: a-NOOK(Dutch)
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
Anthem
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: AN-THEM, An-THEM
Rating: 10% based on 1 vote
From the English word anthem, "a rousing or uplifting song", ultimately from the Greek ἀντίφωνα (antíphōna), a call and response style of singing.
Antigone
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology, Ancient Greek [1]
Other Scripts: Ἀντιγόνη(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: AN-TEE-GO-NEH(Classical Greek) an-TIG-ə-nee(English)
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
Derived from Greek
ἀντί (anti) meaning "against, compared to, like" and
γονή (gone) meaning "birth, offspring". In Greek legend Antigone was the daughter of Oedipus and Jocasta. King Creon of Thebes declared that her slain brother Polynices was to remain unburied, a great dishonour. She disobeyed and gave him a proper burial, and for this she was sealed alive in a cave.
Apollonia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Ancient Greek [1], Italian
Other Scripts: Ἀπολλωνία(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: A-POL-LAW-NEE-A(Classical Greek)
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
Feminine form of
Apollonios. This was the name of a 3rd-century
saint and martyr from Alexandria.
Apphia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Biblical
Other Scripts: Ἀπφία(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: AF-ee-ə(English) AP-fee-ə(English)
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
Greek form of a Hebrew name that possibly meant
"increasing". This is a name mentioned in
Paul's epistle to
Philemon in the
New Testament.
Appian
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Ancient Roman (Anglicized)
Pronounced: AP-ee-ən(Latin)
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
Anglicized form of
Appianus, a Roman agnomen that was derived from
Appius. Appian of Alexandria was a 1st- and 2nd-century Greek historian and writer in Rome.
Appianos
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Armenian, Ancient Roman (Hellenized)
Other Scripts: Ապպիանոս(Armenian) Ἀππιανὸς(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: ah-pee-YAH-naws(Eastern Armenian) ah-pee-yah-NAWS(Eastern Armenian) ah-pee-AH-naws(Eastern Armenian) ah-pee-ah-NAWS(Eastern Armenian)
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
Hellenized form of
Appianus (see
Appian), as well as the Armenian form.
Aramis
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Literature
Rating: 100% based on 1 vote
The surname of one of the musketeers in The Three Musketeers (1844) by Alexandre Dumas. Dumas based the character on the 17th-century Henri d'Aramitz, whose surname was derived from the French village of Aramits (itself from Basque aran meaning "valley").
Arcadian
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Medieval Romanian
Rating: 100% based on 1 vote
Arcadius
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Ancient Greek (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Ἀρκάδιος(Ancient Greek)
Rating: 100% based on 1 vote
Arda
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Turkish
Pronounced: ar-DA
Rating: 100% based on 1 vote
Possibly means "marker, stake" in Turkish.
Arden
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: AHR-dən(American English) AH-dən(British English)
Rating: 30% based on 1 vote
From an English surname, originally taken from various place names, which were derived from a Celtic word meaning "high".
Arete
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology, Ancient Greek [1]
Other Scripts: Ἀρετή, Ἀρέτη(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: A-REH-TEH(Classical Greek)
Rating: 30% based on 1 vote
Means
"virtue" in Greek. In Greek
mythology Arete was the personification of virtue and excellence.
Ariel
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: Hebrew, English, French, Spanish, Polish, Biblical, Biblical Greek
Other Scripts: אֲרִיאֵל(Hebrew) Ἀριήλ(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: a-ree-EHL(Hebrew) EHR-ee-əl(English) AR-ee-əl(English) A-RYEHL(French) a-RYEHL(Spanish) A-ryehl(Polish)
Rating: 30% based on 1 vote
Means
"lion of God" in Hebrew, from
אֲרִי (ʾari) meaning "lion" and
אֵל (ʾel) meaning "God". In the
Old Testament it is used as another name for the city of Jerusalem. Shakespeare utilized it for a spirit in his play
The Tempest (1611) and Alexander Pope utilized it for a sylph in his poem
The Rape of the Lock (1712), and one of the moons of Uranus bears this name in his honour. As an English name, it became more common for females in the 1980s, especially after it was used for the title character in the Disney film
The Little Mermaid (1989).
Arina
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Russian
Other Scripts: Арина(Russian)
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
Russian variant of
Irina.
Aris
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Norwegian (Rare), Swedish (Rare), Icelandic (Rare)
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
Of unknown origin and meaning. Current theories include a variant of
Iris as well as a short form of Greek names beginning with the element
aris- (compare
Aristaeus).
Ariston
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Ancient Greek [1]
Other Scripts: Ἀρίστων(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: A-REES-TAWN
Rating: 0% based on 1 vote
Arkady
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Russian
Other Scripts: Аркадий(Russian)
Pronounced: ur-KA-dyee
Rating: 100% based on 1 vote
Arke 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Ἄρκη(Ancient Greek)
Rating: 100% based on 1 vote
From Greek
ἀρκής (arkes) meaning
"swift". Arke was the twin sister of the rainbow goddess
Iris in Greek
mythology. Because she sided with the Titans, Zeus had her imprisoned with them in Tartarus.
Arrow
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: AR-o, ER-o
Rating: 10% based on 1 vote
From the English word arrow, ultimately from the Proto-Indo-European *h₂érkʷo- "bow, arrow".
Artemis
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: Greek Mythology, Greek
Other Scripts: Ἄρτεμις(Ancient Greek) Άρτεμις(Greek)
Pronounced: AR-TEH-MEES(Classical Greek) AHR-tə-mis(American English) AH-tə-mis(British English)
Rating: 30% based on 1 vote
Meaning unknown, possibly related either to Greek
ἀρτεμής (artemes) meaning
"safe" or
ἄρταμος (artamos) meaning
"a butcher". Artemis was the Greek goddess of the moon and hunting, the twin of
Apollo and the daughter of
Zeus and
Leto. She was known as
Diana to the Romans.
Arya 2
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Literature
Pronounced: AHR-yə(American English) AH-yə(British English)
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
Created by author George R. R. Martin for a popular character in his series A Song of Ice and Fire, published beginning 1996, and the television adaptation Game of Thrones (2011-2019). In the story Arya is the second daughter of Ned Stark, the lord of Winterfell.
Aryel
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (American, Rare), Portuguese (Brazilian, Rare)
Rating: 30% based on 1 vote
Aster
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: AS-tər(American English) AS-tə(British English)
Rating: 30% based on 1 vote
From the name of the flower, which is derived via Latin from Greek
ἀστήρ (aster) meaning "star".
Asteria
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Ἀστερία(Ancient Greek)
Rating: 100% based on 1 vote
Asterion
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Ἀστερίων(Ancient Greek)
Rating: 10% based on 1 vote
Means
"of the stars", derived from Greek
ἀστήρ (aster) "star". This is the name of several figures in Greek
mythology, including a river god.
Astrid
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, German, French, English
Pronounced: AS-strid(Swedish) AHS-tri(Norwegian) AS-trit(German) AS-TREED(French) AS-trid(English)
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
Modern Scandinavian form of
Ástríðr. This name was borne by the Swedish writer Astrid Lindgren (1907-2002), the author of
Pippi Longstocking. It was also borne by a Swedish princess (1905-1935) who became the queen of Belgium as the wife of Leopold III.
Atalanta
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Ἀταλάντη(Ancient Greek)
Rating: 100% based on 1 vote
From the Greek
Ἀταλάντη (Atalante) meaning
"equal in weight", derived from
ἀτάλαντος (atalantos), a word related to
τάλαντον (talanton) meaning "a scale, a balance". In Greek legend she was a fast-footed maiden who refused to marry anyone who could not beat her in a race. She was eventually defeated by Hippomenes, who dropped three golden apples during the race causing her to stop to pick them up.
Atanas
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Bulgarian, Macedonian
Other Scripts: Атанас(Bulgarian, Macedonian)
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
Ataveon
Gender: Masculine
Usage: African American (Rare)
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
Athan
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Greek
Other Scripts: Αθάν(Greek)
Rating: 100% based on 1 vote
Athena
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology, English
Other Scripts: Ἀθηνᾶ(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: A-TEH-NA(Classical Greek) ə-THEE-nə(English)
Rating: 100% based on 1 vote
Meaning unknown. Athena was the Greek goddess of wisdom and warfare and the patron goddess of the city of Athens in Greece. It is likely that her name is derived from that of the city, not vice versa. The earliest mention of her seems to be a 15th-century BC Mycenaean Greek inscription from Knossos on Crete.
The daughter of Zeus, she was said to have sprung from his head fully grown after he impregnated and swallowed her mother Metis. Athena is associated with the olive tree and the owl.
Athenion
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Ancient Greek
Other Scripts: Ἀθηνίων(Ancient Greek)
Rating: 30% based on 1 vote
Derived from the name of the Greek goddess
Athena combined with the Greek diminutive suffix -ιων
(-ion). A known bearer of this name was Athenion of Maroneia, an ancient Greek painter from the 3rd century BC.
Athens
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (American)
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
From Greek
Athenai (plural because the city had several distinct parts), traditionally derived from
Athena, but probably assimilated from a lost name in a pre-Hellenic language.
Athina
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek
Other Scripts: Αθηνά(Greek)
Pronounced: a-thee-NA
Rating: 100% based on 1 vote
Atiya
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: Arabic
Other Scripts: عطيّة(Arabic)
Pronounced: ‘a-TEE-ya
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
Means "gift" in Arabic.
Atlas
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Ἄτλας(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: A-TLAS(Classical Greek) AT-ləs(English)
Rating: 10% based on 1 vote
Possibly means
"enduring" from Greek
τλάω (tlao) meaning "to endure". In Greek
mythology he was a Titan punished by
Zeus by being forced to support the heavens on his shoulders.
Atreus
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Ἀτρεύς(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: A-TREWS(Classical Greek)
Rating: 100% based on 1 vote
Means
"fearless", derived from the Greek negative prefix
ἀ (a) and
τρέω (treo) meaning "to fear, to flee". In Greek
mythology, Atreus was a king of Mycenae and the father of
Agamemnon and
Menelaus.
Atticus
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Literature, Ancient Greek (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Ἀττικός(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: AT-i-kəs(English)
Rating: 100% based on 2 votes
Latinized form of Greek
Ἀττικός (Attikos) meaning
"from Attica", referring to the region surrounding Athens in Greece. This name was borne by a few notable Greeks from the Roman period (or Romans of Greek background). The author Harper Lee used the name in her novel
To Kill a Mockingbird (1960) for an Alabama lawyer who defends a black man accused of raping a white woman.
Auberon
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Carolingian Cycle
Pronounced: AW-bə-rahn(American English) O-bə-rahn(American English) AW-bə-rawn(British English) O-bə-rawn(British English)
Rating: 100% based on 1 vote
From a
diminutive form of
Auberi, an Old French form of
Alberich. It is the name of the fairy king in the 13th-century epic
Huon de Bordeaux.
Aubrey
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: AWB-ree
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
From
Auberi, an Old French form of
Alberich brought to England by the
Normans. It was common in the Middle Ages, and was revived in the 19th century. Since the mid-1970s it has more frequently been given to girls, due to Bread's 1972 song
Aubrey along with its similarity to the established feminine name
Audrey.
Aura
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Italian, Spanish, Finnish
Pronounced: AWR-ə(English) OW-ra(Italian, Spanish) OW-rah(Finnish)
Rating: 75% based on 2 votes
From the word
aura (derived from Latin, ultimately from Greek
αὔρα meaning "breeze") for a distinctive atmosphere or illumination.
Aveon
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: AY-vahn
Rating: 30% based on 1 vote
Avery
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: AY-və-ree, AYV-ree
Rating: 30% based on 1 vote
From an English surname that was itself derived from the Norman French form of the given names
Alberich or
Alfred.
As a given name, it was used on the American sitcom Murphy Brown (1988-1998) for both the mother and son of the main character. By 1998 it was more popular as a name for girls in the United States, perhaps further inspired by a character from the movie Jerry Maguire (1996).
Avis
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: AY-vis
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
Probably a Latinized form of the Germanic name
Aveza, which was derived from the element
awi, of unknown meaning. The
Normans introduced this name to England and it became moderately common during the Middle Ages, at which time it was associated with Latin
avis "bird".
Axion
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Rating: 10% based on 1 vote
Derived from either the Greek adjective ἄξιος
(axios) meaning "worthy, deserving" or from the Greek noun ἀξία
(axia) meaning "worth, value". Both are closely related to the Greek verb ἀξιόω
(axioo) meaning "to think or deem worthy". In Greek mythology, Axion was one of the sons of king
Priam of Troy.
Ayla 2
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Turkish, Azerbaijani
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
Means "moonlight, halo" in Turkish.
Azariah
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Biblical
Other Scripts: עֲזַרְיָה(Ancient Hebrew)
Pronounced: az-ə-RIE-ə(English)
Rating: 100% based on 1 vote
From the Hebrew name
עֲזַרְיָה (ʿAzarya) meaning
"Yahweh has helped", derived from
עָזַר (ʿazar) meaning "help" and
יָהּ (yah) referring to the Hebrew God. This is the name of many
Old Testament characters including of one of the three men the Babylonian king ordered cast into a fiery furnace. His Babylonian name was
Abednego.
Azarias
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Biblical Greek, Biblical Latin
Other Scripts: Ἀζαρίας(Ancient Greek)
Rating: 100% based on 1 vote
Basil 1
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: BAZ-əl
Rating: 30% based on 1 vote
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.
Basilica
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek
Other Scripts: Βασιλικά(Greek)
Rating: 50% based on 2 votes
Given name from the Spanish and Italian word "basilica", derived from Ancient Greek "βασιλική στοά": a large oblong building in Roman architecture used as a public forum or town hall, sometimes also a church or court building. Also the name of several towns in Greece.
Berlin
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: Various
Pronounced: bər-LIN(American English) bə-LIN(British English) behr-LEEN(German)
Rating: 30% based on 1 vote
From the name of the city in Germany, which is of uncertain meaning.
Bessarion
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Late Greek
Other Scripts: Βησσαρίων(Ancient Greek)
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
Meaning uncertain, possibly from Greek
βῆσσα (bessa) meaning
"wooded valley". This was the name of a 5th-century Egyptian hermit who was a disciple of
Saint Anthony the Great. It was later adopted by the scholar Basilios Bessarion (1403-1472), a Greek born in Byzantine Anatolia who became a Roman Catholic bishop.
Blaise
Gender: Masculine
Usage: French
Pronounced: BLEHZ
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
From the Roman name
Blasius, which was derived from Latin
blaesus meaning
"lisping".
Saint Blaise was a 4th-century Armenian martyr. A famous bearer was the French mathematician and philosopher Blaise Pascal (1623-1662).
Bliss
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: BLIS
Rating: 30% based on 1 vote
Transferred use of the surname
Bliss or simply from the English word "bliss".
Blythe
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: BLIEDH
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
From a surname meaning "cheerful" in Old English.
Booker
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: BUWK-ər(American English) BUWK-ə(British English)
Rating: 100% based on 1 vote
From an English occupational surname meaning "maker of books". A famous bearer was Booker T. Washington (1856-1915), an African-American leader.
Boone
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: BOON
Rating: 30% based on 1 vote
From an English surname that was either derived from Old French bon meaning "good" or from the name of the town of Bohon, France.
Brady
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: BRAY-dee
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
From an Irish surname, an Anglicized form of
Ó Brádaigh, itself derived from the byname
Brádach. A famous bearer of the surname is the American football quarterback Tom Brady (1977-). It was also borne by a fictional family on the television series
The Brady Bunch (1969-1974).
Braith
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Australian, Rare)
Pronounced: BRAYTH
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
Meaning uncertain, perhaps from Welsh brith, braith meaning "speckled".
Bran 1
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Irish, Irish Mythology, Old Irish [1]
Pronounced: BRAN(Irish)
Rating: 30% based on 1 vote
Means "raven" in Irish. In Irish legend Bran mac Febail was a mariner who was involved in several adventures on his quest to find the Otherworld.
Briar
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: BRIE-ər(American English) BRIE-ə(British English)
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
From the English word for the thorny plant.
Brook
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: BRUWK
Rating: 30% based on 1 vote
From an English surname that denoted one who lived near a brook.
Cairo
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: KIE-ro
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
From the name of the city in Egypt, called
القاهرة (al-Qāhira) in Arabic, meaning "the victorious"
[1].
Calista
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Portuguese (Rare), Spanish (Rare)
Pronounced: kə-LIS-tə(English) ka-LEES-ta(Spanish)
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
Feminine form of
Callistus. As an English name it might also be a variant of
Kallisto.
Calix
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (American, Modern, Rare)
Pronounced: KAL-iks(American English)
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
Modern name taken from the Latin word calix meaning "wine cup, chalice".
Calliope
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Καλλιόπη(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: kə-LIE-ə-pee(English)
Rating: 100% based on 1 vote
Callisto 2
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Καλλιστώ(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: kə-LIS-to(English)
Rating: 100% based on 1 vote
Latinized form of
Kallisto. A moon of Jupiter bears this name.
Calypso
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Καλυψώ(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: kə-LIP-so(English)
Rating: 30% based on 1 vote
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.
Calyx
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (American, Modern, Rare)
Rating: 30% based on 1 vote
Carolina
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, English, Swedish
Pronounced: ka-ro-LEE-na(Italian, Spanish) ka-roo-LEE-nu(European Portuguese) ka-ro-LEE-nu(Brazilian Portuguese) kar-ə-LIE-nə(English)
Rating: 25% based on 2 votes
Latinate feminine form of
Carolus. This is the name of two American states: North and South Carolina. They were named for Charles I, king of England.
Carver
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: KAHR-vər(American English) KAH-və(British English)
Rating: 75% based on 2 votes
From an English surname that meant "wood carver".
Casper
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish
Pronounced: KAHS-pər(Dutch) KAHS-pehr(Swedish) KAS-bu(Danish)
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
Dutch and Scandinavian form of
Jasper. This is the name of a friendly ghost in an American series of cartoons and comic books (beginning 1945).
Caspian
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Literature
Pronounced: KAS-pee-ən(English)
Rating: 100% based on 1 vote
Used by author C. S. Lewis for a character in his Chronicles of Narnia series, first appearing in 1950. Prince Caspian first appears in the fourth book, where he is the rightful king of Narnia driven into exile by his evil uncle Miraz. Lewis probably based the name on the Caspian Sea, which was named for the city of Qazvin, which was itself named for the ancient Cas tribe.
Cassel
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Rating: 10% based on 1 vote
From the surname
Cassel. Cassel Sharpe is fictional character in Holly Black's novel White Cat.
Cassia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Ancient Roman
Pronounced: KAS-see-a(Latin) KA-shə(English) KAS-ee-ə(English)
Rating: 30% based on 1 vote
Cassian
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Ancient Roman (Anglicized)
Pronounced: KASH-ən(English) KAS-ee-ən(English)
Rating: 75% based on 2 votes
From the Roman family name
Cassianus, which was derived from
Cassius. This was the name of several
saints, including a 3rd-century martyr from Tangier who is the patron saint of stenographers and a 5th-century mystic who founded a monastery in Marseille.
Cassius
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Ancient Roman
Pronounced: KAS-see-oos(Latin) KASH-əs(English) KAS-ee-əs(English)
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
Roman family name that was possibly derived from Latin
cassus meaning
"empty, vain". This name was borne by several early
saints. In modern times, it was the original first name of boxer Muhammad Ali (1942-2016), who was named after his father Cassius Clay, who was himself named after the American abolitionist Cassius Clay (1810-1903).
Castor
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Greek Mythology (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Κάστωρ(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: KAS-tər(American English) KAS-tə(British English)
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
From the Greek name
Κάστωρ (Kastor), possibly related to
κέκασμαι (kekasmai) meaning
"to excel, to shine" (pluperfect
κέκαστο). Alternatively it could be derived from the Greek word
κάστωρ (kastor) meaning
"beaver", though the legends about Castor do not mention beavers, which were foreign animals to the Greeks. In Greek
myth Castor was a son of
Zeus and the twin brother of
Pollux. The constellation Gemini, which represents the two brothers, contains a star by this name.
Cersei
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Literature, Popular Culture
Pronounced: SUR-say(Literature) SUR-see(Popular Culture)
Rating: 0% based on 1 vote
Created by American author George R. R. Martin for his series of epic fantasy novels
A Song of Ice and Fire, published beginning 1996, and the television adaptation
Game of Thrones (2011-2019), where it belongs to an evil queen who is one of the main antagonists. The name is popularly claimed to be a variant of
Circe, but Martin has stated that the mythological character was not the inspiration: 'I know my Homer, of course, but Cersei is not based on Circe. Many names sound alike.'
Cinder
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (American)
Pronounced: SIN-der(American English)
Rating: 30% based on 1 vote
Representing the residue of combustion; ashes.
Circe
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Κίρκη(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: SUR-see(American English) SU-see(British English)
Rating: 0% based on 1 vote
Latinized form of Greek
Κίρκη (Kirke), possibly from
κίρκος (kirkos) meaning
"hawk". In Greek
mythology Circe was a sorceress who changed
Odysseus's crew into hogs, as told in Homer's
Odyssey. Odysseus forced her to change them back, then stayed with her for a year before continuing his voyage.
Clarissa
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Italian
Pronounced: klə-RIS-ə(English)
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
Latinate form of
Clarice. This is the name of the title character in a 1748 novel by Samuel Richardson. In the novel Clarissa Harlowe is a virtuous woman who is tragically exploited by her family and her lover. Another literary character by this name is Clarissa Dalloway from the novel
Mrs. Dalloway (1925) by Virginia Woolf.
Cleon
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Ancient Greek (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Κλέων(Ancient Greek)
Rating: 0% based on 1 vote
Latinized form of
Κλέων (Kleon), a Greek name derived from
κλέος (kleos) meaning
"glory".
Cleopatra
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Ancient Greek (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Κλεοπάτρα(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: klee-o-PAT-rə(English)
Rating: 10% based on 1 vote
From the Greek name
Κλεοπάτρα (Kleopatra) meaning
"glory of the father", derived from
κλέος (kleos) meaning "glory" combined with
πατήρ (pater) meaning "father" (genitive
πατρός). This was the name of queens of Egypt from the Ptolemaic royal family, including Cleopatra VII, the mistress of both Julius Caesar and Mark Antony. After being defeated by Augustus she committed suicide (according to popular belief, by allowing herself to be bitten by a venomous asp). Shakespeare's tragedy
Antony and Cleopatra (1606) tells the story of her life.
Coast
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
From the English word coast
Cora
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, German, Greek Mythology (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Κόρη(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: KAWR-ə(English) KO-ra(German)
Rating: 50% based on 2 votes
Latinized form of
Kore. It was not used as a given name in the English-speaking world until after it was employed by James Fenimore Cooper for a character in his novel
The Last of the Mohicans (1826). In some cases it may be a short form of
Cordula,
Corinna and other names beginning with a similar sound.
Corrina
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: kə-REEN-ə
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
Cosima
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian
Pronounced: KAW-zee-ma
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
Italian feminine form of
Cosimo.
Cosmo
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Italian, English
Pronounced: KAWZ-mo(Italian, British English) KAHZ-mo(American English)
Rating: 30% based on 1 vote
Italian variant of
Cosimo. It was introduced to Britain in the 18th century by the second Scottish Duke of Gordon, who named his son and successor after his friend Cosimo III de' Medici. On the American sitcom
Seinfeld (1989-1998) this was the seldom-used first name of Jerry's neighbour Kramer.
Cyrano
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Literature
Pronounced: SIR-ə-no(English)
Rating: 100% based on 1 vote
Possibly derived from the name of the ancient Greek city of Cyrene, which was located in North Africa. Edmond Rostand used this name in his play Cyrano de Bergerac (1897). He based his character upon a real person, the French satirist Savinien Cyrano de Bergerac (1619-1655).
Cyrus
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, Biblical, Biblical Latin, Old Persian (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Κῦρος(Ancient Greek) 𐎤𐎢𐎽𐎢𐏁(Old Persian)
Pronounced: SIE-rəs(English)
Rating: 10% based on 1 vote
Latin form of Greek
Κῦρος (Kyros), from the Old Persian name
𐎤𐎢𐎽𐎢𐏁 (Kuruš), possibly meaning
"young" or
"humiliator (of the enemy)" [1]. Alternatively it could be of Elamite origin. The name has sometimes been associated with Greek
κύριος (kyrios) meaning "lord".
The most notable bearer of the name was Cyrus the Great, the founder of the Achaemenid Persian Empire in the 6th century BC. He is famous in the Old Testament for freeing the captive Jews and allowing them to return to Israel after his conquest of Babylon. As an English name, it first came into use among the Puritans after the Protestant Reformation.
Dahlia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: DAL-yə, DAHL-yə, DAYL-yə
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
From the name of the flower, which was named for the Swedish botanist Anders Dahl.
Damaris
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Biblical, Biblical Latin, Biblical Greek [1]
Other Scripts: Δάμαρις(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: DAM-ə-ris(English)
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
Probably means
"calf, heifer, girl" from Greek
δάμαλις (damalis). In the
New Testament this is the name of a woman converted to Christianity by
Saint Paul.
Damascus
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (American, Rare)
Pronounced: də-MAS-kəs(American English)
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
Damia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Δαμια(Ancient Greek)
Rating: 30% based on 1 vote
The name of the Hora of the fertile earth, and alternatively a title of the goddess
Demeter (while her daughter,
Persephone, was occasionally afforded the title
Auxesia). It's ultimate meaning was "nursing earth (
Maia 1)".
Danaë
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Δανάη(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: DA-NA-EH(Classical Greek) DAN-ay-ee(English)
Rating: 100% based on 1 vote
From
Δαναοί (Danaoi), a word used by
Homer to designate the Greeks. In Greek
mythology Danaë was the daughter of the Argive king Acrisius. It had been prophesied to her father that he would one day be killed by Danaë's son, so he attempted to keep his daughter childless. However,
Zeus came to her in the form of a shower of gold, and she became the mother of
Perseus. Eventually the prophecy was fulfilled and Perseus killed Acrisius, albeit accidentally.
Danai 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek
Other Scripts: Δανάη(Greek)
Pronounced: dha-NA-ee
Rating: 100% based on 1 vote
Modern Greek transcription of
Danaë.
Daphne
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology, English, Dutch
Other Scripts: Δάφνη(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: DA-PNEH(Classical Greek) DAF-nee(English) DAHF-nə(Dutch)
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
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.
Darcy
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: DAHR-see(American English) DAH-see(British English)
Rating: 75% based on 2 votes
From an English surname that was derived from Norman French d'Arcy, originally denoting one who came from the town of Arcy in La Manche, France. This is the surname of a character, Fitzwilliam Darcy, in Jane Austen's novel Pride and Prejudice (1813).
Daria
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, Polish, Romanian, English, Croatian, Russian, Late Roman
Other Scripts: Дарья(Russian) Δαρεία(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: DA-rya(Italian, Polish, Romanian) DAHR-ee-ə(English) DAR-ee-ə(English)
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
Feminine form of
Darius.
Saint Daria was a 3rd-century woman who was martyred with her husband Chrysanthus under the Roman emperor Numerian. It has never been a particularly common English given name. As a Russian name, it is more commonly transcribed
Darya.
Darko
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Croatian, Serbian, Slovene, Macedonian
Other Scripts: Дарко(Serbian, Macedonian)
Rating: 100% based on 1 vote
From the Slavic element
darŭ meaning
"gift", originally a
diminutive of names containing that element.
Daumantas
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Lithuanian
From Lithuanian
daug "much" combined with
mantus "intelligent" or
manta "property, wealth". This name was borne by a 13th-century Lithuanian ruler of Pskov who is venerated as a
saint in the Eastern Orthodox Church.
Dean
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: DEEN
Rating: 30% based on 1 vote
From a surname, see
Dean 1 and
Dean 2. The actor James Dean (1931-1955) was a famous bearer of the surname.
Deimos
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Δεῖμος(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: DEH-MOS(Classical Greek) DIE-məs(English)
Rating: 100% based on 1 vote
Means
"terror" in Greek. This was one of the sons of the Greek god
Ares. Also, a moon of Mars bears this name.
Deirdra
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: DEER-drə
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
Delia 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Italian, Spanish, Romanian, Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Δηλία(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: DEE-lee-ə(English) DEH-lya(Italian, Spanish) DEH-lee-a(Romanian)
Rating: 100% based on 1 vote
Means
"of Delos" in Greek. This was an epithet of the Greek goddess
Artemis, given because she and her twin brother
Apollo were born on the island of Delos. The name appeared in several poems of the 16th and 17th centuries, and it has occasionally been used as a given name since that time.
Delta
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: DEHL-tə
Rating: 10% based on 1 vote
From the name of the fourth letter in the Greek alphabet,
Δ. It is also the name for an island formed at the mouth of a river.
Deniz
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: Turkish
Pronounced: deh-NEEZ
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
Means "sea" in Turkish.
Desi
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: DEHZ-ee
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
Diminutive of
Desmond,
Desiree and other names beginning with a similar sound. In the case of musician and actor Desi Arnaz (1917-1986) it was a diminutive of
Desiderio.
Devery
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English
Rating: 10% based on 1 vote
Transferred use of the surname
Devery. A bearer of this name was Devery Freeman (1913-2005), an American screenwriter who also authored the novel "Father Sky: A Novel", upon which the 1981 film "Taps" was based.
Dezi
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: DEHZ-ee
Rating: 30% based on 1 vote
Dimos
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Greek
Other Scripts: Δήμος(Greek)
Pronounced: DHEE-mos
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
Dion
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Ancient Greek [1], English
Other Scripts: Δίων(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: DEE-ahn(American English) DEE-awn(British English)
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
Derived from the Greek element
Διός (Dios) meaning "of
Zeus". This was the name of a 4th-century BC tyrant of Syracuse. It has been used as an American given name since the middle of the 20th century.
Dionysodoros
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Ancient Greek [1]
Other Scripts: Διονυσόδωρος(Ancient Greek)
Rating: 100% based on 1 vote
Means
"gift of Dionysos" from the name of the god
Dionysos combined with Greek
δῶρον (doron) meaning "gift".
Dorian
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, French, Romanian, Polish
Pronounced: DAWR-ee-ən(English) DAW-RYAHN(French)
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
The name was first used by Oscar Wilde in his novel The Picture of Dorian Gray (1891), which tells the story of a man whose portrait ages while he stays young. Wilde may have taken it from the name of the ancient Greek tribe the Dorians.
Draco
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Ancient Greek (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Δράκων(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: DRAY-ko(English)
Rating: 0% based on 1 vote
From the Greek name
Δράκων (Drakon), which meant
"dragon, serpent". This was the name of a 7th-century BC Athenian legislator. This is also the name of a constellation in the northern sky.
Draven
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Popular Culture
Pronounced: DRAY-vən(English)
Rating: 30% based on 1 vote
From a surname (of unknown meaning) that was used in the movie The Crow (1994).
Dreamer
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: DREE-mər
Rating: 100% based on 1 vote
From the English word dreamer meaning "one who dreams; idler, daydreamer".
Dusty
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: DUS-tee
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
From a nickname originally given to people perceived as being dusty. It is also used a
diminutive of
Dustin. A famous bearer was British singer Dusty Springfield (1939-1999), who acquired her nickname as a child.
Éala
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Irish (Modern)
Pronounced: EH-la
Rating: 100% based on 1 vote
This is a modern Irish name that has most likely been influenced by the Irish word eala meaning "swan". However, contrarily to the Irish word for "swan", which is spelled without the fada, the fada has been added to the name to get the desired pronounciation of EH-la whereas the word eala is pronounced AL-la. It can therefore be said that the name was influenced by the Irish word for "swan" but with the fada and pronunciation used for the name it does not mean "swan" in Irish.
Eamon
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Irish
Pronounced: EH-mən
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
Easter
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: EE-stər(American English) EE-stə(British English)
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
From the English name of the Christian festival celebrating the resurrection of
Jesus. It was ultimately named for the Germanic spring goddess Eostre. It was traditionally given to children born on Easter, though it is rare in modern times.
Echion
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Ἐχίων(Ancient Greek)
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
This name is either derived from Greek ἔχις
(echis) meaning "viper" or from Greek ἔχω
(echo) meaning "to have, to hold, to possess". Echion is the name of several characters in Greek mythology, one of them being a suitor of
Penelope.
Echo
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Ἠχώ(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: EH-ko(English)
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
From the Greek word
ἠχώ (echo) meaning
"echo, reflected sound", related to
ἠχή (eche) meaning "sound". In Greek
mythology Echo was a nymph given a speech impediment by
Hera, so that she could only repeat what others said. She fell in love with
Narcissus, but her love was not returned, and she pined away until nothing remained of her except her voice.
Eden
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: Hebrew, English (Modern), French (Modern)
Other Scripts: עֵדֶן(Hebrew)
Pronounced: EE-dən(English)
Rating: 80% based on 2 votes
From the biblical place name, itself possibly from Hebrew
עֵדֶן (ʿeḏen) meaning "pleasure, delight"
[1], or perhaps derived from Sumerian
𒂔 (edin) meaning "plain". According to the
Old Testament the Garden of Eden was the place where the first people,
Adam and
Eve, lived before they were expelled.
Elara
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Ἐλάρα(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: EHL-ə-rə(English)
Rating: 100% based on 1 vote
Possibly derived from Greek
ἄλαρα (alara) meaning
"hazelnut, spear-shaft". In Greek
mythology Elara was one of
Zeus's mortal lovers and by him the mother of the giant Tityos. A moon of Jupiter bears this name in her honour.
Elian
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: Dutch (Rare)
Pronounced: EH-lee-ahn
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
Elias
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Portuguese, German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, English, Dutch, Greek, Amharic, Biblical, Biblical Latin, Biblical Greek [1]
Other Scripts: Ηλίας(Greek) ኤልያስ(Amharic) Ἠλίας(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: i-LEE-ush(European Portuguese) eh-LEE-us(Brazilian Portuguese) eh-LEE-as(German) EH-lee-ahs(Finnish, Dutch) i-LIE-əs(English) ee-LIE-əs(English)
Rating: 30% based on 1 vote
Form of
Elijah used in several languages. This is also the form used in the Greek
New Testament, as well as some English translations.
Ellery
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: EHL-ə-ree
Rating: 100% based on 1 vote
From an English surname that was originally derived from the medieval masculine name
Hilary.
Ember
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: EHM-bər(American English) EHM-bə(British English)
Rating: 30% based on 1 vote
From the English word ember, ultimately from Old English æmerge.
Emerens
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Dutch (Rare)
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
Emery
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: EHM-ə-ree
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
Norman French form of
Emmerich. The
Normans introduced it to England, and though it was never popular, it survived until the end of the Middle Ages. As a modern given name, now typically feminine, it is likely inspired by the surname
Emery, which was itself derived from the medieval given name. It can also be given in reference to the hard black substance called emery.
Emmanuel
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Biblical, French, English
Other Scripts: עִמָּנוּאֵל(Ancient Hebrew)
Pronounced: EH-MA-NWEHL(French) i-MAN-yoo-ehl(English)
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
From the Hebrew name
עִמָּנוּאֵל (ʿImmanuʾel) meaning
"God is with us", from the roots
עִם (ʿim) meaning "with" and
אֵל (ʾel) meaning "God". This was the foretold name of the Messiah in the
Old Testament. It has been used in England since the 16th century in the spellings
Emmanuel and
Immanuel, though it has not been widespread
[1]. The name has been more common in continental Europe, especially in Spain and Portugal (in the spellings
Manuel and
Manoel).
Emmanuella
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (African)
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
Emmer
Gender: Feminine
Usage: American (South, Archaic)
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
Variant of
Emma reflecting the Appalachian accent.
Emmett
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: EHM-it
Rating: 30% based on 1 vote
From an English surname that was derived from a
diminutive of the feminine given name
Emma.
Emre
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Turkish
Pronounced: ehm-REH
Rating: 100% based on 1 vote
Means "friend, brother" in Turkish. This name was borne by the 13th-century Turkish poet Yunus Emre.
Enoch
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Biblical, Biblical Latin, Biblical Greek
Other Scripts: חֲנוֹך(Ancient Hebrew) Ἐνώχ, Ἑνώχ(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: EE-nək(English)
Rating: 30% based on 1 vote
From the Hebrew name
חֲנוֹך (Ḥanoḵ) meaning
"dedicated". In Genesis in the
Old Testament this is the name of the son of
Cain. It is also the name of a son of
Jared and the father of
Methuselah, who was the supposed author of the apocryphal Books of Enoch.
Erasmia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek, Late Greek
Other Scripts: Ερασμια(Greek)
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
Derived from Greek ερασμιος
(erasmios) meaning "beloved" (compare
Erasmos). This name was borne by one of 40 virgin martyrs who were tortured and killed with their teacher Ammon under Licinius, the ruler of Thrace.
Erasmo
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Italian, Spanish, Portuguese
Pronounced: eh-RAZ-mo(Italian, Spanish) eh-RAZH-moo(European Portuguese) eh-RAZ-moo(Brazilian Portuguese)
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
Italian, Spanish and Portuguese form of
Erasmus.
Erasmus
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Late Greek (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Ἔρασμος(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: i-RAZ-məs(English)
Rating: 10% based on 1 vote
Derived from Greek
ἐράσμιος (erasmios) meaning
"beloved, desired".
Saint Erasmus, also known as Saint
Elmo, was a 4th-century martyr who is the patron saint of sailors. Erasmus was also the name of a Dutch scholar of the Renaissance period.
Erie
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (American, Rare)
Pronounced: IR-ee(American English)
Rating: 75% based on 2 votes
Possibly a transferred use of the name of Lake Erie or of the famous Erie Canal. In rare use in the US from the late 1800s to the 1910s and again briefly in the 1960s and 1970s.
Eris
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Ἔρις(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: EHR-is(English)
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
Means
"strife, discord" in Greek. In Greek
mythology Eris was the goddess of discord. She was the sister and companion of
Ares.
Ermis
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Greek
Other Scripts: Ερμής(Greek)
Rating: 100% based on 1 vote
Esme
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: EHZ-may, EHZ-mee
Rating: 75% based on 2 votes
Esper
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Spanish
Pronounced: ES-per
Rating: 30% based on 1 vote
Short for popular name Esperanza
Estella
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: ehs-TEHL-ə
Rating: 75% based on 2 votes
Latinate form of
Estelle. This is the name of the heroine, Estella Havisham, in Charles Dickens' novel
Great Expectations (1860).
Estelle
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, French
Pronounced: ehs-TEHL(English) EHS-TEHL(French)
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
From an Old French name meaning
"star", ultimately derived from Latin
stella. It was rare in the English-speaking world in the Middle Ages, but it was revived in the 19th century, perhaps due to the character Estella Havisham in Charles Dickens' novel
Great Expectations (1860).
Esther
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, French, Spanish, Dutch, German, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, Jewish, Biblical, Biblical Latin, Biblical Greek
Other Scripts: אֶסְתֵר(Hebrew) Ἐσθήρ(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: EHS-tər(American English, Dutch) EHS-tə(British English) EHS-TEHR(French) ehs-TEHR(Spanish) EHS-tu(German)
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
From the Hebrew name
אֶסְתֵר (ʾEsṯer), which possibly means
"star" in Persian. Alternatively it could be a derivative of the name of the Near Eastern goddess
Ishtar. The Book of Esther in the
Old Testament tells the story of Queen Esther, the Jewish wife of the king of Persia. The king's advisor
Haman persuaded the king to exterminate all the Jews in the realm. Warned of this plot by her cousin
Mordecai, Esther revealed her Jewish ancestry and convinced the king to execute Haman instead. Her original Hebrew name was
Hadassah.
This name has been used in the English-speaking world since the Protestant Reformation. In America it received a boost in popularity after the birth of Esther Cleveland (1893-1980), the daughter of President Grover Cleveland [1].
Eva
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, English, Czech, Slovak, German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Estonian, Danish, Icelandic, Faroese, Romanian, Greek, Slovene, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Croatian, Russian, Georgian, Armenian, Biblical Latin, Old Church Slavic
Other Scripts: Εύα(Greek) Ева(Bulgarian, Macedonian, Russian, Church Slavic) ევა(Georgian) Էվա(Armenian)
Pronounced: EH-ba(Spanish) EH-va(Italian, Czech, Slovak, Dutch, Swedish, Icelandic, Greek) EE-və(English) EH-fa(German) EH-vah(Danish) YEH-və(Russian) EH-VAH(Georgian) EH-wa(Latin)
Rating: 25% based on 2 votes
Form of
Eve used in various languages. This form is used in the Latin translation of the
New Testament, while
Hava is used in the Latin
Old Testament. A notable bearer was the Argentine first lady Eva Perón (1919-1952), the subject of the musical
Evita. The name also appears in Harriet Beecher Stowe's novel
Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852) belonging to the character Little Eva, whose real name is in fact Evangeline.
This is also an alternate transcription of Russian Ева (see Yeva).
Evander 1
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Greek Mythology (Latinized), Roman Mythology
Other Scripts: Εὔανδρος(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: i-VAN-dər(American English) i-VAN-də(British English)
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
Variant of
Evandrus, the Latin form of the Greek name
Εὔανδρος (Euandros) meaning
"good of man", derived from
εὖ (eu) meaning "good" and
ἀνήρ (aner) meaning "man" (genitive
ἀνδρός). In Roman
mythology Evander was an Arcadian hero of the Trojan War who founded the city of Pallantium near the spot where Rome was later built.
Eve
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Estonian, Biblical
Other Scripts: חַוָּה(Ancient Hebrew)
Pronounced: EEV(English)
Rating: 30% based on 2 votes
From the Hebrew name
חַוָּה (Ḥawwa), which was derived from the Hebrew word
חָוָה (ḥawa) meaning
"to breathe" or the related word
חָיָה (ḥaya) meaning
"to live". According to the
Old Testament Book of Genesis, Eve and
Adam were the first humans. God created her from one of Adam's ribs to be his companion. At the urging of a serpent she ate the forbidden fruit and shared some with Adam, causing their expulsion from the Garden of
Eden.
Despite this potentially negative association, the name was occasionally used by Christians during the Middle Ages. In the English-speaking world both Eve and the Latin form Eva were revived in the 19th century, with the latter being more common.
Ever
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: EHV-ər(American English) EHV-ə(British English)
Rating: 80% based on 2 votes
Simply from the English word ever, derived from Old English æfre.
Everest
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: EHV-ə-rist
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
From the English name for the world's highest mountain, itself named after the British surveyor George
Everest (1790-1866).
Everett
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: EHV-ə-rit, EHV-rit
Rating: 80% based on 2 votes
From an English surname that was derived from the given name
Everard.
Evie
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: EE-vee, EHV-ee
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
Faeryn
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: Scottish, English
Rating: 30% based on 1 vote
Fallon
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
From an Irish surname that was an Anglicized form of the Irish Gaelic Ó Fallamháin, itself derived from the given name Fallamhán meaning "leader". It was popularized in the 1980s by a character on the soap opera Dynasty.
Farah
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: Arabic, Persian, Urdu, Malay
Other Scripts: فرح(Arabic, Persian, Urdu)
Pronounced: FA-rah(Arabic)
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
Means
"joy, happiness" in Arabic, from the root
فرح (fariḥa) meaning "to be happy".
Farrah
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Arabic
Other Scripts: فرح(Arabic)
Pronounced: FA-rah
Rating: 30% based on 1 vote
Alternate transcription of Arabic
فرح (see
Farah).
Fen 2
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Frisian
Rating: 30% based on 1 vote
Originally a Frisian short form of
Ferdinand (and other names starting with the Old German element
fridu "peace" and a second element beginning with
n [1]).
Feral
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (Rare, Archaic)
Pronounced: ˈfir-əl, ˈfer-; ˈfe-rəl
Rating: 10% based on 1 vote
Etymology: Medieval Latin feralis, from Latin fera "wild animal", from feminine of ferus "wild"
First Documented Use: 1595 (Observations of Marquesan Culture: 1595-1813; Ferdon)
Fern
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: FURN(American English) FUN(British English)
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
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.
Ferran
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Catalan
Pronounced: fə-RAN
Rating: 30% based on 1 vote
Finley
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: FIN-lee
Rating: 75% based on 2 votes
Variant of
Finlay. This is by far the preferred spelling in the United States, where it has lately been more common as a feminine name.
Finn 1
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Irish Mythology, Old Irish [1], Irish, English, Dutch, German
Pronounced: FIN(English, Dutch, German)
Rating: 75% based on 2 votes
Old Irish form of
Fionn, as well as the usual Anglicized spelling (with the Irish hero's name Anglicized as Finn McCool). As a surname it is borne by Huckleberry Finn, a character in Mark Twain's novels.
Finneas
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Modern)
Rating: 100% based on 1 vote
Variant of
Phineas, likely inspired by names containing the Old Irish element
finn "white".
Finnegan
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: FIN-ə-gən
Rating: 80% based on 2 votes
From an Irish surname, an Anglicized form of
Ó Fionnagáin, itself derived from the given name
Fionnagán, a
diminutive of
Fionn. This is the surname of a relatively minor character in James Joyce's novel
Finnegans Wake (1939), the title of which was based on a 19th-century Irish ballad called
Finnegan's Wake.
Finnian
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Irish
Rating: 100% based on 1 vote
Derived from Old Irish
finn "white, blessed". This was the name of several Irish
saints, including the founders of monasteries at Clonard and Movilla (both 6th century).
Finnick
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Literature
Pronounced: FIN-ik(English)
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
Created by author Suzanne Collins for a character in the second book of The Hunger Games series, published 2009, later appearing in the 2013 movie adaptation. She may have derived it from the slang word finicky meaning "demanding, fussy".
Fintan
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Irish, Irish Mythology, Old Irish [1]
Pronounced: FIN-tan(English)
Rating: 30% based on 1 vote
Possibly means either
"white fire" or
"white ancient" in Irish. According to legend this was the name of the only Irish person to survive the great flood. This name was also borne by many Irish
saints.
Flick
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: FLIK
Rating: 10% based on 1 vote
Flora
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, German, Dutch, French, Greek, Albanian, Roman Mythology
Other Scripts: Φλώρα(Greek)
Pronounced: FLAWR-ə(English) FLAW-ra(Italian) FLO-ra(Spanish, German, Dutch, Latin) FLAW-ru(Portuguese) FLAW-RA(French)
Rating: 75% based on 2 votes
Derived from Latin
flos meaning
"flower" (genitive case
floris). Flora was the Roman goddess of flowers and spring, the wife of Zephyr the west wind. It has been used as a given name since the Renaissance, starting in France. In Scotland it was sometimes used as an Anglicized form of
Fionnghuala.
Fortune
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: French, English (Rare)
Pronounced: FAWR-TUYN(French) FAWR-chən(American English) FAW-choon(British English)
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
Simply from the word fortune, ultimately from Latin fortuna, a derivative of fors "luck".
Gabriel
Gender: Masculine
Usage: French, Spanish, Portuguese, German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Catalan, English, Romanian, Polish, Czech, Slovak, Georgian, Biblical, Biblical Latin, Biblical Greek [1]
Other Scripts: გაბრიელ(Georgian) גַּבְרִיאֵל(Ancient Hebrew) Γαβριήλ(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: GA-BREE-YEHL(French) ga-BRYEHL(Spanish) ga-bree-EHL(European Portuguese, Romanian) ga-bree-EW(Brazilian Portuguese) GA-bree-ehl(German, Slovak, Latin) GAH-bri-ehl(Swedish) GAH-bree-ehl(Finnish) gə-bree-EHL(Catalan) GAY-bree-əl(English) GAB-ryehl(Polish) GA-bri-yehl(Czech)
Rating: 100% based on 1 vote
From the Hebrew name
גַבְרִיאֵל (Ḡavriʾel) meaning
"God is my strong man", derived from
גֶּבֶר (gever) meaning "strong man, hero" and
אֵל (ʾel) meaning "God". Gabriel is an archangel in Hebrew tradition, often appearing as a messenger of God. In the
Old Testament he is sent to interpret the visions of the prophet
Daniel, while in the
New Testament he serves as the announcer of the births of
John to
Zechariah and
Jesus to
Mary. According to Islamic tradition he was the angel who dictated the
Quran to
Muhammad.
This name has been used occasionally in England since the 12th century. It was not common in the English-speaking world until the end of the 20th century.
Gale 2
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: GAYL
Rating: 30% based on 1 vote
From a surname that was derived from Middle English gaile "jovial". It also coincides with the English word gale meaning "storm".
Galen
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: GAY-lən
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
Modern form of the Greek name
Γαληνός (Galenos), which meant
"calm" from Greek
γαλήνη (galene). It was borne by a 2nd-century BC Greco-Roman physician who contributed to anatomy and medicine. In modern times the name is occasionally given in his honour.
Galena
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Bulgarian, Macedonian
Other Scripts: Галена(Bulgarian, Macedonian)
Rating: 30% based on 1 vote
Bulgarian and Macedonian feminine form of
Galenos (see
Galen).
Garnet 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: GAHR-nət(American English) GAH-nət(British English)
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
From the English word garnet for the precious stone, the birthstone of January. The word is derived from Middle English gernet meaning "dark red".
Gavril
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Bulgarian, Macedonian, Romanian
Other Scripts: Гаврил(Bulgarian, Macedonian)
Pronounced: ga-VREEL(Romanian)
Rating: 100% based on 1 vote
Bulgarian, Macedonian and Romanian form of
Gabriel.
Genesis
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: JEHN-ə-sis
Rating: 80% based on 2 votes
Means
"birth, origin" in Greek. This is the name of the first book of the
Old Testament in the Bible. It tells of the creation of the world, the expulsion of
Adam and
Eve,
Noah and the great flood, and the three patriarchs.
Geneva
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: jə-NEE-və
Rating: 30% based on 1 vote
Possibly a shortened form of
Genevieve. It could also be inspired by the name of the city in Switzerland. It has been used as a given name in the English-speaking world since the 19th century.
Geo
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Rare)
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
Short form or abbreviation for
George used as an independent name.
Haris 2
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: Greek
Other Scripts: Χάρης, Χάρις(Greek)
Pronounced: KHA-rees
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
Harmony
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: HAHR-mə-nee(American English) HAH-mə-nee(British English)
Rating: 25% based on 2 votes
From the English word
harmony, ultimately deriving from Greek
ἁρμονία (harmonia).
Harper
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: HAHR-pər(American English) HAH-pə(British English)
Rating: 80% based on 2 votes
From an English surname that originally belonged to a person who played or made harps (Old English hearpe). A notable bearer was the American author Harper Lee (1926-2016), who wrote To Kill a Mockingbird. It rapidly gained popularity in the 2000s and 2010s, entering the American top ten for girls in 2015.
Haven
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: HAY-vən
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
From the English word for a safe place, derived ultimately from Old English hæfen.
Hector
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, French, Greek Mythology (Latinized), Arthurian Cycle
Other Scripts: Ἕκτωρ(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: HEHK-tər(American English) HEHK-tə(British English) EHK-TAWR(French)
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
Latinized form of Greek
Ἕκτωρ (Hektor), which was derived from
ἕκτωρ (hektor) meaning
"holding fast", ultimately from
ἔχω (echo) meaning "to hold, to possess". In Greek legend Hector was one of the Trojan champions who fought against the Greeks. After he killed
Achilles' friend
Patroclus in battle, he was himself brutally slain by Achilles, who proceeded to tie his dead body to a chariot and drag it about. This name also appears in Arthurian legends where it belongs to King
Arthur's foster father.
Hector has occasionally been used as a given name since the Middle Ages, probably because of the noble character of the classical hero. It has been historically common in Scotland, where it was used as an Anglicized form of Eachann.
Helena
Gender: Feminine
Usage: German, Dutch, Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, Icelandic, Portuguese, Catalan, Polish, Czech, Slovak, Finnish, Estonian, Slovene, Croatian, Sorbian, English, Ancient Greek (Latinized), Greek Mythology (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Ἑλένη(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: HEH-leh-na(German, Czech) heh-LEH-na(German, Dutch) heh-LEH-nah(Swedish, Danish, Norwegian) i-LEH-nu(European Portuguese) eh-LEH-nu(Brazilian Portuguese) ə-LEH-nə(Catalan) kheh-LEH-na(Polish) HEH-leh-nah(Finnish) HEHL-ə-nə(English) hə-LAYN-ə(English) hə-LEEN-ə(English)
Rating: 25% based on 2 votes
Latinate form of
Helen. This is the name of the heroine of William Shakespeare's play
All's Well That Ends Well (1603).
Hermione
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Ἑρμιόνη(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: HEHR-MEE-O-NEH(Classical Greek) hər-MIE-ə-nee(American English) hə-MIE-ə-nee(British English)
Rating: 0% based on 1 vote
Derived from the name of the Greek messenger god
Hermes. In Greek
myth Hermione was the daughter of
Menelaus and
Helen. This is also the name of the wife of
Leontes in Shakespeare's play
The Winter's Tale (1610). It is now closely associated with the character Hermione Granger from the
Harry Potter series of books, first released in 1997.
Hero 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Ἡρώ(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: HIR-o(English)
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
Derived from Greek
ἥρως (heros) meaning
"hero". In Greek legend she was the lover of
Leander, who would swim across the Hellespont each night to meet her. He was killed on one such occasion when he got caught in a storm while in the water, and when Hero saw his dead body she drowned herself. This is also the name of a character in Shakespeare's play
Much Ado About Nothing (1599).
Heron
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Ancient Greek [1]
Other Scripts: Ἥρων(Ancient Greek)
Rating: 30% based on 1 vote
Derived from Greek
ἥρως (heros) meaning
"hero". This was the name of a 1st-century Greek inventor (also known as
Hero) from Alexandria.
Holden
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: HOL-dən
Rating: 80% based on 2 votes
From a surname that was originally derived from a place name meaning "deep valley" in Old English. This is the name of the main character in J. D. Salinger's novel The Catcher in the Rye (1951), Holden Caulfield.
Huck
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Literature
Pronounced: HUK(English)
Rating: 100% based on 1 vote
Hyacinth 2
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: HIE-ə-sinth
Rating: 30% based on 1 vote
From the name of the flower (or the precious stone that also bears this name), ultimately from Greek
hyakinthos (see
Hyacinthus).
Hyperion
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Ὑπερίων(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: HUY-PEH-REE-AWN(Classical Greek) hie-PIR-ee-ən(English)
Rating: 30% based on 1 vote
Derived from Greek
ὑπέρ (hyper) meaning
"over". In Greek
myth this was the name of a Titan who presided over the sun and light. By
Theia he was the father of the sun god
Helios, the moon goddess
Selene, and the dawn goddess
Eos.
Icarus
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Greek Mythology (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Ἴκαρος(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: IK-ə-rəs(English)
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
From the Greek
Ἴκαρος (Ikaros), of unknown meaning. In Greek
myth Icarus was the son of
Daedalus, locked with his father inside the Labyrinth by
Minos. They escaped from the maze using wings devised from wax, but Icarus flew too close to the sun and the wax melted, plunging him to his death.
Idalia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Germanic (Latinized) [1], Greek Mythology, Polish (Rare)
Other Scripts: Ἰδαλία(Ancient Greek)
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
Probably from a Germanic name derived from the element
idal, an extended form of
id possibly meaning
"work, labour" [1]. Unrelated, this was also an epithet of the Greek goddess
Aphrodite, given because the city of Idalion on Cyprus was a center of her cult.
This name was borne by the heroine of the Polish writer Juliusz Słowacki's play Fantazy (1841, published 1866).
Ilias
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Greek
Other Scripts: Ηλίας(Greek)
Pronounced: ee-LEE-as
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
Modern Greek form of
Elias.
Imani
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: Swahili, African American
Rating: 30% based on 1 vote
Means
"faith" in Swahili, ultimately from Arabic
إيمان (ʾīmān).
Indiana
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: in-dee-AN-ə
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
From the name of the American state, which means "land of the Indians". This is the name of the hero in the Indiana Jones series of movies, starring Harrison Ford.
Io
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Ἰώ(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: EE-AW(Classical Greek) IE-o(English)
Rating: 100% based on 1 vote
Meaning unknown. In Greek
mythology Io was a princess loved by
Zeus, who changed her into a heifer in order to hide her from
Hera. A moon of Jupiter bears this name in her honour.
Ione
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology, English
Other Scripts: Ἰόνη(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: ie-O-nee(English)
Rating: 100% based on 2 votes
From Ancient Greek
ἴον (ion) meaning
"violet flower". This was the name of a sea nymph in Greek
mythology. It has been used as a given name in the English-speaking world since the 19th century, though perhaps based on the Greek place name
Ionia, a region on the west coast of Asia Minor.
Irena
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Polish, Czech, Slovene, Croatian, Serbian, Albanian, Bulgarian, Slovak, Lithuanian
Other Scripts: Ирена(Serbian, Bulgarian)
Pronounced: ee-REH-na(Polish) I-reh-na(Czech) EE-reh-na(Slovak) i-ryeh-NU(Lithuanian)
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
Form of
Irene in several languages.
Irene
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, German, Dutch, Ancient Greek (Latinized), Greek Mythology (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Εἰρήνη(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: ie-REEN(English) ie-REE-nee(English) ee-REH-neh(Italian, Spanish) EE-reh-neh(Finnish) ee-REH-nə(German, Dutch)
Rating: 50% based on 2 votes
From Greek
Εἰρήνη (Eirene), derived from a word meaning
"peace". This was the name of the Greek goddess who personified peace, one of the
Ὥραι (Horai). It was also borne by several early Christian
saints. The name was common in the Byzantine Empire, notably being borne by an 8th-century empress, who was the first woman to lead the empire. She originally served as regent for her son, but later had him killed and ruled alone.
This name has traditionally been more popular among Eastern Christians. In the English-speaking world it was not regularly used until the 19th century.
Irini
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek
Other Scripts: Ειρήνη(Greek)
Pronounced: ee-REE-nee
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
Modern Greek form of
Irene.
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: 80% based on 2 votes
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.
Iro
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek
Other Scripts: Ηρώ(Greek)
Rating: 100% based on 1 vote
Isaac
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, Spanish, Portuguese, Catalan, French, Jewish, Biblical, Biblical Latin
Other Scripts: יִצְחָק(Hebrew)
Pronounced: IE-zək(English) ee-sa-AK(Spanish) EE-ZAK(French) EE-ZA-AK(French)
Rating: 0% based on 1 vote
From the Hebrew name
יִצְחָק (Yitsḥaq) meaning
"he will laugh, he will rejoice", derived from
צָחַק (tsaḥaq) meaning "to laugh". The
Old Testament explains this meaning, by recounting that
Abraham laughed when God told him that his aged wife
Sarah would become pregnant with Isaac (see
Genesis 17:17), and later Sarah laughed when overhearing the same prophecy (see
Genesis 18:12). When Isaac was a boy, God tested Abraham's faith by ordering him to sacrifice his son, though an angel prevented the act at the last moment. Isaac went on to become the father of
Esau and
Jacob with his wife
Rebecca.
As an English Christian name, Isaac was occasionally used during the Middle Ages, though it was more common among Jews. It became more widespread after the Protestant Reformation. Famous bearers include the physicist and mathematician Isaac Newton (1643-1727) and the science-fiction writer Isaac Asimov (1920-1992).
Isaak
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Greek, Russian (Rare), German (Rare), Biblical Greek [1]
Other Scripts: Ισαάκ(Greek) Исаак(Russian) Ἰσαάκ(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: i-su-AK(Russian)
Rating: 0% based on 1 vote
Greek, Russian and German form of
Isaac.
Isis
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Egyptian Mythology (Hellenized)
Other Scripts: Ἶσις(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: IE-sis(English)
Rating: 10% based on 1 vote
Greek form of Egyptian
ꜣst (reconstructed as
Iset,
Aset or
Ueset), possibly from
st meaning
"throne". In Egyptian
mythology Isis was the goddess of the sky and nature, the wife of
Osiris and the mother of
Horus. She was originally depicted wearing a throne-shaped headdress, but in later times she was conflated with the goddess
Hathor and depicted having the horns of a cow on her head. She was also worshipped by people outside of Egypt, such as the Greeks and Romans.
Ivy
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: IE-vee
Rating: 80% based on 2 votes
From the English word for the climbing plant that has small yellow flowers. It is ultimately derived from Old English ifig.
Jalen
Gender: Masculine
Usage: African American (Modern)
Pronounced: JAY-lən(English)
Rating: 0% based on 1 vote
An invented name. In America it was popularized in the 1990s by basketball player Jalen Rose (1973-), whose name was a combination of those of his father
James and maternal uncle
Leonard [1].
Jewel
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: JOO-əl, JOOL
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
In part from the English word
jewel, a precious stone, derived from Old French
jouel, which was possibly related to
jeu "game". It is also in part from the surname
Jewel or
Jewell (a derivative of the Breton name
Judicaël), which was sometimes used in honour of the 16th-century bishop of Salisbury John Jewel. It has been in use as a given name since the 19th century.
Jewell
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: JOO-əl, JOOL
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
Jonah
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, Biblical
Other Scripts: יוֹנָה(Ancient Hebrew)
Pronounced: JO-nə(English)
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
From the Hebrew name
יוֹנָה (Yona) meaning
"dove". This was the name of a prophet swallowed by a fish, as told in the
Old Testament Book of Jonah. Jonah was commanded by God to preach in Nineveh, but instead fled by boat. After being caught in a storm, the other sailors threw Jonah overboard, at which point he was swallowed. He emerged from the fish alive and repentant three days later.
Jonah's story was popular in the Middle Ages, and the Hellenized form Jonas was occasionally used in England. The form Jonah did not become common until after the Protestant Reformation.
Jonas 2
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, German, Dutch, French, Biblical
Other Scripts: Ἰωνᾶς(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: YOO-nas(Swedish) YO-nas(German) YO-nahs(Dutch) JO-nəs(English)
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
From
Ἰωνᾶς (Ionas), the Greek form of
Jonah. This spelling is used in some English translations of the
New Testament.
Julissa
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Spanish (Latin American)
Pronounced: gyoo-LEE-sa
Juniper
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: JOON-i-pər(American English) JOON-i-pə(British English)
Rating: 80% based on 2 votes
From the English word for the type of tree, derived ultimately from Latin iuniperus.
Kalliope
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Καλλιόπη(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: KAL-LEE-O-PEH(Classical Greek)
Rating: 100% based on 1 vote
Means
"beautiful voice" from Greek
κάλλος (kallos) meaning "beauty" and
ὄψ (ops) meaning "voice". In Greek
mythology she was a goddess of epic poetry and eloquence, one of the nine Muses.
Kalypso
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Καλυψώ(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: KA-LUYP-SAW(Classical Greek)
Rating: 100% based on 1 vote
Karina
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, Polish, German, Russian, English, Latvian, Spanish
Other Scripts: Карина(Russian)
Pronounced: ka-REE-na(Swedish, Polish, German, Spanish) ku-RYEE-nə(Russian) kə-REE-nə(English)
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
Elaborated form of
Karin.
Kassia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: KA-shə, KAS-ee-ə
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
Kastor
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Κάστωρ(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: KAS-TAWR(Classical Greek)
Rating: 100% based on 1 vote
Kira 2
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: KIR-ə
Rating: 25% based on 2 votes
Kleo
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (Modern, Rare)
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
Kleon
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Ancient Greek [1]
Other Scripts: Κλέων(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: KLEH-AWN
Rating: 30% based on 1 vote
Kosmo
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Finnish (Modern), Swedish (Rare), Danish (Rare)
Pronounced: KAWS-maw(Finnish)
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
Kyrie 2
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: KEE-ree-ay
Rating: 0% based on 1 vote
From the name of a Christian prayer, also called the
Kyrie eleison meaning "Lord, have mercy". It is ultimately from Greek
κύριος (kyrios) meaning
"lord".
Kyrion
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Late Greek
Other Scripts: Κυρίων, Κύριον(Ancient Greek)
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
Derived from either the Greek noun κύριος
(kyrios) meaning "lord, master" or the Greek adjective κύριος
(kyrios) meaning "ruling, governing, having power".
Both words are related to the Greek noun κυρία (kyria) meaning "authority, power".
Kyrion was the name of one of the Forty Martyrs of Sebaste (4th century AD).
Lachlan
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Scottish, English
Pronounced: LAKH-lən(Scottish) LAWK-lən(British English) LAK-lən(American English)
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
Anglicized form of
Lachlann, the Scottish Gaelic form of
Lochlainn. In the English-speaking world, this name was especially popular in Australia towards the end of the 20th century.
Laith
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Arabic
Other Scripts: ليث(Arabic)
Pronounced: LIETH
Rating: 100% based on 1 vote
Alternate transcription of Arabic ليث (see
Layth).
Larissa
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, German, Portuguese (Brazilian), Greek Mythology (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Λάρισα(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: lə-RIS-ə(English) la-RI-sa(German)
Rating: 30% based on 1 vote
Variant of
Larisa. It has been commonly used as an English given name only since the 20th century, as a borrowing from Russian. In 1991 this name was given to one of the moons of Neptune, in honour of the mythological character.
Lark
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: LAHRK(American English) LAHK(British English)
Rating: 75% based on 2 votes
From the English word for the type of songbird.
Lavender
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: LAV-ən-dər(American English) LAV-ən-də(British English)
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
From the English word for the aromatic flower or the pale purple colour.
Lavern
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: lə-VURN(American English) lə-VUN(British English)
Rating: 30% based on 1 vote
Leander
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Greek Mythology (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Λέανδρος(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: lee-AN-dər(American English) lee-AN-də(British English)
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
Latinized form of the Greek name
Λέανδρος (Leandros), derived from
λέων (leon) meaning "lion" and
ἀνήρ (aner) meaning "man" (genitive
ἀνδρός). In Greek legend Leander was the lover of Hero. Every night he swam across the Hellespont to meet her, but on one occasion he was drowned when a storm arose. When Hero saw his dead body she threw herself into the waters and perished.
Lenore
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: lə-NAWR(American English) lə-NAW(British English)
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
Short form of
Eleanor. This is the name of the departed love of the narrator in Edgar Allan Poe's poem
The Raven (1845).
Leona
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Czech
Pronounced: lee-O-nə(English) LEH-o-na(Czech)
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
Leonidas
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Greek, Ancient Greek [1]
Other Scripts: Λεωνίδας(Greek)
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
Derived from Greek
λέων (leon) meaning "lion" combined with the patronymic suffix
ἴδης (ides). Leonidas was a Spartan king of the 5th century BC who sacrificed his life and his army defending the pass of Thermopylae from the Persians. This was also the name of a 3rd-century
saint and martyr, the father of Origen, from Alexandria.
Linden
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: LIN-dən
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
From a German and Dutch surname that was derived from Old High German
linta meaning
"linden tree".
Linus
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Greek Mythology (Latinized), Ancient Greek (Latinized), Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, German
Other Scripts: Λίνος(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: LIE-nəs(English) LEE-nuys(Swedish) LEE-nuws(German)
Rating: 0% based on 1 vote
From the Greek name
Λίνος (Linos) meaning
"flax". In Greek legend he was the son of the god
Apollo, who accidentally killed him in a contest. Another son of Apollo by this name was the music teacher of
Herakles. The name was also borne by the second pope, serving after
Saint Peter in the 1st century. In modern times this was the name of a character in Charles Schulz's comic strip
Peanuts.
Lorrin
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: LAWR-ən
Rating: 30% based on 1 vote
Lotus
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: LO-təs
Rating: 10% based on 1 vote
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.
Loukas
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Biblical Greek [1], Greek
Other Scripts: Λουκᾶς(Ancient Greek) Λουκάς(Greek)
Rating: 0% based on 1 vote
Original Greek form of
Luke.
Loyal
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English, English (Puritan)
Pronounced: LOI-əl(English)
From the English word meaning "firm in allegiance, faithful, to a person, cause, or institution", ultimately from Latin lēgalis meaning "legal, law".
Lucia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, German, Dutch, English, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Romanian, Slovak, Ancient Roman
Pronounced: loo-CHEE-a(Italian) LOO-tsya(German) loo-TSEE-a(German) LUY-see-a(Dutch) LOO-shə(English) loo-SEE-ə(English) luy-SEE-a(Swedish) LOO-chya(Romanian) LOO-kee-a(Latin)
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
Feminine form of
Lucius.
Saint Lucia was a 4th-century martyr from Syracuse. She was said to have had her eyes gouged out, and thus she is the patron saint of the blind. She was widely revered in the Middle Ages, and her name has been used throughout Christian Europe (in various spellings). It has been used in the England since the 12th century, usually in the spellings
Lucy or
Luce.
Lux
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: Various
Pronounced: LUKS(English)
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
Derived from Latin lux meaning "light".
Lyanna
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Literature
Rating: 30% based on 1 vote
Created by author George R. R. Martin for a character in his series A Song of Ice and Fire, published beginning 1996, and the television adaptation Game of Thrones (2011-2019). In the story Lyanna was the sister of Ned Stark. Her abduction and subsequent death was the cause of the civil war that toppled the Targaryens.
Lydia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, German, Dutch, Biblical, Biblical Latin, Biblical Greek [1]
Other Scripts: Λυδία(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: LID-ee-ə(English) LUY-dya(German) LEE-dee-a(Dutch)
Rating: 75% based on 2 votes
Means
"from Lydia" in Greek. Lydia was a region on the west coast of Asia Minor, said to be named for the legendary king
Lydos. In the
New Testament this is the name of a woman converted to Christianity by
Saint Paul. In the modern era the name has been in use since the
Protestant Reformation.
Lydos
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Ancient Greek [1]
Other Scripts: Λυδός(Ancient Greek)
Rating: 30% based on 1 vote
Meaning unknown. This was the name of the semi-legendary king who gave his name to the region of
Lydia in Asia Minor.
Lyra
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Astronomy
Pronounced: LIE-rə(English)
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
The name of the constellation in the northern sky containing the star Vega. It is said to be shaped after the lyre of Orpheus. This is the name of the main character in the His Dark Materials series of books by Philip Pullman (beginning 1995).
Lyric
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: LIR-ik
Rating: 30% based on 2 votes
Means simply
"lyric, songlike" from the English word, ultimately derived from Greek
λυρικός (lyrikos).
Lysander
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Ancient Greek (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Λύσανδρος(Ancient Greek)
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
Latinized form of the Greek name
Λύσανδρος (Lysandros), derived from Greek
λύσις (lysis) meaning "a release, loosening" and
ἀνήρ (aner) meaning "man" (genitive
ἀνδρός). This was the name of a notable 5th-century BC Spartan general and naval commander.
Manu 2
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: French, Spanish, German, Finnish
Pronounced: MA-NUY(French) MA-noo(Spanish) MAH-noo(Finnish)
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
Marceon
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (American)
Rating: 30% based on 1 vote
Marina
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Catalan, German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Dutch, English, Greek, Finnish, Estonian, Russian, Romanian, Czech, Bulgarian, Croatian, Serbian, Slovene, Macedonian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Georgian, Ancient Roman
Other Scripts: Μαρίνα(Greek) Марина(Russian, Bulgarian, Serbian, Macedonian) მარინა(Georgian)
Pronounced: ma-REE-na(Italian, Spanish, German, Dutch, Macedonian) mə-REE-nə(Catalan) mə-REEN-ə(English) mu-RYEE-nə(Russian) MA-ri-na(Czech)
Rating: 30% based on 2 votes
Feminine form of
Marinus. This name was borne by a few early
saints. This is also the name by which Saint
Margaret of Antioch is known in the Eastern Orthodox Church.
Maris 2
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: MEHR-is, MAR-is
Means
"of the sea", taken from the Latin title of the Virgin
Mary,
Stella Maris, meaning "star of the sea".
Marisa
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, English
Pronounced: ma-REE-za(Italian) ma-REE-sa(Spanish) mə-RIS-ə(English)
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
Italian, Spanish and Portuguese combination of
Maria and
Luisa.
Marissa
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Dutch
Pronounced: mə-RIS-ə(English) ma-RI-sa(Dutch)
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
Markos
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Greek, Ancient Roman (Hellenized), Biblical Greek [1]
Other Scripts: Μάρκος(Greek) Μᾶρκος(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: MAR-kos(Greek) MAR-KOS(Classical Greek)
Greek form of
Marcus (see
Mark).
Marlowe
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: MAHR-lo(American English) MAH-lo(British English)
Rating: 10% based on 1 vote
From a surname that was derived from a place name meaning "remnants of a lake" in Old English. A famous bearer of the surname was the English playwright Christopher Marlowe (1564-1593).
Mars
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Roman Mythology
Pronounced: MARS(Latin) MAHRZ(American English) MAHZ(British English)
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
Possibly related to Latin
mas meaning
"male" (genitive
maris). In Roman
mythology Mars was the god of war, often equated with the Greek god
Ares. This is also the name of the fourth planet in the solar system.
Mavis
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: MAY-vis
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
From the name of the type of bird, also called the song thrush, derived from Old French mauvis, of uncertain origin. It was first used as a given name by the British author Marie Corelli, who used it for a character in her novel The Sorrows of Satan (1895).
Meade
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: MEED
From an English surname that indicated one who lived on a meadow (from Middle English mede) or one who sold or made mead (an alcoholic drink made from fermented honey; from Old English meodu).
Meadow
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: MEHD-o
Rating: 80% based on 2 votes
From the English word meadow, ultimately from Old English mædwe. Previously very rare, it rose in popularity after it was used as the name of Tony Soprano's daughter on the television series The Sopranos (1999-2007).
Melina
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Greek
Other Scripts: Μελίνα(Greek)
Pronounced: mə-LEE-nə(English)
Rating: 30% based on 1 vote
Elaboration of
Mel, either from names such as
Melissa or from Greek
μέλι (meli) meaning "honey". A famous bearer was Greek-American actress Melina Mercouri (1920-1994), who was born Maria Amalia Mercouris.
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)
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
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.
Melita
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Μελίτη(Ancient Greek)
Latinized form of
Melite. However, in the case of Queen Victoria's granddaughter Princess Victoria Melita (1876-1936), it was derived from
Melita, the Latin name of the island country of Malta where she was born.
Melody
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: MEHL-ə-dee
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
From the English word
melody, which is derived (via Old French and Late Latin) from Greek
μέλος (melos) meaning "song" combined with
ἀείδω (aeido) meaning "to sing".
Merit 2
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Estonian, Swedish (Rare)
Rating: 30% based on 1 vote
Mika
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek
Other Scripts: Μίκα(Greek)
Mila
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Serbian, Croatian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Slovene, Ukrainian, Russian
Other Scripts: Мила(Serbian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Russian) Міла(Ukrainian)
Pronounced: MYEE-lə(Russian)
From the Slavic element
milŭ meaning
"gracious, dear", originally a short form of names containing that element.
Miltos
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Greek
Other Scripts: Μίλτος(Greek)
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
Mina 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Dutch
Pronounced: MEE-nə(English) MEE-na(Dutch)
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
Short form of
Wilhelmina and other names ending in
mina. This was the name of a character in the novel
Dracula (1897) by Bram Stoker.
Minerva
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Roman Mythology, English, Spanish
Pronounced: mee-NEHR-wa(Latin) mi-NUR-və(American English) mi-NU-və(British English) mee-NEHR-ba(Spanish)
Rating: 30% based on 1 vote
Possibly derived from Latin
mens meaning
"intellect", but more likely of Etruscan origin. Minerva was the Roman goddess of wisdom and war, approximately equivalent to the Greek goddess
Athena. It has been used as a given name in the English-speaking world since after the Renaissance.
Mira 2
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Croatian, Serbian, Slovene, Macedonian, Polish
Other Scripts: Мира(Serbian, Macedonian)
Pronounced: MEE-ra(Polish)
Short form of
Miroslava and other names beginning with
Mir (often the Slavic element
mirŭ meaning
"peace, world").
Myia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Ancient Greek
Other Scripts: Μυῖα(Ancient Greek)
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
Derived from Greek μυῖα (myia) meaning "fly" (considered a symbol of audacity or excessive boldness). This was borne by a Pythagorean philosopher who was active around the year 500 BC. According to later tradition, she was one of the daughters of Pythagoras and Theano.
Myron
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, Ukrainian, Ancient Greek [1]
Other Scripts: Мирон(Ukrainian) Μύρων(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: MIE-rən(English) MUY-RAWN(Classical Greek)
Derived from Greek
μύρον (myron) meaning
"sweet oil, perfume". Myron was the name of a 5th-century BC Greek sculptor.
Saints bearing this name include a 3rd-century bishop of Crete and a 4th-century martyr from Cyzicus who was killed by a mob. These saints are more widely revered in the Eastern Church, and the name has generally been more common among Eastern Christians. As an English name, it has been used since the 19th century.
Mythia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Obscure
Rating: 30% based on 1 vote
Nadia 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French, Italian, Spanish, Polish, English, Russian, Bulgarian, Ukrainian
Other Scripts: Надя(Russian, Bulgarian) Надія(Ukrainian)
Pronounced: NA-DYA(French) NA-dya(Italian, Polish) NA-dhya(Spanish) NAD-ee-ə(English) NAHD-ee-ə(English) NA-dyə(Russian)
Rating: 75% based on 2 votes
Variant of
Nadya 1 used in Western Europe, as well as an alternate transcription of the Slavic name. It began to be used in France in the 19th century
[1]. The name received a boost in popularity from the Romanian gymnast Nadia Comăneci (1961-)
[2].
Nadine
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French, German, English, Dutch
Pronounced: NA-DEEN(French) na-DEE-nə(German, Dutch) na-DEEN(German, Dutch) nay-DEEN(English)
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
Nasia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek (Cypriot)
Other Scripts: Νάσια(Greek)
Pronounced: NA-skha(Greek)
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
Nausicaa
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Ναυσικάα(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: naw-SIK-ee-ə(English)
Latinized form of Greek
Ναυσικάα (Nausikaa) meaning
"burner of ships". In
Homer's epic the
Odyssey this is the name of a daughter of Alcinous who helps
Odysseus on his journey home.
Neo 2
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Various
Pronounced: NEE-o(English)
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
From a prefix meaning
"new", ultimately from Greek
νέος (neos).
In the film series beginning with The Matrix (1999), this is the main character's screen alias and the name he later goes by in the real world. The character is also called The One, one being an anagram of Neo.
Nero 1
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Ancient Roman
Pronounced: NEH-ro(Latin) NIR-o(English)
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
Roman
cognomen, which was probably of Sabine origin meaning
"strong, vigorous". It was used by a prominent branch of the gens Claudia starting from the 3rd century BC. It was borne most famously by a Roman emperor of the 1st century, remembered as a tyrant. His birth name was Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, but after he was adopted as the heir of
Claudius his name became Nero Claudius Caesar Drusus Germanicus.
Nika 1
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: Russian
Other Scripts: Ника(Russian)
Rating: 75% based on 2 votes
Russian short form of
Veronika and other names ending in
nika. It can also be a short form of
Nikita 1 (masculine).
Nike
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology, Ancient Greek [1]
Other Scripts: Νίκη(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: NEE-KEH(Classical Greek) NIE-kee(English)
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
Means "victory" in Greek. Nike was the Greek goddess of victory.
Niketas
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Ancient Greek [1]
Other Scripts: Νικήτας(Ancient Greek)
Rating: 30% based on 1 vote
Derived from Greek
νικητής (niketes) meaning
"winner, victor".
Saint Niketas was a 4th-century bishop of Remesiana in Serbia. He is a patron saint of Romania.
Nikitas
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Greek
Other Scripts: Νικήτας(Greek)
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
Nil
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: Catalan, Russian (Rare), Ukrainian (Rare), Belarusian (Rare), Turkish
Other Scripts: Нил(Russian) Ніл(Ukrainian, Belarusian)
Pronounced: NEEL(Catalan, Turkish)
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
Catalan, Russian, Ukrainian and Belarusian form of
Neilos (and the Nile River). This name was borne by a 15th-century Russian
saint, Nil Sorsky. As a Turkish name it is feminine, and comes directly from the Turkish name for the river.
Nora 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Irish, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Latvian, German, Dutch, Italian, Spanish
Pronounced: NAWR-ə(English) NO-ra(German, Dutch, Spanish)
Rating: 30% based on 2 votes
Short form of
Honora or
Eleanor. Henrik Ibsen used it for a character in his play
A Doll's House (1879).
Norah 2
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Arabic
Other Scripts: نورة, نورا(Arabic)
Pronounced: NOO-ra
Rating: 30% based on 2 votes
Oberon
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Literature
Pronounced: O-bə-rahn(American English) O-bə-rawn(British English)
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
Variant of
Auberon. Oberon and
Titania are the king and queen of the fairies in Shakespeare's comedy
A Midsummer Night's Dream (1595). A moon of Uranus bears this name in his honour.
Ochre
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Rare, Archaic)
Pronounced: O-kə
Rating: 10% based on 1 vote
From Old French ocre, via Latin from Greek ōkhra ‘yellow ocher.’
Octavian
Gender: Masculine
Usage: History, Romanian
Pronounced: ahk-TAY-vee-ən(American English) awk-TAY-vee-ən(British English)
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
From the Roman name
Octavianus, which was derived from the name
Octavius. After Gaius Octavius (later the Roman emperor
Augustus) was adopted by Julius Caesar he took the name Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus.
Odalis
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: Spanish (Latin American)
Pronounced: o-DHA-lees
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
Possibly an elaboration of
Odilia used in Latin America. In most countries it is a feminine name, but in the Dominican Republic it is commonly masculine.
Odessa
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Various
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
From the name of a Ukrainian city that sits on the north coast of the Black Sea, which was named after the ancient Greek city of
Ὀδησσός (Odessos), of uncertain meaning. This name can also be used as a feminine form of
Odysseus.
Okridion
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Ὀκριδίων(Ancient Greek)
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
Derived from Greek ὀκρίδες (okrides), which is the plural form of Greek ὄκρις (okris) meaning "peak, point" (which is often in reference to a mountain top). Also compare the Greek adjective ὀκριοειδής (okrioeides) meaning "rugged, jagged".
Oleander
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: Greek (Rare), English (Rare)
Pronounced: AW-lee-an-der(Greek)
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
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.
Olympas
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Biblical, Biblical Greek [1], Biblical Latin, Ancient Greek [2]
Other Scripts: Ὀλυμπᾶς(Ancient Greek)
Olympia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek, Slovak
Other Scripts: Ολυμπία(Greek)
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
Olympian
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (American)
Rating: 10% based on 1 vote
Omid
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: Persian
Other Scripts: امید(Persian)
Pronounced: o-MEED
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
Means "hope" in Persian.
Omiros
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Greek
Other Scripts: Όμηρος(Greek)
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
Modern Greek form of
Homer.
Omri
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Biblical, Hebrew, Biblical Hebrew [1]
Other Scripts: עָמְרִי(Hebrew)
Pronounced: AHM-rie(American English) AHM-ree(American English) AWM-rie(British English) AWM-ree(British English)
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
Possibly means
"servant" in Hebrew (or a related Semitic language), from the root
עָמַר (ʿamar) meaning "to bind"
[2]. This was the name of a 9th-century BC military commander who became king of Israel. He appears in the
Old Testament, where he is denounced as being wicked.
Onyx
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: AHN-iks(American English) AWN-iks(British English)
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
From the English word for the gemstone (a variety of chalcedony), which can be black, red or other colours. It is derived from Greek
ὄνυξ (onyx) meaning "claw, nail".
Orion
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Ὠρίων(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: AW-REE-AWN(Classical Greek) o-RIE-ən(English)
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
Meaning uncertain, but possibly related to Greek
ὅριον (horion) meaning
"boundary, limit". Alternatively it may be derived from Akkadian
Uru-anna meaning
"light of the heavens". This is the name of a constellation, which gets its name from a legendary Greek hunter who was killed by a scorpion sent by the earth goddess
Gaia.
Orrin
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Irish
Rating: 10% based on 1 vote
Ouranos
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Οὐρανός(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: O-RA-NOS(Classical Greek)
Pan
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Πάν(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: PAN(Classical Greek, English)
Possibly from the Indo-European root *
peh- meaning
"shepherd, protect". In Greek
mythology Pan was a half-man, half-goat god associated with shepherds, flocks and pastures.
Pandora
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Πανδώρα(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: PAN-DAW-RA(Classical Greek) pan-DAWR-ə(English)
Means
"all gifts", derived from a combination of Greek
πᾶν (pan) meaning "all" and
δῶρον (doron) meaning "gift". In Greek
mythology Pandora was the first mortal woman.
Zeus gave her a jar containing all of the troubles and ills that mankind now knows, and told her not to open it. Unfortunately her curiosity got the best of her and she opened it, unleashing the evil spirits into the world.
Patroclus
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Greek Mythology (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Πάτροκλος(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: pə-TRO-kləs(English)
Latinized form of the Greek
Πάτροκλος (Patroklos) meaning
"glory of the father", derived from
πατήρ (pater) meaning "father" (genitive
πατρός) and
κλέος (kleos) meaning "glory". In Greek legend he was one of the heroes who fought against the Trojans. His death at the hands of
Hector drew his friend
Achilles back into the war.
Paz 2
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: Hebrew
Other Scripts: פָּז(Hebrew)
Rating: 30% based on 1 vote
Means "gold" in Hebrew.
Petra
Gender: Feminine
Usage: German, Dutch, Spanish, Czech, Slovak, Slovene, Croatian, Bulgarian, Hungarian, Swedish, Finnish, English
Other Scripts: Петра(Bulgarian) Πέτρα(Greek)
Pronounced: PEH-tra(German, Dutch, Spanish, Czech, Slovak) PEH-traw(Hungarian) PEHT-rah(Finnish) PEHT-rə(English)
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
Feminine form of
Peter. This was also the name of an ancient city in the region that is now Jordan.
Petros
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Greek, Armenian, Biblical Greek [1]
Other Scripts: Πέτρος(Greek) Պետրոս(Armenian)
Pronounced: PEHT-ros(Greek) peht-RAWS(Eastern Armenian) behd-RAWS(Western Armenian)
Greek and Armenian form of
Peter.
Philon
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Ancient Greek [1]
Other Scripts: Φίλων(Ancient Greek)
Rating: 30% based on 1 vote
Ancient Greek form of
Philo.
Phineas
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Biblical
Other Scripts: פִּינְחָס(Ancient Hebrew)
Pronounced: FIN-ee-əs(English)
Phoenix
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: FEE-niks
Rating: 30% based on 1 vote
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".
Pip
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: PIP
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
Diminutive of
Philip or
Philippa. This is the name of the main character in
Great Expectations (1860) by Charles Dickens.
Pollux
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Roman Mythology
Pronounced: POL-looks(Latin) PAHL-əks(American English) PAWL-əks(British English)
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
Roman form of Greek
Πολυδεύκης (Polydeukes) meaning
"very sweet", from Greek
πολύς (polys) meaning "much" and
δευκής (deukes) meaning "sweet". In
mythology he was the twin brother of
Castor and a son of
Zeus. The constellation Gemini, which represents the two brothers, contains a star by this name.
Prarie
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: PRAYR-ee
Rating: 10% based on 1 vote
Quentin
Gender: Masculine
Usage: French, English
Pronounced: KAHN-TEHN(French) KWEHN-tən(English)
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
French form of the Roman name
Quintinus. It was borne by a 3rd-century
saint, a missionary who was martyred in Gaul. The
Normans introduced this name to England. In America it was brought to public attention by president Theodore Roosevelt's son Quentin Roosevelt (1897-1918), who was killed in World War I. A famous bearer is the American movie director Quentin Tarantino (1963-).
Quincy
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: KWIN-see
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
From an English surname that was derived (via the place name
Cuinchy) from the personal name
Quintus. A famous bearer was John Quincy Adams (1767-1848), sixth president of the United States, who was born in the town of Quincy, Massachusetts. Both the town and the president were named after his maternal great-grandfather John Quincy (1689-1767). Another notable bearer is the American musician Quincy Jones (1933-).
Quinn
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: KWIN
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
From an Irish surname, an Anglicized form of Irish Gaelic
Ó Cuinn, itself derived from the given name
Conn. In the United States it was more common as a name for boys until 2010, the year after the female character Quinn Fabray began appearing on the television series
Glee.
Quinten
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, Dutch
Pronounced: KWIN-tən(English)
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
Rainer
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: German, Germanic [1]
Pronounced: RIE-nu(German)
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
Rainier
Gender: Masculine
Usage: French (Rare)
Pronounced: REH-NYEH
Rating: 30% based on 1 vote
Ramses
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Ancient Egyptian (Anglicized, Latinized)
Pronounced: RAM-seez(English) RAM-zeez(English)
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
Ramsey
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: RAM-zee
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
From an English and Scottish surname that was derived from a place name meaning "garlic island" in Old English.
Rasmus
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, Finnish, Estonian
Pronounced: RAHS-moos(Danish, Norwegian, Finnish) RAS-smuys(Swedish)
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
Scandinavian, Finnish and Estonian form of
Erasmus.
Raven
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: RAY-vən
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
From the name of the bird, ultimately from Old English
hræfn. The raven is revered by several Native American groups of the west coast. It is also associated with the Norse god
Odin.
Reverie
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: REHV-ə-ree
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
From the English word meaning "daydream, fanciful musing", derived from Old French resverie, itself from resver meaning "to dream, to rave".
Rexana
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: rehk-SAN-ə
Rhea
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology, Roman Mythology
Other Scripts: Ῥέα(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: REH-A(Classical Greek) REE-ə(English) REH-a(Latin)
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
Rhett
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: REHT
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
From a surname, an Anglicized form of the Dutch de Raedt, derived from raet "advice, counsel". Margaret Mitchell used this name for the character Rhett Butler in her novel Gone with the Wind (1936).
Rhoda
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Biblical, English
Other Scripts: Ῥόδη(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: RO-də(English)
Rating: 30% based on 1 vote
Derived from Greek
ῥόδον (rhodon) meaning
"rose". In the
New Testament this name was borne by a maid in the house of Mary the mother of John Mark. As an English given name,
Rhoda came into use in the 17th century.
Rook
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Dutch (Archaic)
Pronounced: RO:K
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
Short form of
Rochus as well as of its variant forms
Rocus and
Rokus. This name is not to be confused with
rook, the Dutch word for "smoke".
Rosa 2
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Bulgarian, Serbian, Croatian, Macedonian
Other Scripts: Роса(Bulgarian, Serbian, Macedonian)
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
Means "dew" in the South Slavic languages.
Rose
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, French
Pronounced: ROZ
Rating: 90% based on 2 votes
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.
Roxana
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Spanish, Romanian, Ancient Greek (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Ῥωξάνη(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: rahk-SAN-ə(American English) rawk-SAN-ə(British English) rok-SA-na(Spanish)
Rating: 50% based on 1 vote
Latin form of
Ῥωξάνη (Rhoxane), the Greek form of an Old Persian or Bactrian name, from Old Iranian *
rauxšnā meaning
"bright, shining" [1]. This was the name of Alexander the Great's first wife, a daughter of the Bactrian nobleman Oxyartes. In the modern era it came into use during the 17th century. In the English-speaking world it was popularized by Daniel Defoe, who used it in his novel
Roxana (1724).
Sabrina
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Italian, German, French, Spanish, Portuguese
Pronounced: sə-BREEN-ə(English) sa-BREE-na(Italian, Spanish) za-BREE-na(German) SA-BREE-NA(French) su-BREE-nu(European Portuguese) sa-BREE-nu(Brazilian Portuguese)
Rating: 50% based on 1 vote
Latinized form of
Habren, the original Welsh name of the River Severn. According to Geoffrey of Monmouth, Sabrina was the name of a princess who was drowned in the Severn. Supposedly the river was named for her, but it is more likely that her name was actually derived from that of the river, which is of unknown meaning. She appears as a water nymph in John Milton's masque
Comus (1634).
The name was brought to public attention by Samuel A. Taylor's play Sabrina Fair (1953) and the movie adaptation Sabrina that followed it the next year. This is also the name of a comic book character, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, first introduced 1962 and with television adaptations in 1970-1974 and 1996-2003, both causing minor jumps in popularity. Another jump occurred in 1976, when it was used for a main character on the television series Charlie's Angels.
Saffron
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: SAF-rən
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
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".
Safiyyah
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Arabic
Other Scripts: صفيّة(Arabic)
Pronounced: sa-FEE-ya
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
Salem 1
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Arabic
Other Scripts: سالم(Arabic)
Pronounced: SA-leem
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
Alternate transcription of Arabic
سالم (see
Salim).
Samara
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern), Portuguese (Brazilian)
Rating: 30% based on 1 vote
Possibly derived from the name of the city of Samarra (in Iraq) or Samara (in Russia). The former appears in the title of the novel
Appointment in Samarra (1934) by John O'Hara, which refers to an ancient Babylonian legend about a man trying to evade death. Alternatively, this name could be derived from the word for the winged seeds that grow on trees such as maples and elms.
The name received a boost in popularity after it was borne by the antagonist in the horror movie The Ring (2002).
Sapphire
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: SAF-ie-ər(American English) SAF-ie-ə(British English)
Rating: 80% based on 2 votes
From the name of the gemstone, typically blue, which is the traditional birthstone of September. It is derived from Greek
σάπφειρος (sappheiros), ultimately from the Hebrew word
סַפִּיר (sappir).
Sappho
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Ancient Greek [1]
Other Scripts: Σαπφώ(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: SAP-PAW(Classical Greek) SA-fo(English)
Rating: 80% based on 2 votes
Possibly from Greek
σάπφειρος (sappheiros) meaning
"sapphire" or
"lapis lazuli". This was the name of a 7th-century BC Greek poetess from Lesbos.
Scilla
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian
Pronounced: SHEEL-la
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
Short form of
Priscilla. This is also the Italian word for the squill flower (genus Scilla).
Selah
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Biblical
Other Scripts: סֶלַה(Ancient Hebrew)
Pronounced: SEE-lə(English)
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
From a Hebrew musical term that occurs many times in the
Old Testament Psalms. It was probably meant to indicate a musical pause.
Selene
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Σελήνη(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: SEH-LEH-NEH(Classical Greek) si-LEE-nee(English) si-LEEN(English)
Means
"moon" in Greek. This was the name of a Greek goddess of the moon, a Titan. She was sometimes identified with the goddess
Artemis.
September
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: sehp-TEHM-bər(American English) sehp-TEHM-bə(British English)
Rating: 50% based on 1 vote
From the name of the ninth month (though it means "seventh month" in Latin, since it was originally the seventh month of the Roman year), which is sometimes used as a given name for someone born in September.
Sera
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: SEHR-ə
Rating: 30% based on 1 vote
Seraphina
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare), German (Rare), Late Roman
Pronounced: sehr-ə-FEEN-ə(English) zeh-ra-FEE-na(German)
Rating: 50% based on 1 vote
Feminine form of the Late Latin name
Seraphinus, derived from the biblical word
seraphim, which was Hebrew in origin and meant
"fiery ones". The seraphim were an order of angels, described by Isaiah in the Bible as having six wings each.
This was the name of a 13th-century Italian saint who made clothes for the poor. As an English name, it has never been common.
Sevyn
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: SEHV-ən
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
Shiloh
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: Biblical
Other Scripts: שִׁלוֹ, שִׁילֹה(Ancient Hebrew)
Pronounced: SHIE-lo(English)
Rating: 30% based on 2 votes
From an
Old Testament place name possibly meaning
"tranquil" in Hebrew. It is also used prophetically in the Old Testament to refer to a person, often understood to be the Messiah (see
Genesis 49:10). This may in fact be a mistranslation.
This name was brought to public attention after actors Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt gave it to their daughter in 2006.
Silas
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, Greek, Danish, German, Biblical, Biblical Latin, Biblical Greek [1]
Other Scripts: Σίλας(Greek)
Pronounced: SIE-ləs(English)
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
The name of a companion of
Saint Paul in the
New Testament. It is probably a short form of
Silvanus, a name that Paul calls him by in the epistles. It is possible that
Silvanus and
Silas were Latin and Greek forms of the Hebrew name
Saul (via Aramaic).
As an English name it was not used until after the Protestant Reformation. It was utilized by George Eliot for the title character in her novel Silas Marner (1861).
Silver
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: SIL-vər(American English) SIL-və(British English)
Rating: 10% based on 1 vote
From the English word for the precious metal or the colour, ultimately derived from Old English seolfor.
Simeon
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Biblical, Bulgarian, Serbian
Other Scripts: שִׁמְעוֹן(Ancient Hebrew) Симеон(Bulgarian, Serbian, Macedonian)
Pronounced: SIM-ee-ən(English)
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
From
Συμεών (Symeon), the
Old Testament Greek form of the Hebrew name
Shimʿon (see
Simon 1). In the Old Testament this is the name of the second son of
Jacob and
Leah and the founder of one of the twelve tribes of Israel. In the
New Testament the Greek rendering
Σίμων (Simon) is more common, though
Συμεών occurs belonging to a man who blessed the newborn
Jesus. He is recognized as a
saint in most Christian traditions.
This name was also borne by a powerful 10th-century ruler of Bulgaria who expanded the empire to its greatest extent.
Simon 1
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, French, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, German, Dutch, Hungarian, Slovene, Romanian, Macedonian, Georgian, Biblical, Biblical Latin, Biblical Greek [1]
Other Scripts: Симон(Macedonian) სიმონ(Georgian) Σίμων(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: SIE-mən(English) SEE-MAWN(French) SEE-mawn(Danish, Dutch, Macedonian) ZEE-mawn(German) SHEE-mon(Hungarian)
Rating: 30% based on 1 vote
From
Σίμων (Simon), the
New Testament Greek form of the Hebrew name
שִׁמְעוֹן (Shimʿon) meaning
"hearing, listening", derived from
שָׁמַע (shamaʿ) meaning "to hear, to listen". This name is spelled
Simeon, based on Greek
Συμεών, in many translations of the
Old Testament, where it is borne by the second son of
Jacob. The New Testament spelling may show influence from the otherwise unrelated Greek name
Simon 2.
In the New Testament Simon is the name of several characters, including the man who carried the cross for Jesus. Most importantly however it was borne by the leading apostle Simon, also known as Peter (a name given to him by Jesus).
Because of the apostle, this name has been common in the Christian world. In England it was popular during the Middle Ages, though it became more rare after the Protestant Reformation.
Sloan
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: SLON
Rating: 30% based on 1 vote
Solomon
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Biblical, English, Jewish, Biblical Latin, Biblical Greek [1]
Other Scripts: שְׁלֹמֹה(Hebrew) Σολομών(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: SAHL-ə-mən(American English) SAWL-ə-mən(British English)
Rating: 30% based on 1 vote
From the Hebrew name
שְׁלֹמֹה (Shelomo), which was derived from
שָׁלוֹם (shalom) meaning "peace". As told in the
Old Testament, Solomon was a king of Israel, the son of
David and
Bathsheba. He was renowned for his wisdom and wealth. Towards the end of his reign he angered God by turning to idolatry. Supposedly, he was the author of the Book of Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and the Song of Solomon.
This name has never been overly common in the Christian world, and it is considered typically Jewish. It was however borne by an 11th-century Hungarian king.
Solon
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Ancient Greek [1]
Other Scripts: Σόλων(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: SO-LAWN
Rating: 10% based on 1 vote
Possibly from Greek
σόλος (solos) meaning
"lump of iron". This was the name of an Athenian statesman who reformed the laws and government of the city.
Soren
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Modern)
Rating: 50% based on 1 vote
Sotiris
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Greek
Other Scripts: Σωτήρης(Greek)
Stella 2
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek
Other Scripts: Στέλλα(Greek)
Rating: 30% based on 2 votes
Sylvia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish
Pronounced: SIL-vee-ə(English) SIL-vee-a(Dutch) SUYL-vee-ah(Finnish)
Rating: 50% based on 1 vote
Variant of
Silvia. This has been the most common English spelling since the 19th century.
Tahira
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Arabic, Urdu
Other Scripts: طاهرة(Arabic) طاہرہ(Urdu)
Pronounced: TA-hee-ra(Arabic)
Tahirah
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Arabic
Other Scripts: طاهرة(Arabic)
Pronounced: TA-hee-ra
Alternate transcription of Arabic طاهرة (see
Tahira).
Tan
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Turkish
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
Turkish
Tase
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Bulgarian, Macedonian
Other Scripts: Тасе(Bulgarian, Macedonian)
Terra
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: TEHR-ə
Rating: 50% based on 1 vote
Variant of
Tara 1, perhaps influenced by the Latin word
terra meaning
"land, earth".
Tiara
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: tee-AHR-ə
Rating: 50% based on 1 vote
From the English word for a semicircle crown, ultimately of Greek origin.
Timea
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Slovak, Czech (Rare), Romanian
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
Czech, Slovak and Romanian form of
Tímea.
Timeon
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Greek
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
Timon
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Ancient Greek [1], Biblical, Biblical Greek [2], Biblical Latin, Dutch
Other Scripts: Τίμων(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: TEE-MAWN(Classical Greek) TIE-mən(English) TEE-mawn(Dutch)
Rating: 30% based on 1 vote
Derived from Greek
τιμάω (timao) meaning
"to honour, to esteem". According to ancient writers, this was the name of a wealthy man of Athens who grew to hate humanity after he lost his riches and his friends deserted him. His story is related in Shakespeare's tragedy
Timon of Athens (1607). This name is also mentioned in the
New Testament as belonging to one of the original seven deacons of the church, considered a
saint.
Titus
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Ancient Roman, English, German, Biblical, Biblical Latin
Pronounced: TEE-toos(Latin) TIE-təs(English) TEE-tuws(German)
Rating: 30% based on 2 votes
Roman
praenomen, or given name, which is of unknown meaning, possibly related to Latin
titulus "title of honour". It is more likely of Oscan origin, since it was borne by the legendary Sabine king Titus Tatius.
This name appears in the New Testament belonging to a companion of Saint Paul. He became the first bishop of Crete and was the recipient of one of Paul's epistles. This was also the praenomen of all three Roman emperors of the 1st-century Flavian dynasty, and it is the name by which the second of them is commonly known to history. Shakespeare later used it for the main character in his tragedy Titus Andronicus (1593). As an English name, Titus has been occasionally used since the Protestant Reformation.
Torin
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Modern)
Rating: 80% based on 2 votes
Meaning unknown. It has been suggested that it is of Irish origin, though no suitable derivation can be found.
Torrin
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (American), English (Australian), English (New Zealand)
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
Of unknown origin and meaning.
Trinity
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: TRIN-i-tee
Rating: 80% based on 2 votes
From the English word Trinity, given in honour of the Christian belief that God has one essence, but three distinct expressions of being: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. It has only been in use as a given name since the 20th century.
Vaia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek
Other Scripts: Βαΐα(Greek)
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
From the Egyptian word referring to the palm branch.
It is celebrated on Palm Sunday (Κυριακή των Βαΐων), which is the Sunday before Easter.
Valia
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: Bulgarian, Georgian (Rare), Greek, Russian
Other Scripts: Валя(Bulgarian, Russian) ვალია(Georgian) Βάλια(Greek)
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
In Bulgaria and Russia, this name is a variant transcription of the unisex name
Valya.
In Georgia, this name is a diminutive of Valentina and Valerian, though there can certainly be cases where it is the georgianized form of the aforementioned Valya. In this day and age, Valia is primarily used on women in Georgia.
In Greece, this name is strictly feminine and is a pet form of Vasilia and Vasiliki.
Known bearers of this name include the Georgian revolutionary Valerian "Valia" Bakhtadze (1896-1930) and the Greek model Valia Kakouti (b. 1981).
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) VIR-ə(English) VEHR-ə(English) VEH-ra(German, Dutch) VEH-rah(Swedish) BEH-ra(Spanish) VEH-raw(Hungarian)
Rating: 65% based on 2 votes
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.
Vesper
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: Roman Mythology, Dutch (Modern)
Pronounced: WEHS-pehr(Latin) VEHS-pər(American English, Dutch) VEHS-pə(British English)
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
Latin
cognate of
Hesperos. This name was used by the British author Ian Fleming for a female character, a love interest of James Bond, in his novel
Casino Royale (1953). She also appears in the film adaptations of 1967 and 2006.
Wednesday
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Popular Culture
Pronounced: WENZ-day(English)
Rating: 80% based on 2 votes
From the name of the day of the week, which was derived from Old English
wodnesdæg meaning "
Woden's day". On the
Addams Family television series (1964-1966) this was the name of the daughter, based on an earlier unnamed character in Charles Addams' cartoons. Her name was inspired by the popular nursery rhyme line
Wednesday's child is full of woe.
Whitley
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (American)
Pronounced: WIT-lee(American English)
Rating: 70% based on 2 votes
Transferred use of the surname
Whitley.
Whitney
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: WIT-nee
Rating: 25% based on 2 votes
From an English surname that was originally derived from a place name meaning "white island" in Old English. Its popular use as a feminine name was initiated by actress Whitney Blake (1925-2002) in the 1960s, and further boosted in the 1980s by singer Whitney Houston (1963-2012).
Whittaker
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Rare)
Rating: 15% based on 2 votes
Transferred use of the surname Whittaker, a variant of
Whitaker.
Xaris
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: Greek
Other Scripts: Χάρης, Χάρις(Greek)
Rating: 60% based on 2 votes
Alternate transcription of Greek Χάρης or Χάρις (see
Charis).
Yara 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Arabic
Other Scripts: يارا(Arabic)
Pronounced: YA-ra
Rating: 80% based on 2 votes
From Persian
یار (yār) meaning
"friend, helper".
Zaia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: African American (Modern, Rare)
Rating: 70% based on 2 votes
Zara 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Literature, English
Pronounced: ZAHR-ə(English)
Rating: 80% based on 2 votes
Used by William Congreve for a character in his tragedy
The Mourning Bride (1697), where it belongs to a captive North African queen. Congreve may have based it on the Arabic name
Zahra 1. In 1736 the English writer Aaron Hill used it to translate
Zaïre for his popular adaptation of Voltaire's French play
Zaïre (1732).
In England the name was popularized when Princess Anne gave it to her daughter in 1981. Use of the name may also be influenced by the trendy Spanish clothing retailer Zara.
Zaria
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: ZAHR-ee-ə
Rating: 70% based on 2 votes
Possibly based on
Zahra 2 or the Nigerian city of Zaria.
Zavion
Gender: Masculine
Usage: African American (Modern)
Pronounced: ZAY-vee-ahn
Rating: 75% based on 2 votes
Zeno
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Ancient Greek (Latinized), Italian
Other Scripts: Ζήνων(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: DZEH-no(Italian)
Rating: 100% based on 1 vote
From the Greek name
Ζήνων (Zenon), which was derived from the name of the Greek god
Zeus (the poetic form of his name being
Ζήν). Zeno was the name of two famous Greek philosophers: Zeno of Elea and Zeno of Citium, the founder of the Stoic school in Athens.
Zenon
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Ancient Greek [1], Polish
Other Scripts: Ζήνων(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: ZDEH-NAWN(Classical Greek) ZEH-nawn(Polish)
Rating: 100% based on 1 vote
Ancient Greek form of
Zeno, as well as the modern Polish form.
Zero
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Various
Other Scripts: 零(Japanese Kanji) ゼロ(Japanese Katakana)
Rating: 55% based on 2 votes
Derived from the Italian
zero itself from Medieval Latin
zèphyrum, Arabic صفر (
ṣifr) and Sanskrit शून्य (
śūnyá), ultimately meaning "empty".
In Japan the same sound and meaning was given to the kanji 零 (rei), probably after the contact with Western cultures. Zero has been used for some manga and anime characters.
Zia
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: Arabic, Urdu, Bengali
Other Scripts: ضياء(Arabic) ضیاء(Urdu) জিয়া(Bengali)
Pronounced: dee-YA(Arabic) JYA(Bengali)
Rating: 75% based on 2 votes
Alternate transcription of Arabic
ضياء (see
Ziya), as well as the usual Urdu and Bengali transcription.
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