booop's Personal Name List
Absalom
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Biblical, Biblical Latin
Other Scripts: אַבְשָׁלוֹם(Ancient Hebrew)
Pronounced: AB-sə-ləm(English)
From the Hebrew name
אַבְשָׁלוֹם (ʾAvshalom) meaning
"father is peace", derived from
אָב (ʾav) meaning "father" and
שָׁלוֹם (shalom) meaning "peace". In the
Old Testament he is a son of King
David. He avenged his sister
Tamar by arranging the murder of her rapist, their half-brother
Amnon. He later led a revolt against his father. While fleeing on the back of a mule he got his head caught in a tree and was killed by
Joab.
Adonis
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Ἄδωνις(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: A-DAW-NEES(Classical Greek) ə-DAHN-is(English) ə-DO-nis(English)
From Phoenician
𐤀𐤃𐤍 (ʾadon) meaning
"lord, master". In Greek
myth Adonis was a handsome young shepherd killed while hunting a wild boar. The anemone flower is said to have sprung from his blood. Because he was loved by
Aphrodite,
Zeus allowed him to be restored to life for part of each year. The Greeks borrowed this character from Semitic traditions, originally Sumerian (see
Dumuzi).
Aeneas
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Roman Mythology
Pronounced: ie-NEH-as(Latin) i-NEE-əs(English)
Latin form of the Greek name
Αἰνείας (Aineias), derived from Greek
αἴνη (aine) meaning
"praise". In Greek legend he was a son of
Aphrodite and was one of the chief heroes who defended Troy from the Greeks. The Roman poet
Virgil continued his story in the
Aeneid, in which Aeneas travels to Italy and founds the Roman state.
Aether
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Greek Mythology (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Αἰθήρ(Ancient Greek)
Latinized form of Greek
Αἰθήρ (Aither) meaning
"ether, heaven", derived from
αἴθω (aitho) meaning "to burn, to ignite". In Greek
mythology this was the name of the god of light and the upper sky.
Alastair
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Scottish
Pronounced: AL-i-stər(English)
Albin
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Swedish, French, English, Slovene, Polish
Pronounced: AL-bin(Swedish, English) AL-BEHN(French) AL-been(Polish)
Form of
Albinus in several languages.
Algernon
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: AL-jər-nən
Originally a Norman French nickname, derived from aux gernons "having a moustache", which was applied to William de Percy, a companion of William the Conqueror. It was first used a given name in the 15th century (for a descendant of William de Percy). This name was borne by a character (a mouse) in the short story Flowers for Algernon (1958) and novel of the same title (1966) by the American author Daniel Keyes.
Alistair
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Scottish
Pronounced: AL-i-stər(English)
Aloysius
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: al-o-ISH-əs
Latinized form of
Aloys, an old Occitan form of
Louis. This was the name of an Italian
saint, Aloysius Gonzaga (1568-1591). The name has been in occasional use among Catholics since his time.
Alphonse
Gender: Masculine
Usage: French
Pronounced: AL-FAWNS
Amadeus
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Late Roman
Pronounced: ahm-ə-DAY-əs(English) ahm-ə-DEE-əs(English)
Means
"love of God", derived from Latin
amare "to love" and
Deus "God". A famous bearer was the Austrian composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791), who was actually born Wolfgang
Theophilus Mozart but preferred the Latin translation of his Greek middle name. This name was also assumed as a middle name by the German novelist E. T. A. Hoffmann (1776-1822), who took it in honour of Mozart.
Ambrogio
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Italian
Pronounced: am-BRAW-jo
Italian form of
Ambrosius (see
Ambrose).
Ambrose
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: AM-broz
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.
Anton
Gender: Masculine
Usage: German, Russian, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Icelandic, Dutch, Bulgarian, Ukrainian, Belarusian, Slovene, Slovak, Macedonian, Croatian, Romanian, Estonian, Finnish, Georgian, English
Other Scripts: Антон(Russian, Bulgarian, Ukrainian, Belarusian, Macedonian) ანტონ(Georgian)
Pronounced: AN-ton(German) AN-tawn(German) un-TON(Russian) AHN-tawn(Dutch) un-TAWN(Ukrainian) an-TON(Belarusian, Slovene, Romanian) AHN-ton(Finnish) AN-TAWN(Georgian) AN-tahn(English)
Form of
Antonius (see
Anthony) used in various languages. A notable bearer was the Russian playwright Anton Chekhov (1860-1904).
Athanasius
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Ancient Greek (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Ἀθανάσιος(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: ath-ə-NAY-shəs(English)
From the Greek name
Ἀθανάσιος (Athanasios) meaning
"immortal", from Greek
ἀ (a), a negative prefix, combined with
θάνατος (thanatos) meaning "death".
Saint Athanasius was a 4th-century bishop of Alexandria who strongly opposed Arianism.
Augustine 1
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: AW-gə-steen, aw-GUS-tin
From the Roman name
Augustinus, itself derived from the Roman name
Augustus.
Saint Augustine of Hippo was a 5th-century Christian theologian and author from North Africa. For his contributions to Christian philosophy he is known as a Doctor of the Church. Due to his renown, the name came into general use in the Christian world. It became popular in England in the Middle Ages partly because of a second saint by this name, Augustine of Canterbury, a 6th-century Italian monk sent to England to convert the Anglo-Saxons.
Aurelio
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Italian, Spanish
Pronounced: ow-REH-lyo
Auster
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Roman Mythology
Pronounced: OWS-tehr(Latin)
Means "south" in Latin (descended from the Indo-European root *hews- meaning "dawn", making it related to the English word east). Auster was the Roman god of the south wind.
Balthasar
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Judeo-Christian-Islamic Legend
Latin form of
Balthazar. Shakespeare used it for minor characters in
Romeo and Juliet (1596) and
Much Ado About Nothing (1599).
Balthazar
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Judeo-Christian-Islamic Legend
Pronounced: BAL-thə-zahr(English)
Variant of
Belshazzar. Balthazar is the name traditionally assigned to one of the wise men (also known as the Magi, or three kings) who visited the newborn
Jesus. He was said to have come from Arabia. This name was utilized by Shakespeare for minor characters in
The Comedy of Errors (1594) and
The Merchant of Venice (1596).
Barnabas
Gender: Masculine
Usage: German (Rare), English (Rare), Biblical, Biblical Latin, Biblical Greek [1]
Other Scripts: Βαρναβᾶς(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: BAR-na-bas(German) BAHR-nə-bəs(English)
Greek form of an Aramaic name. In Acts in the
New Testament the byname Barnabas was given to a man named
Joseph, a Jew from Cyprus who was a companion of
Paul on his missionary journeys. The original Aramaic form is unattested, but it may be from
בּר נביא (bar navi) meaning
"son of the prophet", though in
Acts 4:36 it is claimed that the name means
"son of encouragement".
As an English name, Barnabas came into occasional use after the 12th century. It is now rare, though the variant Barnaby is still moderately common in Britain.
Barnaby
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (British)
Pronounced: BAH-nə-bee(British English) BAHR-nə-bee(American English)
English form of
Barnabas, originally a medieval vernacular form.
Basil 1
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: BAZ-əl
From the Greek name
Βασίλειος (Basileios), which was derived from
βασιλεύς (basileus) meaning
"king".
Saint Basil the Great was a 4th-century bishop of Caesarea and one of the fathers of the early Christian church. Due to him, the name (in various spellings) has come into general use in the Christian world, being especially popular among Eastern Christians. It was also borne by two Byzantine emperors.
Bastian
Gender: Masculine
Usage: German
Pronounced: BAS-tee-an
Belfante
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Medieval Italian
Derived from Italian bel fante meaning "fair child", which consists of the Italian adjective bello meaning "fair, beautiful" and the Italian noun fante, a medieval variant of the (now dated and rare) Italian noun infante meaning "infant, child". Using the latter word for the same overall meaning would result into bell'infante and there are variant forms of Belfante that reflect this.
Benvolio
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Literature
Means
"good will" in Italian. This name appears in William Shakespeare's play
Romeo and Juliet (1596) belonging to a friend of
Romeo. The character had been created earlier by the Italian writer Matteo Bandello, whose story
Giulietta e Romeo (1554) was one of Shakespeare's sources.
Bishop
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: BISH-əp
Either from the English occupational surname, or else directly from the English word. It is ultimately derived from Greek
ἐπίσκοπος (episkopos) meaning "overseer".
Bismarck
Gender: Masculine
Usage: American, German (Rare), Portuguese (Brazilian), Spanish (Latin American)
Pronounced: BIS-mark(American, Brazilian Portuguese, Latin American Spanish)
Bix
Gender: Masculine
Usage: American
Pronounced: BIKS
Diminutive of Bismark. Famously borne by American jazz legend, Bix Beiderbecke, who was a reknowned cornetist and pianist during the 1920s.
Boreas
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Βορέας(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: BO-REH-AS(Classical Greek) BAWR-ee-əs(English)
Means "north wind" in Greek. Boreas was the Greek god of the north wind.
Byron
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: BIE-rən
From a surname that was originally from a place name meaning "place of the cow sheds" in Old English. This was the surname of the romantic poet Lord Byron (1788-1824), the writer of Don Juan and many other works.
Cassius
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Ancient Roman
Pronounced: KAS-see-oos(Latin) KASH-əs(English) KAS-ee-əs(English)
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).
Chester
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: CHEHS-tər
From an English surname that originally belonged to a person who came from Chester, an old Roman settlement in Britain. The name of the settlement came from Latin castrum "camp, fortress".
Chip
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: CHIP
Diminutive of
Charles or
Christopher. It can also be from a nickname given in reference to the phrase
a chip off the old block, used of a son who is similar to his father.
Cordell
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: kawr-DEHL
From an English surname meaning "maker of cord" or "seller of cord" in Middle English.
Cosmo
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Italian, English
Pronounced: KAWZ-mo(Italian) KAHZ-mo(English)
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.
Daedalus
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Greek Mythology (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Δαίδαλος(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: DEHD-ə-ləs(English) DEED-ə-ləs(English)
Latinized form of the Greek
Δαίδαλος (Daidalos), which was derived from
δαιδάλλω (daidallo) meaning
"to work cunningly". In Greek
myth Daedalus was an Athenian inventor who was banished to Crete. There he designed the Labyrinth for King
Minos, but he and his son
Icarus were eventually imprisoned inside it because he had aided
Theseus in his quest against the Minotaur. Daedalus and Icarus escaped using wings fashioned from wax, but Icarus fell from the sky to his death.
Dexter
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: DEHK-stər
From an occupational surname meaning "one who dyes" in Old English. It also coincides with the Latin word dexter meaning "right-handed, skilled".
Dietrich
Gender: Masculine
Usage: German
Pronounced: DEET-rikh
German form of
Theodoric. The character Dietrich von Bern, loosely based on Theodoric the Great, appears in medieval German literature such as the
Hildebrandslied, the
Nibelungenlied and the
Eckenlied.
Diomedes
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Διομήδης(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: DEE-O-MEH-DEHS(Classical Greek) die-ə-MEE-deez(English)
Derived from Greek
Διός (Dios) meaning "of
Zeus" and
μήδεα (medea) meaning "plans, counsel, cunning". In Greek legend Diomedes was one of the greatest heroes who fought against the Trojans. With
Odysseus he entered Troy and stole the Palladium. After the Trojan War he founded the cities of Brindisi and Arpi in Italy.
Efraín
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Spanish
Pronounced: eh-fra-EEN
Eldon
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: EHL-dən
From a surname that was from a place name meaning "Ella's hill" in Old English.
Eldridge
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: EL-drij
From an English surname which was derived from the given name
Eldric.
Elric
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Medieval English
Pronounced: EHL-rik(English)
Elsdon
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: ELZ-dən
From a surname that was originally derived from a place name meaning "Elli's valley" in Old English.
Enoch
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Biblical, Biblical Latin, Biblical Greek
Other Scripts: חֲנוֹך(Ancient Hebrew) Ἐνώχ, Ἑνώχ(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: EE-nək(English)
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.
Errol
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: EHR-əl
From a Scottish surname that was originally derived from village by this name in Perthshire. It was popularized as a given name by the Australian actor Errol Flynn (1909-1959).
Everard
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Rare)
From
Everardus, the Latinized form of
Eberhard. The
Normans introduced it to England, where it joined the Old English
cognate Eoforheard. It has only been rarely used since the Middle Ages. Modern use of the name may be inspired by the surname
Everard, itself derived from the medieval name.
Evert
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Dutch, Swedish
Pronounced: EH-vərt(Dutch)
Franz
Gender: Masculine
Usage: German
Pronounced: FRANTS
German form of
Franciscus (see
Francis). This name was borne by the Austrian composer Franz Schubert (1797-1828), the Hungarian composer Franz Liszt (1811-1886) and the Austrian-Czech author Franz Kafka (1883-1924), whose works include
The Trial and
The Castle. It was also the name of rulers of Austria and the Holy Roman Empire.
Fritz
Gender: Masculine
Usage: German
Pronounced: FRITS
Giles
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: JIELZ
From the Late Latin name
Aegidius, which is derived from Greek
αἰγίδιον (aigidion) meaning
"young goat".
Saint Giles was an 8th-century miracle worker who came to southern France from Greece. He is regarded as the patron saint of the crippled. In Old French the name
Aegidius became
Gidie and then
Gilles, at which point it was imported to England. Another famous bearer was the 13th-century philosopher and theologian Giles of Rome (
Egidio in Italian).
Godfrey
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: GAHD-free
From the Germanic name
Godefrid, which meant
"peace of god" from the Old German elements
got "god" and
fridu "peace". The
Normans brought this name to England, where it became common during the Middle Ages. A notable bearer was Godfrey of Bouillon, an 11th-century leader of the First Crusade and the first ruler of the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem.
Gomez
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Medieval Spanish, Popular Culture
Pronounced: GO-mehz(English)
Spanish form of
Gomes. This is the name of Gomez Addams, the patriarch of the Addams Family, featured in comics, on TV, and in film.
Gonzalo
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Spanish
Pronounced: gon-THA-lo(European Spanish) gon-SA-lo(Latin American Spanish)
From the medieval name
Gundisalvus, which was the Latin form of a Germanic (possibly Visigothic or Suebi) name composed of
gunda "war" and maybe
salba "salve, ointment",
salo "dark, dusky" or
sal "house, hall" (with the spelling perhaps influenced by Latin
salvus "safe").
Saint Gonzalo was an 11th-century bishop of Mondoñedo in Galicia, Spain.
Goodwin
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: GUWD-win
From an English surname that was derived from the given name
Godwine.
Gulliver
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: GUL-i-vər
Transferred use of the surname
Gulliver. First used in
Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift, published 1726, as the surname of the protagonist Lemuel Gulliver.
Hector
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, French, Greek Mythology (Latinized), Arthurian Cycle
Other Scripts: Ἕκτωρ(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: HEHK-tər(English) EHK-TAWR(French)
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.
Heinrich
Gender: Masculine
Usage: German, Germanic [1]
Pronounced: HIEN-rikh(German)
German form of
Henry. This was the name of several German kings.
Hermes
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Greek Mythology, Ancient Greek [1], Spanish
Other Scripts: Ἑρμῆς(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: HEHR-MEHS(Classical Greek) HUR-meez(English) EHR-mehs(Spanish)
Probably from Greek
ἕρμα (herma) meaning
"cairn, pile of stones, boundary marker". Hermes was a Greek god associated with speed and good luck, who served as a messenger to
Zeus and the other gods. He was also the patron of travellers, writers, athletes, merchants, thieves and orators.
This was also used as a personal name, being borne for example by a 1st-century saint and martyr.
Horace
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, French
Pronounced: HAWR-əs(English) AW-RAS(French)
English and French form of
Horatius, and the name by which the Roman poet Quintus Horatius Flaccus is commonly known those languages. In the modern era it has been used as a given name since the Renaissance, in honour of the poet.
Horatio
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: hə-RAY-shee-o, hə-RAY-sho
Variant of
Horatius. Shakespeare used it for a character in his tragedy
Hamlet (1600). It was borne by the British admiral Horatio Nelson (1758-1805), famous for his defeat of Napoleon's forces in the Battle of Trafalgar, in which he was himself killed. Since his time the name has been occasionally used in his honour.
Iggy
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: IG-ee
Ignatius
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Late Roman
Pronounced: ig-NAY-shəs(English)
From the Roman family name
Egnatius, meaning unknown, of Etruscan origin. The spelling was later altered to resemble Latin
ignis "fire". This was the name of several
saints, including the third bishop of Antioch who was thrown to wild beasts by Emperor Trajan, and by Saint Ignatius of Loyola (1491-1556), founder of the Jesuits, whose real birth name was in fact
Íñigo.
Irving
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, Jewish
Pronounced: UR-ving(English)
From a Scottish surname that was derived from the town of Irvine in North Ayrshire, itself named for the River Irvine, which is derived from Brythonic elements meaning
"green water". Historically this name has been relatively common among Jews, who have used it as an American-sounding form of Hebrew names beginning with
I such as
Isaac,
Israel and
Isaiah [1]. A famous bearer was the Russian-American songwriter and lyricist Irving Berlin (1888-1989), whose birth name was Israel Beilin.
Ivo 1
Gender: Masculine
Usage: German, Dutch, Czech, Italian, Portuguese, Estonian, Latvian, Germanic [1]
Pronounced: EE-vo(German, Dutch, Italian) EE-fo(German) I-vo(Czech) EE-voo(Portuguese)
Germanic name, originally a short form of names beginning with the element
iwa meaning
"yew". Alternative theories suggest that it may in fact be derived from a
cognate Celtic element
[2]. This was the name of
saints (who are also commonly known as Saint
Yves or
Ives), hailing from Cornwall, France, and Brittany.
Janus
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Roman Mythology
Pronounced: YA-noos(Latin) JAY-nəs(English)
Means "archway" in Latin. Janus was the Roman god of gateways and beginnings, often depicted as having two faces looking in opposite directions. The month of January is named for him.
Kip
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: KIP
From a nickname, probably from the English word kipper meaning "male salmon".
Kosmo
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Finnish (Modern), Swedish (Rare), Danish (Rare)
Pronounced: KAWS-maw(Finnish)
László
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Hungarian
Pronounced: LAS-lo
Hungarian form of
Vladislav.
Saint László was an 11th-century king of Hungary, looked upon as the embodiment of Christian virtue and bravery.
Leander
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Greek Mythology (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Λέανδρος(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: lee-AN-dər(English)
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.
Leofric
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Anglo-Saxon [1][2]
Derived from the Old English element
leof "dear, beloved" combined with
ric "ruler, king".
Leonardo
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Italian, Spanish, Portuguese
Pronounced: leh-o-NAR-do(Italian) lee-ə-NAHR-do(English) leh-o-NAR-dho(Spanish)
Italian, Spanish and Portuguese form of
Leonard. A notable bearer was Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519), an Italian artist and scientist of the Renaissance. He is known as the inventor of several contraptions, including flying machines, as well as the painter of the
Mona Lisa. Another famous bearer was Leonardo Fibonacci, a 13th-century Italian mathematician. A more recent bearer is American actor Leonardo DiCaprio (1974-).
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)
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.
Luther
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: LOO-thər
From a German surname, itself derived from the Old German given name
Leuthar. The surname was borne by Martin Luther (1483-1546), a monk and theologian who started the
Protestant Reformation by nailing his famous 95 theses to a church door. It has since been used as a given name in his honour, especially among Protestants. A notable bearer from the modern era was the American civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. (1929-1968).
Lysander
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Ancient Greek (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Λύσανδρος(Ancient Greek)
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.
Malakai
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Fijian, Tongan, English (Modern)
Fijian and Tongan form of
Malachi, as well as a modern English variant.
Mercutio
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Literature
Pronounced: mər-KYOO-shee-o(English)
Most famously used by William Shakespeare in his tragedy
Romeo and Juliet (1596), where it belongs to a friend of
Romeo. He appears as Marcuccio (a
diminutive of
Marco) in the earlier Italian novella
Giulietta e Romeo (1524) by Luigi Da Porto. Later adaptations changed the character's name to
Mercutio, probably alluding to the god
Mercury.
Merlin
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Arthurian Cycle, English
Pronounced: MUR-lin(English)
Form of the Welsh name
Myrddin used by Geoffrey of Monmouth in his 12th-century chronicle. Writing in Latin, he likely chose the form
Merlinus over
Merdinus in order to prevent associations with French
merde "excrement".
Geoffrey based parts of Merlin's character on Myrddin Wyllt, a legendary madman and prophet who lived in the Caledonian Forest. Other parts of his life were based on that of the historical 5th-century Romano-British military leader Ambrosius Aurelianus (also known as Emrys Wledig). In Geoffrey's version of the tales and later embellishments Merlin is a magician and counselor for King Arthur.
Monty
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: MAHN-tee
Mordecai
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Biblical, Hebrew
Other Scripts: מָרְדֳּכַי, מָרְדְּכַי(Hebrew)
Pronounced: MAWR-də-kie(English)
Means
"servant of Marduk" in Persian. In the
Old Testament Mordecai is the cousin and foster father of
Esther. He thwarted a plot to kill the Persian king, though he made an enemy of the king's chief advisor
Haman.
Obadiah
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Biblical
Other Scripts: עֹבַדְיָה(Ancient Hebrew)
Pronounced: o-bə-DIE-ə(English)
Means
"servant of Yahweh" in Hebrew, derived from
עָבַד (ʿavaḏ) meaning "to serve, to worship" and
יָהּ (yah) referring to the Hebrew God. In the
Old Testament this is the name of one of the twelve minor prophets, the author of the Book of Obadiah, which predicts the downfall of the nation of Edom. This is also the name of several other biblical characters.
Oberon
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Literature
Pronounced: O-bər-ahn(English)
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.
Octavian
Gender: Masculine
Usage: History, Romanian
Pronounced: ahk-TAY-vee-ən(English)
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.
Octavius
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Ancient Roman
Pronounced: ok-TA-wee-oos(Latin) ahk-TAY-vee-əs(English)
Roman family name derived from Latin
octavus meaning
"eighth". This was the original family name of the emperor Augustus (born Gaius Octavius). It was also rarely used as a Roman
praenomen, or given name.
Oren
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Hebrew
Other Scripts: אֹרֶן(Hebrew)
Means "pine tree" in Hebrew.
Orin
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Literature, English (Rare)
Pronounced: OR in
Used by Eugene O'Neill in
Mourning Becomes Electra as a deliberate link, it has been suggested, with Greek
Orestes.
More often spelt Orrin when used in modern times. Oren also occurs, and there may be confusion with Oran. George Bernard Shaw invented the feminine name Orinthia in The Apple Cart, two years before O'Neill's play. In the 17th century the poet Cowley made use of another feminine name which appears to belong to the same group, Orinda (though this may have been a shortening of Dorinda). (Source: Dunkling & Gosling, 1983)
Orion
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Ὠρίων(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: AW-REE-AWN(Classical Greek) o-RIE-ən(English)
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.
Oswald
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, German
Pronounced: AHZ-wawld(English) AWS-valt(German)
Derived from the Old English elements
os "god" and
weald "powerful, mighty".
Saint Oswald was a king of Northumbria who introduced Christianity to northeastern England in the 7th century before being killed in battle. There was also an Old Norse
cognate Ásvaldr in use in England, being borne by the 10th-century Saint Oswald of Worcester, who was of Danish ancestry. Though the name had died out by the end of the Middle Ages, it was revived in the 19th century.
Pascal
Gender: Masculine
Usage: French, German, Dutch
Pronounced: PAS-KAL(French) pas-KAL(German) pahs-KAHL(Dutch)
From the Late Latin name
Paschalis, which meant
"relating to Easter" from Latin
Pascha "Easter", which was in turn from Hebrew
פֶּסַח (pesaḥ) meaning "Passover"
[1]. Passover is the ancient Hebrew holiday celebrating the liberation from Egypt. Because it coincided closely with the later Christian holiday of Easter, the same Latin word was used for both. The name Pascal can also function as a surname, as in the case of Blaise Pascal (1623-1662), the French philosopher, mathematician and inventor.
Pliny
Gender: Masculine
Usage: History
Pronounced: PLIN-ee(English)
From the Roman family name Plinius, which is of unknown meaning. Two 1st-century Romans are known by this name: Gaius Plinius Secundus (called Pliny the Elder), a scientist and historian who died during the eruption of Mount Vesuvius; and Caius Plinius Caecilius Secundus (called Pliny the Younger), an author and statesman.
Prospero
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Italian
Pronounced: PRAW-speh-ro
Italian form of
Prosper. This is the name of the main character, a shipwrecked magician, in
The Tempest (1611) by William Shakespeare.
Quincy
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: KWIN-see
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-).
Reginald
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: REHJ-ə-nəld
From
Reginaldus, a Latinized form of
Reynold.
Reinhold
Gender: Masculine
Usage: German, Germanic [1]
Pronounced: RIEN-hawlt(German)
Renat
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Russian
Other Scripts: Ренат(Russian)
Russian form of
Renatus. In some cases communist parents may have bestowed it as an acronym of
революция наука техника (revolyutsiya nauka tekhnika) meaning "revolution, science, technics" or
революция наука труд (revolyutsiya nauka trud) meaning "revolution, science, labour".
Reuben
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Biblical, Hebrew, English
Other Scripts: רְאוּבֵן(Hebrew)
Pronounced: ROO-bən(English)
Means
"behold, a son" in Hebrew, derived from
רָאָה (raʾa) meaning "to see" and
בֵּן (ben) meaning "son". In the
Old Testament he is the eldest son of
Jacob and
Leah and the ancestor of one of the twelve tribes of Israel. Reuben was cursed by his father because he slept with Jacob's concubine
Bilhah. It has been used as a Christian name in Britain since the
Protestant Reformation.
Reynold
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: REHN-əld
From the Germanic name
Raginald, composed of the elements
regin "advice, counsel, decision" and
walt "power, authority". The
Normans (who used forms like
Reinald or
Reinold) brought the name to Britain, where it reinforced rare Old English and Norse cognates already in existence. It was common during the Middle Ages, but became more rare after the 15th century.
Robinet
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Medieval French
Strictly masculine diminutive of
Robin (as
-et is a French masculine diminutive suffix), which itself is a diminutive of
Robert. This given name is no longer in use in France: it fell out of use after the Middle Ages, which was probably due to the growing association of the name with a faucet. In this day and age,
robinet is now synonymous with a faucet and has thus become an everyday word in France. However, the given name still survives as a patronymic surname in the country, and it is a fairly common one there at that.
A known bearer of this given name was the medieval French illuminator and painter Robinet Testard (active in his work from 1470 to 1531 or 1533; his birthdate and date of death are unknown).
Rodin
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: French (Rare), Dutch (Rare), English (Rare)
Originally a pet form of given names containing the Germanic element
hrod "fame". Usage of this name nowadays is probably mainly inspired by the famous French sculptor Auguste
Rodin (1840-1917), whose surname has the same etymological origin.
Rohan 1
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Hindi, Marathi, Bengali, Kannada
Other Scripts: रोहन(Hindi, Marathi) রোহন(Bengali) ರೋಹನ್(Kannada)
Derived from Sanskrit
रोहण (rohaṇa) meaning
"ascension".
Roscoe
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: RAHS-ko
From an English surname, originally derived from a place name, itself derived from Old Norse rá "roebuck" and skógr "wood, forest".
Rune
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Norwegian, Danish, Swedish
Pronounced: ROO-nə(Norwegian) ROO-neh(Danish, Swedish)
Derived from Old Norse
rún meaning
"secret lore, rune".
Sol 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Spanish, Portuguese
Pronounced: SOL(Spanish) SAWL(European Portuguese) SOW(Brazilian Portuguese)
Means "sun" in Spanish or Portuguese.
Sullivan
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, French
Pronounced: SUL-i-vən(English)
From an Irish surname, the Anglicized form of
Ó Súileabháin, itself from the given name
Súileabhán, which was derived from Irish
súil "eye" and
dubh "dark, black" combined with a
diminutive suffix. This name has achieved a moderate level of popularity in France since the 1970s. In the United States it was rare before the 1990s, after which it began climbing steadily. A famous fictional bearer of the surname was James P. Sullivan from the animated movie
Monsters, Inc. (2001).
Talbot
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: TAL-bət, TAWL-bət
From an English surname, of Norman origin, possibly derived from an unattested Germanic given name composed of the elements dala "to destroy" and bod "message".
Tarquin
Gender: Masculine
Usage: History
Pronounced: TAHR-kwin(English)
From Tarquinius, a Roman name of unknown meaning, possibly Etruscan in origin. This was the name of two early kings of Rome.
Telemachos
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Greek Mythology, Ancient Greek [1]
Other Scripts: Τηλέμαχος(Ancient Greek)
Telemachus
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Greek Mythology (Latinized), Ancient Greek (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Τηλέμαχος(Ancient Greek)
Latinized form of Greek
Τηλέμαχος (Telemachos), derived from a Greek word meaning
"fighting from afar", itself from
τῆλε (tele) meaning "afar, far off" and
μάχη (mache) meaning "battle". In
Homer's epic the
Odyssey this is the name of the son of
Odysseus. It was also borne by a 4th-century
saint who was martyred when trying to stop a gladiatorial fight.
Thaddaeus
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Biblical Latin, Biblical
Other Scripts: Θαδδαῖος(Ancient Greek)
Theron
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Ancient Greek [1]
Other Scripts: Θήρων(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: TEH-RAWN(Classical Greek) THEHR-ən(English)
Tiberius
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Ancient Roman
Pronounced: tee-BEH-ree-oos(Latin) tie-BEHR-ee-əs(English)
Roman
praenomen, or given name, meaning
"of the Tiber" in Latin. The Tiber is the river that runs through Rome. Tiberius was the second Roman emperor, the stepson of Emperor
Augustus. He was born Tiberius Claudius Nero, but was renamed Tiberius Julius Caesar after he was designated as the heir of Augustus.
Tobias
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Biblical, German, Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, English, Biblical Latin, Biblical Greek
Other Scripts: Τωβίας(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: to-BEE-as(German) tuw-BEE-as(Swedish) tə-BIE-əs(English)
Greek form of
Tobiah. This is the name of the hero of the apocryphal Book of Tobit, which appears in many English versions of the
Old Testament. It relates how
Tobit's son Tobias, with the help of the angel
Raphael, is able to drive away a demon who has plagued Sarah, who subsequently becomes his wife. This story was popular in the Middle Ages, and the name came into occasional use in parts of Europe at that time. In England it became common after the
Protestant Reformation.
Typhon
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Τυφῶν(Ancient Greek)
Possibly from Greek
τύφω (typho) meaning
"to smoke",
τῦφος (typhos) meaning
"fever" or
τυφώς (typhos) meaning
"whirlwind". In Greek Mythology Typhon was a monstrous giant who challenged the rule of
Zeus. He and his mate
Echidna were said to be the parents of all monsters.
Virgil
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, Romanian
Pronounced: VUR-jil(English)
From the Roman family name Vergilius, which is of unknown meaning. This name was borne by the 1st-century BC Roman poet Publius Vergilius Maro, commonly called Virgil, who was the writer of the Aeneid. Due to him, Virgil has been in use as a given name in the English-speaking world since the 19th century.
Winslow
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: WINZ-lo
From a surname that was derived from an Old English place name meaning
"hill belonging to Wine". A famous bearer of this name was American painter Winslow Homer (1836-1910).
Winthrop
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: WIN-thrəp
From a surname that was originally taken from town names meaning either "
Wine's village" or "
Wigmund's village" in Old English.
Wolfram
Gender: Masculine
Usage: German
Pronounced: VAWL-fram
Derived from the Old German element
wolf meaning "wolf" combined with
hram meaning "raven".
Saint Wolfram (or Wulfram) was a 7th-century archbishop of Sens. This name was also borne by the 13th-century German poet Wolfram von Eschenbach, the author of
Parzival.
Zephyr
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Greek Mythology (Anglicized)
Other Scripts: Ζέφυρος(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: ZEHF-ər(English)
From the Greek
Ζέφυρος (Zephyros) meaning
"west wind". Zephyros was the Greek god of the west wind.
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