BedtimeBear's Personal Name List
Adora
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Spanish (Rare)
Pronounced: a-DHO-ra
Rating: 23% based on 12 votes
Adrien
Gender: Masculine
Usage: French
Pronounced: A-DREE-YEHN
Rating: 34% based on 9 votes
Aisling
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Irish
Pronounced: ASH-lyən
Rating: 100% based on 1 vote
Means "dream" or "vision" in Irish. This name was created in the 20th century.
Alvin
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, Swedish
Pronounced: AL-vin(English)
Rating: 23% based on 10 votes
From a medieval form of any of the Old English names
Ælfwine,
Æðelwine or
Ealdwine. It was revived in the 19th century, in part from a surname that was derived from the Old English names. As a Scandinavian name it is derived from
Alfvin, an Old Norse
cognate of
Ælfwine.
Amalthea
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Ἀμάλθεια(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: am-əl-THEE-ə(English)
Rating: 38% based on 9 votes
From the Greek
Ἀμάλθεια (Amaltheia), derived from
μαλθάσσω (malthasso) meaning
"to soften, to soothe". In Greek
myth she was a nymph (in some sources a goat) who nursed the infant
Zeus.
Amaly
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Arabic (Egyptian)
Rating: 40% based on 5 votes
Amaryllis
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Literature
Pronounced: am-ə-RIL-is(English)
Rating: 100% based on 1 vote
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.
Araceli
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Spanish
Pronounced: a-ra-THEH-lee(European Spanish) a-ra-SEH-lee(Latin American Spanish)
Rating: 100% based on 1 vote
Means
"altar of the sky" from Latin
ara "altar" and
coeli "sky". This is an epithet of the Virgin
Mary in her role as the patron
saint of Lucena, Spain.
Aragorn
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Literature
Rating: 21% based on 9 votes
Meaning unexplained, though the first element is presumably Sindarin ara "noble, kingly". This is the name of a character in The Lord of the Rings (1954) by J. R. R. Tolkien. In the book Aragorn is the heir of the Dúnedain kings of the north.
Araminta
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Rating: 53% based on 8 votes
Meaning unknown. This name was (first?) used by William Congreve in his comedy The Old Bachelor (1693) and later by John Vanbrugh in his comedy The Confederacy (1705). This was the original given name of abolitionist Harriet Tubman (1820-1913), who was born Araminta Ross.
Arcas
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Ἀρκάς(Ancient Greek)
Rating: 100% based on 1 vote
In Greek mythology he was a son of
Zeus and
Callisto. He was remembered for having taught people the art of weaving and baking bread. Hera became jealous of his birth, and in anger, transformed Callisto into a bear. She would have done the same or worse to her son, had Zeus not hidden Arcas in an area of Greece that would come to be called
Arcadia, in his honor. There Arcas safely lived until one day, during one of the court feasts held by king
Lycaon (Arcas' maternal grandfather), Lycaon tried to kill him and Zeus, in retaliation turned him in the first werewolf.
After this occurrence, Arcas became the new king of Arcadia, and the country's greatest hunter. One day when Arcas went hunting in the woods, he came across his mother. Seeing her son after so long, she went forth to embrace him. Not knowing that the bear was his mother, he went to kill her with an arrow. Zeus, taking pity upon the two, decided to avert the tragedy and put them both up in the heavens, and their constellations are now referred to as Ursa Major and Ursa Minor, the big and little bears. When Hera heard of this, she became so angry that she asked Tethys to keep them in a certain place, so that the constellations would never sink below the horizon and receive water.
Arwen
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Literature
Rating: 44% based on 8 votes
Means
"noble maiden" in the fictional language Sindarin. In
The Lord of the Rings (1954) by J. R. R. Tolkien, Arwen was the daughter of
Elrond and the lover of
Aragorn.
Ashley
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: ASH-lee
Rating: 35% based on 8 votes
From an English surname that was originally derived from place names meaning
"ash tree clearing", from a combination of Old English
æsc and
leah. Until the 1960s it was more commonly given to boys in the United States, but it is now most often used on girls. It reached its height of popularity in America in 1987, but it did not become the highest ranked name until 1991, being overshadowed by the likewise-popular
Jessica until then. In the United Kingdom it is still more common as a masculine name.
Ashton
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: ASH-tən
Rating: 46% based on 8 votes
From an English surname, itself derived from a place name meaning
"ash tree town" in Old English. This was a rare masculine name until the 1980s, when it gradually began becoming more common for both genders. Inspired by the female character Ashton Main from the 1985 miniseries
North and South, parents in America gave it more frequently to girls than boys from 1986 to 1997
[1]. Since then it has been overwhelmingly masculine once again, perhaps due in part to the fame of the actor Ashton Kutcher (1978-).
Avalon
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: AV-ə-lahn
Rating: 100% based on 1 vote
From the name of the island paradise to which King
Arthur was brought after his death. The name of this island is perhaps related to Welsh
afal meaning "apple", a fruit that was often linked with paradise.
Aysel
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Turkish, Azerbaijani
Rating: 29% based on 8 votes
Means
"moon flood" in Turkish and Azerbaijani, derived from
ay "moon" and
sel "flood, stream" (of Arabic origin).
Bailynn
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern, Rare)
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
Baylen
Gender: Masculine
Usage: American (Modern, Rare)
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
Béibhinn
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Irish, Irish Mythology
Pronounced: BYEH-vyin(Irish) BYEH-vyeen(Irish)
Rating: 0% based on 1 vote
Brightly
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (American, Modern, Rare)
Pronounced: BRIET-lee(American English)
From the English word
brighly meaning "in a bright way", possibly inspired by names with a similar ending like
Amberly and
Baily.
Caprice
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: kə-PREES
Rating: 38% based on 9 votes
From the English word meaning "impulse", ultimately (via French) from Italian capriccio.
Carmen
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Spanish, English, Italian, Portuguese, French, Romanian, German
Pronounced: KAR-mehn(Spanish, Italian) KAHR-mən(English)
Rating: 42% based on 5 votes
Medieval Spanish form of
Carmel, appearing in the devotional title of the Virgin
Mary Nuestra Señora del Carmen meaning "Our Lady of Mount Carmel". The spelling has been altered through association with the Latin word
carmen meaning
"song". This was the name of the main character in George Bizet's opera
Carmen (1875).
Cecilia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Italian, Spanish, Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, Dutch, Romanian, Finnish
Pronounced: seh-SEE-lee-ə(English) seh-SEEL-yə(English) cheh-CHEE-lya(Italian) theh-THEE-lya(European Spanish) seh-SEE-lya(Latin American Spanish) seh-SEEL-yah(Danish, Norwegian)
Rating: 52% based on 10 votes
Latinate feminine form of the Roman family name
Caecilius, which was derived from Latin
caecus meaning
"blind".
Saint Cecilia was a semi-legendary 2nd or 3rd-century martyr who was sentenced to die because she refused to worship the Roman gods. After attempts to suffocate her failed, she was beheaded. She was later regarded as the patron saint of music and musicians.
Due to the popularity of the saint, the name became common in the Christian world during the Middle Ages. The Normans brought it to England, where it was commonly spelled Cecily — the Latinate form Cecilia came into use in the 18th century.
Céleste
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: French
Pronounced: SEH-LEST
Rating: 0% based on 1 vote
French feminine and masculine form of
Caelestis.
Celestial
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (American, Rare)
Pronounced: sə-LES-chəl(American English) sə-LES-tee-əl(American English)
Rating: 0% based on 1 vote
Derived from the English adjective
celestial meaning "of the sky, heavenly", which is ultimately derived from the Latin adjective
caelestis meaning "of the heavens" (see
Caelestis).
Celestine
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: SEHL-ə-steen
Rating: 0% based on 1 vote
English form of
Caelestinus. It is more commonly used as a feminine name, from the French feminine form
Célestine.
Ciel
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: Various (Rare)
Rating: 33% based on 9 votes
Means "sky" in French. It is not used as a given name in France itself.
Citrine
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern, Rare), French
Pronounced: sit-REEN(English) SIT-reen(English) SIT-REEN(French)
From the English word for a pale yellow variety of quartz that resembles topaz. From Old French
citrin, ultimately from Latin
citrus, "citron tree". It may also be related to the Yiddish
tsitrin, for "lemon tree."
It is one of the birthstones for November.
Daisy
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: DAY-zee
Rating: 43% based on 4 votes
Simply from the English word for the white flower, ultimately derived from Old English
dægeseage meaning "day eye". It was first used as a given name in the 19th century, at the same time many other plant and flower names were coined.
This name was fairly popular at the end of the 19th century and beginning of the 20th. The American author F. Scott Fitzgerald used it for the character of Daisy Buchanan in The Great Gatsby (1925). The Walt Disney cartoon character Daisy Duck was created in 1940 as the girlfriend of Donald Duck. It was at a low in popularity in the United States in the 1970s when it got a small boost from a character on the television series The Dukes of Hazzard in 1979.
Devon
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: DEHV-ən
Rating: 48% based on 4 votes
Variant of
Devin. It may also be partly inspired by the name of the county of Devon in England, which got its name from the Dumnonii, a Celtic tribe.
Draumey
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Icelandic (Modern, Rare)
Rating: 100% based on 1 vote
Combination of Old Norse draumr "dream" and ey "island; flat land along a coast" (which is also often related to the Old Norse name element auja "(gift of) luck; fortune").
Dylan
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Welsh, English, Welsh Mythology
Pronounced: DUL-an(Welsh) DIL-ən(English)
Rating: 57% based on 11 votes
From the Welsh prefix
dy meaning "to, toward" and
llanw meaning "tide, flow". According to the Fourth Branch of the
Mabinogi [1], Dylan was a son of
Arianrhod and the twin brother of
Lleu Llaw Gyffes. Immediately after he was baptized he took to the sea, where he could swim as well as a fish. He was slain accidentally by his uncle
Gofannon. According to some theories the character might be rooted in an earlier and otherwise unattested Celtic god of the sea.
Famous bearers include the Welsh poet Dylan Thomas (1914-1953) and the American musician Bob Dylan (1941-), real name Robert Zimmerman, who took his stage surname from the poet's given name. Due to those two bearers, use of the name has spread outside of Wales in the last half of the 20th century. It received a further boost in popularity in the 1990s due to a character on the television series Beverly Hills 90210.
Edeline
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Medieval French, Anglo-Norman, French, Haitian Creole
Rating: 48% based on 5 votes
Old French variant of
Adelina. It was borne by Edeline Thwenge, a 14th-century heiress of Ripley Castle in North Yorkshire, England. The Edeline Islands of Western Australia are named for Lady Edeline Sackville-West (1870-1918), the wife of Gerald Strickland, 1st Baron Strickland.
Eden
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Hebrew, English (Modern), French (Modern)
Other Scripts: עֵדֶן(Hebrew)
Pronounced: EE-dən(English)
Rating: 45% based on 10 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.
Eilonwy
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Literature
Rating: 60% based on 2 votes
From Welsh eilon meaning "deer, stag" or "song, melody". This name was used by Lloyd Alexander in his book series The Chronicles of Prydain (1964-1968) as well as the Disney film adaptation The Black Cauldron (1985).
Eira 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Welsh
Pronounced: AY-ra
Rating: 52% based on 6 votes
Means "snow" in Welsh. This is a recently created name.
Eliana 2
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Hebrew
Other Scripts: אֶלִיעַנָה(Hebrew)
Rating: 100% based on 1 vote
Means "my God has answered" in Hebrew.
Elijah
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, Hebrew, Biblical
Other Scripts: אֱלִיָּהוּ(Hebrew)
Pronounced: i-LIE-jə(English) i-LIE-zhə(English)
Rating: 66% based on 10 votes
From the Hebrew name
אֱלִיָּהוּ (ʾEliyyahu) meaning
"my God is Yahweh", derived from the roots
אֵל (ʾel) and
יָהּ (yah), both referring to the Hebrew God. Elijah was a Hebrew prophet and miracle worker, as told in the two Books of Kings in the
Old Testament. He was active in the 9th century BC during the reign of King
Ahab of Israel and his Phoenician-born queen
Jezebel. Elijah confronted the king and queen over their idolatry of the Canaanite god
Ba'al and other wicked deeds. At the end of his life he was carried to heaven in a chariot of fire, and was succeeded by
Elisha. In the
New Testament, Elijah and
Moses appear next to
Jesus when he is transfigured.
Because Elijah was a popular figure in medieval tales, and because his name was borne by a few early saints (who are usually known by the Latin form Elias), the name came into general use during the Middle Ages. In medieval England it was usually spelled Elis. It died out there by the 16th century, but it was revived by the Puritans in the form Elijah after the Protestant Reformation. The name became popular during the 1990s and 2000s, especially in America where it broke into the top ten in 2016.
Elma
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Bosnian, Albanian
Rating: 37% based on 3 votes
Élodie
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French
Pronounced: EH-LAW-DEE
Rating: 62% based on 10 votes
Elsie
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Swedish
Pronounced: EHL-see(English)
Rating: 38% based on 5 votes
Ember
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: EHM-bər
Rating: 50% based on 2 votes
From the English word ember, ultimately from Old English æmerge.
Emberly
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: EHM-bər-lee
Rating: 43% based on 4 votes
Emmaline
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: EHM-ə-leen, EHM-ə-lien
Rating: 50% based on 4 votes
Enver
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Turkish, Bosnian, Albanian
Rating: 40% based on 5 votes
Turkish, Bosnian and Albanian form of
Anwar.
Esmeralda
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Spanish, Portuguese, English, Albanian, Literature
Pronounced: ehz-meh-RAL-da(Spanish) izh-mi-RAL-du(European Portuguese) ehz-meh-ROW-du(Brazilian Portuguese) ehz-mə-RAHL-də(English)
Rating: 49% based on 8 votes
Means "emerald" in Spanish and Portuguese. Victor Hugo used this name in his novel The Hunchback of Notre-Dame (1831), in which Esmeralda is the Romani girl who is loved by Quasimodo. It has occasionally been used in the English-speaking world since that time.
Étoile
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French (Modern, Rare)
Pronounced: EH-TWAL
Rating: 18% based on 5 votes
Derived from French étoile "star" (ultimately via Old French estoile, esteile, from Latin stēlla).
Evan
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Welsh, English
Pronounced: EHV-ən(English)
Rating: 64% based on 8 votes
Anglicized form of
Ifan, a Welsh form of
John.
Everly
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: EHV-ər-lee
Rating: 55% based on 2 votes
From an English surname that was from a place name, itself derived from Old English
eofor "boar" and
leah "woodland, clearing". Notable bearers of the surname were the musical duo the Everly Brothers, Don (1937-2021) and Phil (1939-2014).
This name began rising on the American popularity charts in 2008, slowly until 2012 and then rapidly after that. This might have been triggered by the folk band Everly (not associated with the Everly Brothers), which had music featured on the television series One Tree Hill in that period. It also might have simply been inspired by similar-sounding names like Everett, Evelyn and Beverly.
Evren
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: Turkish
Pronounced: ehv-REHN
Rating: 60% based on 9 votes
Means
"cosmos, the universe" in Turkish. In Turkic
mythology the Evren is a gigantic snake-like dragon.
Fairuza
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Arabic (Rare)
Rating: 38% based on 4 votes
Fay
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: FAY
Rating: 35% based on 8 votes
In part from the English word
fay meaning
"fairy", derived from Middle English
faie meaning "magical, enchanted", ultimately (via Old French) from Latin
fata meaning "the Fates". It appears in Geoffrey of Monmouth's chronicles in the name of
Morgan le Fay. In some cases it may be used as a short form of
Faith. It has been used as a feminine given name since the 19th century.
As a rarer (but older) masculine name it is probably derived from a surname: see Fay 1 or Fay 2.
Grace
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: GRAYS
Rating: 78% based on 6 votes
From the English word
grace, which ultimately derives from Latin
gratia. This was one of the virtue names created in the 17th century by the
Puritans. The actress Grace Kelly (1929-1982) was a famous bearer.
This name was very popular in the English-speaking world at the end of the 19th century. Though it declined in use over the next 100 years, it staged a successful comeback at the end of the 20th century. The American sitcom Will and Grace (1998-2006) may have helped, though the name was already strongly rising when it premiered. It was the top name for girls in England and Wales in 2006.
Gracelyn
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: GRAYS-lin
Rating: 50% based on 5 votes
Elaboration of
Grace using the popular name suffix
lyn.
Gülin
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Turkish
Pronounced: GUU'LIN
Rating: 38% based on 4 votes
"owner of rose gardens" or "a person with a rose smell"
Gwendoline
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Welsh, English (British), French
Pronounced: GWEHN-də-lin(British English) GWEHN-DAW-LEEN(French)
Rating: 48% based on 4 votes
Harvey
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: HAHR-vee
Rating: 47% based on 3 votes
From the Breton given name
Haerviu, which meant
"battle worthy", from
haer "battle" and
viu "worthy". This was the name of a 6th-century Breton hermit who is the patron
saint of the blind. Settlers from Brittany introduced it to England after the
Norman Conquest. During the later Middle Ages it became rare, but it was revived in the 19th century.
Heidi
Gender: Feminine
Usage: German, Norwegian, Danish, Swedish, Finnish, English
Pronounced: HIE-dee(German, English) HAY-dee(Finnish)
Rating: 68% based on 4 votes
German
diminutive of
Adelheid. This is the name of the title character in the children's novel
Heidi (1880) by the Swiss author Johanna Spyri. The name began to be used in the English-speaking world shortly after the 1937 release of the movie adaptation, which starred Shirley Temple.
Icelyn
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (American, Modern, Rare)
Rating: 100% based on 1 vote
Apparently a combination of
Ice and the popular name suffix
lyn, perhaps influenced by
Iceland.
In some cases it might be a (nonphonetic) English rendering of the Irish name
Aislinn (cf.
Acelynn) or the Norwegian
Iselin.
Ināra
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Latvian
Rating: 100% based on 1 vote
Meaning unknown, possibly an elaboration of
Ina.
Ivan
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Russian, Bulgarian, Ukrainian, Belarusian, Serbian, Macedonian, Croatian, Czech, Slovak, Slovene, English, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, Estonian
Other Scripts: Иван(Russian, Bulgarian, Serbian, Macedonian) Іван(Ukrainian, Belarusian)
Pronounced: i-VAN(Russian) ee-VAN(Bulgarian, Ukrainian, Romanian) yee-VAN(Belarusian) EE-van(Serbian, Macedonian, Croatian, Slovak, Slovene, Italian) I-van(Czech) IE-vən(English) ee-VUN(Portuguese)
Rating: 41% based on 9 votes
Newer form of the Old Church Slavic name
Іѡаннъ (Ioannŭ), which was derived from Greek
Ioannes (see
John). This was the name of six Russian rulers, including the 15th-century Ivan III the Great and 16th-century Ivan IV the Terrible, the first tsar of Russia. It was also borne by nine emperors of Bulgaria. Other notable bearers include the Russian author Ivan Turgenev (1818-1883), who wrote
Fathers and Sons, and the Russian physiologist Ivan Pavlov (1849-1936), who is best known for his discovery of the conditioned reflex.
Ixchel
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Mayan Mythology, Mayan
Pronounced: eesh-CHEHL(Mayan)
Possibly means "rainbow lady", from Classic Maya ix "lady" and chel "rainbow". Ixchel was a Maya goddess associated with the earth, jaguars, medicine and childbirth. She was often depicted with a snake in her hair and crossbones embroidered on her skirt.
Jocelyn
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, French
Pronounced: JAHS-lin(English) JAHS-ə-lin(English) ZHO-SEH-LEHN(French)
Rating: 33% based on 10 votes
From a Frankish masculine name, variously written as
Gaudelenus,
Gautselin,
Gauzlin, along with many other spellings. It was derived from the Germanic element *
gautaz, which was from the name of the Germanic tribe the Geats, combined with a Latin
diminutive suffix. The
Normans brought this name to England in the form
Goscelin or
Joscelin, and it was common until the 14th century. It was revived in the 20th century primarily as a feminine name, perhaps an adaptation of the surname
Jocelyn (a medieval derivative of the given name). In France this is a masculine name only.
Joy
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: JOI
Rating: 38% based on 8 votes
Simply from the English word joy, ultimately derived from Norman French joie, Latin gaudium. It has been regularly used as a given name since the late 19th century.
Kaedyn
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Modern, Rare)
Pronounced: KAY-dən
Rating: 100% based on 1 vote
Kailani
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Hawaiian
Pronounced: kie-LA-nee
Rating: 30% based on 1 vote
From Hawaiian kai "ocean, sea" and lani "sky, heaven".
Kimberly
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: KIM-bər-lee
Rating: 44% based on 8 votes
From the name of the city of
Kimberley in South Africa, which was named after Lord
Kimberley (1826-1902). The city came to prominence in the late 19th century during the Boer War.
Kimberly has been used as a given name since the mid-20th century, eventually becoming very popular as a feminine name.
Kimberlyn
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: KIM-bər-lin
Rating: 34% based on 5 votes
Elaboration of
Kimberly using the popular name suffix
lyn.
Kinsey
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: KIN-zee
Rating: 30% based on 4 votes
From an English surname that was derived from the given name
Cynesige. This name is borne by Kinsey Millhone, the heroine in a series of mystery novels by author Sue Grafton, beginning in 1982.
Kovu
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Swahili
Pronounced: KOH-voo
Rating: 36% based on 5 votes
It's Kiswahili for "Scar" and possibly, and is used in the Lion King 2. Kovu was chosen by Scar to become King before Simba returned to Pride Rock. Kovu's Mother Zira almost let Simab kill him when he was just a cub when they were caught in the Pridelands, but Simba told her to take him and leave before departing with his own daughter
Kiara. (Many are to believe the movie is based off of
William Shakespeare's famous play "
Romeo And
Juliet", because of how
Kiara and Kovu fell in love but were forbidden to be together. But rather than them dying in the end, Zira fell into a river after a beaver dam burst open, causing her to drown, not even letting
Kiara help her get out safely.)
Layan
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Arabic
Other Scripts: ليان(Arabic)
Pronounced: la-YAN
Rating: 47% based on 3 votes
Means
"soft, delicate" in Arabic, from the root
لان (lāna) meaning "to be soft".
Leilani
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: Hawaiian
Pronounced: lay-LA-nee
Rating: 10% based on 2 votes
Means "heavenly flowers" or "royal child" from Hawaiian lei "flowers, lei, child" and lani "heaven, sky, royal, majesty".
Liana
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, English, Georgian
Other Scripts: ლიანა(Georgian)
Pronounced: LYA-na(Italian)
Rating: 61% based on 8 votes
Short form of
Juliana,
Liliana and other names that end in
liana. This is also the word for a type of vine that grows in jungles.
Lilac
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: LIE-lək
Rating: 49% based on 7 votes
From the English word for the shrub with purple or white flowers (genus Syringa). It is derived via Arabic from Persian.
Lina 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Arabic
Other Scripts: لينا(Arabic)
Pronounced: LEE-na
Rating: 68% based on 9 votes
Means
"soft, tender" in Arabic, derived from
لان (lāna) meaning "to be soft". It can also be from Arabic
لينة (līna), a type of palm tree, likely derived from the same root.
Lisa
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Italian
Pronounced: LEE-sə(English) LEE-za(German, Italian) LEE-sa(Dutch)
Rating: 45% based on 8 votes
Short form of
Elizabeth (though often used independently) and its cognates in other languages. This is the name of the subject of one of the world's most famous paintings, the
Mona Lisa, the portrait of Lisa del Giocondo by Leonardo da Vinci.
In the United States this form was more popular than the full form Elizabeth from 1958 to 1978, and was in fact the top ranked American name between 1962 and 1969.
Lórien
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: Literature, English (Modern)
Pronounced: LAH-ree-en(British English) LOR-ee-en(American English)
Rating: 100% based on 1 vote
From the Sindarin name Lothlórien, an Elven city in Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. Named for a land called Lórien in Aman, from which Galadriel had been exiled, Lothlórien means Lórien of the Blossom. Often shortened to Lórien, which means "Land of Gold," although it often carries with it the meaning "dream." (Treebeard referred to it as "The Dreamflower.")
In Tolkien's Silmarillion, Lórien, also known as Irmo, is one of the two Valar brothers known as Feanturi (the root of which is 'fëa'). Irmo resides and keeps the garden of Lórien, in Valinor, which was known as the fairest of all places in the world and filled with many spirits of beauty and power. His wife is Estë the gentle.
Lotus
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: LO-təs
Rating: 19% based on 9 votes
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.
Lynne
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: LIN
Rating: 35% based on 8 votes
Lyric
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: LIR-ik
Rating: 46% based on 9 votes
Means simply
"lyric, songlike" from the English word, ultimately derived from Greek
λυρικός (lyrikos).
Madison
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: MAD-i-sən
Rating: 24% based on 9 votes
From an English surname meaning
"son of Maud". It was not commonly used as a feminine name until after the movie
Splash (1984), in which the main character adopted it as her name after seeing a street sign for Madison Avenue in New York City. It was ranked second for girls in the United States by 2001. This rise from obscurity to prominence in only 18 years represents an unprecedented 550,000 percent increase in usage.
A famous bearer of the surname was James Madison (1751-1836), one of the authors of the American constitution who later served as president (and after whom Madison Avenue was named).
Margolette
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Literature
Rating: 43% based on 4 votes
Created by L. Frank Baum for the novel The Patchwork Girl of Oz.
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: 56% based on 10 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.
Mavis
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: MAY-vis
Rating: 30% based on 3 votes
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).
Meadow
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: MEHD-o
Rating: 31% based on 9 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).
Melanie
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, German, Dutch
Pronounced: MEHL-ə-nee(English) MEH-la-nee(German) meh-la-NEE(German)
Rating: 50% based on 7 votes
From
Mélanie, the French form of the Latin name
Melania, derived from Greek
μέλαινα (melaina) meaning
"black, dark". This was the name of a Roman
saint who gave all her wealth to charity in the 5th century. Her grandmother was also a saint with the same name.
The name was common in France during the Middle Ages, and was introduced from there to England, though it eventually became rare. Interest in it was revived by the character Melanie Wilkes from the novel Gone with the Wind (1936) and the subsequent movie adaptation (1939).
Melody
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: MEHL-ə-dee
Rating: 54% based on 9 votes
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".
Mia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Dutch, German, Italian, Slovene, Croatian, English
Pronounced: MEE-ah(Swedish, Norwegian, Danish) MEE-a(Dutch, German, Italian) MEE-ə(English)
Rating: 45% based on 4 votes
Diminutive of
Maria. It coincides with the Italian word
mia meaning
"mine".
This name was common in Sweden and Denmark in the 1970s [1]. It rose in popularity in the English-speaking world in the 1990s, entering the top ten for girls in the United States in 2009. It was also popular in many other countries at that time. Famous bearers include American actress Mia Farrow (1945-) and American soccer player Mia Hamm (1972-), birth names Maria and Mariel respectively.
Minerva
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Roman Mythology, English, Spanish
Pronounced: mee-NEHR-wa(Latin) mi-NUR-və(English) mee-NEHR-ba(Spanish)
Rating: 43% based on 7 votes
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.
Minty
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: MIN-tee
Rating: 26% based on 9 votes
Molly
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: MAHL-ee
Rating: 68% based on 11 votes
Medieval
diminutive of
Mary, now often used independently. It developed from
Malle and
Molle, other medieval diminutives. James Joyce used this name in his novel
Ulysses (1922), where it belongs to Molly Bloom, the wife of the main character.
Moxie
Gender: Feminine
Usage: American (Modern)
Pronounced: MAWK-see
Rating: 18% based on 4 votes
Meaning "nerve, courage, pep, daring, spirit". A relatively modern American slang term that came around c. 1925-30 after 'Moxie', a brand of soft drink. The term fell into common usage following an aggressive marketing campaign associating the brand name Moxie with the traits that now define the term. It began gaining popularity as a given name after magician Penn Jillette used it for his daughter in 2005.
Naia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Basque
Pronounced: NIE-a
Rating: 68% based on 5 votes
Means "wave, sea foam" in Basque.
Najwa
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Arabic
Other Scripts: نجوى(Arabic)
Pronounced: NAJ-wa
Rating: 30% based on 8 votes
Means
"secret, whisper, confidential talk" in Arabic, from the root
نجا (najā) meaning "to save, to entrust, to confide in".
Nancy
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: NAN-see
Rating: 20% based on 5 votes
Previously a medieval
diminutive of
Annis, though since the 18th century it has been a diminutive of
Ann. It is now usually regarded as an independent name. During the 20th century it became very popular in the United States. A city in the Lorraine region of France bears this name, though it derives from a different source.
Océane
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French
Pronounced: AW-SEH-AN
Rating: 61% based on 9 votes
Derived from French océan meaning "ocean".
Orlando
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Carolingian Cycle
Pronounced: or-LAN-do(Italian, Spanish)
Rating: 43% based on 8 votes
Italian form of
Roland, as used in the epic poems
Orlando Innamorato (1483) by Matteo Maria Boiardo and the continuation
Orlando Furioso (1532) by Ludovico Ariosto. In the poems, Orlando is a knight in
Charlemagne's army who battles against the invading Saracens. A character in Shakespeare's play
As You Like It (1599) also bears this name, as does a city in Florida.
Orson
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: AWR-sən
Rating: 0% based on 1 vote
From a Norman nickname derived from a
diminutive of Norman French
ors "bear", ultimately from Latin
ursus. American actor and director Orson Welles (1915-1985) was a famous bearer of this name.
Ozma
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Literature
Rating: 38% based on 4 votes
Princess Ozma of Oz is a fictional character created by L. Frank Baum.
Rain 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: RAYN
Rating: 49% based on 8 votes
Simply from the English word rain, derived from Old English regn.
Ranavalona
Gender: Feminine
Usage: History
Means "folded, kept aside" or "calm, smooth" in Malagasy. This was the name of three queens of Madagascar.
Rasha
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Arabic
Other Scripts: رشا(Arabic)
Pronounced: RA-sha
Rating: 38% based on 8 votes
Means "young gazelle" in Arabic.
Rava
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Esperanto
Pronounced: RA-va
Rating: 44% based on 8 votes
Means "lovely, delightful" in Esperanto.
Reverie
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: REHV-ə-ree
Rating: 100% 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".
River
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: RIV-ər
Rating: 48% based on 8 votes
From the English word that denotes a flowing body of water. The word is ultimately derived (via Old French) from Latin ripa "riverbank".
Rónán
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Irish, Old Irish [1]
Pronounced: RO-nan(Irish)
Rating: 48% based on 8 votes
Means
"little seal", derived from Old Irish
rón "seal" combined with a
diminutive suffix. This was the name of several early Irish
saints, including a pilgrim to Brittany who founded the hermitage at Locronan in the 6th century.
Rosaline
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: RO-zə-leen, RAHZ-ə-lin, RAHZ-ə-lien
Rating: 59% based on 10 votes
Medieval variant of
Rosalind. This is the name of characters in Shakespeare's
Love's Labour's Lost (1594) and
Romeo and Juliet (1596).
Roswitha
Gender: Feminine
Usage: German
Pronounced: raws-VEE-ta
Rating: 40% based on 9 votes
Derived from the Old German elements
hruod "fame" and
swind "strong". This was the name of a 10th-century nun from Saxony who wrote several notable poems and dramas.
Roxelana
Gender: Feminine
Usage: History
Rating: 31% based on 9 votes
From a Turkish nickname meaning
"Ruthenian". This referred to the region of Ruthenia, covering Belarus, Ukraine and western Russia. Roxelana (1504-1558), also called
Hürrem, was a slave and then concubine of
Süleyman the Magnificent, sultan of the Ottoman Empire. She eventually became his wife and produced his heir, Selim II.
Russia
Usage: English, Italian, Late Roman
Pronounced: RU-shə(English) ROOS-sya(Italian)
Rating: 43% based on 4 votes
Derived from the name of the medieval state of
Rus. The modern country of Russia includes the eastern portions of Rus, and has also expanded far to the east across
Asia.
Ryan
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: RIE-ən
Rating: 48% based on 9 votes
From a common Irish surname, the Anglicized form of
Ó Riain. This patronymic derives from the given name
Rian, which is of uncertain meaning. It is traditionally said to mean
"little king", from Irish
rí "king" combined with a
diminutive suffix.
In the United States this name steadily grew in popularity through the 1950s and 60s. It shot up the charts after the release of the 1970 movie Ryan's Daughter. Within a few years it was in the top 20 names, where it would stay for over three decades. Famous bearers include the Canadian actors Ryan Reynolds (1976-) and Ryan Gosling (1980-).
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: 53% based on 8 votes
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.
Sadaf
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Arabic, Persian, Urdu
Other Scripts: صدف(Arabic, Persian, Urdu)
Pronounced: SA-daf(Arabic)
Rating: 28% based on 9 votes
Means "seashell, mother-of-pearl" in Arabic.
Sahara
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: sə-HAHR-ə, sə-HAR-ə
Rating: 33% based on 3 votes
From the name of the world's largest hot desert, which is derived from Arabic صَحَارَى
(ṣaḥārā) meaning "deserts" (see
Sahara).
Salome
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare), German (Rare), Georgian, Biblical, Biblical Latin, Biblical Greek [1]
Other Scripts: სალომე(Georgian) Σαλώμη(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: sə-LO-mee(English)
Rating: 42% based on 9 votes
From an Aramaic name that was related to the Hebrew word
שָׁלוֹם (shalom) meaning
"peace". According to the historian Josephus this was the name of the daughter of
Herodias (the consort of Herod Antipas, the tetrarch of Galilee). In the
New Testament, though a specific name is not given, it was a daughter of Herodias who danced for Herod and was rewarded with the head of
John the Baptist, and thus Salome and the dancer have traditionally been equated.
As a Christian given name, Salome has been in occasional use since the Protestant Reformation. This was due to a second person of this name in the New Testament: one of the women who witnessed the crucifixion and later discovered that Jesus' tomb was empty. It is used in Georgia due to the 4th-century Salome of Ujarma, who is considered a saint in the Georgian Church.
Savannah
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: sə-VAN-ə
Rating: 45% based on 8 votes
From the English word for the large grassy plain, ultimately deriving from the Taino (Native American) word zabana. It came into use as a given name in America in the 19th century. It was revived in the 1980s by the movie Savannah Smiles (1982).
Scarlett
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: SKAHR-lit
Rating: 45% based on 11 votes
From an English surname that denoted a person who sold or made clothes made of scarlet (a kind of cloth, possibly derived from Persian
سقرلاط (saqrelāṭ)). Margaret Mitchell used it for the main character, Scarlett O'Hara, in her novel
Gone with the Wind (1936). Her name is explained as having come from her grandmother. Despite the fact that the book was adapted into a popular movie in 1939, the name was not common until the 21st century. It started rising around 2003, about the time that the career of American actress Scarlett Johansson (1984-) started taking off.
Skye
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: SKIE
Rating: 63% based on 9 votes
From the name of the Isle of Skye off the west coast of Scotland. It is sometimes considered a variant of
Sky.
Skylar
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: SKIE-lər
Rating: 65% based on 6 votes
Variant of
Skyler. Originally more common for boys during the 1980s, it was popularized as a name for girls after it was used on the American soap opera
The Young and the Restless in 1989 and the movie
Good Will Hunting in 1997
[1]. Its sharp rise in the United States in 2011 might be attributed to the character Skyler White from the television series
Breaking Bad (2008-2013) or the singer Skylar Grey (1986-), who adopted this name in 2010 after previously going by Holly Brook.
Solange
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French
Pronounced: SAW-LAHNZH
Rating: 29% based on 8 votes
French form of the Late Latin name
Sollemnia, which was derived from Latin
sollemnis "religious". This was the name of a French shepherdess who became a
saint after she was killed by her master.
Soleil
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Various
Pronounced: SAW-LAY(French)
Rating: 39% based on 8 votes
Means "sun" in French. It is not commonly used as a name in France itself.
Solène
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French
Pronounced: SAW-LEHN
Rating: 45% based on 4 votes
Sophie
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French, English, German, Dutch
Pronounced: SAW-FEE(French) SO-fee(English) zo-FEE(German) so-FEE(Dutch)
Rating: 59% based on 10 votes
Starla
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: STAHR-lə
Rating: 40% based on 9 votes
Starlie
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (American)
Pronounced: STAHR-lee(American English)
Rating: 40% based on 4 votes
Stellan
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Swedish
Pronounced: STEHL-lan
Rating: 48% based on 8 votes
Meaning unknown, perhaps related to Old Norse stilling "calm", or perhaps of German origin.
Storm
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern), Dutch (Modern), Danish (Modern), Norwegian (Modern)
Pronounced: STAWRM(English, Dutch)
Rating: 34% based on 9 votes
From the vocabulary word, ultimately from Old English or Old Dutch storm, or in the case of the Scandinavian name, from Old Norse stormr. It is unisex as an English name, but typically masculine elsewhere.
Suiko
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Japanese
Rating: 100% based on 1 vote
Means "water fox" or "water child" in Japanese. This is also the name of the first ruling empress in Japan. She was the wife of emperor Bidatsu.
Summer
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: SUM-ər
Rating: 51% based on 8 votes
From the name of the season, ultimately from Old English sumor. It has been in use as a given name since the 1970s.
Svandís
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Icelandic
Rating: 100% based on 1 vote
Combination of the Old Norse name elements svanr "(male) swan" and dís "goddess; woman, lady; sister" or dis "wise woman, seeress; woman, virgin".
Symphony
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: SIM-fə-nee
Rating: 31% based on 8 votes
Simply from the English word, ultimately deriving from Greek
σύμφωνος (symphonos) meaning "concordant in sound".
Tavan
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Kurdish
Other Scripts: تاڤان(Kurdish Sorani)
Rating: 30% based on 3 votes
Spring rain
Twila
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: TWIE-lə
Rating: 40% based on 8 votes
Meaning unknown. Perhaps based on the English word
twilight, or maybe from a Cajun pronunciation of French
étoile "star"
[1]. It came into use as an American given name in the late 19th century.
Tyler
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: TIE-lər
Rating: 62% based on 11 votes
From an English surname meaning "tiler of roofs", derived from Old English tigele "tile". The surname was borne by American president John Tyler (1790-1862).
Wendy
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: WEHN-dee
Rating: 41% based on 10 votes
In the case of the character from J. M. Barrie's play
Peter Pan (1904), it was created from the nickname
fwendy "friend", given to the author by a young friend. However, the name was used prior to the play (rarely), in which case it could be related to the Welsh name
Gwendolen and other names beginning with the element
gwen meaning "white, blessed". The name only became common after Barrie's play ran.
Winter
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: WIN-tər
Rating: 49% based on 8 votes
From the English word for the season, derived from Old English winter.
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