HanMarie164'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)
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.
Adele
Gender: Feminine
Usage: German, English, Italian
Pronounced: a-DEH-lə(German) ə-DEHL(English) a-DEH-leh(Italian)
Form of
Adela used in several languages. A famous bearer was the dancer and actress Adele Astaire (1896-1981). It was also borne by the British singer Adele Adkins (1988-), known simply as Adele. Shortly after she released her debut album in 2008 the name reentered the American top 1000 chart after a 40-year absence.
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).
Aeson
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Greek Mythology (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Αἰσών(Ancient Greek)
From the Greek
Αἰσών (Aison), which is of unknown meaning. Aeson was the father of
Jason in Greek
mythology.
Agda
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Swedish (Rare)
Swedish variant form of
Agatha.
Aglaia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology, Greek
Other Scripts: Ἀγλαΐα(Ancient Greek) Αγλαΐα(Greek)
Pronounced: ə-GLIE-ə(English)
Means
"splendour, beauty" in Greek. In Greek
mythology she was one of the three Graces or
Χάριτες (Charites). This name was also borne by a 4th-century
saint from Rome.
Agnes
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Icelandic, Estonian, Late Greek (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Ἅγνη(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: AG-nis(English) AK-nəs(German) AHKH-nehs(Dutch) ANG-nehs(Swedish) OW-nes(Danish)
Latinized form of the Greek name
Ἅγνη (Hagne), derived from Greek
ἁγνός (hagnos) meaning
"chaste".
Saint Agnes was a virgin martyred during the persecutions of the Roman emperor Diocletian. The name became associated with Latin
agnus "lamb", resulting in the saint's frequent depiction with a lamb by her side. Due to her renown, the name became common in Christian Europe.
As an English name it was highly popular from the Middle Ages until the 17th century. It was revived in the 19th century and was common into the 20th, but it fell into decline after the 1930s. It last appeared on the American top 1000 rankings in 1972.
Ah
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: Chinese
Other Scripts: 阿(Chinese)
Pronounced: A
From the Chinese character
阿 (ā), which has no distinct meaning. It is not normally given as a name, but it can be prefixed to another name to make it a
diminutive.
Airi 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 愛莉, 愛梨, etc.(Japanese Kanji) あいり(Japanese Hiragana)
Pronounced: A-EE-REE
From Japanese
愛 (ai) meaning "love, affection" combined with
莉 (ri) meaning "white jasmine" or
梨 (ri) meaning "pear". Other combinations of kanji characters are possible.
Ajax
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Greek Mythology (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Αἴας(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: AY-jaks(English)
From the Greek name
Αἴας (Aias), perhaps deriving from Greek
αἰαστής (aiastes) meaning
"mourner" or
αἶα (aia) meaning
"earth, land". In Greek
mythology this was the name of two of the heroes who fought for the Greeks in the Trojan War: the son of
Telamon and the son of Oileus. When the armour of the slain hero
Achilles was not given to Ajax Telamonian, he became mad with jealousy and killed himself.
Akemi
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 明美, etc.(Japanese Kanji) あけみ(Japanese Hiragana)
Pronounced: A-KEH-MEE
From Japanese
明 (ake) meaning "bright" and
美 (mi) meaning "beautiful". Other kanji combinations are possible.
Alaia 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Basque
Means "joyful, happy" from Basque alai.
Alec
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: AL-ik
Alessa
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian
Pronounced: a-LEHS-sa
Alessandra
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian
Pronounced: a-lehs-SAN-dra
Alethea
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: al-ə-THEE-ə, ə-LEE-thee-ə
Derived from Greek
ἀλήθεια (aletheia) meaning
"truth". This name was coined in the 16th century.
Alexa
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, German, Hungarian
Pronounced: ə-LEHK-sə(English) AW-lehk-saw(Hungarian)
Alexander
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Icelandic, Hungarian, Slovak, Biblical, Ancient Greek (Latinized), Greek Mythology (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Ἀλέξανδρος(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: al-ig-ZAN-dər(English) a-leh-KSAN-du(German) a-lehk-SAHN-dər(Dutch) a-lehk-SAN-dehr(Swedish, Latin) A-lehk-san-tehr(Icelandic) AW-lehk-sawn-dehr(Hungarian) A-lehk-san-dehr(Slovak)
Latinized form of the Greek name
Ἀλέξανδρος (Alexandros), which meant
"defending men" from Greek
ἀλέξω (alexo) meaning "to defend, help" and
ἀνήρ (aner) meaning "man" (genitive
ἀνδρός). In Greek
mythology this was another name of the hero
Paris, and it also belongs to several characters in the
New Testament. However, the most famous bearer was Alexander the Great, king of Macedon. In the 4th century BC he built a huge empire out of Greece, Egypt, Persia, and parts of India. Due to his fame, and later medieval tales involving him, use of his name spread throughout Europe.
The name has been used by kings of Scotland, Poland and Yugoslavia, emperors of Russia, and eight popes. Other notable bearers include English poet Alexander Pope (1688-1744), American statesman Alexander Hamilton (1755-1804), Scottish-Canadian explorer Alexander MacKenzie (1764-1820), Russian poet Alexander Pushkin (1799-1837), and Alexander Graham Bell (1847-1922), the Scottish-Canadian-American inventor of the telephone.
Alexandra
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, German, Dutch, French, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Icelandic, Greek, Portuguese, Romanian, Czech, Slovak, Hungarian, Catalan, Russian, Ukrainian, Ancient Greek [1], Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Αλεξάνδρα(Greek) Александра(Russian, Ukrainian) Ἀλεξάνδρα(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: al-ig-ZAN-drə(English) a-leh-KSAN-dra(German, Romanian) a-lehk-SAHN-dra(Dutch) A-LEHK-ZAHN-DRA(French) a-leh-KSAN-dhra(Greek) u-li-SHUN-dru(European Portuguese) a-leh-SHUN-dru(Brazilian Portuguese) A-lehk-san-dra(Czech, Slovak) AW-lehk-sawn-draw(Hungarian) A-LEH-KSAN-DRA(Classical Greek)
Feminine form of
Alexander. In Greek
mythology this was a Mycenaean epithet of the goddess
Hera, and an alternate name of
Cassandra. It was borne by several early Christian
saints, and also by the wife of Nicholas II, the last tsar of Russia. She was from Germany and had the birth name
Alix, but was renamed
Александра (Aleksandra) upon joining the Russian Church.
Alexandre
Gender: Masculine
Usage: French, Portuguese, Galician, Catalan
Pronounced: A-LEHK-ZAHNDR(French) u-li-SHUN-dri(European Portuguese) a-leh-SHUN-dree(Brazilian Portuguese) a-leh-SHAN-dreh(Galician) ə-lək-SAN-drə(Catalan)
Form of
Alexander in several languages. This name was borne by the French author Alexandre Dumas (1802-1870), who wrote
The Three Musketeers.
Alexandrine
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French
Pronounced: A-LEHK-SAHN-DREEN
French
diminutive of
Alexandra. This was the name of a Danish queen, the wife of King Christian X.
Alexis
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: French, English, Greek, Spanish, Ancient Greek [1]
Other Scripts: Αλέξης(Greek) Ἄλεξις(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: A-LEHK-SEE(French) ə-LEHK-sis(English) a-LEHK-sees(Spanish)
From the Greek name
Ἄλεξις (Alexis) meaning
"helper" or
"defender", derived from Greek
ἀλέξω (alexo) meaning "to defend, to help". This was the name of a 3rd-century BC Greek comic poet, and also of several
saints. It is used somewhat interchangeably with the related name
Ἀλέξιος or
Alexius, borne by five Byzantine emperors.
In the English-speaking world this name is more commonly given to girls. This is due to the American actress Alexis Smith (1921-1993), who began appearing in movies in the early 1940s. It got a boost in popularity in the 1980s from a character on the soap opera Dynasty.
Alfred
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, French, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, German, Polish, Dutch, Albanian
Pronounced: AL-frəd(English) AL-FREHD(French) AL-freht(German, Polish) AHL-frət(Dutch)
Means
"elf counsel", derived from the Old English name
Ælfræd, composed of the elements
ælf "elf" and
ræd "counsel, advice". Alfred the Great was a 9th-century king of Wessex who fought unceasingly against the Danes living in northeastern England. He was also a scholar, and he translated many Latin books into Old English. His fame helped to ensure the usage of this name even after the
Norman Conquest, when most Old English names were replaced by Norman ones. It became rare by the end of the Middle Ages, but was revived in the 18th century.
Famous bearers include the British poet Alfred Tennyson (1809-1892), the Swedish inventor and Nobel Prize founder Alfred Nobel (1833-1896), and the British-American film director Alfred Hitchcock (1899-1980).
Alice
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, French, Portuguese, Italian, German, Czech, Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, Dutch
Pronounced: AL-is(English) A-LEES(French) u-LEE-si(European Portuguese) a-LEE-see(Brazilian Portuguese) a-LEE-cheh(Italian) a-LEES(German) A-li-tseh(Czech)
From the Old French name
Aalis, a short form of
Adelais, itself a short form of the Germanic name
Adalheidis (see
Adelaide). This name became popular in France and England in the 12th century. It was among the most common names in England until the 16th century, when it began to decline. It was revived in the 19th century.
This name was borne by the heroine of Lewis Carroll's novels Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865) and Through the Looking Glass (1871).
Althea
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Ἀλθαία(Ancient Greek)
From the Greek name
Ἀλθαία (Althaia), perhaps related to Greek
ἄλθος (althos) meaning
"healing". In Greek
myth she was the mother of Meleager. Soon after her son was born she was told that he would die as soon as a piece of wood that was burning on her fire was fully consumed. She immediately extinguished the piece of wood and sealed it in a chest, but in a fit of rage many years later she took it out and set it alight, thereby killing her son.
Amaia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Basque
Means "the end" in Basque. This is the name of a character in the historical novel Amaya, or the Basques in the 8th century (1879) by Francisco Navarro-Villoslada (Amaya in the Spanish original; Amaia in the Basque translation).
Amalia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Spanish, Italian, Romanian, Greek, Finnish, Swedish, Dutch, German, Germanic (Latinized) [1]
Other Scripts: Αμαλία(Greek)
Pronounced: a-MA-lya(Spanish, Italian, German) a-MA-lee-a(Dutch)
Short form of Germanic names beginning with the element
amal. This element means
"unceasing, vigorous, brave", or it can refer to the Gothic dynasty of the Amali (derived from the same root).
This was another name for the 7th-century saint Amalberga of Maubeuge.
Amelia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Spanish, Italian, Polish, Medieval French
Pronounced: ə-MEE-lee-ə(English) ə-MEEL-yə(English) a-MEH-lya(Spanish, Italian, Polish)
Variant of
Amalia, though it is sometimes confused with
Emilia, which has a different origin. The name became popular in England after the German House of Hanover came to the British throne in the 18th century — it was borne by daughters of both George II and George III. The author Henry Fielding used it for the title character in his novel
Amelia (1751). Another famous bearer was Amelia Earhart (1897-1937), the first woman to make a solo flight over the Atlantic Ocean.
This name experienced a rise in popularity at the end of the 20th century. It was the most popular name for girls in England and Wales from 2011 to 2015.
Aminta
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: Literature, Spanish (Latin American)
Pronounced: a-MEEN-ta(Spanish)
Form of
Amyntas used by the Italian poet Torquato Tasso for his play
Aminta (1573). In the play Aminta is a shepherd who falls in love with a nymph.
In Latin America this is typically used as a feminine name.
Anabella
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Anaïs
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French
Pronounced: A-NA-EES
Meaning uncertain, possibly a derivative of
Anne 1 or
Agnès. It was used in Jean-Henri Guy's opera
Anacréon chez Polycrate (1798), where it is borne by the daughter (otherwise unnamed in history) of the 6th-century BC tyrant
Polycrates of Samos. Guy could have adapted it from a classical name such as
Anaitis or
Athénaïs.
A famous bearer was the Cuban-French writer Anaïs Nin (1903-1977), known for her diaries.
Anaxagoras
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Ancient Greek [1]
Other Scripts: Ἀναξαγόρας(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: A-NA-KSA-GO-RAS
Derived from Greek
ἄναξ (anax) meaning "master, lord" and
ἀγορά (agora) meaning "assembly, marketplace". This name was borne by a 5th-century BC Greek philosopher.
Anca
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Romanian
Andreas
Gender: Masculine
Usage: German, Greek, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Dutch, Welsh, Ancient Greek [1], Biblical Latin, Biblical Greek [2]
Other Scripts: Ανδρέας(Greek) Ἀνδρέας(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: an-DREH-as(German, Swedish) ahn-DREH-ahs(Dutch) AN-DREH-AS(Classical Greek)
Ancient Greek and Latin form of
Andrew. It is also the form used in Modern Greek, German and Welsh.
Andromeda
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Ἀνδρομέδα, Ἀνδρομέδη(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: AN-DRO-MEH-DA(Classical Greek) an-DRAH-mi-də(English)
Derived from Greek
ἀνήρ (aner) meaning "man" (genitive
ἀνδρός) combined with one of the related words
μέδομαι (medomai) meaning "to be mindful of, to provide for, to think on" or
μέδω (medo) meaning "to protect, to rule over". In Greek
mythology Andromeda was an Ethiopian princess rescued from sacrifice by the hero
Perseus. A constellation in the northern sky is named for her. This is also the name of a nearby galaxy, given because it resides (from our point of view) within the constellation.
Angelina
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, English, Russian, Bulgarian, Serbian, German, Dutch, Spanish, Portuguese, Greek, Armenian
Other Scripts: Ангелина(Russian, Bulgarian, Serbian) Αγγελίνα(Greek) Անգելինա(Armenian)
Pronounced: ang-jeh-LEE-na(Italian) an-jə-LEE-nə(English) un-gyi-LYEE-nə(Russian) ang-kheh-LEE-na(Spanish)
Latinate
diminutive of
Angela. A famous bearer is American actress Angelina Jolie (1975-).
Anica
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Slovene, Croatian, Serbian
Other Scripts: Аница(Serbian)
Anika 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: German, Dutch, Danish, Polish, Slovene
Pronounced: A-nee-ka(German, Dutch)
Anissa
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
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.
Anka
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Polish, Bulgarian, Croatian, Serbian, Slovene
Other Scripts: Анка(Bulgarian, Serbian)
Pronounced: ANG-ka(Polish)
Annabella
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, English (Modern)
Pronounced: an-na-BEHL-la(Italian) an-ə-BEHL-ə(English)
Latinate form of
Annabel. It can also be interpreted as a combination of
Anna and Latin/Italian
bella "beautiful".
Annabelle
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, French
Pronounced: AN-ə-behl(English)
Variant of
Annabel. It can also be interpreted as a combination of
Anna and French
belle "beautiful".
Annabeth
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: AN-ə-beth
Annalee
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: AN-ə-lee
Anna-Liisa
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Finnish
Pronounced: AHN-nah-lee-sah
Annelie
Gender: Feminine
Usage: German, Swedish
Pronounced: A-nə-lee(German)
Anraí
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Irish
Ansa
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Finnish
Pronounced: AHN-sah
Derived from Finnish ansio "virtue" or ansa "trap".
Anthea
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Ἄνθεια(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: AN-thee-ə(English)
From the Greek
Ἄνθεια (Antheia), derived from
ἄνθος (anthos) meaning
"flower, blossom". This was an epithet of the Greek goddess
Hera.
Anya
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Russian, English
Other Scripts: Аня(Russian)
Pronounced: A-nyə(Russian) AN-yə(English)
Aoide
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Ἀοιδή(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: ay-EE-dee(English)
Means
"song" in Greek. In Greek
mythology she was one of the original three muses, the muse of song.
Aphrodite
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Ἀφροδίτη(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: A-PRO-DEE-TEH(Classical Greek) af-rə-DIE-tee(English)
Meaning unknown, possibly of Phoenician origin. Aphrodite was the Greek goddess of love and beauty, identified with the Roman goddess
Venus. She was the wife of
Hephaestus and the mother of
Eros, and she was often associated with the myrtle tree and doves. The Greeks connected her name with
ἀφρός (aphros) meaning
"foam", resulting in the story that she was born from the foam of the sea. Many of her characteristics are based on the goddess known as
Ashtoreth to the Phoenicians and
Ishtar to the Mesopotamian Semitic peoples, and on the Sumerian goddess
Inanna.
Apollo
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Greek Mythology (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Ἀπόλλων(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: ə-PAHL-o(English)
From Greek
Ἀπόλλων (Apollon), which is of unknown meaning, though perhaps related to the Indo-European root *
apelo- meaning
"strength". Another theory states that Apollo can be equated with Appaliunas, an Anatolian god whose name possibly means
"father lion" or
"father light". The Greeks later associated Apollo's name with the Greek verb
ἀπόλλυμι (apollymi) meaning
"to destroy". In Greek
mythology Apollo was the son of
Zeus and
Leto and the twin of
Artemis. He was the god of prophecy, medicine, music, art, law, beauty, and wisdom. Later he also became the god of the sun and light.
Apollonios
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Ancient Greek [1]
Other Scripts: Ἀπολλώνιος(Ancient Greek)
From an ancient Greek personal name that was derived from the name of the Greek god
Apollo. It was borne by a Greek poet of the 3rd century BC. Several
saints have also had this name.
Ara
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Armenian, Armenian Mythology
Other Scripts: Արա(Armenian)
Pronounced: ah-RAH(Armenian)
Meaning unknown, possibly of Sumerian origin. In Armenian legend this was the name of an Armenian king who was so handsome that the Assyrian queen
Semiramis went to war to capture him. During the war Ara was slain.
Aranrhod
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Welsh Mythology
Arash
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Persian, Persian Mythology
Other Scripts: آرش(Persian)
Pronounced: aw-RASH(Persian)
From Avestan
𐬆𐬭𐬆𐬑𐬱𐬀 (Ərəxsha), of uncertain meaning, possibly from a root meaning
"bear" [1]. In Iranian legend Arash was an archer who was ordered by the Turans to shoot an arrow, the landing place of which would determine the new location of the Iran-Turan border. Arash climbed a mountain and fired his arrow with such strength that it flew for several hours and landed on the banks of the far-away Oxus River.
Ares
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Ἄρης(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: A-REHS(Classical Greek) EHR-eez(English)
Perhaps from either Greek
ἀρή (are) meaning
"bane, ruin" or
ἄρσην (arsen) meaning
"male". The name first appears as
a-re in Mycenaean Greek writing. Ares was the bloodthirsty god of war in Greek
mythology, a son of
Zeus and
Hera.
Argi
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Basque
Pronounced: AR-gee
Means "light" in Basque.
Ariana
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Portuguese, English (Modern)
Pronounced: ar-ee-AN-ə(English) ar-ee-AHN-ə(English)
Portuguese form of
Ariadne. This name steadily grew in popularity in America in the last few decades of the 20th century. A famous bearer is the American pop singer Ariana Grande (1993-).
Arianrhod
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Welsh Mythology
Pronounced: ar-YAN-rawd(Welsh)
Probably means
"silver wheel" from Welsh
arian "silver" and
rhod "wheel". According to the Fourth Branch of the
Mabinogi [1], Arianrhod was the mother of the twins
Dylan and
Lleu Llaw Gyffes, whom she spontaneously birthed when she stepped over a magical wand. It is speculated that in earlier myths she may have been a goddess of the moon.
Arie 1
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Dutch
Pronounced: A-ree
Arina
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Russian
Other Scripts: Арина(Russian)
Russian variant of
Irina.
Arista
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Astronomy
Pronounced: ə-RIS-tə(English)
Means "ear of grain" in Latin. This is the name of a star, also known as Spica, in the constellation Virgo.
Aristocles
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Ancient Greek (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Ἀριστοκλῆς(Ancient Greek)
Latinized form of the Greek name
Ἀριστοκλῆς (Aristokles) meaning
"the best glory", derived from
ἄριστος (aristos) meaning "best" and
κλέος (kleos) meaning "glory". This was the real name of the philosopher
Plato.
Aristophanes
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Ancient Greek [1]
Other Scripts: Ἀριστοφάνης(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: A-REE-STO-PA-NEHS(Classical Greek) ar-is-TAHF-ə-neez(English)
Derived from the Greek elements
ἄριστος (aristos) meaning "best" and
φανής (phanes) meaning "appearing". This was the name of a 5th-century BC Athenian playwright.
Aristotle
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Ancient Greek (Anglicized)
Other Scripts: Ἀριστοτέλης(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: AR-i-staht-əl(English)
From the Greek name
Ἀριστοτέλης (Aristoteles) meaning
"the best purpose", derived from
ἄριστος (aristos) meaning "best" and
τέλος (telos) meaning "purpose, result, completion". This was the name of a Greek philosopher of the 4th century BC who made lasting contributions to Western thought, including the fields of logic, metaphysics, ethics and biology.
Arlene
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Filipino
Pronounced: ahr-LEEN(English)
Variant of
Arline. Since the onset of the 20th century, this is the most common spelling of this name.
Armando
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Spanish, Italian, Portuguese
Pronounced: ar-MAN-do(Spanish, Italian) ur-MUN-doo(European Portuguese) ar-MUN-doo(Portuguese)
Spanish, Italian and Portuguese form of
Herman.
Armida
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, Spanish (Latin American)
Pronounced: ar-MEE-da(Italian) ar-MEE-dha(Spanish)
Probably created by the 16th-century Italian poet Torquato Tasso for his epic poem Jerusalem Delivered (1580). In the poem Armida is a beautiful enchantress who bewitches many of the crusaders.
Arnold
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, German, Dutch, Polish, Germanic [1]
Pronounced: AHR-nəld(English) AR-nawlt(German, Polish) AHR-nawlt(Dutch)
From a Germanic name meaning
"eagle power", derived from the elements
arn "eagle" and
walt "power, authority". The
Normans brought it to England, where it replaced the Old English
cognate Earnweald. It died out as an English name after the Middle Ages, but it was revived in the 19th century.
Saints bearing the name include an 8th-century musician in the court of Charlemagne and an 11th-century French bishop who is the patron saint of brewers. It was also borne by Arnold of Brescia, a 12th-century Augustinian monk who rebelled against the Church and was eventually hanged. Famous modern bearers include American golfer Arnold Palmer (1929-2016) and Austrian-American actor and politician Arnold Schwarzenegger (1947-).
Artemidoros
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Ancient Greek [1]
Other Scripts: Ἀρτεμίδωρος(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: AR-TEH-MEE-DAW-ROS
Means
"gift of Artemis" from the name of the goddess
Artemis combined with Greek
δῶρον (doron) meaning "gift". This was the name of a Greek author of the 2nd century who wrote about the interpretation of dreams.
Artemis
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology, Greek
Other Scripts: Ἄρτεμις(Ancient Greek) Άρτεμις(Greek)
Pronounced: AR-TEH-MEES(Classical Greek) AHR-tə-mis(English)
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.
Arthur
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, French, German, Dutch, Norwegian, Danish, Swedish, Welsh Mythology, Arthurian Cycle
Pronounced: AHR-thər(English) AR-TUYR(French) AR-tuwr(German) AHR-tuyr(Dutch)
The meaning of this name is unknown. It could be derived from the Celtic elements *
artos "bear" (Old Welsh
arth) combined with *
wiros "man" (Old Welsh
gur) or *
rīxs "king" (Old Welsh
ri). Alternatively it could be related to an obscure Roman family name
Artorius.
Arthur is the name of the central character in Arthurian legend, a 6th-century king of the Britons who resisted Saxon invaders. He may or may not have been based on a real person. He first appears in Welsh poems and chronicles (perhaps briefly in the 7th-century poem Y Gododdin and more definitively and extensively in the 9th-century History of the Britons [1]). However, his character was not developed until the chronicles of the 12th-century Geoffrey of Monmouth [2]. His tales were later taken up and expanded by French and English writers.
The name came into general use in England in the Middle Ages due to the prevalence of Arthurian romances, and it enjoyed a surge of popularity in the 19th century. Famous bearers include German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860), mystery author and Sherlock Holmes creator Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930), and science-fiction author Arthur C. Clarke (1917-2008).
Arya 1
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: Persian, Hindi, Malayalam
Other Scripts: آریا(Persian) आर्य, आर्या(Hindi) ആര്യ, ആര്യാ(Malayalam)
Pronounced: aw-ree-YAW(Persian) awr-YAW(Persian) AR-yə(Hindi) AR-ya(Hindi, Malayalam) AR-yu(Malayalam)
From an old Indo-Iranian root meaning "Aryan, noble". In India, this is a transcription of both the masculine form
आर्य and the feminine form
आर्या. In Iran it is only a masculine name.
Ashlea
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: ASH-lee
Aslan
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Turkish, Kazakh, Azerbaijani, Chechen, Ossetian, Circassian, Literature
Other Scripts: Аслан(Kazakh, Chechen, Ossetian) Аслъан(Western Circassian) Аслъэн(Eastern Circassian)
Pronounced: as-LAN(Turkish)
From Turkic arslan meaning "lion". This was a byname or title borne by several medieval Turkic rulers, including the Seljuk sultan Alp Arslan (a byname meaning "brave lion") who drove the Byzantines from Anatolia in the 11th century. The author C. S. Lewis later used the name Aslan for the main protagonist (a lion) in his Chronicles of Narnia series of books, first appearing in 1950.
Astra
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: AS-trə
Means
"star", ultimately from Greek
ἀστήρ (aster). This name has only been (rarely) used since the 20th century.
Astraea
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Ἀστραία(Ancient Greek)
Latinized form of the Greek
Ἀστραία (Astraia), derived from Greek
ἀστήρ (aster) meaning
"star". Astraea was a Greek goddess of justice and innocence. After wickedness took root in the world she left the earth and became the constellation Virgo.
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)
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.
Atarah
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Biblical
Other Scripts: עֲטָרָה(Ancient Hebrew)
Pronounced: AT-ə-rə(English)
Athanasia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek, Ancient Greek [1]
Other Scripts: Αθανασία(Greek) Ἀθανασία(Ancient Greek)
Athena
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology, English
Other Scripts: Ἀθηνᾶ(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: A-TEH-NA(Classical Greek) ə-THEE-nə(English)
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.
Audrey
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, French
Pronounced: AWD-ree(English) O-DREH(French)
Medieval
diminutive of
Æðelþryð. This was the name of a 7th-century
saint, a princess of East Anglia who founded a monastery at Ely. It was also used by William Shakespeare for a character in his comedy
As You Like It (1599). At the end of the Middle Ages the name became rare due to association with the word
tawdry (which was derived from
St. Audrey, the name of a fair where cheap lace was sold), but it was revived in the 19th century. A famous bearer was British actress Audrey Hepburn (1929-1993).
August
Gender: Masculine
Usage: German, Polish, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Catalan, English
Pronounced: OW-guwst(German) OW-goost(Polish, Norwegian) OW-guyst(Swedish) AW-gəst(English)
German, Polish, Scandinavian and Catalan form of
Augustus. This was the name of three Polish kings.
As an English name it can also derive from the month of August, which was named for the Roman emperor Augustus.
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.
Aura
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Italian, Spanish, Finnish
Pronounced: AWR-ə(English) OW-ra(Italian, Spanish) OW-rah(Finnish)
From the word
aura (derived from Latin, ultimately from Greek
αὔρα meaning "breeze") for a distinctive atmosphere or illumination.
Aurelius
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Ancient Roman
Pronounced: ow-REH-lee-oos(Latin) aw-REEL-ee-əs(English)
Roman family name that was derived from Latin
aureus meaning
"golden, gilded". Marcus Aurelius was a 2nd-century Roman emperor and philosophical writer. This was also the name of several early
saints.
Aurora
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, English, Romanian, Finnish, Norwegian, Swedish, Roman Mythology
Pronounced: ow-RAW-ra(Italian) ow-RO-ra(Spanish, Latin) ə-RAWR-ə(English) OW-ro-rah(Finnish)
Means "dawn" in Latin. Aurora was the Roman goddess of the morning. It has occasionally been used as a given name since the Renaissance.
Axel
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, German, French, English
Pronounced: A-ksehl(Swedish) A-ksəl(German) A-KSEHL(French) AK-səl(English)
Axelle
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French
Pronounced: A-KSEHL
Ayame
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 菖蒲, etc.(Japanese Kanji) あやめ(Japanese Hiragana)
Pronounced: A-YA-MEH
From Japanese
菖蒲 (ayame) meaning "iris (flower)". Other kanji or combinations of kanji can also form this name.
Ayla 3
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Literature, English (Modern)
Pronounced: AY-lə(English)
Created for the novel
Clan of the Cave Bear (1980) by author Jean M. Auel. In the novel Ayla is an orphaned Cro-Magnon girl adopted by Neanderthals.
Ayla is the Neanderthal pronunciation of her real name, which is not given.
This name entered the American popularity charts after the release of the movie adaptation of the novel in 1986. Its continuing popularity is likely due to the fact that it contains the trendy phonetic elements ay and la.
Ayn
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Various (Rare)
Pronounced: IEN(English)
This name was assumed by Ayn Rand (1905-1982), originally named Alice Rosenbaum, a Russian-American writer and philosopher. She apparently based it on a Finnish name she had heard, but never seen written.
Bambi
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: BAM-bee
Derived from Italian bambina meaning "young girl". The American novelist Marjorie Benton Cooke used it in her novel Bambi (1914). This was also the name of a male deer in a cartoon by Walt Disney, which was based on a 1923 novel by Swiss author Felix Salten.
Bảo
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: Vietnamese
Pronounced: BOW
From Sino-Vietnamese
寶 (bảo) meaning
"treasure, jewel".
Beatrix
Gender: Feminine
Usage: German, Hungarian, Dutch, English, Late Roman
Pronounced: beh-A-triks(German) BEH-a-triks(German) BEH-aw-treeks(Hungarian) BEH-ya-triks(Dutch) BEE-ə-triks(English) BEE-triks(English)
Probably from
Viatrix, a feminine form of the Late Latin name
Viator meaning
"voyager, traveller". It was a common name amongst early Christians, and the spelling was altered by association with Latin
beatus "blessed, happy". Viatrix or Beatrix was a 4th-century
saint who was strangled to death during the persecutions of Diocletian.
In England the name became rare after the Middle Ages, but it was revived in the 19th century, more commonly in the spelling Beatrice. Famous bearers include the British author and illustrator Beatrix Potter (1866-1943), the creator of Peter Rabbit, and Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands (1938-).
Bellatrix
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Astronomy
Pronounced: bə-LAY-triks(English) BEHL-ə-triks(English)
Means "female warrior" in Latin. This is the name of the star that marks the left shoulder of the constellation Orion.
Benedict
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: BEHN-ə-dikt
From the Late Latin name
Benedictus, which meant
"blessed".
Saint Benedict was an Italian monk who founded the Benedictines in the 6th century. After his time the name was common among Christians, being used by 16 popes. In England it did not come into use until the 12th century, at which point it became very popular. This name was also borne by the American general Benedict Arnold (1741-1801), who defected to Britain during the American Revolution.
Benigno
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Spanish, Italian, Portuguese (Rare)
Pronounced: beh-NEEGH-no(Spanish) beh-NEEN-nyo(Italian)
Spanish, Italian and Portuguese form of the Late Latin name
Benignus, which meant
"kind, friendly". This was the name of several
saints including a 5th-century disciple of Saint
Patrick who later became the archbishop of Armagh.
Benito
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Spanish, Italian
Pronounced: beh-NEE-to
Spanish contracted form of
Benedicto. This name was borne by Mexican president Benito Juárez (1806-1872). Benito Mussolini (1883-1945), the fascist dictator of Italy during World War II, was named after Juárez.
Benvenuto
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Italian
Pronounced: behn-veh-NOO-to
Means "welcome" in Italian. A famous bearer was the Italian Renaissance sculptor and writer Benvenuto Cellini (1500-1571).
Berenike
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Ancient Greek [1]
Other Scripts: Βερενίκη(Ancient Greek)
Bernard
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, French, Dutch, Polish, Croatian, Slovene, Czech, Germanic [1]
Pronounced: bər-NAHRD(American English) BU-nəd(British English) BEHR-NAR(French) BEHR-nahrt(Dutch) BEHR-nart(Polish, Croatian, Czech)
Derived from the Old German element
bern "bear" combined with
hart "hard, firm, brave, hardy". The
Normans brought it to England, where it replaced the Old English
cognate Beornheard. This was the name of several
saints, including Saint Bernard of Menthon who built hospices in the Swiss Alps in the 10th century, and Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, a 12th-century theologian and Doctor of the Church. Other famous bearers include the Irish playwright and essayist George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) and the British World War II field marshal Bernard Montgomery (1887-1976).
Blaise
Gender: Masculine
Usage: French
Pronounced: BLEHZ
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).
Blodwen
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Welsh
Pronounced: BLOD-wehn
Means "white flowers" from Welsh blodau "flowers" combined with gwen "white, blessed". This is the name of an 1878 Welsh opera by Joseph Parry.
Braden
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: BRAY-dən
From an Irish surname, an Anglicized form of
Ó Bradáin, which was in turn derived from the byname
Bradán. Like other similar-sounding names such as
Hayden and
Aidan, it and its variant
Brayden became popular in America at the end of the 20th century.
Brigit
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Old Irish [1], Irish Mythology
Briseis
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Βρισηΐς(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: brie-SEE-is(English)
Patronymic derived from
Βρισεύς (Briseus), a Greek name of unknown meaning. In Greek
mythology Briseis (real name Hippodameia) was the daughter of Briseus. She was captured during the Trojan War by
Achilles. After
Agamemnon took her away from him, Achilles refused to fight in the war.
Brooke
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: BRUWK
Variant of
Brook. The name came into use in the 1950s, probably influenced by American socialite Brooke Astor (1902-2007). It was further popularized by actress Brooke Shields (1965-).
Bruno
Gender: Masculine
Usage: German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Croatian, Polish, Czech, Slovak, Latvian, Germanic [1]
Pronounced: BROO-no(German, Italian, Spanish, Czech) BROO-noo(European Portuguese, Brazilian Portuguese) BRUY-NO(French) BROO-naw(Polish, Slovak)
Derived from the Old German element
brunna meaning
"armour, protection" (Proto-Germanic *
brunjǭ) or
brun meaning
"brown" (Proto-Germanic *
brūnaz).
Saint Bruno of Cologne was a German monk of the 11th century who founded the Carthusian Order. The surname has belonged to Giordano Bruno, a philosopher burned at the stake by the Inquisition. A modern bearer is the American singer Bruno Mars (1985-), born Peter Gene Hernandez.
Bud
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: BUD
Bysshe
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: BISH
From an English surname, a variant of the surname Bush, which originally indicated a person who lived near a bush. This was the middle name of the romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822).
Cadfael
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Welsh (Rare)
From Old Welsh
Catmail meaning
"battle prince", from
cat "battle" and
mael "prince". This was apparently the birth name of
Saint Cadoc. It was used by the British author Ellis Peters for the main character in her books
The Cadfael Chronicles, first released in 1977.
Cáel
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Irish Mythology
From Old Irish
cáel meaning
"slender". In Irish legend Cáel was a warrior of the Fianna and the lover of Créd.
Cairo
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: KIE-ro
From the name of the city in Egypt, called
القاهرة (al-Qāhira) in Arabic, meaning "the victorious"
[1].
Caius
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Ancient Roman
Pronounced: GA-ee-oos(Latin) KIE-əs(English)
Cale
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: KAYL
Caleb
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, Biblical
Other Scripts: כָּלֵב(Ancient Hebrew)
Pronounced: KAY-ləb(English)
Most likely related to Hebrew
כֶּלֶב (kelev) meaning
"dog" [1]. An alternate theory connects it to Hebrew
כֹּל (kol) meaning "whole, all of"
[2] and
לֵב (lev) meaning "heart"
[3]. In the
Old Testament this is the name of one of the twelve spies sent by
Moses into Canaan. Of the Israelites who left Egypt with Moses, Caleb and
Joshua were the only ones who lived to see the Promised Land.
As an English name, Caleb came into use after the Protestant Reformation. It was common among the Puritans, who introduced it to America in the 17th century.
Callisto 2
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Καλλιστώ(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: kə-LIS-to(English)
Latinized form of
Kallisto. A moon of Jupiter bears this name.
Calvin
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: KAL-vin
Derived from the French surname
Cauvin, which was derived from
chauve meaning
"bald". The surname was borne by Jean Cauvin (1509-1564), a theologian from France who was one of the leaders of the
Protestant Reformation. His surname was Latinized as
Calvinus (based on Latin
calvus "bald") and he is known as John Calvin in English. It has been used as a given name in his honour since the 19th century.
In modern times, this name is borne by American fashion designer Calvin Klein (1942-), as well as one of the main characters from Bill Watterson's comic strip Calvin and Hobbes (published from 1985 to 1995).
Carlisle
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: kahr-LIEL
From a surname that was derived from the name of a city in northern England. The city was originally called by the Romans
Luguvalium meaning "stronghold of
Lugus". Later the Brythonic element
ker "fort" was appended to the name of the city.
Carme 2
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Κάρμη(Ancient Greek)
Latinized form of Greek
Κάρμη (Karme), which was derived from
κείρω (keiro) meaning
"to shear". This was the name of a Cretan goddess of the harvest.
Carroll
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Irish
Pronounced: KAR-əl(English)
Anglicized form of
Cearbhall. A famous bearer of the surname was Lewis Carroll (1832-1898), whose real name was Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, a British author known for
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.
Casimiro
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Spanish, Portuguese, Italian
Pronounced: ka-see-MEE-ro(Spanish) ku-zi-MEE-roo(European Portuguese) ka-zee-MEE-roo(Brazilian Portuguese) ka-zee-MEE-ro(Italian)
Spanish, Portuguese and Italian form of
Casimir.
Caspian
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Literature
Pronounced: KAS-pee-ən(English)
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.
Cassandra
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, French, Greek Mythology (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Κασσάνδρα(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: kə-SAN-drə(English) kə-SAHN-drə(English)
From the Greek name
Κασσάνδρα (Kassandra), possibly derived from
κέκασμαι (kekasmai) meaning "to excel, to shine" and
ἀνήρ (aner) meaning "man" (genitive
ἀνδρός). In Greek
myth Cassandra was a Trojan princess, the daughter of
Priam and
Hecuba. She was given the gift of prophecy by
Apollo, but when she spurned his advances he cursed her so nobody would believe her prophecies.
In the Middle Ages this name was common in England due to the popularity of medieval tales about the Trojan War. It subsequently became rare, but was revived in the 20th century.
Cassiopeia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Κασσιόπεια, Κασσιέπεια(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: kas-ee-ə-PEE-ə(English)
Latinized form of Greek
Κασσιόπεια (Kassiopeia) or
Κασσιέπεια (Kassiepeia), possibly meaning
"cassia juice". In Greek
myth Cassiopeia was the wife of
Cepheus and the mother of
Andromeda. She was changed into a constellation and placed in the northern sky after she died.
Castor
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Greek Mythology (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Κάστωρ(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: KAS-tər(English)
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.
Cato 1
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Ancient Roman
Pronounced: KA-to(Latin) KAY-to(English)
Roman
cognomen meaning
"wise" in Latin. This name was bestowed upon Cato the Elder (Marcus Porcius Cato), a 2nd-century BC Roman statesman, author and censor, and was subsequently inherited by his descendants, including his great-grandson Cato the Younger (Marcus Porcius Cato Uticencis), a politician and philosopher who opposed Julius Caesar.
Cerberus
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Greek Mythology (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Κέρβερος(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: SUR-bər-əs(English)
Latinized form of the Greek
Κέρβερος (Kerberos), which possibly meant
"spotted". In Greek
myth this was the name of the three-headed dog that guarded the entrance to Hades.
Channa
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Biblical Hebrew [1]
Other Scripts: חַנָּה(Ancient Hebrew)
Biblical Hebrew form of
Hannah.
Charisma
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: kə-RIZ-mə
From the English word meaning
"personal magnetism", ultimately derived from Greek
χάρις (charis) meaning "grace, kindness".
Charlie
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: CHAHR-lee
Diminutive or feminine form of
Charles. A famous bearer was the British comic actor Charlie Chaplin (1889-1977). It is also borne by Charlie Brown, the main character in the comic strip
Peanuts by Charles Schulz.
Chaz
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: CHAZ
Chelsea
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: CHEHL-see
From the name of a district in London, originally derived from Old English and meaning "landing place for chalk or limestone". It has been in general use as an English given name since the 1970s.
Cherie
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: SHEHR-ee, shə-REE
Derived from French
chérie meaning
"darling". In America,
Cherie came into use shortly after the variant
Sherry, and has not been as common.
Chi 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Vietnamese
Pronounced: CHEE, KYEE
From Sino-Vietnamese
枝 (chi) meaning
"branch".
Chichi
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Igbo
Chloe
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Biblical, Biblical Latin, Biblical Greek [1], Ancient Greek [2], Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Χλόη(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: KLO-ee(English)
Means
"green shoot" in Greek, referring to new plant growth in the spring. This was an epithet of the Greek goddess
Demeter. The name is also mentioned by
Paul in one of his epistles in the
New Testament.
As an English name, Chloe has been in use since the Protestant Reformation. It started getting more popular in the 1980s in the United Kingdom and then the United States. It was the most popular name for girls in England and Wales from 1997 to 2002. This is one of the few English-language names that is often written with a diaeresis, as Chloë.
Cicero
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Ancient Roman
Pronounced: KEE-keh-ro(Latin) SIS-ə-ro(English)
Roman
cognomen derived from Latin
cicer meaning
"chickpea". Marcus Tullius Cicero (now known simply as Cicero) was a statesman, orator and author of the 1st century BC. He was a political enemy of Mark Antony, who eventually had him executed.
Clarissa
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Italian
Pronounced: klə-RIS-ə(English)
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.
Claude
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: French, English
Pronounced: KLOD(French) KLAWD(English)
French masculine and feminine form of
Claudius. In France the masculine name has been common since the Middle Ages due to the 7th-century
Saint Claude of Besançon. It was imported to Britain in the 16th century by the aristocratic Hamilton family, who had French connections. A famous bearer of this name was the French impressionist painter Claude Monet (1840-1926).
Claudette
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French
Pronounced: KLO-DEHT
Claudine
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French
Pronounced: KLO-DEEN
Clio
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology (Latinized), Italian (Rare)
Other Scripts: Κλειώ(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: KLEE-o(English, Italian) KLIE-o(English)
Clíona
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Irish
Pronounced: KLYEE-nə
Colette
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French
Pronounced: KAW-LEHT
Short form of
Nicolette.
Saint Colette was a 15th-century French nun who gave her money to the poor. This was also the
pen name of the French author Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette (1873-1954).
Conan
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Irish
Means
"little wolf" or
"little hound" from Irish
cú "wolf, hound" combined with a
diminutive suffix. This was the name of several early
saints, including a 7th-century bishop of the Isle of Man. It appears in Irish legend as a companion
Fionn mac Cumhaill. A famous bearer of it as a middle name was Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930), the author of the Sherlock Holmes mystery stories. It is also the name of the hero of the
Conan the Barbarian series of books, comics and movies, debuting 1932.
Confucius
Gender: Masculine
Usage: History
Pronounced: kən-FYOO-shəs(English)
Anglicized form of the Chinese name
Kong Fuzi. The surname
孔 (Kong) means "hole, opening" and the title
夫子 (Fuzi) means "master". This was the name of a 6th-century BC Chinese philosopher. His given name was
Qiu.
Corinna
Gender: Feminine
Usage: German, Italian, English, Ancient Greek (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Κόριννα(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: ko-RI-na(German) kə-REEN-ə(English) kə-RIN-ə(English)
Latinized form of the Greek name
Κόριννα (Korinna), which was derived from
κόρη (kore) meaning
"maiden". This was the name of a Greek lyric poet of the 5th century BC. The Roman poet
Ovid used it for the main female character in his book
Amores [1]. In the modern era it has been in use since the 17th century, when Robert Herrick used it in his poem
Corinna's going a-Maying [2].
Crispin
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: KRIS-pin
From the Roman
cognomen Crispinus, which was derived from the name
Crispus.
Saint Crispin was a 3rd-century Roman who was martyred with his twin brother Crispinian in Gaul. They are the patrons of shoemakers. They were popular saints in England during the Middle Ages, and the name has occasionally been used since that time.
Cronus
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Greek Mythology (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Κρόνος(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: KRO-nəs(English)
Latinized form of the Greek
Κρόνος (Kronos), possibly derived from the Indo-European root *
(s)ker- meaning
"to cut". Cronus was the Titan who fathered the Greek gods. As his wife
Rhea gave birth to the gods, Cronus swallowed them fearing the prophecy that he would be overthrown by one of his children. However Rhea hid
Zeus, her last child, who eventually forced his father to disgorge his siblings. Cronus and the rest of the Titans were then defeated by the gods and exiled.
Daniela
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, German, Polish, Czech, Slovak, Romanian, Portuguese, Spanish, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Hebrew, English
Other Scripts: Даниела(Bulgarian, Macedonian) דניאלה(Hebrew)
Pronounced: da-NYEH-la(Italian, Spanish) da-nee-EH-la(German, Romanian) da-NYEH-la(Polish) DA-ni-yeh-la(Czech) DA-nee-eh-la(Slovak) dan-YEHL-ə(English)
Daphne
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology, English, Dutch
Other Scripts: Δάφνη(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: DA-PNEH(Classical Greek) DAF-nee(English) DAHF-nə(Dutch)
Means
"laurel" in Greek. In Greek
mythology she was a nymph turned into a laurel tree by her father in order that she might escape the pursuit of
Apollo. It has been used as a given name in the English-speaking world since the end of the 19th century.
Dardanos
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Δάρδανος(Ancient Greek)
Possibly from Greek
δαρδάπτω (dardapto) meaning
"to devour". In Greek
mythology Dardanos was a son of
Zeus and
Electra. He was the founder of the city of Dardania in Asia Minor.
Deiniol
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Welsh
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)
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.
Demeter 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Δημήτηρ(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: DEH-MEH-TEHR(Classical Greek) də-MEET-ər(English)
Possibly means
"earth mother", derived from Greek
δᾶ (da) meaning "earth" and
μήτηρ (meter) meaning "mother". In Greek
mythology Demeter was the goddess of agriculture, the daughter of
Cronus, the sister of
Zeus, and the mother of
Persephone. She was an important figure in the Eleusinian Mysteries, which were secret rites performed at Eleusis near Athens.
Democritus
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Ancient Greek (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Δημόκριτος(Ancient Greek)
Latinized form of
Δημόκριτος (Demokritos), a Greek name meaning
"judge of the people" from the elements
δῆμος (demos) meaning "the people" and
κριτής (krites) meaning "judge, critic". This was the name of a Greek philosopher, the creator of the atomic theory.
Demosthenes
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Ancient Greek [1]
Other Scripts: Δημοσθένης(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: DEH-MOS-TEH-NEHS
Means
"vigour of the people" from Greek
δῆμος (demos) meaning "the people" and
σθένος (sthenos) meaning "vigour, strength". This was the name of both an Athenian general of the 5th century and an Athenian orator of the 4th century.
Destiny
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: DEHS-ti-nee
Means simply "destiny, fate" from the English word, ultimately from Latin destinare "to determine", a derivative of stare "to stand". It has been used as a given name in the English-speaking world only since the last half of the 20th century.
Diantha
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Dutch (Rare), English (Rare)
Pronounced: die-AN-thə(English)
From dianthus, the name of a type of flower (ultimately from Greek meaning "heavenly flower").
Dong
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Chinese
Other Scripts: 东, 栋, etc.(Chinese) 東, 棟, etc.(Traditional Chinese)
Pronounced: TUWNG
From Chinese
东 (dōng) meaning "east",
栋 (dòng) meaning "pillar, beam", or other characters that are pronounced similarly.
Draco
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Ancient Greek (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Δράκων(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: DRAY-ko(English)
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.
Drew
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: DROO
Duilio
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Italian, Spanish
Pronounced: DWEE-lyo
From the Roman name Duilius, which is possibly derived from Latin duellum "war". This was the name of a Roman consul who defeated the Carthaginians in a naval battle.
Ea 1
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Semitic Mythology
Other Scripts: 𒀭𒂗𒆠(Akkadian Cuneiform)
Meaning unknown, perhaps from Sumerian meaning
"house of water", or perhaps of Akkadian or Hurrian origin. This was the Akkadian, Assyrian, Hurrian and Babylonian name of the Sumerian water god
Enki.
Echo
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Ἠχώ(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: EH-ko(English)
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.
Eduardo
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Spanish, Portuguese
Pronounced: eh-DHWAR-dho(Spanish)
Spanish and Portuguese form of
Edward.
Edward
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, Polish
Pronounced: EHD-wərd(English) EHD-vart(Polish)
Means
"rich guard", derived from the Old English elements
ead "wealth, fortune" and
weard "guard". This was the name of several Anglo-Saxon kings, the last being
Saint Edward the Confessor shortly before the
Norman Conquest in the 11th century. He was known as a just ruler, and because of his popularity his name remained in use after the conquest when most other Old English names were replaced by Norman ones. The 13th-century Plantagenet king Henry III named his son and successor after the saint, and seven subsequent kings of England were also named Edward.
This is one of the few Old English names to be used throughout Europe (in various spellings). A famous bearer was the British composer Edward Elgar (1857-1934). It was also used by author Charlotte Brontë for the character Edward Rochester, the main love interest of the title character in her novel Jane Eyre (1847).
Efisio
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Italian
Pronounced: eh-FEE-zyo
From the Latin byname
Ephesius, which originally belonged to a person who was from the city of Ephesus in Ionia. This was the name of a
saint martyred on Sardinia in the 4th century.
Eiluned
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Welsh
Elea
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Short form of
Eleanor. This was also the name of an ancient Italian town (modern Velia) that is well known for being the home of the philosopher Parmenides and his student Zeno of Elea, who was famous for his paradoxes.
Elicia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: ə-LEE-shə, ə-LEE-see-ə
Elisavet
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek
Other Scripts: Ελισάβετ(Greek)
Pronounced: eh-lee-SA-veht
Elisaveta
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Bulgarian, Macedonian
Other Scripts: Елисавета(Bulgarian, Macedonian)
Elise
Gender: Feminine
Usage: German, Norwegian, Danish, Swedish, Finnish, Dutch, English
Pronounced: eh-LEE-zə(German) eh-LEE-seh(Norwegian, Danish, Swedish) i-LEES(English) EE-lees(English)
Elisheva
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Hebrew, Biblical Hebrew [1]
Other Scripts: אֱלִישֶׁבַע(Hebrew)
Elizaveta
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Russian
Other Scripts: Елизавета(Russian)
Pronounced: yi-lyi-zu-VYEH-tə, i-lyi-zu-VYEH-tə
Elmira 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Literature
Pronounced: ehl-MIE-rə(English) ehl-MEER-ə(English)
Possibly a shortened form of
Edelmira. It appears in the play
Tartuffe (1664) by the French playwright Molière (often spelled in the French style
Elmire).
Elon
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Biblical, Biblical Hebrew [1]
Other Scripts: אֵילוֹן(Ancient Hebrew)
Means
"oak tree" in Hebrew. According to the
Old Testament this was the name of one of the ruling judges of the Israelites. A notable modern bearer is the entrepreneur Elon Musk (1971-), who was born in South Africa and also holds Canadian and American citizenship (he is not Jewish).
Elsa
Gender: Feminine
Usage: German, Swedish, Norwegian, Icelandic, Finnish, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, English
Pronounced: EHL-za(German) EHL-sah(Finnish) EHL-sa(Italian, Spanish) EHL-sə(English)
Short form of
Elisabeth, typically used independently. In medieval German tales Elsa von Brabant was the lover of the hero
Lohengrin. Her story was expanded by Richard Wagner for his opera
Lohengrin (1850). The name had a little spike in popularity after the 2013 release of the animated Disney movie
Frozen, which featured a magical princess by this name.
Elvina
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: ehl-VEEN-ə
Elysia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Various
Pronounced: i-LIZ-ee-ə(English) i-LIS-ee-ə(English) i-LEE-zhə(English)
From
Elysium, the name of the realm of the dead in Greek and Roman
mythology.
Emelina
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Spanish
Pronounced: eh-meh-LEE-na
Emmanuel
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Biblical, French, English
Other Scripts: עִמָּנוּאֵל(Ancient Hebrew)
Pronounced: EH-MA-NWEHL(French) i-MAN-yoo-ehl(English)
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).
Emmett
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: EHM-it
From an English surname that was derived from a
diminutive of the feminine given name
Emma.
Endymion
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Ἐνδυμίων(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: EHN-DUY-MEE-AWN(Classical Greek) ehn-DIM-ee-ən(English)
Derived from Greek
ἐνδύω (endyo) meaning
"to dive into, to enter". In Greek
mythology he was an Aeolian mortal loved by the moon goddess
Selene, who asked
Zeus to grant him eternal life. Zeus complied by putting him into an eternal sleep in a cave on Mount Latmos.
Enid
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Welsh, English, Arthurian Cycle
Pronounced: EH-nid(Welsh) EE-nid(English)
Probably derived from Welsh
enaid meaning
"soul, spirit, life". In Arthurian tales she first appears in the 12th-century French poem
Erec and Enide by Chrétien de Troyes, where she is the wife of Erec. In later adaptations she is typically the wife of
Geraint. The name became more commonly used after the publication of Alfred Tennyson's Arthurian poem
Enid in 1859, and it was fairly popular in Britain in the first half of the 20th century.
Enikő
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Hungarian
Pronounced: EH-nee-kuu
Created by the Hungarian poet Mihály Vörösmarty in the 19th century. He based it on the name of the legendary mother of the Hungarian people, Enéh, of Turkic origin meaning "young hind" (modern Hungarian ünő).
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.
Eos
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Ἠώς(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: EH-AWS(Classical Greek) EE-ahs(English)
Means "dawn" in Greek. This was the name of the Greek goddess of the dawn.
Epiktetos
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Ancient Greek [1]
Other Scripts: Ἐπίκτητος(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: EH-PEEK-TEH-TOS
Ancient Greek name meaning "newly acquired". This was the name of a 1st-century Greek stoic philosopher.
Erebus
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Greek Mythology (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Ἔρεβος(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: EHR-ə-bəs(English)
Latinized form of the Greek
Ἔρεβος (Erebos), which means
"nether darkness". Erebus was the personification of the primordial darkness in Greek
mythology.
Erica
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Swedish, Italian
Pronounced: EHR-i-kə(English)
Feminine form of
Eric. It was first used in the 18th century. It also coincides with the Latin word for
"heather".
Eris
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Ἔρις(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: EHR-is(English)
Means
"strife, discord" in Greek. In Greek
mythology Eris was the goddess of discord. She was the sister and companion of
Ares.
Erling
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Norwegian, Danish, Swedish
Pronounced: EHR-ling
Means "descendant of the jarl", a derivative of the Old Norse word jarl meaning "chieftain, nobleman, earl".
Ermelinda
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, Portuguese
Ernest
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, French, Catalan, Polish, Slovak, Slovene
Pronounced: UR-nist(English) EHR-NEST(French) ər-NEST(Catalan) EHR-nest(Polish)
Derived from Old High German
ernust meaning
"serious, earnest". It was introduced to England by the German House of Hanover when they inherited the British throne in the 18th century, though it did not become common until the following century. The American author and adventurer Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961) was a famous bearer of the name. It was also used by Oscar Wilde for a character in his comedy
The Importance of Being Earnest (1895).
Eros
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Ἔρως(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: EH-RAWS(Classical Greek) EHR-ahs(English)
Means
"love" in Greek. In Greek
mythology he was a young god, the son of
Aphrodite, who was armed with arrows that caused the victim to fall in love.
Esmé
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: EHZ-may, EHZ-mee
Means "esteemed" or "loved" in Old French. It was first recorded in Scotland, being borne by the first Duke of Lennox in the 16th century. It is now more common as a feminine name.
Eugene
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: YOO-jeen, yoo-JEEN
English form of
Eugenius, the Latin form of the Greek name
Εὐγένιος (Eugenios), which was derived from the Greek word
εὐγενής (eugenes) meaning
"well born". It is composed of the elements
εὖ (eu) meaning "good" and
γενής (genes) meaning "born". This was the name of several
saints and four popes.
This name was not particularly common in Western Europe during the Middle Ages. It became more popular in part due to the fame of Prince Eugene of Savoy (1663-1736), a French-born general who served the Austrian Empire. A notable bearer was the American playwright Eugene O'Neill (1888-1953).
Euphrosyne
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Εὐφροσύνη(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: yoo-FRAH-si-nee(English)
Means
"mirth, merriment, cheerfulness" in Greek, a derivative of
εὖ (eu) meaning "good" and
φρήν (phren) meaning "mind, heart". She was one of the three Graces or
Χάριτες (Charites) in Greek
mythology.
Euri
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Basque (Rare)
Means "rain" in Basque.
Euterpe
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Εὐτέρπη(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: EW-TEHR-PEH(Classical Greek) yoo-TUR-pee(English)
Means
"delight" in Greek, ultimately from
εὖ (eu) meaning "good" and
τέρπω (terpo) meaning "to satisfy, to cheer". In Greek
mythology she was one of the nine Muses, the muse of music and joy. She was said to have invented the double flute.
Evadne
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Εὐάδνη(Ancient Greek)
From Greek
Εὐάδνη (Euadne), from
εὖ (eu) meaning "good" possibly combined with Cretan Greek
ἀδνός (adnos) meaning "holy". This name was borne by several characters in Greek legend, including the wife of Capaneus. After Capaneus was killed by a lightning bolt sent from
Zeus she committed suicide by throwing herself onto his burning body.
Evander 1
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Greek Mythology (Latinized), Roman Mythology
Other Scripts: Εὔανδρος(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: ee-VAN-dər(English) ə-VAN-dər(English)
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.
Evelina
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Italian, Swedish, Lithuanian, Greek, Russian, Bulgarian
Other Scripts: Εβελίνα(Greek) Эвелина(Russian) Евелина(Bulgarian)
Pronounced: ehv-ə-LEE-nə(English) eh-veh-LEE-na(Italian, Swedish)
Latinate form of
Aveline. It was revived by the author Fanny Burney for the heroine of her first novel
Evelina (1778). It is often regarded as a variant of the related name
Evelyn or an elaboration of
Eve.
Evelyn
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English, German
Pronounced: EHV-ə-lin(English) EEV-lin(British English) EEV-ə-lin(British English) EH-və-leen(German)
From an English surname that was derived from the given name
Aveline. In the 17th century when it was first used as a given name it was more common for boys, but it is now regarded as almost entirely feminine, probably in part because of its similarity to
Eve and
Evelina.
This name was popular throughout the English-speaking world in the early 20th century. It staged a comeback in the early 21st century, returning to the American top ten in 2017.
Felipe
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Spanish, Portuguese (Brazilian)
Pronounced: feh-LEE-peh(Spanish) feh-LEE-pee(Portuguese)
Spanish and Brazilian Portuguese form of
Philip.
Fleur
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French, Dutch, English (British)
Pronounced: FLUUR(French, Dutch) FLU(British English) FLUR(American English)
Means
"flower" in French.
Saint Fleur of Issendolus (
Flor in Gascon) was a 14th-century nun from Maurs, France. This was also the name of a character in John Galsworthy's novels
The Forsyte Saga (1922).
Frea
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Norse Mythology
Fred
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, Dutch, German, French, Portuguese, Swedish, Norwegian
Pronounced: FREHD(English, French, Portuguese) FREHT(Dutch, German)
Short form of
Frederick and other names containing the same element. A famous bearer was the American actor and dancer Fred Astaire (1899-1987). It was also borne by the cartoon caveman Fred Flintstone on the television series
The Flintstones (1960-1966).
Frey
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Norse Mythology
Pronounced: FRAY(English)
Freya
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Norse Mythology, English (Modern), German
Pronounced: FRAY-ə(English) FRAY-a(German)
From Old Norse
Freyja meaning
"lady". This is the name of a goddess associated with love, beauty, war and death in Norse
mythology. She claims half of the heroes who are slain in battle and brings them to her realm of Fólkvangr. Along with her brother
Freyr and father
Njord, she is one of the Vanir (as opposed to the Æsir). Some scholars connect her with the goddess
Frigg.
This is not the usual spelling in any of the Scandinavian languages (in Sweden and Denmark it is Freja and in Norway it is Frøja) but it is the common spelling of the goddess's name in English. In the 2000s it became popular in Britain.
Freyja
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Icelandic, Norse Mythology
Pronounced: FRAY-ya(Icelandic) FRAY-ə(English)
Icelandic and Old Norse form of
Freya.
Freyr
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Norse Mythology, Icelandic
Pronounced: FRAYR(English, Icelandic)
Means
"lord" in Old Norse, derived from the Germanic root *
fraujô. This is the name of a Norse god. He may have originally been called
Yngvi, with the name
Freyr being his title. Freyr is associated with fertility, sunlight and rain, and is the husband of the giantess
Gerd. With his twin sister
Freya and father
Njord he is one of the group of deities called the Vanir.
Gaea
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Γαῖα(Ancient Greek)
Gaia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology, Italian
Other Scripts: Γαῖα(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: GIE-A(Classical Greek) GIE-ə(English) GAY-ə(English) GA-ya(Italian)
From the Greek word
γαῖα (gaia), a parallel form of
γῆ (ge) meaning
"earth". In Greek
mythology Gaia was the mother goddess who presided over the earth. She was the mate of
Uranus and the mother of the Titans and the Cyclopes.
Gemini
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Roman Mythology, Astronomy
Pronounced: GEH-mee-nee(Latin) JEHM-i-nie(English)
Means
"twins" in Latin. This is the name of the third sign of the zodiac. The two brightest stars in the constellation,
Castor and
Pollux, are named for the mythological twin sons of
Leda.
Gennadius
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Late Greek (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Γεννάδιος(Ancient Greek)
Latinized form of the Greek name
Γεννάδιος (Gennadios), which was derived from Greek
γεννάδας (gennadas) meaning
"noble, generous".
Saint Gennadius was an early martyr from North Africa.
George
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, Romanian, Indian (Christian)
Other Scripts: ജോർജ്ജ്(Malayalam)
Pronounced: JAWRJ(English) JYOR-jeh(Romanian)
From the Greek name
Γεώργιος (Georgios), which was derived from the Greek word
γεωργός (georgos) meaning
"farmer, earthworker", itself derived from the elements
γῆ (ge) meaning "earth" and
ἔργον (ergon) meaning "work".
Saint George was a 3rd-century Roman soldier from Cappadocia who was martyred during the persecutions of Emperor Diocletian. Later legends describe his defeat of a dragon, with which he was often depicted in medieval art.
Initially Saint George was primarily revered by Eastern Christians, but returning crusaders brought stories of him to Western Europe and he became the patron of England, Portugal, Catalonia and Aragon. The name was rarely used in England until the German-born George I came to the British throne in the 18th century. Five subsequent British kings have borne the name.
Other famous bearers include two kings of Greece, the composer George Frideric Handel (1685-1759), the first president of the United States, George Washington (1732-1797), and the Pacific explorer George Vancouver (1757-1798). This was also the pen name of authors George Eliot (1819-1880) and George Orwell (1903-1950), real names Mary Anne Evans and Eric Arthur Blair respectively.
This name is also used by Christians in India, notably Saint Thomas Christians in the state of Kerala in the spelling ജോർജ്ജ് (Jōrjj).
Ginevra
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian
Pronounced: jee-NEH-vra
Italian form of
Guinevere. This is also the Italian name for the city of Geneva, Switzerland. It is also sometimes associated with the Italian word
ginepro meaning "juniper".
Glenys
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Welsh
Probably an elaboration of the Welsh word glân "pure, clean, holy" or glyn "valley". This name was created in the late 19th century.
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.
Godric
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Anglo-Saxon [1]
Pronounced: GAHD-rik(English)
Means
"god's ruler", derived from Old English
god combined with
ric "ruler, king". This name died out a few centuries after the
Norman Conquest.
Gunnar
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Icelandic, Norse Mythology
Pronounced: GUYN-nar(Swedish, Icelandic) GOON-nahr(Norwegian)
From the Old Norse name
Gunnarr, which was derived from the elements
gunnr "war" and
herr "army, warrior" (making it a
cognate of
Gunther). In Norse legend Gunnar was the husband of
Brynhildr. He had his brother-in-law
Sigurd murdered based on his wife's false accusations that Sigurd had taken her virginity.
Gunne
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Swedish (Rare), Norwegian (Rare)
Short form of Old Norse names beginning with the element
gunnr "war".
Gwallter
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Welsh
Gwenneth
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Welsh
Pronounced: GWEHN-ith
Hades
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Ἅιδης, ᾍδης(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: HAY-deez(English)
From Greek
Ἅιδης (Haides), derived from
ἀϊδής (aides) meaning
"unseen". In Greek
mythology Hades was the dark god of the underworld, a place that also came to be called Hades. His brothers were
Zeus and
Poseidon and his wife was
Persephone, whom he had abducted.
Halina
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Polish, Belarusian
Other Scripts: Галіна(Belarusian)
Pronounced: kha-LEE-na(Polish) gha-LYEE-na(Belarusian)
Polish and Belarusian form of
Galina.
Hannelore
Gender: Feminine
Usage: German
Pronounced: HA-nə-lo-rə
Harmonia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Ἁρμονία(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: HAR-MO-NEE-A(Classical Greek) hahr-MO-nee-ə(English)
Means
"harmony, agreement" in Greek. She was the daughter of
Ares and
Aphrodite, given by
Zeus to
Cadmus to be his wife.
Harriet
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: HAR-ee-it, HEHR-ee-it
English form of
Henriette, and thus a feminine form of
Harry. It was first used in the 17th century, becoming very common in the English-speaking world by the 18th century. Famous bearers include the Americans Harriet Beecher Stowe (1811-1896), the author of
Uncle Tom's Cabin, and the abolitionist Harriet Tubman (1820-1913).
Harrison
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: HAR-i-sən, HEHR-i-sən
From an English surname that meant
"son of Harry". This was the surname of two American presidents, William Henry Harrison (1773-1841) and his grandson Benjamin Harrison (1833-1901). As a given name it reached a low point in America in 1977 before it was revived by the career of actor Harrison Ford (1942-), who starred in such movies as
Star Wars in 1977 and
Indiana Jones in 1984.
Haru
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 陽, 春, 晴, etc.(Japanese Kanji) はる(Japanese Hiragana)
Pronounced: HA-ROO
From Japanese
陽 (haru) meaning "light, sun, male",
春 (haru) meaning "spring" or
晴 (haru) meaning "clear weather". Other kanji or kanji combinations can form this name as well.
Haruto
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 陽斗, 遥斗, 陽翔, 晴斗, etc.(Japanese Kanji) はると(Japanese Hiragana)
Pronounced: HA-ROO-TO
From Japanese
陽 (haru) meaning "light, sun, male",
遥 (haru) meaning "distant, remote" or
晴 (haru) meaning "clear weather" combined with
斗 (to), which refers to a Chinese constellation, or
翔 (to) meaning "soar, fly". Other kanji combinations can also form this name.
Hayden
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: HAY-dən
From an English surname that was derived from place names meaning either
"hay valley" or
"hay hill", derived from Old English
heg "hay" and
denu "valley" or
dun "hill". Its popularity at the end of the 20th century was due to the sound it shared with other trendy names of the time, such as
Braden and
Aidan.
Hebe
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Ἥβη(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: HEH-BEH(Classical Greek) HEE-bee(English)
Derived from Greek
ἥβη (hebe) meaning
"youth". In Greek
mythology Hebe was the daughter of
Zeus and
Hera. She was a goddess of youth who acted as the cupbearer to the gods.
Hecate
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Ἑκάτη(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: HEHK-ə-tee(English)
From the Greek
Ἑκάτη (Hekate), possibly derived from
ἑκάς (hekas) meaning
"far off". In Greek
mythology Hecate was a goddess associated with witchcraft, crossroads, tombs, demons and the underworld.
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.
Hel
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Norse Mythology
In Norse
mythology this was the name of the daughter of
Loki. She got her name from the underworld, also called Hel, where she ruled, which meant "to conceal, to cover" in Old Norse (related to the English word
hell).
Helen
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Estonian, Greek Mythology (Anglicized)
Other Scripts: Ἑλένη(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: HEHL-ən(English)
English form of the Greek
Ἑλένη (Helene), probably from Greek
ἑλένη (helene) meaning
"torch" or
"corposant", or possibly related to
σελήνη (selene) meaning
"moon". In Greek
mythology Helen was the daughter of
Zeus and
Leda, whose kidnapping by
Paris was the cause of the Trojan War. The name was also borne by the 4th-century
Saint Helena, mother of the Roman emperor
Constantine, who supposedly found the True Cross during a trip to Jerusalem.
The name was originally used among early Christians in honour of the saint, as opposed to the classical character. In England it was commonly spelled Ellen during the Middle Ages, and the spelling Helen was not regularly used until after the Renaissance. A famous bearer was Helen Keller (1880-1968), an American author and lecturer who was both blind and deaf.
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)
Latinate form of
Helen. This is the name of the heroine of William Shakespeare's play
All's Well That Ends Well (1603).
Helios
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Ἥλιος(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: HEH-LEE-OS(Classical Greek) HEE-lee-ahs(English) HEE-lee-əs(English)
Means
"sun" in Greek. This was the name of the young Greek sun god, a Titan, who rode across the sky each day in a chariot pulled by four horses. His sister was the moon goddess
Selene.
Henda
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Yiddish (Rare)
Other Scripts: הענדע, הענדאַ(Yiddish)
Hera
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Ἥρα(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: HEH-RA(Classical Greek) HEHR-ə(English) HEE-rə(English)
Uncertain meaning, possibly from Greek
ἥρως (heros) meaning
"hero, warrior";
ὥρα (hora) meaning
"period of time"; or
αἱρέω (haireo) meaning
"to be chosen". In Greek
mythology Hera was the queen of the gods, the sister and wife of
Zeus. She presided over marriage and childbirth.
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.
Hermione
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Ἑρμιόνη(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: HEHR-MEE-O-NEH(Classical Greek) hər-MIE-ə-nee(English)
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)
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).
Hestia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Ἑστία(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: HEHS-TEE-A(Classical Greek) HEHS-tee-ə(English)
Derived from Greek
ἑστία (hestia) meaning
"hearth, fireside". In Greek
mythology Hestia was the goddess of the hearth and domestic activity.
Hinata
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 日向, 陽向, 向日葵, etc.(Japanese Kanji) ひなた(Japanese Hiragana)
Pronounced: KHEE-NA-TA
From Japanese
日向 (hinata) meaning "sunny place",
陽向 (hinata) meaning "toward the sun", or a non-standard reading of
向日葵 (himawari) meaning "sunflower". Other kanji compounds are also possible. Because of the irregular readings, this name is often written using the hiragana writing system.
Hiroto
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 大翔, 博人, 博斗, 浩人, 寛人, etc.(Japanese Kanji) ひろと(Japanese Hiragana)
Pronounced: KHEE-RO-TO
From Japanese
大 (hiro) meaning "big, great" or
博 (hiro) meaning "command, esteem" combined with
人 (to) meaning "person",
翔 (to) meaning "soar, glide" or
斗 (to), which refers to a Chinese constellation. Other kanji combinations can also form this name.
Honoka
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 和花, 穂香, etc.(Japanese Kanji) ほのか(Japanese Hiragana)
Pronounced: HO-NO-KA
From Japanese
和 (hono) meaning "harmony" (using an obscure
nanori reading) and
花 (ka) meaning "flower", as well as other combinations of kanji that have the same pronunciation. Very often it is written using the hiragana writing system.
Honora
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Irish, English
Variant of
Honoria. It was brought to England and Ireland by the
Normans.
Honour
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: AHN-ər
From the English word
honour, which is of Latin origin. This was one of the virtue names adopted by the
Puritans in the 17th century. It can also be viewed as a form of
Honoria or
Honorata, which are ultimately derived from the same source.
Hoshiko
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 星子, etc.(Japanese Kanji) ほしこ(Japanese Hiragana)
Pronounced: HO-SHEE-KO, HO-SHKO
From Japanese
星 (hoshi) meaning "star" and
子 (ko) meaning "child". Other kanji combinations are possible.
Hoyt
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: HOIT
From an English surname that was derived from Middle English hoit "stick", originally a nickname for a thin person.
Hugo
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Spanish, Portuguese, English, Dutch, German, French, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Germanic [1]
Pronounced: OO-gho(Spanish) OO-goo(Portuguese) HYOO-go(English) HUY-gho(Dutch) HOO-go(German) UY-GO(French)
Old German form of
Hugh. As a surname it has belonged to the French author Victor Hugo (1802-1885), the writer of
The Hunchback of Notre-Dame and
Les Misérables.
Hypatia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Ancient Greek [1]
Other Scripts: Ὑπατία(Ancient Greek)
Derived from Greek
ὕπατος (hypatos) meaning
"highest, supreme". Hypatia of Alexandria was a 5th-century philosopher and mathematician, daughter of the mathematician Theon.
Ianto
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Welsh
Pronounced: YAN-taw
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.
Ilithyia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Εἰλείθυια(Ancient Greek)
From the Greek
Εἰλείθυια (Eileithyia), which was derived from
εἰλήθυια (eilethyia) meaning
"the readycomer". This was the name of the Greek goddess of childbirth and midwifery.
Immanuel
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Hebrew, German (Rare), Biblical, Biblical Hebrew [1]
Other Scripts: עִמָּנוּאֵל(Hebrew)
Pronounced: i-MA-nwehl(German)
Form of
Emmanuel used in most translations of the
Old Testament. Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) was a German philosopher of the Enlightenment who is sometimes called the father of modern philosophy.
Indu
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Hindi
Other Scripts: इन्दु(Hindi)
Means "bright drop" in Sanskrit. This is a name for the moon.
Ines
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, Slovene, Croatian
Italian, Slovene and Croatian form of
Inés.
Ing
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Germanic Mythology
From the Germanic *
Ingwaz, possibly meaning
"ancestor". This was the name of an obscure Germanic fertility god who was considered the ancestor of the tribe the Ingaevones. It is possible he was an earlier incarnation of the god
Freyr.
Io
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Ἰώ(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: EE-AW(Classical Greek) IE-o(English)
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.
Iole
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Ἰόλη(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: EE-O-LEH(Classical Greek) IE-ə-lee(English)
Ion 1
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Basque, Romanian
Pronounced: YON(Basque) ee-ON(Romanian)
Basque and Romanian form of
Iohannes (see
John).
Iona 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Scottish
Pronounced: ie-O-nə(English)
From the name of the island off Scotland where
Saint Columba founded a monastery. The name of the island is Old Norse in origin, and apparently derives simply from
ey meaning "island".
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)
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.
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)
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.
Irvine
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, Scottish
Pronounced: UR-vien(English) UR-vin(English)
From a surname that was a variant of
Irving.
Isabel
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Spanish, Portuguese, English, French, German, Dutch
Pronounced: ee-sa-BEHL(Spanish) ee-zu-BEHL(European Portuguese) ee-za-BEW(Brazilian Portuguese) IZ-ə-behl(English) EE-ZA-BEHL(French) ee-za-BEHL(German, Dutch)
Medieval Occitan form of
Elizabeth. It spread throughout Spain, Portugal and France, becoming common among the royalty by the 12th century. It grew popular in England in the 13th century after Isabella of Angoulême married the English king John, and it was subsequently bolstered when Isabella of France married Edward II the following century.
This is the usual form of the name Elizabeth in Spain and Portugal, though elsewhere it is considered a parallel name, such as in France where it is used alongside Élisabeth. The name was borne by two Spanish ruling queens, including Isabel of Castile, who sponsored the explorations of Christopher Columbus.
Isabella
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, German, English, Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, Finnish, Dutch, Romanian
Pronounced: ee-za-BEHL-la(Italian) ee-za-BEH-la(German, Dutch) iz-ə-BEHL-ə(English) is-a-BEHL-la(Swedish) EE-sah-behl-lah(Finnish)
Latinate form of
Isabel. This name was borne by many medieval royals, including queens consort of England, France, Portugal, the Holy Roman Empire and Hungary, as well as the powerful ruling queen Isabella of Castile (properly called
Isabel).
In the United States this form was much less common than Isabel until the early 1990s, when it began rapidly rising in popularity. It reached a peak in 2009 and 2010, when it was the most popular name for girls in America, an astounding rise over only 20 years.
A famous bearer is the Italian actress Isabella Rossellini (1952-).
Ismene
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Ἰσμήνη(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: EEZ-MEH-NEH(Classical Greek) is-MEE-nee(English)
Possibly from Greek
ἰσμή (isme) meaning
"knowledge". This was the name of the daughter of Oedipus and Jocasta in Greek legend.
Iwan
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Welsh, Polish
Pronounced: IW-an(Welsh) EE-van(Polish)
Modern Welsh form of
Ieuan, a medieval Welsh form of
Iohannes (see
John). It is also a Polish form of
Ivan.
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.
Jacob
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Jewish, Biblical
Other Scripts: יַעֲקֹב(Hebrew)
Pronounced: JAY-kəb(English) YA-kawp(Dutch) YAH-kawp(Swedish, Norwegian) YAH-kob(Danish)
From the Latin
Iacob, which was from the Greek
Ἰακώβ (Iakob), which was from the Hebrew name
יַעֲקֹב (Yaʿaqov). In the
Old Testament Jacob (later called
Israel) is the son of
Isaac and
Rebecca and the father of the twelve founders of the twelve tribes of Israel. He was born holding his twin brother
Esau's heel, and his name is explained as meaning
"holder of the heel" or
"supplanter", because he twice deprived his brother of his rights as the firstborn son (see
Genesis 27:36). Other theories claim that it is in fact derived from a hypothetical name like
יַעֲקֹבְאֵל (Yaʿaqovʾel) meaning
"may God protect".
The English names Jacob and James derive from the same source, with James coming from Latin Iacomus, a later variant of the Latin New Testament form Iacobus. Unlike English, many languages do not have separate spellings for the two names.
In England, Jacob was mainly regarded as a Jewish name during the Middle Ages [1], though the variant James was used among Christians. Jacob came into general use as a Christian name after the Protestant Reformation. In America, although already moderately common, it steadily grew in popularity from the early 1970s to the end of the 1990s, becoming the top ranked name from 1999 to 2012.
A famous bearer was Jacob Grimm (1785-1863), the German linguist and writer who was, with his brother Wilhelm, the author of Grimm's Fairy Tales.
Jaime 2
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: JAY-mee
Variant of
Jamie. The character Jaime Sommers from the television series
The Bionic Woman (1976-1978) helped to popularize the name. It can sometimes be given in reference to the French phrase
j'aime meaning "I love", though it is pronounced differently.
Jane
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: JAYN
Medieval English form of
Jehanne, an Old French feminine form of
Iohannes (see
John). This became the most common feminine form of
John in the 17th century, surpassing
Joan. In the first half of the 20th century
Joan once again overtook
Jane for a few decades in both the United States and the United Kingdom.
Famous bearers include the uncrowned English queen Lady Jane Grey (1536-1554), who ruled for only nine days, British novelist Jane Austen (1775-1817), who wrote Sense and Sensibility and Pride and Prejudice, British primatologist Jane Goodall (1934-), and American actress Jane Fonda (1937-). This is also the name of the central character in Charlotte Brontë's novel Jane Eyre (1847), which tells of Jane's sad childhood and her relationship with Edward Rochester.
Janne 2
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Danish, Norwegian, Estonian
Jared
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, Biblical
Other Scripts: יָרֶד, יֶרֶד(Ancient Hebrew)
Pronounced: JAR-əd(English)
From the Hebrew name
יָרֶד (Yareḏ) or
יֶרֶד (Yereḏ) meaning
"descent". This is the name of a close descendant of
Adam in the
Old Testament. It has been used as an English name since the
Protestant Reformation, and it was popularized in the 1960s by the character Jarrod Barkley on the television series
The Big Valley [1].
Jarl
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Norwegian, Swedish, Danish, Norse Mythology, Old Norse [1]
Pronounced: YAHRL(Norwegian, Swedish, Danish)
Means
"chieftain, nobleman" in Old Norse (a
cognate of the English word
earl). In the Norse poem
Rígsþula Jarl is the son of the god Ríg and the founder of the race of warriors.
Jason
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, French, Greek Mythology (Anglicized), Biblical
Other Scripts: Ἰάσων(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: JAY-sən(English) ZHA-ZAWN(French)
From the Greek name
Ἰάσων (Iason) meaning
"healer", derived from Greek
ἰάομαι (iaomai) meaning "to heal". In Greek
mythology Jason was the leader of the Argonauts. After his uncle
Pelias overthrew his father
Aeson as king of Iolcos, Jason went in search of the Golden Fleece in order to win back the throne. During his journeys he married the sorceress
Medea, who helped him gain the fleece and kill his uncle, but who later turned against him when he fell in love with another woman.
This name also appears in the New Testament, belonging to man who sheltered Paul and Silas. In his case, it may represent a Hellenized form of a Hebrew name. It was not used in England until after the Protestant Reformation.
Jasper
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, Dutch, Judeo-Christian-Islamic Legend
Pronounced: JAS-pər(English) YAHS-pər(Dutch)
From Latin
Gaspar, perhaps from the Biblical Hebrew word
גִּזְבָּר (gizbar) meaning
"treasurer" [1], derived from Old Persian
ganzabarah. This name was traditionally assigned to one of the wise men (also known as the Magi, or three kings) who were said to have visited the newborn
Jesus. It has occasionally been used in the English-speaking world since the Middle Ages. The name can also be given in reference to the English word for the gemstone.
Jean 2
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Scottish
Pronounced: JEEN
Medieval English variant of
Jehanne (see
Jane). It was common in England and Scotland during the Middle Ages, but eventually became rare in England. It was reintroduced to the English-speaking world from Scotland in the 19th century.
Jiang
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: Chinese
Other Scripts: 江, etc.(Chinese)
Pronounced: CHYANG
From Chinese
江 (jiāng) meaning "river, Yangtze", as well as other characters with a similar pronunciation.
Joanna
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Polish, Biblical
Pronounced: jo-AN-ə(English) yaw-AN-na(Polish)
English and Polish form of Latin
Iohanna, which was derived from Greek
Ἰωάννα (Ioanna), the feminine form of
Ioannes (see
John). This is the spelling used in the English
New Testament, where it belongs to a follower of
Jesus who is regarded as a
saint. In the Middle Ages in England it was used as a Latinized form of
Joan (the usual feminine form of
John) and it became common as a given name in the 19th century.
Jocasta
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology (Anglicized)
Other Scripts: Ἰοκάστη(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: jo-KAS-tə(English)
From the Greek name
Ἰοκάστη (Iokaste), which is of unknown meaning. In Greek
mythology she was the mother
Oedipus by the Theban king
Laius. In a case of tragic mistaken identity, she married her own son.
Joel
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, Spanish, Portuguese, Swedish, Finnish, Estonian, Biblical
Other Scripts: יוֹאֵל(Ancient Hebrew)
Pronounced: JO-əl(English) JOL(English) kho-EHL(Spanish) ZHWEHL(European Portuguese) zho-EW(Brazilian Portuguese) YO-ehl(Swedish, Finnish)
From the Hebrew name
יוֹאֵל (Yoʾel) meaning
"Yahweh is God", from the elements
יוֹ (yo) and
אֵל (ʾel), both referring to the Hebrew God. Joel is one of the twelve minor prophets of the
Old Testament, the author of the Book of Joel, which describes a plague of locusts. In England, it was first used as a Christian name after the
Protestant Reformation.
Johanna
Gender: Feminine
Usage: German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Dutch, Hungarian, Finnish, Estonian, English, Late Roman
Pronounced: yo-HA-na(German) yuw-HAN-na(Swedish) yo-HAHN-nah(Danish) yo-HAH-na(Dutch) YO-hawn-naw(Hungarian) YO-hahn-nah(Finnish) jo-HAN-ə(English) jo-AN-ə(English)
Latinate form of Greek
Ioanna (see
Joanna).
Juno
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Roman Mythology
Pronounced: YOO-no(Latin) JOO-no(English)
Meaning unknown, possibly related to an Indo-European root meaning
"young", or possibly of Etruscan origin. In Roman
mythology Juno was the wife of
Jupiter and the queen of the heavens. She was the protectress of marriage and women, and was also the goddess of finance.
Jupiter
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Roman Mythology (Anglicized)
Pronounced: JOO-pi-tər(English)
From Latin
Iuppiter, which was ultimately derived from the vocative form of Indo-European *
Dyēws-pətēr, composed of the elements
Dyēws (see
Zeus) and
pətēr "father". Jupiter was the supreme god in Roman
mythology. He presided over the heavens and light, and was responsible for the protection and laws of the Roman state. This is also the name of the fifth and largest planet in the solar system.
Kallisto
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology, Ancient Greek [1]
Other Scripts: Καλλιστώ(Ancient Greek)
Derived from Greek
κάλλιστος (kallistos) meaning
"most beautiful", a derivative of
καλός (kalos) meaning "beautiful". In Greek
mythology Kallisto was a nymph who was loved by
Zeus. She was changed into a she-bear by
Hera, and subsequently became the Great Bear constellation. This was also an ancient Greek personal name.
Karin
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, German, Dutch, Finnish, Estonian, Czech, Slovene
Pronounced: KAH-rin(Swedish) KA-reen(German) KA-rin(Dutch) KAH-reen(Finnish)
Karolina
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Polish, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Hungarian, Slovene, Croatian, Macedonian, Lithuanian, German
Other Scripts: Каролина(Macedonian)
Pronounced: ka-raw-LEE-na(Polish) ka-ruw-LEE-na(Swedish) KAW-ro-lee-naw(Hungarian) ka-ro-LEE-na(German)
Kassandra
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology, Ancient Greek [1], English (Modern)
Other Scripts: Κασσάνδρα(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: KAS-SAN-DRA(Classical Greek) kə-SAN-drə(English) kə-SAHN-drə(English)
Greek form of
Cassandra, as well as a modern English variant.
Katrin
Gender: Feminine
Usage: German, Swedish, Estonian
Pronounced: ka-TREEN(German) kah-TREEN(Swedish)
German, Swedish and Estonian short form of
Katherine.
Katsuro
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 勝郎, etc.(Japanese Kanji) かつろう(Japanese Hiragana)
Pronounced: KA-TSOO-RO
Alternate transcription of Japanese Kanji
勝郎 (see
Katsurō).
Keanu
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: Hawaiian
Pronounced: keh-A-noo
Means "the cool breeze" from Hawaiian ke, a definite article, and anu "coolness". This name is now associated with Canadian actor Keanu Reeves (1964-).
Kleisthenes
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Ancient Greek [1]
Other Scripts: Κλεισθένης(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: KLEHS-TEH-NEHS
Korë
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Κόρη(Ancient Greek)
Alternate transcription of Ancient Greek
Κόρη (see
Kore).
Korinna
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Ancient Greek [1]
Other Scripts: Κόριννα(Ancient Greek)
Kyou
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 協, 京, 郷, 杏, etc.(Japanese Kanji) きょう(Japanese Hiragana)
Pronounced: KYO
Alternate transcription of Japanese Kanji
協 or
京 or
郷 or
杏 (see
Kyō).
Lawrence
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: LAWR-əns
Variant of
Laurence 1. This spelling of the name is now more common than
Laurence in the English-speaking world, probably because
Lawrence is the usual spelling of the surname. The surname was borne by the author and poet D. H. Lawrence (1885-1930), as well as the revolutionary T. E. Lawrence (1888-1935), who was known as Lawrence of Arabia.
Leda
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology, Italian
Other Scripts: Λήδα(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: LEH-DA(Classical Greek) LEE-də(English) LAY-də(English) LEH-da(Italian)
Leo
Gender: Masculine
Usage: German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Estonian, English, Croatian, Armenian, Late Roman
Other Scripts: Լեո(Armenian)
Pronounced: LEH-o(German, Danish, Finnish) LEH-yo(Dutch) LEE-o(English)
Derived from Latin
leo meaning
"lion", a
cognate of
Leon. It was popular among early Christians and was the name of 13 popes, including
Saint Leo the Great who asserted the dominance of the Roman bishops (the popes) over all others in the 5th century. It was also borne by six Byzantine emperors and five Armenian kings. Another famous bearer was the Russian novelist Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910), name spelled
Лев in Russian, whose works include
War and Peace and
Anna Karenina. Leo is also a constellation and the fifth sign of the zodiac.
Léone
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French
French feminine form of
Leon.
Lestat
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Literature
Pronounced: lə-STAT(English)
Name used by author Anne Rice for a character in her Vampire Chronicles series of novels, first released in 1976, where it belongs to the French vampire Lestat de Lioncourt. Rice possibly intended the name to appear derived from Old French or Occitan l'estat "state, status", though apparently her husband's name Stan was inspiration.
Leto
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Λητώ(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: LEH-TAW(Classical Greek) LEE-to(English)
Possibly from Lycian
lada meaning
"wife". Other theories connect it to Greek
λήθω (letho) meaning
"hidden, forgotten". In Greek
mythology she was the mother of
Apollo and
Artemis by
Zeus.
Lettie
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: LEHT-ee
Lily
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: LIL-ee
From the name of the flower, a symbol of purity. The word is ultimately derived from Latin lilium. This is the name of the main character, Lily Bart, in the novel The House of Mirth (1905) by Edith Wharton. A famous bearer is the American actress Lily Tomlin (1939-).
Lina 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Arabic
Other Scripts: لينا(Arabic)
Pronounced: LEE-na
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.
Lina 2
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, German, French, Lithuanian, Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, Slovene
Pronounced: LEE-nə(English) LEE-na(Italian, Spanish)
Short form of names ending in lina.
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.
Llewella
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Welsh
Lloyd
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: LOID
From a Welsh surname that was derived from llwyd meaning "grey". The composer Andrew Lloyd Webber (1948-) is a famous bearer of this name.
Loïc
Gender: Masculine
Usage: French, Breton
Pronounced: LAW-EEK(French)
Loki
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Norse Mythology
Pronounced: LO-kee(English)
Meaning unknown, possibly derived from the Germanic root *
luką meaning
"lock". In Norse
mythology Loki was a trickster god associated with magic and shape shifting. Loki's children include the wolf
Fenrir, the sea serpent
Jörmungandr, and the queen of the dead
Hel. After he orchestrated the death of
Balder, the other gods tied him to a rock below a snake that dripped venom onto his face. It is told that he will break free during Ragnarök, the final battle, and slay and be slain by
Heimdall.
Lone
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Danish
Pronounced: LO-neh
Loránd
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Hungarian
Pronounced: LO-rand
Lorcán
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Irish
Pronounced: LAWR-kan
Means
"little fierce one", derived from Old Irish
lorcc "fierce" combined with a
diminutive suffix.
Saint Lorcán was a 12th-century archbishop of Dublin.
Lorena 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian
Pronounced: lo-REH-na(Spanish, Italian)
Spanish, Italian, Portuguese and Romanian form of
Lorraine.
Louis
Gender: Masculine
Usage: French, English, Dutch
Pronounced: LWEE(French) LOO-is(English) LOO-ee(English) loo-EE(Dutch)
French form of
Ludovicus, the Latinized form of
Ludwig. This was the name of 18 kings of France, starting with Louis I the son of
Charlemagne. Others include Louis IX (
Saint Louis) who led two crusades and Louis XIV (called the Sun King) who was the ruler of France during the height of its power, the builder of the Palace of Versailles, and the longest reigning monarch in the history of Europe. It was also borne by kings of Germany (as
Ludwig), Hungary (as
Lajos), and other places.
Apart from royalty, this name was only moderately popular in France during the Middle Ages. After the French Revolution, when Louis XVI was guillotined, it became less common.
The Normans brought the name to England, where it was usually spelled Lewis, though the spelling Louis has been more common in America. Famous bearers include French scientist Louis Pasteur (1822-1895), French actor Louis de Funès (1914-1983), Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894), who wrote Treasure Island and Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, and American jazz musician Louis Armstrong (1901-1971).
Luana
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Italian, Portuguese
Pronounced: loo-AN-ə(English) LWA-na(Italian)
From the movie
Bird of Paradise (1932), in which it was borne by the main character, a Polynesian girl
[1]. The movie was based on a 1912 play of the same name set in Hawaii.
Luanne
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: loo-AN
Lucifer
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Judeo-Christian-Islamic Legend
Pronounced: LOO-si-fər(English)
Means
"bringing light", derived from Latin
lux "light" and
ferre "to bring". In Latin this name originally referred to the morning star, Venus, but later became associated with the chief angel who rebelled against God's rule in heaven (see
Isaiah 14:12). In later literature, such as the
Divine Comedy (1321) by Dante and
Paradise Lost (1667) by John Milton, Lucifer became associated with Satan himself.
Lucila
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Spanish, Portuguese
Pronounced: loo-THEE-la(European Spanish) loo-SEE-la(Latin American Spanish)
Spanish and Portuguese form of
Lucilla.
Lucilla
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, Ancient Roman
Lucille
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French, English
Pronounced: LUY-SEEL(French) loo-SEEL(English)
French form of
Lucilla. A famous bearer was American comedienne Lucille Ball (1911-1989).
Lucius
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Ancient Roman, Biblical, English
Pronounced: LOO-kee-oos(Latin) LOO-shəs(English) LOO-si-əs(English)
Roman
praenomen, or given name, which was derived from Latin
lux "light". This was the most popular of the praenomina. Two Etruscan kings of early Rome had this name as well as several prominent later Romans, including Lucius Annaeus Seneca (known simply as Seneca), a statesman, philosopher, orator and tragedian. The name is mentioned briefly in the
New Testament belonging to a Christian in Antioch. It was also borne by three popes, including the 3rd-century
Saint Lucius. Despite this, the name was not regularly used in the Christian world until after the Renaissance.
Lucy
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: LOO-see
English form of
Lucia, in use since the Middle Ages.
Luna
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Roman Mythology, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, English
Pronounced: LOO-na(Latin, Spanish, Italian) LOO-nə(English)
Means "the moon" in Latin (as well as Italian, Spanish and other Romance languages). Luna was the Roman goddess of the moon, frequently depicted driving a white chariot through the sky.
Lyra
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Astronomy
Pronounced: LIE-rə(English)
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).
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.
Lysanne
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Dutch
Pronounced: lee-SAH-nə
Mae
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: MAY
Variant of
May. A famous bearer was the American actress Mae West (1893-1980), whose birth name was Mary.
Magnus
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Late Roman
Pronounced: MANG-nuys(Swedish) MAHNG-noos(Norwegian) MOW-noos(Danish) MAG-nəs(English)
Late Latin name meaning
"great". It was borne by a 7th-century
saint who was a missionary in Germany. It became popular in Scandinavia after the time of the 11th-century Norwegian king Magnus I, who was said to have been named after
Charlemagne, or Carolus Magnus in Latin (however there was also a Norse name
Magni). The name was borne by six subsequent kings of Norway as well as three kings of Sweden. It was imported to Scotland and Ireland during the Middle Ages.
Maia 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology, Roman Mythology, Portuguese, Georgian
Other Scripts: Μαῖα(Ancient Greek) მაია(Georgian)
Pronounced: MIE-A(Classical Greek) MAY-ə(English) MIE-ə(English) MIE-ya(Latin) MAH-EE-AH(Georgian)
From Greek
μαῖα (maia) meaning
"good mother, dame, foster mother", perhaps in origin a nursery form of
μήτηρ (meter). In Greek and Roman
mythology she was the eldest of the Pleiades, a group of stars in the constellation Taurus, who were the daughters of
Atlas and
Pleione. Her son by
Zeus was
Hermes.
Máire
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Irish
Pronounced: MA-ryə
Irish form of
Maria (see
Mary). The form
Muire is used to refer to the Virgin Mary.
Maldwyn
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Welsh
From
Maldwyn, another name for the old Welsh county of Montgomeryshire. It is so called from
Trefaldwyn, the Welsh name for the county town of Montgomery, misinterpreting it as if meaning "town of Maldwyn". In fact it means "town of
Baldwin" (in Welsh both
m and
b mutate to
f).
Marama
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: Maori, Polynesian Mythology
Means
"moon" in Maori. This is the name of a moon god (or goddess) in Maori
mythology.
Marcus
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Ancient Roman, Biblical Latin, English, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish
Pronounced: MAR-koos(Latin) MAHR-kəs(English) MAR-kuys(Swedish)
Roman
praenomen, or given name, that was probably derived from the name of the Roman god
Mars. This was among the most popular of the Roman praenomina. Famous bearers include Marcus Tullius Cicero (known simply as Cicero), a 1st-century BC statesman and orator, Marcus Antonius (known as Mark Antony), a 1st-century BC politician, and Marcus Aurelius, a notable 2nd-century emperor. This was also the name of a pope of the 4th century. This spelling has occasionally been used in the English-speaking world, though the traditional English form
Mark has been more common.
Mared
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Welsh
Marius
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Ancient Roman, Romanian, German, Dutch, Norwegian, Danish, French, Lithuanian
Pronounced: MA-ree-oos(Latin) MEHR-ee-əs(English) MAR-ee-əs(English) MA-ree-uws(German) MA-ree-uys(Dutch) MA-RYUYS(French)
Roman family name that was derived either from
Mars, the name of the Roman god of War, or else from the Latin root
mas, maris meaning
"male". Gaius Marius was a famous Roman consul of the 2nd century BC. Since the start of the Christian era, it has occasionally been used as a masculine form of
Maria.
Maryann
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: mehr-ee-AN, mar-ee-AN
Maryanne
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: mehr-ee-AN, mar-ee-AN
Mattias
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Swedish, Estonian
Pronounced: ma-TEE-as(Swedish)
Maxine
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: mak-SEEN
Feminine form of
Max. It has been commonly used only since the beginning of the 20th century.
Medusa
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Μέδουσα(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: meh-DOO-sə(English)
From the Greek
Μέδουσα (Medousa), which was derived from
μέδω (medo) meaning
"to protect, to rule over". In Greek
myth this was the name of one of the three Gorgons, ugly women who had snakes for hair. She was so hideous that anyone who gazed upon her was turned to stone, so the hero
Perseus had to look using the reflection in his shield in order to slay her.
Meira
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Hebrew
Other Scripts: מֵאִירָה(Hebrew)
Mel
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: MEHL
Melania
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, Spanish, Polish, Romanian, Late Roman
Pronounced: meh-LA-nya(Italian, Spanish, Polish)
Italian, Spanish, Polish and Romanian form of
Melanie.
Mélanie
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French
Pronounced: MEH-LA-NEE
Melanie
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, German, Dutch
Pronounced: MEHL-ə-nee(English) MEH-la-nee(German) meh-la-NEE(German)
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).
Melete
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Μελέτη(Ancient Greek)
Means
"practice, exercise" in Greek. In Greek
mythology she was one of the original three muses, the muse of meditation.
Melia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Μελία(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: MEH-LEE-A(Classical Greek)
Means
"ash tree" in Greek, a derivative of
μέλι (meli) meaning "honey". This was the name of a nymph in Greek
myth, the daughter of the Greek god Okeanos.
Melissa
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Dutch, Ancient Greek [1], Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Μέλισσα(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: mə-LIS-ə(English) MEH-LEES-SA(Classical Greek)
Means
"bee" in Greek. In Greek
mythology this was the name of a daughter of Procles, as well as an epithet of various Greek nymphs and priestesses. According to the early Christian writer Lactantius
[2] this was the name of the sister of the nymph
Amalthea, with whom she cared for the young
Zeus. Later it appears in Ludovico Ariosto's 1532 poem
Orlando Furioso [3] belonging to the fairy who helps
Ruggiero escape from the witch
Alcina. As an English given name,
Melissa has been used since the 18th century.
Meuric
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Welsh
Michaela
Gender: Feminine
Usage: German, Swedish, English, Czech, Slovak, Greek
Other Scripts: Μιχαέλα(Greek)
Pronounced: mi-kha-EH-la(German) mi-KAY-lə(English) MI-kha-eh-la(Czech) MEE-kha-eh-la(Slovak)
Micheal
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: MIE-kəl
Michela
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian
Pronounced: mee-KEH-la
Minoru
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 実, etc.(Japanese Kanji) みのる(Japanese Hiragana)
Pronounced: MEE-NO-ROO
From Japanese
実 (minoru) meaning "to bear fruit", as well as other kanji or kanji combinations with the same pronunciation.
Miranda
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Dutch
Pronounced: mi-RAN-də(English) mee-RAHN-da(Dutch)
Derived from Latin
mirandus meaning
"admirable, worthy of being admired". The name was created by Shakespeare for the heroine in his play
The Tempest (1611), in which Miranda and her father
Prospero are stranded on an island. It did not become a common English given name until the 20th century. This is also the name of one of the moons of Uranus, named after the Shakespearean character.
Mneme
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Μνήμη(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: MNEH-MEH(Classical Greek) NEE-mee(English)
Means
"memory" in Greek. In Greek
mythology she was one of the original three muses, the muse of memory.
Mnemosyne
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Μνημοσύνη(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: MNEH-MO-SUY-NEH(Classical Greek) ni-MAHS-i-nee(English)
Means
"remembrance" in Greek. In Greek
mythology Mnemosyne was a Titan goddess of memory. She was the mother by
Zeus of the nine Muses.
Molly
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: MAHL-ee
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.
Myf
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Welsh
Myfanwy
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Welsh
Pronounced: mə-VA-nuwy
From the Welsh prefix my- meaning "my, belonging to me" (an older form of fy) combined with either manwy meaning "fine, delicate" or banwy meaning "woman" (a variant of banw). This was the name of an 1875 Welsh song composed by Joseph Parry.
Nainsí
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Irish
Naira
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Aymara
From Aymara nayra meaning "eye" or "early".
Nan
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: NAN
Originally a
diminutive of
Ann. It may have originated with the affectionate phrase
mine Ann, which was later reinterpreted as
my Nan. It is now also used as a short form of
Nancy.
Nandag
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Scottish Gaelic
Narcissa
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Late Roman
Pronounced: nahr-SIS-ə(English)
Nathaniel
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, Biblical
Other Scripts: ןְתַןְאֵל(Ancient Hebrew)
Pronounced: nə-THAN-yəl(English)
Variant of
Nathanael. It has been regularly used in the English-speaking world since the
Protestant Reformation. This has been the most popular spelling, even though the spelling
Nathanael is found in most versions of the
New Testament. The American writer Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864), author of
The Scarlet Letter, was a famous bearer of this name.
Neassa
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Irish (Rare)
Nella
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian
Pronounced: NEHL-la
Nemesis
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Νέμεσις(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: NEH-MEH-SEES(Classical Greek) NEHM-ə-sis(English)
Means
"distribution of what is due, righteous anger" in Greek. In Greek
mythology Nemesis was the personification of vengeance and justice.
Nereus
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Greek Mythology, Ancient Greek [1], Biblical, Biblical Latin, Biblical Greek [2]
Other Scripts: Νηρεύς(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: NEH-REWS(Classical Greek) NIR-ee-əs(English)
Derived from Greek
νηρός (neros) meaning
"water". In Greek
myth this was the name of a god of the sea, the father of the Nereids. It is mentioned briefly in the
New Testament, belonging to a Christian in Rome. This was also the name of a Roman
saint of the 1st century, a member of the army, who was martyred with his companion Achilleus because they refused to execute Christians.
Nessa 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: NEHS-ə
Short form of
Vanessa and other names ending in
nessa.
Nestor
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Greek Mythology, Russian, Portuguese, French
Other Scripts: Νέστωρ(Ancient Greek) Нестор(Russian)
Pronounced: NEHS-TAWR(Classical Greek, French) NEHS-tər(English) NYEHS-tər(Russian)
Means
"returner, homecomer" in Greek, from
νέομαι (neomai) meaning "to return". In
Homer's
Iliad this was the name of the king of Pylos, famous for his great wisdom and longevity, who acted as a counselor to the Greek allies.
Neus
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Catalan
Pronounced: NEWS
Neville
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (British)
Pronounced: NEHV-əl(English)
From an English surname that was originally derived from a place name meaning "new town" in Norman French. As a given name it is chiefly British and Australian.
Neža
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Slovene
Niall
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Irish, Old Irish [1]
Pronounced: NYEEL(Irish)
Niamh
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Irish, Irish Mythology
Pronounced: NYEEW(Irish) NYEEV(Irish)
Means
"bright" in Irish. She was the daughter of the sea god
Manannán mac Lir in Irish legends. She fell in love with the poet
Oisín, the son of
Fionn mac Cumhaill. It has been used as a given name for people only since the early 20th century.
Noel
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: NOL, NO-əl
English form of
Noël or
Noëlle (rarely). It was fairly popular in the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand in the middle of the 20th century. It is occasionally written with a diaeresis, like in French. A famous bearer is British musician Noel Gallagher (1967-).
Nyx
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Νύξ(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: NUYKS(Classical Greek) NIKS(English)
Means "night" in Greek. This was the name of the Greek goddess of the night, the daughter of Khaos and the wife of Erebos.
Océane
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French
Pronounced: AW-SEH-AN
Derived from French océan meaning "ocean".
Oceanus
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Greek Mythology (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Ὠκεανός(Ancient Greek)
Octavia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Spanish, Romanian, Ancient Roman
Pronounced: ahk-TAY-vee-ə(English) ok-TA-bya(Spanish) ok-TA-wee-a(Latin)
Feminine form of
Octavius. Octavia was the wife of Mark Antony and the sister of the Roman emperor Augustus. In 19th-century England it was sometimes given to the eighth-born child.
Oden
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Norse Mythology
Odin
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Norse Mythology, English (Modern)
Pronounced: O-din(English)
Anglicized form of Old Norse
Óðinn, which was derived from
óðr meaning
"inspiration, rage, frenzy". It ultimately developed from Proto-Germanic *
Wōdanaz. The name appears as
Woden in Anglo-Saxon sources (for example, as the founder of several royal lineages in the
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle) and in forms such as
Wuotan,
Wotan or
Wodan in continental Europe, though he is best known from Norse sources.
In Norse mythology Odin is the highest of the gods, presiding over war, wisdom and death. He is the husband of Frigg and resides in Valhalla, where warriors go after they are slain. He is usually depicted as a one-eyed older man, carrying two ravens on his shoulders who inform him of all the events of the world. At the time of Ragnarök, the final battle, it is told that he will be killed fighting the great wolf Fenrir.
Olivia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Italian, Spanish, French, German, Finnish, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Dutch
Pronounced: o-LIV-ee-ə(English) ə-LIV-ee-ə(English) o-LEE-vya(Italian, German) o-LEE-bya(Spanish) AW-LEE-VYA(French) O-lee-vee-ah(Finnish) o-LEE-vee-ya(Dutch)
This name was used in this spelling by William Shakespeare for a character in his comedy
Twelfth Night (1602). This was a rare name in Shakespeare's time
[1] that may have been based on
Oliva or
Oliver, or directly on the Latin word
oliva meaning
"olive". In the play Olivia is a noblewoman wooed by Duke
Orsino. Instead she falls in love with his messenger Cesario, who is actually
Viola in disguise.
Olivia has been used in the English-speaking world since the 18th century, though it did not become overly popular until the last half of the 20th century. Its rise in popularity in the 1970s may have been inspired by a character on the television series The Waltons (1972-1982) [2] or the singer Olivia Newton-John (1948-2022). In 1989 it was borne by a young character on The Cosby Show, which likely accelerated its growth. It reached the top rank in England and Wales by 2008 and in the United States by 2019.
A famous bearer was the British-American actress Olivia de Havilland (1916-2020).
Onesimos
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Ancient Greek [1], Biblical Greek [2]
Other Scripts: Ὀνήσιμος(Ancient Greek)
Oni
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: Yoruba
Means "today" in Yoruba.
Ophiuchus
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Astronomy
Pronounced: ahf-ee-YOO-kəs(English) o-fee-YOO-kəs(English)
Latinized form of Greek
Ὀφιοῦχος (Ophiouchos) meaning
"serpent bearer". This is the name of an equatorial constellation that depicts the god
Asklepios holding a snake.
Orestes
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Ὀρέστης(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: O-REHS-TEHS(Classical Greek) aw-REHS-teez(English)
Means
"of the mountains", derived from Greek
ὄρος (oros) meaning "mountain" and
ἵστημι (histemi) meaning "to stand". In Greek
myth he was the son of
Agamemnon and
Clytemnestra. He killed his mother and her lover Aegisthus after they killed his father.
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.
Pam
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: PAM
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.
Paris 1
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Πάρις(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: PA-REES(Classical Greek) PAR-is(English) PEHR-is(English)
Meaning unknown, possibly of Luwian or Hittite origin. In Greek
mythology he was the Trojan prince who kidnapped
Helen and began the Trojan War. Though presented as a somewhat of a coward in the
Iliad, he did manage to slay the great hero
Achilles. He was himself eventually slain in battle by Philoctetes.
Parvin
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: Persian, Urdu, Hindi
Other Scripts: پروین(Persian, Urdu) परवीन(Hindi)
Means "the Pleiades" in Persian. The Pleiades are a group of stars in the constellation Taurus. This name is typically feminine in Iran, but unisex in India.
Pauline
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French, English, German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish
Pronounced: PAW-LEEN(French) paw-LEEN(English) pow-LEE-nə(German)
French feminine form of
Paulinus (see
Paulino).
Pegasus
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Greek Mythology (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Πήγασος(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: PEHG-ə-səs(English)
From the Greek
Πήγασος (Pegasos), possibly either from
πηγός (pegos) meaning
"strong" or
πηγαῖος (pegaios) meaning
"from a water spring". In Greek
mythology Pegasus was the winged horse that sprang from the blood of Medusa after she was killed by
Perseus. There is a constellation in the northern sky named after the horse.
Penelope
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology, English
Other Scripts: Πηνελόπη(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: PEH-NEH-LO-PEH(Classical Greek) pə-NEHL-ə-pee(English)
Probably derived from Greek
πηνέλοψ (penelops), a type of duck. Alternatively it could be from
πήνη (pene) meaning "threads, weft" and
ὄψ (ops) meaning "face, eye". In
Homer's epic the
Odyssey this is the name of the wife of
Odysseus, forced to fend off suitors while her husband is away fighting at Troy.
It has occasionally been used as an English given name since the 16th century. It was moderately popular in the 1940s, but had a more notable upswing in the early 2000s. This may have been inspired by the Spanish actress Penélope Cruz (1974-), who gained prominence in English-language movies at that time. It was already rapidly rising when celebrities Kourtney Kardashian and Scott Disick gave it to their baby daughter in 2012.
Percival
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Arthurian Cycle, English
Pronounced: PUR-si-vəl(English)
Created by the 12th-century French poet Chrétien de Troyes for his poem
Perceval, the Story of the Grail. Chrétien may have derived the name from Old French
perce val "pierce the valley", or he may have based it loosely on the Welsh name
Peredur [1]. In the poem Perceval is a boy from Wales who hopes to become a knight under King
Arthur. Setting out to prove himself, he eventually comes to the castle of the Fisher King and is given a glimpse of the Grail.
Percy
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: PUR-see
From an English surname that was derived from the name of a Norman town
Perci, which was itself perhaps derived from a Gaulish given name that was Latinized as
Persius. The surname was borne by a noble English family, and it first used as a given name in their honour. A famous bearer was Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822), an English romantic poet whose works include
Adonais and
Ozymandias. This name can also be used as a short form of
Percival.
Persephone
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Περσεφόνη(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: PEHR-SEH-PO-NEH(Classical Greek) pər-SEHF-ə-nee(English)
Meaning unknown, probably of Pre-Greek origin, but perhaps related to Greek
πέρθω (pertho) meaning "to destroy" and
φόνος (phonos) meaning "murder". In Greek
myth she was the daughter of
Demeter and
Zeus. She was abducted to the underworld by
Hades, but was eventually allowed to return to the surface for part of the year. The result of her comings and goings is the changing of the seasons. With her mother she was worshipped in the Eleusinian Mysteries, which were secret rites practiced at the city of Eleusis near Athens.
Peru
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Basque
Pheobe
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: FEE-bee
Pherenike
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Ancient Greek [1]
Other Scripts: Φερενίκη(Ancient Greek)
Phoebe
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Greek Mythology (Latinized), Biblical, Biblical Latin
Other Scripts: Φοίβη(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: FEE-bee(English)
Latinized form of the Greek name
Φοίβη (Phoibe), which meant
"bright, pure" from Greek
φοῖβος (phoibos). In Greek
mythology Phoibe was a Titan associated with the moon. This was also an epithet of her granddaughter, the moon goddess
Artemis. The name appears in
Paul's epistle to the Romans in the
New Testament, where it belongs to a female minister in the church at Cenchreae.
In England, it began to be used as a given name after the Protestant Reformation. It was moderately common in the 19th century. It began to rise in popularity again in the late 1980s, probably helped along by characters on the American television shows Friends (1994-2004) and Charmed (1998-2006). It is currently much more common in the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand than the United States.
A moon of Saturn bears this name, in honour of the Titan.
Phoebus
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Greek Mythology (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Φοῖβος(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: FEE-bəs(English)
Latinized form of the Greek name
Φοῖβος (Phoibos), which meant
"bright, pure". This was an epithet of the Greek god
Apollo.
Ping
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: Chinese
Other Scripts: 平, etc.(Chinese)
Pronounced: PEENG
From Chinese
平 (píng) meaning "level, even, peaceful". Other characters can also form this name.
Priam
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Greek Mythology (Anglicized)
Other Scripts: Πρίαμος(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: PRIE-əm(English)
From the Greek
Πρίαμος (Priamos), possibly meaning
"redeemed". In Greek legend Priam was the king of Troy during the Trojan War and the father of many children including
Hector and
Paris.
Priya
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Hinduism, Hindi, Marathi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, Bengali
Other Scripts: प्रिया(Sanskrit, Hindi, Marathi) பிரியா(Tamil) ప్రియ(Telugu) പ്രിയാ(Malayalam) ಪ್ರಿಯಾ(Kannada) প্রিয়া(Bengali)
Means
"beloved" in Sanskrit. It appears briefly in the
Puranas belonging to a daughter of King
Daksha.
Prokopios
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Greek, Late Greek [1]
Other Scripts: Προκόπιος(Greek)
Derived from Greek
προκοπή (prokope) meaning
"progress, advance".
Saint Prokopios was an early Christian martyr who was beheaded in Palestine during the persecutions of the Roman emperor Diocletian.
Pryderi
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Welsh, Welsh Mythology
From Welsh
pryder meaning
"care, worry" (or perhaps from a derivative word *
pryderi meaning
"loss" [1]). Appearing in Welsh legend in all four branches of the
Mabinogi, Pryderi was the son of
Pwyll and
Rhiannon, eventually succeeding his father as the king of Dyfed. He was one of only seven warriors to return from
Brân's tragic invasion of Ireland, and later had several adventures with
Manawydan. He was ultimately killed in single combat with
Gwydion during the war between Dyfed and Gwynedd.
Psyche
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Ψυχή(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: PSUY-KEH(Classical Greek) SIE-kee(English)
Means
"the soul", derived from Greek
ψύχω (psycho) meaning "to breathe". The Greeks thought that the breath was the soul. In Greek
mythology Psyche was a beautiful maiden who was beloved by Eros (or Cupid in Roman mythology). She is the subject of Keats's poem
Ode to Psyche (1819).
Quinn
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: KWIN
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.
Raina
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Bulgarian
Other Scripts: Райна(Bulgarian)
Rasha
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Arabic
Other Scripts: رشا(Arabic)
Pronounced: RA-sha
Means "young gazelle" in Arabic.
Rebecca
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Italian, Swedish, German, Dutch, Biblical, Biblical Latin
Other Scripts: רִבְקָה(Ancient Hebrew)
Pronounced: rə-BEHK-ə(English) reh-BEHK-ka(Italian) rə-BEH-ka(Dutch)
From the Hebrew name
רִבְקָה (Rivqa), probably from a Semitic root meaning
"join, tie, snare". This is the name of the wife of
Isaac and the mother of
Esau and
Jacob in the
Old Testament. It came into use as an English Christian name after the
Protestant Reformation, and it was popular with the
Puritans in the 17th century. It has been consistently used since then, becoming especially common in the second half of the 20th century.
This name is borne by a Jewish woman in Walter Scott's novel Ivanhoe (1819), as well as the title character (who is deceased and unseen) in Daphne du Maurier's novel Rebecca (1938).
Rebeccanne
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Reima
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Finnish
Pronounced: RAY-mah
René
Gender: Masculine
Usage: French, German, Dutch, Spanish, Slovak, Czech
Pronounced: RU-NEH(French) rə-NEH(German, Dutch) reh-NEH(Dutch, Spanish) REH-neh(Slovak, Czech)
French form of
Renatus. Famous bearers include the French mathematician and rationalist philosopher René Descartes (1596-1650) and the Belgian surrealist painter René Magritte (1898-1967).
Renée
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French, Dutch
Pronounced: RU-NEH(French) rə-NEH(Dutch) reh-NEH(Dutch)
French feminine form of
René.
Rhea
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology, Roman Mythology
Other Scripts: Ῥέα(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: REH-A(Classical Greek) REE-ə(English) REH-a(Latin)
Riley
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: RIE-lee
From a surname that comes from two distinct sources. As an Irish surname it is a variant of
Reilly. As an English surname it is derived from a place name meaning
"rye clearing" in Old English.
Before 1980, this was an uncommon masculine name in America. During the 1980s and 90s this name steadily increased in popularity for both boys and girls, and from 2003 onwards it has been more common for girls in the United States. Elsewhere in the English-speaking world, such as the United Kingdom and Australia, it has remained largely masculine.
Rin
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 凛, etc.(Japanese Kanji) りん(Japanese Hiragana)
Pronounced: REEN
From Japanese
凛 (rin) meaning "dignified, severe, cold" or other kanji that are pronounced the same way.
Roberta
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese
Pronounced: rə-BUR-tə(English) ro-BEHR-ta(Italian, Spanish)
Roland
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, French, German, Swedish, Dutch, Hungarian, Polish, Slovak, Albanian, Georgian, Carolingian Cycle
Other Scripts: როლანდ(Georgian)
Pronounced: RO-lənd(English) RAW-LAHN(French) RO-lant(German) RO-lahnt(Dutch) RO-lawnd(Hungarian) RAW-lant(Polish)
From the Old German elements
hruod meaning "fame" and
lant meaning "land", though some theories hold that the second element was originally
nand meaning "brave"
[1].
Roland was an 8th-century military commander, serving under Charlemagne, who was killed by the Basques at the Battle of Roncevaux. His name was recorded in Latin as Hruodlandus. His tale was greatly embellished in the 11th-century French epic La Chanson de Roland, in which he is a nephew of Charlemagne killed after being ambushed by the Saracens. The Normans introduced the name to England.
Rolf
Gender: Masculine
Usage: German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, English
Pronounced: RAWLF(German) ROLF(English)
From the Old German name
Hrolf (or its Old Norse
cognate Hrólfr), a contracted form of
Hrodulf (see
Rudolf). The
Normans introduced this name to England but it soon became rare. In the modern era it has occasionally been used in the English-speaking world as a German import.
Ronald
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Scottish, English, Dutch, German
Pronounced: RAHN-əld(English) RO-nahlt(Dutch)
Scottish form of
Ragnvaldr, a name introduced to Britain by Scandinavian settlers and invaders. It became popular outside Scotland during the 20th century. A famous bearer was the American actor and president Ronald Reagan (1911-2004). It is also associated with Ronald McDonald, the clown mascot for the McDonald's chain of restaurants, first appearing in 1963.
Rosalie
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French, German, Dutch, English
Pronounced: RAW-ZA-LEE(French) ro-za-LEE(German, Dutch) RO-sa-lee(Dutch) ro-sa-LEE(Dutch) RO-za-lee(Dutch) RO-zə-lee(English)
French, German and Dutch form of
Rosalia. In the English-speaking this name received a boost after the release of the movie
Rosalie (1938), which was based on an earlier musical.
Rosannah
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: ro-ZAN-ə
Rose
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, French
Pronounced: ROZ
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.
Roxanne
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, French
Pronounced: rahk-SAN(English) RAWK-SAN(French)
Sahar
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Arabic, Persian
Other Scripts: سحر(Arabic, Persian)
Pronounced: SA-har(Arabic) sa-HAR(Persian)
Means "dawn" in Arabic.
Saki
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 咲希, 沙紀, 早紀, etc.(Japanese Kanji) さき(Japanese Hiragana)
Pronounced: SA-KYEE
From Japanese
咲 (sa) meaning "blossom" and
希 (ki) meaning "hope", besides other combinations of kanji characters.
Sakura
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 桜, 咲良, etc.(Japanese Kanji) さくら(Japanese Hiragana)
Pronounced: SA-KOO-RA
From Japanese
桜 (sakura) meaning "cherry blossom", though it is often written using the hiragana writing system. It can also come from
咲 (saku) meaning "blossom" and
良 (ra) meaning "good, virtuous, respectable" as well as other kanji combinations.
Samara
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern), Portuguese (Brazilian)
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).
Saranna
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: sə-RAN-ə
Combination of
Sarah and
Anna, in occasional use since the 18th century.
Selah
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Biblical
Other Scripts: סֶלַה(Ancient Hebrew)
Pronounced: SEE-lə(English)
From a Hebrew musical term that occurs many times in the
Old Testament Psalms. It was probably meant to indicate a musical pause.
Selena
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Spanish, English, Greek Mythology (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Σελήνη(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: seh-LEH-na(Spanish) sə-LEEN-ə(English)
Latinized form of
Selene. This name was borne by popular Mexican-American singer Selena Quintanilla (1971-1995), who was known simply as Selena. Another famous bearer is the American actress and singer Selena Gomez (1992-).
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.
Sera
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: SEHR-ə
Severus
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Ancient Roman
Pronounced: seh-WEH-roos(Latin) si-VIR-əs(English) SEHV-ə-rəs(English)
Roman family name meaning
"stern" in Latin. This name was borne by several early
saints including a 6th-century patriarch of Antioch.
Shannon
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: SHAN-ən
From the name of the River Shannon, the longest river in Ireland, called
an tSionainn in Irish. It is associated with the legendary figure
Sionann and is sometimes said to be named for her. However it is more likely she was named after the river, which may be related to Old Irish
sen "old, ancient"
[1]. As a given name, it first became common in America after the 1940s.
Shashi
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: Hindi, Marathi, Bengali, Kannada, Telugu
Other Scripts: शशि, शशी(Hindi, Marathi) শশী(Bengali) ಶಶಿ(Kannada) శశి(Telugu)
Traditional name for the moon, it literally means "having a hare" in Sanskrit. This is a transcription of both the masculine form
शशि and the feminine form
शशी (spelled with a long final vowel).
Shemer
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Biblical, Biblical Hebrew [1]
Other Scripts: שֶׁמֶר(Ancient Hebrew)
Possibly means
"preserved" in Hebrew, derived from
שָׁמַר (shamar) meaning "to guard, to watch". In the
Old Testament this is the name of the owner of the hill upon which Samaria was built.
Shiori
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 詩織, 栞, 撓, etc.(Japanese Kanji) しおり(Japanese Hiragana)
Pronounced: SHEE-O-REE
As a feminine name it can be from Japanese
詩 (shi) meaning "poem" combined with
織 (ori) meaning "weave". It can also be from
栞 (shiori) meaning "bookmark" (usually feminine) or
撓 (shiori) meaning "lithe, bending" (usually masculine), as well as other kanji or kanji combinations.
Sienna
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: see-EHN-ə
From the English word meaning "orange-red". It is ultimately from the name of the city of Siena in Italy, because of the colour of the clay there.
Siors
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Welsh
Sirius
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Astronomy
Pronounced: SIR-ee-əs(English)
The name of a bright star in the constellation Canis Major, derived via Latin from Greek
σείριος (seirios) meaning
"burning".
Sirpa
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Finnish
Pronounced: SEER-pah
Derived from Finnish sirpale meaning "small piece, fragment".
Skye
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: SKIE
From the name of the Isle of Skye off the west coast of Scotland. It is sometimes considered a variant of
Sky.
Sokrates
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Ancient Greek [1]
Other Scripts: Σωκράτης(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: SAW-KRA-TEHS
Solène
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French
Pronounced: SAW-LEHN
Solvig
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Swedish
Stella 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Italian, Dutch, German
Pronounced: STEHL-ə(English) STEHL-la(Italian) STEH-la(Dutch)
Means "star" in Latin. This name was created by the 16th-century poet Philip Sidney for the subject of his collection of sonnets Astrophel and Stella. It was a nickname of a lover of Jonathan Swift, real name Esther Johnson (1681-1728), though it was not commonly used as a given name until the 19th century. It appears in Tennessee Williams' play A Streetcar Named Desire (1947), belonging to the sister of Blanche DuBois and the wife of Stanley Kowalski.
Sten
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, Estonian
Derived from the Old Norse name Steinn meaning "stone".
Stephen
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, Biblical
Pronounced: STEE-vən(English) STEHF-ən(English)
From the Greek name
Στέφανος (Stephanos) meaning
"crown, wreath", more precisely
"that which surrounds".
Saint Stephen was a deacon who was stoned to death, as told in Acts in the
New Testament. He is regarded as the first Christian martyr. Due to him, the name became common in the Christian world. It was popularized in England by the
Normans.
This was the name of kings of England, Serbia, and Poland, as well as ten popes. It was also borne by the first Christian king of Hungary (11th century), who is regarded as the patron saint of that country. More recent bearers include British physicist Stephen Hawking (1942-2018) and the American author Stephen King (1947-).
Summer
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: SUM-ər
From the name of the season, ultimately from Old English sumor. It has been in use as a given name since the 1970s.
Tanith
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Semitic Mythology
Other Scripts: 𐤕𐤍𐤕(Phoenician)
Meaning unknown. This was the name of the Phoenician goddess of love, fertility, the moon and the stars. She was particularly associated with the city of Carthage, being the consort of
Ba'al Hammon.
Tara 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: TAHR-ə, TEHR-ə, TAR-ə
Anglicized form of the Irish place name Teamhair, which possibly means "elevated place". This was the name of the sacred hill near Dublin where the Irish high kings resided. It was popularized as a given name by the novel Gone with the Wind (1936) and the subsequent movie adaptation (1939), in which it is the name of the O'Hara plantation.
Teresa
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Catalan, Polish, Lithuanian, Finnish, German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, English
Pronounced: teh-REH-sa(Spanish, Polish) teh-REH-za(Italian, German) tə-REH-zə(Catalan) tyeh-ryeh-SU(Lithuanian) TEH-reh-sah(Finnish) tə-REE-sə(English) tə-REE-zə(English)
Form of
Theresa used in several languages.
Saint Teresa of Ávila was a 16th-century Spanish nun who reformed the Carmelite monasteries and wrote several spiritual books. It was also borne by the Albanian missionary Saint Teresa of Calcutta (1910-1997), better known as Mother Teresa, who worked with the poor in India. She adopted the name in honour of the French saint Thérèse of Lisieux, who is the patron of missionaries.
Terra
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: TEHR-ə
Variant of
Tara 1, perhaps influenced by the Latin word
terra meaning "land, earth".
Thalia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology (Latinized), Greek
Other Scripts: Θάλεια(Greek)
Pronounced: THAY-lee-ə(English) thə-LIE-ə(English)
From the Greek name
Θάλεια (Thaleia), derived from
θάλλω (thallo) meaning
"to blossom". In Greek
mythology she was one of the nine Muses, presiding over comedy and pastoral poetry. This was also the name of one of the three Graces or
Χάριτες (Charites).
Theia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Θεία(Ancient Greek)
Possibly derived from Greek
θεά (thea) meaning
"goddess". In Greek
myth this was the name of a Titan goddess of light, glittering and glory. She was the wife of
Hyperion and the mother of the sun god
Helios, the moon goddess
Selene, and the dawn goddess
Eos.
Themis
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Θέμις(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: TEH-MEES(Classical Greek) THEE-mis(English)
Means
"law of nature, divine law, custom" in Greek. In Greek
mythology this was the name of a Titan who presided over custom and natural law. She was often depicted blindfolded and holding a pair of scales. By
Zeus she was the mother of many deities, including the three
Μοῖραι (Moirai) and the three
Ὥραι (Horai).
Thurayya
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Arabic
Other Scripts: ثريّا, ثريّة(Arabic)
Pronounced: thoo-RIE-ya
Means "the Pleiades" in Arabic. The Pleiades are a group of stars in the constellation Taurus.
Titania
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Literature
Pronounced: tie-TAY-nee-ə(American English) ti-TAH-nee-ə(British English)
Perhaps based on Latin
Titanius meaning
"of the Titans". This name was (first?) used by William Shakespeare in his comedy
A Midsummer Night's Dream (1595) where it belongs to the queen of the fairies, the wife of
Oberon. This is also a moon of Uranus, named after the Shakespearean character.
Umeko
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 梅子, etc.(Japanese Kanji) うめこ(Japanese Hiragana)
Pronounced: OO-MEH-KO
From Japanese
梅 (ume) meaning "apricot, plum" (referring to the species Prunus mume) and
子 (ko) meaning "child". Other kanji combinations are possible.
Usagi
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Popular Culture
Pronounced: OO-SA-GYEE(Japanese)
Means "rabbit" in Japanese. This name was used on the Japanese television show Sailor Moon, which first aired in the 1990s.
Usama
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Arabic
Other Scripts: أسامة(Arabic)
Pronounced: oo-SA-ma
Means "lion" in Arabic.
Valentine 1
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: VAL-in-tien
From the Roman
cognomen Valentinus, which was itself a derivative of the cognomen
Valens meaning
"strong, vigorous, healthy" in Latin.
Saint Valentine was a 3rd-century martyr. His feast day was the same as the Roman fertility festival of Lupercalia, which resulted in the association between Valentine's Day and love.
As an English name, it has been used occasionally since the 12th century. It is the name of a central character in Shakespeare's play The Two Gentlemen of Verona (1594).
Vianne
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Meaning unknown, perhaps a combination of
Vi and
Anne 1 or a short form of
Vivianne.
Victoire
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French
Pronounced: VEEK-TWAR
William
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: WIL-yəm
From the Germanic name
Willehelm meaning
"will helmet", composed of the elements
willo "will, desire" and
helm "helmet, protection". An early
saint by this name was the 8th-century William of Gellone, a cousin of
Charlemagne who became a monk. The name was common among the
Normans, and it became extremely popular in England after William the Conqueror was recognized as the first Norman king of England in the 11th century. From then until the modern era it has been among the most common of English names (with
John,
Thomas and
Robert).
This name was later borne by three other English kings, as well as rulers of Scotland, Sicily (of Norman origin), the Netherlands and Prussia. Other famous bearers include William Wallace, a 13th-century Scottish hero, and William Tell, a legendary 14th-century Swiss hero (called Wilhelm in German, Guillaume in French and Guglielmo in Italian). In the literary world it was borne by dramatist William Shakespeare (1564-1616), poet William Blake (1757-1827), poet William Wordsworth (1770-1850), dramatist William Butler Yeats (1865-1939), author William Faulkner (1897-1962), and author William S. Burroughs (1914-1997).
In the American rankings (since 1880) this name has never been out of the top 20, making it one of the most consistently popular names (although it has never reached the top rank). In modern times its short form, Liam, has periodically been more popular than William itself, in the United Kingdom in the 1990s and the United States in the 2010s.
Winfred
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: WIN-frid
Means
"friend of peace" from the Old English elements
wine "friend" and
friþ "peace". This was the birth name of the 8th-century missionary
Saint Boniface. It became rare after the
Norman Conquest, though it was revived in the 19th century.
Winfried
Gender: Masculine
Usage: German
Winifred
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Welsh
Pronounced: WIN-ə-frid(English)
From Latin
Winifreda, possibly from a Welsh name
Gwenfrewi (maybe influenced by the Old English masculine name
Winfred).
Saint Winifred was a 7th-century Welsh martyr, probably legendary. According to the story, she was decapitated by a prince after she spurned his advances. Where her head fell there arose a healing spring, which has been a pilgrimage site since medieval times. Her story was recorded in the 12th century by Robert of Shrewsbury, and she has been historically more widely venerated in England than in Wales. The name has been used in England since at least the 16th century.
Yamato
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 大和(Japanese Kanji) やまと(Japanese Hiragana)
Pronounced: YA-MA-TO
From
Yamato, an ancient name for Japan. It can also refer to the Yamato period in Japanese history, which lasted into the 8th century. The individual kanji are
大 meaning "great" and
和 meaning "harmony".
Yuina
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 結菜, etc.(Japanese Kanji) ゆいな(Japanese Hiragana)
Pronounced: YOO-EE-NA
From Japanese
結 (yui) meaning "tie, bind" and
菜 (na) meaning "vegetables, greens". Other kanji combinations are possible.
Yuki
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 幸, 雪, 由貴, 由紀, etc.(Japanese Kanji) ゆき(Japanese Hiragana)
Pronounced: YOO-KYEE
From Japanese
幸 (yuki) meaning "happiness" or
雪 (yuki) meaning "snow". It can also come from
由 (yu) meaning "reason, cause" combined with
貴 (ki) meaning "valuable" or
紀 (ki) meaning "chronicle". Other kanji or kanji combinations are also possible.
Yukiko
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 幸子, 雪子, 由喜子, 由貴子, etc.(Japanese Kanji) ゆきこ(Japanese Hiragana)
Pronounced: YOO-KYEE-KO
From Japanese
幸 (yuki) meaning "happiness" or
雪 (yuki) meaning "snow" combined with
子 (ko) meaning "child". Alternatively, it can come from
由 (yu) meaning "reason, cause" with
喜 (ki) meaning "joy" or
貴 (ki) meaning "valuable" combined with
子 (ko) meaning "child". Other kanji combinations can also form this name.
Yumi
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 弓, 由美, 友美, 弓美, etc.(Japanese Kanji) ゆみ(Japanese Hiragana)
Pronounced: YOO-MEE
From Japanese
弓 (yumi) meaning "archery bow". It can also come from
由 (yu) meaning "reason, cause",
友 (yu) meaning "friend" or a
nanori reading of
弓 (yu) meaning "archery bow" combined with
美 (mi) meaning "beautiful". Other kanji or kanji combinations are also possible.
Yuuna
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 優菜, 優奈, 柚菜, etc.(Japanese Kanji) ゆうな(Japanese Hiragana)
Pronounced: YOO-NA
Alternate transcription of Japanese Kanji
優菜 or
優奈 or
柚菜 (see
Yūna).
Yuuto
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 優斗, 悠斗, 悠人, 悠翔, 優翔, 柚翔, 祐翔, 勇人, etc.(Japanese Kanji) ゆうと(Japanese Hiragana)
Pronounced: YOO-TO
Alternate transcription of Japanese Kanji
優斗 or
悠斗 or
悠人 or
悠翔 or
優翔 or
柚翔 or
祐翔 or
勇人 (see
Yūto).
Zak
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: ZAK
Zeus
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Ζεύς(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: ZDEWS(Classical Greek) ZOOS(English)
The name of a Greek god, related to the old Indo-European god *
Dyēws, from the root *
dyew- meaning
"sky" or
"shine". In Greek
mythology he was the highest of the gods. After he and his siblings defeated the Titans, Zeus ruled over the earth and humankind from atop Mount Olympus. He had control over the weather and his weapon was a thunderbolt.
This theonym has cognates in other Indo-European languages including Latin Jupiter, Sanskrit Dyaus, and Old Norse Tyr.
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