Browse Submitted Names

Yanette f Picard, Spanish (Latin American)
Feminine diminutive of Yan 3, as well as a Hispanic variant of Janet. A known bearer was French poet Yanette Delétang-Tardif (1902-1976), who was born Anne Marie Paule Delétang in Picardy.

Yaoji f Chinese Mythology, Far Eastern Mythology
From a combination of the characters 瑶 (yao, meaning “beautiful jade”) 姬 (ji, meaning “princess” or “noble woman”). Yaoji is the goddess of Wushan, a mountain in southern China. Some sources say that she was a daughter of the Flame Emperor, while later ones incorporate her into the Daoist religion by making her a daughter of Xiwangmu.... [more]

Yaseni f & m Arabic
The name comes from a chapter of the Holy Qur'an called Ya Sin.... [more]

Yasuhiro m Japanese
From Japanese 安 (yasu) meaning "peace, quiet" combined with 央 (hiro) meaning "centre, middle". Other kanji combinations are possible.... [more]

Yasunari m Japanese
From Japanese 康 (yasu) meaning "peaceful" combined with 成 (nari) meaning "to become". Other combinations of kanji characters are possible. ... [more]

Yerma f Theatre, Spanish (Rare)
The title character in a tragic play by the Spanish playwright and poet Federico García Lorca: Yerma (1934). Her name is the feminine form of the Spanish word yermo meaning "desert" or "barren".

Yetive f English (American, Rare), Spanish (Latin American, Rare), Literature
Coined by American writer George Barr McCutcheon for the character Princess Yetive in his 'Graustark' series, set in the fictional Eastern European country of Graustark: 'Graustark' (1901), 'Beverly of Graustark' (1904) and 'Truxton King' (1909)... [more]

Ygritte f Literature
Created by author George R.R. Martin for a character in his series A Song of Ice and Fire (1996) and its television adaptation Game of Thrones (2011-2019). It was borne by a character of the Free Folk.

Ylermi m Finnish, Literature
Invented by Finnish poet Eino Leino (1878-1926) for the main character of his poem Helkavirsiä I. Perhaps derived from Finnish ylevä "sublime" or from the prefix ylä- "superior, upper, high, higher"... [more]

Yo-han m Korean
From Sino-Korean 耀 "shine, sparkle, dazzle; glory" or 曜 "glorious, as sun; daylight, sunlight" (yo), and 翰 "writing brush" or 漢 "the Chinese people, Chinese language" (han). Yo-han is also the Korean form of John... [more]

Yohance m African American (Rare), Hausa (?)
Used by American comedian, writer and civil rights activist Dick Gregory for his son born 1973. According to a 1973 issue of Jet magazine, Gregory and his wife Lillian found the name in a book called Names from Africa, and Yohance 'means "God's gift" in the Hausa language of Nigeria.'

Yudi m Chinese Mythology, Far Eastern Mythology
From a combination of the characters 玉 (yu, meaning “jade”) and 帝 (di, meaning “emperor”). In Daoist mythology, Yudi is the supreme ruler of the cosmos who has authority over heaven, earth and hell... [more]

Yuyuko f Japanese (Rare)
From Japanese 結 (yu) meaning "tie, fasten, join, organize", 優 (yu) meaning "gentleness, lithe, superior" or 由 (yu) meaning "cause, reason" duplicated using 々, and then combined with 子 (ko) meaning "child"... [more]

Zadie f English
Variant of Sadie. A known bearer of this name is British author Zadie Smith (1975-), who was born Sadie Smith.

Zazie f French
French diminutive of Isabelle. The French author Raymond Queneau used this for the title character of his novel 'Zazie dans le métro' (1959; English: 'Zazie in the Metro'), which was adapted by Louis Malle into a film (1960).

Zealia f English (American, Rare)
Variant of Zelia.... [more]

Zebunnissa f Urdu, Indian (Muslim), History
Means "beauty of women", from Persian zeb meaning "beauty" combined with Arabic nissa meaning "women". This name was borne by Zeb-un-Nissa (1638-1702), an Mughal princess who was also a poet.

Zelica f Literature
Used by Thomas Moore in his poem 'Lalla Rookh' (1817), where it belongs to the tragic heroine of the first tale that the poet Feramorz sings to Lalla. In the tale, Zelica and Azim are young lovers who live in the province of Khorassan.

Zelmira f Theatre, Italian (Rare), Hungarian (Rare), Spanish (Latin American, Rare)
Form of Želimira and a feminine form of Gelmir. This name belongs to the title character of a Rossini opera; Zelmira (1822) was based on the play Zelmire (1762) by the French playwright de Belloy, about a princess of Lesbos who must save her father and husband from evil political machinations.

Zeltīte f Latvian
Derived from Latvian zelts "gold" (compare Zelta). Latvian poet and playwright Aspazija used this name for her play Zeltīte (1901).

Zephalinda f English, Literature
A name coined by the English poet Alexander Pope, appearing in his poem "Epistle to Miss Blount" (1715).

Zeri m English, Biblical
In the Bible, one of the six musical sons of the poet Jeduthun. Identical to Izri.

Zethus m Greek Mythology (Latinized), Ancient Greek (Latinized)
Latinized form of the Greek name Ζῆθος (Zêthos), a derivative of the verb ζάω (zaô) "to live". In Greek legend Zethus and his twin brother Amphion were sons of Zeus by Antiope... [more]

Zhenduo m Chinese
From a combination of the characters 振 (zhèn, meaning “to arouse, to ring”) and 铎 (duó, meaning “wooden bell”). Originally just meaning “to ring a bell”, it later connoted the issuing of warnings, the giving of commandments or the practice of a teaching career... [more]

Zhiquan m & f Chinese
From Chinese 志 (zhì) meaning "will, purpose, ambition", 智 (zhì) meaning "wisdom, intellect" or 穉 (zhì) meaning "immature, young, infantile" combined with 泉 (quán) meaning "spring, fountain", 权 (quán) meaning "power, right, authority", 全 (quán) meaning "whole, entire, all" or 荃 (quán) referring to a type of plant with psychoactive properties (scientific name Acorus calamus)... [more]

Zia m Biblical, Hebrew
Possibly means "sweat, swelling" in Hebrew. Hebrew name of a man mentioned in the Old Testament, 1 Chronicles 5:13, in a genealogical list. This 'has been used as a first name in Britain since the 1960s, but is likely to be mistaken for a girl's name' (Dunkling & Gosling, 1986)... [more]

Zianya f & m Literature
It means "forever loved" or "always loved"... [more]

Zidu m Chinese
From the characters 子(zǐ, meaning “son”) and 都 (dū, meaning “capital city”, “head” or “beautiful”). This is a name that appears in the song “The Mountain has Fusu Trees” (山有扶苏) featured in the Classic of Poetry (诗经), a collection of poetic folk songs and hymns from the Zhou Dynasty (c... [more]

Zig m English (Rare)
Short form of Ziggy. In the case of American motivational speaker and self-help author Hilary Hinton 'Zig' Ziglar (1926-2012), it was a short form of his surname (see Ziglar).

Zitkala-ša f Sioux
Means "red bird" from Lakota ziŋtkála "bird" and šá "red". This name was adopted by a Yankton Dakota writer and political activist, birth name Gertrude Simmons (1876-1938).

Zofka f Polish, Slovene, Kashubian
Polish and Slovene diminutive of Zofia and Kashubian diminutive of Zofiô. Zofka Kveder (1878 – 1926) is considered one of the first Slovene women writers and feminists.

Zoon f Kashmiri
Means "moon" in Kashmiri.... [more]

Zuhur f Arabic
Means "flowers" in Arabic, a plural form of زهْرة (zahra). Known bearers of this name include Zuhur Dixon (1933-2021), an Iraqi poet, and Zuhur Wanasi (1936-), an Algerian author and politician known for her powerful short stories and for her role as one of the first women in Algerian government.

Żywila f Polish, Literature
Coined by Polish poet Adam Mickiewicz for the titular character of one of his early works. It is uncertain where he found the inspiration for this name. One theory derives this name from Lithuanian žygiuoti "to move; to march" and viltis "hope", while other scholars believe this name to be a much-mangled form of Zizili, the name of an obscure fertility goddess of whom nothing else is known; should the name indeed be derived from Zizili, then its meaning would be lost... [more]