CainnearfOld Irish, Irish Mythology From Irish caoin meaning "gentle", and der meaning "daughter". This was the name of Queen Medb's daughter in the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology. Some saints have borne this name as well.
CairennfIrish Mythology In medieval Irish legends, this name was borne by the mother of Niall of the Nine Hostages, a concubine of King Eochu (or Eochaid). She was treated harshly by his jealous wife Queen Mongfind, but later rescued by her son.
CaironmEnglish Variant spelling of Kairon, possibly influenced by Ciarán (at least in the United Kingdom).... [more]
CairuifChinese From the Chinese 偲 (cāi) meaning "talented" or 彩 (cǎi) meaning "colour" and 睿 (ruì) meaning "shrewd, astute, clever" or 瑞 (ruì) meaning "felicitous omen, auspicious".
CaitirfScottish Gaelic Scottish Gaelic name derived from a mis-analysis of Caitrìona as Caitir Fhiona. This name used to be Anglicized as the etymologically unrelated Clarissa.
CalbraithmEnglish (Rare) A notable bearer Matthew C. Perry (American naval officer who opened Japan to the West) who has this as a middle name.
CalcifermLiterature This is the name of a fire demon in the 1986 young adult fantasy novel Howl's Moving Castle, written by Diana Wynne Jones.... [more]
CaliandrafPortuguese Caliandra is the name of a flower, whose scientific name is Calliandra harrisii, and its denomination derives from the combination of the Greek elements Kallio (beautiful) and Andros (man), probably meaning "beautiful and masculine" or "beautiful and manlike".
CalidoremLiterature Perhaps derived from Greek kallos "beauty" and doron "gift". It was used by Edmund Spenser in his poem 'The Faerie Queene' (1596), where Sir Calidore, the Knight of Courtesy, is the hero of Book VI who tames the Blatant Beast as requested by Queen Gloriana.
CalidorusmTheatre, Ancient Roman Calidorus is a character in 'Pseudolus', a play by the ancient Roman playwright Titus Maccius Plautus.
CaliforniafEnglish From the name of the American state, whose name probably derives from the fictional Island of California ruled by Queen Calafia in the 16th century novel Las sergas de Esplandián by García Ordóñez de Montalvo.
CaligorantemCarolingian Cycle, Literature Meaning unknown, but several theories have been proposed for its etymology. One such theory is that it is derived from Latin caligante meaning "fading, growing dim". In turn, the word is ultimately derived from the Latin verb caligo meaning "to steam, to darken"... [more]
CallychrowneyfManx (Archaic) Derived from Manx caillagh, a cognate of Old Irish caillech "veiled one; (and by extension) nun; female servant" (ultimately from Old Irish caille "veil") and Irish Cróine with the intended meaning of "servant of Saint Cróine", an obscure female saint (since the names of saints were considered too holy for everyday use, they were usually prefixed until the 17th century).
CallyvorryfManx (Archaic) Derived from Manx caillagh, a cognate of Old Irish caillech "veiled one; (and by extension) nun; female servant" (ultimately from Old Irish caille "veil") and the given name Moirrey with the intended meaning of "servant of the Virgin Mary" (since the names of saints were considered too holy for everyday use, they were usually prefixed until the 17th century).
CalobrusmArthurian Cycle This is the name of a character appearing in Perlesvaus, an Old French Arthurian romance who is the cousin of Perceval and son of Calobrutus.
CalobrutusmArthurian Cycle This is the name of a character appearing in Perlesvaus, an Old French Arthurian romance who is one of Perceval’s eleven paternal uncles.
CałomierzmPolish The first element of this name is derived from Polish cały "whole, entire, complete", which is ultimately derived from Proto-Slavic cělъ "whole, entire". Also compare Czech celý and Croatian cijel, both of which mean "whole, entire"... [more]
CalperniafEnglish Variant of Calpurnia. A well-known bearer of this name is Calpernia Addams (b. 1971), an American author, actress, and transgender rights activist. Addams named herself after Calpurnia, wife of Julius Caesar in William Shakespeare's play 'Julius Caesar'; the spelling 'Calpernia' may have been taken from a tombstone that briefly appeared in the film 'The Addams Family' (1991).
CalpurnianusmAncient Roman Roman cognomen which was derived from Calpurnius. Bearers of this name include Roman consul Marcus Pupius Piso Frugi Calpurnianus (1st century BC) and Roman politician Marcus Antius Crescens Calpurnianus (3rd century AD).
Calvarym & fEnglish (American, Rare) From the name of the hill outside Jerusalem where Jesus was crucified, derived from the Latin noun calvaria meaning "a skull" (see Calvary).
CalvertmEnglish (Rare) Derived from the surname Calvert. From the elements Middle English calfhirde, from Old English calf and hierde "herdsman".
CalybridfManx (Archaic) Derived from Manx caillagh, a cognate of Old Irish caillech "veiled one; (and by extension) nun; female servant" (ultimately from Old Irish caille "veil") and the given name Bridey with the intended meaning of "servant of Saint Bridget" (since the names of saints were considered too holy for everyday use, they were usually prefixed until the 17th century).
CalycristfManx (Archaic) Derived from Manx caillagh, a cognate of Old Irish caillech "veiled one; (and by extension) nun; female servant" (ultimately from Old Irish caille "veil") and Manx Creest "Christ" with the intended meaning of "servant of Christ" (since the names of saints were considered too holy for everyday use, they were usually prefixed until the 17th century).
CalypatricfManx (Archaic) Derived from Manx caillagh, a cognate of Old Irish caillech "veiled one; (and by extension) nun; female servant" (ultimately from Old Irish caille "veil") and the given name Patric with the intended meaning of "servant of Saint Patrick" (since the names of saints were considered too holy for everyday use, they were usually prefixed until the 17th century).
CamarismLiterature Camaris sa-Vinitta is an original character created by fantasy Author, Tad Williams. Camaris comes from the Greek καμαρης meaning 'pride'. Camaris also means 'chamber' in Latin.
CambermHistory, Anglo-Saxon Mythology Camber, or Kamber, was the legendary first king of Cambria, according to Geoffrey of Monmouth in the first part of his influential 12th-century pseudohistory Historia Regum Britanniae... [more]
Cambridgem & fEnglish (Rare) Transferred use of the place name (used by a number of locations in the English-speaking world), derived from its old name Grantebrycge (referring to the original place in the east of England) meaning "bridge by the river Granta," where the name of the river (of unknown origin) was changed to Cante and then Cam (by Middle English) to match the current name of the town.... [more]
CameriafOttoman Turkish, History Variant of Qamariya. Sultana Cameria was the name Europeans used to refer to Mihrimah Sultan (1522 – 25 January 1578), an Ottoman princess, the daughter of Ottoman Sultan Süleyman the Magnificent and his wife, Hürrem Sultan... [more]
CamissaresmOld Persian (Latinized), History Latinized form of Kamisares (also spelled Kamissares), which is the hellenized form of an ancient Persian male name. Its meaning is currently unknown to me. This was the name of an Achaemenid satrap from the 4th century BC.
Camryf & mEnglish (Modern, Rare) From the name of a car model, made by Toyota, which derives from Japanese kanmuri meaning "crown" and may be an anagram of the English phrase my car. It could also be used as a diminutive of Camryn.
CandeliferafRoman Mythology Means "candle bearer", derived from Latin candela "a taper, a wax-light, a tallow-candle" (the source of the English word candle) and ferre "to bear". In Roman mythology Candelifera was a goddess supposed to assist at childbirth, for whom a symbolical candle or torch was lighted.... [more]
CandrawatifIndonesian From Indonesian candra meaning "moon" combined with the feminine suffix -wati.
CangrandemMedieval Italian, Literature Derived from the Italian noun can meaning "khan" as well as "dog" combined with the Italian adjective grande meaning "big, great".... [more]
CaprasiusmLate Roman Possibly derived from Latin capra meaning "(she-)goat". A bearer of this name was Caprasius of Agen, a French saint from the early 4th century AD.
CapricornmAstronomy From Latin Capricornus meaning "horned like a goat" (from caper, genitive capri "goat" and cornu "horn"), a loan-translation of Greek Aigokheros, the name of the constellation... [more]
CarabímCharrúa Carabí was a tribe leader from Argentina whom put up resistance against the Spaniards for 15 years both in Santa Fé and Buenos Aires. He was the most respected tribe leader of his time.
CarabossefLiterature Derived from Latin cara, meaning "face", and Old French bosse meaning "inflammation". This describes a bubo gotten through pox. This name was first used on the wicked fairy godmother in Madame d'Aulnoy's fairy tale The Princess Mayblossom (1697), though nowadays it is more famous as the name given to the wicked fairy godmother in Tchaikovsky's ballet The Sleeping Beauty (1890).
CarafinafMedieval Italian Possibly derived from surname Carafa (Caraffa), which belonged to the House of Carafa (Caraffa), a noble Neapolitan family known from XII century... [more]
CarasynthiafPopular Culture Carasynthia "Cara" Dune is a Human female Alderaanian who served in the Rebel Alliance as a shock trooper, and who later became a mercenary in the Star Wars Disney+ series The Mandalorian.
CaratafGaulish Derived from Gaulish carata "beloved", the word itself being the past participle of cara- "to love".
CarbonelmLiterature Transferred use of the surname Carbonel. This name was used in Barbara Sleigh's Carbonel series where Carbonel is a black cat who was owned by a witch.
CarcharothmLiterature A fictional character created by J.R.R. Tolkien, Carcharoth, also known as the Red Maw, lived in the First Age of the Sun, and was the greatest werewolf that ever lived. He was of the line of Draugluin.
CardifEnglish (Rare) A famous bearer is pop artist Cardi B (born in 1992 as BelcalisMarlenis Almánzar) who got her stage name from Bacardi, a white rum... [more]
CardiniafIndigenous Australian, English (Australian, Rare) A place name from the outskirts of Melbourne, Victoria. Corruption of the Bunurong or Wadawurrung word Kar-din-yarr, meaning "look to the sunrise", because it was to the east of the Wadawurrung peoples' land.
CarenzafCornish Variant of Kerensa, which has been 'used since the early 1970s, but more often in its variant form Karenza' (Dunkling, 1983). However, the name also occurs in medieval France; it belonged to a woman who composed the last two stanzas of an Occitan poem that begins Na Carenza al bel cors avinen, meaning "Lady Carenza of the lovely, gracious body".
CaressfEnglish (American, Rare), African American (Rare) Directly from the English word caress meaning "an act or expression of kindness or affection", ultimately from Latin carus "beloved". A fictional bearer was Cassandra 'Caress' Morell, a prominent character on the American soap opera Dynasty, who appeared on the show in 1986... [more]
CaressefEnglish (Rare) From the French word caresse meaning "caress", ultimately from Latin carus "dear, beloved". This name was borne by Caresse Crosby (1892-1970), original name Mary 'Polly' Phelps Jacob, an American socialite and the inventor of the modern bra... [more]