BelianísmLiterature Belianís of Greece is the hero of a Spanish chivalric romance novel, "The honour of chivalry", following in the footsteps of the influential Amadis de Gaula... [more]
BelianzmArthurian Cycle One of four miscreant brother knights killed by Gawaine in "Diu Crône" by Heinrich von dem Türlin, c. 1230
BelinafGascon, Italian Gascon diminutive of Isabèl. Belina (known as Béline in French, died 1153) was a Roman Catholic virgin martyr who was canonized by Pope Innocent III in 1203... [more]
BelisamafCeltic Mythology Belisama was a goddess worshipped in ancient Gaul and Britain, associated with lakes and rivers, fire, crafts and light, who was identified with Minerva in the interpretatio romana... [more]
BelisariusmGreek (Latinized), History From Greek Βελισάριος (Belisarios), probably of Illyric origin. This was the name of a famed Byzantine general and war hero who served the emperor Justinian. He was possibly of Slavic ancestry which has led to speculation that the name derives from Slavonic Beli-tzar "white prince" (the -sarius element being interpreted as coming from the old Slavic word tsesar or tsesari, which was derived from Caesar, thus giving Belisarius a "princely" connotation), but this etymology has since been discounted as somewhat dubious.
BellafSpanish Means "beautiful, fair; lovely" in Spanish, taken from the titles of the Virgin Mary, La Virgen de la Bella and Nuestra Señora de la Bella, meaning "The Virgin of the Beautiful" and "Our Lady of the Beautiful" respectively.... [more]
BellabonafMedieval Italian Derived from Latin bella meaning "beautiful, charming, pleasant" and Latin bona "good, kind, right, pleasant; valid, useful, healthy".... [more]
BellamirafSpanish (Latin American, Rare), Theatre Probably derived from the Latin elements bella "beautiful" and mira "wondrous" (cf. Mirabella). This name belongs to a courtesan in the play The Jew of Malta (written c. 1589 or 1590) by English dramatist Christopher Marlowe.
BellamourmArthurian Cycle, Literature Bellamour is the lord of a castle and Pastorella's true father. He appears in Book 6, Canto 12. of "The Faerie Queene".
BellangeremArthurian Cycle Alteration of Berengar, possibly influenced by French bel, beau meaning "fine, beautiful, great" and anger "anger" (thus "righteous anger")... [more]
BellariafLiterature Perhaps derived from Latin bellare meaning "to fight". This name was used by Robert Greene for a character in his prose romance 'Pandosto: The Triumph of Time' (1588). It was also used by Henry Fielding in his play 'The Temple Beau' (1730), and by Aaron Hill (1685-1750) in his poem 'Bellaria, at her Spinnet'.
BelldandyfPopular Culture Variant of Verdandi, representing an Anglicization of the name's Japanese transcription. This is the name of a major character in the manga series "Oh My Goddess!"
BelmirafPortuguese Most likely a version of Elmira 1, which derives from Edelmira, stemming from Adelmar, which combines the Germanic elements adal meaning "noble" and mari meaning "famous"... [more]
BeloslavafBulgarian Feminine form of Beloslav. Beloslava of Bulgaria was a Bulgarian princess and Queen consort of Serbia between 1234 and 1243. She was the wife of king Stefan Vladislav I.
Bēl-ṣarbimNear Eastern Mythology, Akkadian Means "lord of the poplar", deriving from the Akkadian elements bēlu ("boss, chief, master, lord") and ṣarbat (deriving from a place name, that presumably later became associated with groves of trees... [more]
BeltránmSpanish, Galician Spanish and Galician form of Bertram or Bertrand. It is sometimes given in reference to the 16th-century Spanish saint Louis Bertrand (known as Luis Beltrán in Spanish), a Dominican friar who preached in South America; he is called the "Apostle to the Americas".
BelvafEnglish (American, Rare, Archaic) Apparently a feminine form of Belvedere. A notable bearer of this name was Belva Lockwood (1830-1917), one of the first female lawyers in the United States.
BelviderafTheatre Derived from Italian belvedere meaning "a fair sight" (compare Belvedere). This was used by English dramatist Thomas Otway for a character in his tragedy Venice Preserv'd (1682).
BelvinafLiterature Apparently from the Latin word meaning "beast-like" (also written beluina), derived from bēlua "beast, monster" (Italian belva) with the adjectival suffix -īnus "of, like"... [more]
BelzorafEnglish (American, Rare) Meaning unknown. It might possibly be derived from Belzora, the name of a port town in Texas that was abandoned in the 1870s.
BembyamKalmyk Derived from Kalmyk Бембә (Bembä) meaning "Saturn (planet)".
Ben-abinadabmBiblical Menas "son of Abinadab" or "son of a generous father", ultimately derived from Hebrew בן (ben) meaning "son", אב ('ab) meaning "father", and נדב (nadab) meaning "to willingly give"... [more]
BenaëlmFrench, Breton It might derive from the breton name Gwenael, formed by "gwenn", that means "white", the second part might be "maël", that means "prince", so the meaning is "white prince".
Benazirf & mUrdu, Bengali From Persian بینظیر (bi-nazir) meaning "incomparable, matchless". It is used as a feminine name in Pakistan while it is typically masculine in Bangladesh. A famous bearer was Benazir Bhutto (1953-2007), the first female prime minister of Pakistan.
Benchaf & mThai Means "baldachin, canopy, dais" in Thai.
BenchakanlayanifThai (Rare) Means "woman of fivefold beauty" in Thai, from เบญจ (bencha) meaning "five, fivefold" and กัลยาณี (kanlayani) meaning "beautiful girl, belle". In Buddhism this term refers to a woman with five favourable attributes: beautiful hair, beautiful teeth, beautiful flesh, beautiful skin and beauty at any age.
BendidorafAncient Greek Means "gift of Bendis", derived from the name of the Thracian goddess Bendis (genitive Βενδῖδος) combined with Greek δῶρον (doron) meaning "gift".
BeneathafTheatre Meaning unknown, possibly invnted from the English word "beneath" and the feminine suffix "a". Beneatha Younger is character in the play "A Raisin in the Sun" by Lorraine Hansberry.
BenebafAfro-American (Slavery-era) English corruption of Abena. This was used by early slaves in the American south. Attested in the 1730's in South Carolina.
BenegarmMedieval French, Germanic Derived from Latin bene meaning "well; agreeably, favorably" combined with Old High German and Old Saxon ger meaning "spear".
BeneharomSpanish (Canarian) The name of a late 15th-century Guanche king of Anaga on the island of Tenerife (present-day Canary Islands, Spain) according to the epic poem Antigüedades de las Islas Afortunadas de la Gran Canaria (1604) by Antonio de Viana... [more]
BeneitafSardinian Feminine form of Beneitu. Beneita de Càlaris was the judge (which equals the title of queen in medieval Sardinia) of Càlaris from 1214 to 1233.
BenemiasmArthurian Cycle A knight saved from the prison of Eskalibon of Belamunt (Eskilabon) by Arthur’s Sir Garel. In return, he served Garel in the war against King Ekunaver of Kanadic, and was eventually awarded a seat at the Round Table.
BenhaomChinese From the Chinese 本 (běn) meaning "root, origin" and 浩 (hào) meaning "great, vast, numerous, abundant".
BenhartmNorwegian (Expatriate) Variant of Bernhardt. Used by many Norwegian and Swedish immigrants to the Upper Midwest of the United States during the 19th century.
BenihafJapanese From Japanese 紅 (beni) meaning "crimson" combined with 羽 (ha) meaning "feathers" or 葉 (ha) meaning "leaf". Other kanji combinations are possible.
BenikafJapanese From Japanese 紅 (beni) meaning "crimson" combined with 花 (ka) or 華 (ka) which both mean "flower", 加 (ka) meaning "increase", 霞 (ka) meaning "mist" or 香 (ka) meaning "fragrance"... [more]
BenildafFilipino, Spanish, Polish (Rare) Spanish variant and Polish form of the Germanic name Bernhilde, which came into common usage thanks to the martyr and saint Benilde de Córdoba (known as Saint Benildis in English, died circa 853).... [more]
BenimadhomIndian, Hindi Traditional Hindu name popular in eastern Uttar Pradesh and Bengal.... [more]
BenimarumJapanese (Rare) From Japanese 紅 (beni) meaning "crimson" combined with 丸 (maru) meaning "round, circle". ... [more]
BensiabelmFolklore Possibly connected to the Italian words ben meaning "well" and bel meaning "nice". In the Italian fairy tale Prunella, he was the benevolent son of the witch, and love interest of Prunella.