ANAT (1) f Near Eastern MythologyPossibly derived from a Semitic root meaning "water spring". Anat was a goddess of fertility, hunting and war worshipped in many regions of the ancient near east. She was the sister and consort of the god
Hadad.
AYSU f TurkishDerived from Turkish
ay meaning "moon" and
su meaning "water".
CANSU f TurkishFrom Turkish
can meaning "soul, life" and
su meaning "water".
CONWAY m EnglishFrom a surname which was derived from the name of the River Conwy, which possibly means "holy water" in Welsh.
DOUGLAS m Scottish, EnglishAnglicized form of the Scottish surname
Dubhghlas, meaning "dark river" from Gaelic
dubh "dark" and
glais "water, river" (an archaic word related to
glas "grey, green"). Douglas was originally a place name (for example, a tributary of the River Clyde), which then became a Scottish clan name borne by a powerful line of earls. It has been used as a given name since the 16th century.
EA (1) m Near Eastern MythologyMeaning unknown, perhaps from Sumerian meaning "house of water". This was the Akkadian and Babylonian name of the Sumerian water god
Enki.
GLYNDWR m WelshFrom a Welsh surname which was originally derived from a place name meaning "valley water". This name is often given in honour of Owain Glyndwr, a 14th-century Welsh patriot who led a revolt against England.
HE f & m ChineseFrom Chinese
河 (hé) meaning "river, stream",
和 (hé) meaning "harmony, peace", or
荷 (hé) meaning "lotus, water lily" (which is usually only feminine). Other characters can form this name as well. A famous bearer was the 15th-century explorer Zheng He.
IARA f Native American, TupiFrom Tupi
y "water" and
îara "lady, mistress". In Brazilian legend this is the name of a beautiful river nymph who would lure men into the water. She may have been based upon earlier Tupi legends.
INDIA f EnglishFrom the name of the country, which is itself derived from the name of the Indus River. The river's name is ultimately from Sanskrit
सिन्धु (Sindhu) meaning "body of trembling water, river".
IRVING m English, Scottish, JewishFrom a Scottish surname which was in turn derived from a Scottish place name meaning "green water". Historically this name has been relatively common among Jews, who have used it as an American-sounding form of Hebrew names beginning with
I such as
Isaac,
Israel and
Isaiah. A famous bearer was the Russian-American songwriter and lyricist Irving Berlin (1888-1989), whose birth name was Israel Beilin.
KAREN (3) f JapaneseFrom Japanese
華 (ka) meaning "flower" and
蓮 (ren) meaning "lotus, water lily". Other combinations of kanji can also form this name.
KELVIN m EnglishFrom the name of a Scottish river, perhaps meaning "narrow water". As a title it was borne by the Irish-Scottish physicist William Thomson, Lord Kelvin (1824-1907), who acquired his title from the river.
MEHRAB m Persian, LiteratureFrom
مهر (Mehr), the Persian word for
MITHRA, combined with Persian
آب (ab) "water". This is the name of a character in the 11th-century Persian epic the 'Shahnameh'.
MOANA f & m Maori, Hawaiian, TahitianMeans "ocean, wide expanse of water, deep sea" in Maori and Hawaiian (as well as in other Polynesian languages).
MORTIMER m EnglishFrom an English surname which was derived from a place name meaning "still water" in Old French.
NEREUS m Greek Mythology, Ancient Greek, Biblical, Biblical Latin, Biblical GreekDerived from Greek
νηρος (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.
PEGASUS m Greek Mythology (Latinized)From the Greek
Πηγασος (Pegasos), possibly either from
πηγος (pegos) "strong" or
πηγαιος (pegaios) "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.
RAYYAN m & f ArabicMeans "watered, luxuriant" in Arabic. According to Islamic tradition this is the name of one of the gates of paradise.
SHUI m & f ChineseFrom Chinese
水 (shuǐ) meaning "water", as well as other characters pronounced in a similar way.
SOHRAB m Persian, Persian MythologyPossibly means either "illustrious, shining" or "red water" in Persian. In the 11th-century Persian epic the 'Shahnameh' this is the name of the son of the hero
Rostam.
TALLULAH f English (Rare)Popularly claimed to mean "leaping waters" in the Choctaw language, it may actually mean "town" in the Creek language. This is the name of waterfalls in Georgia. It was borne by American actress Tallulah Bankhead (1902-1968), who was named after her grandmother, who may have been named after the waterfalls.
TIRTA m & f IndonesianMeans "sacred water, place of pilgrimage" in Indonesian, ultimately from Sanskrit
तीर्थ (tirtha).