Names Categorized "musical instruments"

Ahuludegi m Indigenous American, Cherokee
Means "he throws away the drum" from Cherokee ᎠᎱᎵ (ahuli) "drum" and ᎤᏕᎦ (udega) "throw". This was the name of a 19th-century Cherokee chief, also known as John Jolly.

Calliope f Greek Mythology (Latinized)
Latinized form of Kalliope.

Celeste f & m Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, English
Italian feminine and masculine form of Caelestis. It is also the Portuguese, Spanish and English feminine form.

Cora f English, German, Greek Mythology (Latinized)
Latinized form of Kore. It was not used as a given name in the English-speaking world until after it was employed by James Fenimore Cooper for a character in his novel The Last of the Mohicans (1826). In some cases it may be a short form of Cordula, Corinna and other names beginning with a similar sound.

Coyolxauhqui f Aztec and Toltec Mythology
Means "painted with bells" in Nahuatl, derived from coyolli "bell" and xuah "face painting". This was the name of an Aztec moon goddess, the daughter of Coatlicue. She was killed by her brother Huitzilopochtli after she led an attack on their mother.

Fife m Scottish (Rare)
From a Scottish place name that was formerly the name of a kingdom in Scotland. It is said to be named for a Pictish kingdom called Fib.

Harper f & m English
From an English surname that originally belonged to a person who played or made harps (Old English hearpe). A notable bearer was the American author Harper Lee (1926-2016), who wrote To Kill a Mockingbird. It rapidly gained popularity in the 2000s and 2010s, entering the American top ten for girls in 2015.

Inbal f Hebrew
Means "tongue of a bell" in Hebrew.

Kineret f Hebrew
Alternate transcription of Hebrew כִּנֶּרֶת (see Kinneret).

Kinneret f Hebrew
From the name of a large lake in northern Israel, usually called the Sea of Galilee in English. Its name is derived from Hebrew כִּנּוֹר (kinnor) meaning "harp" because of its shape.

Kit m & f English
Diminutive of Christopher or Katherine. A notable bearer was Kit Carson (1809-1868), an American frontiersman and explorer.

Kora f German (Rare)
German variant of Cora.

Kotone f Japanese
From Japanese 琴 (koto), which refers to a type of musical instrument similar to a harp, combined with 音 (ne) meaning "sound". Other kanji combinations are also possible.

Ling f & m Chinese
From Chinese 灵 (líng) meaning "spirit, soul", 铃 (líng) meaning "bell, chime", or other Chinese characters that are pronounced similarly.

Linh f & m Vietnamese
From Sino-Vietnamese 靈 (linh) meaning "spirit, soul".

Lyra f Astronomy
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).

Machalat f Biblical Hebrew
Hebrew form of Mahalath.

Maeleth f Biblical Latin, Biblical Greek
Form of Mahalath used in the Greek and Latin Old Testament.

Mahala f English
Variant of Mahalah or Mahalath. It has occasionally been used as an English Christian name since the Protestant Reformation.

Mahalath f Biblical
From the Hebrew name מָחֲלַת (Machalat) meaning "lyre". In the Old Testament she is the daughter of Ishmael and the wife of Esau.

Murali m Hinduism, Tamil, Indian, Kannada, Telugu, Malayalam, Hindi
Means "flute" in Sanskrit. This is another name of the Hindu god Krishna, given to him because he played the flute.

Nguyên m Vietnamese
From Sino-Vietnamese 元 (nguyên) meaning "original, first".

Nguyệt f Vietnamese
From Sino-Vietnamese 月 (nguyệt) meaning "moon".

Pantaleon m Ancient Greek
Derived from the Greek elements πᾶν (pan) meaning "all" (genitive παντός) and λέων (leon) meaning "lion". This was the name of a 2nd-century BC king of Bactria. It was also borne by Saint Pantaleon (also called Panteleimon), a doctor from Asia Minor who was martyred during the persecutions of the Roman emperor Diocletian in the early 4th century. He is a patron saint of doctors and midwives.

Piper f English (Modern)
From an English surname that was originally given to a person who played on a pipe (a flute). It was popularized as a given name by a character from the television series Charmed, which debuted in 1998.

Rabab f Arabic
Variant of Rubab.

Rubab f Arabic
From an Arabic word referring to a type of stringed musical instrument. This was the name of the wife of the Prophet Muhammad's grandson Husayn.

Suzu f Japanese
From Japanese 鈴 (suzu) meaning "bell" or other kanji having the same pronunciation.

Tekoa m Biblical
Possibly means either "stockade" or "horn, trumpet" in Hebrew. In the Old Testament this is the name of a both a city and a son of Ashhur.

Tswb m Hmong
Means "bell" in Hmong.

Tuba f Arabic, Turkish
From the name of a type of tree that is believed to grow in heaven in Islamic tradition. It means "blessedness" in Arabic.

Vina f Indonesian
From Sanskrit वीणा (Vina) meaning "lute".

Viola f English, Italian, Swedish, Danish, Finnish, German, Hungarian, Czech, Slovak
Means "violet" in Latin. This is the name of the heroine of William Shakespeare's comedy Twelfth Night (1602). In the play she is the survivor of a shipwreck who disguises herself as a man named Cesario. Working as a messenger for Duke Orsino, she attempts to convince Olivia to marry him. Instead Viola falls in love with the duke.

Yazhu f & m Chinese
From Chinese 雅 (yǎ) meaning "elegant, graceful, refined" combined with 筑 (zhù) meaning "lute, zither, build". Other character combinations are also possible.