EchoSketcher's Personal Name List
ARTURO
Gender: Masculine
Pronounced: ar-TOO-ro
Rating: 55% based on 4 votes
Italian and Spanish form of
ARTHUR.
ATLAS
Gender: Masculine
Other Scripts: Ατλας (Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: A-TLAS (Classical Greek), AT-ləs (English)
Rating: 56% based on 5 votes
Possibly means "enduring" from Greek
τλαω (tlao) meaning "to endure". In Greek
mythology he was a Titan punished by
Zeus by being forced to support the heavens on his shoulders.
BEATRIX
Gender: Feminine
Pronounced: be-A-triks (German), BE-a-triks (German), BE-aw-treeks (Hungarian), BAY-ah-triks (Dutch), BEE-ə-triks (English), BEE-triks (English)
Rating: 53% based on 11 votes
Probably from
Viatrix, a feminine form of the Late Latin name
Viator which meant "voyager, traveller". It was a common name amongst early Christians, and the spelling was altered by association with Latin
beatus "blessed, happy". Viatrix or Beatrix was a 4th-century
saint who was strangled to death during the persecutions of Diocletian.
In England the name became rare after the Middle Ages, but it was revived in the 19th century, more commonly in the spelling Beatrice. Famous bearers include the British author and illustrator Beatrix Potter (1866-1943), the creator of Peter Rabbit, and Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands (1938-).
CAROL (1)
Gender: Masculine
Pronounced: KER-əl, KAR-əl
Rating: 33% based on 8 votes
Short form of
CAROLINE. It was formerly a masculine name, derived from
CAROLUS. The name can also be given in reference to the English vocabulary word, which means "song" or "hymn".
CELYN
Gender: Masculine
Rating: 26% based on 9 votes
Means "holly" in Welsh.
DAMHNAIT
Gender: Feminine
Pronounced: DEV-nawt
Rating: 26% based on 7 votes
Means "fawn" from Gaelic
damh "stag, ox" combined with a
diminutive suffix.
EURYDICE
Gender: Feminine
Pronounced: ew-RUY-dee-ke (Classical Latin), yuw-RID-i-see (English)
Rating: 63% based on 3 votes
From the Greek
Ευρυδικη (Eurydike) which meant "wide justice", derived from
ευρυς (eurys) "wide" and
δικη (dike) "justice". In Greek
myth she was the wife of Orpheus. Her husband tried to rescue her from Hades, but he failed when he disobeyed the condition that he not look back upon her on their way out.
FABIAN
Gender: Masculine
Pronounced: FA-byan (German, Polish), FAH-bee-ahn (Dutch), FAY-bee-ən (English)
Rating: 44% based on 9 votes
From the Roman
cognomen Fabianus, which was derived from
FABIUS.
Saint Fabian was a 3rd-century pope.
FRANCESCA
Gender: Feminine
Pronounced: fran-CHES-ka (Italian), frən-SES-kə (Catalan)
Rating: 60% based on 9 votes
Italian and Catalan feminine form of
Franciscus (see
FRANCIS).
HELENA
Gender: Feminine
Usage: German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Icelandic, Portuguese, Polish, Czech, Slovak, Finnish, Estonian, Slovene, Croatian, English, Ancient Greek (Latinized), Greek Mythology (Latinized)
Other Scripts: ‘Ελενη (Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: HE-le-na (German, Czech), he-LE-na (German), he-LE-nah (Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish), khe-LE-na (Polish), HE-le-nah (Finnish), HEL-ə-nə (English)
Rating: 88% based on 5 votes
JEREMY
Gender: Masculine
Pronounced: JER-ə-mee (English), JER-mee (English)
Rating: 55% based on 10 votes
JOSEPHINE
Gender: Feminine
Pronounced: JO-sə-feen (English), yo-ze-FEE-nə (German)
Rating: 61% based on 12 votes
KATHERINE
Gender: Feminine
Pronounced: KATH-ə-rin, KATH-rin
Rating: 74% based on 5 votes
From the Greek name
Αικατερινη (Aikaterine). The etymology is debated: it could derive from the earlier Greek name
‘Εκατερινη (Hekaterine), which came from
‘εκατερος (hekateros) "each of the two"; it could derive from the name of the goddess
HECATE; it could be related to Greek
αικια (aikia) "torture"; or it could be from a Coptic name meaning "my consecration of your name". In the early Christian era it became associated with Greek
καθαρος (katharos) "pure", and the Latin spelling was changed from
Katerina to
Katharina to reflect this.
The name was borne by a semi-legendary 4th-century saint and martyr from Alexandria who was tortured on a spiked wheel. The saint was initially venerated in Syria, and returning crusaders introduced the name to Western Europe. It has been common in England since the 12th century in many different spellings, with Katherine and Catherine becoming standard in the later Middle Ages.
Famous bearers of the name include Catherine of Siena, a 14th-century mystic, and Catherine de' Medici, a 16th-century French queen. It was also borne by three of Henry VIII's wives, including Katherine of Aragon, and by two empresses of Russia, including Catherine the Great.
LAURENCE (1)
Gender: Masculine
Pronounced: LAW-rəns
Rating: 70% based on 5 votes
From the Roman
cognomen Laurentius, which meant "from Laurentum". Laurentum was a city in ancient Italy, its name probably deriving from Latin
laurus "laurel".
Saint Laurence was a 3rd-century deacon and martyr from Rome. According to tradition he was roasted alive on a gridiron because, when ordered to hand over the church's treasures, he presented the sick and poor. Due to the saint's popularity, the name came into general use in the Christian world (in various spellings).
In the Middle Ages this name was common in England, partly because of a second saint by this name, a 7th-century archbishop of Canterbury. Likewise it has been common in Ireland due to the 12th-century Saint Laurence O'Toole (whose real name was Lorcán). Since the 19th century the spelling Lawrence has been more common, especially in America. A famous bearer was the British actor Laurence Olivier (1907-1989).
LUKAS
Gender: Masculine
Pronounced: LOO-kas (German)
Rating: 54% based on 5 votes
German, Scandinavian and Lithuanian form of
LUKE.
LUNA
Gender: Feminine
Rating: 48% based on 5 votes
Means "the moon" in Latin. Luna was the Roman goddess of the moon, frequently depicted driving a white chariot through the sky.
MATTHIAS
Gender: Masculine
Other Scripts: Ματθιας (Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: ma-TEE-as (German), MA-TYAS (French), mə-THIE-əs (English), MAT-tee-as (Classical Latin)
Rating: 44% based on 8 votes
Variant of
Matthaios (see
MATTHEW) which appears in the
New Testament as the name of the apostle chosen to replace the traitor
Judas Iscariot. This was also the name of kings of Hungary, including Matthias I who made important reforms to the kingdom in the 15th century.
OPHÉLIE
Gender: Feminine
Pronounced: AW-FE-LEE
Rating: 50% based on 3 votes
PAUL
Gender: Masculine
Pronounced: PAWL (English, French), POWL (German)
Rating: 58% based on 10 votes
From the Roman family name
Paulus, which meant "small" or "humble" in Latin. Paul was an important leader of the early Christian church. According to Acts in the
New Testament, he was a Jewish Roman citizen who converted to Christianity after the resurrected
Jesus appeared to him. After this he travelled the eastern Mediterranean as a missionary. His original Hebrew name was
Saul. Many of the epistles in the New Testament were authored by him.
Due to the renown of Saint Paul the name became common among early Christians. It was borne by a number of other early saints and six popes. In England it was relatively rare during the Middle Ages, but became more frequent beginning in the 17th century. A notable bearer was the American Revolutionary War figure Paul Revere (1735-1818), who warned of the advance of the British army. Famous bearers in the art world include the French impressionists Paul Cezanne (1839-1906) and Paul Gauguin (1848-1903), and the Swiss expressionist Paul Klee (1879-1940). It is borne by British musician Paul McCartney (1942-). This is also the name of the legendary American lumberjack Paul Bunyan.
RAVENNA
Gender: Feminine
Rating: 26% based on 10 votes
Either an elaboration of
RAVEN, or else from the name of the city of Ravenna in Italy.
ROBIN
Gender: Masculine
Pronounced: RAHB-in (American English), RAWB-in (British English)
Rating: 44% based on 10 votes
Medieval
diminutive of
ROBERT. Robin Hood was a legendary hero and archer of medieval England who stole from the rich to give to the poor. In modern times it has also been used as a feminine name, and it may sometimes be given in reference to the red-breasted bird.
ROSE
Gender: Feminine
Pronounced: ROZ
Rating: 53% based on 4 votes
Originally a Norman form of a
Germanic name, which was composed of the
elements hrod "fame" and
heid "kind, sort, type". The
Normans introduced it to England in the forms
Roese and
Rohese. From an early date it was associated with the word for the fragrant flower
rose (derived from Latin
rosa). When the name was revived in the 19th century, it was probably with the flower in mind.
ROWENA
Gender: Feminine
Pronounced: ro-EE-nə
Rating: 72% based on 5 votes
Meaning uncertain, possibly a Latinized form of a
Germanic name derived from the
elements hrod "fame" and
wunn "joy, bliss". According to the 12th-century chronicler Geoffrey of Monmouth, this was the name of a daughter of the Saxon chief Hengist. It was popularized by Sir Walter Scott, who used it for a character in his novel 'Ivanhoe' (1819).
SOLANGE
Gender: Feminine
Pronounced: SAW-LAHNZH
Rating: 33% based on 9 votes
French form of the Late Latin name
Sollemnia, which was derived from Latin
sollemnis "religious". This was the name of a French shepherdess who became a
saint after she was killed by her master.
TESNI
Gender: Feminine
Rating: 38% based on 10 votes
Means "warmth from the sun" in Welsh.
THEKLA
Gender: Feminine
Other Scripts: Θεκλα (Greek)
Rating: 47% based on 9 votes
From the ancient Greek name
Θεοκλεια (Theokleia), which meant "glory of God" from the Greek
elements θεος (theos) meaning "god" and
κλεος (kleos) meaning "glory". This was the name of a 1st-century
saint, appearing (as
Θεκλα) in the apocryphal 'Acts of Paul and Thecla'. The story tells how Thecla listens to Paul speak about the virtues of chastity and decides to remain a virgin, angering both her mother and her suitor.
TISIPHONE
Gender: Feminine
Rating: 24% based on 10 votes
Means "avenging murder" in Greek, derived from
τισις (tisis) "vengeance" and
φονη (phone) "murder". This was the name of one of the Furies or
Ερινυες (Erinyes) in Greek
mythology. She killed Cithaeron with the bite of one of the snakes on her head.
ULRIC
Gender: Masculine
Pronounced: UL-rik
Rating: 33% based on 8 votes
Middle English form of the
Old English name
Wulfric meaning "wolf power". When it is used in modern times, it is usually as a variant of
ULRICH.
YVES
Gender: Masculine
Pronounced: EEV
Rating: 53% based on 4 votes
Medieval French form of
IVO (1). This was the name of two French
saints: an 11th-century bishop of Chartres and a 13th-century parish priest and lawyer, also known as Ivo of Kermartin, the patron saint of Brittany.
ZOLA (1)
Gender: Feminine
Pronounced: ZO-lə
Rating: 44% based on 10 votes
Meaning unknown, perhaps an invented name. It has been in occasional use in the English-speaking world since the 19th century. It coincides with an Italian surname, a famous bearer being the French-Italian author Émile Zola (1840-1902).
Copyright © Mike Campbell 1996-2017.