Chwala's Personal Name List
Ada 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Italian, Spanish, German, Dutch, Norwegian, Polish, Finnish, Germanic [1]
Pronounced: AY-də(English) A-dha(Spanish) A-da(Polish) AH-dah(Finnish)
Rating: 82% based on 10 votes
Originally a short form of Germanic names such as
Adelaide or
Adelina that begin with the element
adal meaning "noble".
Saint Ada was a 7th-century Frankish abbess at Le Mans. This name was also borne by Augusta Ada King (1815-1852), the Countess of Lovelace (known as Ada Lovelace), a daughter of Lord Byron. She was an assistant to Charles Babbage, the inventor of an early mechanical computer.
Agatha
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, German, Dutch, Ancient Greek (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Ἀγαθή(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: AG-ə-thə(English) a-GHA-ta(Dutch)
Rating: 72% based on 14 votes
Latinized form of the Greek name
Ἀγαθή (Agathe), derived from Greek
ἀγαθός (agathos) meaning
"good".
Saint Agatha was a 3rd-century martyr from Sicily who was tortured and killed after spurning the advances of a Roman official. The saint was widely revered in the Middle Ages, and her name has been used throughout Christian Europe (in various spellings). The mystery writer Agatha Christie (1890-1976) was a famous modern bearer of this name.
Aidan
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Irish, English (Modern)
Pronounced: AY-dən(English)
Rating: 58% based on 11 votes
Anglicized form of
Aodhán. In the latter part of the 20th century it became popular in America due to its sound, since it shares a sound with such names as
Braden and
Hayden. It peaked ranked 39th for boys in 2003.
Ailill
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Old Irish [1], Irish Mythology
Pronounced: A-lyil(Irish)
Rating: 35% based on 8 votes
Means
"elf" in Irish. This name was borne by several early Irish kings. It also occurs frequently in Irish legend, borne for example by the husband of Queen
Medb. It was also the name of two
saints, both bishops of Armagh in the 6th century.
Alaska
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Rating: 51% based on 13 votes
From Aleut alaxsxaq "object to which the action of the sea is directed" or "mainland". It is the name of a US state.
Alemayehu
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: Amharic
Other Scripts: አለማየሁ(Amharic)
Rating: 50% based on 7 votes
Means "I have seen the world" in Amharic.
Alida
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Dutch, German, Hungarian
Pronounced: a-LEE-da(Dutch, German) AW-lee-daw(Hungarian)
Rating: 62% based on 9 votes
Alistair
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Scottish
Pronounced: AL-i-stər(English)
Rating: 84% based on 10 votes
Allie
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: AL-ee
Rating: 65% based on 10 votes
Diminutive of
Alison 1,
Alexandra and other names beginning with the same sound. After a 34-year absence from the American top 1000 chart this name began growing in popularity after the premiere of the sitcom
Kate and Allie in 1984.
Alva 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Swedish, Norwegian
Pronounced: AL-va(Swedish)
Rating: 61% based on 9 votes
Amaryllis
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Literature
Pronounced: am-ə-RIL-is(English)
Rating: 64% based on 8 votes
Derived from Greek
ἀμαρύσσω (amarysso) meaning
"to sparkle". This is the name of a character appearing in
Virgil's pastoral poems
Eclogues [1]. The amaryllis flower is named for her.
Amice
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Medieval English
Rating: 49% based on 9 votes
Medieval name derived from Latin amicus meaning "friend". This was a popular name in the Middle Ages, though it has since become uncommon.
Amy
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: AY-mee
Rating: 63% based on 10 votes
English form of the Old French name Amée meaning "beloved" (modern French aimée), a vernacular form of the Latin Amata. As an English name, it was in use in the Middle Ages (though not common) and was revived in the 19th century.
Annaclaire
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Rating: 72% based on 6 votes
Anne 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French, English, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Estonian, German, Dutch, Basque
Pronounced: AN(French, English) A-neh(Swedish) A-nə(Danish, German) AHN-neh(Finnish) AH-nə(Dutch)
Rating: 77% based on 9 votes
French form of
Anna. It was imported to England in the 13th century, but it did not become popular until three centuries later. The spelling variant
Ann was also commonly found from this period, and is still used to this day.
The name was borne by a 17th-century English queen and also by the second wife of Henry VIII, Anne Boleyn (the mother of Queen Elizabeth I), who was eventually beheaded in the Tower of London. Another notable bearer was the German-Jewish diarist Anne (Annelies) Frank, a young victim of the Holocaust in 1945. This is also the name of the heroine in the 1908 novel Anne of Green Gables by Canadian author L. M. Montgomery.
April
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: AY-prəl
Rating: 68% based on 9 votes
From the name of the month, probably originally derived from Latin aperire "to open", referring to the opening of flowers. It has only been commonly used as a given name since the 1940s.
Arabella
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: ar-ə-BEHL-ə
Rating: 79% based on 10 votes
Medieval Scottish name, probably a variant of
Annabel. It has long been associated with Latin
orabilis meaning "invokable, yielding to prayer", and the name was often recorded in forms resembling this.
Unrelated, this was an older name of the city of Irbid in Jordan, from Greek Ἄρβηλα (Arbela).
Araceli
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Spanish
Pronounced: a-ra-THEH-lee(European Spanish) a-ra-SEH-lee(Latin American Spanish)
Rating: 80% based on 6 votes
Means
"altar of the sky" from Latin
ara "altar" and
coeli "sky". This is an epithet of the Virgin
Mary in her role as the patron
saint of Lucena, Spain.
Araminta
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Rating: 100% based on 1 vote
Meaning unknown. This name was (first?) used by William Congreve in his comedy The Old Bachelor (1693) and later by John Vanbrugh in his comedy The Confederacy (1705). This was the original given name of abolitionist Harriet Tubman (1820-1913), who was born Araminta Ross.
Arlette
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French
Pronounced: AR-LEHT
Rating: 53% based on 7 votes
Arrietty
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Literature
Pronounced: ar-ee-EH-tee
Rating: 47% based on 6 votes
Possibly a variant of
Harriet. This is the name of a character from 'The Borrowers' by Mary Norton.
Arsène
Gender: Masculine
Usage: French
Pronounced: AR-SEHN
Rating: 65% based on 2 votes
Aspasia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Ancient Greek [1], Greek
Other Scripts: Ἀσπασία(Ancient Greek) Ασπασία(Greek)
Pronounced: A-SPA-SEE-A(Classical Greek)
Rating: 44% based on 7 votes
Derived from Greek
ἀσπάσιος (aspasios) meaning
"welcome, embrace". This was the name of the lover of Pericles (5th century BC).
Aulay
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Scottish
Rating: 28% based on 6 votes
Austin
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: AWS-tin
Rating: 45% based on 8 votes
Medieval contracted form of
Augustine 1. Modern use of the name is probably also partly inspired by the common surname
Austin, which is of the same origin. This is also the name of a city in Texas.
Avis
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: AY-vis
Rating: 71% based on 7 votes
Probably a Latinized form of the Germanic name
Aveza, which was derived from the element
awi, of unknown meaning. The
Normans introduced this name to England and it became moderately common during the Middle Ages, at which time it was associated with Latin
avis "bird".
Bambi
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: BAM-bee
Rating: 36% based on 7 votes
Derived from Italian bambina meaning "young girl". The American novelist Marjorie Benton Cooke used it in her novel Bambi (1914). This was also the name of a male deer in a cartoon by Walt Disney, which was based on a 1923 novel by Swiss author Felix Salten.
Basil 1
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: BAZ-əl
Rating: 100% based on 2 votes
From the Greek name
Βασίλειος (Basileios), which was derived from
βασιλεύς (basileus) meaning
"king".
Saint Basil the Great was a 4th-century bishop of Caesarea and one of the fathers of the early Christian church. Due to him, the name (in various spellings) has come into general use in the Christian world, being especially popular among Eastern Christians. It was also borne by two Byzantine emperors.
Baxter
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: BAK-stər
Rating: 50% based on 2 votes
From an occupational surname that meant
"(female) baker", from Old English
bæcere and a feminine agent suffix.
Beau
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, Dutch (Modern)
Pronounced: BO
Rating: 50% based on 2 votes
Means
"beautiful, handsome" in French. It has been used as a given name since the middle of the 20th century. In Margaret Mitchell's novel
Gone with the Wind (1936) this is the name of Ashley and Melanie's son.
Although this is a grammatically masculine adjective in French, it is given to girls as well as boys in Britain and the Netherlands. In America it is more exclusively masculine. It is not commonly used as a name in France itself.
Bertie
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: BUR-tee(American English) BU-tee(British English)
Rating: 55% based on 6 votes
Bertram
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, German, Germanic [1]
Pronounced: BUR-trəm(English) BEHR-tram(German)
Rating: 55% based on 6 votes
Means
"bright raven", derived from the Old German element
beraht "bright" combined with
hram "raven". This name has long been conflated with
Bertrand. The
Normans introduced it to England, and Shakespeare used it in his play
All's Well That Ends Well (1603).
Beryl
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: BEHR-əl
Rating: 54% based on 7 votes
From the English word for the clear or pale green precious stone, ultimately deriving from Sanskrit. As a given name, it first came into use in the 19th century.
Blossom
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: BLAH-səm
Rating: 49% based on 8 votes
From the English word blossom, ultimately from Old English blóstm. It came into use as a rare given name in the 19th century.
Bluebell
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Popular Culture
Pronounced: BLOO-bel(English)
Rating: 43% based on 9 votes
From the name of the flower, used to some extent as a first name when flower names were in vogue at the end of the 19th century.
Bonnie
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: BAHN-ee
Rating: 62% based on 9 votes
Means "pretty" from the Scottish word bonnie, which was itself derived from Middle French bon "good". It has been in use as an American given name since the 19th century, and it became especially popular after the movie Gone with the Wind (1939), in which it was the nickname of Scarlett's daughter.
Booker
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: BUWK-ər
Rating: 70% based on 5 votes
From an English occupational surname meaning "maker of books". A famous bearer was Booker T. Washington (1856-1915), an African-American leader.
Brian
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, Irish, Old Irish [1]
Pronounced: BRIE-ən(English) BRYEEN(Irish)
Rating: 30% based on 3 votes
Meaning uncertain, possibly related to the old Celtic root *
brixs "hill, high" (Old Irish
brií) or the related *
brigā "might, power" (Old Irish
briíg). It was borne by the Irish king Brian Boru, who thwarted Viking attempts to conquer Ireland in the 11th century. He was slain in the Battle of Clontarf, though his forces were decisively victorious. This name was common in Ireland after his time, and it was introduced to northern England by Norse-Gael settlers. It was also used in Brittany, and was brought to England by Bretons in the wake of the
Norman Conquest. Though it eventually became rare in the English-speaking world, it was strongly revived in the 20th century, becoming a top-ten name for boys in most regions.
Brigid
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Irish, Irish Mythology
Rating: 61% based on 9 votes
Irish variant of
Brighid (see
Bridget).
Bryce
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: BRIES
Rating: 59% based on 7 votes
Byron
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: BIE-rən
Rating: 50% based on 2 votes
From a surname that was originally from a place name meaning "place of the cow sheds" in Old English. This was the surname of the romantic poet Lord Byron (1788-1824), the writer of Don Juan and many other works.
Caoilfhionn
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Irish
Pronounced: KEEL-in, KEEL-uwn, KEEL-oon
Rating: 56% based on 5 votes
Derived from the Old Irish elements
cáel "slender" and
finn "white, blessed". This was the name of several Irish
saints.
Carrigan
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Rating: 37% based on 6 votes
From an Irish surname which was a variant of the surname
Corrigan.
Cassidy
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: KAS-i-dee
Rating: 58% based on 11 votes
From an Irish surname (Anglicized from Irish Gaelic
Ó Caiside), which is derived from the byname
Caiside. Very rare as a given name before the 1970s, it established itself in the 80s and then surged in popularity during the 90s.
Celia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Spanish
Pronounced: SEEL-yə(English) SEE-lee-ə(English) THEHL-ya(European Spanish) SEHL-ya(Latin American Spanish)
Rating: 77% based on 9 votes
Feminine form of the Roman family name
Caelius. Shakespeare used it in his play
As You Like It (1599), which introduced the name to the English-speaking public at large. It is sometimes used as a short form of
Cecilia.
Ceridwen
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Welsh
Pronounced: keh-RID-wehn
Rating: 69% based on 9 votes
Possibly from
cyrrid "bent, crooked" (a derivative of Old Welsh
cwrr "corner") combined with
ben "woman" or
gwen "white, blessed". According to the medieval Welsh legend the
Tale of Taliesin (recorded by Elis Gruffyd in the 16th century) this was the name of a sorceress who created a potion that would grant wisdom to her son Morfan. The potion was instead consumed by her servant Gwion Bach, who was subsequently reborn as the renowned bard
Taliesin.
This name appears briefly in a poem in the Black Book of Carmarthen in the form Kyrridven [1] and in a poem in the Book of Taliesin in the form Kerrituen [2]. Some theories connect her to an otherwise unattested Celtic goddess of inspiration, and suppose her name is related to Welsh cerdd "poetry".
Chantelle
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: shahn-TEHL
Rating: 43% based on 6 votes
Charmaine
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: shahr-MAYN
Rating: 48% based on 5 votes
Meaning unknown, perhaps a combination of
Charmian or the English word
charm with the
aine suffix from
Lorraine. It was (first?) used for a character in the play
What Price Glory (1924), which was made into a popular movie in 1926.
Chelsea
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: CHEHL-see
Rating: 47% based on 9 votes
From the name of a district in London, originally derived from Old English and meaning "landing place for chalk or limestone". It has been in general use as an English given name since the 1970s.
Cherry
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: CHEHR-ee
Rating: 53% based on 7 votes
Simply means "cherry" from the name of the fruit. It can also be a
diminutive of
Charity. It has been in use since the late 19th century.
Cicely
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: SIS-ə-lee
Rating: 47% based on 6 votes
Circe
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Κίρκη(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: SUR-see(English)
Rating: 59% based on 8 votes
Latinized form of Greek
Κίρκη (Kirke), possibly from
κίρκος (kirkos) meaning
"hawk". In Greek
mythology Circe was a sorceress who changed
Odysseus's crew into hogs, as told in Homer's
Odyssey. Odysseus forced her to change them back, then stayed with her for a year before continuing his voyage.
Clarice
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: klə-REES, KLAR-is, KLEHR-is
Rating: 50% based on 3 votes
Medieval vernacular form of the Late Latin name
Claritia, which was a derivative of
Clara.
Clive
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: KLIEV
Rating: 53% based on 7 votes
From an English surname derived from Old English clif meaning "cliff", originally belonging to a person who lived near a cliff.
Colin 1
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Scottish, English
Pronounced: KAHL-in(English) KOL-in(English)
Rating: 59% based on 7 votes
Anglicized form of Scottish
Cailean.
Corabeth
Gender: Feminine
Usage: American (Rare)
Pronounced: KOIR-ə-beth
Rating: 53% based on 7 votes
Cyril
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, French, Czech, Slovak
Pronounced: SIR-əl(English) SEE-REEL(French) TSI-ril(Czech)
Rating: 67% based on 7 votes
From the Greek name
Κύριλλος (Kyrillos), which was derived from Greek
κύριος (kyrios) meaning
"lord", a word used frequently in the Greek Bible to refer to God or Jesus.
This name was borne by a number of important saints, including Cyril of Jerusalem, a 4th-century bishop and Doctor of the Church, and Cyril of Alexandria, a 5th-century theologian. Another Saint Cyril was a 9th-century Greek missionary to the Slavs, who is credited with creating the Glagolitic alphabet with his brother Methodius in order to translate the Bible into Slavic. The Cyrillic alphabet, named after him, is descended from Glagolitic.
This name has been especially well-used in Eastern Europe and other places where Orthodox Christianity is prevalent. It came into general use in England in the 19th century.
Darcy
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: DAHR-see
Rating: 48% based on 6 votes
From an English surname that was derived from Norman French d'Arcy, originally denoting one who came from the town of Arcy in La Manche, France. This is the surname of a character, Fitzwilliam Darcy, in Jane Austen's novel Pride and Prejudice (1813).
Darla
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: DAHR-lə
Rating: 45% based on 6 votes
Diana
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, Catalan, German, Dutch, Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, Russian, Ukrainian, Bulgarian, Estonian, Lithuanian, Polish, Czech, Slovak, Armenian, Georgian, Roman Mythology
Other Scripts: Диана(Russian, Bulgarian) Діана(Ukrainian) Դիանա(Armenian) დიანა(Georgian)
Pronounced: die-AN-ə(English) DYA-na(Spanish, Italian, Polish) dee-U-nu(European Portuguese) jee-U-nu(Brazilian Portuguese) dee-A-nə(Catalan) dee-A-na(German, Dutch, Latin) dyee-A-nu(Ukrainian) DI-ya-na(Czech) DEE-a-na(Slovak)
Rating: 81% based on 7 votes
Means
"divine, goddesslike", a derivative of Latin
dia or
diva meaning
"goddess". It is ultimately related to the same Indo-European root *
dyew- found in
Zeus. Diana was a Roman goddess of the moon, hunting, forests and childbirth, often identified with the Greek goddess
Artemis.
As a given name, Diana has been regularly used since the Renaissance. It became more common in the English-speaking world following Walter Scott's novel Rob Roy (1817), which featured a character named Diana Vernon. It also appeared in George Meredith's novel Diana of the Crossways (1885). A notable bearer was the British royal Diana Spencer (1961-1997), the Princess of Wales.
Dieudonné
Gender: Masculine
Usage: French
Pronounced: DYUU-DAW-NEH
Rating: 59% based on 7 votes
Means
"given by God" in French, used as a French form of
Deusdedit. It is currently much more common in French-speaking Africa than it is in France.
Douglas
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Scottish, English
Pronounced: DUG-ləs
Rating: 85% based on 6 votes
From a Scottish surname that was from the name of a town in Lanarkshire, itself named after a tributary of the River Clyde called the Douglas Water. It means "dark river", derived from Gaelic dubh "dark" and glais "water, river" (an archaic word related to glas "grey, green"). This was a Scottish Lowland clan, the leaders of which were powerful earls in the medieval period. The Gaelic form is Dùghlas or Dùbhghlas. It has been used as a given name since the 16th century.
Dulcibella
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Archaic)
Rating: 43% based on 6 votes
From Latin
dulcis "sweet" and
bella "beautiful". The usual medieval spelling of this name was
Dowsabel, and the Latinized form
Dulcibella was revived in the 18th century.
Dulcie
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: DUL-see
Rating: 46% based on 7 votes
From Latin
dulcis meaning
"sweet". It was used in the Middle Ages in the spellings
Dowse and
Duce, and was recoined in the 19th century.
Edna
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Hebrew, Biblical
Other Scripts: עֶדְנָה(Hebrew)
Pronounced: EHD-nə(English)
Rating: 52% based on 5 votes
Means
"pleasure" in Hebrew, a derivative of
עָדַן (ʿaḏan) meaning "to delight". This name appears in the
Old Testament Apocrypha, for instance in the Book of Tobit belonging to the wife of
Raguel. It was borne by the American poet Edna Dean Proctor (1829-1923). It did not become popular until the second half of the 19th century, after it was used for the heroine in the successful 1866 novel
St. Elmo by Augusta Jane Evans
[1]. It peaked around the turn of the century and has declined steadily since then, falling off the American top 1000 list in 1992.
Edwina
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: ehd-WEEN-ə, ehd-WIN-ə
Rating: 50% based on 2 votes
Eidel
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Yiddish (Rare)
Other Scripts: איידל(Yiddish)
Rating: 48% based on 4 votes
Means "delicate" in Yiddish.
Einar
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Norwegian, Icelandic, Swedish, Danish, Estonian
Pronounced: IE-nahr(Norwegian) AY-nar(Icelandic, Swedish)
Rating: 68% based on 5 votes
From the Old Norse name
Einarr, derived from the elements
einn "one, alone" and
herr "army, warrior". This name shares the same roots as
einherjar, the word for the slain warriors in Valhalla.
Eli 1
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, Hebrew, Biblical, Biblical Greek [1], Biblical Hebrew [2]
Other Scripts: עֵלִי(Hebrew) Ἠλί, Ἡλί(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: EE-lie(English)
Rating: 60% based on 5 votes
Means
"ascension" in Hebrew, a derivative of
עָלָה (ʿala) meaning "to ascend". In the Books of Samuel in the
Old Testament he is a high priest of the Israelites. He took the young
Samuel into his service and gave him guidance when God spoke to him. Because of the misdeeds of his sons, Eli and his descendants were cursed to die before reaching old age.
Eli has been used as an English Christian given name since the Protestant Reformation. A notable bearer was the American inventor of the cotton gin Eli Whitney (1765-1825).
Eliot
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: EHL-ee-ət
Rating: 74% based on 10 votes
From a surname that was a variant of
Elliott. A famous bearer of the surname was T. S. Eliot (1888-1965), an Anglo-American poet and dramatist, the writer of
The Waste Land. As a given name, it was borne by the American mob-buster Eliot Ness (1903-1957).
Eliza
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Polish, Portuguese (Brazilian), Romanian, Hungarian, Georgian
Other Scripts: ელიზა(Georgian)
Pronounced: i-LIE-zə(English) eh-LEE-za(Polish) EH-lee-zaw(Hungarian)
Rating: 72% based on 6 votes
Short form of
Elizabeth. It was borne by the character Eliza Doolittle in George Bernard Shaw's play
Pygmalion (1913) and the subsequent musical adaptation
My Fair Lady (1956).
Ellis
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, Welsh
Pronounced: EHL-is(English)
Rating: 43% based on 8 votes
From an English surname that was derived from the given name
Elis, a medieval vernacular form of
Elias. This name has also functioned as an Anglicized form of Welsh
Elisedd.
Emmabeth
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Rating: 55% based on 4 votes
Emmylou
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: ehm-ee-LOO
Rating: 48% based on 6 votes
Epiphany
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: i-PIF-ə-nee
Rating: 47% based on 3 votes
From the name of the Christian festival (January 6) that commemorates the visit of the Magi to the infant
Jesus. It is also an English word meaning "sudden appearance" or "sudden perception", ultimately deriving from Greek
ἐπιφάνεια (epiphaneia) meaning "manifestation".
Erna 2
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Norse Mythology [1], Icelandic, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish
Pronounced: EH-nah(Swedish)
Rating: 0% based on 2 votes
Means
"brisk, vigorous, hale" in Old Norse. This was the name of the wife of
Jarl in Norse legend.
Esther
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, French, Spanish, Dutch, German, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, Jewish, Biblical, Biblical Latin, Biblical Greek
Other Scripts: אֶסְתֵר(Hebrew) Ἐσθήρ(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: EHS-tər(English, Dutch) EHS-TEHR(French) ehs-TEHR(Spanish) EHS-tu(German)
Rating: 75% based on 10 votes
From the Hebrew name
אֶסְתֵר (ʾEsṯer), which possibly means
"star" in Persian. Alternatively it could be a derivative of the name of the Near Eastern goddess
Ishtar. The Book of Esther in the
Old Testament tells the story of Queen Esther, the Jewish wife of the king of Persia. The king's advisor
Haman persuaded the king to exterminate all the Jews in the realm. Warned of this plot by her cousin
Mordecai, Esther revealed her Jewish ancestry and convinced the king to execute Haman instead. Her original Hebrew name was
Hadassah.
This name has been used in the English-speaking world since the Protestant Reformation. In America it received a boost in popularity after the birth of Esther Cleveland (1893-1980), the daughter of President Grover Cleveland [1].
Ethelinda
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Archaic)
Rating: 43% based on 6 votes
English form of the Germanic name
Adallinda. The name was very rare in medieval times, but it was revived in the early 19th century.
Eula
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: YOO-lə
Rating: 0% based on 1 vote
Eulalia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Spanish, Italian, Polish, English, Ancient Greek [1]
Other Scripts: Εὐλαλία(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: ew-LA-lya(Spanish, Italian) yoo-LAY-lee-ə(English)
Rating: 42% based on 6 votes
Derived from Greek
εὔλαλος (eulalos) meaning
"sweetly-speaking", itself from
εὖ (eu) meaning "good" and
λαλέω (laleo) meaning "to talk". This was the name of an early 4th-century
saint and martyr from Mérida in Spain. Another martyr by this name, living at the same time, is a patron saint of Barcelona. These two saints might be the same person.
Euphrosyne
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Εὐφροσύνη(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: yoo-FRAH-si-nee(English)
Rating: 15% based on 2 votes
Means
"mirth, merriment, cheerfulness" in Greek, a derivative of
εὖ (eu) meaning "good" and
φρήν (phren) meaning "mind, heart". She was one of the three Graces or
Χάριτες (Charites) in Greek
mythology.
Eustace
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: YOO-stis
Rating: 34% based on 5 votes
English form of
Eustachius or
Eustathius, two names of Greek origin that have been conflated in the post-classical period.
Saint Eustace, who is known under both spellings, was a 2nd-century Roman general who became a Christian after seeing a vision of a cross between the antlers of a stag he was hunting. He was burned to death for refusing to worship the Roman gods and is now regarded as the patron saint of hunters. Due to him, this name was common in England during the Middle Ages, though it is presently rare.
Evan
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Welsh, English
Pronounced: EHV-ən(English)
Rating: 65% based on 8 votes
Anglicized form of
Ifan, a Welsh form of
John.
Everild
Gender: Feminine
Usage: History (Ecclesiastical)
Rating: 100% based on 2 votes
Latinized form of
Eoforhild. This was the name of a 7th-century English
saint.
Everly
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: EHV-ər-lee
Rating: 31% based on 9 votes
From an English surname that was from a place name, itself derived from Old English
eofor "boar" and
leah "woodland, clearing". Notable bearers of the surname were the musical duo the Everly Brothers, Don (1937-2021) and Phil (1939-2014).
This name began rising on the American popularity charts in 2008, slowly until 2012 and then rapidly after that. This might have been triggered by the folk band Everly (not associated with the Everly Brothers), which had music featured on the television series One Tree Hill in that period. It also might have simply been inspired by similar-sounding names like Everett, Evelyn and Beverly.
Ezra
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, Hebrew, Biblical
Other Scripts: עֶזְרָא(Hebrew)
Pronounced: EHZ-rə(English)
Rating: 68% based on 11 votes
Means
"help" in Hebrew. Ezra is a prophet of the
Old Testament and the author of the Book of Ezra. It has been used as a given name in the English-speaking world since the
Protestant Reformation. The American poet Ezra Pound (1885-1972) was a famous bearer.
Faina
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Russian
Other Scripts: Фаина(Russian)
Pronounced: fu-EE-nə
Rating: 50% based on 2 votes
Meaning unknown, possibly derived from
Phaenna.
Faitel
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Yiddish
Other Scripts: פיטל, פייטל, файтель
Rating: 100% based on 1 vote
Derived from the Latin name
Vitalis, meaning "full of life". It came into use in Eastern Europe at the beginning of the 16th century.
Faith
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: FAYTH
Rating: 50% based on 8 votes
Simply from the English word
faith, ultimately from Latin
fidere "to trust". This was one of the virtue names adopted by the
Puritans in the 17th century.
Farrell
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: FAR-əl
Rating: 28% based on 4 votes
From an Irish surname, an Anglicized form of
Ó Fearghail, derived from the given name
Fearghal.
Faye
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: FAY
Rating: 59% based on 7 votes
Feena
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Irish (Anglicized)
Rating: 42% based on 5 votes
Feitel
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Jewish, Yiddish
Pronounced: fie-tul
Rating: 100% based on 1 vote
Yiddish amuletic name, from Italian "vitale". Yiddish form of Judeo-Spanish name
Vita.
Occasionally used as a pet form of Feigel, based on sounds.
Feivel
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Yiddish (Rare)
Other Scripts: פֿייװל(Yiddish) פייבל(Hebrew)
Rating: 70% based on 3 votes
Felice
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare), German (Rare), Dutch (Rare), Swedish (Rare), Medieval English, Medieval Italian
Pronounced: fə-LEES(English, German, Middle English) fay-LEE-tsə(German)
Rating: 53% based on 7 votes
Variant of
Felicia. A notable bearer is Felice Bauer (1887-1960), fiancée of author Franz Kafka. His letters to her were published in the book
Letters to Felice.
Finlay
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: Scottish, English
Pronounced: FIN-lee(English)
Rating: 49% based on 7 votes
Anglicized form of
Fionnlagh. This spelling is more common in Scotland, though in England and Wales the variant
Finley has been more popular since 2007.
Fiona
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Scottish, English
Pronounced: fee-O-nə(English)
Rating: 90% based on 8 votes
Feminine form of
Fionn. This name was (first?) used by the Scottish poet James Macpherson in his poem
Fingal (1761), in which it is spelled as
Fióna.
Firouz
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Persian
Other Scripts: فیروز(Persian)
Pronounced: fee-ROOZ
Rating: 46% based on 5 votes
From Persian
پیروز (pīrūz) or
فیروز (fīrūz) meaning "victorious". This name was borne by Firuz Shah Tughlaq, a 14th-century sultan of Delhi who did much to build the city's infrastructure.
Fletcher
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: FLECH-ər
Rating: 100% based on 1 vote
From a surname meaning "maker of arrows" in Middle English, ultimately from Old French flechier.
Flint
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: FLINT
Rating: 20% based on 2 votes
From the English vocabulary word, from Old English flint.
Flora
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, German, Dutch, French, Greek, Albanian, Roman Mythology
Other Scripts: Φλώρα(Greek)
Pronounced: FLAWR-ə(English) FLAW-ra(Italian) FLO-ra(Spanish, German, Dutch, Latin) FLAW-ru(Portuguese) FLAW-RA(French)
Rating: 74% based on 10 votes
Derived from Latin
flos meaning
"flower" (genitive case
floris). Flora was the Roman goddess of flowers and spring, the wife of Zephyr the west wind. It has been used as a given name since the Renaissance, starting in France. In Scotland it was sometimes used as an Anglicized form of
Fionnghuala.
Fraisine
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French (Archaic)
Rating: 48% based on 4 votes
Ginger
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: JIN-jər
Rating: 35% based on 8 votes
From the English word
ginger for the spice or the reddish-brown colour. It can also be a
diminutive of
Virginia, as in the case of actress and dancer Ginger Rogers (1911-1995), by whom the name was popularized.
Giselle
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French, English (Modern)
Pronounced: ZHEE-ZEHL(French) ji-ZEHL(English)
Rating: 59% based on 8 votes
Derived from the Old German element
gisal meaning
"hostage, pledge" (Proto-Germanic *
gīslaz). This name may have originally been a descriptive nickname for a child given as a pledge to a foreign court. This was the name of both a sister and daughter of
Charlemagne. It was also borne by a daughter of the French king Charles III who married the Norman leader Rollo in the 10th century. Another notable bearer was the 11th-century Gisela of Swabia, wife of the Holy Roman emperor Conrad II.
The name was popular in France during the Middle Ages (the more common French form is Gisèle). Though it became known in the English-speaking world due to Adolphe Adam's ballet Giselle (1841), it was not regularly used until the 20th century.
Glika
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Yiddish (Rare)
Other Scripts: גליקאַ, גליקע(Yiddish)
Rating: 43% based on 4 votes
From Yiddish
גליק (glik) meaning
"luck".
Griselda
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Spanish, Literature
Pronounced: gri-ZEHL-də(English) gree-SEHL-da(Spanish)
Rating: 42% based on 5 votes
Possibly derived from the Old German elements
gris "grey" and
hilt "battle". It is not attested as a Germanic name. This was the name of a patient wife in medieval folklore, adapted into tales by Boccaccio (in
The Decameron) and Chaucer (in
The Canterbury Tales).
Halina
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Polish, Belarusian
Other Scripts: Галіна(Belarusian)
Pronounced: kha-LEE-na(Polish) gha-LYEE-na(Belarusian)
Rating: 54% based on 5 votes
Polish and Belarusian form of
Galina.
Halszka
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Polish
Rating: 100% based on 1 vote
Hannie
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Dutch
Pronounced: HAH-nee
Rating: 33% based on 3 votes
Harmony
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: HAHR-mə-nee
Rating: 32% based on 6 votes
From the English word
harmony, ultimately deriving from Greek
ἁρμονία (harmonia).
Harvest
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Rating: 15% based on 2 votes
Transferred use of the surname
Harvester.
This name has been in occasional use since the 1800s.
Hazel
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: HAY-zəl
Rating: 73% based on 6 votes
From the English word hazel for the tree or the light brown colour, derived ultimately from Old English hæsel. It was coined as a given name in the 19th century and quickly became popular, reaching the 18th place for girls in the United States by 1897. It fell out of fashion in the second half of the 20th century, but has since recovered.
Hedda
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Norwegian, Swedish
Pronounced: HEHD-dah
Rating: 42% based on 5 votes
Diminutive of
Hedvig. This is the name of the heroine of the play
Hedda Gabler (1890) by the Norwegian dramatist Henrik Ibsen.
Hedy
Gender: Feminine
Usage: German, Dutch
Pronounced: HEH-dee
Rating: 45% based on 6 votes
Hefina
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Welsh
Pronounced: heh-VEE-na
Rating: 30% based on 4 votes
Henrietta
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Hungarian, Finnish, Swedish
Pronounced: hehn-ree-EHT-ə(English) HEHN-ree-eht-taw(Hungarian) HEHN-ree-eht-tah(Finnish)
Rating: 76% based on 8 votes
Latinate form of
Henriette. It was introduced to England by Henriette Marie, the wife of the 17th-century English king Charles I. The name
Henriette was also Anglicized as
Harriet, a form that was initially more popular.
Hesper
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare), Dutch (Rare)
Pronounced: HES-pər(English)
Rating: 100% based on 1 vote
Hilda
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Spanish, Hungarian, Anglo-Saxon (Latinized), Germanic [1]
Pronounced: HIL-də(English) HIL-da(German, Dutch) EEL-da(Spanish) HEEL-daw(Hungarian)
Rating: 50% based on 6 votes
Originally a short form of names containing the Old Frankish element
hildi, Old High German
hilt, Old English
hild meaning
"battle" (Proto-Germanic *
hildiz). The short form was used for both Old English and continental Germanic names.
Saint Hilda (or Hild) of Whitby was a 7th-century English saint and abbess. The name became rare in England during the later Middle Ages, but was revived in the 19th century.
Honey
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: HUN-ee
Rating: 32% based on 6 votes
Simply from the English word honey, ultimately from Old English hunig. This was originally a nickname for a sweet person.
Huckleberry
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Literature
Pronounced: HUK-əl-behr-ee(English)
Rating: 100% based on 1 vote
From the name of the variety of shrubs (genus Vaccinium) or the berries that grow on them. It was used by author Mark Twain for the character of Huckleberry (Huck) Finn in his novels The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876) and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884).
Hugh
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: HYOO
Rating: 0% based on 1 vote
From the Germanic name
Hugo, derived from Old Frankish
hugi or Old High German
hugu meaning
"mind, thought, spirit" (Proto-Germanic *
hugiz). It was common among Frankish and French nobility, being borne by Hugh Capet, a 10th-century king of France who founded the Capetian dynasty. The
Normans brought the name to England and it became common there, even more so after the time of the 12th-century bishop
Saint Hugh of Lincoln, who was known for his charity. This was also the name of kings of Cyprus and the crusader kingdom of Jerusalem. The name is used in Ireland and Scotland as the Anglicized form of
Aodh and
Ùisdean.
Hyperion
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Ὑπερίων(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: HUY-PEH-REE-AWN(Classical Greek) hie-PEER-ee-ən(English)
Rating: 100% based on 1 vote
Derived from Greek
ὑπέρ (hyper) meaning
"over". In Greek
myth this was the name of a Titan who presided over the sun and light. By
Theia he was the father of the sun god
Helios, the moon goddess
Selene, and the dawn goddess
Eos.
Íomhar
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Irish
Rating: 43% based on 4 votes
Iphigenia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Ἰφιγένεια(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: if-i-ji-NIE-ə(English)
Rating: 100% based on 1 vote
Isaac
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, Spanish, Portuguese, Catalan, French, Jewish, Biblical, Biblical Latin
Other Scripts: יִץְחָק(Hebrew)
Pronounced: IE-zək(English) ee-sa-AK(Spanish) EE-ZAK(French) EE-ZA-AK(French)
Rating: 65% based on 4 votes
From the Hebrew name
יִץְחָק (Yitsḥaq) meaning
"he will laugh, he will rejoice", derived from
צָחַק (tsaḥaq) meaning "to laugh". The
Old Testament explains this meaning, by recounting that
Abraham laughed when God told him that his aged wife
Sarah would become pregnant with Isaac (see
Genesis 17:17), and later Sarah laughed when overhearing the same prophecy (see
Genesis 18:12). When Isaac was a boy, God tested Abraham's faith by ordering him to sacrifice his son, though an angel prevented the act at the last moment. Isaac went on to become the father of
Esau and
Jacob with his wife
Rebecca.
As an English Christian name, Isaac was occasionally used during the Middle Ages, though it was more common among Jews. It became more widespread after the Protestant Reformation. Famous bearers include the physicist and mathematician Isaac Newton (1643-1727) and the science-fiction writer Isaac Asimov (1920-1992).
Iskra
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Bulgarian, Macedonian, Croatian
Other Scripts: Искра(Bulgarian, Macedonian)
Pronounced: EES-kru(Bulgarian) EES-kra(Macedonian, Croatian)
Rating: 100% based on 1 vote
Means "spark" in South Slavic.
Jack
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: JAK
Rating: 63% based on 9 votes
Derived from
Jackin (earlier
Jankin), a medieval
diminutive of
John [1]. There could be some early influence from the unrelated French name
Jacques [2]. It is often regarded as an independent name. During the Middle Ages it was very common, and it became a slang word meaning "man", as seen in the terms
jack-o'-lantern,
jack-in-the-box,
lumberjack and so on. It was frequently used in fairy tales and nursery rhymes, such as
Jack and the Beanstalk,
Jack and Jill,
Little Jack Horner, and
Jack Sprat.
American writers Jack London (1876-1916) and Jack Kerouac (1922-1969) were two famous bearers of this name. It is also borne by the actor Jack Nicholson (1937-) and the golfer Jack Nicklaus (1940-). Apart from Nicklaus, none of these famous bearers were given the name Jack at birth.
In the United Kingdom this form has been bestowed more frequently than John since the 1990s, being the most popular name for boys from 1996 to 2008.
Jason
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, French, Greek Mythology (Anglicized), Biblical
Other Scripts: Ἰάσων(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: JAY-sən(English) ZHA-ZAWN(French)
Rating: 50% based on 2 votes
From the Greek name
Ἰάσων (Iason) meaning
"healer", derived from Greek
ἰάομαι (iaomai) meaning "to heal". In Greek
mythology Jason was the leader of the Argonauts. After his uncle
Pelias overthrew his father
Aeson as king of Iolcos, Jason went in search of the Golden Fleece in order to win back the throne. During his journeys he married the sorceress
Medea, who helped him gain the fleece and kill his uncle, but who later turned against him when he fell in love with another woman.
This name also appears in the New Testament, belonging to man who sheltered Paul and Silas. In his case, it may represent a Hellenized form of a Hebrew name. It was not used in England until after the Protestant Reformation.
Jędrzej
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Polish
Pronounced: YEHN-jay
Rating: 40% based on 3 votes
Jemima
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Biblical, English
Other Scripts: יְמִימָה(Ancient Hebrew)
Pronounced: jə-MIE-mə(English)
Rating: 0% based on 1 vote
Traditionally said to mean
"dove", it may actually be related to Hebrew
יוֹמָם (yomam) meaning
"daytime" [1]. This was the oldest of the three daughters of
Job in the
Old Testament. As an English name,
Jemima first became common during the
Puritan era.
Journey
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: JUR-nee
Rating: 42% based on 5 votes
From the English word, derived via Old French from Latin diurnus "of the day".
Joyce
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: JOIS
Rating: 53% based on 6 votes
From the medieval masculine name
Josse, which was derived from the earlier
Iudocus, which was a Latinized form of the Breton name
Judoc meaning
"lord". The name belonged to a 7th-century Breton
saint, and Breton settlers introduced it to England after the
Norman Conquest. It became rare after the 14th century, but was later revived as a feminine name, perhaps because of similarity to the Middle English word
joise "to rejoice". This given name also became a surname, as in the case of the Irish novelist James Joyce (1882-1941).
Józefa
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Polish
Pronounced: yoo-ZEH-fa
Rating: 35% based on 4 votes
Polish feminine form of
Joseph.
Jubilee
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern), Popular Culture
Pronounced: joo-bə-LEE(English) JOO-bə-lee(English)
Rating: 59% based on 7 votes
From the English word
jubilee meaning "season of rejoicing", which is derived from Hebrew יוֹבֵל
(yovel) "ram, ram's horn; a jubilee year: a year of rest, prescribed by the Jewish Bible to occur each fiftieth year, after seven cycles of seven years; a period of celebration or rejoicing" (via Late Latin
iubilaeus and Greek ἰώβηλος
(iobelos)). In Latin, the form of the word was altered by association with the unrelated Latin verb
iubilare "to shout with joy".
It may also refer to African-American folk songs known as Jubilees.
In popular culture, Jubilee is the 'mutant' name (a contraction of Jubilation Lee) of one of the protagonists of Marvel's X-Men line of comics.
Karlee
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: KAHR-lee
Rating: 48% based on 5 votes
Karolina
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Polish, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Hungarian, Slovene, Croatian, Macedonian, Lithuanian, German
Other Scripts: Каролина(Macedonian)
Pronounced: ka-raw-LEE-na(Polish) ka-ruw-LEE-na(Swedish) KAW-ro-lee-naw(Hungarian) ka-ro-LEE-na(German)
Rating: 58% based on 6 votes
Katey
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: KAY-tee
Rating: 49% based on 7 votes
Kathryn
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: KATH-rin
Rating: 57% based on 7 votes
Keeley
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: KEE-lee
Rating: 100% based on 1 vote
Keilah
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Biblical Hebrew, Biblical
Other Scripts: קעילה(Ancient Hebrew)
Pronounced: keh-ee-LAH(Hebrew)
Rating: 38% based on 6 votes
Likely meaning "citadel" in Ancient Hebrew. This is the name of a Biblical character in 1 Chronicles 4:19, described as the grandson of
Hodiah.
Kelda
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Rating: 50% based on 4 votes
Possibly derived from Old Norse kildr meaning "a spring".
Kelsey
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: KEHL-see
Rating: 62% based on 5 votes
From an English surname that is derived from town names in Lincolnshire. It may mean "Cenel's island", from the Old English name Cenel "fierce" in combination with eg "island".
Keshet
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: Hebrew
Other Scripts: קֶשֶׁת(Hebrew)
Rating: 47% based on 3 votes
Means "rainbow" in Hebrew.
Kester
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Rare)
Rating: 0% based on 1 vote
Kestrel
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: KEHS-trəl
Rating: 20% based on 2 votes
From the name of the bird of prey, ultimately derived from Old French crecelle "rattle", which refers to the sound of its cry.
Kevin
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, Irish, French (Modern), German (Modern), Dutch (Modern)
Pronounced: KEHV-in(English) KEH-VEEN(French) KEH-vin(German, Dutch)
Rating: 52% based on 6 votes
Anglicized form of the Irish name
Caoimhín meaning
"beloved birth", derived from Old Irish
Cóemgein, composed of
cóem "dear, beloved, gentle" and
gein "birth".
Saint Caoimhín established a monastery in Glendalough, Ireland in the 6th century and is the patron saint of Dublin.
The name became popular in the English-speaking world outside of Ireland in the middle of the 20th century, and elsewhere in Europe in the latter half of the 20th century. Famous bearers include the American actors Kevin Costner (1955-) and Kevin Bacon (1958-). It was also borne by the character Kevin McCallister in the 1990 comedy movie Home Alone.
Kiki
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, German, Greek
Other Scripts: Κική(Greek)
Pronounced: KEE-kee(English) kee-KEE(Greek)
Rating: 43% based on 6 votes
Diminutive of names beginning with or containing the sound
K.
Killian
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Irish, French
Rating: 47% based on 6 votes
Anglicized form of
Cillian, also used in France.
Kinneret
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Hebrew
Other Scripts: כִּנֶּרֶת(Hebrew)
Rating: 0% based on 1 vote
Kinvara
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (British, Rare)
Rating: 0% based on 1 vote
Apparently from an Irish place name, which meant "head of the sea" in Gaelic. Lady Kinvara Balfour (1975-) is an English playwright and novelist.
Kiran
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Hindi, Marathi, Kannada, Telugu, Malayalam, Tamil, Gujarati, Nepali, Urdu
Other Scripts: किरण(Hindi, Marathi, Nepali) ಕಿರಣ್(Kannada) కిరణ్(Telugu) കിരൺ(Malayalam) கிரண்(Tamil) કિરણ(Gujarati) کرن(Urdu)
Rating: 50% based on 7 votes
Derived from Sanskrit
किरण (kiraṇa), which can mean
"dust" or
"thread" or
"sunbeam".
Kirk
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: KURK
Rating: 56% based on 7 votes
From an English and Scottish surname meaning
"church" from Old Norse
kirkja, ultimately from Greek
κυριακόν (kyriakon). A famous bearer was American actor Kirk Douglas (1916-2020), whose birth name was Issur Danielovitch.
Kirrily
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Australian)
Pronounced: KEER-ə-lee
Rating: 52% based on 6 votes
Possibly an elaboration of
Kiri or
Kira 2. It seems to have been brought to attention in Australia in the 1970s by the actress Kirrily Nolan.
Kit
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: KIT
Rating: 80% based on 2 votes
Klaus
Gender: Masculine
Usage: German, Danish, Norwegian, Finnish
Pronounced: KLOWS(German, Finnish)
Rating: 47% based on 7 votes
German short form of
Nicholas, now used independently.
Kreine
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Yiddish (Rare)
Other Scripts: קריינע(Yiddish)
Rating: 100% based on 1 vote
From Yiddish
קרוין (kroin) meaning
"crown".
Ksenia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Polish, Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian
Other Scripts: Ксения(Russian) Ксенія(Ukrainian, Belarusian)
Pronounced: KSEH-nya(Polish) KSYEH-nyi-yə(Russian)
Rating: 70% based on 6 votes
Polish form of
Xenia, as well as an alternate transcription of Russian
Ксения or Ukrainian/Belarusian
Ксенія (see
Kseniya).
Lallie
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: LAL-ee
Rating: 30% based on 4 votes
Lamia 2
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Λάμια(Ancient Greek)
Rating: 42% based on 5 votes
Possibly from Greek
λαιμός (laimos) meaning
"throat". In Greek
mythology this is the name of a queen of Libya who was a mistress of
Zeus.
Hera, being jealous, kills Lamia's children, causing her to go mad and transform into a monster that hunts the children of others.
Lark
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: LAHRK
Rating: 15% based on 2 votes
From the English word for the type of songbird.
Larry
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: LAR-ee, LEHR-ee
Rating: 15% based on 2 votes
Lee
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: LEE
Rating: 54% based on 5 votes
From a surname that was derived from Old English
leah meaning
"clearing". The surname belonged to Robert E. Lee (1807-1870), commander of the Confederate forces during the American Civil War. In his honour, it has been used as a given name in the American South. It is common as a middle name.
Leocadia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Spanish, Late Roman
Pronounced: leh-o-KA-dhya(Spanish)
Rating: 65% based on 6 votes
Late Latin name that might be derived from the name of the Greek island of
Leucadia or from Greek
λευκός (leukos) meaning
"bright, clear, white" (which is also the root of the island's name).
Saint Leocadia was a 3rd-century martyr from Spain.
Leonie
Gender: Feminine
Usage: German, Dutch
Pronounced: LEH-o-nee(German) leh-o-NEE(Dutch)
Rating: 65% based on 10 votes
German and Dutch feminine form of
Leonius.
Leslie
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: LEHZ-lee, LEHS-lee
Rating: 51% based on 8 votes
From a Scottish surname that was derived from a place in Aberdeenshire, probably from Gaelic leas celyn meaning "garden of holly". It has been used as a given name since the 19th century. In America it was more common as a feminine name after the 1940s.
Levi
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Hebrew, English, Dutch, German, Biblical, Biblical Latin
Other Scripts: לֵוִי(Hebrew)
Pronounced: LEE-vie(English) LEH-vee(Dutch)
Rating: 75% based on 6 votes
Possibly means
"joined, attached" in Hebrew. As told in the
Old Testament, Levi was the third son of
Jacob and
Leah, and the ancestor of one of the twelve tribes of the Israelites, known as the Levites. This was the tribe that formed the priestly class of the Israelites. The brothers
Moses and
Aaron were members. This name also occurs in the
New Testament, where it is borne by a son of
Alphaeus. He might be the same person as the apostle
Matthew.
As an English Christian name, Levi came into use after the Protestant Reformation.
Liana
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, English, Georgian
Other Scripts: ლიანა(Georgian)
Pronounced: LYA-na(Italian)
Rating: 100% based on 1 vote
Short form of
Juliana,
Liliana and other names that end in
liana. This is also the word for a type of vine that grows in jungles.
Lilibeth
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Rating: 73% based on 6 votes
Lillian
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: LIL-ee-ən
Rating: 84% based on 8 votes
Probably originally a
diminutive of
Elizabeth. It may also be considered an elaborated form of
Lily, from the Latin word for "lily"
lilium. This name has been used in England since the 16th century.
Lisbet
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Swedish, Danish, Norwegian
Rating: 57% based on 6 votes
Lishan
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: Amharic
Other Scripts: ሊሻን(Amharic)
Rating: 30% based on 3 votes
Means "award" in Amharic.
Lloyd
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: LOID
Rating: 50% based on 6 votes
From a Welsh surname that was derived from llwyd meaning "grey". The composer Andrew Lloyd Webber (1948-) is a famous bearer of this name.
Logan
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: LO-gən
Rating: 43% based on 6 votes
From a Scottish surname that was originally derived from a place in Ayrshire meaning
"little hollow" (from Gaelic
lag "hollow, pit" combined with a
diminutive suffix). This name started slowly rising on the American popularity charts in the mid-1970s, perhaps partly inspired by the movie
Logan's Run (1976). The comic book character Wolverine, alias Logan, was also introduced around the same time.
The name has been very common throughout the English-speaking world since end of the 20th century. In the United States it reached a high point in 2017, when it ranked as the fifth most popular name for boys.
Loveday
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (African), English (British, Rare), Cornish (Rare), Medieval English, Literature
Pronounced: LUV-day(English)
Rating: 60% based on 5 votes
Medieval form of the Old English name
Leofdæg, literally "beloved day". According to medieval English custom, a love day or
dies amoris was a day for disputants to come together to try to resolve their differences amicably. Mainly a feminine name, with some male usage. Known textual examples date from the 11th century. It seems to have been most common in Cornwall and Devon, according to the British births, deaths and marriages index. Currently very rare.
The novel Coming Home (1995) by Rosamunde Pilcher, set in 1930s Cornwall, has a character called Loveday. Loveday Minette is a fictional character in the children's fantasy novel The Little White Horse (1946) by Elizabeth Goudge (in the novel's film adaptation, she is known as Loveday de Noir). Also, a character in Poldark.
Łucja
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Polish
Pronounced: WOO-tsya
Rating: 70% based on 4 votes
Lucy
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: LOO-see
Rating: 85% based on 8 votes
English form of
Lucia, in use since the Middle Ages.
Lydia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, German, Dutch, Biblical, Biblical Latin, Biblical Greek [1]
Other Scripts: Λυδία(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: LID-ee-ə(English) LUY-dya(German) LEE-dee-ya(Dutch)
Rating: 90% based on 3 votes
Means
"from Lydia" in Greek. Lydia was a region on the west coast of Asia Minor, said to be named for the legendary king
Lydos. In the
New Testament this is the name of a woman converted to Christianity by
Saint Paul. In the modern era the name has been in use since the
Protestant Reformation.
Mackenzie
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: mə-KEHN-zee
Rating: 75% based on 2 votes
From a Scottish surname, an Anglicized form of Gaelic
Mac Coinnich, itself derived from the given name
Coinneach. As a feminine given name it was popularized by the American actress Mackenzie Phillips (1959-), especially after she began appearing on the television comedy
One Day at a Time in 1975. In the United Kingdom it is more common as a masculine name.
Maiken
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Danish, Norwegian
Rating: 64% based on 5 votes
Malcolm
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Scottish, English
Pronounced: MAL-kəm(English)
Rating: 52% based on 6 votes
Anglicized form of Scottish Gaelic
Máel Coluim, which means
"disciple of Saint Columba". This was the name of four kings of Scotland starting in the 10th century, including Malcolm III, who became king after killing
Macbeth, the usurper who had defeated his father
Duncan. The character Malcolm in Shakespeare's tragedy
Macbeth (1606) is loosely based on him. Another famous bearer was Malcolm X (1925-1965), an American civil rights leader.
Mallory
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: MAL-ə-ree
Rating: 50% based on 7 votes
From an English surname that meant "unfortunate" in Norman French. It first became common in the 1980s due to the American sitcom Family Ties (1982-1989), which featured a character by this name.
Malou
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Danish
Rating: 53% based on 3 votes
Mamie
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: MAY-mee
Rating: 50% based on 6 votes
Maple
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: MAY-pəl
Rating: 20% based on 2 votes
From the English word for the tree (comprising the genus Acer), derived from Old English mapul. This is the name of a girl in Robert Frost's poem Maple (1923) who wonders about the origin of her unusual name.
Marceline
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French
Pronounced: MAR-SU-LEEN
Rating: 58% based on 6 votes
Marianne
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French, English, German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish
Pronounced: MA-RYAN(French) mar-ee-AN(English) ma-RYA-nə(German) ma-ree-YAH-nə(Dutch) MAH-ree-ahn-neh(Finnish)
Rating: 72% based on 6 votes
Combination of
Marie and
Anne 1, though it could also be considered a variant of
Mariana or
Mariamne. Shortly after the formation of the French Republic in 1792, a female figure by this name was adopted as the symbol of the state.
Marigold
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: MAR-i-gold, MEHR-i-gold
Rating: 63% based on 6 votes
From the name of the flower, which comes from a combination of
Mary and the English word
gold.
Marjolaine
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French
Pronounced: MAR-ZHAW-LEHN
Rating: 53% based on 4 votes
Means "marjoram" in French, from Latin maiorana. Marjoram is a minty herb.
Mary
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Biblical
Pronounced: MEHR-ee(English) MAR-ee(English)
Rating: 100% based on 1 vote
Usual English form of
Maria, the Latin form of the
New Testament Greek names
Μαριάμ (Mariam) and
Μαρία (Maria) — the spellings are interchangeable — which were from Hebrew
מִרְיָם (Miryam), a name borne by the sister of
Moses in the
Old Testament. The meaning is not known for certain, but there are several theories including
"sea of bitterness",
"rebelliousness", and
"wished for child". However it was most likely originally an Egyptian name, perhaps derived in part from
mry "beloved" or
mr "love".
This is the name of several New Testament characters, most importantly Mary the mother of Jesus. According to the gospels, Jesus was conceived in her by the Holy Spirit while she remained a virgin. This name was also borne by Mary Magdalene, a woman cured of demons by Jesus. She became one of his followers and later witnessed his crucifixion and resurrection.
Due to the Virgin Mary this name has been very popular in the Christian world, though at certain times in some cultures it has been considered too holy for everyday use. In England it has been used since the 12th century, and it has been among the most common feminine names since the 16th century. In the United States in 1880 it was given more than twice as often as the next most popular name for girls (Anna). It remained in the top rank in America until 1946 when it was bumped to second (by Linda). Although it regained the top spot for a few more years in the 1950s it was already falling in usage, and has since dropped out of the top 100 names.
This name has been borne by two queens of England, as well as a queen of Scotland, Mary Queen of Scots. Another notable bearer was Mary Shelley (1797-1851), the author of Frankenstein. A famous fictional character by this name is Mary Poppins from the children's books by P. L. Travers, first published in 1934.
The Latinized form of this name, Maria, is also used in English as well as in several other languages.
Mason
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: MAY-sən
Rating: 100% based on 1 vote
From an English surname (or vocabulary word) meaning "stoneworker", derived from an Old French word of Frankish origin (akin to Old English macian "to make"). In the United States this name began to increase in popularity in the 1980s, likely because of its fashionable sound. It jumped in popularity after 2009 when Kourtney Kardashian and Scott Disick gave it to their son, as featured on their reality show Keeping Up with the Kardashians in 2010. It peaked as the second most popular name for boys in 2011.
Maud
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, French, Dutch, Swedish
Pronounced: MAWD(English) MOD(French) MOWT(Dutch)
Rating: 66% based on 5 votes
Medieval English and French form of
Matilda. Though it became rare after the 14th century, it was revived and once more grew popular in the 19th century, perhaps due to Alfred Tennyson's 1855 poem
Maud [1].
Maurice
Gender: Masculine
Usage: French, English
Pronounced: MAW-REES(French) maw-REES(English) MAWR-is(English)
Rating: 57% based on 7 votes
From the Roman name
Mauritius, a derivative of
Maurus.
Saint Maurice was a 3rd-century Roman soldier from Egypt. He and the other Christians in his legion were supposedly massacred on the orders of Emperor Maximian for refusing to worship Roman gods. Thus, he is the patron saint of infantry soldiers.
This name was borne by a 6th-century Byzantine emperor. Another notable bearer was Maurice of Nassau (called Maurits in Dutch), a 17th-century prince of Orange who helped establish the Dutch Republic. The name has been used in England since the Norman Conquest, usually in the spelling Morris or Moris.
Mavis
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: MAY-vis
Rating: 56% based on 8 votes
From the name of the type of bird, also called the song thrush, derived from Old French mauvis, of uncertain origin. It was first used as a given name by the British author Marie Corelli, who used it for a character in her novel The Sorrows of Satan (1895).
Maximilian
Gender: Masculine
Usage: German, English, Swedish, Norwegian (Rare), Danish (Rare)
Pronounced: mak-see-MEE-lee-an(German) mak-sə-MIL-yən(English)
Rating: 100% based on 1 vote
From the Roman name
Maximilianus, which was derived from
Maximus. It was borne by a 3rd-century
saint and martyr. In the 15th century the Holy Roman emperor Frederick III gave this name to his son and eventual heir. In this case it was a blend of the names of the Roman generals Fabius Maximus and Cornelius Scipio Aemilianus (see
Emiliano), whom Frederick admired. It was subsequently borne by a second Holy Roman emperor, two kings of Bavaria, and a short-lived Habsburg emperor of Mexico.
May
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: MAY
Rating: 75% based on 2 votes
Derived from the name of the month of May, which derives from
Maia, the name of a Roman goddess. May is also another name of the hawthorn flower. It is also used as a
diminutive of
Mary,
Margaret or
Mabel.
Mazel
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Yiddish
Rating: 0% based on 1 vote
In Hebrew, the word is generally transliterated as mazal, and literally refers to a "star" or "planet in the night sky" or "zodiac constellation." It came to mean "lucky" in medieval times due to the widespread belief in astrology and that the planets and constellations can influence one's fate.
Meg
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: MEHG
Rating: 0% based on 1 vote
Merle
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Medieval Jewish, Yiddish (Archaic)
Rating: 100% based on 1 vote
Recorded in 16th-century Frankfurt, Germany.
Merle
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English, Estonian
Pronounced: MURL(English)
Rating: 75% based on 2 votes
From the English word
merle or the French surname
Merle, which both mean
"blackbird" (from Latin
merula). It was borne by the devious character Madame Merle (in fact her surname) in Henry James' novel
The Portrait of a Lady (1880).
This name is also common for girls in Estonia, though a connection to the English-language name is uncertain.
Merrick
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: MEHR-ik
Rating: 0% based on 1 vote
From a Welsh surname that was originally derived from the given name
Meurig.
Micah
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Biblical, English
Other Scripts: מִיכָה(Ancient Hebrew)
Pronounced: MIE-kə(English)
Rating: 75% based on 6 votes
Contracted form of
Micaiah. Micah is one of the twelve minor prophets of the
Old Testament. He authored the Book of Micah, which alternates between prophesies of doom and prophesies of restoration. This is also the name of a separate person in the Book of Judges, the keeper of an idol. It was occasionally used as an English given name by the
Puritans after the
Protestant Reformation, but it did not become common until the end of the 20th century.
Micheline
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French
Pronounced: MEESH-LEEN
Rating: 47% based on 3 votes
Milou
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Dutch
Pronounced: mee-LOO
Rating: 50% based on 3 votes
Short form of
Marie-Louise. This is the name of a (male) dog in the French-language Belgian comic series
The Adventures of Tintin by Hergé, first appearing in 1929. He is named
Snowy in the English version and
Bobbie in the Dutch version.
Milton
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, Spanish (Latin American)
Pronounced: MIL-tən(English) MEEL-ton(Spanish)
Rating: 0% based on 2 votes
From an English surname that was derived from a place name meaning "mill town" in Old English. A famous bearer of the surname was John Milton (1608-1674), the poet who wrote Paradise Lost.
Mirabelle
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French (Rare), English (Rare)
Rating: 80% based on 5 votes
Derived from Latin mirabilis meaning "wonderful". This name was coined during the Middle Ages, though it eventually died out. It was briefly revived in the 19th century.
Miranda
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Dutch
Pronounced: mi-RAN-də(English) mee-RAHN-da(Dutch)
Rating: 79% based on 7 votes
Derived from Latin
mirandus meaning
"admirable, worthy of being admired". The name was created by Shakespeare for the heroine in his play
The Tempest (1611), in which Miranda and her father
Prospero are stranded on an island. It did not become a common English given name until the 20th century. This is also the name of one of the moons of Uranus, named after the Shakespearean character.
Mneme
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Μνήμη(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: MNEH-MEH(Classical Greek) NEE-mee(English)
Rating: 47% based on 3 votes
Means
"memory" in Greek. In Greek
mythology she was one of the original three muses, the muse of memory.
Moira
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Irish, Scottish, English
Pronounced: MOI-rə(English)
Rating: 48% based on 5 votes
Anglicized form of
Máire. It also coincides with Greek
Μοῖρα (Moira) meaning "fate, destiny", the singular of
Μοῖραι, the Greek name for the Fates. They were the three female personifications of destiny in Greek
mythology.
Nadia 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French, Italian, Spanish, English, Russian, Bulgarian, Ukrainian
Other Scripts: Надя(Russian, Bulgarian) Надія(Ukrainian)
Pronounced: NA-DYA(French) NA-dya(Italian) NA-dhya(Spanish) NAD-ee-ə(English) NAHD-ee-ə(English) NA-dyə(Russian)
Rating: 76% based on 7 votes
Variant of
Nadya 1 used in Western Europe, as well as an alternate transcription of the Slavic name. It began to be used in France in the 19th century
[1]. The name received a boost in popularity from the Romanian gymnast Nadia Comăneci (1961-)
[2].
Nadine
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French, German, English, Dutch
Pronounced: NA-DEEN(French) na-DEE-nə(German, Dutch) na-DEEN(German, Dutch) nay-DEEN(English)
Rating: 65% based on 8 votes
Nadzieja
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Polish
Pronounced: na-JEH-ya
Rating: 68% based on 5 votes
Nancy
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: NAN-see
Rating: 63% based on 7 votes
Previously a medieval
diminutive of
Annis, though since the 18th century it has been a diminutive of
Ann. It is now usually regarded as an independent name. During the 20th century it became very popular in the United States. A city in the Lorraine region of France bears this name, though it derives from a different source.
Naomi 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Hebrew, Biblical
Other Scripts: נָעֳמִי(Hebrew)
Pronounced: nay-O-mee(English) nie-O-mee(English)
Rating: 90% based on 3 votes
From the Hebrew name
נָעֳמִי (Naʿomi) meaning
"my pleasantness", a derivative of
נָעַם (naʿam) meaning "to be pleasant". In the
Old Testament this is the name of the mother-in-law of
Ruth. After the death of her husband and sons, she returned to Bethlehem with Ruth. There she declared that her name should be
Mara because of her misfortune (see
Ruth 1:20).
Though long common as a Jewish name, Naomi was not typically used as an English Christian name until after the Protestant Reformation. A notable bearer is the British model Naomi Campbell (1970-).
Neasa
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Irish, Irish Mythology
Pronounced: NYA-sə(Irish)
Rating: 52% based on 5 votes
From Old Irish
Ness, meaning uncertain. In Irish legend she was the mother of
Conchobar. She installed her son as king of Ulster by convincing
Fergus mac Róich (her husband and Conchobar's stepfather) to give up his throne to the boy for a year and then helping him rule so astutely that the Ulstermen demanded that he remain as king. According to some versions of the legend she was originally named
Assa "gentle", but was renamed
Ní-assa "not gentle" after she sought to avenge the murders of her foster fathers.
Ned
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: NEHD
Rating: 80% based on 2 votes
Diminutive of
Edward or
Edmund. It has been used since the 14th century, and may have had root in the medieval affectionate phrase
mine Ed, which was later reinterpreted as
my Ned.
Nell
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: NEHL
Rating: 46% based on 5 votes
Medieval
diminutive of names beginning with
El, such as
Eleanor,
Ellen 1 or
Helen. It may have arisen from the medieval affectionate phrase
mine El, which was later reinterpreted as
my Nel.
Niamh
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Irish, Irish Mythology
Pronounced: NYEEW(Irish) NYEEV(Irish)
Rating: 82% based on 6 votes
Means
"bright" in Irish. She was the daughter of the sea god
Manannán mac Lir in Irish legends. She fell in love with the poet
Oisín, the son of
Fionn mac Cumhaill. It has been used as a given name for people only since the early 20th century.
Niebiana
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Polish (Rare, Archaic)
Pronounced: nyeh-BYAH-nah
Rating: 20% based on 3 votes
A very rare name, it appears on the Polish calendar, seems to be a pre-Christian name, derived from niebo (heaven; sky) or niebieskie (blue).
Nikki
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: NIK-ee
Rating: 55% based on 6 votes
Nina 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Russian, Italian, English, German, French, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Lithuanian, Dutch, Polish, Slovene, Czech, Slovak, Croatian, Serbian, Bulgarian, Ukrainian, Belarusian
Other Scripts: Нина(Russian, Serbian, Bulgarian) Ніна(Ukrainian, Belarusian)
Pronounced: NYEE-nə(Russian) NEE-na(Italian, German, Slovak) NEE-nə(English) NEE-NA(French) NEE-nah(Finnish) nyi-NU(Lithuanian) NYEE-na(Polish) NI-na(Czech)
Rating: 0% based on 1 vote
Short form of names that end in
nina, such as
Antonina or
Giannina. It was imported to Western Europe from Russia and Italy in the 19th century. This name also nearly coincides with the Spanish word
niña meaning
"little girl" (the word is pronounced differently than the name).
A famous bearer was the American jazz musician Nina Simone (1933-2003).
Olga
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Russian, Ukrainian, Polish, German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Icelandic, Finnish, Estonian, Latvian, Hungarian, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Romanian, Czech, Slovene, Serbian, Bulgarian, Greek
Other Scripts: Ольга(Russian, Ukrainian) Олга(Serbian, Bulgarian) Όλγα(Greek)
Pronounced: OL-gə(Russian) AWL-ga(Polish, German) AWL-ka(Icelandic) OL-gaw(Hungarian) OL-gha(Spanish) OL-ga(Czech)
Rating: 60% based on 4 votes
Russian form of the Old Norse name
Helga. The 10th-century
Saint Olga was the wife of
Igor I, the ruler of Kievan Rus (a state based around the city of Kyiv). Like her husband she was probably a Varangian, who were Norse people who settled in Eastern Europe beginning in the 9th century. Following Igor's death she ruled as regent for her son
Svyatoslav for 18 years. After she was baptized in Constantinople she attempted to convert her subjects to Christianity, though this goal was only achieved by her grandson
Vladimir.
Oliver
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Estonian, Catalan, Serbian, Croatian, Macedonian, Czech, Slovak, Carolingian Cycle
Other Scripts: Оливер(Serbian, Macedonian)
Pronounced: AHL-i-vər(English) O-lee-vu(German) O-lee-vehr(Finnish) oo-lee-BEH(Catalan) O-li-vehr(Czech) AW-lee-vehr(Slovak)
Rating: 0% based on 1 vote
From Old French
Olivier, which was possibly derived from Latin
oliva "olive tree" [1]. Alternatively there could be an underlying Germanic name, such as Old Norse
Áleifr (see
Olaf) or Frankish
Alawar (see
Álvaro), with the spelling altered by association with the Latin word. In the Middle Ages the name became well-known in Western Europe because of the French epic
La Chanson de Roland, in which Olivier is a friend and advisor to the hero
Roland.
In England Oliver was a common medieval name, however it became rare after the 17th century because of the military commander Oliver Cromwell, who ruled the country following the civil war. The name was revived in the 19th century, perhaps due in part to the title character in Charles Dickens' novel Oliver Twist (1838), about a poor orphan living on the streets of London. It became very popular at the beginning of the 21st century, reaching the top rank for boys in England and Wales in 2009 and entering the top ten in the United States in 2017.
Oona
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Irish, Finnish
Pronounced: OO-nə(English) O-nah(Finnish)
Rating: 0% based on 1 vote
Anglicized form of
Úna, as well as a Finnish form.
Opal
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: O-pəl
Rating: 55% based on 4 votes
From the English word
opal for the iridescent gemstone, the birthstone of October. The word ultimately derives from Sanskrit
उपल (upala) meaning "jewel".
Oriana
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, Spanish
Pronounced: o-RYA-na
Rating: 43% based on 4 votes
Possibly derived from Latin
aurum "gold" or from its derivatives, Spanish
oro or French
or. In medieval legend Oriana was the daughter of a king of England who married the knight
Amadis.
Orion
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Ὠρίων(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: AW-REE-AWN(Classical Greek) o-RIE-ən(English)
Rating: 100% based on 1 vote
Meaning uncertain, but possibly related to Greek
ὅριον (horion) meaning
"boundary, limit". Alternatively it may be derived from Akkadian
Uru-anna meaning
"light of the heavens". This is the name of a constellation, which gets its name from a legendary Greek hunter who was killed by a scorpion sent by the earth goddess
Gaia.
Orit
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Hebrew
Other Scripts: אוֹרִית(Hebrew)
Rating: 25% based on 2 votes
Means "light" in Hebrew.
Orlando
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Carolingian Cycle
Pronounced: or-LAN-do(Italian, Spanish)
Rating: 100% based on 1 vote
Italian form of
Roland, as used in the epic poems
Orlando Innamorato (1483) by Matteo Maria Boiardo and the continuation
Orlando Furioso (1532) by Ludovico Ariosto. In the poems, Orlando is a knight in
Charlemagne's army who battles against the invading Saracens. A character in Shakespeare's play
As You Like It (1599) also bears this name, as does a city in Florida.
Osanna
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian
Pronounced: o-ZAN-na
Rating: 100% based on 1 vote
Italian form of
Hosanna. This was the name of a 15th-century Italian
saint and mystic, as well as a 16th-century Montenegrin saint.
Percy
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: PUR-see
Rating: 60% based on 5 votes
From an English surname that was derived from the name of a Norman town
Perci, which was itself perhaps derived from a Gaulish given name that was Latinized as
Persius. The surname was borne by a noble English family, and it first used as a given name in their honour. A famous bearer was Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822), an English romantic poet whose works include
Adonais and
Ozymandias. This name can also be used as a short form of
Percival.
Peregrine
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: PEHR-ə-grin
Rating: 100% based on 1 vote
From the Late Latin name
Peregrinus, which meant
"traveller". This was the name of several early
saints.
Phaenna
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Φαέννα(Ancient Greek)
Rating: 100% based on 1 vote
Derived from Greek
φαεινός (phaeinos) meaning
"shining". According to some Greek myths this was the name of one of the three Graces or
Χάριτες (Charites).
Pollyanna
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Literature
Pronounced: pahl-ee-AN-ə(English)
Rating: 100% based on 1 vote
Combination of
Polly and
Anna. This was the name of the main character in Eleanor H. Porter's novel
Pollyanna (1913).
Posie
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: PO-zee
Rating: 30% based on 2 votes
Rafferty
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: RAF-ər-tee
Rating: 50% based on 2 votes
From an Irish surname, itself derived from the given name Rabhartach meaning "flood tide".
Rahat
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Arabic, Urdu
Other Scripts: راحة(Arabic) راحت(Urdu)
Rating: 50% based on 2 votes
Means "rest, comfort" in Arabic.
Raisa 2
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Yiddish
Other Scripts: רייזאַ(Yiddish)
Rating: 52% based on 5 votes
From Yiddish
רויז (roiz) meaning
"rose".
Raisel
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Yiddish (Rare)
Other Scripts: רייזל(Yiddish)
Rating: 50% based on 2 votes
Raleigh
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: RAW-lee, RAH-lee
Rating: 53% based on 3 votes
From an English surname that was derived from a place name meaning either "red clearing" or "roe deer clearing" in Old English. A city in North Carolina bears this name, after the English courtier, poet and explorer Walter Raleigh (1552-1618).
Regina
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Lithuanian, Estonian, Polish, Czech, Slovak, Hungarian, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Late Roman
Pronounced: ri-JEE-nə(English) ri-JIE-nə(English) reh-GEE-na(German, Polish) reh-JEE-na(Italian) reh-KHEE-na(Spanish) ryeh-gyi-NU(Lithuanian) REH-gi-na(Czech) REH-gee-naw(Hungarian)
Rating: 54% based on 7 votes
Means
"queen" in Latin (or Italian). It was in use as a Christian name from early times, and was borne by a 2nd-century
saint. In England it was used during the Middle Ages in honour of the Virgin
Mary, and it was later revived in the 19th century. A city in Canada bears this name, in honour of Queen Victoria.
Remington
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: REHM-ing-tən
Rating: 50% based on 2 votes
From an English surname that was derived from the name of the town of Rimington in Lancashire, itself meaning "settlement on the Riming stream". It may be given in honour of the American manufacturer Eliphalet Remington (1793-1861) or his sons, founders of the firearms company that bears their name.
Rita
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, English, German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Estonian, Hungarian, Spanish, Portuguese, Latvian, Lithuanian
Pronounced: REE-ta(Italian, German, Spanish) REET-ə(English) REE-taw(Hungarian) ryi-TU(Lithuanian)
Rating: 51% based on 7 votes
Short form of
Margherita and other names ending in
rita.
Saint Rita (born Margherita Lotti) was a 15th-century nun from Cascia, Italy. Another famous bearer was the American actress Rita Hayworth (1918-1987).
Rixa
Gender: Feminine
Usage: German (Rare), Low German, Frisian
Pronounced: RIKS-a(German)
Rating: 50% based on 5 votes
Low German and Frisian short form of names beginning with the element
ric.
Romilly
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (British, Rare)
Rating: 57% based on 6 votes
From an English surname that was derived from the name of various Norman towns, themselves from the given name
Romilius.
Romy
Gender: Feminine
Usage: German, Dutch, French, English
Pronounced: RO-mee(German, Dutch, English)
Rating: 52% based on 5 votes
Roxana
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Spanish, Romanian, Ancient Greek (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Ῥωξάνη(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: rahk-SAN-ə(English) rok-SA-na(Spanish)
Rating: 63% based on 4 votes
Latin form of
Ῥωξάνη (Rhoxane), the Greek form of an Old Persian or Bactrian name, from Old Iranian *
rauxšnā meaning
"bright, shining" [1]. This was the name of Alexander the Great's first wife, a daughter of the Bactrian nobleman Oxyartes. In the modern era it came into use during the 17th century. In the English-speaking world it was popularized by Daniel Defoe, who used it in his novel
Roxana (1724).
Rudy
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: ROO-dee
Rating: 42% based on 6 votes
Russell
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: RUS-əl
Rating: 40% based on 4 votes
From an English surname, of Norman origin, meaning
"little red one" (a
diminutive of Old French
rous "red"). A notable bearer of the surname was the agnostic British philosopher Bertrand Russell (1872-1970), who wrote on many subjects including logic, epistemology and mathematics. He was also a political activist for causes such as pacifism and women's rights.
This name was common throughout the English-speaking world for most of the 20th century, though in the 1960s it began a slow decline in most places.
Salome
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare), German (Rare), Georgian, Biblical, Biblical Latin, Biblical Greek [1]
Other Scripts: სალომე(Georgian) Σαλώμη(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: sə-LO-mee(English)
Rating: 0% based on 1 vote
From an Aramaic name that was related to the Hebrew word
שָׁלוֹם (shalom) meaning
"peace". According to the historian Josephus this was the name of the daughter of
Herodias (the consort of Herod Antipas, the tetrarch of Galilee). In the
New Testament, though a specific name is not given, it was a daughter of Herodias who danced for Herod and was rewarded with the head of
John the Baptist, and thus Salome and the dancer have traditionally been equated.
As a Christian given name, Salome has been in occasional use since the Protestant Reformation. This was due to a second person of this name in the New Testament: one of the women who witnessed the crucifixion and later discovered that Jesus' tomb was empty. It is used in Georgia due to the 4th-century Salome of Ujarma, who is considered a saint in the Georgian Church.
Samson
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Biblical, English, French, Biblical Latin
Other Scripts: שִׁםְשׁוֹן(Ancient Hebrew)
Pronounced: SAM-sən(English) SAHN-SAWN(French)
From the Hebrew name
שִׁםְשׁוֹן (Shimshon), derived from
שֶׁמֶשׁ (shemesh) meaning "sun". Samson was an
Old Testament hero granted exceptional strength by God. His mistress
Delilah betrayed him and cut his hair, stripping him of his power. Thus he was captured by the Philistines, blinded, and brought to their temple. However, in a final act of strength, he pulled down the pillars of the temple upon himself and his captors.
This name was known among the Normans due to the Welsh bishop Saint Samson, who founded monasteries in Brittany and Normandy in the 6th century. In his case, the name may have been a translation of his true Celtic name. As an English name, Samson was common during the Middle Ages, having been introduced by the Normans. It is currently most common in Africa, especially in countries that have an British colonial past.
Saskia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Dutch, German
Pronounced: SAHS-kee-a(Dutch) ZAS-kya(German)
Rating: 88% based on 6 votes
From the Old German element
sahso meaning
"a Saxon". The Saxons were a Germanic tribe, their name ultimately deriving from the Germanic word *
sahsą meaning "knife". Saskia van Uylenburgh (1612-1642) was the wife of the Dutch painter Rembrandt.
Savannah
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: sə-VAN-ə
Rating: 0% based on 1 vote
From the English word for the large grassy plain, ultimately deriving from the Taino (Native American) word zabana. It came into use as a given name in America in the 19th century. It was revived in the 1980s by the movie Savannah Smiles (1982).
Saylor
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: SAY-lər
Rating: 0% based on 1 vote
From an English surname that was derived from Old French sailleor meaning "acrobat, dancer". As a modern English given name it could also come from the homophone vocabulary word sailor.
Shifra
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Hebrew, Biblical Hebrew [1]
Other Scripts: שִׁףְרָה(Hebrew)
Shira
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Hebrew
Other Scripts: שִׁירָה(Hebrew)
Rating: 83% based on 4 votes
Means "singing" in Hebrew.
Shirley
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: SHUR-lee
Rating: 56% based on 5 votes
From an English surname that was originally derived from a place name meaning "bright clearing" in Old English. This is the name of a main character in Charlotte Brontë's semi-autobiographical novel Shirley (1849). Though the name was already popular in the United States, the child actress Shirley Temple (1928-2014) gave it a further boost. By 1935 it was the second most common name for girls.
Sidony
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Archaic)
Rating: 78% based on 4 votes
Feminine form of
Sidonius. This name was in use in the Middle Ages, when it became associated with the word
sindon (of Greek origin) meaning "linen", a reference to the Shroud of Turin.
Sigrid
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Norwegian, Swedish, Danish, German, Estonian, Finnish (Archaic)
Pronounced: SEE-grid(Swedish) SEEG-reed(Finnish)
Rating: 72% based on 6 votes
From the Old Norse name
Sigríðr, which was derived from the elements
sigr "victory" and
fríðr "beautiful, beloved".
Silje
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Norwegian, Danish
Rating: 38% based on 4 votes
Silver
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: SIL-vər
Rating: 0% based on 1 vote
From the English word for the precious metal or the colour, ultimately derived from Old English seolfor.
Síofra
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Irish
Pronounced: SHEE-frə
Rating: 80% based on 5 votes
Means "elf, sprite" in Irish. This name was created in the 20th century.
Sissel
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Norwegian
Rating: 30% based on 3 votes
Smilla
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Danish, Swedish, Literature
Rating: 35% based on 2 votes
Invented by the Danish author Peter Høeg for the heroine of his novel
Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow (1992). In the book the name is explained as a short form of
Smillaaraq, a blend of Danish
smil "smile" and the Greenlandic name
Miillaaraq.
Solenn
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Breton
Rating: 48% based on 5 votes
Somerled
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Old Norse (Anglicized)
Rating: 100% based on 1 vote
Anglicized form of the Old Norse name Sumarliði meaning "summer traveller". This was the name of a 12th-century Norse-Gaelic king of Mann and the Scottish Isles.
Sparrow
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: SPAR-o, SPEHR-o
Rating: 0% based on 1 vote
From the name of the bird, ultimately from Old English spearwa.
Stacey
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: STAY-see
Rating: 23% based on 4 votes
Stanley
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: STAN-lee
Rating: 40% based on 4 votes
From an English surname meaning
"stone clearing" (Old English
stan "stone" and
leah "woodland, clearing"). A notable bearer of the surname was the British-American explorer and journalist Henry Morton Stanley (1841-1904), the man who found David Livingstone in Africa. As a given name, it was borne by American director Stanley Kubrick (1928-1999), as well as the character Stanley Kowalski in Tennessee Williams' play
A Streetcar Named Desire (1947).
Starla
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: STAHR-lə
Stella 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Italian, Dutch, German
Pronounced: STEHL-ə(English) STEHL-la(Italian) STEH-la(Dutch)
Rating: 77% based on 6 votes
Means "star" in Latin. This name was created by the 16th-century poet Philip Sidney for the subject of his collection of sonnets Astrophel and Stella. It was a nickname of a lover of Jonathan Swift, real name Esther Johnson (1681-1728), though it was not commonly used as a given name until the 19th century. It appears in Tennessee Williams' play A Streetcar Named Desire (1947), belonging to the sister of Blanche DuBois and the wife of Stanley Kowalski.
Sterling
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: STUR-ling
Rating: 100% based on 1 vote
From a Scots surname that was derived from city of Stirling, which is itself of unknown meaning. The name can also be given in reference to the English word sterling meaning "excellent". In this case, the word derives from sterling silver, which was so named because of the emblem that some Norman coins bore, from Old English meaning "little star".
Stessie
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French (Modern, Rare)
Rating: 50% based on 2 votes
French borrowing of
Stacy.
Stirling
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: STUR-ling
From a surname that was a variant
Sterling. This is the name of a city in Scotland.
Sullivan
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, French
Pronounced: SUL-i-vən(English)
Rating: 20% based on 2 votes
From an Irish surname, the Anglicized form of
Ó Súileabháin, itself from the given name
Súileabhán, which was derived from Irish
súil "eye" and
dubh "dark, black" combined with a
diminutive suffix. This name has achieved a moderate level of popularity in France since the 1970s. In the United States it was rare before the 1990s, after which it began climbing steadily. A famous fictional bearer of the surname was James P. Sullivan from the animated movie
Monsters, Inc. (2001).
Summer
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: SUM-ər
Rating: 60% based on 6 votes
From the name of the season, ultimately from Old English sumor. It has been in use as a given name since the 1970s.
Sunny
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: SUN-ee
Rating: 50% based on 2 votes
From the English word meaning "sunny, cheerful".
Susanna
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, Catalan, Swedish, Finnish, Russian, Ukrainian, Dutch, English, Armenian, Biblical, Biblical Latin, Old Church Slavic
Other Scripts: Сусанна(Russian, Ukrainian) Սուսաննա(Armenian) שׁוֹשַׁנָּה(Ancient Hebrew) Сꙋсанна(Church Slavic)
Pronounced: soo-ZAN-na(Italian) soo-ZAN-nə(Catalan) suy-SAN-na(Swedish) SOO-sahn-nah(Finnish) suw-SAN-nə(Russian) suw-SAN-nu(Ukrainian) suy-SAH-na(Dutch) soo-ZAN-ə(English)
Rating: 88% based on 8 votes
From
Σουσάννα (Sousanna), the Greek form of the Hebrew name
שׁוֹשַׁנָּה (Shoshanna). This was derived from the Hebrew word
שׁוֹשָׁן (shoshan) meaning
"lily" (in modern Hebrew this also means
"rose"), perhaps ultimately from Egyptian
sšn "lotus". In the
Old Testament Apocrypha this is the name of a woman falsely accused of adultery. The prophet
Daniel clears her name by tricking her accusers, who end up being condemned themselves. It also occurs in the
New Testament belonging to a woman who ministers to
Jesus.
As an English name, it was occasionally used during the Middle Ages in honour of the Old Testament heroine. It did not become common until after the Protestant Reformation, at which time it was often spelled Susan.
Sylvia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish
Pronounced: SIL-vee-ə(English) SIL-vee-ya(Dutch) SUYL-vee-ah(Finnish)
Rating: 79% based on 7 votes
Variant of
Silvia. This has been the most common English spelling since the 19th century.
Ted
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: TEHD
Short form of
Edward or
Theodore. A famous bearer was the American baseball player Ted Williams (1918-2002), who was born as Theodore.
Tekla
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Swedish, Latvian, Georgian, Hungarian, Polish (Archaic)
Other Scripts: თეკლა(Georgian)
Pronounced: TEHK-law(Hungarian)
Rating: 23% based on 3 votes
Form of
Thekla in several languages.
Tenney
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Medieval English
Rating: 5% based on 2 votes
Tetsy
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Medieval English
Thecla
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Dutch (Rare), Late Greek (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Θέκλα(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: TEH-kla(Dutch) TEHK-la(Dutch)
Rating: 23% based on 3 votes
Thekla
Gender: Feminine
Usage: German (Rare), Greek (Rare), Late Greek [1]
Other Scripts: Θέκλα(Greek)
Rating: 38% based on 4 votes
From the ancient Greek name
Θεόκλεια (Theokleia), which meant
"glory of God" from the Greek elements
θεός (theos) meaning "god" and
κλέος (kleos) meaning "glory". This was the name of a 1st-century
saint, appearing (as
Θέκλα) 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.
Thomas
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, French, German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Greek, Biblical, Biblical Latin, Biblical Greek [1]
Other Scripts: Θωμάς(Greek) Θωμᾶς(Ancient Greek) തോമസ്(Malayalam)
Pronounced: TAHM-əs(American English) TAWM-əs(British English) TAW-MA(French) TO-mas(German) TO-mahs(Dutch) tho-MAS(Greek)
Rating: 93% based on 3 votes
Greek form of the Aramaic name
תְּאוֹמָא (Teʾoma) meaning
"twin". In the
New Testament this is the name of an apostle. When he heard that
Jesus had risen from the dead he initially doubted the story, until Jesus appeared before him and he examined his wounds himself. According to tradition he was martyred in India. Due to his renown, the name came into general use in the Christian world.
In England the name was used by the Normans and became very popular due to Saint Thomas Becket, a 12th-century archbishop of Canterbury and martyr. It was reliably among the top five most common English names for boys from the 13th to the 19th century, and it has remained consistently popular to this day.
Another notable saint by this name was the 13th-century Italian philosopher and theologian Thomas Aquinas, who is regarded as a Doctor of the Church. Other famous bearers include philosopher Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679), American president Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826), novelist Thomas Hardy (1840-1928), and inventor Thomas Edison (1847-1931).
Thorley
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: THAWR-lee
Rating: 28% based on 4 votes
From a surname that was derived from a place name meaning "thorn clearing" in Old English.
Tilhi
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: Finnish (Modern, Rare)
Pronounced: TIL-hi
Rating: 50% based on 2 votes
Means "(Bohemian) waxwing" (Bombycilla garrulus) in Finnish.
Tindra
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Swedish (Modern)
Rating: 80% based on 1 vote
Means "to twinkle, to sparkle" in Swedish.
Toby
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: TO-bee
Rating: 59% based on 8 votes
Medieval form of
Tobias. It was sometimes used as a feminine name in the 1930s and 40s due to the influence of American actress Toby Wing (1915-2001).
Tuesday
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: TYOOZ-day, TOOZ-day, CHOOZ-day
Rating: 25% based on 2 votes
From the English word for the day of the week, which derives from Old English
tiwesdæg meaning "
Tiw's day".
Tulip
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: TOO-lip, TYOO-lip
Rating: 50% based on 4 votes
From the name of the flower. Ultimately from Persian
dulband, "turban", from the shape of the opened flower.
As a given name, it has been occasionally used from the 19th century onwards.
Twila
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: TWIE-lə
Rating: 48% based on 4 votes
Meaning unknown. Perhaps based on the English word
twilight, or maybe from a Cajun pronunciation of French
étoile "star"
[1]. It came into use as an American given name in the late 19th century.
Twinkle
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: TWEENG-kul
Rating: 30% based on 4 votes
From the English word "twinkle", ultimately from Old English twincan, "to blink".
Tzeitel
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Yiddish (Rare)
Other Scripts: צייטל(Yiddish)
Rating: 50% based on 2 votes
Yiddish
diminutive of
Sarah. This is the name of Tevye's oldest daughter in the musical
Fiddler on the Roof (1964), based on Sholem Aleichem's stories from the late 19th century.
Valya
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Russian, Bulgarian
Other Scripts: Валя(Russian, Bulgarian)
Pronounced: VA-lyə(Russian)
Rating: 0% based on 1 vote
Veerle
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Dutch
Pronounced: VEHR-lə
Rating: 40% based on 3 votes
Vera 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Russian, English, German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Dutch, Portuguese, Italian, Spanish, Hungarian, Slovene, Serbian, Croatian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Belarusian, Georgian
Other Scripts: Вера(Russian, Serbian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Belarusian) ვერა(Georgian)
Pronounced: VYEH-rə(Russian) VEE-rə(English) VEHR-ə(English) VEH-ra(German, Dutch) VEH-rah(Swedish) BEH-ra(Spanish) VEH-raw(Hungarian)
Rating: 81% based on 7 votes
Means "faith" in Russian, though it is sometimes associated with the Latin word verus "true". It has been in general use in the English-speaking world since the late 19th century.
Verity
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: VEHR-i-tee
Rating: 54% based on 5 votes
From the English word meaning
"verity, truth", from Latin
verus "true, real". This was one of the virtue names adopted by the
Puritans in the 17th century.
Vespasian
Gender: Masculine
Usage: History
Pronounced: vehs-PAY-zhee-ən(English) vehs-PAY-zhən(English)
From the Roman
cognomen Vespasianus, derived either from Latin
vesper meaning
"west" or
"evening" or
vespa meaning
"wasp". This was the name of a 1st-century Roman emperor, Titus Flavius Vespasianus, the founder of the Flavian dynasty.
Vissarion
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Russian (Archaic), Greek
Other Scripts: Виссарион(Russian) Βησσαρίων(Greek)
Russian form and Modern Greek transcription of
Bessarion.
Vsevolod
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Russian, Ukrainian
Other Scripts: Всеволод(Russian, Ukrainian)
Pronounced: FSYEH-və-lət(Russian)
Rating: 0% based on 1 vote
Derived from the Slavic elements
vĭśĭ "all" and
volděti "to rule". This was the name of an 11th-century grand prince of Kyiv.
Willoughby
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: WIL-ə-bee
Rating: 25% based on 2 votes
From a surname that was originally derived from a place name meaning "willow town" in Old English.
Xanthe
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology, Ancient Greek [1]
Other Scripts: Ξάνθη(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: KSAN-TEH(Classical Greek)
Rating: 85% based on 6 votes
Derived from Greek
ξανθός (xanthos) meaning
"yellow, blond, fair-haired". This was the name of a few minor figures in Greek
mythology.
Xinyi
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Chinese
Other Scripts: 欣怡, 心怡, etc.(Chinese)
Pronounced: SHEEN-EE
Rating: 30% based on 2 votes
From Chinese
欣 (xīn) meaning "happy, joyous, delighted" or
心 (xīn) meaning "heart, mind, soul" combined with
怡 (yí) meaning "joy, harmony". This name can also be formed from other character combinations.
Yorick
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Literature, English, Dutch
Pronounced: YAWR-ik(English) YO-rik(Dutch)
Rating: 0% based on 1 vote
Possibly an altered form of
Jörg. Shakespeare used this name for a deceased court jester in his play
Hamlet (1600).
Zindel
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Yiddish
Zirel
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Yiddish
Zisel
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Yiddish (Rare)
Other Scripts: זיסל(Yiddish)
Rating: 25% based on 2 votes
From Yiddish
זיס (zis) meaning
"sweet".
Zoja
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Latvian, Lithuanian, Polish, Slovene, Serbian, Croatian, Macedonian
Other Scripts: Зоја(Serbian, Macedonian)
Rating: 43% based on 4 votes
Form of
Zoe in several languages.
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