Elle.W's Personal Name List

Danish form of Apollonia.

From the name of a type of tree, ultimately derived from Greek ἀκή (ake) meaning "thorn, point".

French feminine form of Adrian.

From an English surname that was from a place name: either Annesley in Nottinghamshire or Ansley in Warwickshire. The place names themselves derive from Old English anne "alone, solitary" or ansetl "hermitage" and leah "woodland, clearing".

In America, this name received a boost of popularity in 2000 when a character bearing it began appearing on the television series The West Wing.

Means "dream" or "vision" in Irish. This name was created in the 20th century.

Italian form of Alexandra.

Means "cheerful, lively" in Italian. It was borne by a short-lived illegitimate daughter of Lord Byron (1817-1822).

Short form of Germanic names beginning with the element amal. This element means "unceasing, vigorous, brave", or it can refer to the Gothic dynasty of the Amali (derived from the same root).

This was another name for the 7th-century saint Amalberga of Maubeuge.

Meaning uncertain, possibly a derivative of Anne 1 or Agnès. It was used in Jean-Henri Guy's opera Anacréon chez Polycrate (1798), where it is borne by the daughter (otherwise unnamed in history) of the 6th-century BC tyrant Polycrates of Samos. Guy could have adapted it from a classical name such as Anaitis or Athénaïs.

A famous bearer was the Cuban-French writer Anaïs Nin (1903-1977), known for her diaries.

Combination of Anne 1 and Liese.

Feminine form of Antonius (see Anthony).

Variant of Aoife, or directly from Irish aoibh meaning "beauty".

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.

Means "most holy", composed of the Greek prefix ἀρι (ari) meaning "most" combined with Cretan Greek ἀδνός (adnos) meaning "holy". In Greek mythology, Ariadne was the daughter of King Minos. She fell in love with Theseus and helped him to escape the Labyrinth and the Minotaur, but was later abandoned by him. Eventually she married the god Dionysus.

From the name of the island paradise to which King Arthur was brought after his death. The name of this island is perhaps related to Welsh afal meaning "apple", a fruit that was often linked with paradise.

Feminine variant of Aviv.

From the name of the flower (shrubs of the genus Rhododendron), ultimately derived from Greek ἀζαλέος (azaleos) meaning "dry".

French feminine form of Benedict.

From the name of a biblical town, Βηθανία (Bethania) in Greek, which is probably of Aramaic or Hebrew origin, possibly meaning "house of affliction" or "house of figs". In the New Testament the town of Bethany is the home of Lazarus and his sisters Mary and Martha. It has been in use as a rare given name in the English-speaking world since the 19th century, used primarily by Catholics in honour of Mary of Bethany. In America it became moderately common after the 1950s.

Italian cognate of Blanche. Shakespeare had characters named Bianca in The Taming of the Shrew (1593) and Othello (1603).

Means "jewel" in French. It is mostly used in French-speaking Africa.

Seemingly derived from Welsh bron "breast" and gwen "white, blessed", though it has sometimes occurred as a variant spelling of the legendary name Branwen [1]. It has been used as a given name in Wales since the 19th century. It is borne by a character in Richard Llewellyn's 1939 novel How Green Was My Valley, as well as the 1941 movie adaptation.

From the name of a type of Eurasian vine, formerly used as medicine. It ultimately derives from Greek βρύω (bryo) meaning "to swell".

From an English word meaning "rhythm, flow". It has been in use only since the 20th century.

Feminine form of Callistus. As an English name it might also be a variant of Kallisto.

Derived from Irish caomh meaning "dear, beloved, gentle".

English form of Cecilia. This was the usual English form during the Middle Ages.

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.

From the English word meaning "to treasure".

French form of Chrodechildis, the Latin form of a Frankish name composed of the elements hruod "fame, glory" and hilt "battle". Saint Clotilde (whose name was originally recorded in forms such as Chrodechildis or Chrotchildis in Latin sources [1]) was the wife of the Frankish king Clovis, whom she converted to Christianity. It was also borne by others in the Merovingian royal family. In the Middle Ages this name was confused with Chlodechilda, in which the first element is hlut "famous, loud".

Short form of Nicolette. Saint Colette was a 15th-century French nun who gave her money to the poor. This was also the pen name of the French author Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette (1873-1954).

Probably means "calf, heifer, girl" from Greek δάμαλις (damalis). In the New Testament this is the name of a woman converted to Christianity by Saint Paul.

Means "laurel" in Greek. In Greek mythology she was a nymph turned into a laurel tree by her father in order that she might escape the pursuit of Apollo. It has been used as a given name in the English-speaking world since the end of the 19th century.

Italian, Spanish and Portuguese form of Delphina.

From Ἐλισάβετ (Elisabet), the Greek form of the Hebrew name אֱלִישֶׁבַע ('Elisheva') meaning "my God is an oath", derived from the roots אֵל ('el) referring to the Hebrew God and שָׁבַע (shava') meaning "oath". The Hebrew form appears in the Old Testament where Elisheba is the wife of Aaron, while the Greek form appears in the New Testament where Elizabeth is the mother of John the Baptist.

Among Christians, this name was originally more common in Eastern Europe. It was borne in the 12th century by Saint Elizabeth of Hungary, a daughter of King Andrew II who used her wealth to help the poor. In medieval England it was occasionally used in honour of the saint, though the form Isabel (from Occitan and Spanish) was more common. It has been very popular in England since the reign of Queen Elizabeth I in the 16th century. In American name statistics (as recorded since 1880) it has never ranked lower than 30, making it the most consistently popular name for girls in the United States.

Besides Elizabeth I, this name has been borne (in various spellings) by many other European royals, including a ruling empress of Russia in the 18th century. Famous modern bearers include the British queen Elizabeth II (1926-2022) and actress Elizabeth Taylor (1932-2011).

Diminutive of Eleanor and other names beginning with El. This name can also be given in reference to the French pronoun elle meaning "she".

Already growing in popularity due to Australian model Elle Macpherson (1964-), this name received a boost in the United States after the release of the 2001 movie Legally Blonde featuring the main character Elle Woods. In the United Kingdom the name was already fairly common at the time the movie came out, and it actually started declining there shortly afterwards. A famous bearer is American actress Elle Fanning (1998-).

French form of Alodia.

Originally a short form of Germanic names that began with the element irmin meaning "whole" or "great" (Proto-Germanic *ermunaz). It was introduced to England by Emma of Normandy, who was the wife both of King Ethelred II (and by him the mother of Edward the Confessor) and later of King Canute. It was also borne by an 11th-century Austrian saint, who is sometimes called Hemma.

After the Norman Conquest this name became common in England. It was revived in the 18th century, perhaps in part due to Matthew Prior's 1709 poem Henry and Emma [2]. It was also used by Jane Austen for the central character, the matchmaker Emma Woodhouse, in her novel Emma (1816).

In the United States, it was third in rank in 1880 (behind only the ubiquitous Mary and Anna). It declined steadily over the next century, beginning another rise in the 1980s and eventually becoming the most popular name for girls in 2008. At this time it also experienced similar levels of popularity elsewhere, including the United Kingdom (where it began rising a decade earlier), Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Scandinavia and the Netherlands. Famous bearers include the actresses Emma Thompson (1959-), Emma Stone (1988-) and Emma Watson (1990-).

Means "good news" from Greek εὖ (eu) meaning "good" and ἄγγελμα (angelma) meaning "news, message". It was (first?) used by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow in his 1847 epic poem Evangeline [1][2]. It also appears in Harriet Beecher Stowe's novel Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852) as the full name of the character Eva.

From the English word felicity meaning "happiness", which ultimately derives from Latin felicitas "good luck". This was one of the virtue names adopted by the Puritans around the 17th century. It can sometimes be used as an English form of the Latin name Felicitas. This name jumped in popularity in the United States after the premiere of the television series Felicity in 1998. It is more common in the United Kingdom.

Means "flower" in French. Saint Fleur of Issendolus (Flor in Gascon) was a 14th-century nun from Maurs, France. This was also the name of a character in John Galsworthy's novels The Forsyte Saga (1922).

From Old Norse Freyja meaning "lady". This is the name of a goddess associated with love, beauty, war and death in Norse mythology. She claims half of the heroes who are slain in battle and brings them to her realm of Fólkvangr. Along with her brother Freyr and father Njord, she is one of the Vanir (as opposed to the Æsir). Some scholars connect her with the goddess Frigg.

This is not the usual spelling in any of the Scandinavian languages (in Sweden and Denmark it is Freja and in Norway it is Frøja) but it is the common spelling of the goddess's name in English. In the 2000s it became popular in Britain.

French feminine form of Gabriel. This was the real name of French fashion designer Coco Chanel (1883-1971).

From the name of the tropical flower, which was named for the Scottish naturalist Alexander Garden (1730-1791).

Possibly a shortened form of Genevieve. It could also be inspired by the name of the city in Switzerland. It has been used as a given name in the English-speaking world since the 19th century.

English form of Geneviève.

Italian form of Jade.

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.

Variant of Gwendolen. This is the usual spelling in the United States.

Combination of Hanne 1 and Eleonore.

From an English surname that was derived from Middle English holis "holly trees". It was originally given to a person who lived near a group of those trees.

Derived from Greek ὕπατος (hypatos) meaning "highest, supreme". Hypatia of Alexandria was a 5th-century philosopher and mathematician, daughter of the mathematician Theon.

Latinate form of Isabel. This name was borne by many medieval royals, including queens consort of England, France, Portugal, the Holy Roman Empire and Hungary, as well as the powerful ruling queen Isabella of Castile (properly called Isabel).

In the United States this form was much less common than Isabel until the early 1990s, when it began rapidly rising in popularity. It reached a peak in 2009 and 2010, when it was the most popular name for girls in America, an astounding rise over only 20 years.

A famous bearer is the Italian actress Isabella Rossellini (1952-).

German form of Iseult, appearing in the 13th-century German poem Tristan by Gottfried von Strassburg. In 1865 the German composer Richard Wagner debuted his popular opera Tristan und Isolde and also used the name for his first daughter.

From the English word for the climbing plant that has small yellow flowers. It is ultimately derived from Old English ifig.

French feminine form of Jacques, also commonly used in the English-speaking world.

Latinate variant of Joséphine.

From the Mohawk pronunciation of Katherine. This was the name adopted by the 17th-century Mohawk saint Tekakwitha upon her baptism.

From the name of the laurel tree, ultimately from Latin laurus.

From the English word for the aromatic flower or the pale purple colour.

From the Hebrew name לֵאָה (Le'ah), which was probably derived from the Hebrew word לְאָה (le'ah) meaning "weary". Alternatively it might be related to Akkadian littu meaning "cow". In the Old Testament Leah is the first wife of Jacob and the mother of seven of his children. Jacob's other wife was Leah's younger sister Rachel, whom he preferred. Leah later offered Jacob her handmaid Zilpah in order for him to conceive more children.

Although this name was used by Jews in the Middle Ages, it was not typical as an English Christian name until after the Protestant Reformation, being common among the Puritans.

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.

From the name of a flower, also known as the twinflower. The Swedish botanist Carolus Linnaeus named it after himself, it being his favourite flower.

Feminine form of Lucius. Saint Lucia was a 4th-century martyr from Syracuse. She was said to have had her eyes gouged out, and thus she is the patron saint of the blind. She was widely revered in the Middle Ages, and her name has been used throughout Christian Europe (in various spellings). It has been used in the England since the 12th century, usually in the spellings Lucy or Luce.

English form of Lucia, in use since the Middle Ages.

Means simply "lyric, songlike" from the English word, ultimately derived from Greek λυρικός (lyrikos).

French form of Magdalene.

Anglicized form of the Irish name Medb meaning "intoxicating". In Irish legend this was the name of a warrior queen of Connacht. She and her husband Ailill fought against the Ulster king Conchobar and the hero Cúchulainn, as told in the Irish epic The Cattle Raid of Cooley.

French diminutive of Marie.

Feminine form of Manuel.

Medieval French diminutive of Marie.

Short form of María Soledad. It is sometimes considered a combination of María and Sol 1, or from Spanish mar y sol "sea and sun".

Medieval variant of Margery, influenced by the name of the herb marjoram. After the Middle Ages this name was rare, but it was revived at the end of the 19th century.

From the Germanic name Mahthilt meaning "strength in battle", from the elements maht "might, strength" and hilt "battle". Saint Matilda was the wife of the 10th-century German king Henry I the Fowler. The name was common in many branches of European royalty in the Middle Ages. It was brought to England by the Normans, being borne by the wife of William the Conqueror himself. Another notable royal by this name was a 12th-century daughter of Henry I of England, known as the Empress Matilda because of her first marriage to the Holy Roman emperor Henry V. She later invaded England, laying the foundations for the reign of her son Henry II.

The name was very popular until the 15th century in England, usually in the vernacular form Maud. Both forms were revived by the 19th century. This name appears in the popular Australian folk song Waltzing Matilda, written in 1895.

Possibly derived from Latin mens meaning "intellect", but more likely of Etruscan origin. Minerva was the Roman goddess of wisdom and war, approximately equivalent to the Greek goddess Athena. It has been used as a given name in the English-speaking world since after the Renaissance.

Derived from Latin mirandus meaning "admirable, wonderful". 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.

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.

From the name of a mountain near Barcelona, the site of a monastery founded in the 10th century. The mountain gets its name from Latin mons serratus meaning "jagged mountain".

Latinate form of Natalia (see Natalie).

From the name of the American state, which means "snow-capped" in Spanish.

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.

Feminine form of Octavius. Octavia was the wife of Mark Antony and the sister of the Roman emperor Augustus. In 19th-century England it was sometimes given to the eighth-born child.

From an English surname meaning "servant, page" in Middle English. It is ultimately derived (via Old French and Italian) from Greek παιδίον (paidion) meaning "little boy".

As a given name for girls, it received some public attention from a character in the 1958 novel Parrish and the 1961 movie adaptation [1]. It experienced a larger surge in popularity in the 1980s, probably due to the character Paige Matheson from the American soap opera Knots Landing.

Means "dove, pigeon" in Spanish.

From the English word patience, ultimately from Latin patientia, a derivative of pati "to suffer". This was one of the virtue names coined by the Puritans in the 17th century. It is now most commonly used in African countries where English is widely understood, such as Nigeria and Ghana.

Meaning unknown, probably of Pre-Greek origin, but perhaps related to Greek πέρθω (pertho) meaning "to destroy" and φόνος (phonos) meaning "murder". In Greek myth she was the daughter of Demeter and Zeus. She was abducted to the underworld by Hades, but was eventually allowed to return to the surface for part of the year. The result of her comings and goings is the changing of the seasons. With her mother she was worshipped in the Eleusinian Mysteries, which were secret rites practiced at the city of Eleusis near Athens.

Latinized form of the Greek name Φοίβη (Phoibe), which meant "bright, pure" from Greek φοῖβος (phoibos). In Greek mythology Phoibe was a Titan associated with the moon. This was also an epithet of her granddaughter, the moon goddess Artemis. The name appears in Paul's epistle to the Romans in the New Testament, where it belongs to a female minister in the church at Cenchreae.

In England, it began to be used as a given name after the Protestant Reformation. It was moderately common in the 19th century. It began to rise in popularity again in the late 1980s, probably helped along by characters on the American television shows Friends (1994-2004) and Charmed (1998-2006). It is currently much more common in the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand than the United States.

A moon of Saturn bears this name, in honour of the Titan.

Italian feminine form of Peter.

From an English surname that was originally given to a person who played on a pipe (a flute). It was popularized as a given name by a character from the television series Charmed, which debuted in 1998 [1].

From the English word for the flower, ultimately deriving from Latin prima rosa "first rose".

Feminine form of Ramón. It was popularized in the English-speaking world by Helen Hunt Jackson's novel Ramona (1884), as well as several subsequent movies based on the book.

Spanish and Portuguese form of Rachel.

Probably derived from an unattested Celtic name *Rīgantonā meaning "great queen" (Celtic *rīganī "queen" and the divine or augmentative suffix -on). It is speculated that Rigantona was an old Celtic goddess, perhaps associated with fertility and horses like the Gaulish Epona. As Rhiannon, she appears in Welsh legend in the Mabinogi [1] as a beautiful magical woman who rides a white horse. She was betrothed against her will to Gwawl, but cunningly broke off that engagement and married Pwyll instead. Their son was Pryderi.

As an English name, it became popular due to the Fleetwood Mac song Rhiannon (1976), especially in the United Kingdom and Australia.

Derived from the Old German elements hros meaning "horse" and lind meaning "soft, flexible, tender". The Normans introduced this name to England, though it was not common. During the Middle Ages its spelling was influenced by the Latin phrase rosa linda "beautiful rose". The name was popularized by Edmund Spencer, who used it in his poetry, and by William Shakespeare, who used it for the heroine in his comedy As You Like It (1599).

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.

Italian feminine form of Samuel.

Means "freedom" in Irish Gaelic. It was first used as a given name in the 20th century.

From the Greek name Σαπφείρη (Sappheire), which was from Greek σάπφειρος (sappheiros) meaning "sapphire" or "lapis lazuli" (ultimately derived from the Hebrew word סַפִּיר (sappir)). Sapphira is a character in Acts in the New Testament who is killed by God for lying.

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).

Latinized form of Selene. This name was borne by popular Mexican-American singer Selena Quintanilla (1971-1995), who was known simply as Selena. Another famous bearer is the American actress and singer Selena Gomez (1992-).

Meaning unknown, possibly a short form of Anselma. It could also have been inspired by James Macpherson's 18th-century poems, in which it is the name of Ossian's castle.

Italian, Spanish and Portuguese form of Seraphina.

Means "star" in Welsh. This is a recently created Welsh name.

French feminine form of Sidonius.

From the English word meaning "orange-red". It is ultimately from the name of the city of Siena in Italy, because of the colour of the clay there.

Feminine form of Simon 1.

Means "sun" in French. It is not commonly used as a name in France itself.

From the name of the bird, ultimately from Old English spearwa.

Variant of Talia 2.

From the English word meaning "moderation" or "restraint". This was one of the virtue names adopted by the Puritans in the 17th century. It experienced a modest revival in the United States during the run of the television series Bones (2005-2017), in which the main character bears this name.

Alternate transcription of Hebrew טוֹבָה (see Tova 1).

From the English word Trinity, given in honour of the Christian belief that God has one essence, but three distinct expressions of being: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. It has only been in use as a given name since the 20th century.

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.

French form of Victoria.

From the name of the tree, which is ultimately derived from Old English welig.

From the English word for the small songbird. It is ultimately derived from Old English wrenna.

From the name of the flower, which was itself named for the German botanist Johann Zinn.

Feminine form of Ziv.

Diminutive of Zofia.