Narita's Personal Name List

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.

Variant of Ayda. This name was used in Verdi's opera Aida (1871), where it belongs to an Ethiopian princess held captive in Egypt.

From Japanese 愛 (ai) meaning "love, affection" and 美 (mi) meaning "beautiful". Other combinations of kanji characters are possible.

Finnish form of Alice.

Form of Alice used in several languages.

Variant of Alyssa.

In part this is a feminine form of Amandus. However, it was not used during the Middle Ages. In the 17th century it was recreated by authors and poets who based it directly on Latin amanda meaning "lovable, worthy of love". Notably, the playwright Colley Cibber used it for a character in his play Love's Last Shift (1696). It came into regular use during the 19th century.

Form of Channah (see Hannah) used in the Greek and Latin Old Testament. Many later Old Testament translations, including the English, use the Hannah spelling instead of Anna. The name appears briefly in the New Testament belonging to a prophetess who recognized Jesus as the Messiah. It was a popular name in the Byzantine Empire from an early date, and in the Middle Ages it became common among Western Christians due to veneration of Saint Anna (usually known as Saint Anne in English), the name traditionally assigned to the mother of the Virgin Mary.

In England, this Latin form has been used alongside the vernacular forms Ann and Anne since the late Middle Ages. Anna is currently the most common of these spellings in all English-speaking countries (since the 1970s), however the biblical form Hannah is presently more popular than all three.

The name was borne by several Russian royals, including an 18th-century empress of Russia. It is also the name of the main character in Leo Tolstoy's novel Anna Karenina (1877), about a married aristocrat who begins an ultimately tragic relationship with Count Vronsky.

Feminine form of Anselm.

From the word aura (derived from Latin, ultimately from Greek αὔρα meaning "breeze") for a distinctive atmosphere or illumination.

Feminine form of Aurelius.

Finnish form of Eleanor.

Short form of Elisabeth.

Scandinavian and Finnish form of Elizabeth. It is also used in Spain alongside the traditional form Isabel.

Short form of Elizabeth.

Italian form of Eloise.

Feminine form of Aemilius (see Emily). In Shakespeare's tragedy Othello (1603) this is the name of the wife of Iago.

Possibly from Old Irish én meaning "bird". This was the name of several Irish kings and heroes. It was also borne by a 6th-century saint who built the monastery of Killeany on Aran.

Form of Esther used in several languages.

Finnish diminutive of Francisca and a Hungarian diminutive of Franciska or Stefánia.

Short form of Serafina. Saint Fina, also known as Saint Serafina, was a 13th-century girl from the town of San Gimignano in Italy.

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.

Finnish diminutive of Johanna or Hannah.

Diminutive of Helena. In Estonian this coincides with the word heli meaning "sound".

Diminutive of Vilhelmiina or Vilhelmina. It also means "pearl" in Finnish.

Short form of Wilhelmine.

French form of Eloise.

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.

German, Dutch and Norwegian variant of Hilda.

Derived from Old Norse hulda meaning "hiding, secrecy". This was the name of a sorceress in Norse mythology. As a modern name, it can also derive from archaic Swedish huld meaning "gracious, sweet, lovable" [2].

Old Hungarian form of Helen, possibly via a Slavic form. In Finland it is associated with the word ilona, a derivative of ilo "joy".

Short form of names ending with or otherwise containing ina, such as Martina, Christina and Carolina.

Means "rainbow" in Greek. Iris was the name of the Greek goddess of the rainbow, also serving as a messenger to the gods. This name can also be given in reference to the word (which derives from the same Greek source) for the iris flower or the coloured part of the eye.

Feminine form of Ivan.

German and Finnish form of Jasmine, as well as an English variant.

Form of Jasmine in several languages.

Variant of Jenny. Use of the name was popularized in the 1980s by the character Jenna Wade on the television series Dallas [1].

German, Swedish and English variant of Jessica.

Hungarian short form of Julia.

Greek form of Cassandra, as well as a modern English variant.

Short form of Katariina.

Short form of Kristina.

Scandinavian and Finnish form of Láilá.

German, French and Hungarian diminutive of Elisabeth and other names containing li. It is also sometimes connected to the German word lilie meaning "lily".

Spanish and Italian form of Lily, as well as an alternate transcription of Russian Лилия or Ukrainian Лілія (see Liliya).

English variant of Lillian, as well as a French and Romanian masculine form.

Latinate form of Lillian.

Short form of Elizabeth (though often used independently) and its cognates in other languages. This is the name of the subject of one of the world's most famous paintings, the Mona Lisa, the portrait of Lisa del Giocondo by Leonardo da Vinci.

In the United States this form was more popular than the full form Elizabeth from 1958 to 1978, and was in fact the top ranked American name between 1962 and 1969.

Short form of Charlotte or Liselotte.

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.

Feminine form of Luis.

Diminutive of Louise and names that begin with Lu.

Means "snow" in Finnish.

Means "the moon" in Latin (as well as Italian, Spanish and other Romance languages). Luna was the Roman goddess of the moon, frequently depicted driving a white chariot through the sky.

From Japanese 舞 (mai) meaning "dance" or 麻衣 (mai) meaning "linen robe". It can also come from 真 (ma) meaning "real, genuine" combined with 愛 (ai) meaning "love, affection". Other kanji or kanji combinations can also form this name.

Finnish and Latvian variant of Maria or Marija. The Latvian playwright Anna Brigadere used this name for the main character in her play Maija un Paija (1922).

Finnish and Estonian variant form of Margaret.

Italian diminutive of Maria.

Diminutive of Marja.

Finnish form of Magdalene.

From Japanese 芽 (me) meaning "bud, sprout" combined with 依 (i) meaning "rely on", 生 (i) meaning "life" or 衣 (i) meaning "clothing, garment". Other kanji combinations are possible.

Short form of Camilla and other names that end in milla.

Diminutive of Maria and other names beginning with M.

Finnish form of Miriam.

Finnish form of Miriam.

Possibly a form of Miriam.

From Japanese 菜 (na) meaning "vegetables, greens" and/or 奈 (na), a phonetic character. The characters can be in either order or the same character can be duplicated, as indicated by the symbol 々. Other kanji with the same pronunciations can also be used to form this name.

Possibly derived from Old Norse nanþ meaning "daring, brave". In Norse mythology she was a goddess who died of grief when her husband Balder was killed.

From Japanese 直 (nao) meaning "straight, direct" and 美 (mi) meaning "beautiful" (usually feminine) or 己 (mi) meaning "self" (usually masculine). Other kanji combinations can also form this name.

Latinate form of Natalia (see Natalie).

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).

Finnish form of Birgitta.

Form of Rebecca used in various languages.

Finnish short form of Margaret, used independently.

Latinate feminine form of René.

Feminine form of Renatus.

Short form of Katariina.

Means "joy, singing" in Hebrew.

Invented by Swedish children's author Astrid Lindgren, who based it on the middle portion of Juronjaure, the name of a lake in Sweden. Lindgren used it in her 1981 book Ronia the Robber's Daughter (Ronia is the English translation).

Combination of Rosa 1 and Anna.

Spanish diminutive of Rosa 1.

From a Hebrew name that was derived from the Hebrew word רְעוּת (re'ut) meaning "friend". This is the name of the central character in the Book of Ruth in the Old Testament. She was a Moabite woman who accompanied her mother-in-law Naomi back to Bethlehem after Ruth's husband died. There she met and married Boaz. She was an ancestor of King David.

As a Christian name, Ruth has been in use since the Protestant Reformation. In England it was associated with the archaic word ruth meaning "pity, compassion" (now only commonly seen in the word ruthless). The name became very popular in America following the birth of "Baby" Ruth Cleveland (1891-1904), the daughter of President Grover Cleveland.

From Old Norse Sága, possibly meaning "seeing one", derived from sjá "to see". This is the name of a Norse goddess, possibly connected to Frigg. As a Swedish and Icelandic name, it is also derived from the unrelated word saga "story, fairy tale, saga".

Finnish form of Sally.

Short form of Alessandra. It was introduced to the English-speaking world (where it is usually used independently of Alexandra) by author George Meredith, who used it for the heroine in his novel Emilia in England (1864) and the reissued version Sandra Belloni (1887). A famous bearer is the American actress Sandra Bullock (1964-).

Italian, Spanish and Portuguese form of Seraphina.

Form of Sophia used in various languages.

From Σουσάννα (Sousanna), the Greek form of the Hebrew name שׁוֹשַׁנָּה (Shoshannah). 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.

From Finnish taimi meaning "sapling, young tree" or Estonian taim meaning "plant" (words from a common origin).

Meaning unknown. Tellervo was a Finnish forest goddess. She is variously described as either the wife or daughter of Tapio.

Means "wind" in Finnish and Estonian.

From Finnish velloa "to surge, to swell". This was the name of a Finnish goddess of the sea, the wife of Ahti.

Finnish feminine form of Wendel.

Feminine form of Vernon, sometimes associated with the Latin word vernus "spring". It has been in use since the 19th century.

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

Possibly derived from Finnish virvatuli meaning "will o' the wisp". In folklore, will o' the wisp is a floating ball of light that appears over water.