FocusPocus's Personal Name List

Hungarian form of Valentinus (see Valentine 1).

Yiddish form of Benedict.

Romanian and Polish form of Benjamin, as well as the form used in the Greek and Latin Bibles.

Danish form of Benedict.

Welsh form of Kay 2.

Derived from Irish ciar meaning "black". In Irish legend Ciar was a son of Fergus mac Róich and Medb, and the ancestor of the tribe of the Ciarraige (after whom County Kerry is named). As a feminine name, it was borne by an Irish nun (also called Ciara) who established a monastery in Tipperary in the 7th century.

Meaning uncertain, possibly from an old Slavic exclamation expressing joy or sorrow. This was the name of a supposed Slavic war god. His name was the basis for the word davorije, a type of patriotic war song popular in the 19th century [1].

Short form of Garegin.

Bulgarian, Macedonian and Romanian form of Gabriel.

Old Norse form of Geir.

Alternate transcription of Russian Геннадий (see Gennadiy).

From a Scottish surname, originally derived from the English place name Grantham, which probably meant "gravelly homestead" in Old English. The surname was first taken to Scotland in the 12th century by the Norman baron William de Graham [1]. A famous bearer of the surname was Alexander Graham Bell (1847-1922), the Scottish-Canadian-American inventor who devised the telephone. A famous bearer of the given name was the British author Graham Greene (1904-1991).

During the 20th century, Graham was more common in the United Kingdom, Australia and Canada than it was in the United States. However, it has been rising on the American charts since around 2006.

From the Roman name Gratianus, which meant "grace" from Latin gratus. Saint Gratian was the first bishop of Tours (4th century). This was also the name of a Roman emperor.

Armenian, Bulgarian and Macedonian form of Gregory. This is the name of the patron saint of Armenia (known as Saint Gregory the Illuminator in English).

Alternate transcription of Russian Григорий (see Grigoriy).

From a surname that was derived from a place name meaning "nook, retreat" from Old English healh.

Scots form of Henry.

Macedonian form of Christian.

Means "gift" in Hebrew. This was the name of the father of Shephatiah in the Old Testament.

From Greek Ματθίας (Matthias), a variant of Ματθαῖος (see Matthew). This form appears in the New Testament as the name of the apostle chosen to replace the traitor Judas Iscariot. This was also the name of kings of Hungary (spelled Mátyás in Hungarian), including Matthias I who made important reforms to the kingdom in the 15th century.

Alternate transcription of Hindi राजेन्द्र (see Rajendra).

Means "exalted" in Hebrew. This was a son of Hezron in the Old Testament.

Old German form of Rein.

Hebrew form of Reuben.

Dutch short form of Willem.