WriterAtHeart's Personal Name List

Abraham
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, Hebrew, Spanish, French, Dutch, Biblical, Biblical German, Biblical Swedish, Biblical Norwegian, Biblical Danish, Biblical Latin
Other Scripts: אַבְרָהָם(Hebrew)
Pronounced: AY-brə-ham(English) a-bra-AM(Spanish) A-BRA-AM(French) A-bra-hahm(Dutch) A-bra-ham(German) AH-bra-ham(Swedish)
Rating: 48% based on 25 votes
From the Hebrew name אַבְרָהָם (ʾAvraham), which may be viewed either as meaning "father of many" or else as a contraction of Abram 1 and הָמוֹן (hamon) meaning "many, multitude". The biblical patriarch Abraham was originally named Abram but God changed his name (see Genesis 17:5). With his father Terah, he led his wife Sarah, his nephew Lot and their other followers from Ur into Canaan. He is regarded by Jews as being the founder of the Hebrews through his son Isaac and by Muslims as being the founder of the Arabs through his son Ishmael.

As an English Christian name, Abraham became common after the Protestant Reformation. A famous bearer was the American president Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865), who pushed to abolish slavery and led the country through the Civil War.

Alanna
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: ə-LAN-ə
Rating: 51% based on 25 votes
Feminine form of Alan.
Alice
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, French, Portuguese, Italian, German, Czech, Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, Dutch
Pronounced: AL-is(English) A-LEES(French) u-LEE-si(European Portuguese) a-LEE-see(Brazilian Portuguese) a-LEE-cheh(Italian) a-LEES(German) A-li-tseh(Czech)
Rating: 76% based on 25 votes
From the Old French name Aalis, a short form of Adelais, itself a short form of the Germanic name Adalheidis (see Adelaide). This name became popular in France and England in the 12th century. It was among the most common names in England until the 16th century, when it began to decline. It was revived in the 19th century.

This name was borne by the heroine of Lewis Carroll's novels Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865) and Through the Looking Glass (1871).

Anastasia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek, Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian, English, Spanish, Italian, Georgian, Ancient Greek [1]
Other Scripts: Αναστασία(Greek) Анастасия(Russian) Анастасія(Ukrainian, Belarusian) ანასტასია(Georgian) Ἀναστασία(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: a-na-sta-SEE-a(Greek) u-nu-stu-SYEE-yə(Russian) u-nu-stu-SYEE-yu(Ukrainian) a-na-sta-SYEE-ya(Belarusian) an-ə-STAY-zhə(English) a-na-STA-sya(Spanish) a-na-STA-zya(Italian) A-NA-STA-SEE-A(Classical Greek)
Rating: 72% based on 25 votes
Feminine form of Anastasius. This was the name of a 4th-century Dalmatian saint who was martyred during the persecutions of the Roman emperor Diocletian. Due to her, the name has been common in Eastern Orthodox Christianity (in various spellings). As an English name it has been in use since the Middle Ages. A famous bearer was the youngest daughter of the last Russian tsar Nicholas II, who was rumoured to have escaped the execution of her family in 1918.
Anna
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Italian, German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Estonian, Latvian, Greek, Hungarian, Polish, Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian, Czech, Slovak, Bulgarian, Armenian, Icelandic, Faroese, Catalan, Occitan, Breton, Scottish Gaelic, Biblical, Biblical Greek [1], Biblical Latin, Old Church Slavic
Other Scripts: Άννα(Greek) Анна(Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian, Bulgarian, Church Slavic) Աննա(Armenian) Ἄννα(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: AN-ə(English) AN-na(Italian, Polish, Icelandic) A-na(German, Swedish, Danish, Greek, Czech) AH-na(Dutch) AHN-nah(Norwegian, Finnish, Armenian) AWN-naw(Hungarian) AN-nə(Russian, Catalan) ahn-NAH(Armenian)
Rating: 72% based on 26 votes
Form of 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.

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: 56% based on 26 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.

Annie
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, French, Dutch
Pronounced: AN-ee(English) A-NEE(French) AH-nee(Dutch)
Rating: 56% based on 25 votes
Diminutive of Anne 1.
Anya
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Russian, English
Other Scripts: Аня(Russian)
Pronounced: A-nyə(Russian) AN-yə(English)
Rating: 70% based on 21 votes
Russian diminutive of Anna.
Arlette
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French
Pronounced: AR-LEHT
Rating: 52% based on 18 votes
French form of Herleva.
Asha 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Hindi, Marathi, Kannada, Malayalam
Other Scripts: आशा(Hindi, Marathi) ಆಶಾ(Kannada) ആശാ(Malayalam)
Rating: 59% based on 23 votes
Derived from Sanskrit आशा (āśā) meaning "wish, desire, hope".
Asher
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Hebrew, English, Biblical, Biblical Hebrew [1]
Other Scripts: אָשֵׁר(Hebrew)
Pronounced: ASH-ər(English)
Rating: 73% based on 25 votes
Means "happy, blessed" in Hebrew, derived from אָשַׁר (ʾashar) meaning "to be happy, to be blessed". Asher in the Old Testament is a son of Jacob by Leah's handmaid Zilpah, and the ancestor of one of the twelve tribes of Israel. The meaning of his name is explained in Genesis 30:13.
Atticus
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Literature, Ancient Greek (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Ἀττικός(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: AT-i-kəs(English)
Rating: 77% based on 23 votes
Latinized form of Greek Ἀττικός (Attikos) meaning "from Attica", referring to the region surrounding Athens in Greece. This name was borne by a few notable Greeks from the Roman period (or Romans of Greek background). The author Harper Lee used the name in her novel To Kill a Mockingbird (1960) for an Alabama lawyer who defends a black man accused of raping a white woman.
Aubree
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: AWB-ree
Rating: 42% based on 25 votes
Feminine variant of Aubrey.
Aurelia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Ancient Roman, Romanian, Italian, Spanish, Polish
Pronounced: ow-REH-lee-a(Latin) ow-REH-lya(Italian, Spanish, Polish)
Rating: 79% based on 27 votes
Feminine form of Aurelius.
Aurora
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, English, Romanian, Finnish, Norwegian, Swedish, Roman Mythology
Pronounced: ow-RAW-ra(Italian) ow-RO-ra(Spanish, Latin) ə-RAWR-ə(English) OW-ro-rah(Finnish)
Rating: 73% based on 26 votes
Means "dawn" in Latin. Aurora was the Roman goddess of the morning. It has occasionally been used as a given name since the Renaissance.
Beatrice
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, English, Swedish, Romanian
Pronounced: beh-a-TREE-cheh(Italian) BEE-ə-tris(English) BEET-ris(English) BEH-ah-trees(Swedish) beh-ah-TREES(Swedish)
Rating: 73% based on 26 votes
Italian form of Beatrix. Beatrice Portinari (1266-1290) was the woman who was loved by the Italian poet Dante Alighieri. She serves as Dante's guide through paradise in his epic poem the Divine Comedy (1321). This is also the name of a character in Shakespeare's comedy Much Ado About Nothing (1599), in which Beatrice and Benedick are fooled into confessing their love for one another.
Beulah
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Biblical, English
Other Scripts: בְּעוּלָה(Ancient Hebrew)
Pronounced: BYOO-lə(English)
Rating: 48% based on 19 votes
Means "married" in Hebrew. The name is used in the Old Testament to refer to the land of Israel (Isaiah 62:4). As an English given name, Beulah has been used since the Protestant Reformation.
Caspian
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Literature
Pronounced: KAS-pee-ən(English)
Rating: 70% based on 22 votes
Used by author C. S. Lewis for a character in his Chronicles of Narnia series, first appearing in 1950. Prince Caspian first appears in the fourth book, where he is the rightful king of Narnia driven into exile by his evil uncle Miraz. Lewis probably based the name on the Caspian Sea, which was named for the city of Qazvin, which was itself named for the ancient Cas tribe.
Charlotte
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French, English, German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Dutch
Pronounced: SHAR-LAWT(French) SHAHR-lət(English) shar-LAW-tə(German) sha-LOT(Swedish) shahr-LAW-tə(Dutch)
Rating: 70% based on 23 votes
French feminine diminutive of Charles. It was introduced to Britain in the 17th century. It was the name of a German-born 18th-century queen consort of Great Britain and Ireland. Another notable bearer was Charlotte Brontë (1816-1855), the eldest of the three Brontë sisters and the author of Jane Eyre and Villette. A famous fictional bearer is the spider in the children's novel Charlotte's Web (1952) by E. B. White.

This name was fairly common in France, England and the United States in the early 20th century. It became quite popular in France and England at the end of the 20th century, just when it was at a low point in the United States. It quickly climbed the American charts and entered the top ten in 2014.

Christian
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, French, German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish
Pronounced: KRIS-chən(English) KRISH-chən(English) KREES-TYAHN(French) KRIS-tee-an(German) KRIS-ti-an(Swedish) KRIS-ti-ahn(Norwegian) KREHS-dyan(Danish)
Rating: 46% based on 20 votes
From the medieval Latin name Christianus meaning "a Christian" (see Christos 1 for further etymology). In England it has been in use since the Middle Ages, during which time it was used by both males and females, but it did not become common until the 17th century. In Denmark the name has been borne by ten kings since the 15th century.

This was a top-ten name in France for most of the 1940s and 50s, while in Germany it was the most popular name for several years in the 1970s and 80s. In the United States it peaked in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Famous bearers include Hans Christian Andersen (1805-1875), the Danish author of such fairy tales as The Ugly Duckling and The Emperor's New Clothes, and the French fashion designer Christian Dior (1905-1957).

Declan
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Irish, English
Pronounced: DEHK-lən(English)
Rating: 59% based on 23 votes
Anglicized form of Irish Deaglán, Old Irish Declán, which is of unknown meaning. Saint Declan was a 5th-century missionary to the Déisi peoples of Ireland and the founder of the monastery at Ardmore.

In America, this name received boosts in popularity from main characters in the movies The Jackal (1997) and Leap Year (2010).

Dorothea
Gender: Feminine
Usage: German, Dutch, English, Ancient Greek [1]
Other Scripts: Δωροθέα(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: do-ro-TEH-a(German) dawr-ə-THEE-ə(English)
Rating: 60% based on 20 votes
Feminine form of the Greek name Δωρόθεος (Dorotheos), which meant "gift of god" from Greek δῶρον (doron) meaning "gift" and θεός (theos) meaning "god". The name Theodore is composed of the same elements in reverse order. Dorothea was the name of two early saints, notably the 4th-century martyr Dorothea of Caesarea. It was also borne by the 14th-century Saint Dorothea of Montau, who was the patron saint of Prussia.
Eulalie
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French
Pronounced: UU-LA-LEE
Rating: 48% based on 22 votes
French form of Eulalia.
Fae
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: FAY
Rating: 53% based on 23 votes
Variant of Fay.
Fleur
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French, Dutch, English (British)
Pronounced: FLUUR(French, Dutch) FLU(British English) FLUR(American English)
Rating: 50% based on 25 votes
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).
Kitty
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: KIT-ee
Rating: 46% based on 19 votes
Diminutive of Katherine.
Larkin
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Medieval English
Pronounced: LAHR-kin(English)
Rating: 40% based on 23 votes
Medieval diminutive of Laurence 1.
Lavinia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Roman Mythology, Romanian, Italian
Pronounced: la-WEE-nee-a(Latin) lə-VIN-ee-ə(English) la-VEE-nya(Italian)
Rating: 70% based on 23 votes
Meaning unknown, probably of Etruscan origin. In Roman legend Lavinia was the daughter of King Latinus, the wife of Aeneas, and the ancestor of the Roman people. According to the legend Aeneas named the town of Lavinium in honour of his wife.
Lenore
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: lə-NAWR
Rating: 63% based on 25 votes
Short form of Eleanor. This is the name of the departed love of the narrator in Edgar Allan Poe's poem The Raven (1845).
Letitia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: li-TISH-ə
Rating: 57% based on 23 votes
From the Late Latin name Laetitia meaning "joy, happiness". This was the name of an obscure saint, who is revered mainly in Spain. It was in use in England during the Middle Ages, usually in the spelling Lettice, and it was revived in the 18th century.
Lily
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: LIL-ee
Rating: 63% based on 27 votes
From the name of the flower, a symbol of purity. The word is ultimately derived from Latin lilium. This is the name of the main character, Lily Bart, in the novel The House of Mirth (1905) by Edith Wharton. A famous bearer is the American actress Lily Tomlin (1939-).
Lincoln
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: LING-kən
Rating: 56% based on 23 votes
From an English surname that was originally from the name of an English city, called Lindum Colonia by the Romans, derived from Brythonic lindo "lake, pool" and Latin colonia "colony". This name is usually given in honour of Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865), president of the United States during the American Civil War.
Loretta
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Italian
Pronounced: lə-REHT-ə(English) lo-REHT-ta(Italian)
Rating: 58% based on 15 votes
Perhaps a variant of Lauretta or Loreto. A famous bearer was the American actress Loretta Young (1913-2000), whose birth name was Gretchen.
Lorraine
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: lə-RAYN
Rating: 61% based on 21 votes
From the name of a region in eastern France, originally meaning "kingdom of Lothar". Lothar was a Frankish king, the great-grandson of Charlemagne, whose realm was in the part of France that is now called Lorraine, or in German Lothringen (from Latin Lothari regnum). As a given name, it has been used in the English-speaking world since the late 19th century, perhaps due to its similar sound with Laura. It became popular after World War I when the region was in the news, as it was contested between Germany and France.
Lottie
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Swedish
Pronounced: LAHT-ee(English)
Rating: 58% based on 18 votes
Diminutive of Charlotte or Liselotte.
Lucienne
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French
Pronounced: LUY-SYEHN
Rating: 52% based on 22 votes
Feminine form of Lucien.
Marguerite
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French
Pronounced: MAR-GU-REET
Rating: 65% based on 26 votes
French form of Margaret. This is also the French word for the daisy flower (species Leucanthemum vulgare).
Mina 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Dutch
Pronounced: MEE-nə(English) MEE-na(Dutch)
Rating: 55% based on 17 votes
Short form of Wilhelmina and other names ending in mina. This was the name of a character in the novel Dracula (1897) by Bram Stoker.
Mordecai
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Biblical, Hebrew
Other Scripts: מָרְדֳּכַי, מָרְדְּכַי(Hebrew)
Pronounced: MAWR-də-kie(English)
Rating: 53% based on 22 votes
Means "servant of Marduk" in Persian. In the Old Testament Mordecai is the cousin and foster father of Esther. He thwarted a plot to kill the Persian king, though he made an enemy of the king's chief advisor Haman.
Parker
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: PAHR-kər
Rating: 41% based on 23 votes
From an English occupational surname that meant "keeper of the park".
River
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: RIV-ər
Rating: 71% based on 27 votes
From the English word that denotes a flowing body of water. The word is ultimately derived (via Old French) from Latin ripa "riverbank".
Rosalie
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French, German, Dutch, English
Pronounced: RAW-ZA-LEE(French) ro-za-LEE(German, Dutch) RO-sa-lee(Dutch) ro-sa-LEE(Dutch) RO-za-lee(Dutch) RO-zə-lee(English)
Rating: 81% based on 27 votes
French, German and Dutch form of Rosalia. In the English-speaking this name received a boost after the release of the movie Rosalie (1938), which was based on an earlier musical.
Rose
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, French
Pronounced: ROZ
Rating: 81% based on 25 votes
Originally a Norman French form of the Germanic name Hrodohaidis meaning "famous type", composed of the elements hruod "fame" and heit "kind, sort, type". The Normans introduced it to England in the forms Roese and Rohese. From an early date it was associated with the word for the fragrant flower rose (derived from Latin rosa). When the name was revived in the 19th century, it was probably with the flower in mind.
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: 64% based on 21 votes
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.

Sparrow
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: SPAR-o, SPEHR-o
Rating: 57% based on 24 votes
From the name of the bird, ultimately from Old English spearwa.
Theodosia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Ancient Greek [1], Greek
Other Scripts: Θεοδοσία(Greek)
Pronounced: TEH-O-DO-SEE-A(Classical Greek) thee-ə-DO-see-ə(English) thee-ə-DO-shə(English)
Rating: 68% based on 24 votes
Feminine form of Theodosius.
Victoria
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Spanish, Romanian, German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, French, Late Roman, Roman Mythology
Pronounced: vik-TAWR-ee-ə(English) beek-TO-rya(Spanish) vik-TO-rya(German) VEEK-TAW-RYA(French) week-TO-ree-a(Latin)
Rating: 70% based on 26 votes
Means "victory" in Latin, being borne by the Roman goddess of victory. It is also a feminine form of Victorius. This name was borne by a 4th-century saint and martyr from North Africa.

Though in use elsewhere in Europe, the name was very rare in the English-speaking world until the 19th century, when Queen Victoria began her long rule of Britain. She was named after her mother, who was of German royalty. Many geographic areas are named after the queen, including an Australian state and a Canadian city.

William
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: WIL-yəm
Rating: 64% based on 25 votes
From the Germanic name Willehelm meaning "will helmet", composed of the elements willo "will, desire" and helm "helmet, protection". An early saint by this name was the 8th-century William of Gellone, a cousin of Charlemagne who became a monk. The name was common among the Normans, and it became extremely popular in England after William the Conqueror was recognized as the first Norman king of England in the 11th century. From then until the modern era it has been among the most common of English names (with John, Thomas and Robert).

This name was later borne by three other English kings, as well as rulers of Scotland, Sicily (of Norman origin), the Netherlands and Prussia. Other famous bearers include William Wallace, a 13th-century Scottish hero, and William Tell, a legendary 14th-century Swiss hero (called Wilhelm in German, Guillaume in French and Guglielmo in Italian). In the literary world it was borne by dramatist William Shakespeare (1564-1616), poet William Blake (1757-1827), poet William Wordsworth (1770-1850), dramatist William Butler Yeats (1865-1939), author William Faulkner (1897-1962), and author William S. Burroughs (1914-1997).

In the American rankings (since 1880) this name has never been out of the top 20, making it one of the most consistently popular names (although it has never reached the top rank). In modern times its short form, Liam, has periodically been more popular than William itself, in the United Kingdom in the 1990s and the United States in the 2010s.

Zenobia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Ancient Greek [1]
Other Scripts: Ζηνοβία(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: ZDEH-NO-BEE-A(Classical Greek) zə-NO-bee-ə(English)
Rating: 57% based on 21 votes
Means "life of Zeus", derived from Greek Ζηνός (Zenos) meaning "of Zeus" and βίος (bios) meaning "life". This was the name of the queen of the Palmyrene Empire, which broke away from Rome in the 3rd-century and began expanding into Roman territory. She was eventually defeated by the emperor Aurelian. Her Greek name was used as an approximation of her native Aramaic name.
Zuleika
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Literature
Pronounced: zoo-LAY-kə(English)
Rating: 57% based on 23 votes
Meaning uncertain, possibly of Arabic origin. According to medieval tradition, notably related by the 15th-century Persian poet Jami, this was the name of the biblical Potiphar's wife. She has been a frequent subject of poems and tales.
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