BlueJewels's Personal Name List
Adela
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Spanish, Romanian, Polish, Slovak, Germanic [1]
Pronounced: ə-DEHL-ə(English) a-DHEH-la(Spanish) a-DEH-la(Polish) A-deh-la(Slovak)
Rating: 46% based on 16 votes
Originally a short form of names beginning with the Old German element
adal meaning
"noble" (Proto-Germanic *
aþalaz).
Saint Adela was a 7th-century Frankish princess who founded a monastery at Pfazel in France. This name was also borne by a daughter of William the Conqueror.
Adelaide
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Italian, Portuguese
Pronounced: A-də-layd(English) a-deh-LIE-deh(Italian) a-di-LIE-di(European Portuguese) a-di-LIED(European Portuguese) a-deh-LIE-dee(Brazilian Portuguese)
Rating: 69% based on 16 votes
Means
"nobleness, nobility", from the French form of the Germanic name
Adalheidis, which was composed of
adal "noble" and the suffix
heit "kind, sort, type". It was borne in the 10th century by
Saint Adelaide, the wife of the Holy Roman emperor Otto the Great.
In Britain the parallel form Alice, derived via Old French, has historically been more common than Adelaide, though this form did gain some currency in the 19th century due to the popularity of the German-born wife of King William IV, for whom the city of Adelaide in Australia was named in 1836.
Adelara
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Brazilian
Rating: 45% based on 15 votes
Adele
Gender: Feminine
Usage: German, English, Italian
Pronounced: a-DEH-lə(German) ə-DEHL(English) a-DEH-leh(Italian)
Rating: 47% based on 18 votes
Form of
Adela used in several languages. A famous bearer was the dancer and actress Adele Astaire (1896-1981). It was also borne by the British singer Adele Adkins (1988-), known simply as Adele. Shortly after she released her debut album in 2008 the name reentered the American top 1000 chart after a 40-year absence.
Adrian
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, Romanian, Polish, German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Russian
Other Scripts: Адриан(Russian)
Pronounced: AY-dree-ən(English) a-dree-AN(Romanian) A-dryan(Polish) A-dree-an(German) u-dryi-AN(Russian)
Rating: 31% based on 12 votes
Form of
Hadrianus (see
Hadrian) used in several languages. Several
saints and six popes have borne this name, including the only English pope, Adrian IV, and the only Dutch pope, Adrian VI. As an English name, it has been in use since the Middle Ages, though it was not popular until modern times.
Alaric
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Gothic (Anglicized)
Other Scripts: 𐌰𐌻𐌰𐍂𐌴𐌹𐌺𐍃(Gothic)
Pronounced: AL-ə-rik(English)
Rating: 29% based on 10 votes
From the Gothic name *
Alareiks meaning
"ruler of all", derived from the element
alls "all" combined with
reiks "ruler, king". This was the name of a king of the Visigoths who sacked Rome in the 5th century.
Alea
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: ə-LEE-ə
Rating: 45% based on 13 votes
Alexandria
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: al-ig-ZAN-dree-ə
Rating: 58% based on 16 votes
Feminine form of
Alexander. Alexander the Great founded several cities by this name (or renamed them) as he extended his empire eastward. The most notable of these is Alexandria in Egypt, founded by Alexander in 331 BC.
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: 73% based on 15 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).
Alina
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Romanian, Polish, Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian, Slovene, German, Italian, Spanish
Other Scripts: Алина(Russian) Аліна(Ukrainian, Belarusian)
Pronounced: a-LEE-na(Romanian, Polish, German, Italian, Spanish)
Rating: 48% based on 13 votes
Alva 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Swedish, Norwegian
Pronounced: AL-va(Swedish)
Rating: 48% based on 13 votes
Amara
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Igbo
Rating: 42% based on 12 votes
Means "grace" in Igbo.
Annora
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Rating: 59% based on 14 votes
Medieval English variant of
Honora.
Anthony
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: AN-thə-nee(American English) AN-tə-nee(British English)
Rating: 53% based on 11 votes
English form of the Roman family name
Antonius, which is of unknown Etruscan origin. The most notable member of the Roman family was the general Marcus Antonius (called Mark Antony in English), who for a period in the 1st century BC ruled the Roman Empire jointly with Augustus. When their relationship turned sour, he and his mistress Cleopatra were attacked and forced to commit suicide, as related in Shakespeare's tragedy
Antony and Cleopatra (1606).
The name became regularly used in the Christian world due to the fame of Saint Anthony the Great, a 4th-century Egyptian hermit who founded Christian monasticism. Its popularity was reinforced in the Middle Ages by the 13th-century Saint Anthony of Padua, the patron saint of Portugal. It has been commonly (but incorrectly) associated with Greek ἄνθος (anthos) meaning "flower", which resulted in the addition of the h to this spelling in the 17th century.
Antonia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, Spanish, English, German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Dutch, Romanian, Greek, Croatian, Bulgarian, Ancient Roman
Other Scripts: Αντωνία(Greek) Антония(Bulgarian)
Pronounced: an-TO-nya(Italian, Spanish, German) an-TO-nee-ə(English) ahn-TO-nee-a(Dutch) an-TO-nee-a(Latin)
Rating: 58% based on 13 votes
Feminine form of
Antonius (see
Anthony).
Antonio
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Spanish, Italian, Croatian
Pronounced: an-TO-nyo(Spanish, Italian) an-TO-nee-o(English)
Rating: 46% based on 11 votes
Spanish and Italian form of
Antonius (see
Anthony). This has been a common name in Italy since the 14th century. In Spain it was the most popular name for boys in the 1950s and 60s.
Famous bearers include the Renaissance painter Antonio Pisanello (c. 1395-1455) and the Baroque composer Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741). It is also the name of the main character in The Merchant of Venice (1596) by William Shakespeare.
Anwen
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Welsh
Rating: 31% based on 11 votes
Means
"very beautiful" in Welsh, from the intensive prefix
an- combined with
gwen "white, blessed".
Arabella
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: ar-ə-BEHL-ə
Rating: 51% 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).
Aria 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: AHR-ee-ə
Rating: 61% based on 15 votes
Means "song, melody" in Italian (literally means "air"). An aria is an elaborate vocal solo, the type usually performed in operas. As an English name, it has only been in use since the 20th century, its rise in popularity accelerating after the 2010 premier of the television drama Pretty Little Liars, featuring a character by this name. It is not traditionally used in Italy.
Arianwen
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Welsh
Pronounced: ar-YAN-wehn
Rating: 25% based on 11 votes
Derived from Welsh
arian "silver" and
gwen "white, blessed". This was the name of a 5th-century Welsh
saint, one of the supposed daughters of
Brychan Brycheiniog.
Arwen
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Literature
Rating: 32% based on 11 votes
Means
"noble maiden" in the fictional language Sindarin. In
The Lord of the Rings (1954) by J. R. R. Tolkien, Arwen was the daughter of
Elrond and the lover of
Aragorn.
Ash
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: ASH
Rating: 51% based on 9 votes
Short form of
Ashley. It can also come directly from the English word denoting either the tree or the residue of fire.
Astrid
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, German, French, English
Pronounced: AS-strid(Swedish) AHS-tri(Norwegian) AS-trit(German) AS-TREED(French) AS-trid(English)
Rating: 48% based on 13 votes
Modern Scandinavian form of
Ástríðr. This name was borne by the Swedish writer Astrid Lindgren (1907-2002), the author of
Pippi Longstocking. It was also borne by a Swedish princess (1905-1935) who became the queen of Belgium as the wife of Leopold III.
Athena
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology, English
Other Scripts: Ἀθηνᾶ(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: A-TEH-NA(Classical Greek) ə-THEE-nə(English)
Rating: 66% based on 14 votes
Meaning unknown. Athena was the Greek goddess of wisdom and warfare and the patron goddess of the city of Athens in Greece. It is likely that her name is derived from that of the city, not vice versa. The earliest mention of her seems to be a 15th-century BC Mycenaean Greek inscription from Knossos on Crete.
The daughter of Zeus, she was said to have sprung from his head fully grown after he impregnated and swallowed her mother Metis. Athena is associated with the olive tree and the owl.
August
Gender: Masculine
Usage: German, Polish, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Catalan, English
Pronounced: OW-guwst(German) OW-goost(Polish, Norwegian) OW-guyst(Swedish) AW-gəst(English)
Rating: 80% based on 12 votes
German, Polish, Scandinavian and Catalan form of
Augustus. This was the name of three Polish kings.
As an English name it can also derive from the month of August, which was named for the Roman emperor Augustus.
Aurelia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Ancient Roman, Romanian, Italian, Spanish, Polish
Pronounced: ow-REH-lee-a(Latin) ow-REH-lya(Italian, Spanish, Polish)
Rating: 75% based on 15 votes
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: 68% based on 13 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.
Autumn
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: AW-təm
Rating: 68% based on 13 votes
From the name of the season, ultimately from Latin autumnus. This name has been in general use since the 1960s.
Avalon
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: AV-ə-lahn
Rating: 44% based on 10 votes
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.
Azura
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: ə-ZHUWR-ə, AZH-rə
Rating: 46% based on 11 votes
Bellatrix
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Astronomy
Pronounced: bə-LAY-triks(English) BEHL-ə-triks(English)
Rating: 36% based on 11 votes
Means "female warrior" in Latin. This is the name of the star that marks the left shoulder of the constellation Orion.
Belle
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: BEHL
Rating: 54% based on 11 votes
Short form of
Isabella or names ending in
belle. It is also associated with the French word
belle meaning "beautiful". A famous bearer was Belle Starr (1848-1889), an outlaw of the American west, whose real given name was Maybelle.
Bianca
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, Romanian
Pronounced: BYANG-ka
Rating: 56% based on 12 votes
Italian
cognate of
Blanche. Shakespeare had characters named Bianca in
The Taming of the Shrew (1593) and
Othello (1603).
Callum
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Scottish
Pronounced: KAL-əm
Rating: 64% based on 11 votes
Carys
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Welsh
Pronounced: KAHR-is
Rating: 32% based on 11 votes
Derived from Welsh caru meaning "love". This is a relatively modern Welsh name, in common use only since the middle of the 20th century.
Cassandra
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, French, Greek Mythology (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Κασσάνδρα(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: kə-SAN-drə(English) kə-SAHN-drə(English)
Rating: 65% based on 12 votes
From the Greek name
Κασσάνδρα (Kassandra), possibly derived from
κέκασμαι (kekasmai) meaning "to excel, to shine" and
ἀνήρ (aner) meaning "man" (genitive
ἀνδρός). In Greek
myth Cassandra was a Trojan princess, the daughter of
Priam and
Hecuba. She was given the gift of prophecy by
Apollo, but when she spurned his advances he cursed her so nobody would believe her prophecies.
In the Middle Ages this name was common in England due to the popularity of medieval tales about the Trojan War. It subsequently became rare, but was revived in the 20th century.
Caterina
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, Catalan
Pronounced: ka-teh-REE-na(Italian) kə-tə-REE-nə(Catalan)
Rating: 49% based on 12 votes
Celeste
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, English
Pronounced: cheh-LEH-steh(Italian) theh-LEHS-teh(European Spanish) seh-LEHS-teh(Latin American Spanish) sə-LEST(English)
Rating: 59% based on 12 votes
Italian feminine and masculine form of
Caelestis. It is also the Portuguese, Spanish and English feminine form.
Céline
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French
Pronounced: SEH-LEEN
Rating: 63% based on 12 votes
French feminine form of
Caelinus. This name can also function as a short form of
Marceline.
Chiara
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian
Pronounced: KYA-ra
Rating: 41% based on 10 votes
Italian form of
Clara.
Saint Chiara (commonly called
Clare in English) was a follower of Saint Francis of Assisi.
Circe
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Κίρκη(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: SUR-see(English)
Rating: 33% based on 13 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.
Claire
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French, English
Pronounced: KLEHR
Rating: 63% based on 10 votes
French form of
Clara. This was a common name in France throughout the 20th century, though it has since been eclipsed there by
Clara. It was also very popular in the United Kingdom, especially in the 1970s.
Clarisse
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French
Pronounced: KLA-REES
Rating: 42% based on 10 votes
Clay
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: KLAY
Rating: 43% based on 8 votes
From an English surname that originally referred to a person who lived near or worked with clay. This name can also be a short form of
Clayton.
Clayton
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: KLAY-tən
Rating: 33% based on 9 votes
From a surname that was originally derived from various English place names, all meaning "clay settlement" in Old English.
Clover
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: KLO-vər
Rating: 48% based on 9 votes
From the English word for the wild flower, ultimately deriving from Old English clafre.
Cole
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: KOL
Rating: 52% based on 9 votes
From an English surname, itself originally derived from either a medieval short form of
Nicholas or the byname
Cola. A famous bearer was the songwriter Cole Porter (1891-1964), while a bearer of the surname was the musician Nat King Cole (1919-1965).
This name got more popular in the early 1980s, then got a boost in 1990 when it was used by the main character in the movie Days of Thunder.
Colin 1
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Scottish, English
Pronounced: KAHL-in(English) KOL-in(English)
Rating: 51% based on 10 votes
Anglicized form of Scottish
Cailean.
Cora
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, German, Greek Mythology (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Κόρη(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: KAWR-ə(English) KO-ra(German)
Rating: 51% based on 10 votes
Latinized form of
Kore. It was not used as a given name in the English-speaking world until after it was employed by James Fenimore Cooper for a character in his novel
The Last of the Mohicans (1826). In some cases it may be a short form of
Cordula,
Corinna and other names beginning with a similar sound.
Cressida
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Literature
Pronounced: KREHS-i-də(English)
Rating: 45% based on 11 votes
Form of
Criseida used by Shakespeare in his play
Troilus and Cressida (1602).
Dahlia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: DAL-yə, DAHL-yə, DAYL-yə
Rating: 48% based on 11 votes
From the name of the flower, which was named for the Swedish botanist Anders Dahl.
Daisy
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: DAY-zee
Rating: 85% based on 13 votes
Simply from the English word for the white flower, ultimately derived from Old English
dægeseage meaning "day eye". It was first used as a given name in the 19th century, at the same time many other plant and flower names were coined.
This name was fairly popular at the end of the 19th century and beginning of the 20th. The American author F. Scott Fitzgerald used it for the character of Daisy Buchanan in The Great Gatsby (1925). The Walt Disney cartoon character Daisy Duck was created in 1940 as the girlfriend of Donald Duck. It was at a low in popularity in the United States in the 1970s when it got a small boost from a character on the television series The Dukes of Hazzard in 1979.
Damian
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, Polish, Romanian, Dutch (Modern)
Pronounced: DAY-mee-ən(English) DA-myan(Polish)
Rating: 58% based on 11 votes
From the Greek name
Δαμιανός (Damianos), which was derived from Greek
δαμάζω (damazo) meaning
"to tame".
Saint Damian was martyred with his twin brother
Cosmas in Syria early in the 4th century. They are the patron saints of physicians. Due to his renown, the name came into general use in Christian Europe. Another saint by this name was Peter Damian, an 11th-century cardinal and theologian from Italy.
Danica
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Serbian, Croatian, Slovene, Slovak, Macedonian, English
Other Scripts: Даница(Serbian, Macedonian)
Pronounced: DA-nee-tsa(Serbian, Croatian) DA-nyee-tsa(Slovak) DAN-i-kə(English)
Rating: 33% based on 11 votes
From a Slavic word meaning "morning star, Venus". This name occurs in Slavic folklore as a personification of the morning star. It has sometimes been used in the English-speaking world since the 1970s.
Dario
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Italian, Croatian
Pronounced: DA-ryo(Italian) DA-ree-o(Croatian)
Rating: 33% based on 8 votes
Dawn
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: DAWN
Rating: 57% based on 13 votes
From the English word dawn, ultimately derived from Old English dagung.
Declan
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Irish, English
Pronounced: DEHK-lən(English)
Rating: 52% based on 11 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).
Delphine
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French
Pronounced: DEHL-FEEN
Rating: 48% based on 10 votes
Des
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: DEHZ
Rating: 21% based on 9 votes
Desmond
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, Irish
Pronounced: DEHZ-mənd(English)
Rating: 42% based on 9 votes
Anglicized form of Irish Deasmhumhain meaning "south Munster", referring to the region of Desmond in southern Ireland, formerly a kingdom. It can also come from the related surname (an Anglicized form of Ó Deasmhumhnaigh), which indicated a person who came from that region. A famous bearer is the South African archbishop and activist Desmond Tutu (1931-2021).
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-AH-nu(Ukrainian) DI-ya-na(Czech) DEE-a-na(Slovak)
Rating: 60% based on 10 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.
Dmitriy
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Russian
Other Scripts: Дмитрий(Russian)
Pronounced: DMEE-tree
Rating: 41% based on 10 votes
Russian form of
Demetrius. This name was borne by several medieval princes of Moscow and Vladimir. Another famous bearer was Dmitriy Mendeleyev (or Mendeleev; 1834-1907), the Russian chemist who devised the periodic table.
Dominic
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: DAHM-i-nik
Rating: 49% based on 9 votes
From the Late Latin name
Dominicus meaning
"of the Lord". This name was traditionally given to a child born on Sunday. Several
saints have borne this name, including the 13th-century founder of the Dominican order of friars. It was in this saint's honour that the name was first used in England, starting around the 13th century. It is primarily used by Catholics.
Dorian
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, French, Romanian
Pronounced: DAWR-ee-ən(English) DAW-RYAHN(French)
Rating: 60% based on 8 votes
The name was first used by Oscar Wilde in his novel The Picture of Dorian Gray (1891), which tells the story of a man whose portrait ages while he stays young. Wilde may have taken it from the name of the ancient Greek tribe the Dorians.
Eirlys
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Welsh
Pronounced: AYR-lis
Rating: 31% based on 10 votes
Means
"snowdrop (flower)" in Welsh, a compound of
eira "snow" and
llys "plant".
Elaine
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Arthurian Cycle
Pronounced: i-LAYN(English) ee-LAYN(English)
Rating: 42% based on 9 votes
From an Old French form of
Helen. It appears in Arthurian legend; in Thomas Malory's 15th-century compilation
Le Morte d'Arthur Elaine was the daughter of
Pelles, the lover of
Lancelot, and the mother of
Galahad. It was not commonly used as an English given name until after the publication of Alfred Tennyson's Arthurian epic
Idylls of the King (1859).
Elara
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Ἐλάρα(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: EHL-ə-rə(English)
Rating: 47% based on 10 votes
Possibly derived from Greek
ἄλαρα (alara) meaning
"hazelnut, spear-shaft". In Greek
mythology Elara was one of
Zeus's mortal lovers and by him the mother of the giant Tityos. A moon of Jupiter bears this name in her honour.
Eleanor
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: EHL-ə-nawr
Rating: 86% based on 12 votes
From the Old French form of the Occitan name
Alienòr. Among the name's earliest bearers was the influential Eleanor of Aquitaine (12th century), who was the queen of Louis VII, the king of France, and later Henry II, the king of England. She was named
Aenor after her mother, and was called by the Occitan phrase
alia Aenor "the other Aenor" in order to distinguish her from her mother. However, there appear to be examples of bearers prior to Eleanor of Aquitaine. It is not clear whether they were in fact Aenors who were retroactively recorded as having the name Eleanor, or whether there is an alternative explanation for the name's origin.
The popularity of the name Eleanor in England during the Middle Ages was due to the fame of Eleanor of Aquitaine, as well as two queens of the following century: Eleanor of Provence, the wife of Henry III, and Eleanor of Castile, the wife of Edward I. More recently, it was borne by first lady Eleanor Roosevelt (1884-1962), the wife of American president Franklin Roosevelt.
Eleanora
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: ehl-ə-NAWR-ə
Rating: 59% based on 10 votes
Eleonora
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, German, Swedish, Latvian, Lithuanian, Dutch, Polish, Bulgarian, Russian, Ukrainian, Greek
Other Scripts: Елеонора(Bulgarian, Ukrainian) Элеонора(Russian) Ελεονώρα(Greek)
Pronounced: eh-leh-o-NAW-ra(Italian) eh-leh-o-NO-ra(German) eh-leh-aw-NAW-ra(Polish) eh-lyi-u-NO-rə(Russian)
Rating: 60% based on 12 votes
Form of
Eleanor in several languages.
Eliana 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, English (Modern)
Pronounced: eh-LYA-na(Italian, Spanish) ehl-lee-AN-ə(English) ehl-lee-AHN-ə(English)
Rating: 57% based on 11 votes
Italian, Spanish and Portuguese form of
Éliane.
Elias
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Portuguese, German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, English, Dutch, Greek, Amharic, Biblical Latin, Biblical Greek
Other Scripts: Ηλίας(Greek) ኤልያስ(Amharic) Ἠλίας(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: i-LEE-ush(European Portuguese) eh-LEE-us(Brazilian Portuguese) eh-LEE-as(German) EH-lee-ahs(Finnish) i-LIE-əs(English) ee-LIE-əs(English)
Rating: 59% based on 9 votes
Form of
Elijah used in several languages. This is also the form used in the Greek
New Testament.
Elijah
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, Hebrew, Biblical
Other Scripts: אֱלִיָּהוּ(Hebrew)
Pronounced: i-LIE-jə(English) i-LIE-zhə(English)
Rating: 60% based on 10 votes
From the Hebrew name
אֱלִיָּהוּ ('Eliyyahu) meaning
"my God is Yahweh", derived from the elements
אֵל ('el) and
יָה (yah), both referring to the Hebrew God. Elijah was a Hebrew prophet and miracle worker, as told in the two Books of Kings in the
Old Testament. He was active in the 9th century BC during the reign of King
Ahab of Israel and his Phoenician-born queen
Jezebel. Elijah confronted the king and queen over their idolatry of the Canaanite god
Ba'al and other wicked deeds. At the end of his life he was carried to heaven in a chariot of fire, and was succeeded by
Elisha. In the
New Testament, Elijah and
Moses appear next to
Jesus when he is transfigured.
Because Elijah was a popular figure in medieval tales, and because his name was borne by a few early saints (who are usually known by the Latin form Elias), the name came into general use during the Middle Ages. In medieval England it was usually spelled Elis. It died out there by the 16th century, but it was revived by the Puritans in the form Elijah after the Protestant Reformation. The name became popular during the 1990s and 2000s, especially in America where it broke into the top ten in 2016.
Élise
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French
Pronounced: EH-LEEZ
Rating: 61% based on 11 votes
Elise
Gender: Feminine
Usage: German, Norwegian, Danish, Swedish, Finnish, Dutch, English
Pronounced: eh-LEE-zə(German) eh-LEE-seh(Norwegian, Danish, Swedish) i-LEES(English) EE-lees(English)
Rating: 62% based on 12 votes
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: 69% based on 9 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).
Ella 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: EHL-ə
Rating: 71% based on 13 votes
Norman name, originally a short form of Germanic names containing the element
alles meaning
"other" (Proto-Germanic *
aljaz). It was introduced to England by the
Normans and used until the 14th century, and it was later revived in the 19th century. A famous bearer was the American singer Ella Fitzgerald (1917-1996).
Ellera
Gender: Feminine
Usage: American (Rare, Archaic)
Rating: 51% based on 9 votes
Elliot
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: EHL-ee-ət
Rating: 68% based on 9 votes
From a surname that was a variant of
Elliott.
Eloise
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: EHL-o-eez, ehl-o-EEZ
Rating: 65% based on 13 votes
From the Old French name
Héloïse, which was probably from the Germanic name
Helewidis, composed of the elements
heil meaning "healthy, whole" and
wit meaning "wide". It is sometimes associated with the Greek word
ἥλιος (helios) meaning "sun" or the name
Louise, though there is no etymological connection. This name was borne by the 12th-century French scholar and philosopher Héloïse. Secretly marrying the theologian Peter Abelard at a young age, she became a nun (and eventually an abbess) after Abelard was violently castrated by order of her uncle Fulbert.
There was a medieval English form of this name, Helewis, though it died out after the 13th century. In the 19th century it was revived in the English-speaking world in the form Eloise.
Elowen
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Cornish
Rating: 36% based on 9 votes
Means "elm tree" in Cornish. This is a recently coined Cornish name.
Elysia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Various
Pronounced: i-LIZ-ee-ə(English) i-LIS-ee-ə(English) i-LEE-zhə(English)
Rating: 45% based on 10 votes
From
Elysium, the name of the realm of the dead in Greek and Roman
mythology, which means
"blissful".
Emilia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, Spanish, Romanian, Finnish, Polish, German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, English, Greek, Bulgarian
Other Scripts: Αιμιλία(Greek) Емилия(Bulgarian)
Pronounced: eh-MEE-lya(Italian, Spanish, Polish) EH-mee-lee-ah(Finnish) eh-MEE-lee-ah(Swedish) i-MEE-lee-ə(English) eh-mee-LEE-a(Greek)
Rating: 73% based on 15 votes
Feminine form of
Aemilius (see
Emily). In Shakespeare's tragedy
Othello (1603) this is the name of the wife of
Iago.
Emrys
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Welsh
Pronounced: EHM-ris
Rating: 48% based on 8 votes
Welsh form of
Ambrose. Emrys Wledig (or Ambrosius Aurelianus) was a Romano-British military leader who fought against the invading Anglo-Saxons in the 5th century. Tales of his life were used by the 12th-century chronicler Geoffrey of Monmouth to help shape the early character of
Merlin, whom he called Merlinus Ambrosius in Latin.
Eris
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Ἔρις(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: EHR-is(English)
Rating: 29% based on 10 votes
Means
"strife, discord" in Greek. In Greek
mythology Eris was the goddess of discord. She was the sister and companion of
Ares.
Eva
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, English, Czech, Slovak, German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Estonian, Danish, Icelandic, Faroese, Romanian, Greek, Slovene, Bulgarian, Croatian, Russian, Georgian, Armenian, Biblical Latin, Old Church Slavic
Other Scripts: Εύα(Greek) Ева(Bulgarian, Russian, Church Slavic) ევა(Georgian) Էվա(Armenian)
Pronounced: EH-ba(Spanish) EH-va(Italian, Czech, Slovak, Dutch, Swedish, Icelandic, Greek) EE-və(English) EH-fa(German) EH-vah(Danish) YEH-və(Russian) EH-VAH(Georgian) EH-wa(Latin)
Rating: 47% based on 10 votes
Form of
Eve used in various languages. This form is used in the Latin translation of the
New Testament, while
Hava is used in the Latin
Old Testament. A notable bearer was the Argentine first lady Eva Perón (1919-1952), the subject of the musical
Evita. The name also appears in Harriet Beecher Stowe's novel
Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852) belonging to the character Little Eva, whose real name is in fact Evangeline.
This is also an alternate transcription of Russian Ева (see Yeva).
Evadne
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Εὐάδνη(Ancient Greek)
Rating: 35% based on 8 votes
From Greek
Εὐάδνη (Euadne), from
εὖ (eu) meaning "good" possibly combined with Cretan Greek
ἀδνός (adnos) meaning "holy". This name was borne by several characters in Greek legend, including the wife of Capaneus. After Capaneus was killed by a lightning bolt sent from
Zeus she committed suicide by throwing herself onto his burning body.
Eve
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Estonian, Biblical
Other Scripts: חַוָּה(Ancient Hebrew)
Pronounced: EEV(English)
Rating: 46% based on 10 votes
From the Hebrew name
חַוָּה (Chawwah), which was derived from the Hebrew word
חָוָה (chawah) meaning
"to breathe" or the related word
חָיָה (chayah) meaning
"to live". According to the
Old Testament Book of Genesis, Eve and
Adam were the first humans. God created her from one of Adam's ribs to be his companion. At the urging of a serpent she ate the forbidden fruit and shared some with Adam, causing their expulsion from the Garden of
Eden.
Despite this potentially negative association, the name was occasionally used by Christians during the Middle Ages. In the English-speaking world both Eve and the Latin form Eva were revived in the 19th century, with the latter being more common.
Evelyn
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, German
Pronounced: EHV-ə-lin(English) EEV-lin(British English) EEV-ə-lin(British English) EH-və-leen(German)
Rating: 73% based on 12 votes
From an English surname that was derived from the given name
Aveline. In the 17th century when it was first used as a given name it was more common for boys, but it is now regarded as almost entirely feminine, probably in part because of its similarity to
Eve and
Evelina.
This name was popular throughout the English-speaking world in the early 20th century. It staged a comeback in the early 21st century, returning to the American top ten in 2017.
Ezra
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Biblical, English, Hebrew
Other Scripts: עֶזְרָא(Hebrew)
Pronounced: EHZ-rə(English)
Rating: 56% based on 10 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.
Faye
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: FAY
Rating: 31% based on 9 votes
Fern
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: FURN
Rating: 43% based on 8 votes
From the English word for the plant, ultimately from Old English fearn. It has been used as a given name since the late 19th century.
Fiammetta
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian
Pronounced: fyam-MEHT-ta
Rating: 42% based on 6 votes
Fina
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, Spanish
Pronounced: FEE-na
Rating: 53% based on 7 votes
Short form of
Serafina.
Saint Fina, also known as Saint Serafina, was a 13th-century girl from the town of San Gimignano in Italy.
Finn 1
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Irish Mythology, Old Irish [1], Irish, English, Dutch, German
Pronounced: FIN(English)
Rating: 56% based on 12 votes
Old Irish form of
Fionn, as well as the usual Anglicized spelling (with the Irish hero's name Anglicized as Finn McCool). As a surname it is borne by Huckleberry Finn, a character in Mark Twain's novels.
Fiona
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Scottish, English
Pronounced: fee-O-nə(English)
Rating: 77% based on 14 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.
Francesca
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, Catalan
Pronounced: fran-CHEHS-ka(Italian) frən-SEHS-kə(Catalan)
Rating: 64% based on 10 votes
Italian and Catalan feminine form of
Franciscus (see
Francis).
Frederick
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: FREHD-ə-rik, FREHD-rik
Rating: 56% based on 11 votes
English form of an Old German name meaning
"peaceful ruler", derived from
fridu "peace" and
rih "ruler, king". This name has long been common in continental Germanic-speaking regions, being borne by rulers of the Holy Roman Empire, Germany, Austria, Scandinavia, and Prussia. Notables among these rulers include the 12th-century Holy Roman emperor and crusader Frederick I Barbarossa, the 13th-century emperor and patron of the arts Frederick II, and the 18th-century Frederick II of Prussia, known as Frederick the Great.
The Normans brought the name to England in the 11th century but it quickly died out. It was reintroduced by the German House of Hanover when they inherited the British throne in the 18th century. A famous bearer was Frederick Douglass (1818-1895), an American ex-slave who became a leading advocate of abolition.
Freya
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Norse Mythology, English (Modern), German
Pronounced: FRAY-ə(English) FRAY-a(German)
Rating: 52% based on 12 votes
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.
Gemma
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, Catalan, English (British), Dutch
Pronounced: JEHM-ma(Italian) ZHEHM-mə(Catalan) JEHM-ə(British English) GHEH-ma(Dutch)
Rating: 60% based on 13 votes
Medieval Italian nickname meaning "gem, precious stone". It was borne by the wife of the 13th-century Italian poet Dante Alighieri.
Gianna
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, Greek, English (Modern)
Other Scripts: Γιάννα(Greek)
Pronounced: JAN-na(Italian) YA-na(Greek) jee-AHN-ə(English) JAHN-ə(English)
Rating: 53% based on 10 votes
Italian short form of
Giovanna and a Modern Greek variant of
Ioanna.
Its use in America started increasing in the late 20th century. It spiked in popularity in 2020 after the death of Gianna Bryant and her father, the basketball player Kobe Bryant, in a helicopter crash.
Giovanni
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Italian
Pronounced: jo-VAN-nee
Rating: 48% based on 6 votes
Italian form of
Iohannes (see
John). This name has been very common in Italy since the late Middle Ages, as with other equivalents of
John in Europe. The Renaissance writer Giovanni Boccaccio (1313-1375), the painter Giovanni Bellini (1430-1516) and the painter and sculptor Giovanni Lorenzo Bernini (1598-1680) were famous bearers of the name.
Gwen
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Welsh, English
Pronounced: GWEHN
Rating: 69% based on 12 votes
From Welsh
gwen, the feminine form of
gwyn meaning "white, blessed". It can also be a short form of
Gwendolen,
Gwenllian and other names beginning with
Gwen.
Gwendolen
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Welsh
Pronounced: GWEHN-də-lin(English)
Rating: 70% based on 12 votes
Possibly means
"white ring", derived from Welsh
gwen meaning "white, blessed" and
dolen meaning "ring, loop". This name appears in Geoffrey of Monmouth's 12th-century chronicles, written in the Latin form
Guendoloena, where it belongs to an ancient queen of the Britons who defeats her ex-husband in battle
[1]. Geoffrey later used it in
Vita Merlini for the wife of the prophet
Merlin [2]. An alternate theory claims that the name arose from a misreading of the masculine name
Guendoleu by Geoffrey
[3].
This name was not regularly given to people until the 19th century [4][3]. It was used by George Eliot for a character in her novel Daniel Deronda (1876).
Hazel
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: HAY-zəl
Rating: 72% based on 14 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.
Heath
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: HEETH
Rating: 64% based on 10 votes
From an English surname that denoted one who lived on a heath. It was popularized as a given name by the character Heath Barkley from the 1960s television series
The Big Valley [1].
Holden
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: HOL-dən
Rating: 57% based on 7 votes
From a surname that was originally derived from a place name meaning "deep valley" in Old English. This is the name of the main character in J. D. Salinger's novel The Catcher in the Rye (1951), Holden Caulfield.
Holliday
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern, Rare)
Pronounced: HAHL-i-day
Rating: 33% based on 10 votes
A variant of
Holiday.
A noted bearer is English actress Holliday Grainger, best known for her roles as Lucrezia Borgia on the television series The Borgias and Bonnie Parker on the mini-series Bonnie & Clyde.
Holly
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: HAHL-ee
Rating: 58% based on 12 votes
From the English word for the holly tree, ultimately derived from Old English holen. Holly Golightly is the main character in the novella Breakfast at Tiffany's (1958) by Truman Capote.
Hope
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: HOP
Rating: 74% based on 10 votes
From the English word
hope, ultimately from Old English
hopian. This name was first used by the
Puritans in the 17th century.
Indira
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Hinduism, Hindi, Marathi, Kannada, Tamil
Other Scripts: इन्दिरा(Sanskrit) इन्दिरा, इंदिरा(Hindi) इंदिरा(Marathi) ಇಂದಿರಾ(Kannada) இந்திரா(Tamil)
Pronounced: IN-di-ra(Hindi)
Rating: 41% based on 9 votes
Means
"beauty" in Sanskrit. This is another name of
Lakshmi, the wife of the Hindu god
Vishnu. A notable bearer was India's first female prime minister, Indira Gandhi (1917-1984).
Iona 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Scottish
Pronounced: ie-O-nə(English)
Rating: 41% based on 9 votes
From the name of the island off Scotland where
Saint Columba founded a monastery. The name of the island is Old Norse in origin, and apparently derives simply from
ey meaning "island".
Iris
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology, English, German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, French, Spanish, Catalan, Italian, Slovene, Croatian, Greek
Other Scripts: Ἶρις(Ancient Greek) Ίρις(Greek)
Pronounced: IE-ris(English) EE-ris(German, Dutch) EE-rees(Finnish, Spanish, Catalan, Italian) EE-REES(French)
Rating: 67% based on 11 votes
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.
Isla
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Scottish, English
Pronounced: IE-lə
Rating: 62% based on 12 votes
Variant of
Islay, typically used as a feminine name. It also coincides with the Spanish word
isla meaning "island".
Ivy
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: IE-vee
Rating: 71% based on 12 votes
From the English word for the climbing plant that has small yellow flowers. It is ultimately derived from Old English ifig.
Jack
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: JAK
Rating: 71% based on 10 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.
Jade
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, French
Pronounced: JAYD(English) ZHAD(French)
Rating: 67% based on 13 votes
From the name of the precious stone that is often used in carvings. It is derived from Spanish (piedra de la) ijada meaning "(stone of the) flank", relating to the belief that jade could cure renal colic. As a given name, it came into general use during the 1970s. It was initially unisex, though it is now mostly feminine.
James
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, Biblical
Pronounced: JAYMZ(English)
Rating: 78% based on 13 votes
English form of the Late Latin name
Iacomus, a variant of the Biblical Latin form
Iacobus, from the Hebrew name
Ya'aqov (see
Jacob). This was the name of two apostles in the
New Testament. The first was
Saint James the Greater, the apostle
John's brother, who was beheaded under Herod Agrippa in the Book of Acts. The second was James the Lesser, son of Alphaeus. Another James (known as James the Just) is also mentioned in the Bible as being the brother of
Jesus.
This name has been used in England since the 13th century, though it became more common in Scotland where it was borne by several kings. In the 17th century the Scottish king James VI inherited the English throne, becoming the first ruler of all Britain, and the name grew much more popular. In American name statistics (recorded since 1880) this name has never been out of the top 20, making it arguably the era's most consistently popular name. It was the top ranked name for boys in the United States from 1940 to 1952.
Famous bearers include the English explorer James Cook (1728-1779), the Scottish inventor James Watt (1736-1819), and the Irish novelist and poet James Joyce (1882-1941). This name has also been borne by six American presidents. A notable fictional bearer is the British spy James Bond, created by author Ian Fleming in 1953.
Jamie
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Scottish [1], English
Pronounced: JAY-mee
Rating: 64% based on 9 votes
Originally a Lowland Scots
diminutive of
James. Since the late 19th century it has also been used as a feminine form.
Jane
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: JAYN
Rating: 77% based on 11 votes
Medieval English form of
Jehanne, an Old French feminine form of
Iohannes (see
John). This became the most common feminine form of
John in the 17th century, surpassing
Joan. In the first half of the 20th century
Joan once again overtook
Jane for a few decades in both the United States and the United Kingdom.
Famous bearers include the uncrowned English queen Lady Jane Grey (1536-1554), who ruled for only nine days, British novelist Jane Austen (1775-1817), who wrote Sense and Sensibility and Pride and Prejudice, British primatologist Jane Goodall (1934-), and American actress Jane Fonda (1937-). This is also the name of the central character in Charlotte Brontë's novel Jane Eyre (1847), which tells of Jane's sad childhood and her relationship with Edward Rochester.
Jasmine
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, French
Pronounced: JAZ-min(English) ZHAS-MEEN(French)
Rating: 47% based on 11 votes
From the English word for the climbing plant with fragrant flowers that is used for making perfumes. It is derived via Arabic from Persian
یاسمین (yasamin), which is also a Persian name. In the United States this name steadily grew in popularity from the 1970s, especially among African Americans
[1]. It reached a peak in the early 1990s shortly after the release of the animated Disney movie
Aladdin (1992), which featured a princess by this name.
Jason
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, French, Greek Mythology (Anglicized), Biblical
Other Scripts: Ἰάσων(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: JAY-sən(English) ZHA-ZAWN(French)
Rating: 60% based on 10 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.
Jeremy
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, Biblical
Pronounced: JEHR-ə-mee(English) JEHR-mee(English)
Rating: 62% based on 9 votes
English form of
Jeremiah, originally a medieval vernacular form. This is the spelling used in some English versions of the
New Testament.
John
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, Dutch, Biblical
Pronounced: JAHN(American English) JAWN(British English, Dutch) YAWN(Swedish, Norwegian)
Rating: 72% based on 10 votes
English form of
Iohannes, the Latin form of the Greek name
Ἰωάννης (Ioannes), itself derived from the Hebrew name
יוֹחָנָן (Yochanan). It means
"Yahweh is gracious", from the roots
יוֹ (yo) referring to the Hebrew God and
חָנַן (chanan) meaning "to be gracious". The Hebrew form occurs in the
Old Testament (spelled
Johanan or
Jehohanan in the English version), but this name owes its popularity to two
New Testament characters, both highly revered
saints. The first is John the Baptist, a Jewish ascetic who is considered the forerunner of
Jesus. He baptized Jesus and was later executed by
Herod Antipas. The second is the apostle John, who is traditionally regarded as the author of the fourth gospel and Revelation. With the apostles
Peter and
James (John's brother), he was part of the inner circle of Jesus.
This name was initially more common among Eastern Christians in the Byzantine Empire, but it flourished in Western Europe after the First Crusade. In England it became extremely popular, typically being the most common male name from the 13th to the 20th century (but sometimes outpaced by William). During the later Middle Ages it was given to approximately a fifth of all English boys. In the United States it was the most common name for boys until 1923.
The name (in various spellings) has been borne by 21 popes and eight Byzantine emperors, as well as rulers of England, France, Sweden, Denmark, Poland, Portugal, Bulgaria, Russia and Hungary. It was also borne by the poet John Milton (1608-1674), philosopher John Locke (1632-1704), American founding father and president John Adams (1735-1826), and poet John Keats (1795-1821). Famous bearers of the 20th century include author John Steinbeck (1902-1968), assassinated American president John F. Kennedy (1917-1963), and musician John Lennon (1940-1980).
The forms Ian (Scottish), Sean (Irish) and Evan (Welsh) have also been frequently used in the English-speaking world, as has the medieval diminutive Jack.
Jon 1
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Norwegian, Swedish, Danish, Basque
Pronounced: YOON(Norwegian, Swedish) YON(Danish, Basque)
Rating: 36% based on 7 votes
Scandinavian and Basque form of
John.
Jonathan
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, French, German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Dutch, Biblical
Other Scripts: יוֹנָתָן(Ancient Hebrew)
Pronounced: JAHN-ə-thən(American English) JAWN-ə-thən(British English) ZHAW-NA-TAHN(French) YO-na-tan(German)
Rating: 73% based on 7 votes
From the Hebrew name
יְהוֹנָתָן (Yehonatan), contracted to
יוֹנָתָן (Yonatan), meaning
"Yahweh has given", derived from the roots
יְהוֹ (yeho) referring to the Hebrew God and
נָתַן (natan) meaning "to give". According to the
Old Testament, Jonathan was the eldest son of
Saul. His relationship with his father was strained due to his close friendship with his father's rival
David. Along with Saul he was killed in battle with the Philistines.
As an English name, Jonathan did not become common until after the Protestant Reformation. A famous bearer was the Anglo-Irish satirist Jonathan Swift (1667-1745), who wrote Gulliver's Travels and other works.
Juliet
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: joo-lee-EHT, JOOL-yət
Rating: 81% based on 14 votes
Anglicized form of
Giulietta or
Juliette. This spelling was used for the ill-fated lover of
Romeo in the play
Romeo and Juliet (1596) by William Shakespeare. Shakespeare based his story on earlier Italian tales such as
Giulietta e Romeo (1524) by Luigi Da Porto.
Kai 1
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Frisian, German, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, Finnish, Dutch, English
Pronounced: KIE(German, Swedish, Finnish, English)
Rating: 34% based on 9 votes
Meaning uncertain, possibly a Frisian
diminutive of
Gerhard,
Nicolaas,
Cornelis or
Gaius [1]. It is borne by a boy captured by the Snow Queen in an 1844 fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen. Spreading from Germany and Scandinavia, this name became popular in the English-speaking world and other places in Western Europe around the end of the 20th century.
Kassandra
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology, Ancient Greek, English (Modern)
Other Scripts: Κασσάνδρα(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: KAS-SAN-DRA(Classical Greek) kə-SAN-drə(English) kə-SAHN-drə(English)
Rating: 63% based on 8 votes
Greek form of
Cassandra, as well as a modern English variant.
Kiara
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: kee-AHR-ə
Rating: 41% based on 10 votes
Variant of
Ciara 1 or
Chiara. This name was brought to public attention in 1988 after the singing duo Kiara released their song
This Time. It was further popularized by a character in the animated movie
The Lion King II (1998).
Kira 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian
Other Scripts: Кира(Russian) Кіра(Ukrainian, Belarusian)
Pronounced: KYEE-rə(Russian)
Rating: 41% based on 8 votes
Russian feminine form of
Cyrus.
Lavinia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Roman Mythology, Romanian, Italian
Pronounced: la-WEE-nee-a(Latin) lə-VIN-ee-ə(English) la-VEE-nya(Italian)
Rating: 54% based on 8 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.
Layla
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Arabic, English
Other Scripts: ليلى(Arabic)
Pronounced: LIE-la(Arabic) LAY-lə(English)
Rating: 48% based on 10 votes
Means
"night" in Arabic. Layla was the love interest of the poet
Qays (called Majnun) in an old Arab tale, notably retold by the 12th-century Persian poet Nizami Ganjavi in his poem
Layla and Majnun. This story was a popular romance in medieval Arabia and Persia. The name became used in the English-speaking world after the 1970 release of the song
Layla by Derek and the Dominos, the title of which was inspired by the medieval story.
Leia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Biblical Greek, Portuguese, Popular Culture
Other Scripts: Λεία(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: LAY-ə(English)
Rating: 51% based on 13 votes
Form of
Leah used in the Greek
Old Testament, as well as a Portuguese form. This is the name of a princess in the
Star Wars movies by George Lucas, who probably based it on
Leah.
Lena
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, German, Dutch, Polish, Finnish, Russian, Ukrainian, English, Italian, Portuguese, Greek, Georgian, Armenian
Other Scripts: Лена(Russian, Ukrainian) Λένα(Greek) ლენა(Georgian) Լենա(Armenian)
Pronounced: LEH-na(Swedish, German, Polish, Italian) LYEH-nə(Russian) LEE-nə(English)
Rating: 60% based on 10 votes
Leonora
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian
Rating: 68% based on 11 votes
Liliana
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Romanian, Polish, Czech, English
Pronounced: lee-LYA-na(Italian, Spanish, Polish) lil-ee-AN-ə(English) lil-ee-AHN-ə(English)
Rating: 59% based on 11 votes
Lilith
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Semitic Mythology, Judeo-Christian-Islamic Legend
Other Scripts: לילית(Ancient Hebrew)
Pronounced: LIL-ith(English)
Rating: 59% based on 10 votes
Derived from Akkadian
lilitu meaning
"of the night". This was the name of a demon in ancient Assyrian myths. In Jewish tradition she was
Adam's first wife, sent out of Eden and replaced by
Eve because she would not submit to him. The offspring of Adam (or
Samael) and Lilith were the evil spirits of the world.
Linnéa
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Swedish
Pronounced: lin-NEH-a
Rating: 62% based on 12 votes
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.
Logan
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: LO-gən
Rating: 39% based on 8 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.
Lorraine
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: lə-RAYN
Rating: 38% based on 9 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.
Luca 1
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Italian, Romanian
Pronounced: LOO-ka
Rating: 38% based on 8 votes
Italian and Romanian form of
Lucas (see
Luke). This name was borne by Luca della Robbia, a Renaissance sculptor from Florence.
Lucas
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, Dutch, French, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, Biblical Latin
Pronounced: LOO-kəs(English) LUY-kahs(Dutch) LUY-KA(French) LOO-kush(European Portuguese) LOO-kus(Brazilian Portuguese) LOO-kas(Spanish, Swedish, Latin)
Rating: 34% based on 8 votes
Latin form of Greek
Λουκᾶς (see
Luke), as well as the form used in several other languages.
This name became very popular in the second half of the 20th century. It reached the top ten names for boys in France (by 1997), Belgium (1998), Denmark (2003), Canada (2008), the Netherlands (2009), New Zealand (2009), Australia (2010), Scotland (2013), Spain (2015) and the United States (2018).
Lucia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, German, Dutch, English, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Romanian, Slovak, Ancient Roman
Pronounced: loo-CHEE-a(Italian) LOO-tsya(German) loo-TSEE-a(German) LOO-shə(English) loo-SEE-ə(English) luy-SEE-a(Swedish) LOO-chya(Romanian) LOO-kee-a(Latin)
Rating: 58% based on 11 votes
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.
Lucrezia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian
Pronounced: loo-KREHT-tsya
Rating: 43% based on 9 votes
Lucy
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: LOO-see
Rating: 80% based on 15 votes
English form of
Lucia, in use since the Middle Ages.
Luka
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Croatian, Serbian, Slovene, Macedonian, Russian, Georgian, Old Church Slavic
Other Scripts: Лука(Serbian, Macedonian, Russian) ლუკა(Georgian) Лꙋка(Church Slavic)
Pronounced: LOO-ka(Croatian) LOO-KAH(Georgian)
Rating: 43% based on 8 votes
Form of
Lucas (see
Luke) in several languages.
Luke
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, Biblical
Pronounced: LOOK(English)
Rating: 48% based on 9 votes
English form of Latin
Lucas, from the Greek name
Λουκᾶς (Loukas) meaning
"from Lucania", Lucania being a region in southern Italy (of uncertain meaning). Luke was a doctor who travelled in the company of the apostle
Paul. According to tradition, he was the author of the third gospel and Acts in the
New Testament. He was probably of Greek ethnicity. He is considered a
saint by many Christian denominations.
Due to the saint's renown, the name became common in the Christian world (in various spellings). As an English name, Luke has been in use since the 12th century alongside the Latin form Lucas. Both forms became popular throughout the English-speaking world towards the end of the 20th century. A famous fictional bearer was the hero Luke Skywalker from the Star Wars movies, beginning in 1977.
Lydia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, German, Dutch, Biblical, Biblical Latin, Biblical Greek
Other Scripts: Λυδία(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: LID-ee-ə(English) LUY-dya(German)
Rating: 63% based on 12 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.
Lyra
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Astronomy
Pronounced: LIE-rə(English)
Rating: 56% based on 12 votes
The name of the constellation in the northern sky containing the star Vega. It is said to be shaped after the lyre of Orpheus. This is the name of the main character in the His Dark Materials series of books by Philip Pullman (beginning 1995).
Maeve
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Irish, English, Irish Mythology
Pronounced: MAYV(English)
Rating: 62% based on 13 votes
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.
Maia 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology, Roman Mythology, Portuguese, Georgian
Other Scripts: Μαῖα(Ancient Greek) მაია(Georgian)
Pronounced: MIE-A(Classical Greek) MAY-ə(English) MIE-ə(English) MIE-ya(Latin) MAH-EE-AH(Georgian)
Rating: 46% based on 8 votes
From Greek
μαῖα (maia) meaning
"good mother, dame, foster mother", perhaps in origin a nursery form of
μήτηρ (meter). In Greek and Roman
mythology she was the eldest of the Pleiades, a group of stars in the constellation Taurus, who were the daughters of
Atlas and
Pleione. Her son by
Zeus was
Hermes.
Mara 2
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Hungarian, Croatian, Serbian
Other Scripts: Мара(Serbian)
Pronounced: MAW-raw(Hungarian)
Rating: 44% based on 10 votes
Hungarian variant of
Mária, and a Croatian and Serbian variant of
Marija.
Marceline
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French
Pronounced: MAR-SU-LEEN
Rating: 42% based on 9 votes
Marcella
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, German, Ancient Roman
Pronounced: mar-CHEHL-la(Italian) mar-KEHL-la(Latin)
Rating: 43% based on 10 votes
Marie
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: French, Czech, German, English, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Dutch, Albanian
Pronounced: MA-REE(French) MA-ri-yeh(Czech) ma-REE(German) mə-REE(English)
Rating: 69% based on 10 votes
French and Czech form of
Maria. It has been very common in France since the 13th century. At the opening of the 20th century it was given to approximately 20 percent of French girls. This percentage has declined steadily over the course of the century, and it dropped from the top rank in 1958.
A notable bearer of this name was Marie Antoinette, a queen of France who was executed by guillotine during the French Revolution. Another was Marie Curie (1867-1934), a physicist and chemist who studied radioactivity with her husband Pierre.
In France it is occasionally used as a masculine name in pairings such as Jean-Marie.
Marina
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Catalan, German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Dutch, English, Greek, Finnish, Estonian, Russian, Romanian, Czech, Bulgarian, Croatian, Serbian, Slovene, Macedonian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Georgian, Ancient Roman
Other Scripts: Μαρίνα(Greek) Марина(Russian, Bulgarian, Serbian, Macedonian) მარინა(Georgian)
Pronounced: ma-REE-na(Italian, Spanish, German, Macedonian) mə-REE-nə(Catalan) mə-REEN-ə(English) mu-RYEE-nə(Russian) MA-ri-na(Czech)
Rating: 58% based on 11 votes
Feminine form of
Marinus. This name was borne by a few early
saints. This is also the name by which Saint
Margaret of Antioch is known in the Eastern Orthodox Church.
Marine
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French, Armenian, Georgian
Other Scripts: Մարինէ(Armenian) მარინე(Georgian)
Pronounced: MA-REEN(French)
Rating: 38% based on 12 votes
French, Armenian and Georgian form of
Marina.
Matteo
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Italian
Pronounced: mat-TEH-o
Rating: 53% based on 7 votes
Matthew
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, Biblical
Pronounced: MATH-yoo(English)
Rating: 58% based on 10 votes
English form of
Ματθαῖος (Matthaios), which was a Greek form of the Hebrew name
מַתִּתְיָהוּ (Mattityahu) meaning
"gift of Yahweh", from the roots
מַתָּן (mattan) meaning "gift" and
יָה (yah) referring to the Hebrew God. Matthew, also called
Levi, was one of the twelve apostles. He was a tax collector, and supposedly the author of the first gospel in the
New Testament. He is considered a
saint in many Christian traditions. The variant
Matthias also occurs in the New Testament belonging to a separate apostle. The name appears in the
Old Testament as
Mattithiah.
As an English name, Matthew has been in use since the Middle Ages. A notable bearer was the American naval officer Matthew C. Perry (1794-1858), who led a delegation to Japan. A famous modern bearer is American actor Matthew McConaughey (1969-).
Matthias
Gender: Masculine
Usage: German, French, Dutch, Biblical, Biblical Latin, Biblical Greek
Other Scripts: Ματθίας(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: ma-TEE-as(German) MA-TYAS(French) mə-THIE-əs(English) MAT-tee-as(Latin)
Rating: 32% based on 10 votes
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.
Mavis
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: MAY-vis
Rating: 54% based on 10 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).
Maya 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Hinduism, Buddhism, Hindi, Marathi, Nepali
Other Scripts: माया(Sanskrit, Hindi, Marathi, Nepali)
Pronounced: MAH-yah(Sanskrit)
Rating: 55% based on 11 votes
Means
"illusion, magic" in Sanskrit. In Buddhist tradition this is the name of the mother of Siddhartha Gautama (the
Buddha). This is also another name of the Hindu goddess
Durga.
Meadow
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: MEHD-o
Rating: 50% based on 9 votes
From the English word meadow, ultimately from Old English mædwe. Previously very rare, it rose in popularity after it was used as the name of Tony Soprano's daughter on the television series The Sopranos (1999-2007).
Melanie
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, German, Dutch
Pronounced: MEHL-ə-nee(English) MEH-la-nee(German) meh-la-NEE(German)
Rating: 54% based on 13 votes
From
Mélanie, the French form of the Latin name
Melania, derived from Greek
μέλαινα (melaina) meaning
"black, dark". This was the name of a Roman
saint who gave all her wealth to charity in the 5th century. Her grandmother was also a saint with the same name.
The name was common in France during the Middle Ages, and was introduced from there to England, though it eventually became rare. Interest in it was revived by the character Melanie Wilkes from the novel Gone with the Wind (1936) and the subsequent movie adaptation (1939).
Melody
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: MEHL-ə-dee
Rating: 58% based on 12 votes
From the English word
melody, which is derived (via Old French and Late Latin) from Greek
μέλος (melos) meaning "song" combined with
ἀείδω (aeido) meaning "to sing".
Michael
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, German, Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, Dutch, Czech, Biblical, Biblical Latin, Biblical Greek
Other Scripts: מִיכָאֵל(Ancient Hebrew) Μιχαήλ(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: MIE-kəl(English) MI-kha-ehl(German, Czech) MEE-kal(Danish) MEE-ka-ehl(Swedish) MEE-kah-ehl(Norwegian) mee-KA-ehl(Latin)
Rating: 66% based on 8 votes
From the Hebrew name
מִיכָאֵל (Mikha'el) meaning
"who is like God?". This is a rhetorical question, implying no person is like God. Michael is one of the archangels in Hebrew tradition and the only one identified as an archangel in the Bible. In the Book of Daniel in the
Old Testament he is named as a protector of Israel (see
Daniel 12:1). In the Book of Revelation in the
New Testament he is portrayed as the leader of heaven's armies in the war against Satan, and is thus considered the patron
saint of soldiers in Christianity.
The popularity of the saint led to the name being used by nine Byzantine emperors, including Michael VIII Palaeologus who restored the empire in the 13th century. It has been common in Western Europe since the Middle Ages, and in England since the 12th century. It has been borne (in various spellings) by rulers of Russia (spelled Михаил), Romania (Mihai), Poland (Michał), and Portugal (Miguel).
In the United States, this name rapidly gained popularity beginning in the 1930s, eventually becoming the most popular male name from 1954 to 1998. However, it was not as overwhelmingly common in the United Kingdom, where it never reached the top spot.
Famous bearers of this name include the British chemist/physicist Michael Faraday (1791-1867), musician Michael Jackson (1958-2009), and basketball player Michael Jordan (1963-).
Mila
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Serbian, Croatian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Slovene, Ukrainian, Russian
Other Scripts: Мила(Serbian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Russian) Міла(Ukrainian)
Pronounced: MYEE-lə(Russian)
Rating: 54% based on 10 votes
From the Slavic element
milŭ meaning
"gracious, dear", originally a short form of names containing that element.
Milo
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, Germanic [1]
Pronounced: MIE-lo(English)
Rating: 32% based on 9 votes
Old German form of
Miles, as well as the Latinized form. This form was revived as an English name in the 19th century
[2].
Minerva
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Roman Mythology, English, Spanish
Pronounced: mee-NEHR-wa(Latin) mi-NUR-və(English) mee-NEHR-ba(Spanish)
Rating: 50% based on 12 votes
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.
Morwenna
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Cornish, Welsh
Rating: 46% based on 9 votes
From Old Cornish
moroin meaning
"maiden, girl" (related to the Welsh word
morwyn [1]). This was the name of a 6th-century Cornish
saint, said to be one of the daughters of
Brychan Brycheiniog.
Natalia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Polish, Italian, Spanish, Romanian, English, German, Dutch, Norwegian, Danish, Swedish, Greek, Georgian, Russian, Ukrainian, Bulgarian, Late Roman
Other Scripts: Ναταλία(Greek) ნატალია(Georgian) Наталия(Russian, Bulgarian) Наталія(Ukrainian)
Pronounced: na-TA-lya(Polish, Spanish) na-ta-LEE-a(Italian) na-TA-lee-a(Romanian) nə-TAHL-ee-ə(English)
Rating: 60% based on 11 votes
Latinate form of
Natalia (see
Natalie).
Nataliya
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Russian, Ukrainian, Bulgarian
Other Scripts: Наталия(Russian, Bulgarian) Наталія(Ukrainian)
Pronounced: nu-TA-lyi-yə(Russian)
Rating: 52% based on 10 votes
Russian, Ukrainian and Bulgarian form of
Natalia (see
Natalie).
Natasha
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Russian, Belarusian, English
Other Scripts: Наташа(Russian, Belarusian)
Pronounced: nu-TA-shə(Russian) nə-TAHSH-ə(English)
Rating: 59% based on 13 votes
Russian
diminutive of
Natalya. This is the name of a character in Leo Tolstoy's novel
War and Peace (1865). It has been used in the English-speaking world only since the 20th century.
Nicholas
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: NIK-ə-ləs, NIK-ləs
Rating: 69% based on 10 votes
From the Greek name
Νικόλαος (Nikolaos) meaning
"victory of the people", derived from Greek
νίκη (nike) meaning "victory" and
λαός (laos) meaning "people".
Saint Nicholas was a 4th-century bishop from Anatolia who, according to legend, saved the daughters of a poor man from lives of prostitution. He is the patron saint of children, sailors and merchants, as well as Greece and Russia. He formed the basis for the figure known as Santa Claus (created in the 19th century from Dutch
Sinterklaas), the bringer of Christmas presents.
Due to the renown of the saint, this name has been widely used in the Christian world. It has been common in England since the 12th century, though it became a bit less popular after the Protestant Reformation. The name has been borne by five popes and two tsars of Russia.
Nick
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, Dutch
Pronounced: NIK
Rating: 75% based on 8 votes
Short form of
Nicholas. It is borne by the comic character Nick Bottom in Shakespeare's play
A Midsummer Night's Dream (1595).
Nikolai
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Russian, Bulgarian
Other Scripts: Николай(Russian, Bulgarian)
Pronounced: nyi-ku-LIE(Russian)
Rating: 58% based on 11 votes
Niobe
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Νιόβη(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: NEE-O-BEH(Classical Greek) NIE-o-bee(English)
Rating: 43% based on 7 votes
Meaning unknown. In Greek
mythology Niobe was the daughter of Tantalos, a king of Asia Minor. Because she boasted that she was superior to
Leto, Leto's children
Apollo and
Artemis killed her 14 children with poison arrows. In grief, Niobe was turned to stone by
Zeus.
Oak
Usage: English
Rating: 34% based on 8 votes
Topographic surname for someone who lived near an oak tree or in an oak wood, from Middle English oke "oak".
Octavia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Spanish, Romanian, Ancient Roman
Pronounced: ahk-TAY-vee-ə(English) ok-TA-bya(Spanish) ok-TA-wee-a(Latin)
Rating: 58% based on 10 votes
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.
Odessa
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Various
Rating: 53% based on 11 votes
From the name of a Ukrainian city that sits on the north coast of the Black Sea, which was named after the ancient Greek city of
Ὀδησσός (Odessos), of uncertain meaning. This name can also be used as a feminine form of
Odysseus.
Ofelia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Spanish, Italian
Pronounced: o-FEH-lya
Rating: 64% based on 8 votes
Spanish and Italian form of
Ophelia.
Ophelia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Literature, Ancient Greek
Other Scripts: Ὠφελία(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: o-FEEL-ee-ə(English) o-FEEL-yə(English)
Rating: 74% based on 14 votes
Derived from Greek
ὠφέλεια (opheleia) meaning
"help, advantage". This was a rare ancient Greek name, which was either rediscovered or recreated by the poet Jacopo Sannazaro for a character in his poem
Arcadia (1480). It was borrowed by Shakespeare for his play
Hamlet (1600), in which it belongs to the daughter of
Polonius and the potential love interest of
Hamlet. She eventually goes insane and drowns herself after Hamlet kills her father. In spite of this negative association, the name has been in use since the 19th century.
Orion
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Ὠρίων(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: AW-REE-AWN(Classical Greek) o-RIE-ən(English)
Rating: 49% based on 8 votes
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.
Owen 1
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Welsh, English
Pronounced: O-in(English)
Rating: 67% based on 9 votes
Anglicized form of
Owain.
Penelope
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology, English
Other Scripts: Πηνελόπη(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: PEH-NEH-LO-PEH(Classical Greek) pə-NEHL-ə-pee(English)
Rating: 57% based on 10 votes
Probably derived from Greek
πηνέλοψ (penelops), a type of duck. Alternatively it could be from
πήνη (pene) meaning "threads, weft" and
ὄψ (ops) meaning "face, eye". In
Homer's epic the
Odyssey this is the name of the wife of
Odysseus, forced to fend off suitors while her husband is away fighting at Troy.
It has occasionally been used as an English given name since the 16th century. It was moderately popular in the 1940s, but had a more notable upswing in the early 2000s. This may have been inspired by the Spanish actress Penélope Cruz (1974-), who gained prominence in English-language movies at that time. It was already rapidly rising when celebrities Kourtney Kardashian and Scott Disick gave it to their baby daughter in 2012.
Penny
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: PEHN-ee
Rating: 60% based on 9 votes
Diminutive of
Penelope. It can also be given in reference to the copper coin (a British pound or an American dollar are worth 100 of them), derived from Old English
penning.
Philip
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Dutch, Biblical
Pronounced: FIL-ip(English) FEE-lip(Dutch)
Rating: 57% based on 9 votes
From the Greek name
Φίλιππος (Philippos) meaning
"friend of horses", composed of the elements
φίλος (philos) meaning "friend, lover" and
ἵππος (hippos) meaning "horse". This was the name of five kings of Macedon, including Philip II the father of Alexander the Great. The name appears in the
New Testament belonging to two people who are regarded as
saints. First, one of the twelve apostles, and second, an early figure in the Christian church known as Philip the Deacon.
This name was initially more common among Eastern Christians, though it came to the West by the Middle Ages. It was borne by six kings of France and five kings of Spain. It was regularly used in England during the Middle Ages, although the Spanish king Philip II, who attempted an invasion of England, helped make it less common by the 17th century. It was revived in the English-speaking world in the 19th century. Famous bearers include the Elizabethan courtier and poet Philip Sidney (1554-1586) and the American science fiction novelist Philip K. Dick (1928-1982).
Philippa
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (British), German
Pronounced: FI-li-pə(British English)
Rating: 64% based on 12 votes
Latinate feminine form of
Philip. As an English name, it is chiefly British.
Phoenix
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: FEE-niks
Rating: 68% based on 8 votes
From the name of a beautiful immortal bird that appears in Egyptian and Greek
mythology. After living for several centuries in the Arabian Desert, it would be consumed by fire and rise from its own ashes, with this cycle repeating every 500 years. The name of the bird was derived from Greek
φοῖνιξ (phoinix) meaning "dark red".
Rain 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: RAYN
Rating: 45% based on 10 votes
Simply from the English word rain, derived from Old English regn.
Reed
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: REED
Rating: 34% based on 7 votes
From an English surname that was derived from Old English read meaning "red", originally a nickname given to a person with red hair or a ruddy complexion. Unconnected, this is also the English word for tall grass-like plants that grow in marshes.
Reina 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Spanish
Pronounced: RAY-na
Rating: 46% based on 10 votes
Means "queen" in Spanish.
Rhett
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: REHT
Rating: 51% based on 7 votes
From a surname, an Anglicized form of the Dutch de Raedt, derived from raet "advice, counsel". Margaret Mitchell used this name for the character Rhett Butler in her novel Gone with the Wind (1936).
Rhiannon
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Welsh, English, Welsh Mythology
Pronounced: ri-AN-awn(Welsh) ree-AN-ən(English)
Rating: 51% based on 10 votes
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.
Rhys
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Welsh, English
Pronounced: REES
Rating: 48% based on 9 votes
From Old Welsh
Ris, probably meaning
"ardour, enthusiasm". Several Welsh rulers have borne this name, including the 12th-century Rhys ap Gruffydd who fought against the invading
Normans.
River
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: RIV-ər
Rating: 68% based on 11 votes
From the English word that denotes a flowing body of water. The word is ultimately derived (via Old French) from Latin ripa "riverbank".
Robin
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English, French, Dutch, Swedish, Czech
Pronounced: RAHB-in(American English) RAWB-in(British English) RAW-BEHN(French) RAW-bin(Dutch) RO-bin(Czech)
Rating: 59% based on 12 votes
Medieval English
diminutive of
Robert, now usually regarded as an independent name. Robin Hood was a legendary hero and archer of medieval England who stole from the rich to give to the poor. In modern times it has also been used as a feminine name, and it may sometimes be given in reference to the red-breasted bird.
Rory
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: Irish, Scottish, English
Pronounced: RAWR-ee(English)
Rating: 47% based on 7 votes
Anglicized form of
Ruaidhrí. Typically a masculine name, it gained some popularity for girls in the United States after it was used on the television series
Gilmore Girls (2000-2007), in this case as a nickname for
Lorelai. Despite this, the name has grown more common for boys in America, especially after 2011, perhaps due to Northern Irish golfer Rory McIlroy (1989-).
Rosalie
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French, German, Dutch, English
Pronounced: RAW-ZA-LEE(French) ro-za-LEE(German) RO-zə-lee(English)
Rating: 78% based on 14 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.
Rosalind
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: RAHZ-ə-lind
Rating: 71% based on 11 votes
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).
Rose
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, French
Pronounced: ROZ
Rating: 90% based on 14 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.
Roselia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French (Cajun), Spanish (Latin American), American (South)
Rating: 62% based on 10 votes
Rosemary
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: ROZ-mə-ree, ROZ-mehr-ee
Rating: 86% based on 16 votes
Combination of
Rose and
Mary. This name can also be given in reference to the herb, which gets its name from Latin
ros marinus meaning "dew of the sea". It came into use as a given name in the 19th century.
Rosie
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: RO-zee
Rating: 65% based on 10 votes
Rowena
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: ro-EEN-ə
Rating: 49% based on 10 votes
Meaning uncertain. According to the 12th-century chronicler Geoffrey of Monmouth, this was the name of a daughter of the Saxon chief Hengist. It is possible (but unsupported) that Geoffrey based it on the Old English elements
hroð "fame" and
wynn "joy", or alternatively on the Old Welsh elements
ron "spear" and
gwen "white". It was popularized by Walter Scott, who used it for a character in his novel
Ivanhoe (1819).
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: 48% based on 10 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).
Roy
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Scottish, English, Dutch
Pronounced: ROI(English, Dutch)
Rating: 19% based on 10 votes
Anglicized form of
Ruadh. A notable bearer was the Scottish outlaw and folk hero Rob Roy (1671-1734). It is often associated with French
roi "king".
Runa
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Norwegian, Danish, Swedish
Pronounced: ROO-nah(Norwegian) ROO-na(Danish, Swedish)
Rating: 36% based on 11 votes
Sage
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: SAYJ
Rating: 62% based on 11 votes
From the English word sage, which denotes either a type of spice or else a wise person.
Sally
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: SAL-ee
Rating: 53% based on 9 votes
Salma
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Arabic, Urdu, Bengali
Other Scripts: سلمى(Arabic) سلمیٰ(Urdu) সালমা(Bengali)
Pronounced: SAL-ma(Arabic)
Rating: 31% based on 11 votes
Means
"safe", derived from Arabic
سلم (salima) meaning "to be safe".
Samantha
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Italian, Dutch
Pronounced: sə-MAN-thə(English) sa-MAN-ta(Italian)
Rating: 52% based on 10 votes
Perhaps intended to be a feminine form of
Samuel, using the name suffix
antha (possibly inspired by Greek
ἄνθος (anthos) meaning "flower"). It originated in America in the 18th century but was fairly uncommon until 1964, when it was popularized by the main character on the television show
Bewitched.
Santiago
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Spanish, Portuguese
Pronounced: san-TYA-gho(Spanish) sun-tee-A-goo(European Portuguese) sun-chee-A-goo(Brazilian Portuguese) sahn-tee-AH-go(English) san-tee-AH-go(English)
Rating: 61% based on 9 votes
Means
"Saint James", derived from Spanish
santo "saint" combined with
Yago, an old Spanish form of
James, the patron saint of Spain. It is the name of the main character in the novella
The Old Man and the Sea (1951) by Ernest Hemingway. This also is the name of the capital city of Chile, as well as several other cities in the Spanish-speaking world.
Sapphire
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: SAF-ie-ər
Rating: 49% based on 9 votes
From the name of the gemstone, typically blue, which is the traditional birthstone of September. It is derived from Greek
σάπφειρος (sappheiros), ultimately from the Hebrew word
סַפִּיר (sappir).
Scarlett
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: SKAHR-lit
Rating: 56% based on 8 votes
From an English surname that denoted a person who sold or made clothes made of scarlet (a kind of cloth, possibly derived from Persian
سقرلاط (saqrelat)). Margaret Mitchell used it for the main character, Scarlett O'Hara, in her novel
Gone with the Wind (1936). Her name is explained as having come from her grandmother. Despite the fact that the book was adapted into a popular movie in 1939, the name was not common until the 21st century. It started rising around 2003, about the time that the career of American actress Scarlett Johansson (1984-) started taking off.
Selene
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Σελήνη(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: SEH-LEH-NEH(Classical Greek) si-LEE-nee(English)
Rating: 47% based on 9 votes
Means
"moon" in Greek. This was the name of a Greek goddess of the moon, a Titan. She was sometimes identified with the goddess
Artemis.
Selina
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, German
Pronounced: sə-LEEN-ə(English)
Rating: 51% based on 11 votes
Variant of
Celina or
Selena. As an English name, it first came into use in the 17th century.
Serafina
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, Spanish, Portuguese (Rare)
Pronounced: seh-ra-FEE-na(Spanish)
Rating: 65% based on 8 votes
Italian, Spanish and Portuguese form of
Seraphina.
Seraphina
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare), German (Rare), Late Roman
Pronounced: sehr-ə-FEEN-ə(English) zeh-ra-FEE-na(German)
Rating: 65% based on 11 votes
Feminine form of the Late Latin name
Seraphinus, derived from the biblical word
seraphim, which was Hebrew in origin and meant
"fiery ones". The seraphim were an order of angels, described by Isaiah in the Bible as having six wings each.
This was the name of a 13th-century Italian saint who made clothes for the poor. As an English name, it has never been common.
Seren
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Welsh
Pronounced: SEH-rehn
Rating: 47% based on 10 votes
Means "star" in Welsh. This is a recently created Welsh name.
Serena
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Italian, Late Roman
Pronounced: sə-REEN-ə(English) seh-REH-na(Italian)
Rating: 54% based on 12 votes
From a Late Latin name that was derived from Latin
serenus meaning
"clear, tranquil, serene". This name was borne by an obscure early
saint. Edmund Spenser also used it in his poem
The Faerie Queene (1590). A famous bearer from the modern era is tennis player Serena Williams (1981-).
Sibyl
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: SIB-əl
Rating: 41% based on 11 votes
From Greek
Σίβυλλα (Sibylla), meaning
"prophetess, sibyl". In Greek and Roman legend the sibyls were female prophets who practiced at different holy sites in the ancient world. In later Christian theology, the sibyls were thought to have divine knowledge and were revered in much the same way as the
Old Testament prophets. Because of this, the name came into general use in the Christian world during the Middle Ages. The
Normans imported it to England, where it was spelled both
Sibyl and
Sybil. It became rare after the
Protestant Reformation, but it was revived in the 19th century, perhaps helped by Benjamin Disraeli's novel
Sybil (1845).
Silvia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Romanian, Slovak, German, Dutch, English, Late Roman, Roman Mythology
Pronounced: SEEL-vya(Italian) SEEL-bya(Spanish) ZIL-vya(German) SIL-vee-ə(English)
Rating: 56% based on 10 votes
Feminine form of
Silvius.
Rhea Silvia was the mother of
Romulus and
Remus, the founders of Rome. This was also the name of a 6th-century
saint, the mother of the pope Gregory the Great. It has been a common name in Italy since the Middle Ages. It was introduced to England by Shakespeare, who used it for a character in his play
The Two Gentlemen of Verona (1594). It is now more commonly spelled
Sylvia in the English-speaking world.
Simon 1
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, French, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, German, Dutch, Hungarian, Slovene, Romanian, Macedonian, Georgian, Biblical, Biblical Latin, Biblical Greek
Other Scripts: Симон(Macedonian) სიმონ(Georgian) Σίμων(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: SIE-mən(English) SEE-MAWN(French) SEE-mawn(Danish, Dutch, Macedonian) ZEE-mawn(German) SHEE-mon(Hungarian)
Rating: 42% based on 9 votes
From
Σίμων (Simon), the
New Testament Greek form of the Hebrew name
שִׁמְעוֹן (Shim'on) meaning
"hearing, listening", derived from
שָׁמַע (shama') meaning "to hear, to listen". This name is spelled
Simeon, based on Greek
Συμεών, in many translations of the
Old Testament, where it is borne by the second son of
Jacob. The New Testament spelling may show influence from the otherwise unrelated Greek name
Simon 2.
In the New Testament Simon is the name of several characters, including the man who carried the cross for Jesus. Most importantly however it was borne by the leading apostle Simon, also known as Peter (a name given to him by Jesus).
Because of the apostle, this name has been common in the Christian world. In England it was popular during the Middle Ages, though it became more rare after the Protestant Reformation.
Sitara
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Urdu
Other Scripts: ستارہ(Urdu)
Rating: 46% based on 8 votes
Means "star" in Urdu, ultimately from Persian.
Skye
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: SKIE
Rating: 60% based on 8 votes
From the name of the Isle of Skye off the west coast of Scotland. It is sometimes considered a variant of
Sky.
Sofia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek, Italian, Portuguese, Catalan, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, German, Finnish, Estonian, Slovak, Romanian, English, Russian, Ukrainian, Bulgarian
Other Scripts: Σοφία(Greek) София(Russian, Bulgarian) Софія(Ukrainian)
Pronounced: saw-FEE-a(Greek) so-FEE-a(Italian) soo-FEE-u(European Portuguese) so-FEE-u(Brazilian Portuguese) soo-FEE-ə(Catalan) suw-FEE-a(Swedish) zo-FEE-a(German) SO-fee-ah(Finnish) su-FYEE-yə(Russian)
Rating: 40% based on 8 votes
Form of
Sophia used in various languages.
Sophia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Greek, German, Ancient Greek
Other Scripts: Σοφία(Greek)
Pronounced: so-FEE-ə(English) sə-FIE-ə(British English) so-FEE-a(Greek) zo-FEE-a(German)
Rating: 58% based on 8 votes
Means
"wisdom" in Greek. This was the name of an early, probably mythical,
saint who died of grief after her three daughters were martyred during the reign of the emperor Hadrian. Legends about her probably arose as a result of a medieval misunderstanding of the phrase
Hagia Sophia "Holy Wisdom", which is the name of a large basilica in Constantinople.
This name was common among continental European royalty during the Middle Ages, and it was popularized in Britain by the German House of Hanover when they inherited the British throne in the 18th century. It was the name of characters in the novels Tom Jones (1749) by Henry Fielding and The Vicar of Wakefield (1766) by Oliver Goldsmith.
In the United States this name was only moderately common until the 1990s when it began rising in popularity, eventually becoming the most popular for girls from 2011 to 2013. A famous bearer is the Italian actress Sophia Loren (1934-).
Spencer
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: SPEHN-sər
Rating: 63% based on 7 votes
From an English surname that meant "dispenser of provisions", derived from Middle English spense "larder, pantry". A famous bearer was American actor Spencer Tracy (1900-1967). It was also the surname of Princess Diana (1961-1997).
Stella 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Italian, Dutch, German
Pronounced: STEHL-ə(English)
Rating: 69% based on 8 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.
Sylvia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish
Pronounced: SIL-vee-ə(English) SUYL-vee-ah(Finnish)
Rating: 62% based on 10 votes
Variant of
Silvia. This has been the most common English spelling since the 19th century.
Tai
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Chinese
Other Scripts: 太, etc.(Chinese)
Pronounced: TIE
Rating: 30% based on 10 votes
From Chinese
太 (tài) meaning "very, extreme" or other characters pronounced in a similar way.
Talea
Gender: Feminine
Usage: German (Modern, Rare), East Frisian
Pronounced: ta-LEH-a(German)
Rating: 40% based on 10 votes
19th-century East Frisian elaboration of
Tale which, in recent years, has also found some usage in general German naming.
Tara 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: TAHR-ə, TEHR-ə, TAR-ə
Rating: 34% based on 9 votes
Anglicized form of the Irish place name Teamhair, which possibly means "elevated place". This was the name of the sacred hill near Dublin where the Irish high kings resided. It was popularized as a given name by the novel Gone with the Wind (1936) and the subsequent movie adaptation (1939), in which it is the name of the O'Hara plantation.
Tessa
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Dutch
Pronounced: TEHS-ə(English)
Rating: 59% based on 11 votes
Thea
Gender: Feminine
Usage: German, Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, English
Pronounced: TEH-a(German) THEE-ə(English)
Rating: 54% based on 7 votes
Theia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Θεία(Ancient Greek)
Rating: 49% based on 10 votes
Possibly derived from Greek
θεά (thea) meaning
"goddess". In Greek
myth this was the name of a Titan goddess of light, glittering and glory. She was the wife of
Hyperion and the mother of the sun god
Helios, the moon goddess
Selene, and the dawn goddess
Eos.
Thomas
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, French, German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Greek, Biblical, Biblical Latin, Biblical Greek
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: 55% based on 11 votes
Greek form of the Aramaic name
תָּאוֹמָא (Ta'oma') 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).
Tom 1
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, Dutch, German, Norwegian, Danish, Swedish
Pronounced: TAHM(American English) TAWM(British English, Dutch, Norwegian)
Rating: 57% based on 10 votes
Short form of
Thomas. Tom Sawyer is the main character in several of Mark Twain's novels, first appearing in
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876). Other famous bearers include American actors Tom Hanks (1956-) and Tom Cruise (1962-), as well as American football player Tom Brady (1977-).
Tyler
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: TIE-lər
Rating: 48% based on 10 votes
From an English surname meaning "tiler of roofs", derived from Old English tigele "tile". The surname was borne by American president John Tyler (1790-1862).
Valencia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Various
Pronounced: ba-LEHN-sya(Latin American Spanish) ba-LEHN-thya(European Spanish) və-LEHN-see-ə(English)
Rating: 53% based on 12 votes
From the name of cities in Spain and Venezuela, both derived from Latin valentia meaning "strength, vigour".
Valentina
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, Russian, Lithuanian, German, Croatian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Slovene, Albanian, Romanian, Spanish, Greek, Ancient Roman
Other Scripts: Валентина(Russian, Bulgarian, Macedonian) Βαλεντίνα(Greek)
Pronounced: va-lehn-TEE-na(Italian) və-lyin-TYEE-nə(Russian) vu-lyehn-tyi-NU(Lithuanian) ba-lehn-TEE-na(Spanish)
Rating: 65% based on 13 votes
Feminine form of
Valentinus (see
Valentine 1). A famous bearer is the Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova (1937-), who in 1963 became the first woman to visit space.
Valeria
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, Spanish, Romanian, German, Russian, Ukrainian, Ancient Roman
Other Scripts: Валерия(Russian) Валерія(Ukrainian)
Pronounced: va-LEH-rya(Italian) ba-LEH-rya(Spanish) vu-LYEH-ryi-yə(Russian) wa-LEH-ree-a(Latin) və-LEHR-ee-ə(English) və-LIR-ee-ə(English)
Rating: 55% based on 12 votes
Feminine form of
Valerius. This was the name of a 2nd-century Roman
saint and martyr.
Vanessa
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, French, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, German, Dutch
Pronounced: və-NEHS-ə(English) VA-NEH-SA(French) va-NEHS-sa(Italian) vu-NEH-su(European Portuguese) va-NEH-su(Brazilian Portuguese) ba-NEH-sa(Spanish) va-NEH-sa(German)
Rating: 56% based on 12 votes
Invented by author Jonathan Swift for his 1726 poem
Cadenus and Vanessa [1]. He arrived at it by rearranging the initial syllables of the first name and surname of
Esther Vanhomrigh, his close friend. Vanessa was later used as the name of a genus of butterfly. It was a rare given name until the mid-20th century, at which point it became fairly popular.
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: 50% based on 10 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.
Verena
Gender: Feminine
Usage: German, Late Roman
Pronounced: veh-REH-na(German)
Rating: 54% based on 7 votes
Possibly related to Latin
verus "true". This might also be a Coptic form of the Ptolemaic name
Berenice.
Saint Verena was a 3rd-century Egyptian-born nurse who went with the Theban Legion to Switzerland. After the legion was massacred she settled near Zurich.
Verona
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Various
Rating: 44% based on 9 votes
From the name of the city in Italy, which is itself of unknown meaning.
Victor
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, French, Portuguese, Romanian, Dutch, Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, Late Roman
Pronounced: VIK-tər(English) VEEK-TAWR(French) VEEK-tor(Romanian)
Rating: 60% based on 6 votes
Roman name meaning
"victor, conqueror" in Latin. It was common among early Christians, and was borne by several early
saints and three popes. It was rare as an English name during the Middle Ages, but it was revived in the 19th century. A famous bearer was the French writer Victor Hugo (1802-1885), who authored
The Hunchback of Notre-Dame and
Les Misérables.
Vincent
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, French, Dutch, Danish, Swedish, Slovak
Pronounced: VIN-sənt(English, Dutch) VEHN-SAHN(French) VEEN-tsent(Slovak)
Rating: 64% based on 8 votes
From the Roman name
Vincentius, which was derived from Latin
vincere meaning
"to conquer". This name was popular among early Christians, and it was borne by many
saints. As an English name,
Vincent has been in use since the Middle Ages, though it did not become common until the 19th century. Famous bearers include the French priest Saint Vincent de Paul (1581-1660) and the Dutch post-impressionist painter Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890).
Viola
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Italian, Swedish, Danish, Finnish, German, Hungarian, Czech, Slovak
Pronounced: vie-O-lə(English) vi-O-lə(English) VIE-ə-lə(English) VYAW-la(Italian) vi-OO-la(Swedish) VEE-o-la(German) vee-O-la(German) VEE-o-law(Hungarian) VI-o-la(Czech) VEE-aw-la(Slovak)
Rating: 63% based on 12 votes
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.
Violet
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: VIE-lit, VIE-ə-lit
Rating: 80% based on 15 votes
From the English word violet for the purple flower, ultimately derived from Latin viola. It was common in Scotland from the 16th century, and it came into general use as an English given name during the 19th century.
Violetta
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, Russian, Hungarian
Other Scripts: Виолетта(Russian)
Pronounced: vyo-LEHT-ta(Italian) vyi-u-LYEHT-tə(Russian) VEE-o-leht-taw(Hungarian)
Rating: 55% based on 11 votes
Italian, Russian and Hungarian form of
Violet.
Vittoria
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian
Pronounced: veet-TAW-rya
Rating: 47% based on 10 votes
Wade
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: WAYD
Rating: 38% based on 8 votes
Warren
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: WAWR-ən
Rating: 51% based on 10 votes
From an English surname that was derived either from Norman French warrene meaning "animal enclosure", or else from the town of La Varenne in Normandy. This name was borne by the American president Warren G. Harding (1865-1923).
Weston
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: WEHS-tən
Rating: 21% based on 8 votes
From an English surname that was derived from a place name, itself from Old English
west "west" and
tun "enclosure, yard, town".
Will
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: WIL
Rating: 64% based on 7 votes
Short form of
William and other names beginning with
Will. A famous bearer is American actor Will Smith (1968-), whose full name is Willard.
William
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: WIL-yəm
Rating: 72% based on 13 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.
Willow
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: WIL-o
Rating: 62% based on 13 votes
From the name of the tree, which is ultimately derived from Old English welig.
Winter
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: WIN-tər
Rating: 66% based on 11 votes
From the English word for the season, derived from Old English winter.
Wren
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: REHN
Rating: 59% based on 12 votes
From the English word for the small songbird. It is ultimately derived from Old English wrenna.
Yara 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Arabic
Other Scripts: يارا(Arabic)
Rating: 56% based on 8 votes
From Persian
یار (yar) meaning
"friend, helper".
Yelena
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Russian
Other Scripts: Елена(Russian)
Pronounced: yi-LYEH-nə, i-LYEH-nə
Rating: 51% based on 10 votes
Zach
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: ZAK
Rating: 47% based on 7 votes
Zachary
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, Biblical
Pronounced: ZAK-ə-ree(English)
Rating: 55% based on 8 votes
Usual English form of
Zacharias, used in some English versions of the
New Testament. This form has been in use since the Middle Ages, though it did not become common until after the
Protestant Reformation. It was borne by American military commander and president Zachary Taylor (1784-1850).
Zahra
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Arabic, Persian
Other Scripts: زهراء, زهرة(Arabic) زهرا(Persian)
Pronounced: zah-RA(Arabic) ZAH-rah(Arabic)
Rating: 52% based on 10 votes
From Arabic
زهراء (zahra), the feminine form of
أزهر (azhar) meaning
"shining, brilliant, bright". This is an epithet of the Prophet
Muhammad's daughter
Fatimah.
It can also be an alternate transcription of Arabic زهرة (see Zahrah), a name derived from a related root.
Zane 1
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: ZAYN
Rating: 25% based on 11 votes
From an English surname of unknown meaning. It was introduced as a given name by American author Zane Grey (1872-1939). Zane was in fact his middle name — it had been his mother's maiden name.
Zara 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Literature, English
Pronounced: ZAHR-ə(English)
Rating: 56% based on 10 votes
Used by William Congreve for a character in his tragedy
The Mourning Bride (1697), where it belongs to a captive North African queen. Congreve may have based it on the Arabic name
Zahra. In 1736 the English writer Aaron Hill used it to translate
Zaïre for his popular adaptation of Voltaire's French play
Zaïre (1732).
In England the name was popularized when Princess Anne gave it to her daughter in 1981. Use of the name may also be influenced by the trendy Spanish clothing retailer Zara.
Zaria
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: ZAHR-ee-ə
Rating: 56% based on 11 votes
Possibly based on
Zahrah or the Nigerian city of Zaria.
Zelda 2
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: ZEHL-də
Rating: 50% based on 11 votes
Short form of
Griselda. This is the name of a princess in the
Legend of Zelda video games, debuting in 1986 and called
ゼルダ (Zeruda) in Japanese. According to creator Shigeru Miyamoto she was named after the American socialite Zelda Fitzgerald (1900-1948).
Ziva
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Hebrew
Other Scripts: זִיוָה(Hebrew)
Rating: 55% based on 11 votes
Zora
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Croatian, Serbian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Slovene, Czech, Slovak
Other Scripts: Зора(Serbian, Bulgarian, Macedonian)
Pronounced: ZO-ra(Czech) ZAW-ra(Slovak)
Rating: 59% based on 8 votes
Means "dawn, aurora" in the South Slavic languages, as well as Czech and Slovak.
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