blackelectric's Personal Name List

Old English alor, aler, of Germanic origin; related to German Erle; forms spelled with d are recorded from the 14th century.

From the English word amber that denotes either the gemstone, which is formed from fossil resin, or the orange-yellow colour. The word ultimately derives from Arabic عنبر ('anbar). It began to be used as a given name in the late 19th century, but it only became popular after the release of Kathleen Winsor's novel Forever Amber (1944).

Feminine form of Arcadius. This is the name of a region on the Greek Peloponnese, long idealized for its natural beauty.

From the name of the flower. J. R. R. Tolkien used this name on one of his characters in The Lord of the Rings.

An informal nickname for Beatrice, Beatrix, Elizabeth and sometimes other names as well.

Derived from a Middle English surname meaning "a Briton" (a Celt of England) or "a Breton" (an inhabitant of Brittany). Both ethnonyms are related to the place name Britain.

From כְּנַעַן (Kena'an), the Hebrew name of the ancient region of Canaan, which was possibly derived from a root meaning "low, humble". In the Old Testament this is the name of a son of Ham. He is said to be the ancestor and namesake of the Canaanite peoples.

Diminutive of Agnes.

Variant of Kate. A famous bearer is Australian actress Cate Blanchett (1969-).

Means "sung" in French.

Meaning unknown, perhaps a combination of Charmian or the English word charm with the aine suffix from Lorraine. It was (first?) used for a character in the play What Price Glory (1924), which was made into a popular movie in 1926.

Derived from the Lakota word šahiyena meaning "red speakers". This is the name of a Native American people of the Great Plains. The name was supposedly given to the Cheyenne by the Lakota because their language was unrelated to their own. As a given name, it has been in use since the 1950s.

From the Latin title Clarensis, which belonged to members of the British royal family. The title ultimately derives from the name of the town of Clare in Suffolk. As a given name it has been in use since the 19th century.

Short form of Cleopatra, Cleon or Cleopas.

Transferred use of the surname Collier.

From the English word for a young male horse or from the surname of the same origin. It may be given in honour of the American industrialist Samuel Colt (1814-1862) or the firearms company that bears his name. It was brought to public attention in 1981 by the main character on the television series The Fall Guy [1].

From the name of the Native American people of the northern Mississippi Valley, or from the two American states that were named for them: North and South Dakota (until 1889 unified as the Dakota Territory). The tribal name means "allies, friends" in the Dakota language.

It was rare as an American given name before 1975. In the mid-1980s it began growing in popularity for boys after a character by this name began appearing on the soap opera Ryan's Hope. It is now more common as a feminine name, probably due to the fame of the actress Dakota Fanning (1994-).

In the case of American author Dashiell Hammett (1894-1961) it was from his mother's surname, which was possibly an Anglicized form of French de Chiel, of unknown meaning.

From the name of a genus of about forty species of trees and succulent shrubs, which is the Latinized form of Greek δράκαινα (drakaina) meaning "she-dragon", the feminine form of δράκων (drakon) - compare Drakon. In Greek mythology a drakaina is a female dragon, sometimes with human-like features; the mythological characters of Ceto, Lamia, Echidna, and Scylla were all considered drakaina.

From a nickname given to Americans of German descent. It is related to deutsch, the German word meaning "German".

The common flower name for Leontopodium alpinum, it's derived from the German elements edel "noble" and weiß "white." The name of the flower is spelled Edelweiß in German; Edelweiss is an Anglicized spelling.

Based on the biblical place name Endor, which is of uncertain meaning (see Endor). It was used for a character in the American television series 'Bewitched' (1964-1972), in which case it was presumably an allusion to the biblical Witch of Endor whom Saul consulted, according to the first Book of Samuel in the Old Testament. This name was later used in the American television series 'Passions' (1999-2008), where it belongs to the witch Endora Lenox.

Diminutive of Esther.

Variant of Fawn in the style of Fauna.

From the English word fawn for a young deer.

Derived from Latin flos meaning "flower" (genitive case floris). Flora was the Roman goddess of flowers and spring, the wife of Zephyr the west wind. It has been used as a given name since the Renaissance, starting in France. In Scotland it was sometimes used as an Anglicized form of Fionnghuala.

Either from the English word fox or the surname Fox, which originally given as a nickname. The surname was borne by George Fox (1624-1691), the founder of the Quakers.

Means "birth, origin" in Greek. This is the name of the first book of the Old Testament in the Bible. It tells of the creation of the world, the expulsion of Adam and Eve, Noah and the great flood, and the three patriarchs.

Feminine form of Gerald. This name was created by the poet Henry Howard for use in a 1537 sonnet praising Lady Elizabeth FitzGerald, whom he terms The Geraldine.

From a biblical place name, the garden where Jesus was arrested, located on the Mount of Olives near Jerusalem. It is derived from Γεθσημανί (Gethsemani), the Greek form of an Aramaic name meaning "oil vat". It is very rarely used as a given name.

From the English word ginger for the spice or the reddish-brown colour. It can also be a diminutive of Virginia, as in the case of actress and dancer Ginger Rogers (1911-1995), by whom the name was popularized.

Diminutive of Harriet.

Latin form of Esther. Like Esther, it has been used in England since the Protestant Reformation. Nathaniel Hawthorne used it for the heroine of his novel The Scarlet Letter (1850), Hester Prynne, a Puritan woman forced to wear a red letter A on her chest after giving birth to a child out of wedlock.

Transferred use of the surname Holiday.

Variant of Isemay, an Anglo-Norman name of uncertain origin and meaning. It was also recorded in medieval Ireland on women born into Anglo-Norman families.

Old Latin form of a lost Celtic name which also gave modern Irish Erin and was corrupted to Hibernia. Therefore a rather esoteric reference to Ireland. Variant Juverna has also been used, but both forms are rare.

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

Short form of Jason, sometimes used independently. It was brought to limited attention in America by the lead character in the western television series Tales of the Texas Rangers (1955-1958). Towards the end of the 20th century it began steadily increasing in popularity, reaching the 66th spot for boys in the United States in 2013.

Diminutive of Jack or Jacqueline. A notable bearer was baseball player Jackie Robinson (1919-1972), the first African American to play in Major League Baseball.

Variant of Jacey.

In part from the English word jewel, a precious stone, derived from Old French jouel, which was possibly related to jeu "game". It is also in part from the surname Jewel or Jewell (a derivative of the Breton name Judicaël), which was sometimes used in honour of the 16th-century bishop of Salisbury John Jewel. It has been in use as a given name since the 19th century.

From the English word, derived via Old French from Latin diurnus "of the day".

From a Roman family name that was possibly derived from Greek ἴουλος (ioulos) meaning "downy-bearded". Alternatively, it could be related to the name of the Roman god Jupiter. This was a prominent patrician family of Rome, who claimed descent from the mythological Julus, son of Aeneas. Its most notable member was Gaius Julius Caesar, who gained renown as a military leader for his clever conquest of Gaul. After a civil war he became the dictator of the Roman Republic, but was eventually stabbed to death in the senate.

Although this name was borne by several early saints, including a pope, it was rare during the Middle Ages. It was revived in Italy and France during the Renaissance, and was subsequently imported to England.

Short form of Katherine, often used independently. It is short for Katherina in Shakespeare's play The Taming of the Shrew (1593). It has been used in England since the Middle Ages. A famous bearer is the British actress Kate Winslet (1975-).

Variant of Kay 1.

Short form of Alana (English) or Svetlana (Russian). In the English-speaking world it was popularized by actress Lana Turner (1921-1995), who was born Julia Jean Turner.

Short form of Elizabeth. This is the familiar name of actress Elizabeth Taylor (1932-2011).

Diminutive of Elizabeth.

Variant of Lydia, occasionally used in Norway as a masculine form. In some cases it may be directly from the word which means "of ancient Lydia" (and also refers to "a mode of ancient Greek music, reputed to be light and effeminate").

Means "son of oak" in Irish. This was the name of a 6th-century saint from Connemara.

Diminutive of Margaret.

Short form of Magdalena.

From the English word magnolia for the flower, which was named for the French botanist Pierre Magnol.

Diminutive of Maggie and Margaret, from the English word for the common European bird, known for its chattering, before c.1600 known simply as pie. The first element is from Mag, short for Margaret, long used in proverbial and slang English for qualities associated generally with women, especially in this case "idle chattering" (see Magge tales "tall tales, nonsense," early 15c.; also French margot "magpie," from Margot, pet form of Marguerite). Second element, pie, is the earlier name of the bird, from Old French pie, from Latin pica "magpie," feminine of picus "woodpecker," possibly from Proto-Indo-European base *pi-, denoting pointedness, of the beak, perhaps, but the magpie also has a long, pointed tail. The birds are proverbial for pilfering and hoarding, can be taught to speak, and have been regarded since the Middle Ages as a bird of ill omen.

Diminutive of Marcia.

Possibly a diminutive of Mary or a variant of Amaryllis. More common in the 19th century, this name was borne by the American suffragist Marilla Ricker (1840-1920). It is also the name of the adoptive mother of Anne in L. M. Montgomery's novel Anne of Green Gables (1908).

Means "of the sea", taken from the Latin title of the Virgin Mary, Stella Maris, meaning "star of the sea".

Latinate form of Marlene.

Transferred use of the surname Marlette which was derived from the nickname Marlet or Merlet, a diminutive of merle "blackbird". As a feminine given name, it may sometimes be regarded as an elaborated form of Marla. A known bearer of the surname was Doug Marlette (1949-2007), a Pulitzer Prize-winning American cartoonist.

Combination of Mary and Michael used as a feminine given name.

Possibly a combination of Mary and Will.

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).

From the name of the bird.

Derived from Latin melior meaning "better".

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".

Variant of Madge.

Short form of Wilhelmina and other names ending in mina. This was the name of a character in the novel Dracula (1897) by Bram Stoker.

Diminutive of Wilhelmina. This name was used by Walt Disney for the cartoon character Minnie Mouse, introduced 1928.

Feminine form of Morgan 1.

Previously a medieval diminutive of Annis, though since the 18th century it has been a diminutive of Ann. It is now usually regarded as an independent name. During the 20th century it became very popular in the United States. A city in the Lorraine region of France bears this name, though it derives from a different source.

Diminutive of Edward and Edmund.

Possibly an elaboration of Nell using the popular phonetic suffix da.

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.

Elaborated form of Opal. This is also an English word meaning "resembling an opal".

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

From the English word prince, a royal title, which comes ultimately from Latin princeps. This name was borne by the American musician Prince Rogers Nelson (1958-2016), who is known simply as Prince.

From the English word that denotes a flowing body of water. The word is ultimately derived (via Old French) from Latin ripa "riverbank".

Variant of Josephine, influenced by Rose or Rosa 1.

Diminutive of Rose. This is the name of a type of flowering shrub (species Hibiscus sabdariffa) native to Africa but now grown in many places, used to make hibiscus tea.

Combination of the names Ruth 1 and Anne 1.

From the English word that refers either to a spice, the crocus flower from which it is harvested, or the yellow-orange colour of the spice. It is derived via Old French from Arabic زعفران (za'faran), itself probably from Persian meaning "gold leaves".

Diminutive of names beginning with a similar sound, such as Saffron (as used in the children's novel Saffy's Angel (2001) by Hilary McKay). It was also used as an Anglicized form of Sadbh in Ella Griffin's novel Postcards from the Heart (2011).

From the English word sage, which denotes either a type of spice or else a wise person.

20th-century adoption of the name of Mount Shasta in Northern California (or the Shasta daisy, named after the mountain), which comes from the name of a Native American tribe that lived in the area; its origin and meaning is lost to time.

While the main character Shasta in the 1954 C. S. Lewis novel The Horse and His Boy was male, this is now generally considered a feminine name in the English-speaking world.

Diminutive of Solomon.

From an Irish surname, the Anglicized form of Ó Súileabháin, itself from the given name Súileabhán, which was derived from Irish súil "eye" and dubh "dark, black" combined with a diminutive suffix. This name has achieved a moderate level of popularity in France since the 1970s. In the United States it was rare before the 1990s, after which it began climbing steadily. A famous fictional bearer of the surname was James P. Sullivan from the animated movie Monsters, Inc. (2001).

From the name of a town in South Australia, perhaps meaning "near water" in an Australian Aboriginal language.

From the English word, ultimately deriving from Old French tané, which means "light brown".

From an English surname that originally belonged to a person who was associated with the Knights Templar, a medieval religious military order.

Contracted form of Theodora or a shortened form of Cathedra.

Anglicized variant of Théodorine, or an elaborated form of Theodora.

Often a contracted form of Theodora, but there are also instances where it is actually a name on its own, then derived from Greek theorein "to watch, to look at."

Short form of Tatiana or Christiana. It was rare in the United States until it jumped in popularity in 1975, perhaps due to the Vietnamese-American actress Tiana Alexandra (1956-), who had some exposure at that time. It was used as the name of the princess in the Disney movie The Princess and the Frog (2009).

Feminine form of Tristan.

Short form of Wesley.

From an English surname meaning "wild, untamed, uncontrolled", from Old English wilde.

From the English word for the season, derived from Old English winter.

Obscure medieval English name of uncertain etymology, though it may be related to the Latin name Isaura, which originated as an ethnic byname and derives from the place name Isauria.

Variant of Zaria or Sariah.

The name of a woman in 'A genuine account of the life and transactions of H. ap D. Price ... Written by himself' (1752).