rainbow_Maya's Personal Name List
Ada 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Italian, Spanish, German, Dutch, Norwegian, Polish, Hungarian, Finnish, Germanic [1]
Pronounced: AY-də(English) A-dha(Spanish) A-da(Polish) AW-daw(Hungarian) AH-dah(Finnish)
Originally a short form of Germanic names such as
Adelaide or
Adelina that begin with the element
adal meaning "noble".
Saint Ada was a 7th-century Frankish abbess at Le Mans. This name was also borne by Augusta Ada King (1815-1852), the Countess of Lovelace (known as Ada Lovelace), a daughter of Lord Byron. She was an assistant to Charles Babbage, the inventor of an early mechanical computer.
Alva 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Swedish, Norwegian
Pronounced: AL-va(Swedish)
Amabel
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Amaya
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Basque, Spanish, English (Modern)
Pronounced: a-MA-ya(Spanish) ə-MIE-ə(English)
Variant of
Amaia.
In America, this name was popularized in 1999 by a contestant on the reality television series The Real World [1].
Annabel
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Dutch
Pronounced: AN-ə-behl(English)
Variant of
Amabel, with the spelling altered as if it were a combination of
Anna and French
belle "beautiful". This name appears to have arisen in Scotland in the Middle Ages.
Annie
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, French, Dutch
Pronounced: AN-ee(English) A-NEE(French)
Anouk
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Dutch, French
Pronounced: a-NOOK(Dutch)
Árpád
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Hungarian
Pronounced: AR-pad
From Hungarian árpa meaning "barley". This was the name of a 9th-century Magyar ruler who led his people into Hungary. He is considered a Hungarian national hero.
Artemis
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology, Greek
Other Scripts: Ἄρτεμις(Ancient Greek) Άρτεμις(Greek)
Pronounced: AR-TEH-MEES(Classical Greek) AHR-tə-mis(English)
Personal remark: nn Arte
Meaning unknown, possibly related either to Greek
ἀρτεμής (artemes) meaning
"safe" or
ἄρταμος (artamos) meaning
"a butcher". Artemis was the Greek goddess of the moon and hunting, the twin of
Apollo and the daughter of
Zeus and
Leto. She was known as
Diana to the Romans.
Arthur
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, French, German, Dutch, Norwegian, Danish, Swedish, Welsh Mythology, Arthurian Romance
Pronounced: AHR-thər(English) AR-TUYR(French) AR-tuwr(German) AHR-tuyr(Dutch)
Personal remark: nn Arty
The meaning of this name is unknown. It could be derived from the Celtic elements *
artos "bear" (Old Welsh
arth) combined with *
wiros "man" (Old Welsh
gur) or *
rīxs "king" (Old Welsh
ri). Alternatively it could be related to an obscure Roman family name
Artorius.
Arthur is the name of the central character in Arthurian legend, a 6th-century king of the Britons who resisted Saxon invaders. He may or may not have been based on a real person. He first appears in Welsh poems and chronicles (perhaps briefly in the 7th-century poem Y Gododdin and more definitively and extensively in the 9th-century History of the Britons [1]). However, his character was not developed until the chronicles of the 12th-century Geoffrey of Monmouth [2]. His tales were later taken up and expanded by French and English writers.
The name came into general use in England in the Middle Ages due to the prevalence of Arthurian romances, and it enjoyed a surge of popularity in the 19th century. Famous bearers include German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860), mystery author and Sherlock Holmes creator Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930), and science-fiction author Arthur C. Clarke (1917-2008).
Arwen
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Literature
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.
Asta
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Swedish, Danish, Norwegian
Pronounced: AHS-tah(Swedish, Norwegian)
August
Gender: Masculine
Usage: German, Polish, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Catalan, English
Pronounced: OW-guwst(German) OW-goost(Polish) OW-guyst(Swedish) AW-gəst(English)
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.
Barnaby
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (British)
Pronounced: BAHR-nə-bee
English form of
Barnabas, originally a medieval vernacular form.
Beatrix
Gender: Feminine
Usage: German, Hungarian, Dutch, English, Late Roman
Pronounced: beh-A-triks(German) BEH-a-triks(German) BEH-aw-treeks(Hungarian) BEH-ya-triks(Dutch) BEE-ə-triks(English) BEE-triks(English)
Personal remark: nns Bea, Trix
Probably from
Viatrix, a feminine form of the Late Latin name
Viator meaning
"voyager, traveller". It was a common name amongst early Christians, and the spelling was altered by association with Latin
beatus "blessed, happy". Viatrix or Beatrix was a 4th-century
saint who was strangled to death during the persecutions of Diocletian.
In England the name became rare after the Middle Ages, but it was revived in the 19th century, more commonly in the spelling Beatrice. Famous bearers include the British author and illustrator Beatrix Potter (1866-1943), the creator of Peter Rabbit, and Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands (1938-).
Benjamin
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, French, German, Dutch, Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, Finnish, Slovene, Croatian, Biblical
Other Scripts: בִּנְיָמִין(Ancient Hebrew)
Pronounced: BEHN-jə-min(English) BEHN-ZHA-MEHN(French) BEHN-ya-meen(German)
From the Hebrew name
בִּנְיָמִין (Binyamin) meaning
"son of the south" or
"son of the right hand", from the roots
בֵּן (ben) meaning "son" and
יָמִין (yamin) meaning "right hand, south". Benjamin in the
Old Testament was the twelfth and youngest son of
Jacob and the founder of one of the southern tribes of the Hebrews. He was originally named
בֶּן־אוֹנִי (Ben-'oni) meaning "son of my sorrow" by his mother
Rachel, who died shortly after childbirth, but it was later changed by his father (see
Genesis 35:18).
As an English name, Benjamin came into general use after the Protestant Reformation. A famous bearer was Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790), an American statesman, inventor, scientist and philosopher.
Bernard
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, French, Dutch, Polish, Croatian, Slovene, Czech, Germanic [1]
Pronounced: bər-NAHRD(American English) BU-nəd(British English) BEHR-NAR(French) BEHR-nahrt(Dutch) BEHR-nart(Polish, Croatian, Czech)
Derived from the Old German element
bern "bear" combined with
hart "hard, firm, brave, hardy". The
Normans brought it to England, where it replaced the Old English
cognate Beornheard. This was the name of several
saints, including Saint Bernard of Menthon who built hospices in the Swiss Alps in the 10th century, and Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, a 12th-century theologian and Doctor of the Church. Other famous bearers include the Irish playwright and essayist George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) and the British World War II field marshal Bernard Montgomery (1887-1976).
Cara
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: KAHR-ə, KEHR-ə, KAR-ə
Personal remark: also Kara
From an Italian word meaning "beloved" or an Irish word meaning "friend". It has been used as a given name since the 19th century, though it did not become popular until after the 1950s.
Carlotta
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian
Pronounced: kar-LAWT-ta
Personal remark: nn Carla
Carys
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Welsh
Pronounced: KAHR-is
Personal remark: also Cerys
Derived from Welsh caru meaning "love". This is a relatively modern Welsh name, in common use only since the middle of the 20th century.
Catriona
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Irish, Scottish
Pronounced: kə-TREE-nə(English)
Claribel
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: KLEHR-ə-behl, KLAR-ə-behl
Combination of
Clara and the common name suffix
bel, from Latin
bella "beautiful". This name was used by Edmund Spenser in his poem
The Faerie Queene (1590; in the form
Claribell) and by Shakespeare in his play
The Tempest (1611). Alfred Tennyson also wrote a poem entitled
Claribel (1830).
Clovis
Gender: Feminine
Usage: History, French
Pronounced: KLO-vis(English) KLAW-VEES(French)
Contemporary spelling, via the Latinized form
Clodovicus, of the Germanic name
Hludwig (see
Ludwig). Clovis was a Frankish king who united the Franks under his rule in the 5th century. The name was subsequently borne by two further Merovingian kings.
Coriander
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: KAWR-ee-an-dər, kawr-ee-AN-dər
From the name of the spice, also called cilantro, which may ultimately be of Phoenician origin (via Latin and Greek).
Cosima
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian
Pronounced: KAW-zee-ma
Italian feminine form of
Cosimo.
Drystan
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Welsh
Dylan
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Welsh, English, Welsh Mythology
Pronounced: DUL-an(Welsh) DIL-ən(English)
From the Welsh prefix
dy meaning "to, toward" and
llanw meaning "tide, flow". According to the Fourth Branch of the
Mabinogi [1], Dylan was a son of
Arianrhod and the twin brother of
Lleu Llaw Gyffes. Immediately after he was baptized he took to the sea, where he could swim as well as a fish. He was slain accidentally by his uncle
Gofannon. According to some theories the character might be rooted in an earlier and otherwise unattested Celtic god of the sea.
Famous bearers include the Welsh poet Dylan Thomas (1914-1953) and the American musician Bob Dylan (1941-), real name Robert Zimmerman, who took his stage surname from the poet's given name. Due to those two bearers, use of the name has spread outside of Wales in the last half of the 20th century. It received a further boost in popularity in the 1990s due to a character on the television series Beverly Hills 90210.
Elba
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Spanish
Pronounced: EHL-ba
Possibly a Spanish variant form of
Alba 3.
Elsa
Gender: Feminine
Usage: German, Swedish, Norwegian, Icelandic, Finnish, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, English
Pronounced: EHL-za(German) EHL-sah(Finnish) EHL-sa(Italian) EHL-sə(English)
Short form of
Elisabeth, typically used independently. Elsa von Brabant is the lover of
Lohengrin in medieval German tales, and her story was expanded by Richard Wagner for his opera
Lohengrin (1850). The name had a little spike in popularity after the 2013 release of the animated Disney movie
Frozen, which featured a magical princess by this name.
Emina
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Bosnian
Emma
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, French, Italian, Spanish, Catalan, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Icelandic, Finnish, Latvian, Dutch, German, Hungarian, Germanic [1]
Pronounced: EHM-ə(English) EH-MA(French) EH-ma(Spanish, German) EHM-mah(Finnish) EHM-maw(Hungarian)
Originally a short form of Germanic names that began with the element
irmin meaning
"whole" or
"great" (Proto-Germanic *
ermunaz). It was introduced to England by Emma of Normandy, who was the wife both of King Ethelred II (and by him the mother of Edward the Confessor) and later of King Canute. It was also borne by an 11th-century Austrian
saint, who is sometimes called
Hemma.
After the Norman Conquest this name became common in England. It was revived in the 18th century, perhaps in part due to Matthew Prior's 1709 poem Henry and Emma [2]. It was also used by Jane Austen for the central character, the matchmaker Emma Woodhouse, in her novel Emma (1816).
In the United States, it was third in rank in 1880 (behind only the ubiquitous Mary and Anna). It declined steadily over the next century, beginning another rise in the 1980s and eventually becoming the most popular name for girls in 2008. At this time it also experienced similar levels of popularity elsewhere, including the United Kingdom (where it began rising a decade earlier), Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Scandinavia and the Netherlands. Famous bearers include the actresses Emma Thompson (1959-), Emma Stone (1988-) and Emma Watson (1990-).
Ena 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Irish
Finlay
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Scottish, English
Pronounced: FIN-lee(English)
Personal remark: nn Finn
Anglicized form of
Fionnlagh. This spelling is more common in Scotland, though in England and Wales the variant
Finley has been more popular since 2007.
Fintan
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Irish, Irish Mythology, Old Irish [1]
Pronounced: FIN-tan(English)
Personal remark: nn Finn
Possibly means either
"white fire" or
"white ancient" in Irish. According to legend this was the name of the only Irish person to survive the great flood. This name was also borne by many Irish
saints.
Fiona
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Scottish, English
Pronounced: fee-O-nə(English)
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.
Flossie
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: FLAHS-ee
Personal remark: nn for Floss
Flynn
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: FLIN
From an Irish surname, an Anglicized form of
Ó Floinn, which was derived from the given name or byname
Flann. A famous bearer of the surname was American actor Errol Flynn (1909-1959). As a given name, it grew in popularity after it was featured as a character in the Disney movie
Tangled in 2010.
Francis
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, French
Pronounced: FRAN-sis(English) FRAHN-SEES(French)
English form of the Late Latin name
Franciscus meaning
"Frenchman", ultimately from the Germanic tribe of the Franks, who were named for a type of spear that they used (Proto-Germanic *
frankô). This name was borne by the 13th-century
Saint Francis of Assisi, who was originally named Giovanni but was given the nickname Francesco by his father, an admirer of the French. Francis went on to renounce his father's wealth and devote his life to the poor, founding the Franciscan order of friars. Later in his life he apparently received the stigmata.
Due to the renown of the saint, this name became widespread in Western Europe during the Middle Ages. However, it was not regularly used in Britain until the 16th century. Famous bearers include Saint Francis Xavier (1506-1552), a missionary to East Asia, the philosopher and scientist Francis Bacon (1561-1626), and the explorer and admiral Sir Francis Drake (1540-1595).
In the English-speaking world this name is occasionally used for girls, as a variant of the homophone Frances.
Frederick
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: FREHD-ə-rik, FREHD-rik
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.
Frieda
Gender: Feminine
Usage: German, English
Pronounced: FREE-da(German) FREE-də(English)
Gaia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology, Italian
Other Scripts: Γαῖα(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: GIE-A(Classical Greek) GIE-ə(English) GAY-ə(English) GA-ya(Italian)
From the Greek word
γαῖα (gaia), a parallel form of
γῆ (ge) meaning
"earth". In Greek
mythology Gaia was the mother goddess who presided over the earth. She was the mate of
Uranus and the mother of the Titans and the Cyclopes.
Gilead
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Biblical
Other Scripts: גִּלְעָד(Ancient Hebrew)
From an
Old Testament place name meaning
"heap of witness" in Hebrew. This is a mountainous region east of the Jordan River. Besides being a place name, it is also borne by people in the Bible.
Gráinne
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Irish, Irish Mythology, Old Irish [1]
Pronounced: GRA-nyə(Irish)
Personal remark: Grania, Gronia?
Possibly derived from Old Irish
grán meaning
"grain" or
gráin meaning
"hatred, fear". In the Irish legend
The Pursuit of Diarmaid and Gráinne she escaped from her arranged marriage to
Fionn mac Cumhaill by fleeing with her lover
Diarmaid. Another famous bearer was the powerful 16th-century Irish landowner and seafarer Gráinne Ní Mháille (known in English as Grace O'Malley), who was sometimes portrayed as a pirate queen in later tales.
Hanna 2
Gender: Feminine
Usage: German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Dutch, Hungarian
Pronounced: HA-na(German) HAN-nah(Danish) HAHN-nah(Finnish) HAWN-naw(Hungarian)
Harris
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: HAR-is, HEHR-is
From an English surname that was derived from the given name
Harry.
Henrietta
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Hungarian, Finnish, Swedish
Pronounced: hehn-ree-EHT-ə(English) HEHN-ree-eht-taw(Hungarian) HEHN-ree-eht-tah(Finnish)
Personal remark: nn Etta
Latinate form of
Henriette. It was introduced to England by Henriette Marie, the wife of the 17th-century English king Charles I. The name
Henriette was also Anglicized as
Harriet, a form that was initially more popular.
Herb
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: HURB
Hettie
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: HEHT-ee
Personal remark: also Hetty, Hattie & Hatty, nn for ???
Ianto
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Welsh
Pronounced: YAN-taw
Ila
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Indian, Hindi
Other Scripts: इला(Hindi)
Means "earth" or "speech" in Sanskrit.
Johanna
Gender: Feminine
Usage: German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Dutch, Hungarian, Finnish, Estonian, English, Late Roman
Pronounced: yo-HA-na(German) yuw-HA-na(Swedish) yo-HAHN-nah(Danish) yo-HAH-na(Dutch) YO-hawn-naw(Hungarian) YO-hahn-nah(Finnish) jo-HAN-ə(English) jo-AN-ə(English)
Latinate form of Greek
Ioanna (see
Joanna).
Jóna
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Icelandic, Faroese
Icelandic and Faroese feminine form of
John.
Jovan
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Serbian, Macedonian
Other Scripts: Јован(Serbian, Macedonian)
Pronounced: YO-van(Serbian) YAW-van(Macedonian)
Serbian and Macedonian form of
John.
Julian
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, Polish, German
Pronounced: JOO-lee-ən(English) JOOL-yən(English) YOO-lyan(Polish) YOO-lee-an(German)
Personal remark: nn Juls
From the Roman name
Iulianus, which was derived from
Julius. This was the name of the last pagan Roman emperor, Julian the Apostate (4th century). It was also borne by several early
saints, including the legendary Saint Julian the Hospitaller. This name has been used in England since the Middle Ages, at which time it was also a feminine name (from
Juliana, eventually becoming
Gillian).
Juniper
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: JOON-i-pər
Personal remark: nn Joon
From the English word for the type of tree, derived ultimately from Latin iuniperus.
Kester
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Rare)
Personal remark: nn Kez
Lana
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Russian, Croatian, Slovene, Georgian
Other Scripts: Лана(Russian) ლანა(Georgian)
Pronounced: LAH-nə(English)
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.
Larkin
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: Medieval English
Pronounced: LAHR-kin(English)
Personal remark: nn Lark
Leonidas
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Greek, Ancient Greek [1]
Other Scripts: Λεωνίδας(Greek)
Derived from Greek
λέων (leon) meaning "lion" combined with the patronymic suffix
ἴδης (ides). Leonidas was a Spartan king of the 5th century BC who sacrificed his life and his army defending the pass of Thermopylae from the Persians. This was also the name of a 3rd-century
saint and martyr, the father of Origen, from Alexandria.
Lileas
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Scottish Gaelic
Personal remark: also Lilias and Lillias
Lilith
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Semitic Mythology, Judeo-Christian-Islamic Legend
Pronounced: LIL-ith(English)
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.
Lilja
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Icelandic, Faroese, Finnish
Pronounced: LIL-ya(Icelandic) LEEL-yah(Finnish)
Personal remark: nn for Lileas and Lilith
Linnéa
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Swedish
Pronounced: lin-NEH-a
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.
Linus
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Greek Mythology (Latinized), Ancient Greek (Latinized), Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, German
Other Scripts: Λίνος(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: LIE-nəs(English) LEE-nuys(Swedish) LEE-nuws(German)
From the Greek name
Λίνος (Linos) meaning
"flax". In Greek legend he was the son of the god
Apollo, who accidentally killed him in a contest. Another son of Apollo by this name was the music teacher of
Herakles. The name was also borne by the second pope, serving after
Saint Peter in the 1st century. In modern times this was the name of a character in Charles Schulz's comic strip
Peanuts.
Ludwig
Gender: Masculine
Usage: German
Pronounced: LOOT-vikh
From the Germanic name
Hludwig meaning
"famous in battle", composed of the elements
hlut "famous, loud" and
wig "war, battle". This was the name of three Merovingian kings of the Franks (though their names are usually spelled as
Clovis) as well as several Carolingian kings and Holy Roman emperors (names often spelled in the French form
Louis). Other famous bearers include the German composer Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) and the Austrian philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889-1951), who contributed to logic and the philosophy of language.
Mabel
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: MAY-bəl
Medieval feminine form of
Amabilis. This spelling and
Amabel were common during the Middle Ages, though they became rare after the 15th century. It was revived in the 19th century after the publication of C. M. Yonge's 1854 novel
The Heir of Redclyffe [1], which featured a character named Mabel (as well as one named Amabel).
Maisie
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Scottish, English
Pronounced: MAY-zee(English)
Personal remark: nn for ???
Scottish
diminutive of
Mairead. It was long used in the United Kingdom and Australia, becoming popular at the end of the 20th century. In the United States it was brought to public attention by the British actress Maisie Williams (1997-), who played Arya Stark on the television series
Game of Thrones beginning 2011. Her birth name is Margaret.
Mathilda
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Swedish, Dutch
Pronounced: mə-TIL-də(English) mah-TIL-dah(Swedish) ma-TIL-da(Dutch)
Personal remark: also Matilda, nns Tilly and Tilda
Merlin
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Arthurian Romance, English
Pronounced: MUR-lin(English)
Form of the Welsh name
Myrddin used by Geoffrey of Monmouth in his 12th-century chronicle. Writing in Latin, he likely chose the form
Merlinus over
Merdinus in order to prevent associations with French
merde "excrement".
Geoffrey based parts of Merlin's character on Myrddin Wyllt, a legendary madman and prophet who lived in the Caledonian Forest. Other parts of his life were based on that of the historical 5th-century Romano-British military leader Ambrosius Aurelianus (also known as Emrys Wledig). In Geoffrey's version of the tales and later embellishments Merlin is a magician and counselor for King Arthur.
Midge
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: MIJ
Personal remark: nn for ???
Millie
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: MIL-ee
Personal remark: also Milly, nn for ???
Minna
Gender: Feminine
Usage: German (Archaic), Finnish, Swedish
Pronounced: MI-na(German) MEEN-nah(Finnish)
Means
"love" in Old German, specifically medieval courtly love. It is also used as a short form of
Wilhelmina. This is the name of the title character in the play
Minna von Barnhelm (1767) by Gotthold Ephraim Lessing.
Morgaine
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Arthurian Romance
Variant of
Morgan 2, from a French form.
Muna
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Arabic
Other Scripts: منى(Arabic)
Pronounced: MOO-na
Means
"wishes, desires", from the plural of Arabic
منية (munyah).
Neha
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Indian, Hindi, Marathi, Malayalam, Kannada, Punjabi, Gujarati, Bengali, Telugu
Other Scripts: नेहा(Hindi, Marathi) നേഹ(Malayalam) ನೇಹಾ(Kannada) ਨੇਹਾ(Gurmukhi) નેહા(Gujarati) নেহা(Bengali) నేహా(Telugu)
Possibly from Sanskrit
स्नेह (sneha) meaning
"love, tenderness".
Nimrod
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Biblical, Biblical Hebrew
Other Scripts: נִמְרֹד(Ancient Hebrew)
Pronounced: NIM-rahd(English)
Meaning unknown, possibly of Akkadian origin or possibly meaning
"rebel" in Hebrew. In the
Old Testament Nimrod is a renowned hunter, the great-grandson of
Noah. He was the founder of Babylon.
Due to the biblical character, this name was adopted as an English-language vocabulary word meaning "hunter". In American English it acquired a further meaning of "fool", after the oafish character Elmer Fudd (a hunter) was called such by Daffy Duck in a 1948 short cartoon.
Nimue
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Arthurian Romance
Pronounced: NIM-ə-way(English)
Meaning unknown. In Arthurian legends this is the name of a sorceress, also known as the Lady of the Lake, Vivien, or Niniane. Various versions of the tales have
Merlin falling in love with her and becoming imprisoned by her magic. She first appears in the medieval French
Lancelot-Grail Cycle.
Ninian
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Scottish
From the name of a 5th-century British
saint, known as the Apostle to the Picts, who was apparently responsible for many miracles and cures. He first appears briefly in the 8th-century Latin writings of the historian Bede, though his name is only written in the ablative case
Nynia [1]. This may represent a Brythonic name *
Ninniau [2][3].
Otis
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: O-tis
From an English surname that was derived from the medieval given name
Ode, a
cognate of
Otto. In America it has been used in honour of the revolutionary James Otis (1725-1783).
Ovid
Gender: Masculine
Usage: History
Pronounced: AHV-id(English)
From the Roman family name Ovidius, which was possibly derived from Latin ovis "a sheep". Alternatively, it could have a Sabellic origin. Publius Ovidius Naso, better known as Ovid, was a 1st-century BC Roman poet who is best known as the author of the Metamorphoses. He was sent into exile on the coast of the Black Sea by Emperor Augustus for no apparent reason.
Pan
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Πάν(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: PAN(Classical Greek, English)
Possibly from the Indo-European root *
peh- meaning
"shepherd, protect". In Greek
mythology Pan was a half-man, half-goat god associated with shepherds, flocks and pastures.
Peninnah
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Biblical
Other Scripts: פְּנִנָּה(Ancient Hebrew)
Pronounced: pi-NIN-ə(English) pi-NEE-nə(English)
Personal remark: nn Ninna
Means
"precious stone, pearl" in Hebrew. In the
Old Testament this is the name of one of the wives of
Elkanah, the other being
Hannah.
Perdita
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Literature
Derived from Latin
perditus meaning
"lost". Shakespeare created this name for the daughter of
Hermione and
Leontes in his play
The Winter's Tale (1610). Abandoned as an infant by her father the king, she grows up to be a shepherdess and falls in love with with
Florizel.
Philipp
Gender: Masculine
Usage: German
Pronounced: FEE-lip
Personal remark: nn Pip
Philippa
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (British), German
Pronounced: FI-li-pə(English)
Personal remark: nn Pippa
Latinate feminine form of
Philip. As an English name, it is chiefly British.
Phineas
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Biblical
Other Scripts: פִּינְחָס(Ancient Hebrew)
Pronounced: FIN-ee-əs(English)
Phoebe
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Greek Mythology (Latinized), Biblical, Biblical Latin
Other Scripts: Φοίβη(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: FEE-bee(English)
Latinized form of the Greek name
Φοίβη (Phoibe), which meant
"bright, pure" from Greek
φοῖβος (phoibos). In Greek
mythology Phoibe was a Titan associated with the moon. This was also an epithet of her granddaughter, the moon goddess
Artemis. The name appears in
Paul's epistle to the Romans in the
New Testament, where it belongs to a female minister in the church at Cenchreae.
In England, it began to be used as a given name after the Protestant Reformation. It was moderately common in the 19th century. It began to rise in popularity again in the late 1980s, probably helped along by characters on the American television shows Friends (1994-2004) and Charmed (1998-2006). It is currently much more common in the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand than the United States.
A moon of Saturn bears this name, in honour of the Titan.
Phyllis
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology, English
Other Scripts: Φυλλίς(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: FIL-is(English)
Personal remark: nn Phil
Means
"foliage" in Greek. In Greek
mythology this was the name of a woman who killed herself out of love for Demophon and was subsequently transformed into an almond tree. It began to be used as a given name in England in the 16th century, though it was often confused with
Felicia.
Pip
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: PIP
Personal remark: meaning "Kern", meaning "Ena"
Diminutive of
Philip or
Philippa. This was the name of the main character in
Great Expectations (1860) by Charles Dickens.
Pippin 1
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Germanic [1]
Personal remark: nn Pip
Old German form of
Pepin. The 1972 musical
Pippin is loosely based on the life of
Charlemagne's eldest son Pepin the Hunchback.
Quentin
Gender: Masculine
Usage: French, English
Pronounced: KAHN-TEHN(French) KWEHN-tən(English)
French form of the Roman name
Quintinus. It was borne by a 3rd-century
saint, a missionary who was martyred in Gaul. The
Normans introduced this name to England. In America it was brought to public attention by president Theodore Roosevelt's son Quentin Roosevelt (1897-1918), who was killed in World War I. A famous bearer is the American movie director Quentin Tarantino (1963-).
Quirin
Gender: Masculine
Usage: German
Pronounced: kvee-REEN
Rani 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Indian, Telugu, Hindi, Marathi
Other Scripts: రాణీ(Telugu) रानी(Hindi) राणी(Marathi)
Means "queen" in Sanskrit.
Rasmus
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, Finnish, Estonian
Pronounced: RAHS-moos(Danish, Norwegian, Finnish) RAS-muys(Swedish)
Scandinavian, Finnish and Estonian form of
Erasmus.
Roberta
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese
Pronounced: rə-BUR-tə(English) ro-BEHR-ta(Italian, Spanish)
Ronja
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Swedish, Finnish
Pronounced: RON-yah(Swedish)
Invented by Swedish children's author Astrid Lindgren, who based it on the middle portion of Juronjaure, the name of a lake in Sweden. Lindgren used it in her 1981 book Ronia the Robber's Daughter (Ronia is the English translation).
Rune
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Norwegian, Danish, Swedish
Pronounced: ROO-nə(Norwegian) ROO-neh(Danish, Swedish)
Derived from Old Norse
rún meaning
"secret lore, rune".
Ruth 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Estonian, Spanish, Biblical, Biblical Latin
Other Scripts: רוּת(Ancient Hebrew)
Pronounced: ROOTH(English) ROOT(German, Spanish)
From a Hebrew name that was derived from the Hebrew word
רְעוּת (re'ut) meaning
"friend". This is the name of the central character in the Book of Ruth in the
Old Testament. She was a Moabite woman who accompanied her mother-in-law
Naomi back to Bethlehem after Ruth's husband died. There she met and married
Boaz. She was an ancestor of King
David.
As a Christian name, Ruth has been in use since the Protestant Reformation. In England it was associated with the archaic word ruth meaning "pity, compassion" (now only commonly seen in the word ruthless). The name became very popular in America following the birth of "Baby" Ruth Cleveland (1891-1904), the daughter of President Grover Cleveland.
Sage
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: SAYJ
From the English word sage, which denotes either a type of spice or else a wise person.
Sa'ida
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Arabic
Other Scripts: سعيدة(Arabic)
Pronounced: sa-‘EE-dah
Scheherazade
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Literature
Pronounced: shə-HEHR-ə-zahd(English)
Selwyn
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: SEHL-win
From a surname that was originally derived from an Old English given name, which was formed of the elements sele "manor" and wine "friend".
Shashi
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: Indian, Hindi, Marathi, Bengali, Kannada, Telugu
Other Scripts: शशि, शशी(Hindi, Marathi) শশী(Bengali) ಶಶಿ(Kannada) శశి(Telugu)
Traditional name for the moon, it literally means "having a hare" in Sanskrit. This is a transcription of both the masculine form
शशि and the feminine form
शशी.
Silas
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, Greek, Danish, German, Biblical, Biblical Latin, Biblical Greek
Other Scripts: Σίλας(Greek)
Pronounced: SIE-ləs(English)
The name of a companion of
Saint Paul in the
New Testament. It is probably a short form of
Silvanus, a name that Paul calls him by in the epistles. It is possible that
Silvanus and
Silas were Latin and Greek forms of the Hebrew name
Saul (via Aramaic).
As an English name it was not used until after the Protestant Reformation. It was utilized by George Eliot for the title character in her novel Silas Marner (1861).
Stella 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Italian, Dutch, German
Pronounced: STEHL-ə(English)
Means "star" in Latin. This name was created by the 16th-century poet Sir 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.
Sterling
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: STUR-ling
From a Scots surname that was derived from city of Stirling, which is itself of unknown meaning. The name can also be given in reference to the English word sterling meaning "excellent". In this case, the word derives from sterling silver, which was so named because of the emblem that some Norman coins bore, from Old English meaning "little star".
Stina
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Swedish, Norwegian, Danish
Pronounced: STEE-nah(Swedish, Norwegian)
Scandinavian short form of
Christina and other names ending in
stina.
Sullivan
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, French
Pronounced: SUL-i-vən(English)
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).
Taliesin
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Welsh, Welsh Mythology
Pronounced: tal-YEH-sin(Welsh) tal-ee-EHS-in(English)
Personal remark: nn Tali
Means
"shining brow", derived from Welsh
tal "brow, head" and
iesin "shining, radiant". This was the name of a semi-legendary 6th-century Welsh poet and bard, supposedly the author of the collection of poems the
Book of Taliesin. He appears briefly in the Welsh legend
Culhwch and Olwen and the Second Branch of the
Mabinogi. He is the central character in the
Tale of Taliesin, a medieval legend recorded in the 16th century, which tells how
Ceridwen's servant Gwion Bach was reborn to her as Taliesin; how he becomes the bard for Elffin; and how Taliesin defends Elffin from the machinations of the king
Maelgwn Gwynedd.
Tanith
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Semitic Mythology
Other Scripts: 𐤕𐤍𐤕(Phoenician)
Meaning unknown. This was the name of the Phoenician goddess of love, fertility, the moon and the stars. She was particularly associated with the city of Carthage, being the consort of
Ba'al Hammon.
Tara 2
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Hinduism, Indian, Hindi, Nepali
Other Scripts: तारा(Sanskrit, Hindi, Nepali)
Means
"star" in Sanskrit. Tara is the name of a Hindu astral goddess, the wife of Brhaspati. She was abducted by Soma, a god of the moon, leading to a great war that was only ended when
Brahma intervened and released her. This is also the name of a Buddhist deity (a female Buddha).
Tatum
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: TAY-təm
From an English surname that was originally derived from a place name meaning "Tata's homestead" in Old English. It was brought to public attention by the child actress Tatum O'Neal (1963-) in the 1970s, though it did not catch on. It attained a modest level of popularity after 1996, when it was borne by a character in the movie Scream.
Thea
Gender: Feminine
Usage: German, Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, English
Pronounced: TEH-a(German) THEE-ə(English)
Theodore
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: THEE-ə-dawr
From the Greek name
Θεόδωρος (Theodoros), which meant
"gift of god" from Greek
θεός (theos) meaning "god" and
δῶρον (doron) meaning "gift". The name
Dorothea is derived from the same roots in reverse order. This was the name of several
saints, including Theodore of Amasea, a 4th-century Greek soldier; Theodore of Tarsus, a 7th-century archbishop of Canterbury; and Theodore the Studite, a 9th-century Byzantine monk. It was also borne by two popes.
This was a common name in classical Greece, and, due to both the saints who carried it and the favourable meaning, it came into general use in the Christian world, being especially popular among Eastern Christians. It was however rare in Britain before the 19th century. Famous bearers include three tsars of Russia (in the Russian form Fyodor) and American president Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919).
Tristan
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, French, Arthurian Romance
Pronounced: TRIS-tən(English) TREES-TAHN(French)
Probably from the Celtic name
Drustan, a
diminutive of
Drust, which occurs as
Drystan in a few Welsh sources. As
Tristan, it first appears in 12th-century French tales, probably altered by association with Old French
triste "sad". According to the tales Tristan was sent to Ireland by his uncle King Mark of Cornwall in order to fetch
Iseult, who was to be the king's bride. On the way back, Tristan and Iseult accidentally drink a potion that makes them fall in love. Later versions of the tale make Tristan one of King
Arthur's knights. His tragic story was very popular in the Middle Ages, and the name has occasionally been used since then.
Willa
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: WIL-ə
Zacharias
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Biblical, Biblical Greek, Greek
Other Scripts: Ζαχαρίας(Greek)
Pronounced: zak-ə-RIE-əs(English) za-kha-REE-as(Late Greek)
Greek form of
Zechariah. This form of the name is used in most English versions of the
New Testament to refer to the father of
John the Baptist. It was also borne by an 8th-century pope (called
Zachary in English).
Zachary
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, Biblical
Pronounced: ZAK-ə-ree(English)
Personal remark: nn Zack
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).
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