smurphul's Personal Name List

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.

Latinized form of the Greek name Ἁγνή (Hagne), derived from Greek ἁγνός (hagnos) meaning "chaste". Saint Agnes was a virgin martyred during the persecutions of the Roman emperor Diocletian. The name became associated with Latin agnus "lamb", resulting in the saint's frequent depiction with a lamb by her side. Due to her renown, the name became common in Christian Europe.

As an English name it was highly popular from the Middle Ages until the 17th century. It was revived in the 19th century and was common into the 20th, but it fell into decline after the 1930s. It last appeared on the American top 1000 rankings in 1972.

Feminine form of Aldo.

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).

Diminutive of Adelaide.

Welsh form of Alice.

Feminine form of Amado.

Feminine form of Amatus.

Variant of Amalia, though it is sometimes confused with Emilia, which has a different origin. The name became popular in England after the German House of Hanover came to the British throne in the 18th century — it was borne by daughters of both George II and George III. The author Henry Fielding used it for the title character in his novel Amelia (1751). Another famous bearer was Amelia Earhart (1897-1937), the first woman to make a solo flight over the Atlantic Ocean.

This name experienced a rise in popularity at the end of the 20th century. It was the most popular name for girls in England and Wales from 2011 to 2015.

Meaning unknown. This name was (first?) used by William Congreve in his comedy The Old Bachelor (1693) and later by John Vanbrugh in his comedy The Confederacy (1705). This was the original given name of abolitionist Harriet Tubman (1820-1913), who was born Araminta Ross.

Diminutive of Arline and other names beginning with Arl.

Means "dawn" in Latin. Aurora was the Roman goddess of the morning. It has occasionally been used as a given name since the Renaissance.

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.

Probably a Latinized form of the Germanic name Aveza, which was derived from the element awi, of unknown meaning. The Normans introduced this name to England and it became moderately common during the Middle Ages, at which time it was associated with Latin avis "bird".

Derived from Spanish belleza "beauty".

Diminutive of Albert, Herbert and other names containing bert (often derived from the Old German element beraht meaning "bright").

From the English word for the clear or pale green precious stone, ultimately deriving from Sanskrit. As a given name, it first came into use in the 19th century.

Frisian and Limburgish short form of Elisabeth.

From the name of the minty medicinal herb.

Diminutive of Bridget.

Diminutive of Bill. It is also used as a feminine form of William.

From the English word for the thorny plant.

From the English word meaning "impulse", ultimately (via French) from Italian capriccio.

From the title of the Virgin Mary Our Lady of Mount Carmel. כַּרְמֶל (Karmel) (meaning "garden" in Hebrew) is a mountain in Israel mentioned in the Old Testament. It was the site of several early Christian monasteries. As an English given name, it has mainly been used by Catholics. As a Jewish name it is unisex.

Medieval Spanish form of Carmel, appearing in the devotional title of the Virgin Mary Nuestra Señora del Carmen meaning "Our Lady of Mount Carmel". The spelling has been altered through association with the Latin word carmen meaning "song". This was the name of the main character in George Bizet's opera Carmen (1875).

French feminine diminutive of Charles. It was introduced to Britain in the 17th century. It was the name of a German-born 18th-century queen consort of Great Britain and Ireland. Another notable bearer was Charlotte Brontë (1816-1855), the eldest of the three Brontë sisters and the author of Jane Eyre and Villette. A famous fictional bearer is the spider in the children's novel Charlotte's Web (1952) by E. B. White.

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

Means "god, spiritual being" in Igbo, referring to the personal spiritual guardian that each person is believed to have. Christian Igbo people use it as a name for the personal Christian god (as opposed to the omnipresent Chukwu, though the names are used synonymously in some contexts). This can also be a short form of the many Igbo names that begin with this element.

Means "sky" in French. It is not used as a given name in France itself.

Spanish and Hungarian form of Cynthia.

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.

Diminutive of Cora. It was borne by Coretta Scott King (1927-2006), the wife of Martin Luther King Jr.

From the name of the flower, which was named for the Swedish botanist Anders Dahl.

Means "downpour" in Arabic.

Means "judged" in Hebrew. According to the Old Testament, Dinah was a daughter of Jacob and Leah who was abducted by Shechem. It has been used as an English given name since after the Protestant Reformation.

Possibly a Spanish variant form of Alba 3.

Norman French form of Emmerich. The Normans introduced it to England, and though it was never popular, it survived until the end of the Middle Ages. As a modern given name, now typically feminine, it is likely inspired by the surname Emery, which was itself derived from the medieval given name. It can also be given in reference to the hard black substance called emery.

French feminine form of Emmanuel.

Means "desire, wish" in Sanskrit.

French form of Eulalia.

From the English word felicity meaning "happiness", which ultimately derives from Latin felicitas "good luck". This was one of the virtue names adopted by the Puritans around the 17th century. It can sometimes be used as an English form of the Latin name Felicitas. This name jumped in popularity in the United States after the premiere of the television series Felicity in 1998. It is more common in the United Kingdom.

Means "foxglove" in Welsh (species Digitalis purpurea). This is a recently created Welsh name.

From a Scottish place name that was formerly the name of a kingdom in Scotland. It is said to be named for a Pictish kingdom called Fib.

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.

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.

French feminine form of Germain. Saint Germaine was a 16th-century peasant girl from France.

Diminutive of Gertrude.

Italian form of Guinevere. This is also the Italian name for the city of Geneva, Switzerland. It is also sometimes associated with the Italian word ginepro meaning "juniper".

From a Scottish surname that was derived from the given name Gregor.

From the Norman French form of the Welsh name Gwenhwyfar meaning "white phantom", ultimately from the old Celtic roots *windos meaning "white" (modern Welsh gwen) and *sēbros meaning "phantom, magical being" [1]. In Arthurian legend she was the beautiful wife of King Arthur. According to the 12th-century chronicler Geoffrey of Monmouth, she was seduced by Mordred before the battle of Camlann, which led to the deaths of both Mordred and Arthur. According to the 12th-century French poet Chrétien de Troyes, she engaged in an adulterous affair with Sir Lancelot.

The Cornish form of this name, Jennifer, has become popular in the English-speaking world.

Variant of Guinevere.

Medieval English vernacular form of Idonea.

Spanish feminine form of Ignatius.

Russian and Belarusian form of Elijah.

Diminutive of Iorwerth, used independently.

Greek form of Egyptian ꜣst (reconstructed as Iset, Aset or Ueset), possibly from st meaning "throne". In Egyptian mythology Isis was the goddess of the sky and nature, the wife of Osiris and the mother of Horus. She was originally depicted wearing a throne-shaped headdress, but in later times she was conflated with the goddess Hathor and depicted having the horns of a cow on her head. She was also worshipped by people outside of Egypt, such as the Greeks and Romans.

Spanish and Portuguese form of Juliet.

From an occupational surname meaning "judge, officer of justice" in Old French. This name can also be given in direct reference to the English word justice.

Possibly derived from Latin laetus meaning "glad". Otherwise, it could be a short form of names ending in leta.

Probably originally a diminutive of Elizabeth. It may also be considered an elaborated form of Lily, from the Latin word for "lily" lilium. This name has been used in England since the 16th century.

Either a diminutive of French names containing the sound lee or a combination of Lili and Louise.

From the word for the type of flower, also called the twinflower (see Linnéa).

From the name of a town in Italy, originally called Lauretum in Latin, meaning "laurel grove". Supposedly in the 13th century the house of the Virgin Mary was miraculously carried by angels from Nazareth to the town. In Spain it is a feminine name, from the Marian title Nuestra Señora de Loreto, while in Italy it is mostly masculine.

Means "snow" in Finnish.

Short form of Guadalupe.

Gallicized form of Maeva.

Means "welcome" in Tahitian. It gained popularity in France during the 1980s.

Latinate form of Magdalene.

French diminutive of Marie.

Variant of Margot influenced by the name of the wine-producing French town. It was borne by Margaux Hemingway (1954-1996), granddaughter of author Ernest Hemingway, who had it changed from Margot.

French short form of Margaret.

Diminutive of María Consuelo. Also see Chelo. This is borne by Marichelo Puente (1978-), a Mexican television personality and sister of the singer Anahí.

Means "remnants of a lake" in Old English, from mere "lake" and lafe "remnants, remains". This is the name of a town in Buckinghamshire, England.

Possibly a diminutive of Marina. This name was brought to public attention by Alfred Hitchcock's movie Marnie (1964), itself based on a 1961 novel by Winston Graham.

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).

Modern Persian form of Mithra. As a Persian vocabulary word it means "friendship, love, kindness". It is also the name of the seventh month of the Persian calendar. All of these derive from the same source: the Indo-Iranian root *mitra meaning "oath, covenant, agreement".

Short form of Melvin, Melanie, Melissa and other names beginning with Mel.

From the English word mercy, ultimately from Latin merces "wages, reward", a derivative of merx "goods, wares". This was one of the virtue names adopted by the Puritans in the 17th century.

From the English word merle or the French surname Merle, which both mean "blackbird" (from Latin merula). It was borne by the devious character Madame Merle (in fact her surname) in Henry James' novel The Portrait of a Lady (1880).

This name is also common for girls in Estonia, though a connection to the English-language name is uncertain.

From an English surname that was derived either from the given name Muriel or from place names meaning "pleasant hill".

Diminutive or feminine form of Michael. This was the name that Walt Disney gave to Ub Iwerks' cartoon character Mickey Mouse (debuting 1928), who was called Mortimer Mouse while being developed. Another famous bearer was the American baseball player Mickey Mantle (1931-1995).

Invented by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu in his Gothic novella Carmilla (1872), in which the title character, a vampire, uses this and other anagrams of her name (including Mircalla) as aliases when she relocates.

Diminutive of Araminta.

Variant of Myrthe.

Means "myrrh" in Hebrew.

From the name of a region in western Scotland, also called Morvern or in Gaelic A' Mhorbhairne, meaning "the big gap". This is the location of Fingal's kingdom in James Macpherson's 18th-century poems.

From a common Irish surname, the Anglicized form of Irish Gaelic Ó Murchadha, itself derived from the given name Murchadh. As a given name, it has been borne by female characters on the American television series Murphy Brown (1988-1998) and the movie Interstellar (2014).

Variant of Morrow. A famous bearer of the surname was Edward R. Murrow (1908-1965), US radio and television journalist.

Variant of Murray.

Diminutive of Anastasiya.

Means "beautiful" in Hebrew.

Short form of Geneva.

Feminine form of Nicholas. In the English-speaking world this name is more common outside of America, where Nicole is more usual.

Modern Hebrew form of Noah 2, the daughter of Zelophehad in the Bible. It is also the form used in several other languages, as well as the spelling used in some English versions of the Old Testament.

Feminine form of Noël.

English form of Noëlle.

Meaning uncertain, possibly a feminine form of Noll inspired by Lola. It has been most common in Australia and New Zealand, especially in the first half of the 20th century.

Possibly derived from Latin nonna meaning "nun". According to tradition, this was the name of the mother of Saint David.

Short form of Prudence.

Short form of Oluremi.

Feminine form of Renatus.

Diminutive of Ronald or Veronica.

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.

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.

Anglicized form of Shahrazad.

Means "flame" in Arabic.

From an Irish surname, an Anglicized form of Ó Sluaghadháin, itself derived from the given name Sluaghadhán.

Means "sun" in Spanish or Portuguese.

Meaning uncertain. Actors Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick used it for their daughter Sosie Bacon (1992-). It was perhaps inspired by French sosie "lookalike", derived from Latin Sosia, the name of a character in Plautus' play 'Amphitryon', itself from Greek Σωσίας (Sosias) meaning "savior" from σως (sos) "safe, whole, unwounded" (compare Sostrate, Sose). Alternatively it may be a variant of Susie.

Variant of Tawny.

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

Short form of Dorothea, Theodora, Theresa and other names with a similar sound.

Diminutive of Ulrich or Ulrike.

From the English word meaning "verity, truth", from Latin verus "true, real". This was one of the virtue names adopted by the Puritans in the 17th century.

Masculine or feminine diminutive of William. Notable bearers include the retired American baseball player Willie Mays (1931-) and the musician Willie Nelson (1933-).

Means "firstborn daughter" in Dakota or Lakota. According to folklore, this was the name of a daughter of a Dakota chief (possibly Wapasha III) who leapt from a cliff to her death rather than marry a man she hated. Numerous places in the United States have been named after her. The actress Winona Ryder (1971-) was named after the city in Minnesota where she was born.

From the Hebrew name צִפּוֹרָה (Tzipporah), derived from צִפּוֹר (tzippor) meaning "bird". In the Old Testament this is the name of the Midianite wife of Moses. She was the daughter of the priest Jethro.