AMALIA

Gender: Feminine

Usage: Dutch, German, Finnish, Spanish, Italian, Romanian, Ancient Germanic (Latinized)

Pronounced: ah-MAH-lee-ah (Dutch, German)

Personal note: 9. Amalia Charlotte

Rating: 50% based on 1 vote

Latinized form of the Germanic name Amala, a short form of names beginning with the element amal meaning "work".

BRIELLE

Gender: Feminine

Usage: English (Modern)

Personal note: 4. Briella Gwen Fae

Rating: 50% based on 1 vote

Short form of GABRIELLE. This is also the name of towns in the Netherlands and New Jersey, though their names derive from a different source.

CAMERON

Gender: Masculine

Usage: Scottish, English

Pronounced: KAM-rən (English), KAM-ə-rən (English)

Personal note: 05. Cameron Elliott

Rating: 60% based on 8 votes

From a Scottish surname meaning "crooked nose" from Gaelic cam "crooked" and sròn "nose".

CIRCE

Gender: Feminine

Usage: Greek Mythology (Latinized)

Other Scripts: Κιρκη (Ancient Greek)

Pronounced: SUR-see (English)

Personal note: 3. Circe Eloise

Rating: 60% based on 1 vote

Latinized form of Greek Κιρκη (Kirke), which possibly meant "bird". In Greek mythology Circe was a sorceress who changed Odysseus's crew into hogs but was forced by him to change them back.

CORDELIA

Gender: Feminine

Usage: English

Pronounced: kawr-DEL-ee-ə, kawr-DEL-yə

Personal note: 1. Cordelia Wren

Rating: 80% based on 22 votes

From Cordeilla, possibly a Celtic name of unknown meaning. According to Geoffrey of Monmouth, Cordeilla was the youngest of the three daughters of King Lear and the only one to remain loyal to her father. When adapting the character for his play 'King Lear' (1606), Shakespeare altered the spelling to Cordelia.

DOMINIC

Gender: Masculine

Usage: English

Pronounced: DAHM-ə-nik

Personal note: 01. Dominic Edmond

Rating: 69% based on 17 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.

ELEANOR

Gender: Feminine

Usage: English

Pronounced: EL-ə-nawr

Personal note: 7. Eleanor Naomi

Rating: 52% based on 6 votes

From the Old French form of the Occitan name Aliénor. It was first borne by 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.

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.

FINN (1)

Gender: Masculine

Usage: Irish Mythology, Irish

Personal note: 09. Finn Alistair

Rating: 95% based on 4 votes

Older Irish form of FIONN. This is also the usual Anglicized spelling of the name. As a surname it is borne by Huckleberry Finn, a character in Mark Twain's novels.

FRANCIS

Gender: Masculine

Usage: English, French

Pronounced: FRANT-səs (English)

Personal note: 03. Francis Dimitri

Rating: 17% based on 3 votes

English form of the Late Latin name Franciscus which meant "Frenchman". 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.

JOHN

Gender: Masculine

Usage: English, Biblical

Pronounced: JAHN (English)

Personal note: 08. John Timothy

Rating: 40% based on 5 votes

English form of Iohannes, the Latin form of the Greek name Ιωαννης (Ioannes), itself derived from the Hebrew name יוֹחָנָן (Yochanan) meaning "YAHWEH is gracious". This name owes its popularity to two New Testament characters, both highly revered saints. The first is John the Baptist, a Jewish ascetic who was considered the forerunner of Jesus Christ. The second is the apostle John, who is also traditionally regarded as the author of the fourth Gospel and Revelation.

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: during the later Middle Ages it was given to approximately a fifth of all English boys.

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).

JULIET

Gender: Feminine

Usage: English

Pronounced: JOO-lee-et, JOOL-yət

Personal note: 2. Juliet Estelle

Rating: 61% based on 8 votes

Anglicized form of JULIETTE or GIULIETTA. This spelling was first used by Shakespeare for the lover of Romeo in his play 'Romeo and Juliet' (1596).

MALCOLM

Gender: Masculine

Usage: Scottish, English

Pronounced: MAL-kəm

Personal note: 02. Malcolm Terrance

Rating: 72% based on 6 votes

From Scottish Máel Coluim which means "disciple of Saint COLUMBA". This was the name of four kings of Scotland starting in the 10th century, including Malcolm III, who became king after killing Macbeth, the usurper who had murdered his father. The character Malcolm in Shakespeare's tragedy 'Macbeth' (1606) is based on him. Another famous bearer was Malcolm X (1925-1965), an American civil rights leader.

MATTHEW

Gender: Masculine

Usage: English, Biblical

Pronounced: MATH-yoo (English)

Personal note: 06. Matthew Lawrence

Rating: 58% based on 6 votes

English form of Ματθαιος (Matthaios), which was a Greek form of the Hebrew name מַתִּתְיָהוּ (Mattityahu) meaning "gift of YAHWEH". Saint 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. As an English name, Matthew has been in use since the Middle Ages.

NICHOLAS

Gender: Masculine

Usage: English, French

Pronounced: NIK-ə-ləs (English), nee-ko-LAH (French)

Personal note: 04. Nicholas Tyler

Rating: 77% based on 6 votes

From the Greek name Νικολαος (Nikolaos) which meant "victory of the people" from Greek νικη (nike) "victory" and λαος (laos) "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 czars of Russia.

NOELLE

Gender: Feminine

Usage: English

Pronounced: no-EL

Personal note: 8. Noelle Constance

Rating: 40% based on 1 vote

English form of NOËLLE

PENELOPE

Gender: Feminine

Usage: Greek Mythology, English

Other Scripts: Πηνελοπη (Ancient Greek)

Pronounced: pə-NEL-ə-pee (English)

Personal note: 5. Penelope Rose

Rating: 68% based on 4 votes

Possibly derived from Greek πηνελοψ (penelops), a type of duck. Alternatively it could be from πηνη (pene) "threads, weft" and ωψ (ops) "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.

RICHARD

Gender: Masculine

Usage: English, French, German, Czech, Dutch, Ancient Germanic

Pronounced: RICH-ərd (English), ree-SHAHR (French), RIKH-ahrt (German)

Personal note: 07. Richard Geoffrey

Rating: 67% based on 6 votes

Means "brave power", derived from the Germanic elements ric "power, rule" and hard "brave, hardy". The Normans introduced this name to Britain, and it has been very common there since that time. It was borne by three kings of England including Richard I the Lionheart, leader of the Third Crusade in the 12th century. Famous bearers include two German opera composers, Richard Wagner (1813-1883) and Richard Strauss (1864-1949), as well as British explorer Sir Richard Burton (1821-1890) and American musician Little Richard (1920-).

URSULA

Gender: Feminine

Usage: English, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, German, Dutch, Finnish, Late Roman

Pronounced: UR-sə-lə (English), UR-syə-lə (English)

Personal note: a10. Ursula Maeve

Rating: 66% based on 8 votes

Means "little bear", derived from a diminutive form of the Latin word ursa "she-bear". Saint Ursula was a legendary virgin princess of the 4th century who was martyred by the Huns while returning from a pilgrimage. In England the saint was popular during the Middle Ages, and the name came into general use.

WESLEY

Gender: Masculine

Usage: English

Pronounced: WES-lee

Personal note: 0a10. Wesley Alden

Rating: 73% based on 6 votes

From a surname which was derived from a place name meaning "west meadow" in Old English. It has been sometimes given in honour of John Wesley (1703-1791), the founder of Methodism.

WINONA

Gender: Feminine

Usage: English, Native American, Sioux

Pronounced: wi-NON-ə (English)

Personal note: 6. Winona Shirley

Rating: 20% based on 2 votes

Means "firstborn daughter" in the Dakota language. This was the name of the daughter of the Sioux Dakota chief Wapasha III.