Browse Names - Behind the Name

See Also

Aigar m Estonian
Possibly from the Finnic root aika meaning "time" (Estonian aeg).

Aigars m Latvian
Probably from a Livonian name that was a cognate of Aigar.

Ammar m Arabic
Means "one who lives a long life, one who builds" in Arabic, from the root عمر ('amara) meaning "to live long, to thrive". Ammar ibn Yasir was an early companion of the Prophet Muhammad. After Muhammad's death he supported Ali.

Aroa f Basque, Spanish
Derived from Basque aro meaning "era, age, time".

Chang m & f Chinese
From Chinese 昌 (chāng) meaning "flourish, prosper, good, sunlight" (which is usually only masculine), 畅 (chàng) meaning "smooth, free, unrestrained" or 长 (cháng) meaning "long". Other Chinese characters are also possible.

Chiranjivi m Hindi, Telugu
Means "long-lived, infinite" in Sanskrit.

Dukvakha m Chechen
Means "to live long", derived from Nakh duqa "many" and vakha "to live".

Gediminas m Lithuanian
Possibly from the Lithuanian roots ged- "to mourn, to long for" and min- "to think, to remember, to mention". This was the name of a 14th-century Grand Duke of Lithuania.

Gumersindo m Spanish
From the medieval name Gomesendus, the Latin form of a Germanic (Visigothic or Suebian) name probably composed of guma "man" and sinþs "time". This was the name of a 9th-century martyr from Córdoba.

Hera f Greek Mythology
Uncertain meaning, possibly from Greek ἥρως (heros) meaning "hero, warrior"; ὥρα (hora) meaning "period of time"; or αἱρέω (haireo) meaning "to be chosen". In Greek mythology Hera was the queen of the gods, the sister and wife of Zeus. She presided over marriage and childbirth.

Hisako f Japanese
From Japanese 久 (hisa) meaning "long time, long time ago" or 寿 (hisa) meaning "long life, lifespan" combined with 子 (ko) meaning "child". Other kanji combinations can also form this name.

Horatius m Ancient Roman
Roman family name that was possibly derived from Latin hora meaning "hour, time, season", though the name may actually be of Etruscan origin. A famous bearer was Quintus Horatius Flaccus, a Roman lyric poet of the 1st century BC who is better known as Horace in the English-speaking world.

Ilga f Latvian
Derived from Latvian ilgas meaning "longing, desire" or ilgs meaning "long time".

Iniobong m & f Ibibio
Means "God's time" in Ibibio.

Jadis f Literature
Used by the author C. S. Lewis as the proper name of the White Witch, the antagonist in his novel The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (1950). He may have based it on French jadis meaning "long ago, of old" or Persian جادو (jadu) meaning "magic, witch".

Kumiko f Japanese
From Japanese 久 (ku) meaning "long time", 美 (mi) meaning "beautiful" and 子 (ko) meaning "child". Other kanji combinations are possible.

Landon m English
From a surname that was derived from an Old English place name meaning "long hill" (effectively meaning "ridge"). Use of the name may have been inspired in part by the actor Michael Landon (1936-1991).

Lanford m English (Rare)
From a surname that was derived from a place name meaning "long ford" in Old English.

Langdon m English (Rare)
From a surname that was a variant of the surname Landon.

Langston m English
From an English surname, itself from a place name, derived from Old English lang "long" and stan "stone". A famous bearer was the American author Langston Hughes (1901-1967).

Longinus m Ancient Roman
Roman cognomen derived from Latin longus "long". According to Christian legend Saint Longinus was the name of the Roman soldier who pierced Jesus' side with a spear, then converted to Christianity and was martyred. The name was also borne by the 3rd-century Greek philosopher Cassius Longinus.

Meinir f Welsh
Means "tall and slender, beautiful maiden" in Welsh (a compound of main "slender" and hir "tall").

Miku f Japanese
From Japanese 美 (mi) meaning "beautiful" combined with 空 (ku) meaning "sky" or 久 (ku) meaning "long time". It can also come from a nanori reading of 未来 (mirai) meaning "future". Other kanji combinations are possible as well.

Muammar m Arabic
Means "given long life" in Arabic, from the root عمر ('amara) meaning "to live long, to thrive". A famous bearer was the Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi (1942-2011).

Ogechi f Igbo
Means "God's time" in Igbo.

Ogechukwu f Igbo
Means "God's time" in Igbo (a variant of Ogechi using Chukwu as the second element).

Ogechukwukamma f Igbo (Rare)
Means "God's time is greater" in Igbo.

Rosendo m Spanish
Spanish form of the Visigothic name *Hroþisinþs, composed of the Gothic elements hroþs "fame" and sinþs "time". This was the name of a 10th-century Galician saint, also known as Rudesind.

Shi m & f Chinese
From Chinese 时 (shí) meaning "time, era, season", 实 (shí) meaning "real, honest", 史 (shǐ) meaning "history" or 石 (shí) meaning "stone". Other characters can form this name as well.

Su-Jin f & m Korean
From Sino-Korean 收 (su) meaning "gather, harvest" or 壽 (su) meaning "long life, lifespan" combined with 眞 (jin) meaning "real, genuine" or 珍 (jin) meaning "precious, rare". Other combinations of hanja characters can form this name as well.

Titilayo f Yoruba
Means "eternal happiness" in Yoruba.

Tressa f English (Rare)
Contracted form of Theresa. It may also be associated with the English word tress meaning "long lock of hair".

Tshering m & f Tibetan, Bhutanese
Means "long life" in Tibetan, from ཚེ (tshe) meaning "life" and རིང (ring) meaning "long".

Yeong-Su m Korean
From Sino-Korean 永 (yeong) meaning "perpetual, eternal" and 壽 (su) meaning "long life, lifespan", as well as other hanja character combinations.

Zaman m Arabic, Urdu
Means "time, age, era" in Arabic.

Usage	clear
Language	clear
Place	clear

Initial	clear
Start	clear
End	clear
Substring	clear
Pattern	clear help?
the letters in the pattern are compared to the letters in the name * is a wildcard that matches zero or more letters example: oo matches names which contain oo _ is a wildcard that matches exactly one letter example: __z matches names which have two letters and then z

Meaning	clear help?
	expand search to include grammatical forms
	expand search to include close synonyms
	expand search to include subclasses
	expand search to related names
separate search terms with spaces search for an exact phrase by surrounding it with double quotes this field understands simple boolean logic force a term to be included by preceding it with a + sign force a term to be excluded by preceding it with a - sign expand search to include grammatical forms: attempt to include grammatical forms of the meanings example: speak includes spoke expand search to include close synonyms: attempt to include synonyms of the meanings example: brave includes courageous expand search to include search narrower synonyms: attempt to include subclasses of the meanings example: reptile includes turtle expand search to related names: allow related names to inherit the meaning of the main form
Description	clear help?
	ignore name meanings
the description is the meaning and history write-up for the name separate search terms with spaces search for an exact phrase by surrounding it with double quotes example: "lord of the rings" matches names from the novel 'The Lord of the Rings' this field understands simple boolean logic force a term to be included by preceding it with a + sign force a term to be excluded by preceding it with a - sign example: +greek +(legend myth) -zeus matches Greek names of myths or legends not about Zeus ignore name meanings: keywords from the name meanings are ignored

Pronunciation	clear help?
	case sensitive
see the pronunciation key for a guide on how to write the sounds sounds can only be searched in names that have been assigned pronunciations * is a wildcard that will match zero or more letters in the pronunciation example: lee matches names which end with the sound lee* _ is a wildcard that will match exactly one letter in the pronunciation example: __z matches names which have two letters and then a z (s) matches exactly one syllable in the pronunciation example: (s)(s)ra matches names which have two syllables and then the sound rah (c) matches a consonant (k) matches a consonant or consonant cluster (v) matches a vowel (p) matches a plosive or stop consonant (f) matches a fricative consonant (n) matches a nasal consonant case sensitive: check this if you wish distinguish between unstressed lowercase sounds and stressed uppercase sounds
Syllables	clear help?
syllables can only be counted in names that have been assigned pronunciations names without pronunciations are excluded from results

Related name	clear
Relationship	clear help?
	expand search to ancestral names
the "relationship" is how the name relates to its parent name example: searching for diminutive matches Betsy because it is a diminutive of its parent Elizabeth selecting *(all core forms)* excludes peripheral forms such as diminutives, short forms, and combinations expand search to ancestral names: relationships between names further up the family tree are included

Impression	clear help?
name impressions are based on the ratings left by the behindthename.com community
Impression	clear help?
name impressions are based on the ratings left by the behindthename.com community
Impression	clear help?
name impressions are based on the ratings left by the behindthename.com community

List	clear
Year	clear
Rank	clear

Country	clear
Month	clear
Day	clear

Sort	clear
Display	clear