Browse Names - Behind the Name

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Aizhan f Kazakh
From Kazakh ай (ay) meaning "moon" and жан (zhan) meaning "soul".

Alimjan m Uyghur
Uyghur elaboration of Alim using the suffix جان (jan) meaning "dear, darling" (of Persian origin).

Aruzhan f Kazakh
Means "beautiful soul" in Kazakh.

Atajan m Turkmen
From Turkmen ata meaning "father, ancestor" combined with the suffix jan meaning "dear, darling" (of Persian origin).

Can m Turkish
Means "soul, life" or by extension "darling, sweetheart" in Turkish, from Persian جان (jan).

Canan f Turkish
Means "sweetheart, beloved" in Turkish.

Caner m Turkish
From Turkish can "soul, life" and er "man, hero, brave".

Cansel f Turkish
Derived from Turkish can "soul, life" and sel "flood, stream".

Cansu f Turkish
From Turkish can meaning "soul, life" and su meaning "water".

Cherie f English
Derived from French chérie meaning "darling". In America, Cherie came into use shortly after the variant Sherry, and has not been as common.

Džan m Bosnian
Bosnian form of Can.

Džana f Bosnian
Feminine form of Džan.

Ercan m Turkish
From Turkish er meaning "man, hero, brave" and can meaning "soul, life".

Erzhan m Kazakh
Kazakh cognate of Ercan.

Habib m Arabic, Persian, Urdu
Means "beloved, darling" in Arabic.

Kaipo m & f Hawaiian
Means "the sweetheart" from Hawaiian ka, a definite article, and ipo "sweetheart".

Mavourneen f Irish (Rare)
Derived from the Irish phrase mo mhúirnín meaning "my darling".

Mignon f Literature
Means "cute, darling" in French. This is the name of a character in Ambroise Thomas's opera Mignon (1866), which was based on Goethe's novel Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship (1796).

Mudiwa f & m Shona
Means "beloved, darling" in Shona.

Nazanin f Persian
Means "sweetheart, darling" in Persian.

Nazerke f Kazakh
Derived from Persian ناز (naz) meaning "delight, comfort" and Kazakh ерке (erke) meaning "naughty, spoiled, darling".

Nurcan f Turkish
Means "bright soul" in Turkish, ultimately from Arabic نور (nur) meaning "light" and Persian jan meaning "soul, life".

Nurzhan m Kazakh
From Kazakh нұр (nur) meaning "light" (of Arabic origin) and жан (zhan) meaning "soul" (of Persian origin).

Sherry f English
Probably inspired by the French word chérie meaning "darling" or the English word sherry, a type of fortified wine named from the Spanish town of Jerez. This name came into popular use during the 1920s, inspired by other similar-sounding names and by Collette's novels Chéri (1920, English translation 1929) and The Last of Chéri (1926, English translation 1932), in which it is a masculine name.... [more]

Tegan f Welsh, English (Modern)
Means "darling" in Welsh, derived from a diminutive of Welsh teg "beautiful, pretty". It was somewhat common in Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and Canada in the 1980s and 90s. It was borne by an Australian character on the television series Doctor Who from 1981 to 1984.

Togzhan f Kazakh
Possibly from Kazakh тоқ (toq) meaning "full, well-fed, prosperous" and жан (zhan) meaning "soul".

Zhandos m Kazakh
From Kazakh жан (zhan) meaning "soul" and дос (dos) meaning "friend" (both of Persian origin).

Zhansaya f Kazakh
From Kazakh жан (zhan) meaning "soul" and сая (saya) meaning "shadow, shade, protection, comfort" (both of Persian origin).

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