Browse Names - Behind the Name

See Also

Aisha f Arabic, Urdu, Hausa, Swahili, Kazakh, African American
Means "living, alive" in Arabic. This was the name of Muhammad's third wife, the daughter of Abu Bakr. Some time after Muhammad's death she went to war against Ali, the fourth caliph, but was defeated. Her name is used more by Sunni Muslims and less by Shias.... [more]

Amichai m Hebrew
Means "my people are alive" in Hebrew.

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.

Asha 2 f Swahili
From Swahili ishi meaning "live, exist".

Bo 1 m Swedish, Danish
From the Old Norse byname Búi, which was derived from Old Norse bua meaning "to live".

Chaya f Hebrew
Derived from Hebrew חָיָה (chayah) meaning "living", considered a feminine form of Chaim.

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

Dallas m & f English
From a surname that could either be of Old English origin meaning "valley house" or of Scottish Gaelic origin meaning "meadow dwelling". A city in Texas bears this name, probably in honour of American Vice President George M. Dallas (1792-1864).

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

Eve f English, Estonian, Biblical
From the Hebrew name חַוָּה (Chawwah), which was derived from the Hebrew word חָוָה (chawah) meaning "to breathe" or the related word חָיָה (chayah) meaning "to live". According to the Old Testament Book of Genesis, Eve and Adam were the first humans. God created her from one of Adam's ribs to be his companion. At the urging of a serpent she ate the forbidden fruit and shared some with Adam, causing their expulsion from the Garden of Eden.... [more]

Haruki m Japanese
From Japanese 晴 (haru) meaning "clear weather" or 陽 (haru) meaning "light, sun, male" combined with 輝 (ki) meaning "brightness" or 生 (ki) meaning "living". Other kanji combinations are possible.

Jehiel m Biblical
Means "God will live" in Hebrew. This is the name of several people in the Old Testament, including one of King David's lute players.

Jezebel f Biblical
From Hebrew אִיזֶבֶל ('Izevel), probably from a Phoenician name, possibly containing the Semitic root zbl meaning "to exalt, to dwell". According to one theory it might be an altered form of the Phoenician name 𐤁𐤏𐤋𐤀𐤆𐤁𐤋 (Baʿlʾizbel) meaning "Ba'al exalts" with the first element removed or replaced.... [more]

Leberecht m German (Rare)
Means "live rightly" from German lebe "live" and recht "right". This name was created in the 17th century.

Mawuli m Ewe
Means "God lives" in Ewe.

Mei 2 f Japanese
From Japanese 芽 (me) meaning "bud, sprout" combined with 依 (i) meaning "rely on", 生 (i) meaning "life" or 衣 (i) meaning "clothing, garment". Other kanji combinations are possible.

Pranee f Thai
Means "living being, one that breathes" in Thai, of Sanskrit origin.

Sanjib m Bengali
Bengali form of Sanjiv.

Sanjiv m Hindi, Marathi, Gujarati, Punjabi, Telugu, Kannada
Derived from Sanskrit संजीव (sanjiva) meaning "living, reviving".

Vakha m Chechen
Derived from Nakh vakha meaning "to live".

Yaşar m Turkish
Means "lives, inhabits" in Turkish.

Yūki m & f Japanese
From Japanese 優 (yū) meaning "excellence, superiority, gentleness" or 悠 (yū) meaning "permanence" combined with 希 (ki) meaning "hope", 輝 (ki) meaning "brightness" or 生 (ki) meaning "living". Other combinations of kanji can form this name as well.

Zhivko m Bulgarian, Macedonian
Bulgarian form of Živko, as well as an alternate transcription for Macedonian.

Živa f Slavic Mythology, Slovene, Serbian
From the Old Slavic word živŭ meaning "alive, living". According to the 12th-century Saxon priest Helmold, this was the name of a Slavic goddess possibly associated with life or fertility.

Živko m Croatian, Serbian, Macedonian
Derived from the South Slavic word živ meaning "alive, living".

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

Usage	clear
Language	clear
Place	clear

List	clear
Year	clear
Rank	clear

Country	clear
Month	clear
Day	clear

Sort	clear
Display	clear