Browse Names - Behind the Name

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Ælfweard m Anglo-Saxon
Derived from the Old English elements ælf "elf" and weard "guardian".

Æthelweard m Anglo-Saxon
Derived from the Old English element æðele "noble" combined with weard "guardian".

Alvarus m Gothic (Latinized)
Latinized (Old Spanish) form of a Gothic name (see Álvaro).

Avalokiteshvara m Buddhism
Means "the lord who looks down" in Sanskrit, derived from अवलोक् (avalok) meaning "to look down" and ईश्वर (ishvara) meaning "lord, god". The original form of the name may have been अवलोकितस्वर (Avalokitasvara), with the final element being स्वर (svara) meaning "sound, tone" (as evidenced by the Chinese form Guanyin). In Buddhist belief this is the name of a bodhisattva associated with compassion.

Cyneweard m Anglo-Saxon
Derived from Old English cyne "royal" and weard "guard".

Darshan m Hindi, Marathi, Gujarati, Kannada
Means "seeing, observing, understanding" in Sanskrit.

Darshana f Marathi
Feminine form of Darshan.

Dilipa m Hinduism
Means "protector of Delhi" from Sanskrit दिल्ली (see Delhi) combined with प (pa) meaning "protecting". This is the name of several kings in Hindu texts.

Durward m English
From an occupational surname meaning "door guard" in Middle English.

Edward m English, Polish
Means "rich guard", derived from the Old English elements ead "wealth, fortune" and weard "guard". This was the name of several Anglo-Saxon kings, the last being Saint Edward the Confessor shortly before the Norman Conquest in the 11th century. He was known as a just ruler, and because of his popularity his name remained in use after the conquest when most other Old English names were replaced by Norman ones. The 13th-century Plantagenet king Henry III named his son and successor after the saint, and seven subsequent kings of England were also named Edward.... [more]

Elioenai m Biblical
Means "my eyes look to God" in Hebrew. This was the name of several minor characters in the Old Testament.

Goemon m History
Meaning unknown. His name is composed of the kanji 五 (go) meaning "five", 右 (not pronounced) meaning "right-hand, west", 衛 (e) meaning "guard, protect", and 門 (mon) meaning "gate, door". This was the name of a semi-legendary 16th-century samurai who stole from the rich to give to the poor. After a failed assassination attempt on the daimyo Toyotomi Hideyoshi, he was boiled alive.

Gopala m Hinduism
Means "cow protector" from Sanskrit गो (go) meaning "cow" and पाल (pala) meaning "guard, protector". This is another name of the Hindu god Krishna. This name was also borne by the 8th-century founder of the Pala Empire in Bengal.

Guanyin f Buddhism
Means "one who observes sounds", from Chinese 观 (guān) meaning "to observe, to see" and 音 (yīn) meaning "sound, tone", referring to prayers. This is the Chinese name of Avalokiteshvara, the bodhisattva of compassion (who is regarded as female in China). It originated as a calque of Sanskrit अवलोकितस्वर (Avalokitasvara), an earlier form of Avalokiteshvara's name.

Halvard m Norwegian
From the Old Norse name Hallvarðr, which meant "rock guardian" from hallr "rock" combined with vǫrðr "guard, guardian".

Hávarðr m Old Norse
From the Old Norse element hár "high" or hǫð "battle, combat" combined with vǫrðr "guard, guardian".

Hereward m Anglo-Saxon
Derived from the Old English elements here "army" and weard "guard". This was the name of an 11th-century Anglo-Saxon leader who rebelled against Norman rule.

Inderpal m & f Indian (Sikh)
Means "protector of Indra" from the name of the god Indra combined with Sanskrit पाल (pala) meaning "protector".

Ishmerai m Biblical
Means "he guards me" in Hebrew. This name is mentioned briefly in the Old Testament.

Kannon 1 f Buddhism
Japanese form of Guanyin.

Millard m English
From an occupational English surname meaning "guardian of the mill" in Old English.

Nîga f Kurdish
Means "look, gaze" in Kurdish, of Persian origin.

Penjani m & f Tumbuka
Means "seek for, look for" in Tumbuka.

Pratik m Hindi, Marathi, Gujarati, Bengali
Means "look, appearance" in Sanskrit.

Prosdocimus m Late Greek (Latinized)
Latinized form of Greek Προσδόκιμος (Prosdokimos) meaning "expected, looked for". The 1st-century saint Prosdocimus was the first bishop of Padua.

Raniya f Arabic
Means "looking at", derived from Arabic رنا (rana) meaning "to gaze".

Sigeweard m Anglo-Saxon
Derived from the Old English elements sige "victory" and weard "guard, guardian", making it a cognate of Sigurd.

Sigiward m Germanic
Derived from the Old German elements sigu "victory" and wart "guard, guardian". It is a cognate of Sigurd.

Sigiwardaz m Old Germanic (Hypothetical)
Proto-Germanic reconstruction of Sigurðr, Sigeweard and Sigiward.

Sigurd m Norwegian, Danish, Swedish, Norse Mythology
From the Old Norse name Sigurðr, which was derived from the elements sigr "victory" and vǫrðr "guard, guardian". Sigurd was the hero of the Norse epic the Völsungasaga, which tells how his foster-father Regin sent him to recover a hoard of gold guarded by the dragon Fafnir. After slaying the dragon Sigurd tasted some of its blood, enabling him to understand the language of birds, who told him that Regin was planning to betray him. In a later adventure, Sigurd disguised himself as Gunnar (his wife Gudrun's brother) and rescued the maiden Brynhildr from a ring of fire, with the result that Gunnar and Brynhildr were married. When the truth eventually came out, Brynhildr took revenge upon Sigurd. The stories of the German hero Siegfried were in part based on him.

Sudarshan m Hindi, Marathi, Telugu, Tamil, Kannada
Means "beautiful, good-looking" in Sanskrit, derived from the Sanskrit prefix सु (su) meaning "good" combined with दर्शन (darshana) meaning "seeing, observing".

Sudarshana f Hindi
Feminine form of Sudarshan.

Theodoard m Germanic
Germanic name composed of the elements theod meaning "people" (Old High German diota, Old Frankish þeoda) and wart meaning "guard, guardian".

Theophylaktos m Ancient Greek
Means "watched by god" from Greek θεός (theos) meaning "god" and φυλακτέος (phylakteos) meaning "to be watched". Saint Theophylaktos was a 9th-century bishop of Nicomedia who was banished to Caria.

Tzofiya f Hebrew (Rare)
Means "watching" in Hebrew.

Ward 1 m English
From an occupational surname for a watchman, derived from Old English weard "guard".

Wardell m English
From a surname that was derived from a place name meaning "watch hill" in Old English.

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