EARTHA f EnglishCombination of the English word
earth with the feminine name suffix
a. It has been used in honour of African-American philanthropist Eartha M. M. White (1876-1974). Another famous bearer was American singer and actress Eartha Kitt (1927-2008).
EASTER f EnglishFrom the English name of the Christian festival celebrating the resurrection of
Jesus. It was ultimately named for the Germanic spring goddess Eostre. It was traditionally given to children born on Easter, though it is rare in modern times.
EBBA (2) f EnglishFrom the Old English name
Æbbe, meaning unknown, perhaps a contracted form of a longer name. Saint Ebba was a 7th-century daughter of King Æthelfrith of Bernicia and the founder of monasteries in Scotland. Another saint named Ebba was a 9th-century abbess and martyr who mutilated her own face so that she would not be raped by the invading Danes.
EBONY f EnglishFrom the English word
ebony for the black wood that comes from the ebony tree. It is ultimately from the Egyptian word
hbnj. In America this name is most often used by black parents.
EBRU f TurkishMeans
"paper marbling" in Turkish. Paper marbling is the art of creating colourful patterns on paper.
ECE f TurkishMeans
"queen" or
"beautiful woman" in Turkish.
ECHO f Greek MythologyFrom the Greek word
ἠχώ (echo) meaning
"echo, reflected sound", related to
ἠχή (eche) meaning "sound". In Greek mythology Echo was a nymph given a speech impediment by
Hera, so that she could only repeat what others said. She fell in love with
Narcissus, but her love was not returned, and she pined away until nothing remained of her except her voice.
ECRİN f TurkishMeaning unknown, possibly from an Arabic word meaning
"reward".
EDDA (2) f Icelandic, Ancient ScandinavianPossibly from Old Norse meaning
"great-grandmother". This was the name of two 13th-century Icelandic literary works: the Poetic Edda and the Prose Edda. This is also the name of a character in the Poetic Edda, though it is unclear if her name is connected to the name of the collection.
EDITH f English, German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, DutchFrom the Old English name
Eadgyð, derived from the elements
ead "wealth, fortune" and
gyð "war". It was popular among Anglo-Saxon royalty, being borne for example by Saint Eadgyeth;, the daughter of King Edgar the Peaceful. The name remained common after the Norman Conquest. It became rare after the 15th century, but was revived in the 19th century.
EDNA (2) f BiblicalMeans
"pleasure" in Hebrew. This name appears in the Old Testament Apocrypha in the Book of Tobit.
EDURNE f BasqueMeans
"snow" in Basque, from
edur, a variant of
elur "snow". It is a Basque equivalent of
Nieves.
EGLANTINE f English (Rare)From the English word for the flower also known as sweetbrier. It is derived via Old French from Vulgar Latin *
aquilentum meaning "prickly". It was early used as a given name (in the form
Eglentyne) in Geoffrey Chaucer's 14th-century story
The Prioress's Tale.
EGLĖ f LithuanianMeans
"spruce tree" in Lithuanian. In a Lithuanian folk tale Eglė is a young woman who marries a grass snake. At the end of the tale she turns herself into a spruce.
EIJA f FinnishPossibly from the Finnish happy exclamation
eijaa.
EIKE m & f GermanShort form of names beginning with the Germanic element
ag "edge".
EILEEN f Irish, EnglishAnglicized form of
EIBHLÍN. It is also sometimes considered an Irish form of
HELEN. It first became popular in the English-speaking world outside of Ireland near the end of the 19th century.
EILWEN f WelshPerhaps means
"white brow", derived from Welsh
ael "brow" and
gwen "white, fair, blessed". This is a recently-created Welsh name.
EIRWEN f WelshMeans
"white snow" from the Welsh elements
eira "snow" and
gwen "white, blessed".
ELAINE f English, Arthurian RomanceFrom an Old French form of
HELEN. It appears in Arthurian legend; in Thomas Malory's 15th-century compilation
Le Morte d'Arthur Elaine was the daughter of Pelleas, the lover of
Lancelot, and the mother of
Galahad. It was not commonly used as an English given name until after the appearance of Tennyson's Arthurian epic
Idylls of the King (1859).
ELANOR f LiteratureMeans
"star sun" in Sindarin. In
The Lord of the Rings (1954) by J. R. R. Tolkien this is Sam's eldest daughter, named after a type of flower.
ELEA f EnglishShort form of
ELEANOR. This was also the name of an ancient Italian town (modern Velia) that is well known for being the home of the philosopher Parmenides and his student Zeno of Elea, who was famous for his paradoxes.
ELEANOR f EnglishFrom the Old French form of the Occitan name
Alienòr. Among the name's earliest bearers was 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. However, there appear to be examples of bearers prior to Eleanor of Aquitaine. It is not clear whether they were in fact Aenors who were retroactively recorded as having the name Eleanor, or whether there is an alternative explanation for the name's origin.
... [more] ELECTRA f Greek Mythology (Latinized)Latinized form of Greek
Ἠλέκτρα (Elektra), derived from
ἤλεκτρον (elektron) meaning
"amber". In Greek myth she was the daughter of
Agamemnon and
Clytemnestra and the sister of
Orestes. She helped her brother kill their mother and her lover Aegisthus in vengeance for Agamemnon's murder. Also in Greek mythology, this name was borne by one of the Pleiades, who were the daughters of
Atlas and Pleione.
ELEN f WelshWelsh form of
HELEN. This was the name of a 4th-century Welsh saint. It also appears in the Mabinogion, a collection of tales from Welsh myth, belonging to a woman who built the roads in Wales.
ELENA f Italian, Spanish, Romanian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Slovak, Lithuanian, Russian, Greek, German, English, Medieval SlavicForm of
HELEN used in various languages, as well as an alternate transcription of Russian
Елена (see
YELENA).
ELEONORA f Italian, German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Latvian, Polish, Bulgarian, Russian, Ukrainian, GreekForm of
ELEANOR in several languages.
ELERI f WelshMeaning unknown. In Welsh legend she was the daughter of the chieftain Brychan.
ELFLEDA f English (Archaic)Middle English form of both the Old English names
ÆÐELFLÆD and
ÆLFFLÆD. These names became rare after the Norman Conquest, but
Elfleda was briefly revived in the 19th century.
ELFREDA f EnglishMiddle English form of the Old English name
Ælfþryð meaning
"elf strength", derived from the element
ælf "elf" combined with
þryð "strength".
Ælfþryð was common amongst Anglo-Saxon nobility, being borne for example by the mother of King Æðelræd the Unready. This name was rare after the Norman Conquest, but it was revived in the 19th century.
ÉLIANE f FrenchProbably from
Aeliana, the feminine form of the Roman name
Aelianus, which was derived from the Roman family name
AELIUS. This was the name of an early saint and martyr.
ELIDI f VariousMeaning unknown, possibly of Greek or Welsh origin. It may have been inspired by the name of the
Ήλιδα (Ilida) valley and ancient city in western Greece (
Elis in English).
ELİF f TurkishTurkish form of
Alif, the name of the first letter of the Arabic alphabet,
ا. It also means
"slender", from the Turkish phrase
elif gibi, literally "shaped like elif".
ELINE f Norwegian, Danish, DutchNorwegian, Danish and Dutch variant form of
HELEN. This is the name of the title character in the novel
Eline Vere (1889) by the Dutch writer Louis Couperus.
ELIZABETH f English, BiblicalFrom
Ἐλισάβετ (Elisabet), the Greek form of the Hebrew name
אֱלִישֶׁבַע ('Elisheva') meaning
"my God is an oath", derived from the roots
אֵל ('el) referring to the Hebrew God and
שָׁבַע (shava') meaning "oath". The Hebrew form appears in the Old Testament where Elisheba is the wife of
Aaron, while the Greek form appears in the New Testament where Elizabeth is the mother of
John the Baptist.
... [more] ELLA (1) f EnglishNorman form of the Germanic name
Alia, which was a short form of names containing the Germanic element
alja meaning
"other". It was introduced to England by the Normans and used until the 14th century, and it was later revived in the 19th century. A famous bearer was the American singer Ella Fitzgerald (1917-1996).
ELLE f English (Modern)Diminutive of
ELEANOR and other names beginning with
El. This name can also be given in reference to the French pronoun
elle meaning "she".
ELLEN (1) f EnglishMedieval English form of
HELEN. This was the usual spelling of the name until the 19th century, when the form
Helen also became common.
ELLERY m & f EnglishFrom an English surname that was originally derived from the medieval masculine name
HILARY.
ELLI (3) f Norse MythologyMeans "old age" in Old Norse. In the Prose Edda this is the name of an old woman (old age personified) who wrestles with and defeats the god
Thor.
ELMA f Dutch, German, EnglishShort form of
WILHELMINE or names ending in
elma, such as
ANSELMA. It has also been recorded as a combination of
ELIZABETH and
MARY, as in the case of the 19th-century daughter of the Earl of Elgin, who was named using her mother's first and middle names.
ELMAS f TurkishMeans
"diamond" in Turkish, ultimately from Persian.
ELMIRA f LiteratureShortened form of
EDELMIRA. It appears in the play
Tartuffe (1664) by the French playwright Molière (often spelled in the French style
Elmire).
ELOISE f EnglishFrom the Old French name
Héloïse, which is probably from the Germanic name
Helewidis, composed of the elements
heil meaning "hale, healthy" and
wid meaning "wide". It is sometimes associated with the Greek word
ἥλιος (helios) meaning "sun" or the name
Louise, though there is not likely an etymological connection. This name was borne in the 12th century by Saint Eloise, the wife of the French theologian Peter Abelard. She became a nun after her husband was castrated by her uncle.
... [more] ELOWEN f CornishMeans
"elm tree" in Cornish. This is a recently coined Cornish name.
ELPIS f Ancient Greek, Greek MythologyMeans
"hope" in Greek. In Greek mythology Elpis was the personification of hope. She was the last spirit to remain in the jar after Pandora unleashed the evils that were in it.
ELUNED f WelshDerived from Welsh
eilun meaning
"image, idol". This was the name of a 5th-century Welsh saint.
ELYSE f EnglishDiminutive of
ELIZABETH. It was popularized in the early 1980s by a character from the television comedy
Family Ties.
ELYSIA f VariousFrom
Elysium, the name of the realm of the dead in Greek and Roman mythology, which means
"blissful".
EMA (2) f JapaneseFrom Japanese
恵 (e) meaning "favour, benefit" or
江 (e) meaning "bay, inlet" combined with
麻 (ma) meaning "flax". Other kanji combinations can also form this name.
EMAN f Arabic (Egyptian)Alternate transcription of Arabic
إيمان (see
IMAN). This corresponds more closely with the Egyptian Arabic pronunciation of the name.
EMEL f TurkishMeans
"desire" in Turkish, ultimately of Arabic origin, making this name a relative of
Amal.
EMER f Irish, Irish MythologyPossibly from Irish
eimh meaning
"swift". In Irish legend she was the wife of
Cúchulainn. She was said to possess the six gifts of womanhood: beauty, voice, speech, needlework, wisdom and chastity.
EMERALD f English (Modern)From the word for the green precious stone, which is the birthstone of May. The emerald supposedly imparts love to the bearer. The word is ultimately from Greek
σμάραγδος (smaragdos).
EMERSON m & f EnglishFrom an English surname meaning
"son of EMERY". The surname was borne by Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882), an American writer and philosopher who wrote about transcendentalism.
EMERY m & f EnglishNorman form of
EMMERICH. The Normans introduced it to England, and though it was never popular, it survived until the end of the Middle Ages. As a modern given name, it is likely inspired by the surname
Emery, which was itself derived from the medieval given name. It can also be given in reference to the hard black substance called emery.
EMESE f HungarianPossibly derived from Finno-Ugric
eme meaning
"mother". In Hungarian legend this was the name of the grandmother of Árpád, founder of the Hungarian state.
EMI f JapaneseFrom Japanese
恵 (e) meaning "favour, benefit" or
絵 (e) meaning "picture, painting" combined with
美 (mi) meaning "beautiful". Other kanji combinations are possible.
EMILIA f Italian, Spanish, Romanian, Finnish, Polish, German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, English, BulgarianFeminine form of
Aemilius (see
EMIL).
EMILY f EnglishEnglish feminine form of
Aemilius (see
EMIL). In the English-speaking world it was not common until after the German House of Hanover came to the British throne in the 18th century; the princess Amelia Sophia (1711-1786) was commonly known as
Emily in English, even though
Amelia is an unrelated name.
... [more]