FATIHA f Arabic (Maghrebi)Means
"opener" in Arabic, from Arabic
فتح (fataha) meaning "to open, to conquer". This is the name of the first chapter (surah al-Fatiha) of the Quran.
FÁTIMA f Portuguese, SpanishFrom the name of a town in Portugal, which was derived from the Arabic feminine name
FATIMAH, apparently after a Moorish princess who converted to Christianity during the Reconquista. The town became an important Christian pilgrimage center after 1917 when three local children reported witnessing repeated apparitions of the Virgin
Mary.
FAUNA f Roman MythologyFeminine form of
FAUNUS. Fauna was a Roman goddess of fertility, women and healing, a daughter and companion of Faunus.
FAWN f EnglishFrom the English word
fawn for a young deer.
FAY f EnglishDerived from Middle English
faie meaning
"fairy", ultimately (via Old French) from Latin
fata meaning "the Fates". It appears in Geoffrey of Monmouth's Arthurian legends in the name of Morgan le Fay. It has been used as a given name since the 19th century. In some cases it may be used as a short form of
FAITH.
FAYRUZ f ArabicMeans
"turquoise (the gemstone)" in Arabic, ultimately of Persian origin.
FELICITAS f German, Late Roman, Roman MythologyLatin name meaning
"good luck, fortune". In Roman mythology the goddess Felicitas was the personification of good luck. It was borne by a 3rd-century saint, a slave martyred with her master Perpetua in Carthage.
FELICITY f EnglishFrom the English word
felicity meaning
"happiness", which ultimately derives from Latin
felicitas "good luck". This was one of the virtue names adopted by the Puritans around the 17th century. It can sometimes be used as an English form of the Latin name
FELICITAS. This name was revived in the late 1990s after the appearance of the television series
Felicity.
FEMKE f Dutch, FrisianDiminutive of Germanic names beginning with the element
frid "peace". It also coincides with a Frisian word meaning "little girl".
FEN (1) f & m ChineseFrom Chinese
芬 (fēn) meaning "fragrance, aroma, perfume" (which is usually only feminine) or
奋 (fèn) meaning "strive, exert" (usually only masculine). Other Chinese characters are also possible.
FERN f EnglishFrom the English word for the plant, ultimately from Old English
fearn. It has been used as a given name since the late 19th century.
FIADH f IrishMeans
"wild, untamed" in Irish (modern Irish
fia).
FIAMMETTA f ItalianDerived from Italian
fiamma meaning
"flame" combined with a diminutive suffix.
FINA f ItalianShort form of
SERAFINA. Saint Fina, also known as Saint Serafina, was a 13th-century girl from the town of San Gimignano in Italy.
FÍONA f IrishDerived from Irish
fíon meaning
"wine".
FIONA f Scottish, EnglishFeminine form of
FIONN. This name was (first?) used by the Scottish poet James Macpherson in his poem
Fingal (1762), in which it is spelled as
Fióna.
FIONNUALA f Irish, Irish MythologyMeans
"white shoulder" from Irish
fionn "white, fair" and
guala "shoulder". In Irish legend Fionnuala was one of the four children of
Lir who were transformed into swans for a period of 900 years.
FIORE f & m ItalianMeans
"flower" in Italian. It can also be considered an Italian form of the Latin names
FLORA and
FLORUS.
FIORELLA f ItalianFrom Italian
fiore "flower" combined with a diminutive suffix.
FIRENZE f VariousFrom the name of an Italian city, commonly called
Florence in English.
FIROUZEH f PersianMeans
"turquoise (the gemstone)" in Persian. Alternatively, it may be a feminine form of
FIROUZ.
FLANN m & f IrishMeans
"red" in Irish Gaelic. This was the name of a 9th-century king of Tara in Ireland.
FLANNERY f & m English (Rare)From an Irish surname that was derived from
Ó Flannghaile meaning
"descendant of Flannghal". The given name
Flannghal means "red valour". A famous bearer was American author Flannery O'Connor (1925-1964).
FLORENCE f & m English, FrenchFrom the Latin name
Florentius or the feminine form
Florentia, which were derived from
florens "prosperous, flourishing".
Florentius was borne by many early Christian saints, and it was occasionally used in their honour through the Middle Ages. In modern times it is mostly feminine.
... [more] FLOWER f English (Rare)Simply from the English word
flower for the blossoming plant. It is derived (via Old French) from Latin
flos.
FORTUNA f Roman MythologyMeans
"luck" in Latin. In Roman mythology this was the name of the personification of luck.
FRANCE (1) f FrenchFrom the name of the country, sometimes considered a feminine form of
FRANK or short form of
FRANÇOISE, both of which are ultimately related to the name of the country.
FRANCES f EnglishFeminine form of
FRANCIS. The distinction between
Francis as a masculine name and
Frances as a feminine name did not arise until the 17th century. A notable bearer was Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini (1850-1917), a social worker and the first American to be canonized.
FRANCIS m & f English, FrenchEnglish form of the Late Latin name
Franciscus meaning
"Frenchman", ultimately from the Germanic tribe of the Franks, who were named for a type of spear that they used. This name was borne by the 13th-century Saint Francis of Assisi, who was originally named Giovanni but was given the nickname Francesco by his father, an admirer of the French. Francis went on to renounce his father's wealth and devote his life to the poor, founding the Franciscan order of friars. Later in his life he apparently received the stigmata.
... [more] FRAUKE f GermanMeans
"little lady", derived from German
frau combined with a diminutive suffix.
FREYA f Norse Mythology, English (British, Modern), GermanFrom Old Norse
Freyja meaning
"lady". This was the name of the goddess of love, beauty, war and death in Norse mythology. She claimed half of the heroes who were slain in battle and brought them to her realm of Fólkvangr. Along with her brother
Freyr and father
Njord, she was one of the Vanir (as opposed to the Æsir). Some scholars connect her with the goddess
Frigg.
... [more] FRIDA f Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Ancient GermanicGermanic name, originally a short form of other feminine names containing the Germanic element
frid meaning
"peace". This is also the Scandinavian equivalent, from the Old Norse cognate
Fríða. A famous bearer was Mexican painter Frida Kahlo (1907-1954).
FRIDESWIDE f HistoryModern form of the Old English name
Friðuswiþ, formed of the elements
friþ "peace" and
swiþ "strong". Saint Frideswide was an 8th-century English princess who became a nun. She is credited with establishing Christ Church in Oxford.
FRIEDE f GermanShort form of names containing the element
fried, derived from the Germanic element
frid meaning "peace".
FRIGG f Norse MythologyMeans
"beloved" in Old Norse, ultimately derived from Indo-European *
pri "to love". In Norse mythology she was the goddess of the earth, air and fertility, and the wife of
Odin. Some scholars believe that she and the goddess
Freya share a common origin.
FRUMA f YiddishFrom Yiddish
פֿרום (frum) meaning
"pious". This is the name of a character (appearing as a ghost) in the musical
Fiddler on the Roof (1964).
FU m & f ChineseFrom Chinese
富 (fù) meaning "abundant, rich, wealthy",
芙 (fú) meaning "hibiscus, lotus" or
甫 (fǔ) meaning "begin, man, father", in addition to other characters with a similar pronunciation. A famous bearer was the 8th-century Tang dynasty poet Du Fu, whose given name was
甫.
FUYUKO f JapaneseFrom Japanese
冬 (fuyu) meaning "winter" and
子 (ko) meaning "child", as well as other combinations of kanji.
GABIJA f Lithuanian, Baltic MythologyProbably from Lithuanian
gaubti meaning
"to cover". In Lithuanian mythology this was the name of the goddess of fire and the home.
GAEL f English (Modern)Variant of
GAIL, also coinciding with the ethno-linguistic term
Gael, which refers to speakers of Gaelic languages.
GAIA f Greek Mythology, ItalianFrom the Greek word
γαῖα (gaia), a parallel form of
γῆ (ge) meaning
"earth". In Greek mythology Gaia was the mother goddess who presided over the earth. She was the mate of
Uranus and the mother of the Titans and the Cyclopes.
GAIANA f Ancient Greek (Latinized)Latinized form of the Greek name
Γαϊανή (Gaiane), a derivative of
GAIA. This was the name of a (perhaps fictional) martyr who was killed in Armenia during the persecutions of Emperor Diocletian in the late 3rd century.
GALADRIEL f LiteratureMeans
"maiden crowned with a radiant garland" in Sindarin. Galadriel was a Noldorin elf princess renowned for her beauty and wisdom in J. R. R. Tolkien's novels. The elements are
galad "radiant" and
riel "garlanded maiden".
Alatáriel is the Quenya form of her name.
GALIA f HebrewElaboration of
GAL (1). It could also be considered a compound meaning
"wave from God", using the element
יָה (yah) referring to the Hebrew God.
GARDENIA f English (Rare)From the name of the tropical flower, which was named for the Scottish naturalist Alexander Garden (1730-1791).
GARGI f Hinduism, Indian, Hindi, BengaliMeaning unknown. This was the name of a 7th-century BC Indian philosopher who appears in the Upanishads, which are parts of Hindu scripture.
GARNET (1) f EnglishFrom the English word
garnet for the precious stone, the birthstone of January. The word is derived from Middle English
gernet meaning "dark red".
GARNET (2) m & f EnglishFrom an English surname that either referred to a person who made hinges (Old French
carne) or was derived from the Norman name
GUARIN.