HULDAHfBiblicalMeans "weasel, mole" in Hebrew. This name appears in the Old Testament belonging to a prophetess.
HUNTERm & fEnglishFrom an occupational English surname for a hunter, derived from Old English
hunta. A famous bearer was the eccentric American journalist Hunter S. Thompson (1937-2005).
HUSNIm & fArabicDerived from Arabic
حسن (husn) meaning "beauty, excellence, goodness".
HWANm & fKoreanFrom Sino-Korean
煥 (hwan) meaning "shining, brilliant, lustrous" or other characters which are pronounced similarly. It usually occurs in combination with another character.
HYACINTHAfHistoryLatinate feminine form of
HYACINTHUS, used to refer to the 17th-century Italian saint Hyacintha Mariscotti (real name Giacinta).
HYE-JINfKoreanFrom Sino-Korean
慧 (hye) meaning "bright, intelligent" or
惠 (hye) meaning "favour, benefit" combined with
珍 (jin) meaning "precious, rare". This name can be formed by a variety of other hanja character combinations as well.
HYEONm & fKoreanFrom Sino-Korean
賢 (hyeon) meaning "virtuous, worthy, able" or other characters which are pronounced similarly. It usually occurs in combination with another character, though it is sometimes used as a stand-alone name.
HYEON-JEONGf & mKoreanFrom Sino-Korean
賢 (hyeon) meaning "virtuous, worthy, able" or
炫 (hyeon) meaning "shine, glitter" combined with
廷 (jeong) meaning "court" or
貞 (jeong) meaning "virtuous, chaste, loyal". This name can be formed by other hanja character combinations as well.
HYEON-JUf & mKoreanFrom Sino-Korean
賢 (hyeon) meaning "virtuous, worthy, able" and
珠 (ju) meaning "jewel, pearl". This name can be formed by other hanja character combinations as well.
HYPATIAfAncient GreekDerived from Greek
‘υπατος (hypatos) meaning "highest, supreme". Hypatia of Alexandria was a 5th-century philosopher and mathematician, daughter of the mathematician Theon.
IARAfNative American, TupiFrom Tupi
y "water" and
îara "lady, mistress". In Brazilian legend this is the name of a beautiful river nymph who would lure men into the water. She may have been based upon earlier Tupi legends.
IDAfEnglish, German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Dutch, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Hungarian, Slovene, Croatian, Ancient GermanicDerived from the Germanic element
id meaning "work, labour". The Normans brought this name to England, though it eventually died out there in the Middle Ages. It was strongly revived in the 19th century, in part due to the heroine in Alfred Lord Tennyson's poem 'The Princess' (1847), which was later adapted into the play 'Princess Ida' (1884) by Gilbert and Sullivan.
... [more] ÍDEfIrishPossibly derived from Old Irish
ítu "thirst". This was the name of a 6th-century Irish saint.
IDONEAfEnglish (Archaic)Medieval English name, probably a Latinized form of
IÐUNN. The spelling may have been influenced by Latin
idonea "suitable". It was common in England from the 12th century.
IDOYAfSpanishFrom the Spanish place name
Idoia, possibly meaning "pond" in Basque, an important place of worship of the Virgin
Mary.
IDRILfLiteratureMeans "sparkle brilliance" in Sindarin. In the 'Silmarillion' (1977) by J. R. R. Tolkien, Idril was the daughter of Turgon, the king of Gondolin. She escaped the destruction of that place with her husband
Tuor and sailed with him into the west.
IEVAfLithuanian, LatvianLithuanian and Latvian form of
EVE. This is also the Lithuanian and Latvian word for a type of cherry tree (species Prunus padus).
IGORm & fRussian, Polish, Slovene, Croatian, Serbian, Macedonian, Italian, PortugueseRussian form of
Yngvarr (see
INGVAR). The Varangians brought it to Russia in the 10th century. It was borne by two grand princes of Kiev. Famous bearers include Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971), a Russian composer whose most famous work is 'The Rite of Spring', and Igor Sikorsky (1889-1972), the Russian-American designer of the first successful helicopter.
IGRAINEfArthurian RomanceMeaning unknown, from
Igerna, the Latinized form of Welsh
Eigyr. In Arthurian legend she is the mother of King
Arthur by Uther Pendragon and the mother of
Morgan le Fay by Gorlois. The Welsh form
Eigyr or
Eigr was rendered into Latin as
Igerna by the 12th-century chronicler Geoffrey of Monmouth.
ILEANAfRomanian, Spanish, ItalianPossibly a Romanian variant of
ELENA. In Romanian folklore this is the name of a princess kidnapped by monsters and rescued by a heroic knight.
İLKAYf & mTurkishMeans "new moon" in Turkish, derived from
ilk "first" and
ay "moon".
IME (2)m & fFrisianShort form of names beginning with the Germanic element
ermen meaning "whole, universal".
IMOGENfEnglish (British)The name of a princess in the play 'Cymbeline' (1609) by Shakespeare. He based her on a legendary character named
Innogen, but the name was printed incorrectly and never corrected. The name
Innogen is probably derived from Gaelic
inghean meaning "maiden".
INANNAfSumerian MythologyPossibly derived from Sumerian
nin-an-a(k) meaning "lady of the heavens", from
𒊩𒌆 (nin) meaning "lady" and the genitive form of
𒀭 (an) meaning "heaven, sky". Inanna was the Sumerian goddess of love, fertility and war. She descended into the underworld where the ruler of that place, her sister Ereshkigal, had her killed. The god
Enki interceded, and Inanna was allowed to leave the underworld as long as her husband
Dumuzi took her place.
... [more] INDIAfEnglishFrom the name of the country, which is itself derived from the name of the Indus River. The river's name is ultimately from Sanskrit
सिन्धु (Sindhu) meaning "body of trembling water, river".
INDIANAf & mEnglishFrom the name of the American state, which means "land of the Indians". This is the name of the hero in the 'Indiana Jones' series of movies, starring Harrison Ford.
INDIGOf & mEnglish (Rare)From the English word
indigo for the purplish-blue dye or the colour. It is ultimately derived from Greek
Ινδικον (Indikon) "Indic, from India".
INDUfIndian, HindiMeans "bright drop" in Sanskrit. This is a name for the moon.
INGEf & mDanish, Norwegian, Swedish, German, DutchShort form of Scandinavian and German names beginning with the element
ing, which refers to the Germanic god
ING. In Sweden and Norway this is primarily a masculine name, elsewhere it is usually feminine.
INGRIDfSwedish, Norwegian, Danish, GermanFrom the Old Norse name
Ingríðr meaning "Ing is beautiful", derived from the name of the Germanic god
ING combined with
fríðr "beautiful". A famous bearer was the Swedish actress Ingrid Bergman (1915-1982).
INMACULADAfSpanishMeans "immaculate" in Spanish. This name is given to commemorate the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin
Mary.
INNAfRussian, UkrainianMeaning unknown. This was the name of an early Scythian saint and martyr, a male, supposedly a disiciple of Saint
Andrew.
IOfGreek MythologyMeaning unknown. In Greek mythology Io was a princess loved by
Zeus, who changed her into a heifer in order to hide her from
Hera. A moon of Jupiter bears this name in her honour.
IOLANTHEfVariousProbably a variant of
YOLANDA influenced by the Greek words
ιολη (iole) "violet" and
ανθος (anthos) "flower". This name was (first?) used by Gilbert and Sullivan in their comic opera 'Iolanthe' (1882).
IONA (1)fEnglish, ScottishFrom the name of the island off Scotland where Saint Columba founded a monastery. The name of the island is Old Norse in origin, and apparently derives simply from
ey meaning "island".
IONEfGreek Mythology, EnglishFrom Greek
ιον (ion) meaning "violet flower". This was the name of a sea nymph in Greek mythology. It has been used as a given name in the English-speaking world since the 19th century, though perhaps based on the Greek place name
Ionia, a region on the west coast of Asia Minor.
IPHIGENEIAfGreek MythologyDerived from Greek
ιφιος (iphios) "strong, stout" and
γενης (genes) "born". In Greek myth Iphigenia was the daughter of King
Agamemnon. When her father offended
Artemis it was divined that the only way to appease the goddess was to sacrifice Iphigenia. Just as Agamemnon was about to sacrifice his daughter she was magically transported to the city of Taurus.
... [more] IRACEMAfNative American, TupiMeans "honey lips" in Tupi. This is the name of an 1865 novel by José de Alencar, about the relationship between a Tupi woman and a Portuguese man during the early colonial period. Alencar may have constructed the name so that it would be an anagram of
America.
IRELANDfEnglish (Modern)From the name of the European island country, derived from Irish Gaelic
Éire, which may mean something like "abundant land" in Old Irish.
İREMfTurkishTurkish form of Arabic
إرَم (Iram), the name of a beautiful city mentioned in the 89th chapter (surah al-Fajr) of the Qur'an.
IRENEfEnglish, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, German, Dutch, Ancient Greek (Latinized), Greek Mythology (Latinized)From Greek
Ειρηνη (Eirene), derived from a word meaning "peace". This was the name of the Greek goddess who personified peace, one of the
‘Ωραι (Horai). It was also borne by several early Christian saints. The name was common in the Byzantine Empire, notably being borne by an 8th-century empress, who was the first woman to lead the empire. She originally served as regent for her son, but later had him killed and ruled alone.
... [more] IRIAfPortuguese, GalicianPossibly a Portuguese and Galician form of
IRENE. This was the name of a 7th-century saint (also known as Irene) from Tomar in Portugal. This is also the name of an ancient town in Galicia (now a district of Padrón).
IRISfGreek Mythology, English, German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, French, Spanish, GreekMeans "rainbow" in Greek. Iris was the name of the Greek goddess of the rainbow, also serving as a messenger to the gods. This name can also be given in reference to the word (which derives from the same Greek source) for the iris flower or the coloured part of the eye.
IRITfHebrewMeans "asphodel" in Hebrew (an asphodel is a type of flower).
IRMAfGerman, English, Dutch, Finnish, Spanish, Italian, Georgian, Lithuanian, Hungarian (Rare), Ancient GermanicGerman short form of names beginning with the Germanic element
ermen, which meant "whole, universal". It is thus related to
EMMA. It began to be regularly used in the English-speaking world in the 19th century.
ISABELfSpanish, Portuguese, English, French, GermanMedieval Occitan form of
ELIZABETH. It spread throughout Spain, Portugal and France, becoming common among the royalty by the 12th century. It grew popular in England in the 13th century after Isabella of Angoulême married the English king John, and it was subsequently bolstered when Isabella of France married Edward II the following century.
... [more] ISABELLAfItalian, German, English, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Dutch, RomanianLatinate form of
ISABEL. This name was borne by many medieval royals, including queen consorts of England, France, Portugal, the Holy Roman Empire and Hungary, as well as the powerful ruling queen Isabella of Castile (properly called
Isabel).
ISCAHfBiblicalFrom the Hebrew name
יִסְכָּה (Yiskah) which meant "to behold". In the Old Testament this is the name of
Abraham's niece, mentioned only briefly. This is the basis of the English name
Jessica.
ISHAf & mIndian, Hindi, Marathi, HinduismMeans "master, lord" in Sanskrit. This is a transcription of both the feminine form
ईशा and the masculine form
ईश (an epithet of the Hindu god
Shiva). It is also the name of one of the Upanishads, which are parts of Hindu scripture.
ISHTARfSemitic MythologyMeaning unknown. Ishtar was an Akkadian, Assyrian and Babylonian goddess who presided over love, war and fertility. She was cognate with the Canaanite and Phoenician
Ashtoreth, and she was also identified with the Sumerian goddess
Inanna.
ISISfEgyptian Mythology (Hellenized)Greek form of Egyptian
Ist (reconstructed as
Iset or
Ueset), which possibly meant "the throne". In Egyptian mythology Isis was the goddess of the sky and nature, the wife of
Osiris and the mother of
Horus. She was originally depicted wearing a throne-shaped headdress, but in later times she was conflated with the goddess
Hathor and depicted having the horns of a cow on her head. She was also worshipped by people outside of Egypt, such as the Greeks and Romans.
ISMENEfGreek MythologyPossibly from Greek
ισμη (isme) "knowledge". This was the name of the daughter of Oedipus and Jocasta in Greek legend.
ISOLDEfEnglish (Rare), German, Arthurian RomanceThe origins of this name are uncertain, though some Celtic roots have been suggested. It is possible that the name is ultimately Germanic, perhaps from a hypothetic name like
Ishild, composed of the elements
is "ice, iron" and
hild "battle".
... [more] ISRAfArabicMeans "nocturnal journey", derived from Arabic
سرى (sara) "to travel at night".
IÐUNNfNorse Mythology, Ancient ScandinavianProbably derived from Old Norse
ið "again" and
unna "to love". In Norse mythology Iðunn was the goddess of spring and immortality whose responsibility it was to guard the gods' apples of youth.
ITZIARfBasque, SpanishFrom the name of a Basque village which contains an important shrine to the Virgin
Mary, possibly meaning "old stone".
IVAHfBiblicalFrom the name of a district of Babylon, mentioned in the Old Testament.