HIFUMI m & f JapaneseFrom Japanese
一 (hi) meaning "one",
二 (fu) meaning "two" and
三 (mi) meaning "three".
HIKARI f & m JapaneseFrom Japanese
光 (hikari) meaning "light". Other kanji can also form this name. It is often written with the hiragana writing system.
HIKARU m & f JapaneseFrom Japanese
光 (hikaru) meaning "light" or
輝 (hikaru) meaning "brightness". Other kanji can also form this name.
HILA f HebrewMeans
"halo, aura" in Hebrew, from the root
הָלַל (halal) meaning "to praise, to shine".
HILAL m & f Arabic, TurkishMeans
"crescent moon" in Arabic, also referring to the new moon on the Islamic calendar. As a given name it is typically masculine in Arabic and feminine in Turkish.
HILARY f & m EnglishMedieval English form of
HILARIUS or
HILARIA. During the Middle Ages it was primarily a masculine name. It was revived in Britain at the beginning of the 20th century as a predominantly feminine name. In America, this name and the variant
Hillary seemed to drop in popularity after Hillary Clinton (1947-) became the first lady.
HILDRED f & m EnglishPossibly from the Old English masculine name
Hildræd, which was composed of the elements
hild "battle" and
ræd "counsel". This name was revived in the late 19th century, probably because of its similarity to the popular names
Hilda and
Mildred.
HILJA f FinnishDerived from Finnish
hiljaisuus meaning
"silence".
HILLA f FinnishShort form of names beginning with
Hil. It also means "cloudberry" in Finnish.
HILLARY f EnglishVariant of
HILARY. A famous bearer of the surname was Sir Edmund Hillary (1919-2008), the first man to climb Mount Everest.
HILTRUD f GermanMeans
"strength in battle", derived from the Germanic elements
hild "battle" and
thrud "strength".
HINA f JapaneseFrom Japanese
陽 (hi) meaning "light, sun, male" or
日 (hi) meaning "sun, day" combined with
菜 (na) meaning "vegetables, greens". Other kanji combinations are possible.
HINATA f & m JapaneseFrom Japanese
日向 (hinata) meaning "sunny place",
陽向 (hinata) meaning "toward the sun", or a non-standard reading of
向日葵 (himawari) meaning "sunflower". Other kanji compounds are also possible. Because of the irregular readings, this name is often written using the hiragana writing system.
HIND f ArabicPossibly means
"group of camels" in Arabic. Hind bint Abi Umayyah, also known as Umm Salama, was one of the wives of the Prophet
Muhammad. This is also the Arabic name for the country of India.
HİRANUR f TurkishFrom
Hira, from Arabic
حراء (Hira), the name of the cave where the Prophet
Muhammad received his first revelation, combined with Arabic
نور (nur) meaning "light".
HIROKO f JapaneseFrom Japanese
寛 (hiro) meaning "tolerant, generous",
裕 (hiro) meaning "abundant" or
浩 (hiro) meaning "prosperous" combined with
子 (ko) meaning "child". Other kanji combinations are possible.
HIRUNE f BasqueMeans
"trinity" in Basque, derived from
hiru meaning "three".
HITOMI f JapaneseFrom Japanese
瞳 (hitomi) meaning "pupil of the eye". It can also come from
史 (hito) meaning "history" and
美 (mi) meaning "beautiful", as well as other kanji combinations. This name is often written with the hiragana writing system.
HJÖRDIS f SwedishSwedish form of the Old Norse name
Hjǫrdís meaning
"sword goddess", derived from the elements
hjǫrr "sword" and
dís "goddess".
HLA m & f BurmeseMeans
"pretty, favourable" in Burmese.
HODEL f Yiddish (Rare)Diminutive of
HODE. This is the name of Tevye's second daughter in the musical
Fiddler on the Roof (1964), based on late 19th-century stories by Sholem Aleichem.
HŌKŪLANI f HawaiianMeans
"heavenly star" from Hawaiian
hōkū "star" and
lani "heaven, sky, royal, majesty".
HOLLIS m & f EnglishFrom an English surname that was derived from Middle English
holis "holly trees". It was originally given to a person who lived near a group of those trees.
HOLLY f EnglishFrom the English word for the holly tree, ultimately derived from Old English
holen.
HONEY f English (Rare)Simply from the English word
honey, ultimately from Old English
hunig. This was originally a nickname for a sweet person.
HONG m & f ChineseFrom Chinese
虹 (hóng) meaning "rainbow",
弘 (hóng) meaning "enlarge, expand, great" (which is usually only masculine) or
鸿 (hóng) meaning "wild swan, great, vast" (also usually only masculine). Other characters can also form this name.
HONOKA f JapaneseFrom Japanese
和 (hono) meaning "harmony" (using an obscure nanori reading) and
花 (ka) meaning "flower", as well as other combinations of kanji that have the same pronunciation. Very often it is written using the hiragana writing system.
HONORINE f FrenchFrench form of
Honorina, a feminine form of the Roman name
Honorinus, a derivative of
HONORIUS. Saint Honorina was a 4th-century martyr from the Normandy region in France.
HONOUR f English (Rare)From the English word
honour, which is of Latin origin. This was one of the virtue names adopted by the Puritans in the 17th century. It can also be viewed as a form of
HONORIA or
HONORATA, which are ultimately derived from the same source.
HOPE f EnglishFrom the English word
hope, ultimately from Old English
hopian. This name was first used by the Puritans in the 17th century.
HOSANNA f BiblicalFrom the Aramaic religious expression
הושע נא (Hosha' na') meaning
"deliver us" in Hebrew. In the New Testament this is exclaimed by those around
Jesus when he first enters Jerusalem.
HOSHI f JapaneseFrom Japanese
星 (hoshi) meaning "star" or other kanji with the same pronunciation.
HOSHIKO f JapaneseFrom Japanese
星 (hoshi) meaning "star" and
子 (ko) meaning "child". Other kanji combinations are possible.
HUA f & m ChineseFrom Chinese
华 (huá) meaning "splendid, illustrious, Chinese" or
花 (huā) meaning "flower, blossom" (which is usually only feminine). Other Chinese characters can form this name as well.
HUAN f & m ChineseFrom Chinese
欢 (huān) meaning "happy, pleased", as well as other characters pronounced in a similar way.
HUANG m & f ChineseFrom Chinese
煌 (huáng) meaning "bright, shining, luminous" (which is usually only masculine) or
凰 (huáng) meaning "phoenix" (usually only feminine). Other Chinese characters are also possible.
HUỆ f VietnameseFrom Sino-Vietnamese
慧 (huệ) meaning
"bright, intelligent" or
蕙 (huệ) meaning
"tuberose (flower)".
HUI f & m ChineseFrom Chinese
慧 (huì) meaning "intelligent, wise" (which is usually only feminine),
辉 (huī) meaning "brightness", besides other characters that are pronounced similarly.
HULDAH f BiblicalMeans
"weasel, mole" in Hebrew. This name appears in the Old Testament belonging to a prophetess.
HUNTER m & f EnglishFrom 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).
HWAN m & f KoreanFrom Sino-Korean
煥 (hwan) meaning "shining, brilliant, lustrous" or other characters that are pronounced similarly. It usually occurs in combination with another character.
HYACINTHA f HistoryLatinate feminine form of
HYACINTHUS, used to refer to the 17th-century Italian saint Hyacintha Mariscotti (real name Giacinta).
HYE-JIN f KoreanFrom 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.
HYEON m & f KoreanFrom Sino-Korean
賢 (hyeon) meaning "virtuous, worthy, able" or other characters that are pronounced similarly. It usually occurs in combination with another character, though it is sometimes used as a stand-alone name.
HYEON-JEONG f & m KoreanFrom 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-JU f & m KoreanFrom 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.
HYPATIA f Ancient GreekDerived from Greek
ὕπατος (hypatos) meaning
"highest, supreme". Hypatia of Alexandria was a 5th-century philosopher and mathematician, daughter of the mathematician Theon.
IARA f Native American, TupiMeans
"lady of the water", from Tupi
y "water" and
îara "lady, mistress". In Brazilian folklore 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.
IBEN f Danish, NorwegianPossibly a feminine form of
IB. It is associated with Danish
ibenholt meaning "ebony".
IBOLYA f HungarianMeans
"violet" in Hungarian, ultimately from Latin
viola.
IDA f English, German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Dutch, Italian, Polish, Hungarian, 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] ÍDE f IrishPossibly derived from Old Irish
ítu meaning
"thirst". This was the name of a 6th-century Irish saint.
IDOIA f BasqueFrom the name of a sanctuary in Isaba, Navarre, possibly meaning
"pond" in Basque, an important place of worship of the Virgin
Mary.
IDONEA f English (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.
IDRIL f LiteratureMeans
"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.
IEVA f Lithuanian, LatvianLithuanian and Latvian form of
EVE. This is also the Lithuanian and Latvian word for a type of cherry tree (species Prunus padus).
IGRAINE f Arthurian 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.
İLAYDA f TurkishPossibly derived from the name of a Turkish water sprite.
ILEANA f Romanian, 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.
İLKAY f & m TurkishMeans
"new moon" in Turkish, derived from
ilk "first" and
ay "moon".
ILLUMINATA f Late RomanMeans
"illuminated, brightened, filled with light" in Latin. This name was borne by a 4th-century saint from Todi, Italy.
IME (2) m & f FrisianShort form of names beginning with the Germanic element
ermen meaning
"whole, universal".
IMOGEN f English (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".
INDIA f EnglishFrom 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".
INDIANA f & m EnglishFrom 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.
INDIE f English (Modern)Possibly a diminutive of
INDIA or
INDIANA, but also likely inspired by the term
indie, short for
independent, which is typically used to refer to media produced outside of the mainstream.
INDIGO f & m English (Rare)From the English word
indigo for the purplish-blue dye or the colour. It is ultimately derived from Greek
Ἰνδικὸν (Indikon) meaning "Indic, from India".
INDU f Indian, HindiMeans
"bright drop" in Sanskrit. This is a name for the moon.
INGA f Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, Icelandic, Estonian, Finnish, Latvian, Lithuanian, German, Polish, Russian, Ancient Scandinavian, Ancient GermanicStrictly feminine form of
INGE.
INGE f & m Danish, 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.
INGRID f Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, German, DutchFrom 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).
INJA f SloveneSlovene short form of names ending with
ina.
INMACULADA f SpanishMeans
"immaculate" in Spanish. This name is given to commemorate the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin
Mary.
INNA f Russian, UkrainianMeaning unknown. This was the name of an early Scythian saint and martyr, a male, supposedly a disciple of Saint
Andrew.