Browse Names

Melina f English, Greek
Elaboration of Mel, either from names such as Melissa or from Greek μέλι (meli) meaning "honey". A famous bearer was Greek-American actress Melina Mercouri (1920-1994), who was born Maria Amalia Mercouris.

Alyona f Russian, Ukrainian
Originally a Russian diminutive of Yelena. It is now used independently.

Arienne f English (Rare)
Variant of Ariane.

Katarine f German (Rare)
German variant form of Katherine.

Alkyone f Greek Mythology
Ancient Greek form of Alcyone.

Selina f English, German
Variant of Celina or Selena. As an English name, it first came into use in the 17th century.

Korë f Greek Mythology
Alternate transcription of Ancient Greek Κόρη (see Kore).

Catarina f Portuguese, Occitan, Galician
Portuguese, Occitan and Galician form of Katherine.

Elaina f English
Variant of Elaine.

Theano f Ancient Greek, Greek Mythology, Greek
From Greek θεά (thea) meaning "goddess". Theano was a 6th-century BC Greek philosopher associated with Pythagoras. The name was also borne by several figures from Greek mythology.

Thisbe f Greek Mythology, Roman Mythology
From the name of an ancient Greek town in Boeotia, itself supposedly named after a nymph. In a Greek legend (the oldest surviving version appearing in Latin in Ovid's Metamorphoses) this is the name of a young woman from Babylon. Believing her to be dead, her lover Pyramus kills himself, after which she does the same to herself. The splashes of blood from their suicides is the reason mulberry fruit are red.

Marlena f Polish, English
Latinate form of Marlene.

Lena f Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, German, Dutch, Polish, Finnish, Russian, Ukrainian, English, Italian, Portuguese, Greek, Georgian, Armenian
Short form of names ending in lena, such as Helena, Magdalena or Yelena. It is often used independently.

Amalthea f Greek Mythology (Latinized)
From the Greek Ἀμάλθεια (Amaltheia), derived from μαλθάσσω (malthasso) meaning "to soften, to soothe". In Greek myth she was a nymph (in some sources a goat) who nursed the infant Zeus.

Ina f German, Dutch, Norwegian, Danish, Swedish, English, Slovene, Latvian
Short form of names ending with or otherwise containing ina, such as Martina, Christina and Carolina.

Kore f Greek Mythology
Means "maiden" in Greek. This was another name for the Greek goddess Persephone.

Elena f Italian, Spanish, Romanian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Slovak, Czech, Lithuanian, Estonian, Finnish, Russian, Greek, German, English
Form of Helen used in various languages, as well as an alternate transcription of Russian Елена (see Yelena).

Nell f English
Medieval diminutive of names beginning with El, such as Eleanor, Ellen 1 or Helen. It may have arisen from the medieval affectionate phrase mine El, which was later reinterpreted as my Nel.

Melisa f Spanish, Bosnian, Albanian, Turkish, Azerbaijani
Spanish, Bosnian, Albanian, Turkish and Azerbaijani form of Melissa.

Léna f French, Hungarian
French and Hungarian form of Lena.

Niki 1 f Greek
Modern Greek form of Nike.

Thaleia f Greek Mythology
Ancient Greek form of Thalia.

Nerissa f Literature
Created by Shakespeare for a character in his play The Merchant of Venice (1596). He possibly took it from Greek Νηρηΐς (Nereis) meaning "nymph, sea sprite", ultimately derived from the name of the Greek sea god Nereus, who supposedly fathered them.

Phoebe f English, Greek Mythology (Latinized), Biblical, Biblical Latin
Latinized form of the Greek name Φοίβη (Phoibe), which meant "bright, pure" from Greek φοῖβος (phoibos). In Greek mythology Phoibe was a Titan associated with the moon. This was also an epithet of her granddaughter, the moon goddess Artemis. The name appears in Paul's epistle to the Romans in the New Testament, where it belongs to a female minister in the church at Cenchreae.... [more]