APOLLONIOS m Ancient GreekFrom an ancient Greek personal name that was derived from the name of the Greek god
APOLLO. It was borne by a Greek poet of the 3rd century BC. Several saints have also had this name.
APPIUS m Ancient RomanThis was a Roman praenomen, or given name, used predominantly by the Claudia family. Its etymology is unknown. A famous bearer of this name was Appius Claudius Caecus, a Roman statesman of the 3rd century BC. He was responsible for the Aqua Appia (the first Roman aqueduct) and the Appian Way (a road between Rome and Capua), both of which were named for him.
AQIL m ArabicMeans "intelligent, wise" in Arabic. This transcription represents two different Arabic names.
ARA m Armenian, Armenian MythologyMeaning unknown, possibly of Sumerian origin. In Armenian legend this was the name of an Armenian king who was so handsome that the Assyrian queen Semiramis went to war to capture him. During the war Ara was slain.
ARAGORN m LiteratureMeaning unexplained, though the first element is presumably Sindarin
ara "noble, kingly". This is the name of a character in 'The Lord of the Rings' (1954) by J. R. R. Tolkien. In the book Aragorn is the heir of the Dúnedain kings of the north.
ARAMIS m LiteratureThe surname of one of the musketeers in 'The Three Musketeers' (1844) by Alexandre Dumas. Dumas based the character on Henri d'Aramitz, whose surname was derived from the French village of Aramits.
ARAN (1) f & m IrishFrom the name of the Aran Islands off the west coast of Ireland.
ARARAT m ArmenianFrom the name of a mountain in eastern Turkey (formerly part of Armenia), the place where
Noah's Ark came to rest according to the Old Testament.
ARASH m Persian, Persian MythologyPossibly means either "truthfulness" or "bright" in Persian. In Persian legend Arash was a Persian archer who was ordered by the Turans to shoot an arrow, the landing place of which would determine the new location of the Persian-Turan border. Arash climbed a mountain and fired his arrow with such strength that it flew for several hours and landed on the banks of the far-away Oxus River.
ARATA m JapaneseFrom Japanese
新 (arata) meaning "fresh, new". Other kanji or kanji combinations can also form this name.
ARAWN m Welsh MythologyMeaning unknown. This was the name of the god of the underworld, called Annwfn, in Welsh mythology.
ARCHER m EnglishFrom an English surname meaning "bowman, archer", of Old French origin.
ARCHIBALD m Scottish, EnglishDerived from the Germanic elements
ercan "genuine" and
bald "bold". The first element was altered due to the influence of Greek names beginning with the element
αρχος (archos) meaning "master". The Normans brought this name to England. It first became common in Scotland in the Middle Ages.
ARCHIL m GeorgianMeaning unknown, of Persian origin. This was the name of an 8th-century Georgian noble who was executed for refusing to convert to Islam.
ARDA m TurkishPossibly means "marker, stake" in Turkish.
ARDASHIR m PersianFrom the Middle Persian form of
Artakhshathra (see
ARTAXERXES). This was the name of a 3rd-century king of Persia who defeated the Parthians and founded the Sassanid Empire. He also established Zoroastrianism as the state religion.
ARDEN m & f EnglishFrom an English surname, originally taken from various place names, which were derived from a Celtic word meaning "high".
ARDGHAL m IrishMeans "high valour", derived from the Irish elements
ard "high" and
gal "valour".
ARELI m BiblicalMeans "lion of God, hero" in Hebrew. This was the name of a son of
Gad in the Old Testament.
ARES m Greek MythologyPerhaps from either Greek
αρη (are) "bane, ruin" or
αρσην (arsen) "male". The name first appears as
a-re in Mycenaean Greek writing. Ares was the bloodthirsty god of war in Greek mythology, a son of
Zeus and
Hera.
ARETAS m BiblicalGreek form of an Aramaic name, of unknown meaning. This was the name of four Nabataean kings of
Petra in Jordan, including the first king (2nd century BC). King Aretas IV is mentioned briefly in the New Testament.
ARGIDER m BasqueDerived from Basque
argi "light" and
eder "beautiful".
ARGUS m Greek Mythology (Latinized)From the Greek
Αργος (Argos), derived from
αργος (argos) meaning "glistening, shining". In Greek myth this name belonged to both the man who built the Argo and a man with a hundred eyes.
ARIDAI m BiblicalMeaning unknown, possibly of Persian origin. In the Old Testament this is the name of one of the ten sons of
Haman killed by the Jews.
ARIEL m & f Hebrew, English, French, Spanish, Biblical, Biblical GreekMeans "lion of God" in Hebrew, from
אֲרִי ('ari) meaning "lion" and
אֵל ('el) meaning "God". In the Old Testament it is used as another name for the city of Jerusalem. Shakespeare used it as the name of a spirit in his play 'The Tempest' (1611), and one of the moons of Uranus bears this name in his honour. As an English name, it became more common for females in the 1980s, especially after it was used for the title character in the Walt Disney film 'The Little Mermaid' (1989).
ARIES m Roman MythologyMeans "ram" in Latin. This is the name of a constellation and the first sign of the zodiac. Some Roman legends state that the ram in the constellation was the one who supplied the Golden Fleece sought by
Jason.
ARISTOTLE m Ancient Greek (Anglicized)From the Greek name
Αριστοτελης (Aristoteles) meaning "the best purpose", derived from
αριστος (aristos) "best" and
τελος (telos) "purpose, aim". This was the name of a Greek philosopher of the 4th century BC who made lasting contributions to Western thought, including the fields of logic, metaphysics, ethics and biology.
ARJUNA m HinduismMeans "white, clear" in Sanskrit. This is the name of a hero in Hindu texts, the son of the god
Indra and the princess Kunti.
ARKADIOS m Ancient GreekFrom an ancient Greek name meaning "of Arcadia". Arcadia was a region in Greece, its name deriving from
αρκτος (arktos) "bear". This was the name of a 3rd-century saint and martyr.
ARKADIY m RussianRussian form of
ARKADIOS. This is the name of one of the main characters in Ivan Turgenev's 'Fathers and Sons' (1862).
ARKE m FrisianOriginally a short form of Germanic names beginning with the element
arn meaning "eagle".
ARLO m EnglishMeaning uncertain. It was perhaps inspired by the fictional place name Arlo Hill from the poem 'The Faerie Queene' (1590) by Edmund Spenser. Spenser probably got Arlo by altering the real Irish place name Aherlow, which is Gaelic meaning "between two highlands".
ARLOTTO m Medieval ItalianMedieval Italian name, recorded in Latin as
Arlotus. It is possibly from Old French
herlot meaning "vagabond, tramp".
ARMAS m FinnishMeans "beloved" in Finnish (an archaic poetic word).
ARMEL m Breton, FrenchBreton and French form of the Brythonic name
Arthmael, which was composed of the elements
arth "bear" and
mael "prince". This was the name of a 6th-century Welsh saint who founded abbeys in Brittany.
ARMINIUS m Ancient Germanic (Latinized)Latinized form of a Germanic name that was probably derived from the element
ermen meaning "whole, universal". Other theories claim that it is related to
HERMAN. Arminius was a 1st-century ruler of the Cherusci who led a rebellion against the Roman Empire.
ARNFINN m NorwegianNorwegian form of
Arnfinnr, which was derived from the elements
arn "eagle" and
finnr "Sámi, person from Finland".
ARNOLD m English, German, Dutch, Ancient GermanicFrom a Germanic name meaning "eagle power", derived from the elements
arn "eagle" and
wald "power". The Normans brought it to England, where it replaced the Old English cognate
Earnweald. It died out as an English name after the Middle Ages, but it was revived in the 19th century.
... [more] ÁRPÁD m HungarianFrom Hungarian
árpa meaning "barley". This was the name of a 9th-century Magyar ruler who led his people into Hungary. He is considered a Hungarian national hero.
ARRAN m ScottishFrom the name of an island off the west coast of Scotland in the Firth of Clyde.
ARSENIOS m Ancient GreekMeans "virile" in Greek. Saint Arsenius was a 5th-century deacon who was tutor to the two sons of the Roman emperor Theodosius. The two sons, Arcadius and Honorius, divided the empire into eastern and western halves upon their father's death.
ARTAXERXES m Ancient Persian (Hellenized), BiblicalGreek form of the Persian name
Artakhshathra meaning "righteous ruler". This was the name of several Achaemenid Persian rulers. It was also borne by the founder of the Sassanid Empire, usually known by the Middle Persian form
Ardashir.
ARTEMIDOROS m Ancient GreekMeans "gift of Artemis" from the name of the goddess
ARTEMIS combined with Greek
δωρον (doron) "gift". This was the name of a Greek author of the 2nd century who wrote about the interpretation of dreams.
ARTEMIOS m Ancient GreekFrom an ancient Greek name that was derived from the name of the Greek goddess
ARTEMIS. This was the name of a 4th-century general in the Roman army who is venerated as a saint in the Orthodox Church.
ARTHIT m ThaiMeans "sun" in Thai, derived from the name of the Hindu god
ADITYA.
ARTHUR m English, French, German, Dutch, Norwegian, Danish, Swedish, Welsh Mythology, Arthurian RomanceThe meaning of this name is unknown. It could be derived from the Celtic elements
artos "bear" combined with
viros "man" or
rigos "king". Alternatively it could be related to an obscure Roman family name
Artorius. Arthur is the name of the central character in Arthurian legend, a 6th-century king of the Britons who resisted Saxon invaders. He may or may not have been a real person. He first appears in Welsh poems and chronicles (some possibly as early as the 7th century) but his character was not developed until the chronicles of the 12th-century Geoffrey of Monmouth.
... [more] ARWYN m WelshFrom the Welsh intensifying prefix
ar- and
gwyn meaning "white, fair".
ARYA (1) m & f Persian, Indian, Hindi, MalayalamFrom an old Indo-Iranian root meaning "Aryan, noble". In India, this is a transcription of both the masculine form
आर्य and the feminine form
आर्या. In Iran it is only a masculine name.
ASAPH m BiblicalMeans "collector" in Hebrew. This name belongs to several minor characters in the Old Testament.
ASEN m BulgarianMeaning unknown, probably of Turkic origin. This was the name of a 12th-century Bulgarian emperor (Ivan Asen I) and several of his successors.
ASGER m DanishFrom the Old Norse name
Ásgeirr, derived from the elements
áss meaning "god" and
geirr meaning "spear".
ASH m & f EnglishShort form of
ASHLEY. It can also come directly from the English word denoting either the tree or the residue of fire.
ASHANTI f & m VariousFrom the name of an African people who reside in southern Ghana. It possibly means "warlike" in the Twi language.
ASHLEY f & m EnglishFrom an English surname that was originally derived from place names meaning "ash tree clearing", from a combination of Old English
æsc and
leah. Until the 1960s it was more commonly given to boys in the United States, but it is now most often used on girls.
ASHOKA m SanskritMeans "without sorrow" in Sanskrit. This name was borne by Ashoka the Great, a 3rd-century BC emperor of India.
ASHTON m & f EnglishFrom a surname that was originally derived from a place name that meant "ash tree town" in Old English.
ASHUR m Semitic MythologyFrom the name of the city of
ASHUR, the capital of the Assyrian Empire, which is of unknown meaning. Ashur was the patron deity of the city and the chief god of Assyria.
ASHURBANIPAL m Ancient Assyrian (Anglicized)From Akkadian
Ashur-bani-apli meaning "
ASHUR is creator of a son". This was the name of one of the final kings of the Assyrian Empire, reigning late in the 7th century BC. He appears in the Old Testament under the name
Asnappar.
ASIF m ArabicPossibly means "forgiveness" in Arabic.
ASİL m TurkishMeans "noble" in Turkish, ultimately from Arabic
أصيل (asil).
ASK m Norse MythologyDerived from Old Norse
askr "ash tree". In Norse mythology Ask and his wife
Embla were the first humans created by the gods.
ASKLEPIOS m Greek MythologyPossibly means "cut up" in Greek. Asklepios (Aesculapius to the Romans) was the god of healing and medicine in Greek mythology.
ASLAN m Turkish, Kazakh, Azerbaijani, Chechen, Ossetian, CircassianFrom Turkic
arslan meaning "lion". This was a byname or title borne by several medieval Turkic rulers, including the Seljuk sultan Alp Arslan (a byname meaning "brave lion") who drove the Byzantines from Anatolia in the 11th century. The author C. S. Lewis later used the name
Aslan for the main protagonist (a lion) in his 'Chronicles of Narnia' series of books, first appearing in 1950.
ASSE m FrisianOriginally a short form of Germanic names beginning with the element
asc meaning "ash tree" or
ans meaning "god".
ASTAROTH m LiteratureFrom
Ashtaroth, the plural form of
ASHTORETH used in the bible to refer to Phoenician idols. This spelling was used in late medieval demonology texts to refer to a type of (masculine) demon.
AŞTÎ f & m KurdishMeans "peace, tranquility" in Kurdish.
ASTON m & f English (Rare)From a surname that was originally derived from either a place name meaning "east town" in Old English or from the given name
ÆÐELSTAN.
ASTROPHEL m LiteratureProbably intended to mean "star lover", from Greek
αστηρ (aster) "star" and
φιλος (philos) "lover, friend". This name was first used by the 16th-century poet Sir Philip Sidney in his collection of sonnets 'Astrophel and Stella'.
ASUKA f & m JapaneseFrom Japanese
明日 (asu) meaning "tomorrow" and
香 (ka) meaning "fragrance", or from
飛 (asu) meaning "to fly" and
鳥 (ka) meaning "bird". Other kanji combinations can be possible as well.
ATHALIAH f & m BiblicalPossibly means "
YAHWEH is exalted" in Hebrew. In the Old Testament this is both a feminine and masculine name. It was borne by the daughter of
Ahab and
Jezebel, who later came to rule Judah as a queen.
ATHANARIC m Ancient GermanicFrom the Gothic name
Athanareiks, derived from the Germanic element
athana meaning "year" combined with
ric meaning "power, ruler". Athanaric was a 4th-century ruler of the Visigoths.