ABEL m English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Georgian, Biblical, Biblical Latin, Biblical GreekFrom the Hebrew name
הֶבֶל (Hevel) meaning
"breath". In the Old Testament he is the second son of
Adam and
Eve, murdered out of envy by his brother
Cain. In England, this name came into use during the Middle Ages, and it was common during the Puritan era.
ALEX m & f English, Dutch, German, French, Portuguese, Italian, Romanian, Greek, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Icelandic, Hungarian, Czech, RussianShort form of
ALEXANDER,
ALEXANDRA, and other names beginning with
Alex.
AMARO m Galician, Portuguese, SpanishPossibly from the Germanic name
ADELMAR, maybe influenced by Latin
amarus "bitter". This was the name of a legendary saint who was said to have sailed across the Atlantic to a paradise. He is especially popular in Galicia and Asturias in Spain.
ARTUR m Portuguese, Galician, Catalan, Polish, Czech, Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian, German, Estonian, Swedish, ArmenianForm of
ARTHUR in several languages.
BENIGNO m Italian, Spanish, PortugueseItalian, Spanish and Portuguese form of the Late Latin name
Benignus, which meant
"kind, friendly". This was the name of several saints including a 5th-century disciple of Saint
Patrick who later became the chief Bishop of Ireland.
BRUNO m German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Croatian, Polish, Czech, Slovak, Latvian, Ancient GermanicDerived from the Germanic element
brun "armour, protection" or
brun "brown". Saint Bruno of Cologne was a German monk of the 11th century who founded the Carthusian Order. The surname has belonged to Giordano Bruno, a philosopher burned at the stake by the Inquisition.
CRUZ f & m Spanish, PortugueseMeans
"cross" in Spanish or Portuguese, referring to the cross of the crucifixion.
DANIEL m English, Hebrew, French, German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Polish, Czech, Slovak, Spanish, Portuguese, Romanian, Slovene, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Croatian, Armenian, Georgian, Biblical, Biblical GreekFrom the Hebrew name
דָּנִיֵּאל (Daniyyel) meaning
"God is my judge", from the roots
דִּין (din) meaning "to judge" and
אֵל ('el) meaning "God". Daniel was a Hebrew prophet whose story is told in the Book of Daniel in the Old Testament. He lived during the Jewish captivity in Babylon, where he served in the court of the king, rising to prominence by interpreting the king's dreams. The book also presents Daniel's four visions of the end of the world.
... [more] DAVID m English, Hebrew, French, Scottish, Spanish, Portuguese, German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Dutch, Czech, Slovene, Russian, Croatian, Serbian, Macedonian, Romanian, Biblical, Biblical LatinFrom the Hebrew name
דָּוִד (Dawid), which was derived from Hebrew
דּוֹד (dod) meaning
"beloved" or
"uncle". David was the second and greatest of the kings of Israel, ruling in the 10th century BC. Several stories about him are told in the Old Testament, including his defeat of
Goliath, a giant Philistine. According to the New Testament,
Jesus was descended from him.
... [more] DIOGO m PortuguesePortuguese form of
DIEGO. This name was borne by the 15th-century Portuguese explorer Diogo Cão.
DONATO m Italian, Spanish, PortugueseFrom the Late Latin name
Donatus meaning
"given". Several early saints had this name. The name was also borne by two Renaissance masters: the sculptor Donato di Niccolo di Bette Bardi (also known as Donatello), and the architect Donato Bramante.
DUARTE m PortuguesePortuguese form of
EDWARD. This name was borne by a 15th-century king of Portugal, who was named after his maternal ancestor Edward III of England.
EDGAR m English, French, Portuguese, GermanDerived from the Old English elements
ead "wealth, fortune" and
gar "spear". This was the name of a 10th-century English king, Edgar the Peaceful. The name did not survive long after the Norman Conquest, but it was revived in the 18th century, in part due to a character by this name in Sir Walter Scott's novel
The Bride of Lammermoor (1819), which tells of the tragic love between Edgar Ravenswood and Lucy Ashton. Famous bearers include author and poet Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849), French impressionist painter Edgar Degas (1834-1917), and author Edgar Rice Burroughs (1875-1950).
ELIAS m Portuguese, German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, English, Dutch, Greek, Biblical Latin, Biblical GreekForm of
ELIJAH used in several languages. This is also the form used in the Greek New Testament.
FAUSTINO m Spanish, Italian, PortugueseSpanish, Italian and Portuguese form of the Roman cognomen
Faustinus, which was itself derived from the Roman name
FAUSTUS. Faustinus was the name of several early saints.
FERNÃO m PortuguesePortuguese form of
FERDINAND. This name was borne by the Portuguese explorer Fernão de Magalhães (1480-1521), better known in English as Ferdinand Magellan.
FORTUNATO m Italian, Spanish, PortugueseItalian, Spanish and Portuguese form of the Late Latin name
Fortunatus meaning
"fortunate, blessed, happy". This was the name of several early saints and martyrs.
FRANCISCO m Spanish, PortugueseSpanish and Portuguese form of
Franciscus (see
FRANCIS). This is the Spanish name of Saint Francis Xavier (1506-1552). Other notable bearers include the Spanish painter and engraver Francisco de Goya (1746-1828) and the Spanish dictator Francisco Franco (1892-1975).
GABRIEL m French, Spanish, Portuguese, German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Catalan, English, Romanian, Polish, Czech, Slovak, Georgian, Biblical, Biblical Latin, Biblical GreekFrom the Hebrew name
גַבְרִיאֵל (Gavri'el) meaning
"God is my strong man", derived from
גֶּבֶר (gever) meaning "strong man, hero" and
אֵל ('el) meaning "God". Gabriel is an archangel in Hebrew tradition, often appearing as a messenger of God. In the Old Testament he is sent to interpret the visions of the prophet
Daniel, while in the New Testament he serves as the announcer of the births of
John to
Zechariah and
Jesus to
Mary. According to Islamic tradition he was the angel who dictated the Quran to
Muhammad.
... [more] GLÁUCIO m PortuguesePortuguese form of the Roman cognomen
Glaucia, which was derived from Latin
glaucus "bluish grey", ultimately from Greek.
GUIOMAR f & m Portuguese, Spanish, Arthurian RomancePossibly derived from the Germanic name
Wigmar, which is formed of the elements
wig "war, battle" and
mari "famous". In the medieval
Lancelot-Grail cycle he plays a minor role as a cousin of Guinevere, who banishes him after he becomes a lover of Morgan le Fey. In modern Portugal and Spain it is a feminine name.
HÉLDER m PortugueseMeaning uncertain. It was borne by the Brazilian archbishop Dom Hélder Câmara (1909-1999) who was noted for his charity. It could be from the name of the Dutch town of Den Helder (possibly meaning "hell's door" in Dutch). Alternatively, it might be derived from the Germanic given name
HULDERIC.
HENRIQUE m PortuguesePortuguese form of
Heinrich (see
HENRY). This was the name of a 15th-century Portuguese naval explorer (known as Henry the Navigator in English).
HERMENEGILDO m Spanish, PortugueseSpanish and Portuguese form of a Visigothic name meaning
"complete sacrifice", from the Germanic elements
ermen "whole, entire" and
gild "sacrifice, value". It was borne by a 6th-century saint, the son of Liuvigild the Visigothic king of Hispania.
HUGO m Spanish, Portuguese, English, Dutch, German, French, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Ancient Germanic (Latinized)Latinized form of
HUGH. As a surname it has belonged to the French author Victor Hugo (1802-1885), the writer of
The Hunchback of Notre Dame and
Les Misérables.
IAGO m Welsh, Galician, PortugueseWelsh and Galician form of
Iacobus (see
JAMES). This was the name of two early Welsh kings of Gwynedd. It is also the name of the villain in Shakespeare's tragedy
Othello (1603).
IGOR m Russian, Polish, Slovene, Croatian, Serbian, Macedonian, Slovak, Czech, 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.
IVO (1) m German, Dutch, Czech, Italian, Portuguese, Ancient GermanicGermanic name, originally a short form of names beginning with the Germanic element
iv meaning
"yew". Alternative theories suggest that it may in fact be derived from a cognate Celtic element. This was the name of several saints (who are also commonly known as Saint
Yves or
Ives).
JESUS m Theology, Biblical, PortugueseEnglish form of
Ἰησοῦς (Iesous), which was the Greek form of the Aramaic name
יֵשׁוּעַ (Yeshu'a).
Yeshu'a is itself a contracted form of
Yehoshu'a (see
JOSHUA). Yeshua ben Yoseph, better known as Jesus Christ, was the central figure of the New Testament and the source of the Christian religion. The four gospels state that he was the son of God and the Virgin
Mary who fulfilled the Old Testament prophecies of the Messiah. He preached for three years before being crucified in Jerusalem.
JOEL m English, Spanish, Portuguese, Swedish, Finnish, BiblicalFrom the Hebrew name
יוֹאֵל (Yo'el) meaning
"YAHWEH is God", from the elements
יוֹ (yo) and
אֵל ('el), both referring to the Hebrew God. Joel is one of the twelve minor prophets of the Old Testament, the author of the Book of Joel, which describes a plague of locusts. In England, it was first used as a Christian name after the Protestant Reformation.
JOSÉ m & f Spanish, Portuguese, FrenchSpanish and Portuguese form of
JOSEPH, as well as a French variant. In Spanish-speaking regions it is occasionally used as a feminine middle name (or the second part of a double name), often paired with
María. This was the most popular name for boys in Spain for the first half of the 20th century.
JUVENAL m History, PortugueseFrom the Roman cognomen
Iuvenalis, which meant
"youthful" in Latin. Juvenal was a Roman satirist of the 1st century.
LEONARDO m Italian, Spanish, PortugueseItalian, Spanish and Portuguese form of
LEONARD. A notable bearer was Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519), an Italian artist and scientist of the Renaissance. He is known as the inventor of several contraptions, including flying machines, as well as the painter of the
Mona Lisa. Another famous bearer was Leonardo Fibonacci, a 13th-century Italian mathematician. A more recent bearer is American actor Leonardo DiCaprio (1974-).
MANUEL m Spanish, Portuguese, German, Italian, French, Romanian, Late Greek (Latinized)Spanish and Portuguese form of
EMMANUEL. In the spelling
Μανουήλ (Manouel) it was also used in the Byzantine Empire, notably by two emperors. It is possible this form of the name was transmitted to Spain and Portugal from Byzantium, since there were connections between the royal families (king Ferdinand III of Castile married Elisabeth of Hohenstaufen, who had Byzantine roots, and had a son named Manuel). The name has been used in Iberia since at least the 13th century and was borne by two kings of Portugal.
MARCO m Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, German, DutchItalian form of
Marcus (see
MARK). During the Middle Ages this name was common in Venice, where Saint Mark was supposedly buried. A famous bearer was the Venetian explorer Marco Polo, who travelled across Asia to China in the 13th century.
MARIA f & m Italian, Portuguese, Catalan, Occitan, German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Faroese, Dutch, Frisian, Greek, Polish, Romanian, English, Finnish, Estonian, Corsican, Sardinian, Basque, Russian, Bulgarian, Ukrainian, Biblical Greek, Biblical Latin, Old Church SlavicLatin form of Greek
Μαρία, from Hebrew
מִרְיָם (see
MARY).
Maria is the usual form of the name in many European languages, as well as a secondary form in other languages such as English (where the common spelling is
Mary). In some countries, for example Germany, Poland and Italy,
Maria is occasionally used as a masculine middle name.
... [more] MIGUEL m Spanish, PortugueseSpanish and Portuguese form of
MICHAEL. A notable bearer of this name was Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra (1547-1616), the Spanish novelist and poet who wrote
Don Quixote.
NUNO m Portuguese, Medieval PortugueseMedieval Portuguese and Spanish name, possibly from Latin
nonus "ninth" or
nunnus "grandfather". Saint Nuno was a 14th-century Portuguese general who defeated a Castilian invasion.
OSCAR m English, Irish, Portuguese (Brazilian), Italian, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Dutch, French, Irish MythologyPossibly means
"deer friend", derived from Gaelic
os "deer" and
cara "friend". Alternatively, it may derive from the Old English name
OSGAR or its Old Norse cognate
ÁSGEIRR, which may have been brought to Ireland by Viking invaders and settlers. In Irish legend Oscar was the son of the poet
Oisín and the grandson of the hero
Fionn mac Cumhail.
... [more]