ANAKIN m Popular CultureMeaning unknown. This is the name of a character (also known as Darth Vader) in the 'Star Wars' movie saga, created by George Lucas. Lucas may have based it on the surname of his friend and fellow director Ken Annakin.
ANARA f Kazakh, KyrgyzMeans "pomegranate" in Kazakh and Kyrgyz, ultimately from Persian.
ANARGYROS m GreekFrom the Greek term
αναργυρος (anargyros) meaning "poor, incorruptible", derived from Greek
α (a), a negative prefix, combined with
αργυρος (argyros) "silver". This term referred to saints who did not accept payment for their services.
ANAS m ArabicMeans "friendliness" in Arabic. This was the name of one of the Prophet
Muhammad's companions.
ANASTASIA f Greek, Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian, English, Spanish, Italian, Georgian, Ancient GreekFeminine form of
ANASTASIUS. This was the name of a 4th-century Dalmatian saint who was martyred during the persecutions of the Roman emperor Diocletian. Due to her, the name has been common in Eastern Orthodox Christianity (in various spellings). As an English name it has been in use since the Middle Ages. A famous bearer was the youngest daughter of the last Russian tsar Nicholas II, who was rumoured to have escaped the execution of her family in 1918.
ANASTASIUS m Ancient Greek (Latinized)Latinized form of the Greek name
Αναστασιος (Anastasios), which meant "resurrection" from Greek
αναστασις (anastasis) (composed of the elements
ανα (ana) "up" and
στασις (stasis) "standing"). This was the name of numerous early saints and martyrs, including a 7th-century monk and writer from Alexandria who is especially venerated in the Eastern Church.
ANAT (1) f Semitic MythologyPossibly derived from a Semitic root meaning "water spring". Anat was a goddess of fertility, hunting and war worshipped by the Semitic peoples of the Levant. She was the sister and consort of the god
Hadad.
ANDOR (1) m NorwegianFrom the Old Norse name
Arnþórr, derived from the element
arn "eagle" combined with the name of the Norse god
Þórr (see
THOR).
ANDRASTE f Celtic MythologyPossibly means "invincible" in Celtic. This was the name of a Briton goddess of victory who was invoked by
Boudicca before her revolt.
ANDREA (1) m ItalianItalian form of
Andreas (see
ANDREW). A notable bearer of this name was Andrea Verrocchio, a Renaissance sculptor who taught Leonardo da Vinci and Perugino.
ANDREA (2) f English, German, Spanish, Czech, Slovak, Hungarian, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Icelandic, Dutch, Croatian, SerbianFeminine form of
ANDREW. As an English name, it has been used since the 17th century, though it was not common until the 20th century.
ANDREAS m German, Greek, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Dutch, Welsh, Ancient Greek, Biblical Latin, Biblical GreekAncient Greek and Latin form of
ANDREW. It is also the form used in modern Greek, German and Welsh.
ANDREW m English, BiblicalEnglish form of the Greek name
Ανδρεας (Andreas), which was derived from
ανδρειος (andreios) "manly, masculine", a derivative of
ανηρ (aner) "man". In the New Testament the apostle Andrew, the first disciple to join
Jesus, is the brother of
Simon Peter. According to tradition, he later preached in the Black Sea region, with some legends saying he was crucified on an X-shaped cross.
Andrew, being a Greek name, was probably only a nickname or a translation of his real Hebrew name, which is not known.
... [more] ANDROMEDA f Greek MythologyMeans "to be mindful of a man" from the Greek element
ανηρ (aner) "man" (genitive
ανδρος) combined with
μεδομαι (medomai) "to be mindful of". In Greek mythology Andromeda was an Ethiopian princess rescued from sacrifice by the hero
Perseus. A constellation in the northern sky is named for her. This is also the name of a nearby galaxy, given because it resides (from our point of view) within the constellation.
ANDY m & f EnglishDiminutive of
ANDREW or sometimes
ANDREA (2). American pop artist and filmmaker Andy Warhol (1928-1987) was a famous bearer of this name.
ANE (2) m FrisianShort form of names beginning with the Germanic element
arn "eagle".
ANEIRIN m WelshWelsh name, originally spelled
Neirin, which possibly means "noble". This was the name of a 6th-century Welsh poet.
ANFISA f RussianRussian form of the Greek name
Ανθουσα (Anthousa), which was derived from Greek
ανθος (anthos) "flower". This was the name of a 9th-century Byzantine saint.
ANGEL m & f English, Bulgarian, MacedonianFrom the medieval Latin masculine name
Angelus, which was derived from the name of the heavenly creature (itself derived from the Greek word
αγγελος (angelos) meaning "messenger"). It has never been very common in the English-speaking world, where it is sometimes used as a feminine name in modern times.
ANGELA f English, Italian, German, Dutch, Romanian, Slovene, Slovak, Russian, Macedonian, Late RomanFeminine form of
Angelus (see
ANGEL). As an English name, it came into use in the 18th century.
ANGELICA f English, Italian, Romanian, LiteratureDerived from Latin
angelicus meaning "angelic", ultimately related to Greek
αγγελος (angelos) "messenger". The poets Boiardo and Ariosto used this name in their 'Orlando' poems (1495 and 1532), where it belongs to Orlando's love interest. It has been used as a given name since the 18th century.
ANGERONA f Roman MythologyPossibly from Latin
angor "strangulation, torment" or
angustus "narrow, constricted". Angerona was the Roman goddess of the winter solstice, death, and silence.
ANH m & f VietnameseThis name is frequently combined with a middle name to create a compound name; the meaning of
Anh changes depending on the Sino-Vietnamese characters underlying the compound. It is often from Sino-Vietnamese
英 (anh) meaning "flower, petal, brave, hero", though in compounds it often takes on the meaning "intelligent, bright".
ANI (2) f ArmenianFrom the name of an old Armenian city, of unknown meaning. Now in eastern Turkey, in the 10th and 11th centuries it was the capital of the Kingdom of Armenia, though it was later abandoned and is now only ruins.
ANIL m Hinduism, Indian, Hindi, Marathi, Bengali, Punjabi, Gujarati, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Tamil, NepaliDerived from Sanskrit
अनिल (anila) "air, wind". This is another name of
Vayu, the Hindu god of the wind.
ANIMA (1) f Indian, HindiMeans "minuteness" from Sanskrit
अणिमन (animan). In yoga texts, this is the name of the ability to make oneself infinitely small so to be invisible.
ANIMA (2) f English (Rare)Means "soul, spirit" in Latin. In Jungian psychology the anima is an individual's true inner self, or soul.
ANISSA f EnglishCombination of
ANNA and the popular name suffix
issa. This name was first brought to public attention by the child actress Anissa Jones (1958-1976).
ANITA (1) f Spanish, Portuguese, Croatian, Slovene, English, Dutch, German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Polish, LatvianSpanish, Portuguese, Croatian and Slovene diminutive of
ANA.
ANN f EnglishEnglish form of
ANNE (1). In the English-speaking world, both this spelling and
Anne have been used since the Middle Ages, though
Ann became much more popular during the 19th century.
ANNA f English, Italian, German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Estonian, Latvian, Greek, Hungarian, Polish, Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian, Czech, Slovak, Bulgarian, Icelandic, Faroese, Catalan, Occitan, Breton, Biblical, Old Church Slavic, Biblical Latin, Biblical GreekForm of
Channah (see
HANNAH) used in the Greek and Latin Old Testament. Many later Old Testament translations, including the English, use the
Hannah spelling instead of
Anna. The name appears briefly in the New Testament belonging to a prophetess who recognized
Jesus as the Messiah. It was a popular name in the Byzantine Empire from an early date, and in the Middle Ages it became common among Western Christians due to veneration of Saint Anna (usually known as Saint Anne in English), the name traditionally assigned to the mother of the Virgin
Mary. In the English-speaking world, this form came into general use in the 18th century, joining
Ann and
Anne.
... [more] ANNAGÜL f TurkmenDerived from Turkmen
anna "Friday" and
gül "flower, rose".
ANNE (1) f French, English, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, German, Dutch, BasqueFrench form of
ANNA. In the 13th-century it was imported to England, where it was also commonly spelled
Ann. The name was borne by a 17th-century English queen and also by the second wife of Henry VIII, Anne Boleyn (the mother of Queen Elizabeth I), who was eventually beheaded in the Tower of London. This is also the name of the heroine in 'Anne of Green Gables' (1908) by Canadian author L. M. Montgomery.
ANNUNZIATA f ItalianMeans "announced" in Italian, referring to the event in the New Testament in which the angel Gabriel tells the Virgin
Mary of the imminent birth of
Jesus.
ANONA f EnglishMeaning unknown. It was possibly inspired by an American song by this name written by Vivian Grey in 1903 and recorded by musician Vess Ossman. The lyrics tell of a Native American woman named Anona from Arizona.