Browse Names - Behind the Name

Nanabozho m New World Mythology
Means "my rabbit" in Ojibwe, derived from waabooz "rabbit". In Anishinaabe legend Nanabozho (also called Wenabozho) is a trickster spirit.

Napoleone m Italian (Rare)
Italian form of Napoleon. Besides the French emperor, it was borne by the Italian cardinal Napoleone Orsini (1263-1342) and the writer and politician Napoleone Colajanni (1847-1921).

Narasimha m Hinduism, Telugu
Means "man-lion", derived from Sanskrit नर (nara) meaning "man" combined with सिंह (siṃha) meaning "lion". This is the name of a lion-headed avatar of the god Vishnu who kills the evil king Hiranyakashipu.

Narayanan m Malayalam, Tamil
Malayalam and Tamil variant of Narayana.

Narcissus m Greek Mythology (Latinized), Late Roman, Biblical
Latinized form of Greek Νάρκισσος (Narkissos), possibly derived from νάρκη (narke) meaning "sleep, numbness". Narkissos was a beautiful youth in Greek mythology who stared at his own reflection for so long that he eventually died and was turned into the narcissus flower.... [more]

Narkissos m Greek Mythology
Greek form of Narcissus.

Nastassia f Belarusian
Belarusian short form of Anastasia.

Natanaele m Biblical Italian
Italian form of Nathanael.

Nathanaël m French
French form of Nathanael.

Nathanael m Biblical, Biblical Greek
From the Hebrew name נְתַנְאֵל (Neṯanʾel) meaning "God has given", from the roots נָתַן (naṯan) meaning "to give" and אֵל (ʾel) meaning "God". It is borne by several minor characters in the Old Testament, typically spelled Nethanel or Nethaneel. In the New Testament this is the name of an apostle, probably another name of the apostle called Bartholomew.

Nathaniel m English, Biblical
Variant of Nathanael. It has been regularly used in the English-speaking world since the Protestant Reformation. This has been the most popular spelling, even though the spelling Nathanael is found in most versions of the New Testament. The American writer Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864), author of The Scarlet Letter, was a famous bearer of this name.

Natividad f Spanish
Means "nativity" in Spanish, commemorating the birth of either Jesus or the Virgin Mary.

Nazarenus m Late Roman
Latin form of Nazzareno.

Nazzareno m Italian
Italian form of the Late Latin Nazarenus, which meant "from Nazareth, Nazarene". Nazareth was the town in Galilee where Jesus lived. According to the New Testament, the phrase Iesus Nazarenus, Rex Iudaeorum meaning "Jesus the Nazarene, king of the Jews", was inscribed on the cross upon which Jesus was crucified.

Nedjeljka f Croatian
Variant of Nedeljka.

Nedjeljko m Croatian
Variant of Nedeljko.

Neferkare m Ancient Egyptian
From Egyptian nfr-kꜣ-rꜥ meaning "the soul of Ra is beautiful", from nfr "beautiful, good" combined with kꜣ "soul" combined with the name of the god Ra. This name was borne by several Egyptian pharaohs.

Nefertari f Ancient Egyptian
From Egyptian nfrt-jrj meaning "the most beautiful". This was the name of an Egyptian queen of the New Kingdom (13th century BC), the favourite wife of Ramesses II.

Nefertiti f Ancient Egyptian
From Egyptian nfrt-jjtj meaning "the beautiful one has come". Nefertiti was a powerful Egyptian queen of the New Kingdom (14th century BC), the principal wife of Akhenaton, the pharaoh that briefly imposed a monotheistic religion centered around the sun god Aton.

Nektarios m Greek, Late Greek
Derived from Greek νέκταρ (nektar) meaning "nectar, drink of the gods".

Neophytos m Ancient Greek
Greek name meaning "new plant, new child", from a word that was derived from νέος (neos) meaning "new" and φυτόν (phyton) meaning "plant".

Netanyahu m Biblical Hebrew
Hebrew form of Nethaniah.

Nethaneel m Biblical
Form of Nathanael used in some versions of the Old Testament.

Nethaniah m Biblical
Means "Yahweh has given" in Hebrew, derived from נָתַן (naṯan) meaning "to give" and יָהּ (yah) referring to the Hebrew God. In the Old Testament this is the name of the father of Ishmael (the assassin of Gedaliah), as well as other minor characters.

Nicéphore m French (Rare)
French form of Nikephoros.

Nickolaus m German (Rare)
Variant of Nikolaus.

Nicodemus m Biblical, Biblical Latin, Ancient Greek (Latinized)
From the Greek name Νικόδημος (Nikodemos) meaning "victory of the people", derived from Greek νίκη (nike) meaning "victory" and δῆμος (demos) meaning "the people". This is the name of a character in the New Testament who helps Joseph of Arimathea entomb Jesus.

Nicoletta f Italian
Feminine diminutive of Nicola 1.

Nicolette f French
Diminutive of Nicole.

Nicomedes m Ancient Greek (Latinized)
Latinized form of Nikomedes.

Nikandros m Ancient Greek
Means "victory of a man" from the Greek elements νίκη (nike) meaning "victory" and ἀνήρ (aner) meaning "man" (genitive ἀνδρός). This was the name of a 2nd-century BC Greek poet and grammarian from Colophon.

Nikodemos m Ancient Greek, Biblical Greek
Ancient Greek form of Nicodemus.

Nikoletta f Hungarian, Greek
Hungarian and Greek form of Nicoletta.

Nikomedes m Ancient Greek
Derived from Greek νίκη (nike) meaning "victory" and μήδεα (medea) meaning "plans, counsel, cunning". This was the name of a 1st-century saint, a priest beaten to death for refusing to worship the Roman gods.

Nindaanis f Ojibwe
Means "my daughter" in Ojibwe.

Ninhursag f Sumerian Mythology
Means "lady of the mountain", from Sumerian 𒎏 (nin) meaning "lady" and 𒉺𒂅 (hursaĝ) meaning "mountain". This was the name of the Sumerian mother and fertility goddess, the primary consort of Enki.

Ninoslava f Serbian
Feminine form of Ninoslav.

Nkazimulo m & f Zulu
Means "glory, brightness" in Zulu.

Nkemdilim f Igbo
Means "that which is mine belongs to me" in Igbo.

Nkosazana f Xhosa
Means "princess" in Xhosa.

Nobutoshi m Japanese
From Japanese 信 (nobu) meaning "trust" and 敏 (toshi) meaning "quick, clever, sharp". Other kanji combinations can also form this name.

Nonhelema f Shawnee
Possibly means "not a man" in Shawnee. This was the name of an 18th-century Shawnee chief, the sister of Hokolesqua.

Noureddin m Persian
Persian form of Nur ad-Din.

Noyabrina f Russian (Rare)
Derived from Russian ноябрь (noyabr) meaning "November". It was coined by communist parents in order to commemorate the October Revolution of 1917, which according to the Gregorian calendar (not in use in Russia at the time) actually took place in November 1917.

Nurdaulet m Kazakh
From Kazakh нұр (nur) meaning "light" and дәулет (daulet) meaning "country, government" (both words ultimately of Arabic origin).

Nurhayati f Indonesian, Malay
Combination of Nur and Hayati 2.

Nursultan m Kazakh
From Kazakh нұр (nur) meaning "light" and сұлтан (sultan) meaning "sultan, king" (both words of Arabic origin).

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