Browse Names - Behind the Name

Vahe m Armenian
Possibly from Old Persian 𐎺𐎢 (vahu) meaning "good". This was the name of a semi-legendary 4th-century BC Armenian king.

Vahide f Turkish
Turkish feminine form of Wahid.

Vaihere f Tahitian
From Tahitian vai "water" and here "loved, dear".

Vaike f Estonian
From Estonian vaikus meaning "silence, calm". This name was coined by Andres Saal for a character in his story Vambola (1889).

Vaitiare f Tahitian
From Tahitian vai "water" and tiare "flower".

Vakarė f Lithuanian
Derived from Lithuanian vakaras meaning "evening".

Valarie f English
Variant of Valerie.

Valdete f Albanian
Derived from Albanian valë "wave" and det "sea, ocean".

Vale f English (Rare)
From the English word meaning "wide river valley".

Valente m Italian, Spanish (Mexican), Portuguese (Rare)
Italian, Spanish and Portuguese form of Valens.

Valentine 1 m English
From the Roman cognomen Valentinus, which was itself a derivative of the cognomen Valens meaning "strong, vigorous, healthy" in Latin. Saint Valentine was a 3rd-century martyr. His feast day was the same as the Roman fertility festival of Lupercalia, which resulted in the association between Valentine's Day and love.... [more]

Valentine 2 f French
French feminine form of Valentinus (see Valentine 1).

Valère m French
French form of Valerius.

Valériane f French
French feminine form of Valerianus (see Valerian).

Valérie f French, Czech
French and Czech form of Valeria.

Valerie f English, German, Czech
English and German form of Valeria, as well as a Czech variant of Valérie.

Valkyrie f Various (Rare)
Means "chooser of the slain", derived from Old Norse valr "the slain" and kyrja "chooser". In Norse myth the Valkyries were maidens who led heroes killed in battle to Valhalla.

Valorie f English
Variant of Valerie.

Vance m English
From an English surname that was derived from Old English fenn meaning "marsh, fen".

Varghese m Malayalam
Short form of Geevarghese, used independently.

Vasile m Romanian
Romanian form of Basil 1.

Vasilije m Serbian
Serbian form of Basil 1.

Veerke f Limburgish
Diminutive of Veer.

Veerle f Dutch
Dutch (mainly Flemish) form of Pharaildis.

Ve'keseha'e f Cheyenne
Means "bird woman" in Cheyenne, derived from vé'kėséhe- "bird" and the feminine suffix -e'é.

Venance m French
French form of Venantius.

Venere f Roman Mythology (Italianized)
Italian form of Venus.

Venuše f Czech
Czech form of Venus.

Vere m English (Rare)
From a Norman surname, which was from a French place name, which was itself derived from a Gaulish word meaning "alder".

Vérène f French (Rare)
French form of Verena.

Véronique f French
French form of Veronica.

Vetle m Norwegian
Norwegian form of the Old Norse name Vetrliði meaning "winter traveller", and by extension "bear cub".

Vianne f English (Rare)
Meaning unknown, perhaps a combination of Vi and Anne 1 or a short form of Vivianne.

Vibeke f Danish, Norwegian
Danish form of Wiebke. It was borne by an influential mistress of Christian IV of Denmark (17th century).

Vicente m Spanish, Portuguese
Spanish and Portuguese form of Vincent.

Vickie f English
Diminutive of Victoria.

Victoire f French
French form of Victoria.

Victorine f French
French feminine form of Victorinus.

Vide m Swedish
Means "willow" in Swedish, from Old Norse víðir.

Vienne f Various (Rare)
From the French name for Vienna, the capital city of Austria.

Vikentije m Serbian
Serbian form of Vincent.

Viktorie f Czech
Czech form of Victoria.

Vilde 1 f Norwegian
Short form of Alvilde.

Vilde 2 m Swedish (Rare)
From Swedish vild meaning "wild, untamed".

Viliame m Fijian
Fijian form of William.

Ville m Finnish, Swedish
Finnish and Swedish diminutive of Vilhelm and other names beginning with Vil.

Vilmantė f Lithuanian
Feminine form of Vilmantas.

Viltautė f Lithuanian (Rare)
Feminine form of Viltautas.

Viltė f Lithuanian
Short form of Viltautė.

Vince m English, Hungarian
English short form and Hungarian normal form of Vincent.

Vincente f French
French feminine form of Vincent.

Vinnie m & f English
Diminutive of Vincent and other names containing vin.

Violaine f French
Invented by Paul Claudel for the heroine of his play L'Annonce faite à Marie (1912). Earlier versions of the play were titled La Jeune Fille Violaine. Claudel likely based the name on Latin viola "violet".

Violante f Late Roman, Italian
Latin form of Yolanda.

Violette f French
French form of Violet.

Virgee f English
Diminutive of Virginia.

Virgie f English
Diminutive of Virginia.

Virgile m French
French form of Virgil.

Virginie f French
French form of Virginia.

Virve f Estonian, Finnish
Means "ripple, shimmer" in Estonian.

Vissente m Sardinian
Sardinian form of Vincent.

Vitale m Italian
Italian form of the Late Latin name Vitalis, which was derived from Latin vitalis meaning "of life, vital". Vitalis was the name of several early saints and martyrs.

Vittore m Italian
Italian form of Victor.

Viviane f French, Portuguese
French form of Viviana, as well as a Portuguese variant. It is also the French form of Vivien 2.

Vivianne f French
Variant of Viviane.

Vivienne f French
French form of Viviana.

Viviette f English (Rare)
Diminutive of Vivienne. William John Locke used this name for the title character in his novel Viviette (1910).

Voestaa'e f Cheyenne
Means "white bison calf woman" in Cheyenne, derived from vóésta "white bison calf" and the feminine suffix -e'é. Because white bison calves were rare they were considered sacred.

Voltaire m History
Pen name of François-Marie Arouet (1694-1778), a French philosopher and writer, the author of Candide. It is not known how Arouet devised his name. He may have reversed the syllables of Airvault, a town where his family owned property; it may have been an anagram of the Latin spelling of his surname Arovet and LI standing for le jeune "the young"; or it may have come from French volontaire "determined".

Vonahe'e f Cheyenne
Means "medicine bundle woman" in Cheyenne. A medicine bundle is a collection of sacred items used in religious ceremonies.

Vytautė f Lithuanian
Feminine form of Vytautas.

Usage	clear
Language	clear
Place	clear

Initial	clear
Start	clear
End	clear
Substring	clear
Pattern	clear help?
the letters in the pattern are compared to the letters in the name * is a wildcard that matches zero or more letters example: oo matches names which contain oo _ is a wildcard that matches exactly one letter example: __z matches names which have two letters and then z

Meaning	clear help?
	expand search to include grammatical forms
	expand search to include close synonyms
	expand search to include subclasses
	expand search to related names
separate search terms with spaces search for an exact phrase by surrounding it with double quotes this field understands simple boolean logic force a term to be included by preceding it with a + sign force a term to be excluded by preceding it with a - sign expand search to include grammatical forms: attempt to include grammatical forms of the meanings example: speak includes spoke expand search to include close synonyms: attempt to include synonyms of the meanings example: brave includes courageous expand search to include search narrower synonyms: attempt to include subclasses of the meanings example: reptile includes turtle expand search to related names: allow related names to inherit the meaning of the main form
Description	clear help?
	ignore name meanings
the description is the meaning and history write-up for the name separate search terms with spaces search for an exact phrase by surrounding it with double quotes example: "lord of the rings" matches names from the novel 'The Lord of the Rings' this field understands simple boolean logic force a term to be included by preceding it with a + sign force a term to be excluded by preceding it with a - sign example: +greek +(legend myth) -zeus matches Greek names of myths or legends not about Zeus ignore name meanings: keywords from the name meanings are ignored

Pronunciation	clear help?
	case sensitive
see the pronunciation key for a guide on how to write the sounds sounds can only be searched in names that have been assigned pronunciations * is a wildcard that will match zero or more letters in the pronunciation example: lee matches names which end with the sound lee* _ is a wildcard that will match exactly one letter in the pronunciation example: __z matches names which have two letters and then a z (s) matches exactly one syllable in the pronunciation example: (s)(s)ra matches names which have two syllables and then the sound rah (c) matches a consonant (k) matches a consonant or consonant cluster (v) matches a vowel (p) matches a plosive or stop consonant (f) matches a fricative consonant (n) matches a nasal consonant case sensitive: check this if you wish distinguish between unstressed lowercase sounds and stressed uppercase sounds
Syllables	clear help?
syllables can only be counted in names that have been assigned pronunciations names without pronunciations are excluded from results

Related name	clear
Relationship	clear help?
	expand search to ancestral names
the "relationship" is how the name relates to its parent name example: searching for diminutive matches Betsy because it is a diminutive of its parent Elizabeth selecting *(all core forms)* excludes peripheral forms such as diminutives, short forms, and combinations expand search to ancestral names: relationships between names further up the family tree are included

Impression	clear help?
name impressions are based on the ratings left by the behindthename.com community
Impression	clear help?
name impressions are based on the ratings left by the behindthename.com community
Impression	clear help?
name impressions are based on the ratings left by the behindthename.com community

List	clear
Year	clear
Rank	clear

Sort	clear
Display	clear