Behind the Name: Browse Names

ADERYNfWelsh
Means "bird" in Welsh. This is a modern Welsh name.

AETIUSmAncient Roman
Roman cognomen which was probably derived from Greek αετος (aetos) "eagle". A famous bearer was the 5th-century Roman general Flavius Aetius, who defeated Attila the Hun at the Battle of Chalons.

ANDOR (1)mNorwegian
From the Old Norse name Arnþórr, derived from the element arn "eagle" combined with the name of the Norse god Þórr (see THOR).

ANE (2)mFrisian
Short form of names beginning with the Germanic element arn "eagle".

ANNE (2)mFrisian
Short form of names beginning with the Germanic element arn "eagle".

ANTIMANmNative American, Mapuche
Means "condor of the sun" in Mapuche.

ANTINANCOmNative American, Mapuche
Means "eagle of the sun" in Mapuche.

AQUILAm & fBiblical, Ancient Roman
From a Roman cognomen which meant "eagle" in Latin. In Acts in the New Testament Paul lives with Aquila and his wife Priscilla (or Prisca) for a time.

ARASmLithuanian
Means "eagle" in Lithuanian (a poetic word).

ARENDmDutch, German
Dutch and German variant of ARNOLD. This is also the Dutch word for "eagle".

ARI (2)mAncient Scandinavian, Icelandic, Finnish
Old Norse byname meaning "eagle".

ARKEmFrisian
Originally a short form of Germanic names beginning with the element arn meaning "eagle".

ARLIEf & mEnglish
From a surname which was derived from a place name meaning "eagle wood" in Old English. This name can also be a diminutive of ARLENE.

ARNBJÖRGfAncient Scandinavian, Icelandic
Old Norse name derived from the elements arn meaning "eagle" and björg meaning "help, save, rescue".

ARNE (1)mSwedish, Norwegian, Danish
Originally an Old Norse short form of names beginning with the element arn meaning "eagle".

ARNFINNmNorwegian
Norwegian form of Arnfinnr, which was derived from the elements arn "eagle" and Finnr "Sámi, person from Finland".

ARNFRIEDmGerman (Rare)
From a Germanic name derived from the elements arn "eagle" and frid "peace".

ARNOLDmEnglish, German, Dutch, Ancient Germanic
From 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]

ARNULFmGerman, Ancient Germanic
Germanic name derived from the elements arn "eagle" and wulf "wolf".

ARVIDmSwedish, Norwegian, Danish
From the Old Norse name Arnviðr, derived from the elements arn "eagle" and viðr "tree".

ASTORmEnglish (Rare)
From a surname derived from Occitan astur meaning "hawk".

ASUKAf & mJapanese
From 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.

AUCAMANmNative American, Mapuche
Means "wild condor" in Mapuche.

AVISfEnglish
Probably a Latinized form of the Germanic name Aveza, which was derived from the element avi, of unknown meaning, possibly "desired". The Normans introduced this name to England and it became moderately common during the Middle Ages, at which time it was associated with Latin avis "bird".

BERTRAMmEnglish, German, Ancient Germanic
Means "bright raven", derived from the Germanic element beraht "bright" combined with hramn "raven". The Normans introduced this name to England. Shakespeare used it in his play 'All's Well That Ends Well' (1603).

BRAN (1)mIrish, Irish Mythology
Means "raven" in Irish. In Irish legend Bran was a mariner who was involved in several adventures.

BRAN (2)mWelsh, Welsh Mythology
Means "raven" in Welsh. In Welsh legend Bran the Blessed (called also Bendigeid Vran) was the son of the god Llyr. Later Welsh legends describe him as a king of Britain who was killed attacking Ireland.

BRANWENfWelsh, Welsh Mythology
Means "beautiful raven" from Welsh bran "raven" and gwen "fair, white, blessed". In the Mabinogion, a collection of tales from Welsh myth, she is the sister of the British king Bran and the wife of the Irish king Matholwch.

BRENNUSmAncient Celtic (Latinized)
Latinized form of a Celtic name (or title) that possibly meant either "king, prince" or "raven". Brennus was a Gallic leader of the 4th century BC who attacked and sacked Rome.

CAUÃmNative American, Tupi
Means "hawk" in Tupi.

CELANDINEfEnglish (Rare)
From the name of the flower, which derives from Greek χελιδων (chelidon) "swallow (bird)".

CIRCEfGreek Mythology (Latinized)
Latinized form of Greek Κιρκη (Kirke), which possibly meant "bird". In Greek mythology Circe was a sorceress who changed Odysseus's crew into hogs but was forced by him to change them back.

CORBINmEnglish
From a French surname which was derived from corbeau "raven", originally denoting a person who had dark hair. The name was probably popularized in America by actor Corbin Bernsen (1954-).

CORMACmIrish
Possibly derived from Irish Gaelic corb "raven" or "wheel" and mac "son". This was the name of a 3rd-century king of Ireland.

CRAWFORDmEnglish
From a surname which was derived from a place name meaning "crow ford" in Old English.

CUAUHTÉMOCmNative American, Nahuatl
Means "falling eagle" in Nahuatl. This was the name of the last Aztec emperor, ruling until he was captured and executed by the Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés in the year 1525.

DERYNfWelsh
Possibly from Welsh aderyn meaning "bird".

DRORmHebrew
Means "freedom" or "sparrow" in Hebrew.

ENGUERRANDmMedieval French
Medieval French form of the Germanic name Engilram, which was composed of the elements Angil, the name of a Germanic tribe known in English as the Angles, and hramn "raven". This was the name of several French nobles from Picardy.

ÉNNAmIrish
Possibly means "bird-like" in Irish. This was the name of several Irish kings and heroes. It was also borne by a 6th-century saint who built the monastery of Killeany.

FAIGELfYiddish
Derived from Yiddish פֵֿײגֶל (feigel) meaning "bird".

FECHÍNmIrish
Means "little raven" from Irish fiach "raven" combined with a diminutive suffix. This was the name of an Irish saint of the 7th century who died of the yellow plague.

FIACHNAmIrish
Derived from Gaelic fiach meaning "raven". This was the name of a king in Irish legend.

FIACHRAmIrish, Irish Mythology
Derived from Gaelic fiach meaning "raven". In Irish legend Fiachra was one of the four children of Lir transformed into swans for a period of 900 years. This is also the name of the patron saint of gardeners, a 7th-century Irish abbot who settled in France.

FULTONmEnglish
From a surname which was derived from the name of the town of Foulden in Norfolk, itself meaning "bird hill" in Old English.

GUNTRAMmGerman
Means "war raven" from the Germanic elements gund "war" and hramn "raven". This was the name of a 6th-century Frankish king.

GWALCHMEImWelsh Mythology
Derived from Welsh gwalch "hawk", possibly combined with mei "May (the month)". This is the name of a character in Welsh legend. He is probably the antecedent of Gawain from Arthurian romance.

HAYTHAMmArabic
Means "young eagle" in Arabic.

HRAFNmIcelandic, Ancient Scandinavian
Means "raven" in Old Norse.

KORBINIANmGerman
Derived from Latin corvus meaning "raven". This was the name of an 8th-century Frankish saint who was sent by Pope Gregory II to evangelize in Bavaria. His real name may have been Hraban (see Raban).

PARASTOOfPersian
Means "swallow (bird)" in Persian.

RABANmAncient Germanic
From a Germanic byname derived from hraban meaning "raven".

RAMBERTmAncient Germanic
Derived from the Germanic elements hramn "raven" and beraht "bright".

RAVENf & mEnglish
From the name of the bird, ultimately from Old English hræfn. The raven is revered by several Native American groups of the west coast. It is also associated with the Norse god Odin.

RONNEmFrisian
Frisian short form of Germanic names beginning with the element hraban meaning "raven".

SACAGAWEAfNative American
Probably from Hidatsa tsakáka wía meaning "bird woman". Alternatively it could originate from the Shoshone language and mean "boat puller". This name was borne by a Native American woman who guided the explorers Lewis and Clark. She was of Shoshone ancestry but had been abducted in her youth and raised by a Hidatsa tribe.

SÉAGHDHAmIrish
Possibly means "admirable" or "hawk-like" in Gaelic.

SHAKUNTALAfHinduism, Indian, Hindi, Marathi
Derived from Sanskrit शकुन्त (shakunta) meaning "bird". This is the name of a character in Hindu legend, her story adapted by Kalidasa for the 5th-century play 'Abhijnanashakuntalam'. It tells how Shakuntala, who was raised in the forest by birds, meets and marries the king Dushyanta. After a curse is laid upon them Dushyanta loses his memory and they are separated, but eventually the curse is broken after the king sees the signet ring he gave her.

SHQIPEfAlbanian
Either from Albanian shqipe meaning "eagle" or shqip meaning "Albanian" (words which may be interrelated).

SPARROWm & fEnglish (Rare)
From the name of the bird, ultimately from Old English spearwa.

SUZUMEfJapanese (Rare)
From Japanese 雀 (suzume) meaning "sparrow", as well as other kanji or kanji combinations which are pronounced the same way.

TALAKOmNative American, Choctaw
Means "eagle" in Choctaw.

ÞÓRARINNmAncient Scandinavian, Icelandic
Old Norse name derived from the name of the Norse god Þórr (see THOR) combined with arn "eagle".

TSUBAMEfJapanese (Rare)
From Japanese 燕 (tsubame) meaning "swallow (bird)" or other kanji which have the same pronunciation.

VASCOmSpanish, Portuguese, Italian
From the medieval Spanish name Velasco which possibly meant "crow" in Basque. A famous bearer was the 15th-century Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama, the first person to sail from Europe around Africa to India.

VEGAfAstronomy
The name of a star in the constellation Lyra. Its name is from Arabic الواقع (al-Waqi') meaning "the swooping (eagle)".

WAMANmNative American, Quechua
Means "eagle, falcon" in Quechua.

WOLFRAMmGerman
Derived from the Germanic element wulf meaning "wolf" combined with hramn "raven".

WRENfEnglish (Modern)
From the English word for the small songbird. It is ultimately derived from Old English wrenna.

ZIPPORAHfBiblical, Hebrew
From the Hebrew name צִפּוֹרָה (Tzipporah), derived from צִפּוֹר (tzippor) meaning "bird". In the Old Testament this is the name of the Midianite wife of Moses. She was the daughter of the priest Jethro.

ZITKALAfNative American, Sioux
Means "bird" in Lakota.

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