Behind the Name: Browse Names

ALTANSARNAIfMongolian
Means "golden rose" in Mongolian.

ALTANTSETSEGfMongolian
Means "golden flower" in Mongolian.

ANARGYROSmGreek
From 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.

ARANKAfHungarian
Derived from Hungarian arany meaning "gold". It is used as a vernacular form of AURÉLIA.

ARGYROSmAncient Greek
Means "silver" in Greek.

ARIANRHODfWelsh, Welsh Mythology
Possibly means "silver wheel" or "round wheel" in Welsh. In Welsh myth Arianrhod was the mother of the brothers Dylan and Lleu Llaw Gyffes. In earlier myths she was a goddess of the moon.

AUREAfLate Roman
Late Latin name which was derived from aureus "golden". This was the name of a 3rd-century saint from Ostia (near Rome), as well as an 11th-century Spanish saint.

AURELIUSmAncient Roman
Roman family name which was derived from Latin aureus "golden, gilded". Marcus Aurelius was a 2nd-century Roman emperor and philosophical writer. This was also the name of several early saints.

AUREOLEfEnglish (Rare)
From the English word meaning "radiant halo", ultimately derived from Latin aureolus "golden".

CHRYSANTAfEnglish (Rare)
Shortened form of the word chrysanthemum, the name of a flowering plant, which means "golden flower" in Greek.

CHRYSANTHOSmGreek, Ancient Greek
Means "golden flower" from Greek χρυσεος (chryseos) "golden" combined with ανθος (anthos) "flower". This name was borne by a semi-legendary 3rd-century Egyptian saint.

CHRYSESmGreek Mythology
Derived from Greek χρυσεος (chryseos) meaning "golden". In Greek mythology Chryses was the father of Chryseis, a woman captured by Agamemnon during the Trojan War.

EUNm & fKorean
From Sino-Korean 恩 (eun) meaning "kindness, mercy, charity" or 銀 (eun) meaning "silver, money", as well as other hanja characters which are pronounced in the same way. It usually occurs in combination with another character, though it is sometimes used as a stand-alone name.

EURIGmWelsh
Derived from Welsh aur "gold".

EURWENfWelsh
Derived from Welsh aur "gold" and gwen "white, fair, blessed".

FIDDAfArabic
Means "silver" in Arabic.

FLAVIUSmAncient Roman
Roman family name which meant "golden" or "yellow-haired" from Latin flavus "yellow, golden". Flavius was the family name of the 1st-century Roman emperors Vespasian, Titus and Domitian. It was used as a personal name by several later emperors, notably by Constantine.

GOLDAfYiddish
Means "gold" in Yiddish.

HEMAfIndian, Hindi, Marathi, Tamil, Kannada
Means "golden" in Sanskrit.

JINm & fChinese
From Chinese 金 (jīn) meaning "gold, metal, money", 锦 (jǐn) meaning "tapestry, brocade, embroidered" or 津 (jīn) meaning "ferry". Other Chinese characters can form this name as well.

KANCHANAfTamil
Means "golden" in Sanskrit.

KIM (3)fVietnamese
From Sino-Vietnamese 金 (kim) meaning "gold, metal".

KOUmHmong
Means "gold" in Hmong.

LUJAYNfArabic
Means "silver" in Arabic.

MILLARAYfNative American, Mapuche
Means "golden flower" in Mapuche.

NUBIAfVarious
From the name of the ancient region and kingdom in Africa, south of Egypt. It possibly derives from the Egyptian word nbw meaning "gold".

OKROPIRmGeorgian
Means "gold mouth" in Georgian.

ORABELAfEsperanto
Means "golden-beautiful" in Esperanto.

ÓRFHLAITHfIrish
Means "golden princess" from Irish ór "gold" combined with flaith "princess". This was the name of a sister of the Irish king Brian Boru.

ORIANAfItalian, Spanish
Possibly derived from Latin aurum "gold" or from its derivatives, Spanish oro or French or. In medieval legend Oriana was the daughter of a king of England who married the knight Amadis.

ORINDAfEnglish (Rare)
Probably an elaboration of Spanish oro "gold". This was the pseudonym of the English poet Katherine Philips (1631-1664).

ORIOLmCatalan
From a Catalan surname meaning "golden". It has been used in honour of Joseph Oriol, a 17th-century saint.

ORVILLEmEnglish
This name was invented by the 18th-century writer Fanny Burney, who perhaps intended it to mean "golden city" in French. Orville Wright (1871-1948), together with his brother Wilbur, invented the first successful airplane.

PAZ (2)f & mHebrew
Means "gold" in Hebrew.

RUKMINIfHinduism
Means "adorned with gold" in Sanskrit. In Hindu belief this is the name of a princess who became the wife of Krishna.

SAFFRONfEnglish (Rare)
From the English word which refers either to a spice, the crocus flower from which it is harvested, or the yellow-orange colour of the spice. It is derived via Old French from Arabic زعفران (za'faran), itself probably from Persian meaning "gold leaves".

SILVERmEnglish
From the English word for the precious metal or the colour, ultimately derived from Old English seolfor.

SIMINfPersian
Means "silvery" in Persian.

SONA (1)fIndian, Hindi
Means "gold" in Hindi, derived from Sanskrit सुवर्ण (suvarna) meaning literally "good colour".

SONALfIndian, Hindi, Marathi, Gujarati
From Hindi सोना (sona), Marathi सोन (son) or Gujarati સોનું (sonum) meaning "gold", all derived from Sanskrit सुवर्ण (suvarna) meaning literally "good colour".

SOVANNAfKhmer
Means "golden, dream" in Khmer.

SWARNAm & fIndian, Telugu, Hindi
Means "good colour" or "golden", a contraction of the Sanskrit prefix सु (su) meaning "good" and वर्ण (varna) meaning "colour". This is a transcription of both the masculine form स्वर्ण and the feminine form स्वर्णा.

VANNA (2)f & mKhmer
Means "golden" in Khmer, ultimately from Sanskrit.

VOSKIf & mArmenian
Means "gold" in Armenian.

WORKNEHmEastern African, Amharic
Means "you are gold", from Amharic wärk meaning "gold".

YINf & mChinese
From Chinese 银 (yín) meaning "silver, money", 音 (yīn) meaning "sound, tone" or 荫 (yīn) meaning "shade, shelter, protect", as well as other Chinese characters pronounced similarly.

ZARATHUSTRAmHistory
Possibly means "golden camel" in Old Iranian, derived from zarat meaning "golden" combined with ushtra meaning "camel". Zarathustra was the Persian prophet who founded the ancient religion of Zoroastrianism about the 10th century BC.

ZAREENfPersian
Means "golden" in Persian.

ZLATANmCroatian, Serbian, Bosnian, Macedonian, Bulgarian, Slovene
Means "golden", a derivative of the Slavic word zlato "gold".

ZLOTAfJewish (Rare)
From Polish złoto "gold", used as translation of Yiddish Golda.

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