ÆÐELSTAN m Anglo-SaxonDerived from the Old English elements
æðel "noble" and
stan "stone". This was the name of an early king of England. The name was rarely used after the Norman Conquest.
AILBHE f & m IrishPossibly derived from the old Irish root
albho meaning "white" or
ail meaning "rock". In Irish legend this was the name of a female warrior of the Fianna. It was also the name of a 6th-century masculine saint, the founder of a monastery at Emly.
ALAN m English, Scottish, Breton, FrenchThe meaning of this name is not known for certain. It was used in Brittany at least as early as the 6th century, and it possibly means either "little rock" or "handsome" in Breton. Alternatively, it may derive from the tribal name of the Alans, an Iranian people who migrated into Europe in the 4th and 5th centuries.
... [more] CEPHAS m Biblical, Biblical LatinMeans "rock" in Aramaic. The apostle
Simon was called Cephas by
Jesus because he was to be the rock upon which the Christian church was to be built. In most versions of the New Testament
Cephas is translated into Greek
Πετρος (Petros) (in English
Peter).
CYBELE f Near Eastern Mythology (Latinized)Meaning unknown, possibly from Phrygian roots meaning either "stone" or "hair". This was the name of the Phrygian mother goddess associated with fertility and nature. She was later worshipped by the Greeks and Romans.
DUNSTAN m English (Rare), Anglo-SaxonFrom the Old English elements
dunn "dark" and
stan "stone". This name was borne by a 10th-century saint, the archbishop of Canterbury. It was occasionally used in the Middle Ages, though it died out after the 16th century. It was revived by the Tractarian movement in the 19th century.
EBENEZER m BiblicalMeans "stone of help" in Hebrew. This was the name of a monument erected by
Samuel in the Old Testament. Charles Dickens used it for the miserly character Ebenezer Scrooge in his novel 'A Christmas Carol' (1843).
FIHR m ArabicMeans "stone pestle" in Arabic. This was the name of an ancestor of
Muhammad.
HALDOR m NorwegianFrom the Old Norse name
Hallþórr, which meant "Thor's rock" from
hallr "rock" combined with the name of the Norse god
Þórr (see
THOR).
HALLE (1) m NorwegianFrom the Old Norse name
Halli, a diminutive of names containing the element
hallr meaning "rock".
HALVARD m NorwegianFrom the Old Norse name
Hallvarðr, which meant "rock guardian" from
hallr "rock" combined with
varðr "guardian".
HARLOW f & m EnglishFrom a surname derived from a place name, itself derived from Old English
hær "rock" or
here "army", combined with
hlaw "hill".
HERMES m Greek Mythology, Ancient GreekProbably from Greek
‘ερμα (herma) meaning "cairn, pile of stones, boundary marker". Hermes was a Greek god associated with speed and good luck, who served as a messenger to
Zeus and the other gods. He was also the patron of travellers, writers, athletes, merchants, thieves and orators.
... [more] ITZIAR f Basque, SpanishFrom the name of a Basque village that contains an important shrine to the Virgin
Mary, possibly meaning "old stone".
JADE f & m English, FrenchFrom the name of the precious stone that is often used in carvings. It is derived from Spanish
(piedra de la) ijada meaning "(stone of the) flank", relating to the belief that jade could cure renal colic. As a given name, it came into general use during the 1970s. It was initially unisex, though it is now mostly feminine.
JI-MIN f & m KoreanFrom Sino-Korean
志 (ji) meaning "will, purpose, ambition" or
智 (ji) meaning "wisdom, intellect" combined with
旼 (min) meaning "gentle, affable",
敏 (min) meaning "quick, clever, sharp" or
珉 (min) meaning "jade, stone resembling jade". Other hanja character combinations are possible.
KAMEN m BulgarianMeans "stone" in Bulgarian. This is a translation of the Greek name
Πετρος (Petros).
LEI (2) m & f ChineseFrom Chinese
磊 (lěi) meaning "pile of stones" (which is typically masculine) or
蕾 (lěi) meaning "bud" (typically feminine). Other characters can also form this name.
LORELEI f LiteratureFrom German
Loreley, the name of a rock headland on the Rhine River. It is of uncertain meaning, though the second element is probably old German
ley meaning "rock" (of Celtic origin). German romantic poets and songwriters, beginning with Clemens Brentano in 1801, tell that a maiden named the Lorelei lives on the rock and lures boaters to their death with her song.
MASON m EnglishFrom an English surname meaning "stoneworker", from an Old French word of Germanic origin (akin to Old English
macian "to make").
ONEIDA f EnglishFrom the name of a Native American tribe, perhaps meaning "standing rock".
PENINNAH f BiblicalMeans "precious stone, pearl" in Hebrew. In the Old Testament this is the name of one of the wives of
Elkanah, the other being
Hannah.
PETER m English, German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Slovene, Slovak, BiblicalDerived from the Greek
Πετρος (Petros) meaning "stone". This is a translation used in most versions of the New Testament of the name
Cephas, meaning "stone" in Aramaic, which was given to the apostle
Simon by
Jesus (compare Matthew 16:18 and John 1:42). Simon Peter was the most prominent of the apostles during Jesus' ministry and is often considered the first pope.
... [more] ROCHELLE f EnglishFrom the name of the French city
La Rochelle, meaning "little rock". It first became commonly used as a given name in America in the 1930s, probably due to the fame of actress Rochelle Hudson (1914-1972) and because of the similarity to the name
Rachel.
SAKHR m ArabicMeans "solid rock" in Arabic. This name appears in the poems of the 7th-century poetess Al-Khansa.
SELA f English (Rare)From the name of a city, the capital of Edom, which appears in the Old Testament. It means "rock" in Hebrew.
SENECA m Ancient RomanFrom a Roman cognomen derived from Latin
senectus meaning "old". This was the name of both a Roman orator (born in Spain) and also of his son, a philosopher and statesman. This name also coincides with that of the
Seneca, a Native American tribe that lived near the Great Lakes, whose name meant "place of stones".
SEOK m KoreanFrom Sino-Korean
石 (seok) meaning "stone" or
錫 (seok) meaning "tin", as well as other characters that are pronounced the same way.
SHI m & f ChineseFrom Chinese
时 (shí) meaning "time, era, season",
实 (shí) meaning "real, honest",
史 (shǐ) meaning "history" or
石 (shí) meaning "stone". Other characters can form this name as well.
SIXTEN m SwedishFrom the Old Norse name
Sigsteinn, which was derived from the elements
sigr "victory" and
steinn "stone".
STANFORD m EnglishFrom a surname that was derived from a place name meaning "stone ford" in Old English.
STANLEY m EnglishFrom a surname meaning "stone clearing" in Old English. A notable bearer of the surname was the British-American explorer and journalist Sir Henry Morton Stanley (1841-1904), the man who found David Livingstone in Africa. As a given name, it was borne by American director Stanley Kubrick (1928-1999), as well as the character Stanley Kowalski in Tennessee Williams' play 'A Streetcar Named Desire' (1947).
WYSTAN m English (Rare)From the Old English name
Wigstan, composed of the elements
wig "battle" and
stan "stone". This was the name of a 9th-century Anglo-Saxon saint. It became rare after the Norman Conquest, and in modern times it is chiefly known as the first name of the British poet W. H. Auden (1907-1973).
YU f & m ChineseFrom Chinese
玉 (yù) meaning "jade, precious stone, gem",
愉 (yú) meaning "pleasant, delightful" or
雨 (yǔ) meaning "rain". Other characters can form this name as well.
ZURIEL m BiblicalMeans "my rock is God" in Hebrew. In the Old Testament this name is borne by a chief of the Merarite Levites at the time of the Exodus.