English Origin Names

This is a list of names in which the origin is English. English is a West Germanic language spoken in Great Britain, the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and other places.
gender
usage
origin
​
Wayne m English
From an occupational surname meaning "wagon maker", derived from Old English wægn "wagon". Use of it as a given name can be partly attributed to the popularity of the actor John Wayne (1907-1979). Another famous bearer is Canadian hockey player Wayne Gretzky (1961-), generally considered the greatest player in the history of the sport.
Webster m English
From an occupational surname meaning "weaver", derived from Old English webba.
Weldon m English
From an English surname that was derived from a place name meaning "hill near a spring" in Old English.
Wells m English
From an English surname that originally denoted a person who lived near a well or spring, from Middle English wille.
Wenda f English (Rare)
Variant of Wendy.
Wendell m English
From a German and Dutch surname that was derived from the given name Wendel. In America this name has been given in honour of the poet Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. (1809-1894) and his son the Supreme Court justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. (1841-1935). The elder's middle name came from his mother's maiden name (which had been brought to America by a Dutch ancestor in the form Wendel, with the extra l added later).
Wendi f English
Variant of Wendy.
Wendy f English
In the case of the character from J. M. Barrie's play Peter Pan (1904), it was created from the nickname fwendy "friend", given to the author by a young friend. However, the name was used prior to the play (rarely), in which case it could be related to the Welsh name Gwendolen and other names beginning with the element gwen meaning "white, blessed". The name only became common after Barrie's play ran.
Wenona f English (Rare)
Variant of Winona.
Wes m English
Short form of Wesley.
Wesley m English
From an English surname that was derived from a place name, itself meaning "west meadow" from Old English west "west" and leah "woodland, clearing". It has been sometimes given in honour of John Wesley (1703-1791), the founder of Methodism.
Westley m English
From a surname that was a variant of Wesley.
Weston m English
From an English surname that was derived from a place name, itself from Old English west "west" and tun "enclosure, yard, town".
Whitaker m English (Rare)
From a surname that was derived from a place name meaning "white field" in Old English.
Whitney f & m English
From an English surname that was originally derived from a place name meaning "white island" in Old English. Its popular use as a feminine name was initiated by actress Whitney Blake (1925-2002) in the 1960s, and further boosted in the 1980s by singer Whitney Houston (1963-2012).
Wilbur m English
From an English surname that was originally derived from the nickname Wildbor meaning "wild boar" in Middle English. This name was borne by Wilbur Wright (1867-1912), one half of the Wright brothers, who together invented the first successful airplane. Wright was named after the Methodist minister Wilbur Fisk (1792-1839). A famous fictional bearer is the main character (a pig) in the children's novel Charlotte's Web (1952) by E. B. White.
Wilburn m English
From an English surname that was probably originally derived from an unknown place name. The second element corresponds with Old English burne "stream".
Wilda f English
Meaning uncertain, perhaps from a German surname, or perhaps from the English word wild. It has been in use since the 19th century.
Wilder m English
From an English surname meaning "wild, untamed, uncontrolled", from Old English wilde.
Wiley m English
From a surname that was derived from various English place names: towns named Willey or the River Wylye.
Wilford m English
From a surname that was originally derived from a place name meaning "willow ford" in Old English.
Wilkie m English
From an English surname that was originally derived from a diminutive of the given name William.
Will m English
Short form of William and other names beginning with Will. A famous bearer is American actor Will Smith (1968-), whose full name is Willard.
Willard m English
From an English surname that was derived from the Old German given name Willihard (or the Old English cognate Wilheard).
Willis m English
From an English surname that was derived from Will, a diminutive of William.
Willoughby m & f English (Rare)
From a surname that was originally derived from a place name meaning "willow town" in Old English.
Willow f English (Modern)
From the name of the tree, which is ultimately derived from Old English welig.
Wilmar m Spanish (Latin American)
Variant of Wilmer.
Wilmer m English, Spanish (Latin American)
From an English surname that was derived from the given name Wilmǣr. In some cases it might be regarded as a masculine form of Wilma. This name is popular in Spanish-speaking Latin America.
Wilson m English, Spanish (Latin American), Portuguese
From an English surname meaning "son of William". The surname was borne by Woodrow Wilson (1856-1924), the American president during World War I.
Wilt m English
Short form of Wilton. This name was borne by basketball player Wilt Chamberlain (1936-1999).
Wilton m English
From a surname that was derived from the names of several English towns. The town names mean variously "willow town", "well town" or "town on the River Wylye" in Old English. The river name is itself of Celtic origin, possibly meaning "tricky".
Windsor m & f English (Rare)
From an English surname that was from a place name meaning "riverbank with a windlass" in Old English (a windlass is a lifting apparatus). This has been the surname of the royal family of the United Kingdom since 1917.
Winfield m English
From a surname that originated from various English place names, themselves derived from Old English winn "meadow, pasture" and feld "field".
Winona f English, Sioux
Means "firstborn daughter" in Dakota or Lakota. According to folklore, this was the name of a daughter of a Dakota chief (possibly Wapasha III) who leapt from a cliff to her death rather than marry a man she hated. Numerous places in the United States have been named after her. The actress Winona Ryder (1971-) was named after the city in Minnesota where she was born.
Winslow m & f English (Rare)
From a surname that was derived from an Old English place name meaning "hill belonging to Wine". A famous bearer of this name was American painter Winslow Homer (1836-1910).
Winston m English
From an English surname that was derived from the Old English given name Wynnstan. A famous bearer was Winston Churchill (1874-1965), the British prime minister during World War II. This name was also borne by the fictional Winston Smith, the protagonist in George Orwell's 1949 novel 1984.
Winter f English (Modern)
From the English word for the season, derived from Old English winter.
Winthrop m English (Rare)
From a surname that was originally taken from town names meaning either "Wine's village" or "Wigmund's village" in Old English.
Winton m English
From a surname that was derived from a place name meaning "enclosure belonging to Wine" in Old English.
Wisdom f & m English (Rare)
Simply from the English word, a derivative of Old English wis "wise".
Wisteria f English (Rare)
From the name of the flowering plant, which was named for the American anatomist Caspar Wistar.
Wolf m German, Jewish, English (Rare), Germanic
Short form of Wolfgang, Wolfram and other names containing the Old German element wolf meaning "wolf" (Proto-Germanic *wulfaz). It can also be simply from the German or English word. As a Jewish name it can be considered a vernacular form of Zeev.
Wolfe m English (Rare)
Variant of Wolf, influenced by the spelling of the surname (which is also derived from the animal).
Woodie m English
Variant of Woody.
Woodrow m English
From an English surname that was originally derived from a place name meaning "row of houses by a wood" in Old English. It was borne by the American president Woodrow Wilson (1856-1924), who was given his mother's maiden name as his middle name (his first name was Thomas). During his candidacy and presidency (1912-1921) the name became popular, reaching the 44th rank in 1913, though it quickly declined after that.
Woody m English
Either a diminutive of names containing wood such as Woodrow, or else from a nickname derived from the English word wood. Famous bearers include the folk singer Woodrow "Woody" Guthrie (1912-1967), the comedian and film director Heywood "Woody" Allen (1935-; born as Allan Stewart Konigsberg), and the actor Woodrow "Woody" Harrelson (1961-). It is also borne by the cartoon characters Woody Woodpecker (debuting 1940) and Woody from the Toy Story movies (beginning 1995).
Wren f English (Modern)
From the English word for the small songbird. It is ultimately derived from Old English wrenna.
Wrenlee f English (Modern)
Variant of Wrenley.
Wrenley f English (Modern)
Elaboration of Wren using the popular name suffix ley.
Wright m English
From an occupational surname meaning "craftsman", ultimately from Old English wyrhta. Famous bearers of the surname were the Wright brothers (Wilbur 1867-1912 and Orville 1871-1948), the inventors of the first successful airplane, and Frank Lloyd Wright (1867-1959), an American architect.
Wyatt m English
From an English surname that was derived from the medieval given name Wyard or Wyot, from the Old English name Wigheard. Wyatt Earp (1848-1929) was an American lawman and gunfighter involved in the famous shootout at the OK Corral.
Wynne 2 m & f English (Rare)
From an English surname that was derived from the given name Wine.
Wynona f English
Variant of Winona.
Wynonna f English (Rare)
Variant of Winona.
Wynter f English (Modern)
Variant of Winter.
Yale m English (Rare)
From a Welsh surname, which was itself derived from a place name meaning "fertile upland" (from Welsh ial).
Yancy m & f English
From a surname, which was an Americanized form of the Dutch surname Jansen meaning "Jan 1's son".
Yazmin f English (Modern)
Variant of Jasmine.
York m English
From an English surname that was derived from York, the name of a city in northern England. The city name was originally Eburacon, Latinized as Eboracum, meaning "yew" in Brythonic. In the Anglo-Saxon period it was corrupted to Eoforwic, as if from Old English eofor "boar" and wic "village". This was rendered as Jórvík by the Vikings and eventually reduced to York.
Zadok m Biblical
Means "righteous" in Hebrew. This is the name of several characters in the Old Testament, most notably the high priest of Israel during the reigns of David and Solomon. Solomon was anointed by Zadok.
Zaiden m English (Modern)
Variant of Zayden.
Zalmon m Biblical
Means "shady" in Hebrew. This is the name of one of David's mighty men in the Old Testament.
Zane 1 m English
From an English surname of unknown meaning. It was introduced as a given name by American author Zane Grey (1872-1939). Zane was in fact his middle name — it had been his mother's maiden name.
Zavanna f English (Rare)
Variant of Savannah.
Zayden m English (Modern)
An invented name, using the popular den suffix sound found in such names as Braden, Hayden, Jayden and Aidan.
Zayne m English (Modern)
Variant of Zane 1.
Zella f English
Meaning unknown, possibly an invented name. It arose in the 19th century.
Zelophehad m Biblical
Possibly means either "first born" or "shadow from terror" in Hebrew. In the Old Testament, Zelophehad is a man who dies while the Israelites are wandering in the wilderness, leaving five daughters as heirs.
Zimri m Biblical
Means "my praise" or "my music" in Hebrew. This was the name of a king of Israel according to the Old Testament. He ruled for only seven days, when he was succeeded by the commander of the army Omri. Another Zimri in the Old Testament was the the lover of the Midianite woman Cozbi.
Zinnia f English (Rare)
From the name of the flower, which was itself named for the German botanist Johann Zinn.
Zola 1 f English
Meaning unknown, perhaps an invented name. It has been in occasional use in the English-speaking world since the 19th century. It coincides with an Italian surname, a famous bearer being the French-Italian author Émile Zola (1840-1902).
Zula 2 f English
Meaning unknown. It has been in use since the 19th century. It is possibly related to the name of the African tribe that lives largely in South Africa, the Zulus. In the 19th century the Zulus were a powerful nation under their leader Shaka.