Browse Names

Titania f Literature
Perhaps based on Latin Titanius meaning "of the Titans". This name was (first?) used by William Shakespeare in his comedy A Midsummer Night's Dream (1595) where it belongs to the queen of the fairies, the wife of Oberon. This is also a moon of Uranus, named after the Shakespearean character.

Tuor m Literature
Means "strength vigour" in the fictional language Sindarin. In the Silmarillion (1977) by J. R. R. Tolkien, Tuor was the mortal man who came to the hidden city of Gondolin to warn of its imminent doom. When Gondolin was attacked and destroyed he escaped with his wife Idril and son Eärendil, and sailed into the west.

Turin m Literature
Means "victory mood" in the fictional language Sindarin. In the Silmarillion (1977) by J. R. R. Tolkien, Turin was a cursed hero, the slayer of the dragon Glaurung. He was also called Turambar, Mormegil, and other names. This is also the Anglicized name of the city of Torino in Italy.

Turpin m Carolingian Cycle
From the rare medieval name Tilpinus, of uncertain meaning, which was borne by an 8th-century bishop of Reims. He appears as Turpin, a warrior and bishop, in the French epic La Chanson de Roland. The spelling was probably altered by association with Latin turpis "ugly".

Undine f Literature
Derived from Latin unda meaning "wave". The word undine was created by the 16th-century Swiss author Paracelsus, who used it for female water spirits.

Valquíria f Portuguese
Portuguese form of Valkyrie.

Viriato m Portuguese
From the Latin name Viriathus or Viriatus, which was derived from viriae "bracelets" (of Celtic origin). Viriathus was a leader of the Lusitani (a tribe of Portugal) who rebelled against Roman rule in the 2nd century BC.

Voldemort m Literature
Invented by author J.K. Rowling, apparently based on French vol de mort meaning "flight of death" or "theft of death". This is the name of the primary villain in Rowling's Harry Potter series of books, first released in 1997. The books explain that he created his name by anagramming his birth name Tom Marvolo Riddle into I am Lord Voldemort.

Wolfdietrich m Literature, German (Rare)
Compound of Wolf and Dietrich. Wolfdietrich is the title hero of a 13th-century Middle High German epic poem. By some traditions he is the grandfather of the more famous hero Dietrich von Bern.

Wukong m Literature
Means "awakened to emptiness", from Chinese 悟 (wù) meaning "enlightenment, awakening" and 空 (kōng) meaning "empty, hollow, sky". This is the name of the Monkey King, Sun Wukong, in the 16th-century Chinese novel Journey to the West.

Zaire m African American (Modern)
From the name of a country in Africa from 1971 to 1997, now called the Democratic Republic of Congo. It is said to be derived from Kikongo nzadi o nzere meaning "river swallowing rivers", referring to the Congo River.

Zemfira f Azerbaijani, Tatar, Bashkir, Literature
Meaning unknown, possibly of Romani origin. This name was (first?) used by Aleksandr Pushkin in his poem The Gypsies (1827).

Zorro m Literature, Popular Culture
Means "fox" in Spanish. This is the name of a masked vigilante created by writer Johnston McCulley in 1919 for a series of books, later adapted into movies and television.

Zyaire m African American (Modern)
Variant of Zaire.