Karl m German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Icelandic, English, Finnish, Estonian, Germanic, Old NorseGerman and Scandinavian form of
Charles. This was the name of seven rulers of the Franks and the Holy Roman Empire. It was also borne by a beatified emperor of Austria (1887-1922), as well as ten kings of Sweden. Other famous bearers include the German philosophers Karl Marx (1818-1883), a political theorist and socialist, and Karl Jaspers (1883-1969), an existentialist and psychiatrist.
Karolina f Polish, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Hungarian, Slovene, Croatian, Macedonian, Ukrainian, Russian, Lithuanian, GermanFeminine form of
Carolus.
Katherine f EnglishFrom the Greek name
Αἰκατερίνη (Aikaterine). The etymology is debated: it could derive from an earlier Greek name
Ἑκατερινη (Hekaterine), itself from
ἑκάτερος (hekateros) meaning
"each of the two"; it could derive from the name of the goddess
Hecate; it could be related to Greek
αἰκία (aikia) meaning
"torture"; or it could be from a Coptic name meaning
"my consecration of your name". In the early Christian era it became associated with Greek
καθαρός (katharos) meaning
"pure", and the Latin spelling was changed from
Katerina to
Katharina to reflect this.
... [more] Katina f Greek, Macedonian, BulgarianGreek contracted form of
Katerina. This name had a spike in popularity in America in 1972 when it was used for a newborn baby on the soap opera
Where the Heart Is.
Kausar f & m Urdu, KazakhUrdu and Kazakh form of
Kawthar. It is a unisex name in Urdu, but solely feminine in Kazakh.
Keano m Dutch (Modern)Perhaps a variant of
Keanu. It was popularized by a child (born 2004) on the Flemish reality show
De Pfaffs (2002-2011).
Kelly m & f Irish, EnglishAnglicized form of the Irish given name
Ceallach or the surname derived from it
Ó Ceallaigh. As a surname, it has been borne by actor and dancer Gene Kelly (1912-1996) and actress and princess Grace Kelly (1929-1982).
... [more] Kemal m TurkishTurkish form of
Kamal 1. This was the second name, acquired in his youth, of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk (1881-1938), the founder of modern Turkey.
Kemuel m BiblicalFrom the Hebrew name
קְמוּאֵל (Qemuʾel) meaning
"raised by God", derived from
קוּם (qum) meaning "to raise" and
אֵל (ʾel) meaning "God". This is the name of a nephew of
Abraham in the Old Testament.
Kenan 1 m BiblicalPossibly means
"possession" in Hebrew. He is a son of
Enosh and a great-grandson of
Adam in the Old Testament.
Kenaniah m BiblicalMeans
"Yahweh establishes" in Hebrew, from
כָּנַן (kanan) meaning "to establish" and
יָהּ (yah) referring to the Hebrew God. This was the name of two minor Old Testament characters.
Kenneth m Scottish, English, Swedish, Danish, NorwegianAnglicized form of both
Coinneach and
Cináed. This name was borne by the Scottish king Kenneth (Cináed) mac Alpin, who united the Scots and Picts in the 9th century. It was popularized outside of Scotland by Walter Scott, who used it for the hero in his 1825 novel
The Talisman. A famous bearer was the British novelist Kenneth Grahame (1859-1932), who wrote
The Wind in the Willows.
Keren-Happuch f BiblicalMeans
"horn of antimony" in Hebrew. Antimony is a substance that was formerly used as an eye cosmetic (eye shadow). A hollowed animal horn could have been used to store this material. Keren-Happuch is the name of the third daughter of
Job in the Old Testament.
Ketil m NorwegianFrom the Old Norse name
Ketill meaning
"kettle, cauldron" (later also acquiring the meaning
"helmet"). In old Scandinavian rituals the
ketill was used to catch the blood of sacrificed animals.
Keziah f BiblicalFrom the Hebrew name
קְצִיעָה (Qetsiʿa) meaning
"cassia, cinnamon", from the name of the spice tree. In the Old Testament she is a daughter of
Job.
Khadija f Arabic, Urdu, BengaliMeans
"premature child" in Arabic. This was the name of the Prophet
Muhammad's first wife and the mother of all of his children, with the exception of one. She was a wealthy merchant and a widow when they married in the year 595. Muhammad received his first revelation 15 years after their marriage, and she was the first person to convert to Islam.
Khaliq m Arabic, UrduMeans
"creator" in Arabic. In Islamic tradition
الخليق (al-Khalīq) is one of the 99 names of Allah.
Kiana 1 f Hawaiian, EnglishHawaiian form of
Diana. It was brought to wider attention in the late 1980s, likely by the Hawaiian fitness instructor Kiana Tom (1965-), who had a television show on ESPN beginning in 1988.
Kiara f English (Modern)Variant of
Ciara 1 or
Chiara. This name was brought to public attention in 1988 after the singing duo Kiara released their song
This Time. It was further popularized by a character in the animated movie
The Lion King II (1998).
Kim 1 f & m English, Dutch, GermanAt the present it is usually considered a short form of
Kimberly, but it in fact predates it as a given name. The author Rudyard Kipling used it for the title hero of his novel
Kim (1901), though in this case it was short for
Kimball. In her novel
Show Boat (1926) Edna Ferber used it for a female character who was born on the Mississippi River and was named from the initials of the states Kentucky, Illinois and Mississippi. The name was popularized in America by the actresses Kim Hunter (1922-2002) and Kim Novak (1933-), both of whom assumed it as a stage name.
Kjellaug f NorwegianFrom the Old Norse name
Ketillaug, derived from the elements
ketill meaning "kettle" and
laug possibly meaning "vowed, promised, bound in oath".
Kjellfrid f NorwegianFrom the Old Norse name
Ketilríðr, derived from the elements
ketill meaning "kettle" and
fríðr meaning "beautiful, beloved".
Kléber m French, Portuguese (Brazilian)From the German surname
Kleber meaning
"glue, sticky substance". It is used as a given name in France in honour of the Alsatian general Jean-Baptiste Kléber (1753-1800), who served in the French revolutionary wars.
Klemens m German, PolishGerman and Polish form of
Clemens (see
Clement). Prince Klemens Metternich (1773-1859) was an Austrian chancellor who guided the Austrian Empire to victory in the Napoleonic Wars.
Knut m Swedish, Norwegian, GermanDerived from Old Norse
knútr meaning
"knot". Knut was a Danish prince who defeated
Æðelræd II, king of England, in the early 11th century and became the ruler of Denmark, Norway and England.
Koloman m German (Rare), SlovakGerman and Slovak form of
Colmán. Saint Koloman (also called Coloman or Colman) was an Irish monk who was martyred in Stockerau in Austria.
Korbinian m GermanDerived 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.
Krešimir m CroatianFrom the Slavic elements
krěsiti "to spark, to flare up, to bring to life, to resurrect" and
mirŭ "peace, world". This was the name of four kings of Croatia in the 10th and 11th centuries. Their names were recorded in Latin as
Cresimirus.
Kriemhild f German (Rare), Germanic MythologyDerived from the Old German elements
grimo "mask" and
hilt "battle". Kriemhild was a beautiful heroine in the medieval German saga the
Nibelungenlied, where she is the sister of
Gunther and the wife of
Siegfried. After her husband is killed by
Hagen with the consent of Gunther, Kriemhild tragically exacts her revenge. She is called
Gudrun in Norse versions of the tale.
Krishna m Hinduism, Hindi, Marathi, Bengali, Gujarati, Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, NepaliDerived from Sanskrit
कृष्ण (kṛṣṇa) meaning
"black, dark". This is the name of a Hindu deity believed to be an incarnation of the god
Vishnu. According to the
Mahabharata and the Puranas he was the youngest of King
Vasudeva's eight sons by
Devaki, six of whom were killed by King Kamsa because of a prophecy that a child of Vasudeva would kill Kamsa. However, Krishna and his brother
Balarama were saved and he eventually fulfilled the prophecy by slaying the evil king. He then helped the Pandavas defeat the Kauravas in the Mahabharata War. His philosophical conversation with the Pandava leader
Arjuna forms the text of the important Hindu scripture the
Bhagavad Gita.
... [more] Kristina f Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Estonian, Russian, German, Slovene, Czech, Lithuanian, Serbian, Croatian, Albanian, Faroese, English, BulgarianForm of
Christina in several languages. It is also an English variant of
Christina and a Bulgarian variant of
Hristina.