AMARO m Galician, Portuguese, SpanishPossibly from the Germanic name
ADELMAR, maybe influenced by Latin
amarus "bitter". This was the name of a legendary saint who was said to have sailed across the Atlantic to a paradise. He is especially popular in Galicia and Asturias in Spain.
BERTHA f German, English, Ancient GermanicOriginally a short form of Germanic names beginning with the element
beraht meaning
"bright, famous". It was borne by the mother of
Charlemagne in the 8th century, and it was popularized in England by the Normans. It died out as an English name after the Middle Ages, but was revived in the 19th century. The name also appears in southern Germanic legends (often spelled
Perchta or
Berchta) belonging to a goddess of animals and weaving.
CLARA f German, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, French, Catalan, Romanian, English, Swedish, Danish, Late RomanFeminine form of the Late Latin name
Clarus, which meant
"clear, bright, famous". The name
Clarus was borne by a few early saints. The feminine form was popularized by the 13th-century Saint Clare of Assisi (called
Chiara in Italian), a friend and follower of Saint Francis, who left her wealthy family to found the order of nuns known as the Poor Clares. As an English name it has been in use since the Middle Ages, originally in the form
Clare, though the Latinate spelling
Clara became more popular in the 19th century.
CLARICE f EnglishMedieval vernacular form of the Late Latin name
Claritia, which was a derivative of
CLARA.
CLARISSA f English, ItalianLatinate form of
CLARICE. This was the name of the title character in a 1748 novel by Samuel Richardson. In the novel Clarissa is a virtuous woman who is tragically exploited by her family and her lover.
ELMAR m GermanDescended from various Germanic names such as
Agilmar, which was derived from the elements
agil "edge (of a sword), blade" and
mari "famous".
GUIOMAR f & m Portuguese, Spanish, Arthurian RomancePossibly derived from the Germanic name
Wigmar, which is formed of the elements
wig "war, battle" and
mari "famous". In the medieval
Lancelot-Grail cycle he plays a minor role as a cousin of Guinevere, who banishes him after he becomes a lover of Morgan le Fey. In modern Portugal and Spain it is a feminine name.
INGEMAR m SwedishFrom the Old Norse name
Ingimárr, derived from the name of the Germanic god
ING combined with
mærr "famous".
KLEIO f Greek Mythology, GreekDerived from Greek
κλέος (kleos) meaning
"glory". In Greek mythology she was the goddess of history and heroic poetry, one of the nine Muses. She was said to have introduced the alphabet to Greece.
KLEITOS m Ancient GreekMeans
"splendid, famous" in Greek. This was the name of one of the generals of Alexander the Great. He was killed by Alexander in a dispute.
KLYTIË f Greek MythologyDerived from Greek
κλυτός (klytos) meaning
"famous, noble". In Greek myth Klytië was an ocean nymph who loved the sun god Helios. Her love was not returned, and she pined away staring at him until she was transformed into a heliotrope flower, whose head moves to follow the sun.
MARVIN m English, GermanProbably from an English surname that was derived from the given name
MERVYN. A famous bearer was the American musician Marvin Gaye (1939-1984).
MERVYN m Welsh, EnglishFrom the Welsh name
Merfyn, which possibly meant
"marrow famous". This was the name of a 9th-century Welsh king, Merfyn Frych.
ORLANDO m ItalianItalian form of
ROLAND, as used in the epic poems
Orlando Innamorato (1483) by Matteo Maria Boiardo and
Orlando Furioso (1532) by Ludovico Ariosto. A character in Shakespeare's play
As You like It (1599) also bears this name, as does a city in Florida.
RAMIRO m Spanish, PortugueseSpanish and Portuguese form of
Ramirus, a Latinized form of a Visigothic name derived from the Germanic elements
ragin "advice" and
mari "famous". Saint Ramirus was a 6th-century prior of the Saint Claudius Monastery in Leon. He and several others were executed by the Arian Visigoths, who opposed orthodox Christianity. This name was subsequently borne by kings of León, Asturias and Aragon.
ROALD m NorwegianModern form of the Old Norse name
Hróðvaldr or
Hróaldr, composed of the elements
hróðr "fame" and
valdr "ruler". This name was borne by the Norwegian polar explorer Roald Amundsen (1872-1928) and the British children's author Roald Dahl (1916-1990), who was born to Norwegian parents.
ROBERT m English, French, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, German, Dutch, Finnish, Estonian, Czech, Polish, Russian, Slovene, Croatian, Romanian, Catalan, Ancient GermanicFrom the Germanic name
Hrodebert meaning
"bright fame", derived from the Germanic elements
hrod "fame" and
beraht "bright". The Normans introduced this name to Britain, where it replaced the Old English cognate
Hreodbeorht. It has been consistently among the most common English names from the 13th to 20th century. In the United States it was the most popular name for boys between 1924 and 1939 (and again in 1953).
... [more] RODNEY m EnglishFrom a surname, originally derived from a place name, which meant "Hroda's island" in Old English (where
Hroda is a Germanic given name meaning "fame"). It was first used as a given name in honour of the British admiral Lord Rodney (1719-1792).
ROLAND m English, French, German, Swedish, Dutch, Hungarian, Polish, Medieval FrenchFrom the Germanic elements
hrod meaning "fame" and
landa meaning "land", though some theories hold that the second element was originally
nand meaning "brave". Roland was a semi-legendary French hero whose story is told in the medieval epic
La Chanson de Roland, in which he is a nephew of
Charlemagne killed in battle with the Saracens. The Normans introduced this name to England.
ROSE f English, FrenchOriginally a Norman form of the Germanic name
Hrodohaidis meaning
"famous type", composed of the elements
hrod "fame" and
heid "kind, sort, type". The Normans introduced it to England in the forms
Roese and
Rohese. From an early date it was associated with the word for the fragrant flower
rose (derived from Latin
rosa). When the name was revived in the 19th century, it was probably with the flower in mind.
ROSENDO m SpanishSpanish form of a Visigothic name composed of the Germanic elements
hrod "fame" and
sinths "path". This was the name of a 10th-century Galician saint, also known as Rudesind.
ROSWITHA f GermanDerived from the Germanic elements
hrod "fame" and
swinth "strength". This was the name of a 10th-century nun from Saxony who wrote several notable poems and dramas.
ROWENA f EnglishMeaning uncertain, possibly a Latinized form of a Germanic name derived from the elements
hrod "fame" and
wunn "joy, bliss". According to the 12th-century chronicler Geoffrey of Monmouth, this was the name of a daughter of the Saxon chief Hengist. Alternatively, Geoffrey may have based it on a Welsh name. It was popularized by Sir Walter Scott, who used it for a character in his novel
Ivanhoe (1819).
ŞAN m & f TurkishMeans
"fame, reputation" in Turkish.
VLADIMIR m Russian, Serbian, Croatian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Slovene, Medieval SlavicDerived from the Slavic element
vladeti "rule" combined with
meru "great, famous". The second element has also been associated with
miru meaning "peace, world". This was the name of an 11th-century grand prince of Kiev who is venerated as a saint because of his efforts to Christianize his realm (Kievan Rus). It was also borne by the founder of the former Soviet state, Vladimir Ilyich Lenin (1870-1924).
WALDEMAR m German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, PolishGermanic derivative of the Slavic name
VLADIMIR (or perhaps a cognate composed of the Germanic elements
wald "rule" and
mari "famous"). It was introduced into Scandinavia by the 12th-century Danish king Waldemar (or Valdemar) who was named after a royal ancestor of his Ukrainian mother.