ALLAN m English, Scottish, DanishVariant of
ALAN. The American author Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849) got his middle name from the surname of the parents who adopted him.
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.
CHUCK m EnglishDiminutive of
CHARLES. It originated in America in the early 20th century. Two famous bearers of this name were pilot Chuck Yeager (1923-), the first man to travel faster than the speed of sound, and the musician Chuck Berry (1926-2017), one of the pioneers of rock music.
CLOVER f English (Rare)From the English word for the wild flower, ultimately deriving from Old English
clafre.
COOPER m EnglishFrom a surname meaning
"barrel maker", from Middle English
couper.
ELLE f English (Modern)Diminutive of
ELEANOR and other names beginning with
El. This name can also be given in reference to the French pronoun
elle meaning "she".
HOPE f EnglishFrom the English word
hope, ultimately from Old English
hopian. This name was first used by the Puritans in the 17th century.
INDIGO f & m English (Rare)From the English word
indigo for the purplish-blue dye or the colour. It is ultimately derived from Greek
Ινδικον (Indikon) meaning "Indic, from India".
JAMES m English, BiblicalEnglish form of the Late Latin name
Iacomus, which was derived from
Ιακωβος (Iakobos), the New Testament Greek form of the Hebrew name
Ya'aqov (see
JACOB). This was the name of two apostles in the New Testament. The first was Saint James the Greater, the apostle
John's brother, who was beheaded under Herod Agrippa in the Book of Acts. The second was James the Lesser, son of Alphaeus. Another James (known as James the Just) is also mentioned in the Bible as being the brother of
Jesus.
... [more] JOY f EnglishSimply from the English word
joy, ultimately derived from Norman French
joie, Latin
gaudia. It has been regularly used as a given name since the late 19th century.
KAYLA f EnglishCombination of
KAY (1) and the popular name suffix
la. Use of the name was greatly increased in the 1980s after the character Kayla Brady began appearing on the American soap opera
Days of Our Lives.
KINGSLEY m English (Modern)From a surname that was originally derived from a place name meaning
"king's wood" in Old English.
NEVADA f EnglishFrom the name of the American state, which means
"snow-capped" in Spanish.
OLIVIA f English, Italian, Spanish, German, Finnish, Swedish, Norwegian, DanishThis name was used in this spelling by William Shakespeare for a character in his comedy
Twelfth Night (1602). This was a rare name in Shakespeare's time that may have been based on
OLIVA or
OLIVER, or directly from the Latin word
oliva meaning
"olive". In the play Olivia is a noblewoman who is wooed by Duke Orsino but instead falls in love with his messenger Cesario.
... [more] PEGGY f EnglishMedieval variant of
Meggy, a diminutive of
MARGARET. The reason for the change in the initial consonant is unknown.
PRUDENCE f & m English, FrenchMedieval English form of
Prudentia, the feminine form of
PRUDENTIUS. In France it is both the feminine form and a rare masculine form. In England it was used during the Middle Ages and was revived in the 17th century by the Puritans, in part from the English word
prudence, ultimately of the same source.
RIPLEY m English (Rare)From a surname that originally came from a place name that meant
"strip clearing" in Old English.
ROY m Scottish, English, DutchAnglicized form of
RUADH. A notable bearer was the Scottish outlaw and folk hero Rob Roy (1671-1734). It is often associated with French
roi "king".
SCARLETT f EnglishFrom a surname that denoted a person who sold or made clothes made of scarlet (a kind of cloth, possibly derived from Persian
سقرلاط (saghrelat)). Margaret Mitchell used this name for Scarlett O'Hara, the main character in her novel
Gone with the Wind (1936). Scarlett's name came from her grandmother's maiden name.
SHANNON f & m EnglishFrom the name of the River Shannon, the longest river in Ireland, called
Abha an tSionainn in Irish. It is associated with the goddess
Sionann and is sometimes said to be named for her. However it is more likely the goddess was named after the river, which may be related to Old Irish
sen "old, ancient". As a given name, it first became common in America after the 1940s.
TAYLOR m & f EnglishFrom an English surname that originally denoted someone who was a tailor, from Norman French
tailleur, ultimately from Latin
taliare "to cut". Its modern use as a feminine name may have been influenced by the British-American author Taylor Caldwell (1900-1985).
YUI f JapaneseFrom Japanese
結 (yu) meaning "tie, bind" or
優 (yu) meaning "excellence, superiority, gentleness" combined with
衣 (i) meaning "clothing, garment". It can also come from standalone
結 (yui) using a different nanori reading. This name can be formed of other kanji or kanji combinations as well.