Names Categorized "horses"

AGRIPPA m & f Ancient Roman, Biblical
Roman cognomen of unknown meaning, possibly from a combination of Greek ἄγριος (agrios) meaning "wild" and ἵππος (hippos) meaning "horse" or alternatively of Etruscan origin. It was also used as a praenomen, or given name, by the Furia and Menenia families. In the New Testament this name was borne by Herod Agrippa (a grandson of Herod the Great), the king of Israel who put the apostle James to death. It was also borne by the 1st-century BC Roman general Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa.

ALCIPPE f Greek Mythology (Latinized)
From Greek Ἀλκίππη (Alkippe), derived from ἀλκή (alke) meaning "strength" and ἵππος (hippos) meaning "horse". This was the name of a daughter of Ares in Greek myth. Her father killed Halirrhotis, a son of Poseidon, when he attempted to rape her, leading to a murder trial in which Ares was quickly acquitted.

ASHWIN m Indian, Hindi, Marathi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada
From Sanskrit अश्विन् (ashvin) meaning "possessed of horses". The Ashvins are twin Hindu gods of the sunrise and sunset.

BAYARD m Literature
Derived from Old French baiart meaning "bay coloured". In medieval French poetry Bayard was a bay horse owned by Renaud de Montauban and his brothers. The horse could magically adjust its size to carry multiple riders.

BURAK m Turkish
From Arabic براق (Buraq), the name of the legendary creature that, according to Islamic tradition, transported the Prophet Muhammad. Its name is derived from Arabic برق (barq) meaning "lightning".

CATAHECASSA m Native American, Shawnee
Means "black hoof" in Shawnee. This was the name of a Shawnee warrior and chief of the 18th century.

COLT m English
From the English word for a young male horse or from the surname of the same origin. It may be given in honour of the American industrialist Samuel Colt (1814-1862) or the firearms company that bears his name.

EACHANN m Scottish, Irish
Means "brown horse" from Gaelic each "horse" and donn "brown". It was sometimes Anglicized as Hector.

ÉOWYN f Literature
Means "horse joy" in Old English. This name was invented by J. R. R. Tolkien who used Old English to represent the Rohirric language. In his novel The Lord of the Rings (1954) Eowyn is the niece of King Theoden of Rohan. She slays the Lord of the Nazgul in the Battle of the Pelennor Fields.

EPONA f Celtic Mythology
Derived from Gaulish epos meaning "horse". This was the name of the Celtic goddess of horses.

ÉTAÍN f Irish, Irish Mythology
Possibly derived from Old Irish ét meaning "jealousy". In Irish mythology she is the subject of the 9th-century tale The Wooing of Étaín. She was the wife of Midir, but his jealous first wife Fuamnach transformed her into a fly. She was accidentally swallowed, and then reborn to the woman who swallowed her. After she grew again to adulthood she married the Irish high king Eochaid Airem, having no memory of Midir. Midir and Étaín were eventually reunited after Midir defeated Eochaid in a game of chess.

HARI m Hinduism, Indian, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Nepali
Means "brown, yellow, tawny" in Sanskrit, and by extension "monkey, horse, lion". This is another name of the Hindu god Vishnu, and sometimes of Krishna. It is also borne by the son of the Garuda, the bird-like mount of Vishnu.

HELIOS m Greek Mythology
Means "sun" in Greek. This was the name of the young Greek sun god, a Titan, who rode across the sky each day in a chariot pulled by four horses. His sister was the moon goddess Selene.

HENGIST m Ancient Germanic
Of Germanic origin, meaning "stallion". According to medieval histories, Hengist and his brother Horsa were the leaders of the first Saxon settlers in Britain. Hengist established a kingdom in Kent in the 5th century.

HORSA m Ancient Germanic
From the Germanic element hros or hors meaning "horse". According to medieval chronicles, Horsa and his brother Hengist were the leaders of the first Saxon settlers to arrive in Britain. Horsa died in battle with the Britons.

HORST m German
Means "wood, thicket" in German. Alternatively, it may derive from the Germanic element hros or hors meaning "horse".

PHILIPPA f English (British), German
Latinate feminine form of PHILIP.

ROSALEEN f English (Rare)
Variant of ROSALINE. James Clarence Mangan used it as a translation for RÓISÍN in his poem Dark Rosaleen (1846).

ROSALIN f English (Rare)
Medieval variant of ROSALIND.

ROSALINA f Portuguese, Spanish
Latinate form of ROSALINE.

ROSALIND f English
Derived from the Germanic elements hros meaning "horse" and lind meaning "soft, tender, flexible". The Normans introduced this name to England, though it was not common. During the Middle Ages its spelling was influenced by the Latin phrase rosa linda "beautiful rose". The name was popularized by Edmund Spencer, who used it in his poetry, and by William Shakespeare, who used it for the heroine in his comedy As You Like It (1599).

ROSALINDA f Spanish, Italian
Latinate form of ROSALIND.

ROSALINE f English
Medieval variant of ROSALIND. This is the name of characters in Shakespeare's Love's Labour's Lost (1594) and Romeo and Juliet (1596).

ROSALYN f English
Variant of ROSALINE using the popular name suffix lyn.

ROSALYNNE f English (Rare)
Variant of ROSALYN.

ROSAMOND f English
Variant of ROSAMUND, in use since the Middle Ages.

ROSAMUND f English (Rare)
Derived from the Germanic elements hros "horse" and mund "protection". The Normans introduced this name to England. It was subsequently influenced by the Latin phrase rosa munda "pure rose". This was the name of the mistress of Henry II, the king of England in the 12th century. She was possibly murdered by his wife, Eleanor of Aquitaine.

ROSELYN f English
Variant of ROSALYN.

ROSEMONDE f French
French form of ROSAMUND.

ROSLINDIS f Ancient Germanic
Old Germanic form of ROSALIND.

ROSLYN f English
Variant of ROSALYN.

ROSMUNDA f Ancient Germanic
Old Germanic form of ROSAMUND.

ROSWELL m English
From a surname that was derived from an Old English place name meaning "horse spring".

SHERRY f English
Before the 20th century this was probably from the Irish surname Ó Searraigh meaning "descendant of Searrach" (a name meaning "foal" in Gaelic). Later it may have been reinforced by the French word chérie meaning "darling", or the English word sherry, a type of fortified wine named from the Spanish town of Jerez. This name came into popular use during the 1920s, inspired by other similar-sounding names and by Collette's novels Chéri (1920, English translation 1929) and The Last of Chéri (1926, English translation 1932), in which it is a masculine name.

SIAVASH m Persian, Persian Mythology
Means "possessing black stallions" in Avestan. This is the name of a prince in the 10th-century Persian epic the Shahnameh.

SIAVUSH m Persian
Alternate transcription of Persian سیاوش (see SIAVASH).

XANTHIPPOS m Ancient Greek
From the Greek elements ξανθός (xanthos) meaning "yellow" and ἵππος (hippos) meaning "horse". This was the name of a 5th-century BC Athenian general.