Names Categorized "rivers"

AERON m & f Welsh
Derived either from Welsh aeron meaning "berry" or else from the name of the River Aeron in Wales.

AHTI m Finnish, Estonian, Finnish Mythology
Meaning unknown. This is the name of the Finnish god of the ocean, rivers and fishing.

ALED m Welsh
From the name of a Welsh river, of uncertain meaning.

ALEXANDER m English, German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Icelandic, Hungarian, Slovak, Biblical, Ancient Greek (Latinized), Greek Mythology (Latinized)
Latinized form of the Greek name Ἀλέξανδρος (Alexandros), which meant "defending men" from Greek ἀλέξω (alexo) meaning "to defend, help" and ἀνήρ (aner) meaning "man" (genitive ἀνδρός). In Greek mythology this was another name of the hero Paris, and it also belongs to several characters in the New Testament. However, the most famous bearer was Alexander the Great, king of Macedon. In the 4th century BC he built a huge empire out of Greece, Egypt, Persia, and parts of India. Due to his fame, and later medieval tales involving him, use of his name spread throughout Europe.... [more]

ALMA (1) f English, Spanish, Italian, Dutch
This name became popular after the Battle of Alma (1854), which took place near the River Alma in Crimea and ended in a victory for Britain and France. However, the name was in rare use before the battle; it was probably inspired by Latin almus "nourishing". It also coincides with the Spanish word meaning "the soul".

ALTON m English
From an Old English surname that was derived from a place name meaning "town at the source of the river".

ALWYN m Welsh
From the name of the River Alwen in Wales.

BECKETT m English (Modern)
From an English surname that could be derived from various sources, including from Middle English beke meaning "beak" or bekke meaning "stream, brook".

CHALCHIUHTLICUE f Aztec and Toltec Mythology
Means "jade skirt" in Nahuatl. She was the Aztec goddess of water and rivers, the wife of Tlaloc.

CLARE f English
Medieval English form of CLARA. This is also the name of an Irish county, which was itself probably derived from Irish clár meaning "plank, level surface".

CLINTON m English
From a surname that was originally from an Old English place name meaning "settlement on the River Glyme". A famous bearer of the surname is former American president Bill Clinton (1946-).

CLODAGH f Irish
From the name of a river in Tipperary, Ireland.

CLYDE m English
From the name of the River Clyde in Scotland, from Cumbric Clud, which is of uncertain origin. It became a common given name in America in the middle of the 19th century, perhaps in honour of Sir Colin Campbell (1792-1863) who was given the title Baron Clyde in 1858.

COLWYN m Welsh
From the name of a river in northern Wales.

CONWAY m English
From a surname that was derived from the name of the River Conwy, which possibly means "holy water" in Welsh.

DEE f & m English
Short form of names beginning with D. It may also be given in reference to the Dee River in Scotland.

DELTA f English
From the name of the fourth letter in the Greek alphabet, Δ. It is also the name for an island formed at the mouth of a river.

DOUGLAS m Scottish, English
Anglicized form of the Scottish surname Dubhghlas, meaning "dark river" from Gaelic dubh "dark" and glais "water, river" (an archaic word related to glas "grey, green"). Douglas was originally a place name (for example, a tributary of the River Clyde), which then became a Scottish clan name borne by a powerful line of earls. It has been used as a given name since the 16th century.

DUBHSHLÁINE m Ancient Irish
Old Irish name derived from dubh "dark, black" and either slán "defiance" or Sláine, the Irish name of the River Slaney.

FRASER m Scottish, English (Rare)
From a Scottish surname that is of unknown meaning. A famous bearer of the surname was Simon Fraser (1776-1862), a Canadian explorer.

GUADALUPE f & m Spanish
From a Spanish title of the Virgin Mary, Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe, meaning "Our Lady of Guadalupe". Guadalupe is a Spanish place name, the site of a famous convent, derived from Arabic وادي (wadi) meaning "valley, river" possibly combined with Latin lupus meaning "wolf". In the 16th century Our Lady of Guadalupe supposedly appeared in a vision to a native Mexican man, and she is now regarded as a patron saint of the Americas.

HE f & m Chinese
From Chinese 河 (hé) meaning "river, stream", 和 (hé) meaning "harmony, peace", or 荷 (hé) meaning "lotus, water lily" (which is usually only feminine). Other characters can form this name as well. A famous bearer was the 15th-century explorer Zheng He.

HUDSON m English
From an English surname meaning "son of HUDDE". A famous bearer of the surname was the English explorer Henry Hudson (1570-1611).

JIANG m & f Chinese
From Chinese 江 (jiāng) meaning "river, Yangtze", as well as other characters with a similar pronunciation.

JORDAN m & f English, French, Macedonian, Serbian
From the name of the river that flows between the countries of Jordan and Israel. The river's name in Hebrew is יַרְדֵן (Yarden), and it is derived from יָרַד (yarad) meaning "descend" or "flow down". In the New Testament John the Baptist baptizes Jesus Christ in its waters, and it was adopted as a personal name in Europe after crusaders brought water back from the river to baptize their children. There may have been some influence from the Germanic name JORDANES, notably borne by a 6th-century Gothic historian.... [more]

KAVERI f Indian, Hindi
From the name of the Kaveri River in southern India.

KELVIN m English
From the name of a Scottish river, perhaps meaning "narrow water". As a title it was borne by the Irish-Scottish physicist William Thomson, Lord Kelvin (1824-1907), who acquired his title from the river.

KENDALL m & f English
From a surname that comes from the name of the city of Kendale in northwest England meaning "valley on the river Kent".

LEITH m & f English (Rare)
From a surname, originally from the name of a Scottish town (now a district of Edinburgh), which is derived from Gaelic lìte "wet, damp". It is also the name of the river that flows though Edinburgh.

LES m English
Short form of LESLIE or LESTER.

LESTER m English
From a surname that was derived from the name of the city of Leicester, originally denoting a person who was from that place. The city's name is derived from the river name Ligore combined with Latin castra "camp".

LINFORD m English (Rare)
From a surname that was originally taken from place names meaning either "flax ford" or "linden tree ford" in Old English.

LORELEI f Literature
From German Loreley, the name of a rock headland on the Rhine River. It is of uncertain meaning, though the second element is probably old German ley meaning "rock" (of Celtic origin). German romantic poets and songwriters, beginning with Clemens Brentano in 1801, tell that a maiden named the Lorelei lives on the rock and lures boaters to their death with her song.

LUKNĖ f Lithuanian
Possibly from the name of a Lithuanian river.

MILFORD m English
From an English surname that was originally derived from various place names all meaning "ford by a mill" in Old English.

MONROE m & f Scottish, English
From a Scottish surname meaning "from the mouth of the Roe". The Roe is a river in Ireland. Two famous bearers of the surname were American president James Monroe (1758-1831) and American actress Marilyn Monroe (1926-1962).

NEILOS m Greek Mythology, Late Greek
Greek name of the Nile River, possibly of Semitic origin meaning "river". In Greek mythology he was the god of the Nile, the son of Okeanos and Tethys.... [more]

NILO m Italian, Spanish, Portuguese
Italian, Spanish and Portuguese form of NEILOS (and also of the Nile River).

OKEANOS m Greek Mythology
From the name of the river or body of water thought by the ancient Greeks to surround the Earth. In Greek mythology Okeanos was the Titan who personified this body of water.

RAEBURN m English (Rare)
From a surname that was originally derived from a Scottish place name meaning "stream where does drink" in Middle English. A famous bearer of the surname was Scottish portrait painter Sir Henry Raeburn (1756-1823).

RITIKA f Indian, Hindi
Means either "movement, stream" or "brass" in Sanskrit.

RIVER m & f English (Modern)
From the English word that denotes a flowing body of water. The word is ultimately derived (via Old French) from Latin ripa "riverbank".

SABRINA f English, Italian, German, French
Latinized form of Habren, the original Welsh name of the River Severn. According to Geoffrey of Monmouth, Sabrina was the name of a princess who was drowned in the Severn. Supposedly the river was named for her, but it is more likely that her name was actually derived from that of the river, which is of unknown meaning. She appears as a water nymph in John Milton's masque Comus (1634). It was popularized as a given name by Samuel A. Taylor's play Sabrina Fair (1953) and the movie adaptation that followed it the next year.

SARASWATI f Hinduism, Indian, Hindi, Marathi
Means "possessing water" from Sanskrit सरस् (saras) meaning "fluid, water, lake" and वती (vati) meaning "having". This is the name of a Hindu river goddess, also associated with learning and the arts, who is the wife of Brahma.

SHANNON f & m English
From 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.

SIONANN f Irish Mythology
The name of an Irish goddess, a granddaughter of Lir, who was the personification of the River Shannon. Her name is derived from the name of the river (see SHANNON).

TIBERIUS m Ancient Roman
Roman praenomen, or given name, meaning "of the Tiber" in Latin. The Tiber is the river that runs through Rome. Tiberius was the second Roman emperor, the stepson of Emperor Augustus.

TRENT m English
From a surname that originally denoted someone who lived by the River Trent in England. Trent is also a city in Italy, though the etymology is unrelated.

VÄINÄMÖINEN m Finnish Mythology
Derived from Finnish väinä meaning "wide and slow-flowing river". In Finnish mythology Väinämöinen was a wise old magician, the son of the primal goddess Ilmatar. He is the hero of the Finnish epic the Kalevala.

VALE f English (Rare)
From the English word meaning "wide river valley".