ANGELA f English, Italian, German, Dutch, Romanian, Slovene, Slovak, Russian, Macedonian, Late RomanFeminine form of
Angelus (see
ANGEL). As an English name, it came into use in the 18th century.
AUGUSTINE (1) m EnglishFrom the Roman name
Augustinus, itself derived from the Roman name
AUGUSTUS. Saint Augustine of Hippo was a 5th-century Christian theologian and author from North Africa. For his contributions to Christian philosophy he is known as a Doctor of the Church. Due to his renown, the name came into general use in the Christian world. It became popular in England in the Middle Ages partly because of a second saint by this name, Augustine of Canterbury, a 6th-century Italian monk sent to England to convert the Anglo-Saxons.
BLANCHE f French, EnglishFrom a medieval French nickname meaning "white, fair". This name and its cognates in other languages are ultimately derived from the Germanic word
blanc. An early bearer was the 12th-century Blanca of Navarre, the wife of Sancho III of Castile. Her granddaughter of the same name married Louis VIII of France, with the result that the name became more common in France.
BRIDGET f Irish, English, Irish MythologyAnglicized form of the Irish name
Brighid meaning "exalted one". In Irish mythology this was the name of the goddess of fire, poetry and wisdom, the daughter of the god Dagda. In the 5th century it was borne by Saint Brigid, the founder of a monastery at Kildare and a patron saint of Ireland. Because of the saint, the name was considered sacred in Ireland, and it did not come into general use there until the 17th century. In the form
Birgitta this name has been common in Scandinavia, made popular by the 14th-century Saint Birgitta of Sweden, patron saint of Europe.
CHARLES m English, FrenchFrom the Germanic name
Karl, which was derived from a Germanic word meaning "man". However, an alternative theory states that it is derived from the common Germanic name element
hari meaning "army, warrior".
... [more] CHARLIE m & f EnglishDiminutive or feminine form of
CHARLES. A famous bearer is Charlie Brown, the main character in the comic strip 'Peanuts' by Charles Schulz.
CHARMAINE f EnglishMeaning unknown, perhaps a combination of
CHARMIAN or the English word
charm with the
aine suffix from
LORRAINE. It was (first?) used for a character in the play 'What Price Glory' (1924), which was made into a popular movie in 1926.
CLAYTON m EnglishFrom a surname that was originally derived from various English place names, all meaning "clay settlement" in Old English.
COCO f VariousDiminutive of names beginning with
Co, influenced by the word
cocoa. However, this was not the case for French fashion designer Coco Chanel (real name Gabrielle), whose nickname came from the name of a song she performed while working as a cabaret singer.
DOROTHY f EnglishUsual English form of
DOROTHEA. It has been in use since the 16th century. The author L. Frank Baum used it for the central character in his fantasy novel 'The Wonderful Wizard of Oz' (1900).
ELEANOR f EnglishFrom the Old French form of the Occitan name
Aliénor. Among the name's earliest bearers was the influential Eleanor of Aquitaine (12th century), who was the queen of Louis VII, the king of France, and later Henry II, the king of England. She was named
Aenor after her mother, and was called by the Occitan phrase
alia Aenor "the other
AENOR" in order to distinguish her from her mother. However, there appear to be examples of bearers prior to Eleanor of Aquitaine. It is not clear whether they were in fact Aenors who were retroactively recorded as having the name Eleanor, or whether there is an alternative explanation for the name's origin.
... [more] GLORIA f English, Spanish, Italian, GermanMeans "glory", from the Portuguese and Spanish titles of the Virgin
Mary Maria da Glória and
María de Gloria. Maria da Glória (1819-1853) was the daughter of the Brazilian emperor Pedro I, eventually becoming queen of Portugal as Maria II.
... [more] KATE f English, CroatianDiminutive of
KATHERINE, often used independently. It has been used in England since the Middle Ages. This was the name of the woman who Petruchio marries and tries to tame in Shakespeare's comedy 'Taming of the Shrew' (1593). A famous bearer is the British actress Kate Winslet (1975-).
MICHAEL m English, German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Dutch, Czech, Biblical, Biblical Latin, Biblical GreekFrom the Hebrew name
מִיכָאֵל (Mikha'el) meaning "who is like God?". This is a rhetorical question, implying no person is like God. Michael is one of the archangels in Hebrew tradition and the only one identified as an archangel in the Bible. In the Book of Daniel in the Old Testament he is named as a protector of Israel. In the Book of Revelation in the New Testament he is portrayed as the leader of heaven's armies in the war against Satan, and is thus considered the patron saint of soldiers in Christianity.
... [more] MILES m EnglishFrom the Germanic name
Milo, introduced by the Normans to England in the form
Miles. The meaning is not known for certain. It is possibly connected to the Slavic name element
milu meaning "gracious". From an early date it was associated with Latin
miles "soldier".
PHIL m EnglishShort form of
PHILIP and various other names beginning with
Phil, often a Greek element meaning "friend, dear, beloved".
REBECCA f English, Italian, Swedish, Biblical, Biblical LatinFrom the Hebrew name
רִבְקָה (Rivqah) from an unattested root probably meaning "join, tie, snare". This is the name of the wife of
Isaac and the mother of
Esau and
Jacob in the Old Testament. It came into use as a Christian name after the Protestant Reformation, and it was popular with the Puritans in the 17th century.
RICHARD m English, French, German, Czech, Slovak, Dutch, Ancient GermanicMeans "brave power", derived from the Germanic elements
ric "power, rule" and
hard "brave, hardy". The Normans introduced this name to Britain, and it has been very common there since that time. It was borne by three kings of England including Richard I the Lionheart, one of the leaders of the Third Crusade in the 12th century.
... [more] ROSE f English, FrenchOriginally a Norman form of a Germanic name, which was 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.
SOPHIA f English, Greek, German, Ancient GreekMeans "wisdom" in Greek. This was the name of an early, probably mythical, saint who died of grief after her three daughters were martyred during the reign of the emperor Hadrian. Legends about her probably arose as a result of a medieval misunderstanding of the phrase
Hagia Sophia "Holy Wisdom", which is the name of a large basilica in Constantinople.
... [more] STANLEY m EnglishFrom a surname meaning "stone clearing" in Old English. A notable bearer of the surname was the British-American explorer and journalist Sir Henry Morton Stanley (1841-1904), the man who found David Livingstone in Africa. As a given name, it was borne by American director Stanley Kubrick (1928-1999), as well as the character Stanley Kowalski in Tennessee Williams' play 'A Streetcar Named Desire' (1947).
VIRGINIA f English, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Swedish, Romanian, Ancient RomanFeminine form of the Roman family name
Verginius or
Virginius, which is of unknown meaning, but long associated with Latin
virgo "maid, virgin". According to a legend, it was the name of a Roman woman killed by her father so as to save her from the clutches of a crooked official.
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