Behind the Name: Names Categorized "the wheel of time characters"

ALIVIA f English (Modern)
Variant of OLIVIA.

ANAN (2) m Biblical, Biblical Hebrew, Hebrew
Means "cloud" in Hebrew. This name is mentioned very briefly in the Old Testament.

ARLEN m English
Meaning unknown, possibly from a surname.

ARTUR m Portuguese, Galician, Catalan, Polish, Russian, German, Estonian, Swedish, Romanian, Czech
Form of ARTHUR.

BILAL m Arabic, Urdu
Means "wetting, moistening" in Arabic. This was the name of a companion of the Prophet Muhammad.

BIRGITTE f Danish, Norwegian
Danish form of BIRGITTA.

CAIN m Biblical, Biblical Latin
Means "acquired" in Hebrew. In Genesis in the Old Testament Cain is the first son of Adam and Eve. He killed his brother Abel after God accepted Abel's offering of meat instead of his offering of plant-based foods. After this Cain was banished to be a wanderer.

EAMON m Irish
Variant of ÉAMONN.

EBEN m English
Short form of EBENEZER.

GALINA f Russian, Bulgarian
Russian and Bulgarian feminine form of Galenos (see GALEN).

GARETH m Welsh, English (British), Arthurian Romance
Meaning unknown. It first appears in this form in Thomas Malory's 15th-century compilation of Arthurian legends 'Le Morte d'Arthur', in which Gareth was a Knight of the Round Table, the brother of Sir Gawain. Malory based the name on Gahariet, which was the name of a similar Arthurian character in French sources. It may ultimately have a Welsh origin, possibly related to gwaredd meaning "gentleness".

GRADY m Irish, English
From an Irish surname which was derived from Ó Grádaigh meaning "descendant of Grádaigh". The name Grádaigh means "noble" in Gaelic.

HARAN m Biblical, Biblical Hebrew
Possibly means "hill, mountain" in Hebrew. This is the name of the brother of Abraham and father of Lot in the Old Testament.

HARUNA f Japanese
From Japanese 晴 (haru) meaning "clear weather", 遥 (haru) meaning "distant, remote" or 春 (haru) meaning "spring" combined with 菜 (na) meaning "vegetables, greens". Other kanji combinations are possible.

JESSE m English, Dutch, Finnish, Biblical
From the Hebrew name יִשַׁי (Yishai) which possibly means "gift". In the Old Testament Jesse is the father of King David. It began to be used as an English given name after the Protestant Reformation. A famous bearer was Jesse James (1847-1882), an American outlaw who held up banks and stagecoaches. He was eventually shot by a fellow gang member for a reward. Another famous bearer was the American athlete Jesse Owens (1913-1980), whose real name was James Cleveland (or J. C.) Owens.

LAN f & m Chinese, Vietnamese
From Chinese 兰 (lán) meaning "orchid, elegant" (which is usually only feminine) or 岚 (lán) meaning "mountain mist". Other Chinese characters can form this name as well. As a Vietnamese name, it is derived from Sino-Vietnamese 蘭 meaning "orchid".

MANEL m Catalan
Catalan form of MANUEL.

MAT m English
Short form of MATTHEW.

MATTIN m Basque
Basque form of Martinus (see MARTIN).

MIN m & f Chinese, Korean
From 敏 (mǐn) meaning "quick, clever, sharp", 民 (mín) meaning "people, citizens", or other Chinese/Sino-Korean characters which are pronounced similarly.

NIALL m Irish, Scottish
Original Gaelic spelling of NEIL.

NICOLA (2) f German, Czech, English
Latinate feminine form of NICHOLAS. In the English-speaking world this name is more common outside of America, where Nicole is more usual.

SHARIF m Arabic, Urdu, Pashto, Persian, Malay
Means "eminent, virtuous" in Arabic. This was a title used by the descendants of Muhammad.

SHIN m Japanese
From Japanese 真 (shin) meaning "real, genuine" or other kanji with the same pronunciation.

TAM (1) m Scottish
Scottish short form of THOMAS.

TAMRA f English
Contracted form of TAMARA.

THOM m English
Short form of THOMAS.

VALDA f Latvian
Modern coinage from Germanic wald meaning "power, rule". It has been in use only since the 20th century.

ZERAH m Biblical
Means "dawning, shining" in Hebrew. This is the name of a son of Judah and the twin of Perez in the Old Testament.

	Gender
	Usage
	Initial letter
	Meaning	expand search to ancestral names the meaning is anything from the name's write-up that is surrounded by "double quotes" separate search terms with spaces search for an exact phrase by surrounding it with double quotes this field understands simple boolean logic force a term to be included by preceding it with a + sign force a term to be excluded by preceding it with a - sign expand search to ancestral names: meanings for names further up the family tree will be included in the search
	Description	ignore name meanings the description is the meaning and history write-up for the name separate search terms with spaces search for an exact phrase by surrounding it with double quotes example: "lord of the rings" will match names from the novel 'The Lord of the Rings' this field understands simple boolean logic force a term to be included by preceding it with a + sign force a term to be excluded by preceding it with a - sign example: +greek +(legend myth) -zeus will match Greek names of myths or legends not about Zeus ignore name meanings: keywords from the name meanings are ignored
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	Length
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	Related name
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