ANGEL m & f English, Bulgarian, MacedonianFrom the medieval Latin masculine name
Angelus, which was derived from the name of the heavenly creature (itself derived from the Greek word
αγγελος (angelos) meaning "messenger"). It has never been very common in the English-speaking world, where it is sometimes used as a feminine name in modern times.
ASHLEY f & m EnglishFrom an English surname that was originally derived from place names meaning "ash tree clearing", from a combination of Old English
æsc and
leah. Until the 1960s it was more commonly given to boys in the United States, but it is now most often used on girls.
ASPEN f English (Modern)From the English word for the tree, derived from Old English
æspe. It is also the name of a ski resort in Colorado.
AUBREY m & f EnglishNorman French form of the Germanic name
ALBERICH. As an English masculine name it was common in the Middle Ages, and was revived in the 19th century. Since the mid-1970s it has more frequently been given to girls, due to Bread's 1972 song 'Aubrey' along with its similarity to the established feminine name
Audrey.
AZURE f English (Rare)From the English word that means "sky blue". It is ultimately (via Old French, Latin and Arabic) from Persian
لاجورد (lajvard) meaning "azure, lapis lazuli".
BERLIN f VariousFrom the name of the city in Germany, which is of uncertain meaning.
BETHEL f EnglishFrom an Old Testament place name meaning "house of God" in Hebrew. This was a town north of Jerusalem, where
Jacob saw his vision of the stairway. It is occasionally used as a given name.
BLAKELY f English (Modern)From a surname that was derived from Old English
blæc "black" and
leah "woodland clearing".
BRINLEY f English (Modern)From an English surname that was taken from the name of a town meaning "burned clearing" in Old English.
BROOKLYN f English (Modern)From the name of the borough of New York City, originally derived from Dutch
Breukelen meaning "broken land". It can also be viewed as a combination of
BROOK and the popular name suffix
lyn.
CAMPBELL m EnglishFrom a Scottish surname meaning "crooked mouth" from Gaelic
cam "crooked" and
béul "mouth".
CARROLL m IrishAnglicized form of
CEARBHALL. A famous bearer of the surname was Lewis Carroll (1832-1898), whose real name was Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, the author of 'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'.
CHANDLER m & f EnglishFrom an occupational surname that meant "candle seller" in Middle English, ultimately from Old French.
CIEL f & m VariousMeans "sky" in French. It is not used as a given name in France itself.
CLARE f EnglishMedieval English form of
CLARA. This is also the name of an Irish county, which was originally named for the Norman invader Richard de Clare (known as Strongbow), whose surname was derived from the name of an English river.
CODY m EnglishFrom the Irish surname
Ó Cuidighthigh, which means "descendant of
CUIDIGHTHEACH". A famous bearer of the surname was the American frontiersman and showman Buffalo Bill Cody (1846-1917).
COURTNEY f & m EnglishFrom an aristocratic English surname that was derived either from the French place name
Courtenay (originally a derivative of the personal name
Curtenus, itself derived from Latin
curtus "short") or else from a Norman nickname meaning "short nose". As a feminine name in America, it first became popular during the 1970s.
CREE m English (Rare)From the name of a Native American tribe of central Canada. Their name derives via French from the Cree word
kiristino.
DALEY m Irish, English (Rare)From an Irish surname that was derived from
Ó Dálaigh meaning "descendant of Dálach". The name
Dálach means "assembly" in Gaelic.
DIAMOND f English (Modern)From the English word
diamond for the clear colourless precious stone, the birthstone of April. It is derived from Late Latin
diamas, from Latin
adamas, which is of Greek origin meaning "invincible, untamed".
ESMÉ m & f English (British)Means "esteemed" or "loved" in Old French. It was first recorded in Scotland, being borne by the first Duke of Lennox in the 16th century. It is now more common as a feminine name.
FALLON f English (Modern)From an Irish surname that was derived from
Ó Fallamhain meaning "descendant of Fallamhan". The given name
Fallamhan meant "leader". It was popularized in the 1980s by a character on the soap opera 'Dynasty'.
GEMINI m Roman MythologyMeans "twins" in Latin. This is the name of the third sign of the zodiac. The two brightest stars in the constellation,
Castor and
Pollux, are named for the mythological twin sons of
Leda.
GERMAINE f FrenchFrench feminine form of
GERMAIN. Saint Germaine was a 16th-century peasant girl from France.
GWYN m WelshMeans "white, fair, blessed" in Welsh.
HAYDEN m & f EnglishFrom an English surname that was derived from place names meaning either "hay valley" or "hay hill", derived from Old English
heg "hay" and
denu "valley" or
dun "hill".
INDY m Popular CultureDiminutive of
INDIANA. This is the nickname of the hero of the 'Indiana Jones' movies, starring Harrison Ford.
JAMIE m & f Scottish, EnglishOriginally a Lowland Scots diminutive of
JAMES. Since the late 19th century it has also been used as a feminine form.
JORDAN m & f English, French, MacedonianFrom 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] KELLY m & f Irish, EnglishAnglicized form of the Irish given name
CEALLACH or the surname derived from it
Ó Ceallaigh. As a surname, it has been borne by actor and dancer Gene Kelly (1912-1996) and actress and princess Grace Kelly (1929-1982).
KESTREL f English (Rare)From the name of the bird of prey, ultimately derived from Old French
crecelle "rattle", which refers to the sound of its cry.
KIMBERLY f EnglishFrom the name of the city of
Kimberley in South Africa, which was named after Lord
KIMBERLEY (1826-1902). The city came to prominence in the late 19th century during the Boer War.
Kimberly has been used as a given name since the mid-20th century, eventually becoming very popular as a feminine name.
KIRBY m EnglishFrom an English surname that was originally from a place name meaning "church settlement" in Old Norse.
KYRIE m & f English (Modern)From the name of a Christian prayer, also called the
Kyrie eleison meaning "Lord, have mercy". It is ultimately from Greek
κυριος (kyrios) meaning "lord". In America it was popularized as a masculine name by basketball player Kyrie Irving (1992-), whose name is pronounced differently than the prayer.
LAUREL f EnglishFrom the name of the laurel tree, ultimately from Latin
laurus.
LEE m & f EnglishFrom a surname that was derived from Old English
leah meaning "clearing". The surname belonged to Robert E. Lee (1807-1870), commander of the Confederate forces during the American Civil War. In his honour, it has been commonly used as a given name in the American South.
MARLEY f English (Modern)From a surname that was taken from a place name meaning either "pleasant wood", "boundary wood" or "marten wood" in Old English. A famous bearer of the surname was the Jamaican musician Bob Marley (1945-1981).
MARLOWE f English (Modern)From a surname that was derived from a place name meaning "remnants of a lake" in Old English. A famous bearer of the surname was the English playwright Christopher Marlowe (1564-1593).
MEGA f & m IndonesianMeans "cloud" in Indonesian, ultimately from Sanskrit
मेघ (megha).
MERLE f & m EnglishVariant of
MERRILL or
MURIEL. The spelling has been influenced by the word
merle meaning "blackbird" (via French, from Latin
merula).
MERRYN f CornishMeaning unknown. This was the name of an early Cornish (male) saint.
MONROE m Scottish, EnglishFrom 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).
NOVA f EnglishDerived from Latin
novus meaning "new". It was first used as a name in the 19th century.
ORAL m EnglishMeaning uncertain. This name was borne by the influential American evangelist Oral Roberts (1918-2009), who was apparently named by his cousin.
PEARL f EnglishFrom the English word
pearl for the concretions formed in the shells of some mollusks, ultimately from Late Latin
perla. Like other gemstone names, it has been used as a given name in the English-speaking world since the 19th century. The pearl is the birthstone for June, and it supposedly imparts health and wealth.
PHÚC m & f VietnameseFrom Sino-Vietnamese
福 (phúc) meaning "happiness, good fortune, blessing".
PRAISE f English (Rare)From the English word
praise, which is ultimately derived (via Old French) from Late Latin
preciare, a derivative of Latin
pretium "price, worth".
QUINN m & f Irish, EnglishFrom an Irish surname, an Anglicized form of
Ó Cuinn meaning "descendant of
CONN".
REGAN f EnglishMeaning unknown, probably of Celtic origin. Shakespeare took the name from earlier British legends and used it in his tragedy 'King Lear' (1606) for a treacherous daughter of the king. In the modern era it has appeared in the horror movie 'The Exorcist' (1973) belonging to a girl possessed by the devil. This name can also be used as a variant of
REAGAN.
ROHAN (2) f LiteratureFrom the novel 'The Lord of the Rings' (1954) by J. R. R. Tolkien, where it is a place name meaning "horse country" in Sindarin.
ROWAN m & f Irish, English (Modern)From an Irish surname, an Anglicized form of
Ó Ruadháin meaning "descendant of
RUADHÁN". This name can also be given in reference to the rowan tree.
SCOUT f English (Rare)From the English word
scout meaning "one who gathers information covertly", which is derived from Old French
escouter "to listen". Harper Lee used this name in her novel 'To Kill a Mockingbird' (1960).
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.
SKY f & m English (Modern)Simply from the English word
sky, which was ultimately derived from Old Norse
sky "cloud".
SKYE f English (Modern)From the name of the Isle of Skye off the west coast of Scotland. It is sometimes considered a variant of
SKY.
SORREL f English (Rare)From the name of the sour tasting plant, which may ultimately derive from Germanic
sur "sour".
TATUM f English (Modern)From a surname that was originally derived from a place name meaning "Tata's homestead" in Old English.
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).
VEASNA m & f KhmerMeans "opportunity, good fortune, fate" in Khmer.
XIU f ChineseFrom Chinese
秀 (xiù) meaning "luxuriant, beautiful, elegant, outstanding" or other characters that are pronounced similarly.