Previous Names of the Day

HANNAH   f   English, Hebrew, French, German, Dutch, Swedish, Arabic, Biblical Oct 19th
From the Hebrew name חַנָּה (Channah) meaning "favour, grace", derived from the root חָנַן (chanan). In the Old Testament this is the name of the wife of Elkanah. Her rival was Elkanah's other wife Peninnah, who had children while Hannah remained barren.

ROBERT   m   English, French, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, German, Dutch, Czech, Polish, Russian, Slovene, Croatian, Romanian, Ancient Germanic Oct 18th
From the Germanic name Hrodebert meaning "bright fame", derived from the Germanic elements hrod "fame" and beraht "bright". The Normans introduced this name to Britain, where it replaced the Old English cognate Hreodbeorht. It has been a very common English name since that time.

VERONICA   f   English, Italian, Romanian, Late Roman Oct 17th
Latin alteration of BERENICE, the spelling influenced by the ecclesiastical Latin phrase vera icon meaning "true image". This was the name of a legendary saint who wiped Jesus' face with a towel and then found his image imprinted upon it.

POSEIDON   m   Greek Mythology Oct 16th
Possibly derived from Greek ποσις (posis) "husband, lord" and δα (da) "earth". The name first appears in Mycenaean Greek inscriptions as po-se-da-o. In Greek mythology Poseidon was the unruly god of the sea and earthquakes, the brother of Zeus.

MOSES   m   English, Jewish, Biblical, Biblical Latin Oct 15th
From the Hebrew name מֹשֶׁה (Mosheh) which is most likely derived from Egyptian mes meaning "son", but could also possibly mean "deliver" in Hebrew. The meaning suggested in the Old Testament of "drew out" from Hebrew משה (mashah) is probably an invented etymology (see Exodus 2:10).

SERAPHINA   f   English (Rare), German (Rare), Late Roman Oct 14th
Feminine form of the Late Latin name Seraphinus, derived from the biblical word seraphim which was Hebrew in origin and meant "fiery ones". The seraphim were an order of angels, described by Isaiah in the Bible as having six wings each. This was the name of a 13th-century Italian saint who made clothes for the poor.

JOSHUA   m   English, Biblical Oct 13th
From the Hebrew name יְהוֹשֻׁעַ (Yehoshu'a) meaning "YAHWEH is salvation", from the roots יְהוֹ (yeho) referring to the Hebrew God and יָשַׁע (yasha') meaning "to save". As told in the Old Testament, Joshua was a companion of Moses.