Felie's Personal Name List

From the name of a type of tree, ultimately derived from Greek ἀκή (ake) meaning "thorn, point".

Originally a short form of Germanic names such as ADELAIDE or ADELINA that begin with the element adal meaning "noble". This name was borne by Augusta Ada King (1815-1852), the Countess of Lovelace (known as Ada Lovelace), a daughter of Lord Byron. She was an assistant to Charles Babbage, the inventor of an early mechanical computer.

It is an Italian form of ADELGIS from the Ancient German elements adal 'noble' and gisil 'arrow'. Adelchi was a Longobard prince, son of King Desiderio who ruled Longobard territories in years 756-774. In 774 Charlemagne conquered this reign. Adelchi is also the title of a tragedy written by author Alessandro Manzoni in 1822 with Prince Adelchi as main character.

Italian and Portuguese form of ADRIAN.

Form of AZZO. Adso da Melk is a fictional Medieval character in Umberto Eco masterpiece 'Il nome della rosa' (1980). That character is loosely based on a real person: the monk Adso de Montier-en-Der (910/915 – 992). In Italy this name is no longer used and known just for the character and as a Medieval name.

Form of AGATHA in various languages.

Italian and Latvian form of AGNES.

Variant of AYDA. This name was used in Verdi's opera Aida (1871), where it belongs to an Ethiopian princess held captive in Egypt.

This name is derived from two distinct names, ALBA (2) and ALBA (3), with distinct origins, Latin and Germanic. Over time these names have become confused with one another. To further complicate the matter, alba means "dawn" in Italian, Spanish and Catalan. This may be the main inspiration behind its use in Italy and Spain.

Combination of Alba and CHIARA. Use of this name is most likely influenced by the song 'Albachiara' by Vasco Rossi.

Italian form of ALEXIS.

Spanish and Italian form of a Visigothic Germanic name, probably meaning "noble and ready", from the element adal "noble" combined with funs "ready". Other theories claim the first element is hadu or hild (see ILDEFONSO), both of which mean "battle". It is possible that two or more names merged into a single form. This was the name of six kings of Portugal and kings of several ancient regions of Spain.

From the Old French name Aalis, a short form of Adelais, itself a short form of the Germanic name Adalheidis (see ADELAIDE). This name became popular in France and England in the 12th century. It was among the most common names in England until the 16th century, when it began to decline. It was revived in the 19th century.

This name was borne by the heroine of Lewis Carroll's novels Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865) and Through the Looking Glass (1871).

Variant of ALYSSA.

Means "cheerful, lively" in Italian. It was borne by a short-lived illegitimate daughter of Lord Byron (1817-1822).

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".

Venetian form of LOUIS.

Spanish and Italian form of AMARANTHA.

Italian cognate of AMBER.

Form of AMYNTAS used by the Italian poet Torquato Tasso for his play Aminta (1573). In the play Aminta is a shepherd who falls in love with a nymph.

Feminine form of ANASTASIUS. This was the name of a 4th-century Dalmatian saint who was martyred during the persecutions of the Roman emperor Diocletian. Due to her, the name has been common in Eastern Orthodox Christianity (in various spellings). As an English name it has been in use since the Middle Ages. A famous bearer was the youngest daughter of the last Russian tsar Nicholas II, who was rumoured to have escaped the execution of her family in 1918.

From the name of the anemone flower, which is derived from Greek ἄνεμος (anemos) meaning "wind".

Derived from Latin angelicus meaning "angelic", ultimately related to Greek ἄγγελος (angelos) meaning "messenger". The poets Boiardo and Ariosto used this name in their Orlando poems (1483 and 1532), where it belongs to Orlando's love interest. It has been used as a given name since the 18th century.

Spanish, Portuguese, Croatian and Slovene diminutive of ANA.

Diminutive of ANTONIA.

It comes from the Italian name of the month aprile (April). It is the name of a town in the same region of Rome which was given this name because it was established on April, 25 1936 during Fascism on a reclaimed swamps. It is also the name of a company making motorcycles and rollers. This name has been always rare. The latest year it was given to babies was in 2001 where less than five newborns were called Aprilia.

From a Roman cognomen meaning "eagle" in Latin. In Acts in the New Testament Paul lives with Aquila and his wife Priscilla (or Prisca) for a time.

Means "song, melody" in Italian (literally means "air"). An aria is an elaborate vocal solo, the type usually performed in operas. As an English name, it has only been in use since the 20th century. It is not common in Italy.

Feminine form of ASTOR.

Means "star", ultimately from Greek ἀστήρ (aster). This name has only been (rarely) used since the 20th century.

Catalan, Croatian, Italian, Polish, Portuguese and Romanian form of ATHENA.

Feminine form of AUGUSTUS. It was introduced to Britain when King George III, a member of the German House of Hanover, gave this name to his second daughter in the 18th century.

From the word aura (derived from Latin, ultimately from Greek αὔρα meaning "breeze") for a distinctive atmosphere or illumination.

Italian and Spanish form of AURELIUS.

Means "dawn" in Latin. Aurora was the Roman goddess of the morning. It has occasionally been used as a given name since the Renaissance.

Possibly from the name of the prayer Ave Maria, in which Ave is Latin meaning "greetings, salutations".

Means "azure, sky blue" in Italian.

Italian and Spanish form of BASIL (1).

Italian form of BENJAMIN.

Italian cognate of BLANCHE. Shakespeare used characters named Bianca in Taming of the Shrew (1593) and Othello (1603).

Italian form of BLUE and English diminutive of BLUFORD.

Transferred use of the surname BOSCO borne by the catholic saint John Bosco (also known as Don Bosco).

Germanic name derived from the element brand meaning "sword".

German, Dutch and Hungarian form of BRIDGET.

Derived from the Germanic element brun "armour, protection" or brun "brown". Saint Bruno of Cologne was a German monk of the 11th century who founded the Carthusian Order. The surname has belonged to Giordano Bruno, a philosopher burned at the stake by the Inquisition.

Feminine form of CALIMERO.

Latinized form of KALLIOPE.

Feminine form of CAMILLUS. This was the name of a legendary warrior maiden of the Volsci, as told by Virgil in the Aeneid. It was popularized in the English-speaking world by Fanny Burney's novel Camilla (1796).

Italian form of CHARLES.

Spanish, Portuguese and Italian form of CASIMIR.

From the Greek name Κασσάνδρα (Kassandra), derived from possibly κέκασμαι (kekasmai) meaning "to excel, to shine" and ἀνήρ (aner) meaning "man" (genitive ἀνδρός). In Greek myth Cassandra was a Trojan princess, the daughter of Priam and Hecuba. She was given the gift of prophecy by Apollo, but when she spurned his advances he cursed her so nobody would believe her prophecies.

In the Middle Ages this name was common in England due to the popularity of medieval tales about the Trojan War. It subsequently became rare, but was revived in the 20th century.

Italian feminine and masculine form of CAELESTIS. It is also the English feminine form.

Latinized form of KORE. It was not used as a given name in the English-speaking world until after it was employed by James Fenimore Cooper for a character in his novel The Last of the Mohicans (1826). In some cases it may be a short form of CORDULA, CORINNA or other names beginning with a similar sound.

From Cordeilla, possibly a Celtic name of unknown meaning. According to Geoffrey of Monmouth, Cordeilla was the youngest of the three daughters of King Lear and the only one to remain loyal to her father. When adapting the character for his play King Lear (1606), Shakespeare altered the spelling to Cordelia.

Latinized form of the Greek name Κορίννα (Korinna), which was derived from κόρη (kore) meaning "maiden". This was the name of a Greek lyric poet of the 5th century BC. The Roman poet Ovid used it for the main female character in his book Amores [1]. In the modern era it has been in use since the 17th century, when Robert Herrick used it in his poem Corinna's going a-Maying [2].

Feminine form of CORNELIUS. In the 2nd century BC it was borne by Cornelia Scipionis Africana (the daughter of the military hero Scipio Africanus), the mother of the two reformers known as the Gracchi. After her death she was regarded as an example of the ideal Roman woman. The name was revived in the 18th century.

Italian form of CONSTANS. It is also a common-used adjective in Italian with the same meaning of the name.

Spanish form of DAHLIA. The Dahlia is the national flower of Mexico.

Form of DELILAH used in the Latin Old Testament, as well as in French, Italian, Spanish and Portuguese.

Italian form of DAVID.

Italian, Spanish and Portuguese form of DELPHINA.

Italian and Romanian form of DEMETER (1), as well as an alternate transcription of Greek Δήμητρα (see DIMITRA).

Italian and Spanish form of DEMETRIUS.

Directly from the Italian word diamante meaning "diamond".

Probably derived from an old Indo-European root meaning "heavenly, divine", related to dyeus (see ZEUS). Diana was a Roman goddess of the moon, hunting, forests, and childbirth, often identified with the Greek goddess Artemis.

As a given name, Diana has been regularly used since the Renaissance. It became more common in the English-speaking world following Sir Walter Scott's novel Rob Roy (1817), which featured a character named Diana Vernon. It also appeared in George Meredith's novel Diana of the Crossways (1885). A notable bearer was Diana Spencer (1961-1997), the Princess of Wales.

Feminine diminutive of the Roman family name DOMITIUS. This was the name of the wife of the Roman emperor Vespasian and the mother of emperors Titus and Domitian.

Form of HELEN used in various languages, as well as an alternate transcription of Russian Елена (see YELENA).

Form of ELEANOR in several languages.

Italian form of ELIZABETH.

Italian form of ELOISE.

Short form of ELISABETH.

Italian rare form of ERCOLE, ultimately from Ancient Greek HERAKLES.

Feminine form of ERIC. It was first used in the 18th century. It also coincides with the Latin word for "heather".

Means "emerald" in Spanish and Portuguese. Victor Hugo used this name in his novel The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1831), in which Esmeralda is the Gypsy girl who is loved by Quasimodo. It has occasionally been used in the English-speaking world since that time.

Form of ESTHER used in several languages.

Italian form of Fabricius (see FABRICE).

Spanish and Portuguese form of FERDINAND.

Derived from Italian fiamma meaning "flame" combined with a diminutive suffix.

Italian form of PHILIP.

Italian and Spanish form of FLAVIUS.

Derived from Latin flos meaning "flower". Flora was the Roman goddess of flowers and spring, the wife of Zephyr the west wind. It has been used as a given name since the Renaissance, starting in France. In Scotland it was sometimes used as an Anglicized form of Fionnghuala.

Germanic name, originally a short form of other feminine names containing the Germanic element frid meaning "peace". This is also the Scandinavian equivalent, from the Old Norse cognate Fríða. A famous bearer was Mexican painter Frida Kahlo (1907-1954).

Latinized form of GALATEIA.

Italian form of JASMINE.

From Gerónimo, a Spanish form of Hieronymos (see JEROME). This is the better-known name of the Apache leader Goyathlay (1829-1909). It was given to him by the Mexicans, his enemies.

Italian form of Iacomus (see JAMES).

Italian form of JADE.

Italian cognate of GILLES. The name coincides with Italian giglio "lily".

Of debated origin and meaning. Even though folk etymology likes to derive this name from Italian giglio "lily" (Latin lilium), "a plant considered to symbolize the qualities of candor and purity", it is more likely derived from masculine GIGLIO or Gilio.

Originally an Italian short form of names containing the Germanic element gild meaning "sacrifice, value".

Italian form of GUINEVERE. This is also the Italian name for the city of Geneva, Switzerland. It is also sometimes associated with the Italian word ginepro meaning "juniper".

Means "joy" in Italian.

Italian form of JORDAN.

Italian form of GEORGE.

Italian form of JOSHUA.

Italian form of JUDITH.

Italian form of JULIUS.

Italian and Spanish form of Gregorius (see GREGORY).

Italian form of WALTER.

Italian form of INDIGO.

Italian, Slovene and Croatian form of INÉS.

From Greek Εἰρήνη (Eirene), derived from a word meaning "peace". This was the name of the Greek goddess who personified peace, one of the Ὥραι (Horai). It was also borne by several early Christian saints. The name was common in the Byzantine Empire, notably being borne by an 8th-century empress, who was the first woman to lead the empire. She originally served as regent for her son, but later had him killed and ruled alone.

This name has traditionally been more popular among Eastern Christians. In the English-speaking world it was not regularly used until the 19th century.

Italian variant of IRIS.

Means "rainbow" in Greek. Iris was the name of the Greek goddess of the rainbow, also serving as a messenger to the gods. This name can also be given in reference to the word (which derives from the same Greek source) for the iris flower or the coloured part of the eye.

German short form of names beginning with the Germanic element ermen, which meant "whole, universal". It is thus related to EMMA. It began to be regularly used in the English-speaking world in the 19th century.

Latinate form of ISABEL. This name was borne by many medieval royals, including queen consorts of England, France, Portugal, the Holy Roman Empire and Hungary, as well as the powerful ruling queen Isabella of Castile (properly called Isabel).

In the United States this form was much less common than Isabel until the early 1990s, when it began rapidly rising in popularity. It reached a peak in 2009 and 2010, when it was the most popular name for girls in America, an astounding rise over only 20 years.

A famous bearer is the Italian actress Isabella Rossellini (1952-).

Variant of ISIDORA. A famous bearer was the American dancer Isadora Duncan (1877-1927).

Spanish and Italian form of ISIDORE.

Italian form of ISOLDE.

Latin form of JUNIA.

Italian and Portuguese form of LAERTES.

Russian short form of LARISA. It was introduced to the English-speaking world by a character from Boris Pasternak's novel Doctor Zhivago (1957) and the subsequent movie adaptation (1965).

Variant of LARUNDA.

Variant of LARISA. It has been commonly used as an English given name only since the 20th century, as a borrowing from Russian. In 1991 this name was given to one of the moons of Neptune, in honour of the mythological character.

Meaning unknown, probably of Etruscan origin. In Roman legend Lavinia was the daughter of King Latinus, the wife of Aeneas, and the ancestor of the Roman people. According to the legend Aeneas named the town of Lavinium in honour of his wife.

Form of LEAH used in several languages.

Spanish, Portuguese and Italian form of LEANDER.

Italian, Spanish and Portuguese form of LEONARD. A notable bearer was Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519), an Italian artist and scientist of the Renaissance. He is known as the inventor of several contraptions, including flying machines, as well as the painter of the Mona Lisa. Another famous bearer was Leonardo Fibonacci, a 13th-century Italian mathematician. A more recent bearer is American actor Leonardo DiCaprio (1974-).

Italian form of LEON.

Italian form of LETITIA. It was borne by Napoleon Bonaparte's mother.

Spanish and Italian form of LILY, as well as an alternate transcription of Russian Лилия or Ukrainian Лілія (see LILIYA).

Means "lilac (the plant)" in Italian.

Feminine form of LIVIUS. This was the name of the wife of the Roman emperor Augustus.

Italian form of LIVIUS.

Diminutive of LAURA.

Italian and French variant of LUCIA. This also means "light" in Italian.

Latin diminutive of LUCIA. This was the name of a 3rd-century saint martyred in Rome.

Derived from Latin lucus meaning "grove", but later associated with lux "light". This was the name of a Roman goddess of childbirth.

Latinate form of LUDWIG.

Means "the moon" in Latin. Luna was the Roman goddess of the moon, frequently depicted driving a white chariot through the sky.

From Greek μαῖα (maia) meaning "good mother, dame, foster mother", perhaps in origin a nursery form of μήτηρ (meter). In Greek and Roman mythology she was the eldest of the Pleiades, the group of seven stars in the constellation Taurus, who were the daughters of Atlas and Pleione. Her son by Zeus was Hermes.

Probably from Latin maior meaning "greater". This was the name of a Roman goddess of spring, a companion (sometimes wife) of Vulcan. She was later conflated with the Greek goddess Maia. The month of May is named for her.

Short form of MALVINA. It may be partly inspired by Latin, Swedish and Finnish malva "mallow, hollyhock (flower)".

Means "bitter" in Hebrew. This is a name taken by Naomi in the Old Testament (see Ruth 1:20).

Variant of Mara with diminutive -lina.

Italian form of MARGARET. This is also the Italian word for the daisy flower (species Bellis perennis, Leucanthemum vulgare and others).

Diminutive of MARIA.

Feminine form of MARINUS.

Italian and Spanish form of MARINUS.

Italian form of MARISTELA.

Form of MARTHA used in various languages.

Italian form of MARCIA.

Italian form of MAXIMUS.

From Greek Μήδεια (Medeia), possibly derived from μήδομαι (medomai) meaning "to think, to plan". In Greek mythology Medea was a sorceress from Colchis (modern Georgia) who helped Jason gain the Golden Fleece. They were married, but eventually Jason left her for another woman. For revenge Medea slew Jason's new lover and also had her own children by Jason killed.

Italian, Spanish and Polish form of MELANIE.

Feminine form of MICHAEL.

Combination of MICHAEL and ANGELO, referring to the archangel Michael. The Renaissance painter and sculptor Michelangelo Buonarroti, from Florence, was the man who created such great works of art as the statue of David and the mural on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. This name was also borne by the Baroque artist Michelangelo Merisi, better known as Caravaggio.

Italian form of MICHAEL.

Italian variant form of MICHAL (2) (the Italian biblical form being Mikal). This is the name of the heroine in Giorgio Bassani's novel The Garden of the Finzi-Continis (1962).

Means "fish" in Sanskrit. This is the name of the daughter of the Hindu goddess Ushas as well as the daughter of the god Kubera.

Possibly derived from Latin mens meaning "intellect", but more likely of Etruscan origin. Minerva was the Roman goddess of wisdom and war, approximately equivalent to the Greek goddess Athena. It has been used as a given name in the English-speaking world since after the Renaissance.

Derived from Albanian mirë "good".

Derived from Latin mirandus meaning "admirable, wonderful". The name was created by Shakespeare for the heroine in his play The Tempest (1611), about a father and daughter stranded on an island. It did not become a common English given name until the 20th century. This is also the name of one of the moons of Uranus, named after the Shakespearean character.

Anglicized form of MÁIRE. It also coincides with Greek Μοῖρα (Moira) meaning "fate, destiny", the singular of Μοῖραι, the Greek name for the Fates. They were the three female personifications of destiny in Greek mythology.

Feminine form of MORGAN (1).

Derivative of ANASTASIO.

Latinate form of Natalia (see NATALIE).

From Egyptian nfrt-jjtj meaning "the beautiful one has come". Nefertiti was a powerful Egyptian queen of the New Kingdom, the principal wife of Akhenaton, the pharaoh that briefly imposed a monotheistic religion centered around the sun god Aton.

Feminine form of NEREO.

Directly taken from Italian neve "snow".

Italian form of NICHOLAS. A famous bearer was Niccolò Machiavelli, a 16th-century political philosopher from Florence.

Italian, Spanish and Portuguese form of NICODEMUS.

Italian form of NIEVES.

Short form of HONORA or ELEANOR. Henrik Ibsen used it for a character in his play A Doll's House (1879).

Created by Felice Romani for the main character in the opera Norma (1831). He may have based it on Latin norma "rule". This name is also frequently used as a feminine form of NORMAN.

Derived from Latin novus meaning "new". It was first used as a name in the 19th century.

Russian form of HELGA. The Varangians brought it from Scandinavia to Russia. The 10th-century Saint Olga was the wife of Igor I, grand prince of Kievan Rus (a state based around the city of Kiev). Following his death she ruled as regent for her son for 18 years. After she was baptized in Constantinople she attempted to convert her subjects to Christianity.

Form of OLYMPIAS in several languages.

Directly taken from Italian orchidea "orchid".

Italian form of ROLAND, as used in the epic poems Orlando Innamorato (1483) by Matteo Maria Boiardo and Orlando Furioso (1532) by Ludovico Ariosto. A character in Shakespeare's play As You like It (1599) also bears this name, as does a city in Florida.

Italian form of URSULA.

Italian form of OCTAVIUS.

Means "all gifts", derived from a combination of Greek πᾶν (pan) meaning "all" and δῶρον (doron) meaning "gift". In Greek mythology Pandora was the first mortal woman. Zeus gave her a jar containing all of the troubles and ills that mankind now knows, and told her not to open it. Unfortunately her curiosity got the best of her and she opened it, unleashing the evil spirits into the world.

Italian form of PARIS (1).

Italian form of Patricius (see PATRICK).

Probably derived from Greek πηνέλοψ (penelops), a type of duck. Alternatively it could be from πήνη (pene) meaning "threads, weft" and ὄψ (ops) meaning "face, eye". In Homer's epic the Odyssey this is the name of the wife of Odysseus, forced to fend off suitors while her husband is away fighting at Troy. It has occasionally been used as an English given name since the 16th century.

Italian and Spanish cognate of PEARL.

Italian form of PERSEPHONE.

From a Latin name, a diminutive of Petronia, the feminine form of PETRONIUS. This was the name of an obscure 1st-century Roman saint, later believed to be a daughter of Saint Peter.

Italian and Galician form of PETRONIUS.

Derived from the Greek name Πορφύριος (Porphyrios), which was derived from the word πορφύρα (porphyra) meaning "purple dye". This was the name of several early saints.

Derived from Vulgar Latin prīmavēra "spring". The descendant word primavera is used in Asturian, Catalan, Galician, Italian, Portuguese (and Old Portuguese), Sicilian, and Spanish.

Roman name, a diminutive of PRISCA. In Acts in the New Testament Paul lived with Priscilla (also known as Prisca) and her husband Aquila in Corinth for a while. It has been used as an English given name since the Protestant Reformation, being popular with the Puritans. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow used it in his 1858 poem The Courtship of Miles Standish [1].

Italian form of RACHEL.

Italian form of RICHARD.

Italian and Romanian form of the Late Latin Romaeus or Late Greek Ρωμαῖος (Romaios), which meant "from ROME" or "Roman". In medieval Italian this meant "a pilgrim to Rome". Romeo is best known as the lover of Juliet in Shakespeare's tragedy Romeo and Juliet (1596).

Generally this can be considered a Latin form of ROSE, though originally it may have come from the unrelated Germanic name ROZA (2). This was the name of a 13th-century saint from Viterbo in Italy. In the English-speaking world it was first used in the 19th century. A famous bearer was civil rights activist Rosa Parks (1913-2005).

Italian diminutive of ROSA (1).

Italian form of ROGER.

Finnish form of ZECHARIAH.

Means "moon" in Greek. This was the name of a Greek goddess of the moon, a Titan. She was sometimes identified with the goddess Artemis.

Either a variant of SARAH or a short form of SERAPHINA.

Italian, Portuguese, Spanish and Polish form of SERAPHINA.

From a Late Latin name that was derived from Latin serenus meaning "clear, tranquil, serene". This name was borne by an obscure early saint. Edmund Spenser also used it in his poem The Faerie Queene (1590).

Feminine form of SILVIUS. Rhea Silvia was the mother of Romulus and Remus, the founders of Rome. This was also the name of a 6th-century saint, the mother of the pope Gregory the Great. It has been a common name in Italy since the Middle Ages. It was introduced to England by Shakespeare, who used it for a character in his play The Two Gentlemen of Verona (1594). It is now more commonly spelled Sylvia in the English-speaking world.

Feminine form of Italian and Galician SIRO, Catalan SIR and Russian SIR.

Italian form of STEPHEN.

Means "star" in Latin. This name was created by the 16th-century poet Sir Philip Sidney for the subject of his collection of sonnets Astrophel and Stella. It was a nickname of a lover of Jonathan Swift, real name Esther Johnson (1681-1728), though it was not commonly used as a given name until the 19th century. It appears in Tennessee Williams' play A Streetcar Named Desire (1947), belonging to the sister of Blanche DuBois and the wife of Stanley Kowalski.

From Σουσάννα (Sousanna), the Greek form of the Hebrew name שׁוֹשַׁנָּה (Shoshannah). This was derived from the Hebrew word שׁוֹשָׁן (shoshan) meaning "lily" (in modern Hebrew this also means "rose"), perhaps ultimately from Egyptian sšn "lotus". In the Old Testament Apocrypha this is the name of a woman falsely accused of adultery. The prophet Daniel clears her name by tricking her accusers, who end up being condemned themselves. It also occurs in the New Testament belonging to a woman who ministers to Jesus.

As an English name, it was occasionally used during the Middle Ages in honour of the Old Testament heroine. It did not become common until after the Protestant Reformation, at which time it was often spelled Susan.

Portuguese form of TALITHA, popular in Brazil.

Russian form of TAMAR. Russian performers such as Tamara Karsavina (1885-1978), Tamara Drasin (1905-1943), Tamara Geva (1907-1997) and Tamara Toumanova (1919-1996) introduced it to the English-speaking world. It was also borne by the Polish cubist painter Tamara de Lempicka (1898-1980).

Perhaps based on Latin Titanius meaning "of the Titans". This name was (first?) used by Shakespeare in his comedy A Midsummer Night's Dream (1595) where it is the name of the queen of the fairies. This is also a moon of Uranus, named after the Shakespearean character.

Roman praenomen, or given name, which is of unknown meaning, possibly related to Latin titulus "title of honour". It is more likely of Oscan origin, since it was borne by the legendary Sabine king Titus Tatius.

This name appears in the New Testament belonging to a companion of Saint Paul. He became the first bishop of Crete and was the recipient of one of Paul's epistles. This was also the praenomen of all three Roman emperors of the 1st-century Flavian dynasty, and it is the name by which the second of them is commonly known to history. Shakespeare later used it for the main character in his tragedy Titus Andronicus (1593). As an English name, Titus has been occasionally used since the Protestant Reformation.

Italian and Galician form of Ptolemaios via PTOLEMAEUS.

Elaborated from the Italian word topazio meaning "topaz".

A notable bearer was Italian painter Topazia Alliata (1913-2015).

Italian and Portuguese form of TORQUATUS. This name was borne by Italian author Torquato Tasso.

This name was popularized by Puccini's opera "Tosca" (1900) and its main character Floria Tosca.
The name is said to be derived from the Late Roman byname Tusca, the feminine form of Tuscus, meaning "from Tuscia" or "Etruscan". Nowadays, however, it is often interpreted to mean "from Tuscany", although historical Tuscia comprised a much larger area, including a great part of Umbria and the northern parts of Lazio.

There is also an obscure Saint Tosca who is claimed to have been a virign hermit from Verona. Her feast day is May 5.

Altered feminine form of TULLIO. CICERO used this nickname for his beloved daughter (called TULLIA).

Italian form of ULYSSES.

Means "little bear", derived from a diminutive form of the Latin word ursa "she-bear". Saint Ursula was a legendary virgin princess of the 4th century who was martyred by the Huns while returning from a pilgrimage. In England the saint was popular during the Middle Ages, and the name came into general use at that time.

Italian form of Valentinus (see VALENTINE (1)).

Invented by author Jonathan Swift for his 1726 poem Cadenus and Vanessa [1]. He arrived at it by rearranging the initial syllables of the first name and surname of Esther Vanhomrigh, his close friend. Vanessa was later used as the name of a genus of butterfly. It was a rare given name until the mid-20th century, at which point it became fairly popular.

Means "faith" in Russian, though it is sometimes associated with the Latin word verus "true". It has been in general use in the English-speaking world since the late 19th century.

Contracted form of VERIDIANA, which itself is a variant form of VIRIDIANA. This was the name of an Italian saint from the 13th century AD.

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. Due to popular stories about her, the name was occasionally used in the Christian world in the Middle Ages. It was borne by the 17th-century Italian saint and mystic Veronica Giuliani. As an English name, it was not common until the 19th century, when it was imported from France and Scotland.

Means "violet" in Latin. This was the name of the heroine in Shakespeare's play Twelfth Night (1602).

Latin form of YOLANDA.

Italian, Russian and Hungarian form of VIOLET.

Italian form of VICTORIUS.

Feminine form of Vivianus (see VIVIAN). Saint Viviana (also known as Bibiana) was a Roman saint and martyr of the 4th century.

Variant of ZEFFIRO.

Means "life" in Greek. From early times it was adopted by Hellenized Jews as a translation of EVE. It was borne by two early Christian saints, one martyred under Emperor Hadrian, the other martyred under Diocletian. The name was common in the Byzantine Empire, being borne by a ruling empress of the 11th century.

As an English name, Zoe has only been in use since the 19th century. It has generally been more common among Eastern Christians (in various spellings).