PurpleKorat's Personal Name List

From the Hebrew name אַבְשָׁלוֹם ('Avshalom) meaning "my father is peace", derived from אָב ('av) meaning "father" and שָׁלוֹם (shalom) meaning "peace". In the Old Testament he is a son of King David. He avenged his sister Tamar by arranging the murder of her rapist, their half-brother Amnon. He later led a revolt against his father. While fleeing on the back of a mule he got his head caught in a tree and was killed by Joab.

Derived from Arabic عذارى ('adhara) meaning "maidens". This is the name of the second brightest star (after Sirius) in the constellation Canis Major.

From an Aramaic form of Yaakov. Akiva (or Akiba) ben Joseph was a prominent 1st-century Jewish rabbi.

Possibly derived from a Semitic root meaning "water spring". Anat was a goddess of fertility, hunting and war worshipped by the Semitic peoples of the Levant. She was the sister and consort of the god Hadad.

Breton form of André.

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

Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian, Bulgarian and Armenian form of Angela.

French form of Apollonia.

Perhaps derived from Semitic roots meaning "she who walks in the sea". This was the name of a Semitic mother goddess. She was worshipped by the Israelites before the advent of monotheism.

Means "I will sing", directly from the Hebrew word in the Old Testament.
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Means "rich" in Hebrew.

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

Diminutive of Anastasiya or Aleksandra.

Alternate transcription of Hebrew עֲטָרָה (see Atarah).

From Japanese 菖蒲 (ayame) meaning "iris (flower)". Other kanji or combinations of kanji can also form this name.

Breton name of uncertain origin and meaning.
It is sometimes linked to Breton enor "honor", a theory which goes back to the fact that Saint Azénore is occasionally rendered as Honora in Latin texts. Another theory, however, links this name to Eleanor (via Aenor, which is occasionally considered a contracted form of Azenor. Compare also Aanor), while yet another theory was put forth that Azenor might in fact represent an unknown Celtic name, possibly one containing the theonym Esus.

In Breton legend it is borne by the mother of Saint Budoc, a 6th-century princess of Brest (however, the name Eleanor was not coined until the 12th century). It was used for a character in Paul Le Flem's opera Le Rossignol de Saint-Malo (1938) and also occurred briefly in the French TV series Kaamelott (as Azénor).

Breton form of Cecilia.

Means "spring" in Persian, Turkish and Azerbaijani.

Spanish form of Bethlehem, the name of the town in Judah where King David and Jesus were born. The town's name is from Hebrew בֵּית־לֶחֶם (Beit-lechem) meaning "house of bread".

Feminine form of Calpurnius. This was the name of Julius Caesar's last wife.

Diminutive of Cassandra and other names beginning with Cass.

From the name of the flower, which is derived from Greek χελιδών (chelidon) meaning "swallow (bird)".

Means "green shoot" in Greek, referring to new plant growth in the spring. This was an epithet of the Greek goddess Demeter. The name is also mentioned by Paul in one of his epistles in the New Testament.

As an English name, Chloe has been in use since the Protestant Reformation. It started getting more popular in the 1980s in the United Kingdom and then the United States. It was the most popular name for girls in England and Wales from 1997 to 2002. This is one of the few English-language names that is often written with a diaeresis, as Chloë.

From the English word for the wild flower, ultimately deriving from Old English clafre.

Either a French form of Koralia, or a derivative of Latin corallium "coral" (see Coral).

French form of the Breton name Kaourintin, possibly from korventenn meaning "hurricane, storm". Alternatively, it could be connected to the Brythonic root *karid meaning "love" (modern Breton karout). This was the name of a 5th-century bishop of Quimper in Brittany.

From the Greek name Κοσμᾶς (Kosmas), which was derived from κόσμος (kosmos) meaning "order, decency". Saint Cosmas was martyred with his twin brother Damian in the 4th century. They are the patron saints of physicians.

Means "laurel" in Hebrew, of Greek origin.

Bosnian form of Deïanira.

Feminine form of Darius. Saint Daria was a 3rd-century woman who was martyred with her husband Chrysanthus under the Roman emperor Numerian. It has never been a particularly common English given name. As a Russian name, it is more commonly transcribed Darya.

Ukrainian form of Daria.

Derived from Albanian diell "sun" combined with a diminutive suffix.

Meaning unknown. This was the real name of Kahina, an Amazigh warrior queen who resisted Arab expansion into North Africa (d. 700 AD).

Diminutive of Adriana or Alexandrina.

Means "praise" in Zulu and Ndebele.

Combination of the English word earth with the feminine name suffix a. It has been used in honour of African-American philanthropist Eartha M. M. White (1876-1974). Another famous bearer was American singer and actress Eartha Kitt (1927-2008).

Finnish and Estonian form of Eva.

From the English word for the flower also known as sweetbrier. It is derived via Old French from Vulgar Latin *aquilentum meaning "prickly". It was early used as a given name (in the form Eglentyne) in Geoffrey Chaucer's 14th-century story The Prioress's Tale (one of The Canterbury Tales).

Variant transcription of Enav.

Hebrew form of Elizabeth.

Variant of Elowen.

Diminutive of Elvira, Elvina, Elva, and other names beginning with Elv.

Spanish form of a Visigothic name, recorded from the 10th century in forms such as Geloyra or Giluira. It is of uncertain meaning, possibly composed of the Gothic element gails "happy" or gails "spear" combined with wers "friendly, agreeable, true". The name was borne by members of the royal families of León and Castille. This is also the name of a character in Mozart's opera Don Giovanni (1787).

From a Scottish surname that was originally derived from village by this name in Perthshire. It was popularized as a given name by the Australian actor Errol Flynn (1909-1959).

Cornish form of Iseult.

From the name of an active volcano on the island of Sicily, Italy.

Diminutive of Eve or Evelyn.

Used by Disney and Austrian author Felix Salten for a female roe deer in his novel 'Bambi' (1923).

From an English surname meaning "forest", originally belonging to a person who lived near a forest. In America it has sometimes been used in honour of the Confederate Civil War general Nathan Bedford Forrest (1821-1877). This name was borne by the title character in the movie Forrest Gump (1994) about a loveable simpleton. Use of the name increased when the movie was released, but has since faded away.

Either from the English word fox or the surname Fox, which originally given as a nickname. The surname was borne by George Fox (1624-1691), the founder of the Quakers.

Bulgarian and Macedonian feminine form of Galenos (see Galen).

Elaboration of Gal 1. It could also be considered a compound meaning "wave from God", using the element יָה (yah) referring to the Hebrew God.

Bulgarian form of Gabriel.

Feminine form of Ghislain.

Means "halo around the moon" in Arabic. This was the name of a sister-in-law of the Prophet Muhammad.

Diminutive of Harriet.

Alternate transcription of Hebrew חַוָּה (see Chava).

Feminine form of Hervé.

Means "halo, aura" in Hebrew, from the root הָלַל (halal) meaning "to praise, to shine".

Bulgarian and Macedonian form of Hilarion.

English form of Inés.

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.

Late Latin name meaning "from Isauria". Isauria was the name of a region in Asia Minor.

Means "spark" in South Slavic.

From the English word for the climbing plant that has small yellow flowers. It is ultimately derived from Old English ifig.

Means "star" in Basque.

Diminutive of Jane.

Czech variant of Jenovéfa and Breton form of Geneviève (via Celtic Genovefa).

Derived from Albanian jeton "to live, to be alive; stay alive".

From the English word for the type of tree, derived ultimately from Latin iuniperus.

Derived from Arabic الكاهِنة (al-Kahinah) meaning "the diviner, the fortuneteller". This was a title applied to the 7th-century Berber queen Dihya, who resisted the Arab expansion into North Africa.

Breton form of Katherine.

Basque form of Katherine.

From the name of the bird of prey, ultimately derived from Old French crecelle "rattle", which refers to the sound of its cry.

Means "incense" in Hebrew. In the Old Testament she is Abraham's wife after Sarah dies.

Anglicized form of Cillian, also used in France.

Derived from the name Katherine, or Katrina, meaning a small Cat, like the small meaning of it's longer names

Diminutive of Katherine.

Breton form of Creirwy. This was the name of an early Breton saint from Wales, a sister of Saint Guénolé.

Derived from Kosovo, the name of a partially recognized country in Europe that declared independence from Serbia in 2008. Kosovare Asllani (b. 1989) is a Swedish soccer player who plays for the Swedish national women's soccer team.

Feminine form of Krenar.

Slovak form of Květa.

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). Between 1965 and 1969 it increased by almost 2,000 percent in the United States, however it is currently much more popular in the United Kingdom, Australia, Spain, Portugal, Italy, and Germany. Another famous fictional bearer is Lara Croft, first appearing in video games in 1996 and movies in 2001.

Elaborated form of Leslie.

Diminutive of Lettice.

Variant of Lorene.

Variant of Laurel.

Either a short form of Laurence 1 (masculine) or a variant of Lauren (feminine).

Probably a variant of Loren or Lorena 2.

Variant of Laurine.

Variant of Lorne.

Alternate transcription of Armenian Լուսինե (see Lusine).

Breton form of Maël.

Means "welcome" in Tahitian. It gained popularity in France during the 1980s.

Variant of Marc'harid.

English and Russian form of the originally Hungarian name Mariska.

Means "rain" in Hebrew and Arabic.

French form of the Roman name Maxentius, a derivative of Latin maximus "greatest". This was the agnomen of an early 4th-century Roman emperor, Marcus Aurelius Valerius Maxentius, a rival of Constantine. It was also borne by a 6th-century saint from Agde in France.

Transferred use of the surname Maxfield.

Breton form of Matthew.

Derived from Midha.

From Japanese 恵 (megumi) meaning "favour, benefit" or 愛 (megumi) meaning "love, affection", as well as other kanji or kanji combinations that have the same reading. It is often written using the hiragana writing system.

Hebrew form of Mehetabel.

From the Hebrew name מְהֵיטַבְאֵל (Meheitav'el) meaning "God makes happy". This name is mentioned briefly in the Old Testament.

Modern Hebrew form of Merab 1.

Means "abundant" in Hebrew. This is the name of a daughter of Saul in the Old Testament.

From the English word merry, ultimately from Old English myrige. This name appears in Charles Dickens' novel Martin Chuzzlewit (1844), where it is a diminutive of Mercy.

Means "strife" or "judgment" in Hebrew. In the Hebrew Bible, Midian was a son of Abraham and Keturah.

From Arabic أَمِير (ʾamīr) meaning "prince, commander" combined with عَلِيم (ʿalīm) meaning "knowing, learned".

Derived from Latvian mirdzēt meaning "to shine, to glitter". This is the name of a tragic character in the play Vaidelote (1894) by the Latvian poet and playwright Aspazija.

From the Occitan name Mirèio, which was first used by the poet Frédéric Mistral for the main character in his poem Mirèio (1859). He probably derived it from the Occitan word mirar meaning "to admire". It is spelled Mirèlha in classical Occitan orthography. A notable bearer is the French singer Mireille Mathieu (1946-).

Romanian, Croatian and Albanian form of Mireille.

Yiddish diminutive of Miriam.

Basque form of Maria.

Helah was the first wife of Ashur and Naarah was his second wife. The name means "girl" or "maiden" in Hebrew. Naarah was of the tribe of Judah and gave birth to Ahuzam, Hepher, Temeni, and Haahashtari (1 Chr. 4:5, 6). This name may have given rise to the Basque name Naiara.

French form of Nadezhda.

Means "hope" in Russian and Bulgarian.

Meaning unknown. It was borne by the wife of Umbarra, who was a 19th-century leader of the Yuin, an Australian Aboriginal people.

Feminine form of Nasir.

Short form of Anastasiya.

Means "beautiful" in Hebrew.

Ukrainian and Russian form of Nazarius.

Directly taken from Breton nedeleg "Christmas", this name is considered a Breton cognate of Noël.

Short form of names ending in nela, such as Antonela.

Diminutive of names ending in nette, such as Annette or Jeanette.

Anglicized form of Niamh.

Derived from South Slavic neven meaning "marigold".

Elaborated form of Nola, most commonly found in South Africa.

From the Breton phrase Noyal Gwenn meaning "holy one from Noyal". This was the epithet of a 6th-century saint and martyr from Brittany.

Alternate transcription of Arabic/Urdu نور (see Nur).

Derived from Breton oan "lamb" (ultimately from Latin agnus) and used as a Breton form of Agnes.

Means "to restore" in Hebrew. In the Old Testament this is the name of a prophet from Samaria.

Modern Hebrew form of Ophrah. Originally it was a masculine name, but it is now used for females too.

Probably a form of Auriel or Oriole, the spelling influenced in Britain, perhaps, by Oriel College, Oxford. The college takes its name from Latin oriolum "gallery, porch", but there was a medieval personal name, Orieldis or Aurildis, which came from Old German and meant "fire-strife". It was that name in the Middle Ages which led to the surname Oriel. Auriel and Oriel were revived at roughly the same time, at the beginning of the 20th century, and were clearly heard by parents as the same name. The Au- spelling was the first to appear in official records, but one cannot be sure which name was a variant of the other. Oriole is an occasional variant. (Source: Dunkling & Gosling, 1983)

From a Catalan surname meaning "golden". It has been used in honour of Saint Joseph Oriol (1650-1702).

Bosnian and Croatian form of Osiris.

Old French form of Petronilla borne by Perenelle Flamel (1320-1402), wife and fellow alchemist of Nicolas Flamel. They are known for their quest to discover the philosopher's stone, a legendary substance said to turn any metal into gold and to make its owner immortal.

Today, Perenelle is most commonly known for her mention in J.K. Rowling's fantasy novel Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, in which she and her husband have succeeded in creating the stone and have lived to be in their mid 600s.

Derived from the Slavic element radŭ meaning "happy, willing", originally a short form of names beginning with that element.

Romanian, Croatian and Serbian form of Rachel.

Simply from the English word rain, derived from Old English regn.

Dutch form of Raziel.

Feminine form of Raziel.

Variant of Red.

Diminutive of Rosemarie or Rosemary.

Breton form of Robert.

Means "golden rose", derived from Latin rosa "rose" and aurea "golden". This name was (first?) used by Pedro Calderón de la Barca for a character in his play Life Is a Dream (1635).

Probably means "great provider" from Gaulish ro, an intensive prefix (hence "very, most, great"), combined with smert "purveyor, carer" and the feminine name suffix a. This was the name of an obscure Gallo-Roman goddess of fertility, abundance and prosperity. The author J. K. Rowling borrowed the name for a witch in her 'Harry Potter' series.

Variant of Roly.

Simply from the name of the precious stone (which ultimately derives from Latin ruber "red"), which is the traditional birthstone of July. It came into use as a given name in the 16th century [1].

Means "hollyhock" in Bulgarian (referring to flowering plants from the genera Alcea and Althaea). This is also an alternate transcription of Macedonian Ружа (see Ruža).

Meaning unknown. This is the name of the Inuit goddess of the sea, sea animals and the underworld. According to some legends Sedna was originally a beautiful woman thrown into the ocean by her father. A dwarf planet in the outer solar system was named for her in 2004.

Variant of Šeherezada.

From the name of a city, the capital of Edom, which appears in the Old Testament. It means "rock" in Hebrew.

Means "flame" in Hebrew. This word appears briefly in the Old Testament books of Job and Ezekiel.

Means "famous" in Persian.

Variant of Solange.

The name of a character in Ron Howard's movie "Willow" (1988). In it, she is a princess, the daughter of the evil Queen Bavmorda. She ends up betraying her mother to serve the cause of good. George Lucas, who wrote the story for the movie, may have based Sorsha's name on either Sorcha or Saoirse.

Derived from Breton sterenn "star" (cf. Steren), this name is occasionally considered the Breton equivalent of Saint Asteria.

Diminutive of Tallulah, Talia and other names that begin with or contain the element "Tal-".

From the name of the flower, which is derived via Old French from Late Latin tanacita.

From the English word for the type of duck or the greenish-blue colour.

English vernacular form of Thomasina. This was one of the most popular English girls' names in the 16th century. It was used by Thomas Hardy for a character in his novel The Return of the Native (1878).

From the Hebrew name תִּרְצָה (Tirtzah) meaning "favourable". Tirzah is the name of one of the daughters of Zelophehad in the Old Testament. It also occurs in the Old Testament as a place name, the early residence of the kings of the northern kingdom.

Alternate transcription of Hebrew טוֹבָה (see Tova 1).

Means "happiness, revelry, merriment" in Hebrew.

Hebrew form of Zion.

Hebrew form of Zipporah.

Russian form of Bartholomew.

Feminine form of Velvel.

Alternate transcription of Russian Вениамин (see Veniamin).

Derived from Bulgarian весел (vesel) meaning "cheerful".

From an occupational surname for a watchman, derived from Old English weard "guard".

Albanian form of Jessica.

Russian, Ukrainian and Armenian form of Eve.

Russian form of Eugenia.

Hebrew form of Jesse.

Means "she-wolf", a derivative of Old Norse úlfr "wolf".

Hebrew form of Jochebed.

Bulgarian and Macedonian feminine form of Zechariah.

Variant of Zarina.

Meaning unknown, possibly of Romani origin. This name was (first?) used by Aleksandr Pushkin in his poem The Gypsies (1827).

Variant of Ziphion. Means "hidden" in Hebrew. In the apocryphal Book of Enoch this was the name of an angel sent by the archangel Gabriel, along with the angel Ithuriel, to find the location of Satan after his fall.

Russian, Ukrainian and Belarusian form of Jeanne.

From the name of the flower, which was itself named for the German botanist Johann Zinn.