Behind the Name: Smaragd's Personal Name List

Anastas

Gender: Masculine

Usage: Russian, Bulgarian

Other Scripts: Анастас(Russian, Bulgarian)

Pronounced: a-na-STAS(Bulgarian)

Rating: 17% based on 3 votes

Russian and Bulgarian form of Anastasius.

Aram 2

Gender: Masculine

Usage: Armenian

Other Scripts: Արամ(Armenian)

Pronounced: ah-RAHM

Rating: 50% based on 3 votes

Meaning uncertain. According to the 5th-century Armenian historian Movses Khorenatsi this was the name of an ancient ancestor of the Armenian people. A famous bearer was the composer Aram Khachaturian (1903-1978).

Ăraman

Gender: Masculine

Usage: Chuvash

Other Scripts: Ӑраман(Chuvash)

Rating: 43% based on 3 votes

Chuvash form of Roman.

Ardashir

Gender: Masculine

Usage: Middle Persian

Other Scripts: 𐭠𐭥𐭲𐭧𐭱𐭲𐭥(Pahlavi)

Rating: 43% based on 3 votes

Middle Persian form of Old Persian Artaxšaça (see Artaxerxes). This was the name of a 3rd-century king of Persia who defeated the Parthians and founded the Sasanian Empire. He also reestablished Zoroastrianism as the state religion.

Artavasdes

Gender: Masculine

Usage: Ancient Armenian (Latinized)

Other Scripts: Արտավազդ(Armenian)

Rating: 60% based on 2 votes

Latinized form of Artavazd.

Aslan

Gender: Masculine

Usage: Turkish, Kazakh, Azerbaijani, Chechen, Ossetian, Circassian, Literature

Other Scripts: Аслан(Kazakh, Chechen, Ossetian) Аслъан(Western Circassian) Аслъэн(Eastern Circassian)

Rating: 50% based on 2 votes

From Turkic arslan meaning "lion". This was a byname or title borne by several medieval Turkic rulers, including the Seljuk sultan Alp Arslan (a byname meaning "brave lion") who drove the Byzantines from Anatolia in the 11th century. The author C. S. Lewis later used the name Aslan for the main protagonist (a lion) in his Chronicles of Narnia series of books, first appearing in 1950.

Avetis

Gender: Masculine

Usage: Armenian

Other Scripts: Ավետիս(Armenian)

Pronounced: ah-veh-TEES

Rating: 47% based on 3 votes

Means "good news" in Armenian.

Bagrat

Gender: Masculine

Usage: Armenian, Georgian (Rare)

Other Scripts: Բագրատ(Armenian) ბაგრატ(Georgian)

Pronounced: bahg-RAHT(Armenian)

Rating: 13% based on 3 votes

Armenian and Georgian form of Bagadata. This name was borne by several Georgian kings, though it is now uncommon there.

Elza

Gender: Feminine

Usage: Portuguese, Latvian, Hungarian, Georgian

Other Scripts: ელზა(Georgian)

Rating: 68% based on 4 votes

Portuguese, Latvian, Hungarian and Georgian form of Elsa.

Gayane

Gender: Feminine

Usage: Armenian

Other Scripts: Գայանե(Armenian)

Pronounced: gah-yah-NEH

Rating: 65% based on 2 votes

Armenian form of Gaiana.

Hripsime

Gender: Feminine

Usage: Armenian, History (Ecclesiastical)

Other Scripts: Հռիփսիմէ(Armenian)

Rating: 3% based on 3 votes

Rhipsime, sometimes called Hripsime, Ripsime, Ripsima or Arsema (died c. 290) was a martyr of Roman origin; she and her companions in martyrdom are venerated as the first Christian martyrs of Armenia.

Rostam

Gender: Masculine

Usage: Persian, Persian Mythology

Other Scripts: رستم(Persian)

Pronounced: ros-TAM(Persian)

Rating: 47% based on 3 votes

Meaning unknown, possibly from Iranian roots *rautas "river" and *taxma "strong". Rostam was a warrior hero in Persian legend. The 10th-century Persian poet Ferdowsi recorded his tale in the Shahnameh.

Ruslan

Gender: Masculine

Usage: Russian, Tatar, Bashkir, Ukrainian, Belarusian, Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Uzbek, Turkmen, Azerbaijani, Ossetian, Chechen, Ingush, Avar, Circassian, Indonesian, Malay

Other Scripts: Руслан(Russian, Tatar, Bashkir, Ukrainian, Belarusian, Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Uzbek, Ossetian, Chechen, Ingush, Avar) Руслъан(Western Circassian, Eastern Circassian)

Pronounced: ruws-LAN(Russian)

Rating: 7% based on 3 votes

Form of Yeruslan used by Aleksandr Pushkin in his poem Ruslan and Ludmila (1820), which was loosely based on Russian and Tatar folktales of Yeruslan Lazarevich.

Yeruslan

Gender: Masculine

Usage: Folklore

Other Scripts: Еруслан(Russian) Єруслан(Ukrainian)

Rating: 20% based on 4 votes

From Tatar Уруслан (Uruslan), which was possibly from Turkic arslan meaning "lion". Yeruslan Lazarevich is the name of a hero in Russian and Tatar folktales. These tales were based on (or at least influenced by) Persian tales of their hero Rostam.