Izaris's Personal Name List

Created by Russian author Aleksey Tolstoy for his science fiction novel Aelita (1923), where it belongs to a Martian princess. In the book, the name is said to mean "starlight seen for the last time" in the Martian language.

Latin form of the Greek name Αἰνείας (Aineias), derived from Greek αἴνη (aine) meaning "praise". In Greek legend he was a son of Aphrodite and was one of the chief heroes who defended Troy from the Greeks. The Roman poet Virgil continued his story in the Aeneid, in which Aeneas travels to Italy and founds the Roman state.

Means "splendour, beauty" in Greek. In Greek mythology she was one of the three Graces or Χάριτες (Charites). This name was also borne by a 4th-century saint from Rome.

Means "living, alive" in Arabic. This was the name of Muhammad's third wife, the daughter of Abu Bakr. Some time after Muhammad's death she went to war against Ali, the fourth caliph, but was defeated. Her name is used more by Sunni Muslims and less by Shias.

This name began to be used in America in the 1970s, possibly inspired by Princess Aisha of Jordan (1968-), the daughter of King Hussein and his British-born wife. It received a boost in popularity after Stevie Wonder used it for his first daughter in 1975.

An elongation of Proto-Germanic *allaz 'all; every; whole' + Old High German deo 'servant'.

Means "joyful" in Hebrew.

Bosnian feminine form of Al-Amir.

French form of Alfonso.

Slovak form of Elizabeth.

Latinate form of Alzire. This name was used in Verdi's opera Alzira (1845). It coincides with the name of a Spanish town.

From the name of the amaranth flower, which is derived from Greek ἀμάραντος (amarantos) meaning "unfading". Ἀμάραντος (Amarantos) was also an Ancient Greek given name.

Means "commander, prince" in Arabic. This was originally a title, which has come into English as the Arabic loanword emir.

Form of Channah (see Hannah) used in the Greek and Latin Old Testament. Many later Old Testament translations, including the English, use the Hannah spelling instead of Anna. The name appears briefly in the New Testament belonging to a prophetess who recognized Jesus as the Messiah. It was a popular name in the Byzantine Empire from an early date, and in the Middle Ages it became common among Western Christians due to veneration of Saint Anna (usually known as Saint Anne in English), the name traditionally assigned to the mother of the Virgin Mary.

In England, this Latin form has been used alongside the vernacular forms Ann and Anne since the late Middle Ages. Anna is currently the most common of these spellings in all English-speaking countries (since the 1970s), however the biblical form Hannah is presently more popular than all three.

The name was borne by several Russian royals, including an 18th-century empress of Russia. It is also the name of the main character in Leo Tolstoy's novel Anna Karenina (1877), about a married aristocrat who begins an ultimately tragic relationship with Count Vronsky.

Feminine form of Apollonios. This was the name of a 3rd-century saint and martyr from Alexandria.

French and Catalan form of Herman.

Means "female ibex, mountain goat" in Arabic. This name was borne by some relatives of the Prophet Muhammad. It was also the name of a 12th-century queen of Yemen.

From an old Indo-Iranian root meaning "Aryan, noble". In India, this is a transcription of both the masculine form आर्य and the feminine form आर्या. In Iran it is only a masculine name.

Possibly means "healer" in Hebrew. This name was borne by the third king of Judah, as told in the Old Testament.

Means "honey" in Persian (of Arabic origin).

Meaning unknown, probably of Turkic origin. This was the name of a 12th-century Bulgarian emperor (Ivan Asen I) and several of his successors.

Possibly of Scythian origin meaning "blue". In Turkic mythology Asena was a grey wolf who gave birth to the ancestor of the Ashina tribe of Turks.

Means "happy, blessed" in Hebrew. Asher in the Old Testament is a son of Jacob by Leah's handmaid Zilpah, and the ancestor of one of the twelve tribes of Israel. The meaning of his name is explained in Genesis 30:13.

From the name of the city of Ashur, the capital of the Assyrian Empire, which is of unknown meaning. Ashur was the patron deity of the city and the chief god of Assyria.

Possibly from Arabic أسي (asy) meaning "distressed, grieved". According to Islamic tradition this was the name of the wife of the pharaoh at the time of Moses. She took care of the infant Moses and later accepted monotheism.

Derived from Greek ἀσπάσιος (aspasios) meaning "welcome, embrace". This was the name of the lover of Pericles (5th century BC).

Means "travel at night" in Arabic. It is related to Isra.

Latinized form of the Greek Ἀστραία (Astraia), derived from Greek ἀστήρ (aster) meaning "star". Astraea was a Greek goddess of justice and innocence. After wickedness took root in the world she left the earth and became the constellation Virgo.

Means "crown" in Hebrew. In the Old Testament Atarah is a minor character, the wife of Jerahmeel.

Means "inevitable, inflexible" in Greek, derived from the negative prefix ἀ (a) combined with τρόπος (tropos) meaning "direction, manner, fashion". Atropos was one of the three Fates or Μοῖραι (Moirai) in Greek mythology. When her sister Lachesis decided that a person's life was at an end, Atropos would choose the manner of death and cut the person's life thread.

Means "exalted, venerable", derived from Latin augere meaning "to increase". Augustus was the title given to Octavian, the first Roman emperor. He was the adopted son of Julius Caesar who rose to power through a combination of military skill and political prowess. In 26 BC the senate officially gave him the name Augustus, and after his death it was used as a title for subsequent emperors. This was also the name of three kings of Poland (August in Polish).

Means "spring" in Hebrew.

Means "returning, visitor" in Arabic. In Turkey this is also associated with ay meaning "moon".

Means "openness, space, square" in Kurdish.

Turkish form of Aisha.

Variant of Belshazzar. Balthazar is the name traditionally assigned to one of the wise men (also known as the Magi, or three kings) who visited the newborn Jesus. He was said to have come from Arabia. This name was utilized by Shakespeare for minor characters in The Comedy of Errors (1594) and The Merchant of Venice (1596).

Greek form of an Aramaic name. In Acts in the New Testament the byname Barnabas was given to a man named Joseph, a Jew from Cyprus who was a companion of Paul on his missionary journeys. The original Aramaic form is unattested, but it may be from בּר נביא (bar naviya') meaning "son of the prophet", though in Acts 4:36 it is claimed that the name means "son of encouragement".

As an English name, Barnabas came into occasional use after the 12th century. It is now rare, though the variant Barnaby is still moderately common in Britain.

English form of Βαρθολομαῖος (Bartholomaios), which was the Greek form of an Aramaic name meaning "son of Talmai". In the New Testament Bartholomew is the byname of an apostle, possibly the same person as the apostle Nathanael. According to tradition he was a missionary to India before returning westward to Armenia, where he was martyred by flaying. Due to the popularity of this saint the name became common in England during the Middle Ages.

Probably from Viatrix, a feminine form of the Late Latin name Viator meaning "voyager, traveller". It was a common name amongst early Christians, and the spelling was altered by association with Latin beatus "blessed, happy". Viatrix or Beatrix was a 4th-century saint who was strangled to death during the persecutions of Diocletian.

In England the name became rare after the Middle Ages, but it was revived in the 19th century, more commonly in the spelling Beatrice. Famous bearers include the British author and illustrator Beatrix Potter (1866-1943), the creator of Peter Rabbit, and Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands (1938-).

From a title of the Virgin Mary, Nuestra Señora de Begoña, meaning "Our Lady of Begoña", the patron saint of Biscay, Spain. Begoña is a district and basilica in the city of Bilbao.

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".

French form of Berengaria.

Latinized feminine form of Berengar. This name was borne by a 13th-century queen of Castile.

Czech, Slovak and Ukrainian form of Bogdan, as well as a Polish variant.

Derived from the Slavic element bor "battle". Notable bearer is Macedonian conductor Borjan Canev (born 1973).

Bulgarian form of Bojan.

Anglicized form of Cadwaladr.

Medieval Spanish form of Carmel, appearing in the devotional title of the Virgin Mary Nuestra Señora del Carmen meaning "Our Lady of Mount Carmel". The spelling has been altered through association with the Latin word carmen meaning "song". This was the name of the main character in George Bizet's opera Carmen (1875).

Spanish and Corsican form of Katherine.

Latinized form of Chrysippos. In history, this name was most notably borne by Chrysippus of Soli, a Stoic philosopher from the 3rd century BC. In Greek mythology, this was the name of a divine hero with a very tragic story.

From the Greek name Κλεοπάτρα (Kleopatra) meaning "glory of the father", derived from κλέος (kleos) meaning "glory" combined with πατήρ (pater) meaning "father" (genitive πατρός). This was the name of queens of Egypt from the Ptolemaic royal family, including Cleopatra VII, the mistress of both Julius Caesar and Mark Antony. After being defeated by Augustus she committed suicide (according to popular belief, by allowing herself to be bitten by a venomous asp). Shakespeare's tragedy Antony and Cleopatra (1606) tells the story of her life.

Means "sea, ocean" in Persian.

From the Roman cognomen Diocletianus, a derivative of Diokles. This was the name of a Roman emperor of the 3rd and 4th centuries (Gaius Aurelius Valerius Diocletianus). He is remembered for persecuting Christians, but he also reformed and stabilized the crumbling Empire.

Italian form of Dominicus (see Dominic). Domenico Veneziano was a Renaissance painter who lived in Florence.

French form of Donatianus.

Derived from the Slavic element dorgŭ (South Slavic drag) meaning "precious" combined with mirŭ meaning "peace, world".

Scottish Gaelic form of Elizabeth.

Means "spruce tree" in Lithuanian. In a Lithuanian folktale Eglė is a young woman who marries a grass snake. At the end of the tale she turns herself into a spruce.

Means "snowdrop (flower)" in Welsh, a compound of eira "snow" and llys "plant".

Means "one, first" in Indonesian, ultimately from Sanskrit एक (eka).

Bulgarian and Macedonian form of Katherine, and an alternate transcription of Russian Екатерина (see Yekaterina).

Means "hazel (colour)" in Turkish.

Means "goddess" in Persian.

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

Georgian, Sardinian and Basque form of Helen.

Means "ascension" in Hebrew. In the Books of Samuel in the Old Testament he is a high priest of the Israelites. He took the young Samuel into his service and gave him guidance when God spoke to him. Because of the misdeeds of his sons, Eli and his descendants were cursed to die before reaching old age.

Eli has been used as an English Christian given name since the Protestant Reformation. A notable bearer was the American inventor of the cotton gin Eli Whitney (1765-1825).

From Hebrew אֱלִיעֶזֶר ('Eli'ezer) meaning "my God is help". This is the name of several characters in the Old Testament, including a servant of Abraham and one of the sons of Moses (see Exodus 18:4 for an explanation of the significance of the name).

Turkish form of Alif, the name of the first letter of the Arabic alphabet, ا. It also means "slender", from the Turkish phrase elif gibi, literally "shaped like elif".

Form of Elizabeth used in many versions of the Old Testament, where it belongs to the wife of Aaron.

Meaning unknown, possibly Phoenician in origin. This is another name of Dido, the legendary queen of Carthage.

Derived from Bulgarian елица, itself a diminutive form of Bulgarian ела "fir tree; spruce".

Possibly from Turkic el meaning "country, society" combined with Arabic أمير (amir) meaning "commander".

Icelandic form of Alvar.

A cousin of Guinevere who was imprisoned by Claudas for suspected espionage. He refused to release her and this led to war with Arthur.

French form of Emerentiana.

From Sumerian En-hedu-anna, derived from 𒂗 (en) meaning "lady, high priestess" combined with 𒃶𒌌 (hedu) meaning "ornament" and the god's name An 2. This was the Sumerian title of a 23rd-century BC priestess and poet, identified as a daughter of Sargon of Akkad. Presumably she had an Akkadian birth name, but it is unrecorded. She is regarded as one of the earliest known poets.

Derived from the Old English elements eofor "boar" and hild "battle". This name was rarely used after the Norman Conquest.

Means "horse joy" in Old English. This name was invented by J. R. R. Tolkien who used Old English to represent the Rohirric language. In his novel The Lord of the Rings (1954) Eowyn is the niece of King Theoden of Rohan. She slays the Lord of the Nazgul in the Battle of the Pelennor Fields.

From the Hebrew name אֶפְרָיִם ('Efrayim) meaning "fruitful". In the Old Testament Ephraim is a son of Joseph and Asenath and the founder of one of the twelve tribes of Israel. This name was also borne by two early saints: Ephraim or Ephrem the Syrian, a 4th-century theologian, and Ephraim of Antioch, a 6th-century patriarch of Antioch.

Means "watchful, vigilant" in Hebrew. In the Old Testament he is a grandson of Ephraim.

Derived from Greek ἐράσμιος (erasmios) meaning "beloved, desired". Saint Erasmus, also known as Saint Elmo, was a 4th-century martyr who is the patron saint of sailors. Erasmus was also the name of a Dutch scholar of the Renaissance period.

Italian form of Hercules.

Old Norse form of Erland.

Diminutive form of Elizabeth via Hungarian Erzsébet.

Hungarian form of Elizabeth. This is the native name of Saint Elizabeth of Hungary. It was also borne by the infamous Erzsébet Báthory (1560-1614), a countess and alleged murderer.

Modern Persian form of Sepandiar, which was the early New Persian form of the Middle Persian name Spandadat. The latter name ultimately comes from the Avestan name Spentodata, which means "given by (the) holy". It is derived from Avestan spenta meaning "holy" combined with Avestan data meaning "given".

Esfandiar was the name of a prince from Persian legend, who was killed by the warrior hero Rostam. The 11th-century Persian poet Ferdowsi recorded his tale in the epic poem "Shahnameh".

A known real-life bearer of the name is the Iranian politician Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei (b. 1960).

Russian form of Esther.

Means "desire, wish" in Sanskrit.

Possibly from Arabic أسْلَمَ (aslama) meaning "to submit".

Derived from Turkish esmer "dark" and ay "moon".

Form of Esther used in several languages.

Polish, Slovak, Romanian and Lithuanian form of Esther.

Short form of names beginning with the Old English element æðele meaning "noble". It was coined in the 19th century, when many Old English names were revived. It was popularized by the novels The Newcomes (1855) by William Makepeace Thackeray and The Daisy Chain (1856) by C. M. Yonge. A famous bearer was American actress and singer Ethel Merman (1908-1984).

English form of the Germanic name Adallinda. The name was very rare in medieval times, but it was revived in the early 19th century.

Feminine form of Eugenius (see Eugene). It was borne by a semi-legendary 3rd-century saint who escaped persecution by disguising herself as a man. The name was occasionally found in England during the Middle Ages, but it was not regularly used until the 19th century.

Variant of Exsuperantia, which is derived from the Latin noun exsuperantia "preeminence, superiority, superfluity". The noun itself is ultimately derived from exsuperans "surpassing (greatly), exceeding (greatly), surmounting (greatly)", which belongs to the verb exsupero (see Exuperius for more). This was the name of a virgin saint from the 4th century AD.

From the Roman cognomen Fabianus, which was derived from Fabius. Saint Fabian was a 3rd-century pope.

Roman family name that was derived from Latin faba meaning "bean". Quintus Fabius Maximus was the Roman general who used delaying tactics to halt the invasion of Hannibal in the 3rd century BC.

Means "panther" in Arabic.

Alternate transcription of Arabic فيصل (see Faysal), as well as the usual Urdu, Bengali, Malay and Indonesian form.

Diminutive of Esfir.

Spanish and Portuguese feminine form of Franciscus (see Francis).

From the medieval name Gundisalvus, which was the Latin form of a Germanic (possibly Visigothic or Suebi) name composed of gunda "war" and maybe salba "salve, ointment", salo "dark, dusky" or sal "house, hall" (with the spelling perhaps influenced by Latin salvus "safe"). Saint Gonzalo was an 11th-century bishop of Mondoñedo in Galicia, Spain.

From Bulgarian горя (gorya) meaning "to burn".

Derived from Bulgarian грозде (grozde) or Macedonian грозје (grozje) meaning "grapes".

From Hebrew הֲדַס (hadas) meaning "myrtle tree". In the Old Testament this is the Hebrew name of Queen Esther.

Means "custodian, guardian" in Arabic. In Islamic tradition الحفيظ (al-Hafiz) is one of the 99 names of Allah.

Means "slender" in Arabic.

Finnish variant of Helga.

Derived from Greek ἑστία (hestia) meaning "hearth, fireside". In Greek mythology Hestia was the goddess of the hearth and domestic activity.

Means "crescent moon" in Arabic, also referring to the new moon on the Islamic calendar. As a given name it is typically masculine in Arabic and feminine in Turkish.

Means "freer of horses" from Greek ἵππος (hippos) meaning "horse" and λύω (luo) meaning "to loosen". In Greek legend he was the son of Theseus who was tragically loved by his stepmother Phaedra. This was also the name of a 3rd-century theologian, saint and martyr.

Derived from Greek ὕπατος (hypatos) meaning "highest, supreme". Hypatia of Alexandria was a 5th-century philosopher and mathematician, daughter of the mathematician Theon.

Arabic form of Abraham, also used in several other languages.

Possibly means "interpreter" in Arabic. According to the Quran this was the name of an ancient prophet. He is traditionally equated with the Hebrew prophet Enoch.

Means "tree" in Hebrew.

Derived from Finnish ilma "air" combined with a feminine suffix. In Finnish mythology Ilmatar was a semi-androgynous goddess of the heavens. She was the mother of Ilmarinen, Väinämöinen and Lemminkäinen.

Means "faith", derived from Arabic أمن (amuna) meaning "to be faithful". It is typically feminine in Arabic and typically masculine in Persian.

Russian and Ukrainian form of Inés.

Alternate transcription of Russian Иннокентий (see Innokentiy).

From Arabic إقرا (iqra) meaning "read, recite, confess". This is another name of the 96th chapter of the Quran.

Means "watchful" in Hebrew. In the Old Testament this is the name of King David's priest. As an English Christian given name, Ira began to be used after the Protestant Reformation. In the 17th century the Puritans brought it to America, where remained moderately common into the 20th century.

Means "honey lips" in Tupi, from yra "honey" and tembe "lips". This is the name of an 1865 novel by José de Alencar, about the relationship between a Tupi woman and a Portuguese man during the early colonial period. Alencar may have constructed the name so that it would be an anagram of America.

Arabic form of Jesus. This form is found in the Quran and is used as a given name by Muslims. Arabic-speaking Christians instead use يسوع (Yasu') to refer to Jesus Christ.

Medieval Occitan form of Elizabeth. It spread throughout Spain, Portugal and France, becoming common among the royalty by the 12th century. It grew popular in England in the 13th century after Isabella of Angoulême married the English king John, and it was subsequently bolstered when Isabella of France married Edward II the following century.

This is the usual form of the name Elizabeth in Spain and Portugal, though elsewhere it is considered a parallel name, such as in France where it is used alongside Élisabeth. The name was borne by two Spanish ruling queens, including Isabel of Castile, who sponsored the explorations of Christopher Columbus.

From the Hebrew name יִסְכָּה (Yiskah) meaning "to behold". In the Old Testament this is the name of Abraham's niece, mentioned only briefly. This is the basis of the English name Jessica.

Means "master, lord" in Sanskrit. This is a transcription of both the feminine form ईशा and the masculine form ईश (an epithet of the Hindu god Shiva). It is also the name of one of the Upanishads, which are parts of Hindu scripture.

Anglicized form of Iseabail.

From the Hebrew name יִשְׁמָעֵאל (Yishma'el) meaning "God will hear", from the roots שָׁמַע (shama') meaning "to hear" and אֵל ('el) meaning "God". In the Old Testament this is the name of a son of Abraham. He is the traditional ancestor of the Arab people. Also in the Old Testament, it is borne by a man who assassinates Gedaliah the governor of Judah. The author Herman Melville later used this name for the narrator in his novel Moby-Dick (1851).

From the Semitic root 'ṯtr, which possibly relates to the Evening Star. Ishtar was an Akkadian, Assyrian and Babylonian goddess who presided over love, war and fertility. She was cognate with the Canaanite and Phoenician Ashtoreth, and she was also identified with the Sumerian goddess Inanna. Her name in Akkadian cuneiform 𒀭𒈹 was the same as the Sumerian cuneiform for Inanna.

Irish form of Isabel.

Arabic form of Ishmael.

Means "nocturnal journey", derived from Arabic سرى (sara) meaning "to travel at night".

Possibly means "man of hire" or "there is reward", from Hebrew שָׁכַר (shakhar) meaning "hire, wage, reward". In the Old Testament this is the name of one of the twelve sons of Jacob (by Leah) and the founder of one of the twelve tribes of Israel. A justification for the name's meaning is given in Genesis 30:18.

Means "skillfully embroidering, skillfully decorating" in Erzyan.

From the Hebrew name יָעֵל (Ya'el) meaning "ibex, mountain goat". This name appears in the Old Testament belonging to the wife of Heber the Kenite. After Sisera, the captain of the Canaanite army, was defeated in battle by Deborah and Barak he took refuge in Heber's tent. When he fell asleep Jael killed him by hammering a tent peg into his head.

Serbian form of Euphemia. This name was adopted by a 14th-century Serbian poet (born Jelena Mrnjavčević).

Swedish diminutive of Katarina.

Means "stone" in Bulgarian. This is a translation of the Greek name Πέτρος (Petros).

German form of Casimir.

Form of Katherine in several languages.

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

From Egyptian ḫꜥf-rꜥ meaning "he appears as Ra". This was the name of the 4th-dynasty Egyptian pharaoh who built the second largest of the pyramids at Giza (26th century BC). He is also known as Chephren, from the Greek form of his name.

Means "apportioner" in Greek. She was one of the three Fates or Μοῖραι (Moirai) in Greek mythology. She was responsible for deciding how long each person had to live.

Czech and Slovak feminine form of Vladislav.

Original Latin form of Letitia, as well as a French variant. This name began rising in popularity in France around the same time that Serge Gainsbourg released his 1963 song Elaeudanla Téïtéïa (this title is a phonetic rendering of the letters in the name Lætitia). It peaked in 1982 as the fourth most common name for girls.

Possibly means "to make low" in Hebrew. This is the name of two characters in Genesis in the Old Testament, the first being a descendant of Cain, and the second being a descendant of Seth and the father of Noah.

Ancient Greek masculine name meaning "to glitter, to shine".

Germanic name derived from the elements lant "land" and rih "ruler, king".

Hungarian form of Vladislav. Saint László was an 11th-century king of Hungary, looked upon as the embodiment of Christian virtue and bravery.

Either derived from Gothic lauths "grand" or Gothic laudi "figure, size" and Old High German hiltja "battle".

A diminutive of Leif.

Etymology uncertain, perhaps a corrupted form of Leipephile, Hippophile, or Deiphile. The precise original form remains unknown.

Late Latin name that might be derived from the name of the Greek island of Leucadia or from Greek λευκός (leukos) meaning "bright, clear, white" (which is also the root of the island's name). Saint Leocadia was a 3rd-century martyr from Spain.

Feminine form of Leontios. This name was used among Byzantine royalty.

Feminine form of Leontius.

Possibly means "joined, attached" in Hebrew. As told in the Old Testament, Levi was the third son of Jacob and Leah, and the ancestor of one of the twelve tribes of the Israelites, known as the Levites. This was the tribe that formed the priestly class of the Israelites. The brothers Moses and Aaron were members. This name also occurs in the New Testament, where it is another name for the apostle Matthew.

As an English Christian name, Levi came into use after the Protestant Reformation.

German and Dutch diminutive of Elisabeth.

Means "my secret" in Hebrew, from לִי (li) "for me" and רָז (raz) "secret".

Feminine form of Livius. This was the name of the wife of the Roman emperor Augustus, Livia Drusilla.

Feminine form of the Roman family name Lucretius, possibly from Latin lucrum meaning "profit, wealth". According Roman legend Lucretia was a maiden who was raped by the son of the king of Rome. This caused a great uproar among the Roman citizens, and the monarchy was overthrown. This name was also borne by a 4th-century saint and martyr from Mérida, Spain.

Either a short form of Magdalena or from the biblical village that Mary Magdalene was from, which means "tower" in Hebrew.

It is the name of a central character in the Agatha Christie mystery novel Peril at End House (1932), which features detective Hercule Poirot.

From the Hebrew name מַלְאָכִי (Mal'akhi) meaning "my messenger" or "my angel". This is one of the twelve minor prophets of the Old Testament, the author of the Book of Malachi, which some claim foretells the coming of Christ. In England the name came into use after the Protestant Reformation.

Probably from Sumerian amar-Utuk meaning "calf of Utu", derived from amar "calf" combined with the name of the sun god Utu. This was the name of the chief Babylonian god, presiding over heaven, light, sky, battle, and fertility. After killing the dragon Tiamat, who was an old enemy of the gods, he created the world and sky from the pieces of her body.

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

French form of Margaret. This is also the French word for the daisy flower (species Leucanthemum vulgare).

Latin form of Greek Μαρία, from Hebrew מִרְיָם (see Mary). Maria is the usual form of the name in many European languages, as well as a secondary form in other languages such as English (where the common spelling is Mary). In some countries, for example Germany, Poland and Italy, Maria is occasionally used as a masculine middle name.

This was the name of two ruling queens of Portugal. It was also borne by the Habsburg queen Maria Theresa (1717-1780), whose inheritance of the domains of her father, the Holy Roman emperor Charles VI, began the War of the Austrian Succession.

Means "coral" in Persian, of Arabic origin. This can also be a Kazakh alternate transcription of Marzhan.

From the Roman name Maximilianus, which was derived from Maximus. It was borne by a 3rd-century saint and martyr. In the 15th century the Holy Roman emperor Frederick III gave this name to his son and eventual heir. In this case it was a blend of the names of the Roman generals Fabius Maximus and Cornelius Scipio Aemilianus (see Emiliano), whom Frederick admired. It was subsequently borne by a second Holy Roman emperor, two kings of Bavaria, and a short-lived Habsburg emperor of Mexico.

Genesis 10:23

Russian and Belarusian form of Michael, and an alternate transcription of Bulgarian Михаил (see Mihail). This was the name of two Russian tsars. Other notable bearers include the Russian poet Mikhail Lermontov (1814-1841), the Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev (1931-2022), and the Latvian-Russian-American dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov (1948-).

Means "prince" from Persian میرزا (mirza), earlier امیرزاده (amirzadeh), which is ultimately from Arabic أمير (amir) meaning "commander" combined with Persian زاده (zadeh) meaning "offspring".

Means "servant of Marduk" in Persian. In the Old Testament Mordecai is the cousin and foster father of Esther. He thwarted a plot to kill the Persian king, though he made an enemy of the king's chief advisor Haman.

Means "pearl" in Persian.

Hebrew form of Moses.

Means "the chosen one" in Arabic, an epithet of Muhammad. This was the name of four Ottoman sultans. Another famous bearer was Mustafa Kemal (1881-1938), also known as Atatürk, the founder of modern Turkey.

Means "hope" in Russian and Bulgarian.

Derived from Bulgarian огнен (ognen) meaning "fiery".

Russian form of the Old Norse name Helga. The 10th-century Saint Olga was the wife of Igor I, the ruler of Kievan Rus (a state based around the city of Kyiv). Like her husband she was probably a Varangian, who were Norse people who settled in Eastern Europe beginning in the 9th century. Following Igor's death she ruled as regent for her son Svyatoslav for 18 years. After she was baptized in Constantinople she attempted to convert her subjects to Christianity, though this goal was only achieved by her grandson Vladimir.

Form of Uzziah used in the Greek and Latin Old Testament.

Derived from Greek παρασκευή (paraskeue) meaning "preparation" or "Friday" (being the day of preparation). This was the name of a 2nd-century saint who was martyred in Rome.

Derived from Latin perditus meaning "lost". Shakespeare created this name for the daughter of Hermione and Leontes in his play The Winter's Tale (1610). Abandoned as an infant by her father the king, she grows up to be a shepherdess and falls in love with with Florizel.

From Greek Φιλουμένη (Philoumene) meaning "to be loved", an inflection of φιλέω (phileo) meaning "to love". This was the name of an obscure early saint and martyr. The name came to public attention in 1802 after a tomb seemingly marked with the name Filumena was found in Rome, supposedly belonging to another martyr named Philomena. This may have in fact been a representation of the Greek word φιλουμένη, not a name.

Variant of Phinehas used in some English versions of the Old Testament.

Means "flame, fire" in South Slavic.

Means "brightness, clearness, graciousness, offering" in Sanskrit. This is a word referring to an offering of food made to a deity.

Italian form of Prosper. This is the name of the main character, a shipwrecked magician, in The Tempest (1611) by William Shakespeare.

Means "the soul", derived from Greek ψύχω (psycho) meaning "to breathe". The Greeks thought that the breath was the soul. In Greek mythology Psyche was a beautiful maiden who was beloved by Eros (or Cupid in Roman mythology). She is the subject of Keats's poem Ode to Psyche (1819).

Feminine form of Quirinus.

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

Means "spacious" in Hebrew. In the Old Testament this is the name of a woman of Jericho who helped the Israelites capture the city.

From Yiddish רויז (roiz) meaning "rose".

Means "scented tree" in Arabic.

Means "rightly guided" in Arabic. In Islamic tradition الرشيد (al-Rashid) is one of the 99 names of Allah.

This transcription represents two different ways of spelling the name in Arabic: رشيد, in which the second vowel is long, and راشد, in which the first vowel is long.

Scandinavian, Finnish and Estonian form of Erasmus.

Means "all provider" in Arabic. One of the names of Allah in the Qur'an.

Italian feminine form of Remigio and Polish feminine form of Remigiusz.

Latin form of Rémy.

Diminutive of Lauren, Maureen, Karen 1 and other names with the same ending sound.

Short form of Laurens or Emerens.

Persian form of Ridha.

Generally this can be considered to be from Latin rosa meaning "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. Famous bearers include the Polish-German revolutionary Rosa Luxemburg (1871-1919) and the American civil rights activist Rosa Parks (1913-2005).

Means "ruddy, rosy" in Bulgarian and Macedonian.

Galician form of Isabel.

Derived from Arabic صَابِر (ṣābir) meaning "patient, steadfast".

Probably from Hidatsa tsakáka wía meaning "bird woman". Alternatively it could originate from the Shoshone language and mean "boat puller". This name was borne by a Native American woman who guided the explorers Lewis and Clark. She was of Shoshone ancestry but had been abducted in her youth and raised by a Hidatsa tribe.

Persian and Turkish form of Safaa or Safaa', as well as an alternate Arabic transcription of either of those names.

From Old Norse Sága, possibly meaning "seeing one", derived from sjá "to see". This is the name of a Norse goddess, possibly connected to Frigg. As a Swedish and Icelandic name, it is also derived from the unrelated word saga "story, fairy tale, saga".

Means "dawn" in Arabic.

Means "happy, lucky" in Arabic. This was the name of a companion of the Prophet Muhammad.

Means "calmness, peace" in Arabic.

Anglicized form of Salah ad-Din.

Means "evening conversation" in Arabic, from the root سمر (samara) meaning "to talk in the evening".

Means "moonlight" in Mongolian, from саран (saran) meaning "moon" and гэрэл (gerel) meaning "light".

Serbian and Bulgarian form of Sabas.

English vernacular form of Scholastica. In England it was used as a Christian name from the late 12th century until the Protestant Reformation.

From a Hebrew musical term that occurs many times in the Old Testament Psalms. It was probably meant to indicate a musical pause.

Russian and Bulgarian form of Sergius.

Feminine form of Severinus.

Means "dawn" in Hebrew.

Possibly means "noble lineage" from Persian چهر (chehr) meaning "lineage, origin" and آزاد (azad) meaning "free, noble" [1]. Alternatively, it might mean "child of the city" from شهر (shahr) meaning "city, land" combined with the suffix زاد (zad) meaning "child of". This is the name of the fictional storyteller in The 1001 Nights. She tells a story to her husband the king every night for 1001 nights in order to delay her execution.

Means "eminent, virtuous" in Arabic. This was a title used by the descendants of Muhammad.

Means "beautiful" in Hebrew. In the Old Testament this is the name of one of the midwives (the other being Puah) who disobeys the Pharaoh's order to kill any Hebrew boys they deliver.

Alternate transcription of Hebrew שׁוּלַמִּית (see Shulamit).

Variant of Sigal.

Russian and Bulgarian form of Snježana, as well as an alternate transcription of Macedonian Снежана (see Snežana).

Means "buttercup (flower)" in Icelandic (genus Ranunculus), derived from sól "sun" and ey "island".

Means "wisdom" in Greek. This was the name of an early, probably mythical, saint who died of grief after her three daughters were martyred during the reign of the emperor Hadrian. Legends about her probably arose as a result of a medieval misunderstanding of the phrase Hagia Sophia "Holy Wisdom", which is the name of a large basilica in Constantinople.

This name was common among continental European royalty during the Middle Ages, and it was popularized in Britain by the German House of Hanover when they inherited the British throne in the 18th century. It was the name of characters in the novels Tom Jones (1749) by Henry Fielding and The Vicar of Wakefield (1766) by Oliver Goldsmith.

In the United States this name was only moderately common until the 1990s when it began rising in popularity, eventually becoming the most popular for girls from 2011 to 2013. A famous bearer is the Italian actress Sophia Loren (1934-).

Persian form of Thurayya. It became popular in some parts of Europe because of the fame of Princess Soraya (1932-2001), wife of the last Shah of Iran, who became a European socialite.

Means "radiant, bright" in Irish. It has been in use since late medieval times [2]. It is sometimes Anglicized as Sarah (in Ireland) and Clara (in Scotland).

Means "safe army" from Greek σῶς (sos) meaning "safe, whole, unwounded" and στρατός (stratos) meaning "army".

Latin form of Esperanza.

Derived from Bulgarian стоя (stoya) meaning "to stand, to stay".

Meaning uncertain. It could be derived from Arabic صوف (suf) meaning "wool", صفا (safa) meaning "pure, clean" or صعف (sa'f) meaning "slim, thin". Sufyan al-Thawri was an 8th-century Islamic scholar.

Alternate transcription of Arabic سهيل (see Suhail).

Slovak form of Svatopluk.

Czech feminine form of Svyatoslav.

Derived from Russian свет (svet) meaning "light, world". It was popularized by the poem Svetlana (1813) by the poet Vasily Zhukovsky. It is sometimes used as a translation of Photine.

Means "date palm" in Hebrew. According to the Old Testament Tamar was the daughter-in-law of Judah and later his wife. This was also the name of a daughter of King David. She was raped by her half-brother Amnon, leading to his murder by her brother Absalom. The name was borne by a 12th-century ruling queen of Georgia who presided over the kingdom at the peak of its power.

Georgian form of Tahmuras. This was the name of several kings who ruled over kingdoms located in what is now modern Georgia.

Derived from the Slavic elements tixŭ "quiet" and mirŭ "peace, world".

Diminutive of Tatjana.

Probably from the Celtic name Drustan, a diminutive of Drust, which occurs as Drystan in a few Welsh sources. As Tristan, it first appears in 12th-century French tales, probably altered by association with Old French triste "sad". According to the tales Tristan was sent to Ireland by his uncle King Mark of Cornwall in order to fetch Iseult, who was to be the king's bride. On the way back, Tristan and Iseult accidentally drink a potion that makes them fall in love. Later versions of the tale make Tristan one of King Arthur's knights. His tragic story was very popular in the Middle Ages, and the name has occasionally been used since then.

Latinized form of Ourania.

Russian, Ukrainian and Belarusian form of Valerius.

Form of Basil 1 in several languages.

Derived from the Slavic elements velĭ "great" and mirŭ "peace, world".

Russian and Greek form of Benjamin.

From the Roman cognomen Vespasianus, derived either from Latin vesper meaning "west" or "evening" or vespa meaning "wasp". This was the name of a 1st-century Roman emperor, Titus Flavius Vespasianus, the founder of the Flavian dynasty.

Derived from the Old Norse elements víg "war" and dís "goddess".

From Latvian viss "all" and valdīt "to rule". It is thus a cognate of the Slavic name Vsevolod.

Feminine form of Vlad and a female and male short form of names starting with this element, like Vladimira, Vladimir, Vladan or Vladislava.

Derived from the Slavic elements vĭśĭ "all" and volděti "to rule". This was the name of an 11th-century grand prince of Kyiv.

Means "hospitality" in Greek, a derivative of ξένος (xenos) meaning "foreigner, guest". This was the name of a 5th-century saint who is venerated in the Eastern Church.

Czech form of Xenia.

Means "jasmine" in Arabic and Hebrew, derived from Persian یاسمین (yasamin). In modern times it has been used in the western world, as an Arabic-influenced variant of Jasmine.

Russian form of Helen.

Old Russian vernacular form of Yelizaveta.

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.

Form of Owain used by the 12th-century French poet Chrétien de Troyes for his Arthurian romance Yvain, the Knight of the Lion.

Means "saffron" in Sicilian Arabic, from Arabic زعفران (za'farān), "saffron".

From Arabic زهراء (zahra), the feminine form of أزهر (azhar) meaning "shining, brilliant, bright". This is an epithet of the Prophet Muhammad's daughter Fatimah.

It can also be an alternate transcription of Arabic زهرة (see Zahrah), a name derived from a related root.

Masculine form of Zora.

Diminutive of Erzsébet or Zsófia.