BiCHO's Personal Name List

Means "full-figured" in Arabic. The 7th-century Arabic poet Antara dedicated much of his poetry to a woman named Abla.

French form of Adrian.

French feminine form of Adrian.

From the name of the Welsh river Aeron, itself probably derived from the hypothetical Celtic goddess Agrona. Alternatively, the name could be taken from Welsh aeron meaning "berries".

Means "chastity" in Arabic.

Means "whitish red" in Arabic.

From Old French Amé, the masculine form of Amée (see Amy).

French form of Amy.

Form of Alexander in several languages. This name was borne by the French author Alexandre Dumas (1802-1870), who wrote The Three Musketeers.

Russian diminutive of Alla.

From the Visigothic name *Amalareiks, derived from the Gothic element amals meaning "unceasing, vigorous, brave", also referring to the royal dynasty of the Amali, combined with reiks meaning "ruler, king". This was the name of a 6th-century king of the Visigoths, as well as two 12th-century rulers of the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem.

French form of Amalric.

French form of Ambrosius (see Ambrose).

Means "God is my kinsman" in Hebrew. This is the name of one of the spies sent out by Moses in the Old Testament.

Means "safety" in Arabic.

Dutch and French diminutive of Anna.

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

Russian form of Angelina.

Russian variant of Irina.

Breton and French form of the Old Welsh name Arthmail, which was composed of the elements arth "bear" and mael "prince, chieftain". This was the name of a 6th-century Welsh saint who founded abbeys in Brittany.

From the name of an island off the west coast of Scotland in the Firth of Clyde.

Reconstructed Egyptian form of Osiris.

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

Short form of Ashley. It can also come directly from the English word denoting either the tree or the residue of fire.

From Ashtaroth, the plural form of Ashtoreth used in the Bible to refer to Phoenician idols. This spelling was used in late medieval demonology texts to refer to a type of (masculine) demon.

French form of Albinus.

French feminine form of Aldo.

Feminine form of Axel.

Means "fire" in Persian.

Means "Yahweh has helped" in Hebrew, derived from עָזַר ('azar) meaning "help" and יָה (yah) referring to the Hebrew God. This is the name of many Old Testament characters including of one of the three men the Babylonian king ordered cast into a fiery furnace. His Babylonian name was Abednego.

French diminutive of Élisabeth or Barbara.

Diminutive of Finbar or Bairrfhionn.

From Persian بانو (banu) meaning "lady".

Meaning unknown. In Christian legends Barlaam (recorded as Greek Βαρλαάμ) was a 3rd-century hermit who converted Josaphat, the son of an Indian king, to Christianity. The story is based on that of the Buddha. This name was also borne by two saints.

Anglicized form of Barra.

French form of Basil 1.

Italian and Spanish form of Basil 1.

Feminine form of Basim.

Feminine form of Basir.

Means "smile" in Arabic, from the root بسم (basama).

Means "virgin" in Arabic. This is an Arabic epithet of the Virgin Mary.

Means "reputable" in Persian, from به (beh) meaning "good, excellent" and نام (nam) meaning "name".

Derived from Old Irish berach meaning "sharp, pointed". This was the name of a 6th-century Irish saint.

Diminutive of Berenice.

Feminine form of Bogdan.

Czech feminine form of Bolesław.

Feminine form of Borislav.

Means "raven" in Irish. In Irish legend Bran mac Febail was a mariner who was involved in several adventures on his quest to find the Otherworld.

Perhaps a variant of Brandy or a feminine form of Brand.

Variant of Brandy.

Means "crocus" in Romanian.

Feminine form of Brian.

From Brendanus, the Latinized form of the Old Irish name Bréanainn, which was derived from Old Welsh breenhin meaning "king, prince". Saint Brendan was a 6th-century Irish abbot who, according to legend, crossed the Atlantic and reached North America with 17 other monks.

Possibly a variant of Brenda or a feminine form of Brennan.

From an Irish surname (Anglicized from Irish Gaelic Ó Braonáin) that was derived from the byname Braonán, itself from Irish braon meaning "rain, moisture, drop" combined with a diminutive suffix. As a given name, it has been used since the 1960s as an alternative to Brendan or Brandon, though it has not been as popular as them.

Feminine form of Brian. It appears in Edmund Spenser's epic poem The Faerie Queene (1590). The name was not commonly used until the 1970s, when it rapidly became popular in the United States.

Variant of Briana. This is currently the more popular spelling of the name.

Feminine form of Brian.

Variant of Bryony.

Limburgish form of Bruno.

Czech, Slovak and Russian feminine form of Bronisław.

From a surname, an Anglicized form of Irish Ó Proinntigh, itself derived from the given name Proinnteach, probably from Irish bronntach meaning "generous". The Brontë sisters — Charlotte, Emily, and Anne — were 19th-century English novelists. Their father changed the spelling of the family surname from Brunty to Brontë, possibly to make it coincide with Greek βροντή meaning "thunder".

Derived from the Old German element brunna meaning "armour, protection" (Proto-Germanic *brunjǭ) or brun meaning "brown" (Proto-Germanic *brūnaz). 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. A modern bearer is the American singer Bruno Mars (1985-), born Peter Gene Hernandez.

Means "armour" in Old Norse.

Variant of Brynn.

English form of the Polish name Kazimierz, derived from the Slavic element kaziti "to destroy" combined with mirŭ "peace, world". Four kings of Poland have borne this name, including Casimir III the Great, who greatly strengthened the Polish state in the 14th century. It was also borne Saint Casimir, a 15th-century Polish prince and a patron saint of Poland and Lithuania. The name was imported into Western Europe via Germany, where it was borne by some royalty.

Used by author C. S. Lewis for a character in his Chronicles of Narnia series, first appearing in 1950. Prince Caspian first appears in the fourth book, where he is the rightful king of Narnia driven into exile by his evil uncle Miraz. Lewis probably based the name on the Caspian Sea, which was named for the city of Qazvin, which was itself named for the ancient Cas tribe.

French feminine and masculine form of Caelestis.

Means "God is the way" in Igbo.

From the name of the Asian country, ultimately derived from Qin, the name of a dynasty that ruled there in the 3rd century BC.

Means "ancient, enduring" in Irish. In Irish mythology this was the name of the father of Lugh Lámfada. It was also borne by the mythical ancestor of the Ciannachta and by a son-in-law of Brian Boru.

Scottish Gaelic form of the Old Irish name Cainnech, derived from caín meaning "handsome, beautiful, good". It is often Anglicized as Kenneth. It is also used as a modern Scottish Gaelic form of the unrelated name Cináed.

Simply from the English word for the white flower, ultimately derived from Old English dægeseage meaning "day eye". It was first used as a given name in the 19th century, at the same time many other plant and flower names were coined.

This name was fairly popular at the end of the 19th century and beginning of the 20th. The American author F. Scott Fitzgerald used it for the character of Daisy Buchanan in The Great Gatsby (1925). The Walt Disney cartoon character Daisy Duck was created in 1940 as the girlfriend of Donald Duck. It was at a low in popularity in the United States in the 1970s when it got a small boost from a character on the television series The Dukes of Hazzard in 1979.

Means "coquettishness" in Arabic.

Russian, Belarusian and Greek form of Daniel.

Alternate transcription of Russian Дорофей (see Dorofey).

From a Scottish surname that was from the name of a town in Lanarkshire, itself named after a tributary of the River Clyde called the Douglas Water. It means "dark river", derived from Gaelic dubh "dark" and glais "water, river" (an archaic word related to glas "grey, green"). This was a Scottish Lowland clan, the leaders of which were powerful earls in the medieval period. The Gaelic form is Dùghlas or Dùbhghlas. It has been used as a given name since the 16th century.

Form of Elijah used in several languages. This is also the form used in the Greek New Testament.

From a surname that was a variant of Elliott. A famous bearer of the surname was T. S. Eliot (1888-1965), an Anglo-American poet and dramatist, the writer of The Waste Land. As a given name, it was borne by the American mob-buster Eliot Ness (1903-1957).

From a surname that was a variant of Elliott.

From an English surname that was originally derived from the medieval masculine name Hilary.

From a surname that was a variant of Elliott.

From an English surname that was derived from a diminutive of the medieval name Elias.

French form of Alodia.

Meaning unknown. This name first appeared in the late 19th century. It is the name of the main character in the novel Enola; or, her Fatal Mistake (1886) by Mary Young Ridenbaugh. The aircraft that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima was named Enola Gay after the mother of the pilot, who was herself named for the book character.

Alternate transcription of Russian Ермолай (see Yermolay).

Latinized form of the Greek name Εὐδοκία (Eudokia), derived from the word εὐδοκέω (eudokeo) meaning "to be well pleased, to be satisfied", itself derived from εὖ (eu) meaning "good" and δοκέω (dokeo) meaning "to think, to imagine, to suppose". This name was common among Byzantine royalty. Saint Eudocia was the wife of the 5th-century emperor Theodosius II.

Ancient Greek form of Eudocia.

Bulgarian form of Eudocia, and an alternate transcription of Russian Евдокия (see Yevdokiya).

Bulgarian form of Eugenia and an alternate transcription of Russian Евгения (see Yevgeniya).

Variant of Ezer.

Alternate transcription of Arabic فيروز (see Fayruz).

Means "turquoise (gemstone)" in Arabic, ultimately of Persian origin.

Variant of Fyodor.

Russian form of Theodora. This was the name of an 1898 opera by the Italian composer Umberto Giordano (who based it on an 1882 French play).

Variant of Fyodor.

Russian form of Theophanes.

Russian form of Therapon.

Russian form of Theodore. It was borne by three tsars of Russia. Another notable bearer was Fyodor Dostoyevsky (or Dostoevsky; 1821-1881), the Russian author of such works as Crime and Punishment and The Brothers Karamazov.

Alternate transcription of Arabic جليلة (see Jalila).

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

Variant of Gary.

Greek and Russian form of Gabriel.

Alternate transcription of Russian Геннадий (see Gennadiy).

Russian form of George.

Alternate transcription of Russian Георгий (see Georgiy).

Originally a short form of Germanic names beginning with Old Frankish gair or Old High German ger meaning "spear" (Proto-Germanic *gaizaz).

Means "flower bud" in Persian.

Means "forgiveness" in Arabic.

Urdu form of Golbahar.

Kurdish form of Gülistan.

Urdu form of Golzar.

Feminine form of Habib.

Means "cooing (of a pigeon)" in Arabic.

Variant of Hamo.

Swedish diminutive of Hans.

Means "gracious" in Hebrew. This is the name of several minor characters in the Old Testament.

Means "Yahweh is gracious" in Hebrew. This name appears frequently in the Old Testament. It is the Hebrew name of Shadrach.

Alternate transcription of Arabic هنيّة (see Haniyya).

Feminine form of Hanif.

Short form of Johannes.

Scandinavian and German cognate of Harold, from the Old Norse elements herr and valdr and the Old German elements heri and walt. This was the name of several kings of Norway and Denmark.

From the Breton given name Haerviu, which meant "battle worthy", from haer "battle" and viu "worthy". This was the name of a 6th-century Breton hermit who is the patron saint of the blind. Settlers from Brittany introduced it to England after the Norman Conquest. During the later Middle Ages it became rare, but it was revived in the 19th century.

Variant of Harvey.

Means "gift" in Arabic.

Means "joy" in Arabic.

Means "smile" in Arabic.

Means "gift" in Arabic.

Means "charity" in Arabic.

Alternate transcription of Arabic إكرام (see Ikram).

Means "honour" in Arabic, from the root كرم (karuma) meaning "to be generous".

Means "giving, bestowal" in Arabic.

Russian form of Innocentius (see Innocent).

Russian diminutive of Irina.

Derived from Arabic عصم ('Isma) meaning "safeguarding".

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

Means "temperance, moderation" in Arabic.

Means "reliance" in Arabic.

Means "blossoming, prospering" in Arabic.

Proto-Slavic reconstruction of Jaromír.

Dutch form of Yuriy.

Danish form of Joachim.

Croatian form of George.

Means "perfection" in Arabic.

Means "nobility, generosity" in Arabic.

Elaborated form of Karin.

Dutch and Scandinavian form of Jasper.

From an Irish surname, a variant of Kane.

From an Irish surname, a variant of Kane.

Hawaiian form of John.

Alternate transcription of Arabic خديجة (see Khadija). This corresponds more closely with the Egyptian Arabic pronunciation of the name.

Means "premature child" in Arabic. This was the name of the Prophet Muhammad's first wife and the mother of all of his children, with the exception of one. She was a wealthy merchant and a widow when they married in the year 595. Muhammad received his first revelation 15 years after their marriage, and she was the first person to convert to Islam.

Feminine form of Khalid.

Feminine form of Khalil.

Russian form of Cyrus.

Diminutive of Klavdiya.

Russian, Ukrainian and Bulgarian form of Claudia.

Russian, Ukrainian and Belarusian form of Xenia.

Modern form of Kunala.

Means "lotus" in Sanskrit. This was the name of a son of the 3rd-century BC Indian emperor Ashoka.

Derived from the poetic Arabic word لمى (lama) meaning "dark red lips".

Name used by author Anne Rice for a character in her Vampire Chronicles series of novels, first released in 1976, where it belongs to the French vampire Lestat de Lioncourt. Rice possibly intended the name to appear derived from Old French or Occitan l'estat "state, status", though apparently her husband's name Stan was inspiration.

Means "storax tree" in Arabic. According to a 7th-century legend Lubna and Qays were a couple forced to divorce by Qays's father.

Italian and Romanian form of Lucas (see Luke). This name was borne by Luca della Robbia, a Renaissance sculptor from Florence.

Scandinavian form of Ludwig.

From the Germanic name Hludwig meaning "famous in battle", composed of the elements hlut "famous, loud" and wig "war, battle". This was the name of three Merovingian kings of the Franks (though their names are usually spelled as Clovis) as well as several Carolingian kings and Holy Roman emperors (names often spelled in the French form Louis). Other famous bearers include the German composer Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) and the Austrian philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889-1951), who contributed to logic and the philosophy of language.

Diminutive of Luigi.

Diminutive of names beginning with Lou or Lu, such as Louise or Lucinda.

Means "pearls" in Arabic.

Spanish form of the Latin name Macarius, derived from the Greek name Μακάριος (Makarios), which was in turn derived from Greek μάκαρ (makar) meaning "blessed, happy". This was the name of several early saints.

Hebrew form of Mahlah.

Welsh form of Maximus. Magnus Maximus (known as Macsen Wledig in Welsh) was a 4th-century co-ruler of the Western Roman Empire. In Wales he was regarded as the founder of several royal lineages. He appears in the medieval Welsh tale The Dream of Macsen.

From an English surname that was from various towns called Massy in France. The towns themselves were originally derived from a Gallo-Roman personal name that was Latinized as Maccius. The name was brought to public attention in 1989 when the character Macy Alexander was introduced to the soap opera The Bold and the Beautiful [1]. It is also notable as the name of a chain of American department stores founded by Rowland Hussey Macy in 1858.

Means "Medes" in Hebrew. In the Old Testament this is the name of a son of Japheth. He was the ancestor of the Medes, an ancient people related to the Persians.

Means "girl" in German. It is not used as a name in Germany itself.

Means "sweetness" in Sanskrit.

From the Old Welsh name Matauc, derived from mad meaning "good, fortunate" combined with a diminutive suffix. This is the name of a warrior mentioned in the 7th-century Welsh poem Y Gododdin. It was also borne by several medieval rulers, including the 12th-century Madoc ap Maredudd, the last prince of Powys. Another bearer, according to later folklore, was a son of the 12th-century Owain the Great who sailed to the Americas.

French form of Breton Mael meaning "prince, chieftain, lord". Saint Mael was a 5th-century Breton hermit who lived in Wales.

Feminine form of Maël.

Means "related to the moon" in Persian.

Alternate transcription of Persian مهین (see Mahin).

Means "angel" in Swahili, derived from Arabic ملك (malak).

Means "angel" in Arabic.

Form of Latin Marcus used in several languages. Saint Mark was the author of the second gospel in the New Testament. Though the author's identity is not certain, some traditions hold him to be the same person as the John Mark who appears in the Book of Acts. He is the patron saint of Venice, where he is supposedly buried. Though in use during the Middle Ages, Mark was not common in the English-speaking world until the 19th century, when it began to be used alongside the classical form Marcus.

In the medieval legend of Tristan and Iseult this was the name of a king of Cornwall. It was also borne by the American author Mark Twain (1835-1910), real name Samuel Clemens, the author of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. He took his pen name from a call used by riverboat workers on the Mississippi River to indicate a depth of two fathoms. This is also the usual English spelling of the name of the 1st-century BC Roman triumvir Marcus Antonius (Mark Antony).

Russian variant of Matrona 1.

Alternate transcription of Russian Матвей (see Matvey).

Russian form of Matthew.

Russian form of Methodius.

Acronym of Russian Маркс Энгельс Ленин Октябрьская Революция (Marx, Engels, Lenin, October Revolution). This name commemorates the creation of the former Soviet state. It was created by communist parents who were eager to reject traditional names.

Dutch and French form of Michael.

Feminine form of Michael.

Romanian, Bulgarian and Macedonian form of Michael. This is also an alternate transcription of Greek Μιχαήλ (see Michail).

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-).

Feminine form of Milan. It began to be used in Italy in honour of Milena Vukotić (1847-1923), mother of Helen of Montenegro, the wife of the Italian king Victor Emmanuel III. In Italy it can also be considered a combination of Maria and Elena.

Old German form of Miles, as well as the Latinized form. This form was revived as an English name in the 19th century [2].

Derived from the Slavic elements milŭ "gracious, dear" and slava "glory".

Feminine form of Miloslav.

Romanian, Russian and Polish form of Myron.

Derived from the Slavic elements mirŭ "peace, world" and slava "glory". This was the name of a 10th-century king of Croatia who was deposed by one of his nobles after ruling for four years.

Feminine form of Miroslav.

Russian diminutive of Mikhail.

Russian form of Metrophanes.

Russian form of Modestus.

Russian form of Moses.

Diminutive of Matvey or Matrona 1.

Means "vengeance and glory" from the Slavic elements mĭstĭ "vengeance" and slava "glory". Mstislav the Great was a 12th-century grand prince of Kiev.

Feminine form of Mubin.

Means "wishes, desires", from the plural of Arabic منية (munyah).

Feminine form of Munir.

Means "hope" in Russian and Bulgarian.

Means "radiance" in Arabic.

Feminine form of Na'im.

Means "noble, distinguished" in Arabic.

Means "secret, whisper" in Arabic.

Feminine form of Nasir.

Means "wild rose" in Persian.

Russian, Bulgarian and Macedonian form of Nahum.

Means "gift" in Arabic.

French form of Nazarius.

Russian, Ukrainian, Turkmen and Armenian form of Nazarius.

Italian and Spanish form of Nazarius.

Ukrainian and Russian form of Nazarius.

Means "delicate, beautiful, coy" in Persian.

Russian short form of Veronika and other names ending in nika. It can also be a short form of Nikita 1 (masculine).

Russian form of Nicodemus.

Derived from Greek νίκη (nike) meaning "victory".

Variant of Auberon. Oberon and Titania are the king and queen of the fairies in Shakespeare's comedy A Midsummer Night's Dream (1595). A moon of Uranus bears this name in his honour.

Norwegian and Swedish short form of Olaf.

Russian form of the Old Norse name Helgi (see Helge). The Varangians brought this name from Scandinavia to Eastern Europe: it was borne by a 9th-century Varangian ruler who conquered Kyiv and made it the capital of the state of Kievan Rus.

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.

Diminutive of Olga.

Russian form of Onesimus.

Russian form of Joseph.

Roman cognomen of unknown meaning. This was the name of a short-lived 1st-century Roman emperor (born as Marcus Salvius Otho).

Variant of Faramund. This form was used by Shakespeare in his historical play Henry V (1599), referring to the Frankish king.

Latinized form of the Greek name Φωκᾶς (Phokas), which meant "seal (animal)" from Greek φώκη (phoke). This was the name of an early saint and martyr from Asia Minor. Sentenced to death for being a Christian, he is said to have given his killers lodging and then dug his own grave before he was executed.

Greek form of Plato.

From Egyptian rꜥ meaning "sun" or "day". Ra was an important Egyptian sun god originally worshipped in Heliopolis in Lower Egypt. He was usually depicted as a man with the head of a falcon crowned with a solar disc. In later times his attributes were often merged with those of other deities, such as Amon, Atum and Horus.

Feminine form of Rabi 1. This can also be another way of transcribing the name رابعة (see Raabi'a).

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

Derived from the Slavic element radŭ "happy, willing" and mirŭ "peace, world".

Proto-Slavic reconstruction of Radomir.

Form of Radosław in several languages.

Feminine form of Radoslav.

Means "leader, chief" in Arabic.

Probably a Russian, Ukrainian and Belarusian form of Herais.

From Yiddish רויז (roiz) meaning "rose".

Feminine form of Rais.

Means "hope" in Arabic.

Variant of Ramesses.

Alternate transcription of Arabic رملة (see Ramlah).

Variant of Ramesses.

Means "eye-catching object" from Arabic رنا (rana) meaning "to gaze".

Means "scented tree" in Arabic.

Means "young gazelle" in Arabic.

Variant spelling of Ra.

From a surname, a Scots variant of Reed.

Means "of Rhaetia". Rhaetia is a region in eastern Switzerland that got its name from the Rhaeti, a Celtic tribe who originally inhabited the area.

Short form of Maria.

Means "white antelope" in Arabic.

Means "famous ruler" from the Old German elements hruod "fame" and rih "ruler, king". This name was in use among the Visigoths; it was borne by their last king (Gothic form *Hroþireiks, also known by the Spanish form Rodrigo), who died fighting the Muslim invaders of Spain in the 8th century. It also had cognates in Old Norse and West Germanic, and Scandinavian settlers and Normans introduced it to England, though it died out after the Middle Ages. It was revived in the English-speaking world by Walter Scott's 1811 poem The Vision of Don Roderick [1].

This name has also functioned as an Anglicized form of Scottish Ruaridh or Welsh Rhydderch.

Russian form of Ῥοδίων (Rhodion), a short form of Herodion, referring to Saint Herodion of Patras.

Russian and Polish form of Roxana.

Catalan (feminine) form of Rosario.

Derived from the Slavic elements orsti "to grow" and slava "glory".

Means "hill" in Arabic.

Diminutive of Rudolf.

Russian form of Ruth 1.

Feminine form of Rufinus.

Russian form of the Old Norse name Hrǿríkr. This was the name of a 9th-century Varangian ruler of Novgorod.

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.

From a nickname that was originally given to someone with a rusty, or reddish-brown, hair colour.

Means "morning" in Arabic and Turkish.

Possibly from Arabic meaning "follower of another religion", a name given to the Prophet Muhammad and other Muslims by non-Muslim Arabs.

Scottish Gaelic form of Zacharias.

Means "seashell, mother-of-pearl" in Arabic.

Means "dawn" in Arabic.

Possibly means "traveller" in Arabic.

Finnish form of Zacharias.

Russian and Bulgarian form of Samuel.

Hungarian form of Alexander.

Alternate transcription of Russian Савелий (see Saveliy).

Russian form of the Latin name Sabellius meaning "a Sabine". The Sabines were an ancient people who lived in central Italy.

Alternate transcription of Russian Савелий (see Saveliy).

Irish form of Geoffrey.

From an English surname that was from a place name meaning "willow farm" in Old Norse.

Russian form of Simon 1.

Form of Seraphinus (see Seraphina) in various languages.

Alternate transcription of Russian/Bulgarian Сергей (see Sergey).

Serbian, Slovene, Czech and Slovak form of Sergey, as well as an alternate transcription of Russian/Bulgarian Сергей (see Sergey).

Russian and Bulgarian form of Sergius.

Alternate transcription of Russian Севастьян (see Sevastyan).

Russian form of Sebastian.

Means "lamp" or "candle" in Arabic.

Means "fragrant" in Arabic.

From an English surname, which was possibly a variant of Selby. Though previously in use as a rare masculine name, it was popularized as a feminine name by the main character in the movie The Woman in Red (1935). It was later reinforced by the movie Steel Magnolias (1989) in which Julia Roberts played a character by this name.

From an English surname that was originally derived from a place name meaning "clearing on a bank" in Old English. Two famous bearers of the surname were Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822), a romantic poet whose works include Adonais and Ozymandias, and Mary Shelley (1797-1851), his wife, the author of the horror story Frankenstein. As a feminine given name, it came into general use after the 1940s.

Variant of Shelley.

Alternate transcription of Persian شیرین (see Shirin).

Means "famous" in Persian.

Alternate transcription of Persian شکوفه (see Shokoufeh).

Means "flame" in Arabic.

Russian diminutive of Aleksandra or Aleksandr.

Welsh form of John.

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

From an English surname that meant "dispenser of provisions", derived from Middle English spense "larder, pantry". A famous bearer was American actor Spencer Tracy (1900-1967). It was also the surname of Princess Diana (1961-1997).

Serbian and Croatian form of Spyridon, as well as an alternate transcription of the Greek name.

Late Greek name derived from Greek σπυρίδιον (spyridion) meaning "basket" or Latin spiritus meaning "spirit". Saint Spyridon was a 4th-century sheep farmer who became the bishop of Tremithus and suffered during the persecutions of Diocletian.

Derived from the Slavic elements stati "stand, become" (in an inflected form) and mirŭ "peace, world".

Derived from the Slavic element stati "stand, become" (inflected forms in stan-) combined with slava "glory". This name was borne by a few medieval saints (typically called by the Polish form Stanisław or Latinized form Stanislaus), including a bishop of Krakow who was martyred in the 11th century.

Russian, Ukrainian and Armenian form of Stephanos (see Stephen).

Means "easy, simple, natural" in Sanskrit.

Short form of Svetlana.

Russian form of Svatopluk.

Means "smiling" in Arabic.

From the English word meaning "talon, claw", ultimately derived (via Norman French) from Latin talus "anklebone".

Means "a spring in paradise" in Arabic.

Feminine form of the Roman name Tatianus, a derivative of the Roman name Tatius. This was the name of a 3rd-century saint who was martyred in Rome under the emperor Alexander Severus. She was especially venerated in Orthodox Christianity, and the name has been common in Russia (as Татьяна) and Eastern Europe. It was not regularly used in the English-speaking world until the 1980s.

Means "tall" in Turkish.

Feminine form of Teàrlach. It is sometimes Anglicized as Charlotte.

Form of Thekla in several languages.

Variant of Terence.

From the Roman family name Terentius, which is of unknown meaning. Famous bearers include Publius Terentius Afer, a Roman playwright, and Marcus Terentius Varro, a Roman scholar. It was also borne by several early saints. The name was used in Ireland as an Anglicized form of Toirdhealbhach, but it was not found as an English name until the late 19th century. It attained only a moderate level of popularity in the 20th century, though it has been common as an African-American name especially since the 1970s.

Italian form of Terentius (see Terence).

Variant of Terence.

Variant of Terence.

Means "servant" or "worshipper" in Greek.

Diminutive of Tamara.

Form of Thomas used in several languages.

Means "supreme, greatest" in Arabic.

Meaning uncertain. It is used as a Russian form of the saintly name Bademus. Alternatively it may be derived from Slavic vaditi "to accuse, to argue" or from an Old Norse source. According to legend, this was the name of a legendary leader of the Ilmen Slavs who fought against the Varangians.

Form of Valentinus (see Valentine 1) in several languages.

Bulgarian and Georgian form of Valerius, as well as an alternate transcription of Russian Валерий (see Valeriy).

Alternate transcription of Russian Валерий, Ukrainian Валерій or Belarusian Валерый (see Valeriy).

Russian and Georgian form of Barlaam.

Variant of Varlaam.

Alternate transcription of Russian Василий (see Vasiliy).

Russian feminine form of Basil 1.

Russian form of Basil 1.

Alternate transcription of Russian Василий (see Vasiliy).

Russian diminutive of Vasiliy (masculine) or a Macedonian and Bulgarian diminutive of Vasilija (feminine).

Russian and Greek form of Benjamin.

Alternate transcription of Russian Вениамин (see Veniamin).

Russian diminutive of Vera 1.

Russian diminutive of Vera 1.

Alternate transcription of Russian Викентий (see Vikentiy).

Form of Victor used in various languages.

Abbreviation of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin, the name of the founder of the former Soviet state (see Vladimir and Lenin).

Italian, Russian and Hungarian form of Violet.

Alternate transcription of Russian Власий (see Vlasiy).

Diminutive of Vsevolod. It also means "will, freedom" in Russian.

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

Russian form of Joachim.

Russian and Bulgarian form of Jacob (or James), and an alternate transcription of Hebrew יַעֲקֹב (see Yaakov).

Derived from the Slavic elements jarŭ "fierce, energetic" and pŭlkŭ "people, host". This name was borne by two rulers of Kievan Rus (10th and 12th centuries).

Means "fierce and glorious", derived from the Slavic elements jarŭ "fierce, energetic" and slava "glory". Yaroslav the Wise was an 11th-century grand prince of Kyiv who expanded Kievan Rus to its greatest extent.

Russian diminutive of Yakov.

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 vernacular form of Euthymius.

Russian form of Ephraim.

Russian form of George.

Russian form of Aemilianus (see Emiliano).

Alternate transcription of Russian Ермолай (see Yermolay).

Russian and Ukrainian form of Eudocia.

Alternate transcription of Russian Евгений (see Yevgeniy).

Russian form of Eugene.

Russian form of Eugenia.

Alternate transcription of Russian Евгений (see Yevgeniy).

Russian form of Eupraxia. This was the name of a daughter of Vsevolod I, grand prince of Kyiv, who became the wife of the Holy Roman emperor Henry IV.

Alternate transcription of Russian Юлий (see Yuliy).

Russian and Bulgarian form of Julian.

Russian, Bulgarian and Indonesian form of Juliana.

Russian form of Juliana.

Alternate transcription of Russian Юрий, Ukrainian Юрій or Belarusian Юрый (see Yuriy).

From Japanese 百合 (yuri) meaning "lily". Other kanji or combinations of kanji can also form this name.

Russian, Ukrainian and Belarusian form of George. This name was borne by Yuriy Dolgorukiy, a 12th-century grand prince of Kyiv. The Soviet cosmonaut Yuriy (or Yuri) Gagarin (1934-1968), the first man to travel to space, was another famous bearer of this name.

Means "wealth, ease" in Arabic.

Form of Zacharias used in the Latin Bible.

Variant of Zechariah. This spelling is used in the King James Version of the Old Testament to refer to one of the kings of Israel (called Zechariah in other versions).

Greek form of Zechariah. This form of the name is used in most English versions of the New Testament to refer to the father of John the Baptist. It was also borne by an 8th-century pope (called Zachary in English).

French form of Zechariah and Zacharias.

Usual English form of Zacharias, used in some English versions of the New Testament. This form has been in use since the Middle Ages, though it did not become common until after the Protestant Reformation. It was borne by American military commander and president Zachary Taylor (1784-1850).

Variant of Zachary.

Variant of Zachary.

Variant of Zachary.

Bulgarian form of Zechariah.

Feminine form of Zahir.

Derived from Arabic زهرة (zahrah) meaning "blooming flower", from the root زهر (zahara) meaning "to shine".

Alternate transcription of Arabic زينب (see Zaynab), as well as the usual Urdu transcription.

Italian and Spanish form of Zaïre. It was used by Vincenzo Bellini for the heroine of his opera Zaira (1829), which was based on Voltaire's 1732 play Zaïre.

Short form of Zachary.

Russian form of Zacharias.

Variant of Zarina.

Meaning uncertain. It is possibly related to Arabic زين (zayn) meaning "beauty"; it could be from the name of a fragrant flowering tree; or it could be an Arabic form of Zenobia, a name borne by a pre-Islamic queen of Palmyra. Zaynab was the name of a daughter, a granddaughter, and two wives of the Prophet Muhammad.

From the Hebrew name זְכַרְיָה (Zekharyah) meaning "Yahweh remembers", from זָכַר (zakhar) meaning "to remember" and יָה (yah) referring to the Hebrew God. This is the name of many characters in the Old Testament, including the prophet Zechariah, the author of the Book of Zechariah. The name also appears in the New Testament belonging to the father of John the Baptist, who was temporarily made dumb because of his disbelief. He is regarded as a saint by Christians. In some versions of the New Testament his name is spelled in the Greek form Zacharias or the English form Zachary. As an English given name, Zechariah has been in occasional use since the Protestant Reformation.