PhilinnafAncient Greek, Theatre Means "darling" in Greek, a term of affection derived from Greek φίλος (philos) meaning "friend, lover". A famous bearer was Philinna of Larissa in Thessaly (4th century BC), the third wife of Philip II of Macedon and mother of Philip III Arrhidaeus... [more]
PhilocleafAncient Greek (Latinized), Literature Latinized form of Greek Φιλόκλεια (Philokleia), a feminine form of Philokles. Sir Philip Sydney (1554-1586) used this name for a character, the younger sister of Pamela, in his pastoral romance The Countess of Pembroke's Arcadia.
PhilonellafLate Greek, Late Roman Variant form of Philonilla, which is the name of a saint from the first century AD. The name Philonella is also used in reference to the saint (usually in sources that ultimately take their information from Latin texts rather than Greek texts), which has led people in at least the English-speaking world to use the two names interchangeably.
PhilonillafLate Greek, Late Roman This name is best known for being the name of saint Philonilla (also found written as Philonella), who lived in the first century AD. She was born into a Jewish family in Tarsus (located in what is now Turkey), which at the time was part of the Roman Empire, but had belonged to the Greeks not that long ago and as such was still heavily influenced by the Greek language and culture... [more]
PhiloterafAncient Greek Derived from Greek φιλωτέρα (philôtera) meaning "beloved". This was borne by the younger sister of Arsinoe II and Ptolemy II.
PhilumenafAncient Greek (Latinized), Late Roman, Theatre Latinized form of Philoumena. In theatre, this is the name of a character from two different comic plays written by the Roman playwright Terence (2nd century AD), namely Andria and Hecyra.
PhilyrafGreek Mythology Means "lime tree, linden tree" in Greek. In Greek mythology Philyra was one of the 3,000 Oceanids, water nymph daughters of the Titans Oceanus and Tethys... [more]
PhimnarafThai From Thai พิมพ์ (phim) meaning "type, print" and นารา (nara) which can mean "radius, length", "water" or "human, person".
Phitchayaf & mThai From Thai พิชญ์ (phit) meaning "scholar, wise person". This is a transcription of both the feminine form พิชญา and the masculine form พิชญะ.
PhonsudafThai From Thai พร (phon) meaning "blessing" and สุดา (suda) meaning "woman, lady, daughter".
PhosthoniafGreek Mythology Means "light" (phôster) in Greek. This was the name of one of the Alcyonides, Alkyoneus, the King of the Giants. When Herakles slew their father, they cast themselves into the sea and were transformed by Amphitrite into kingfishers.
PhryniafTheatre Variant of Phryne used by Shakespeare in his play Timon of Athens (first performed between 1607 and 1608).
PhthiafAncient Greek, Greek Mythology Perhaps derived from the Greek place name Φθία (Phthia); compare Φθῖος (Phthios) meaning "a Phthian, inhabitant of Phthia". In Greek mythology, the city of Phthia in Thessaly was the home of Achilles... [more]
Phufam & fThai From Thai ภู (phu) meaning "mountain" and ฟ้า (fa) meaning "sky, heaven".
PhullarafIndian Means "flourishing, flowering" in Sanskrit.
PialafHistory (Ecclesiastical) The name of an obsuce Irish saint. According to legend, Piala and her brother Fingar were children of an Irish king. They were converted by Saint Patrick, driven into exile by their father, and landed first in Brittany, where they were well received, before moving on to Cornwall where they died at the hand of Tewdrick, king of Dumnonia... [more]
PiamafCoptic, Late Greek Piama often links to Pia, a name whose meaning is Lover, Beloved or from Latin origins meaning “pious” or “reverent” Breaking apart the last key phrase of Piama to -ama could also be in relation to Ama, a feminine name of mixed origins... [more]
PiccardafMedieval Italian, Literature Feminine form of Piccardo. Piccarda Donati was a 13th-century Florentine (Italian) noblewoman who appears as a character in Dante's Paradise... [more]
PiechnafMedieval Polish This is either a medieval Polish vernacular form of Bella, being derived from piekna "beautiful", or a medieval Polish contraction of Petronela... [more]
PiedraescritafSpanish (European, Rare) Means "written stone" in Spanish, taken from the title of the Virgin Mary Nuestra Señora de Piedraescrita meaning "Our Lady of the Written Stone". She is the patron saint of the municipality of Campanario, located in the Spanish province of Badajoz.... [more]
PievafLithuanian (Rare) Derived from the Lithuanian noun pieva meaning "meadow, grassland".
PigmamPopular Culture Possibly from pig. This was the name of Pigma Dengar, a character in Star Fox who betrayed James McCloud and Peppy Hare in Venom and then battled the Star Fox team as a member of Team Star Wolf.
PileriafItalian (Rare) Taken from the title of the Virgin Mary Maria Santissima del Pilerio whose name is derived from the Calabrian dialect word pileri (pilastro in Standard Italian) "pillar" (compare Spanish Pilar).
PimafJapanese From Japanese 姫 (pi) meaning "princess" combined with 真 (ma) meaning "true, reality". Other kanji can be used.
PimentafJudeo-Anglo-Norman Derived from Norman piment "spice; (figuratively) spice (vigour); balm", ultimately from Old French piment or pimenc "balsam; fragrant spice".
PingafNew World Mythology, Inuit Mythology Means "the one who is up on high". Pinga was an Inuit goddess of the hunt, fertility and medicine. She was also the psychopomp, bringing souls of the newly-dead to Adlivun, the underworld.... [more]
PinquanamShoshone Variant of Shoshoni name Pina Quanah meaning "sweet-swelling", from pihnaa "sugar, honey, sweet" and -kwana(h) "to smell (of)". This was the original name of 19th-century Shoshone leader Chief Washakie.
PippilottafLiterature Invented by Swedish author Astrid Lindgren for the heroine of her children's novel 'Pippi Långstrump' (1945). It is composed of Swedish pippi, a childish word for "bird", combined with the name Lotta.
PipsafFinnish Diminutive of Pirkko, Pirjo and other feminine names beginning with p. This is also the Finnish name of Peppa Pig (Pipsa Possu) and Peppermint Patty from Peanuts (Piparminttu-Pipsa).
PirimtvarisafLiterature, Georgian (Rare) Means "face of the moon" in Georgian. It is derived from the Georgian noun პირი (piri) meaning "face" as well as "mouth" (see Okropir) combined with Georgian მთვარის (mtvaris), which is the genitive of the noun მთვარე (mtvare) meaning "moon".... [more]
PirimzisafLiterature, Georgian (Rare) Means "face of the sun" in Georgian. It is derived from the Georgian noun პირი (piri) meaning "face" as well as "mouth" (see Okropir) combined with Georgian მზის (mzis), which is the genitive of the noun მზე (mze) meaning "sun".... [more]
PirkkamFinnish Created by Finnish poet Eino Leino (1878-1926) for his poem Orjan poika (published in his poem collection Helkavirsiä). The name was derived from Finnish word pirkkalaiset, meaning "Birkarls"... [more]
PirrmangkafIndigenous Australian, Pintupi Of Australian Aboriginal origin (Pintupi, to be precise), the meaning of this name is not yet known to me at the moment. A known bearer of this name was Pirrmangka Napanangka (c. 1945-2001), an Australian Aboriginal painter who also happened to be the sister of fellow painter Walangkura Napanangka (b... [more]
PlasençafOccitan (Rare) Derived from the French commune located in Aquitaine, Occitania. The name of the city comes from the motto given by its founder, King Alfonso VIII of Castile on the shield awarded to it: ut placeat Deo et hominibus, meaning "to please God and man".... [more]
PlasindafSpanish Plácida (Spanish) in English means placid (calm). Plácida and Plasinda.
PlataiafGreek Mythology Derived from Greek πλατύς (platys) meaning "broad, wide, flat". This was the name of a daughter of the river god Asopus and nymph Metope, after whom an eponymous city-state in Boeotia was supposedly named.
PlatedafLithuanian This name was on my grandfather's death certificate listed as his Mother. I cannot seem to find it.
PlavafSerbian From Serbian плав (plav) meaning "blue" but it is used to denote a "blonde haired" person such as in this case. This is because the word had an ancient meaning of "shining, bright" from which the sense of "blonde haired" comes from and later it came about to mean "blue".
PlavkafAmerican (Rare) In the case of American singer Plavka Coleridge (née Lonich) the name was derived from a Croatian worn meaning "blondie". It is not used as a name in Croatia.
PlenirafRussian, Literature Name invented by Gavriil Romanovich Derzhavin (1743 - 1816), one of the most highly esteemed Russian poet. It is derived from Russian verb пленить (plenit') meaning "to captivate", "to charm"... [more]
PlestiafArabic (Mashriqi, Rare) Borne by Palestinian journalist Plestia Alaqad (2001-), whose father named her after one of the first tribes that lived in Palestine.
PlumeriafEnglish (Rare) From the name of the flowering plant that is also known as frangipani.
PlutinafAmerican (South, Archaic) Probably an invented name, used primarily in the Southern United States in the 19th century. Plutina Cox is the heroine of Waldron Baily's novel 'The Heart of the Blue Ridge' (1915), set in Wilkes County, North Carolina.
PobenafSpanish Named for the human settlement in Muskiz, Greater Bilbao, Biscay, Northern coastal Spain. Primarily Basque/Spanish. Pobeña. localidad de España. The word translated to English means "Poor" as in destitute.
PoinsettiafEnglish (Rare) From the flower Euphorbia pulcherrima, which was named for an American Minister to Mexico, Joel Roberts Poinsett, who discovered the flower in 1828.
PolianafPortuguese (Brazilian) Brazilian Portuguese adoption of Pollyanna. The name features prominently in the telenovela As Aventuras de Poliana (2018 - 2020), which is based on Eleanor H. Porter's classic children's novel Pollyanna (1913).
PolicarpafSpanish (Rare) Spanish feminine form of Polycarp. This was borne by Colombian revolutionary Policarpa Salavarrieta (1795-1817), known as "La Pola".
PollicinafFolklore This name is one of the two Italian forms of Thumbelina (the other is Mignolina). It is derived from Italian pollice meaning "thumb" combined with the Italian feminine diminutive suffix -ina... [more]