finch's Personal Name List

Variant of Wood.

From an English surname, either Wade 1 or Wade 2.

Short form of Tyler, Tyson, Tyrone and other names beginning with Ty.

Short form of Thomas.

Short form of Solomon.

The name of a companion of Saint Paul in the New Testament. It is probably a short form of Silvanus, a name that Paul calls him by in the epistles. It is possible that Silvanus and Silas were Latin and Greek forms of the Hebrew name Saul (via Aramaic).

As an English name it was not used until after the Protestant Reformation. It was utilized by George Eliot for the title character in her novel Silas Marner (1861).

From an English occupational surname meaning "sheep herder, shepherd".

From an English surname, originally derived from a place name, itself derived from Old Norse rá "roebuck" and skógr "wood, forest".

Anglicized form of Ruaidhrí. Typically a masculine name, it gained some popularity for girls in the United States after it was used on the television series Gilmore Girls (2000-2007), in this case as a nickname for Lorelai. Despite this, the name has grown more common for boys in America, especially after 2011, perhaps due to Northern Irish golfer Rory McIlroy (1989-).

Latinized form of Roul, the Old French form of Rolf. Rollo (or Rolf) the Ganger was an exiled Viking who, in the 10th century, became the first Duke of Normandy. It has been used as a given name in the English-speaking world since the 19th century.

Means "strength" in Hebrew.

From a Norman nickname derived from a diminutive of Norman French ors "bear", ultimately from Latin ursus. American actor and director Orson Welles (1915-1985) was a famous bearer of this name.

From Old French Olivier, which was possibly derived from Latin oliva "olive tree" [1]. Alternatively there could be an underlying Germanic name, such as Old Norse Áleifr (see Olaf) or Frankish Alawar (see Álvaro), with the spelling altered by association with the Latin word. In the Middle Ages the name became well-known in Western Europe because of the French epic La Chanson de Roland, in which Olivier is a friend and advisor to the hero Roland.

In England Oliver was a common medieval name, however it became rare after the 17th century because of the military commander Oliver Cromwell, who ruled the country following the civil war. The name was revived in the 19th century, perhaps due in part to the title character in Charles Dickens' novel Oliver Twist (1838), about a poor orphan living on the streets of London. It became very popular at the beginning of the 21st century, reaching the top rank for boys in England and Wales in 2009 and entering the top ten in the United States in 2017.

From an Irish surname, the Anglicized form of Ó Nualláin, itself derived from the given name Nuallán. The baseball player Nolan Ryan (1947-) is a famous bearer. This name has climbed steadily in popularity since the 1970s.

Diminutive of Edward or Edmund. It has been used since the 14th century, and may have had root in the medieval affectionate phrase mine Ed, which was later reinterpreted as my Ned.

From an English surname that was derived from the Middle English phrase atten ash "at the ash tree". A famous bearer of the surname was the mathematician John Nash (1928-2015).

As a given name for boys, it gained some popularity in the mid-1990s after the debut of the American television series Nash Bridges. It got more exposure beginning 2005 when a character by this name started appearing on the soap opera One Life to Live.

From a Scottish surname meaning "Mack's stream", from the name Mack, a short form of the Scandinavian name Magnus, combined with Old English wille "well, stream". A famous bearer of the surname was James Maxwell (1831-1879), a Scottish physicist who studied gases and electromagnetism.

As a given name it has increased in popularity starting from the 1980s, likely because it is viewed as a full form of Max [1].

Short form of Maximilian or Maxim. In English it can also be short for Maxwell, and it coincides with the informal word max, short for maximum.

Famous bearers include the German intellectual Max Weber (1864-1920) and the German physicist Max Planck (1858-1947). This name is also borne by the title character in the Mad Max series of movies, starting 1979.

Derived from Latin leo meaning "lion", a cognate of Leon. It was popular among early Christians and was the name of 13 popes, including Saint Leo the Great who asserted the dominance of the Roman bishops (the popes) over all others in the 5th century. It was also borne by six Byzantine emperors and five Armenian kings. Another famous bearer was the Russian novelist Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910), name spelled Лев in Russian, whose works include War and Peace and Anna Karenina. Leo is also a constellation and the fifth sign of the zodiac.

From a Scottish surname that was derived from the name of a district in Scotland. The district, called Leamhnachd in Gaelic, possibly means "place of elms". This name steadily rose in popularity in the 2000s, at the same time as the similar-sounding (but unrelated) names Lennon and Knox.

Diminutive of Christopher or Katherine. A notable bearer was Kit Carson (1809-1868), an American frontiersman and explorer.

From Latin Iovis, the genitive case of Iuppiter (see Jupiter). Though this form is grammatically genitive, post-classically it has been used nominatively as another name for Jupiter.

From the Hebrew name יוֹנָה (Yona) meaning "dove". This was the name of a prophet swallowed by a fish, as told in the Old Testament Book of Jonah. Jonah was commanded by God to preach in Nineveh, but instead fled by boat. After being caught in a storm, the other sailors threw Jonah overboard, at which point he was swallowed. He emerged from the fish alive and repentant three days later.

Jonah's story was popular in the Middle Ages, and the Hellenized form Jonas was occasionally used in England. The form Jonah did not become common until after the Protestant Reformation.

Short form of Joseph. Five famous sports figures who have had this name are boxers Joe Louis (1914-1981) and Joe Frazier (1944-2011), baseball player Joe DiMaggio (1914-1999), and football quarterbacks Joe Namath (1943-) and Joe Montana (1956-). It is also borne by the American president Joe Biden (1942-).

Short form of Jesse or Jessica.

Diminutive of Jeremy (and formerly of James).

From Latin Gaspar, perhaps from the Biblical Hebrew word גִּזְבָּר (gizbar) meaning "treasurer" [1], derived from Old Persian ganzabarah. This name was traditionally assigned to one of the wise men (also known as the Magi, or three kings) who were said to have visited the newborn Jesus. It has occasionally been used in the English-speaking world since the Middle Ages. The name can also be given in reference to the English word for the gemstone.

Diminutive of Japheth. Most commonly associated with Japhy Ryder, a character in Jack Kerouac's The Dharma Bums.

Derived from Jackin (earlier Jankin), a medieval diminutive of John [1]. There could be some early influence from the unrelated French name Jacques [2]. It is often regarded as an independent name. During the Middle Ages it was very common, and it became a slang word meaning "man", as seen in the terms jack-o'-lantern, jack-in-the-box, lumberjack and so on. It was frequently used in fairy tales and nursery rhymes, such as Jack and the Beanstalk, Jack and Jill, Little Jack Horner, and Jack Sprat.

American writers Jack London (1876-1916) and Jack Kerouac (1922-1969) were two famous bearers of this name. It is also borne by the actor Jack Nicholson (1937-) and the golfer Jack Nicklaus (1940-). Apart from Nicklaus, none of these famous bearers were given the name Jack at birth.

In the United Kingdom this form has been bestowed more frequently than John since the 1990s, being the most popular name for boys from 1996 to 2008.

Germanic name, originally a short form of names beginning with the element iwa meaning "yew". Alternative theories suggest that it may in fact be derived from a cognate Celtic element [2]. This was the name of saints (who are also commonly known as Saint Yves or Ives), hailing from Cornwall, France, and Brittany.

From the Roman family name Egnatius, meaning unknown, of Etruscan origin. The spelling was later altered to resemble Latin ignis "fire". This was the name of several saints, including the third bishop of Antioch who was thrown to wild beasts by Emperor Trajan, and by Saint Ignatius of Loyola (1491-1556), founder of the Jesuits, whose real birth name was in fact Íñigo.

Either a short form of Hardy, Hartmann, or other name beginning with the element hart or hard, "hardy, strong"; or from the Old English heorot or Middle Low German harte, a male deer. A famous bearer is Hart Crane, the 20th century poet.

Short form of Augustus or Angus.

Latinized form of Gruffudd. This name can also be inspired by the English word griffin, a creature with the body of a lion and the head and wings of an eagle, ultimately from Greek γρύψ (gryps).

Variant of Freyr.

Form of Elijah used in several languages. This is also the form used in the Greek New Testament, as well as some English translations.

Variant of Claude.

Diminutive or feminine form of Charles. A famous bearer was the British comic actor Charlie Chaplin (1889-1977). It is also borne by Charlie Brown, the main character in the comic strip Peanuts by Charles Schulz.

Derived from the French surname Cauvin, which was derived from chauve meaning "bald". The surname was borne by Jean Cauvin (1509-1564), a theologian from France who was one of the leaders of the Protestant Reformation. His surname was Latinized as Calvinus (based on Latin calvus "bald") and he is known as John Calvin in English. It has been used as a given name in his honour since the 19th century.

In modern times, this name is borne by American fashion designer Calvin Klein (1942-), as well as one of the main characters from Bill Watterson's comic strip Calvin and Hobbes (published from 1985 to 1995).

Variant of Briar.

From an English surname, a variant of Brook.

From an English surname that was either derived from Old French bon meaning "good" or from the name of the town of Bohon, France.

German, Polish, Scandinavian and Catalan form of Augustus. This was the name of three Polish kings.

As an English name it can also derive from the month of August, which was named for the Roman emperor Augustus.

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

Meaning uncertain. It was perhaps inspired by the fictional place name Arlo Hill from the poem The Faerie Queene (1590) by Edmund Spenser. Spenser probably got Arlo by altering the real Irish place name Aherlow, meaning "between two highlands".

Old Norse byname meaning "eagle".

Anglicized masculine form of Ailbhe.

Means "high father" in Hebrew, from the roots אָב (ʾav) meaning "father" and רוּם (rum) meaning "to exalt, to be high". In the Old Testament God changed Abram's name to Abraham (see Genesis 17:5).