WyMan's Personal Name List

Means "little girl" in Tuscan Italian. This was the name of a 13th-century saint, the patron saint of servants.

French form of Zenaida.

French feminine form of Yves.

Feminine form of Vitus.

Means "faith" in Russian, though it is sometimes associated with the Latin word verus "true". It has been in general use in the English-speaking world since the late 19th century.

From the Roman family name Velius, which possibly means "concealed" in Latin.

Spanish, Portuguese and Irish form of Thomas.

French form of Theresa. It was borne by the French nun Saint Thérèse of Lisieux (1873-1897), who is regarded as a Doctor of the Church.

From the Spanish and Portuguese name Teresa. It was first recorded as Therasia, being borne by the Spanish wife of Saint Paulinus of Nola in the 4th century. The meaning is uncertain, but it could be derived from Greek θέρος (theros) meaning "summer", from Greek θερίζω (therizo) meaning "to harvest", or from the name of the Greek island of Therasia (the western island of Santorini).

The name was mainly confined to Spain and Portugal during the Middle Ages. After the 16th century it was spread to other parts of the Christian world, due to the fame of the Spanish nun and reformer Saint Teresa of Ávila. Another famous bearer was the Austrian Habsburg queen Maria Theresa (1717-1780), who inherited the domains of her father, the Holy Roman emperor Charles VI, beginning the War of the Austrian Succession.

French form of Theodore.

French form of Thaddeus.

Italian and Spanish form of Thekla.

French and Czech form of Silvia.

French form of Silvanus.

French form of Sebastianus (see Sebastian).

French feminine form of René.

Spanish and Italian form of Ophelia.

Probably from Greek Νηρηΐδες (see Nereida). This name was used by Torquato Tasso for a character in his play Aminta (1573), and subsequently by Giacomo Leopardi in his poem Le Ricordanze (1829).

Anglicized form of Irish Muirgel and Scottish Muireall. A form of this name was also used in Brittany, and it was first introduced to medieval England by Breton settlers in the wake of the Norman Conquest. In the modern era it was popularized by a character from Dinah Craik's novel John Halifax, Gentleman (1856).

Italian form of Mireille.

Italian form of Melchior.

From the name of a town in southern France, said to derive from Occitan mair "mother" and French lys "lily". It is also sometimes considered a combination of Marie and lys.

Usual English form of Maria, the Latin form of the New Testament Greek names Μαριάμ (Mariam) and Μαρία (Maria) — the spellings are interchangeable — which were from Hebrew מִרְיָם (Miryam), a name borne by the sister of Moses in the Old Testament. The meaning is not known for certain, but there are several theories including "sea of bitterness", "rebelliousness", and "wished for child". However it was most likely originally an Egyptian name, perhaps derived in part from mry "beloved" or mr "love".

This is the name of several New Testament characters, most importantly Mary the mother of Jesus. According to the gospels, Jesus was conceived in her by the Holy Spirit while she remained a virgin. This name was also borne by Mary Magdalene, a woman cured of demons by Jesus. She became one of his followers and later witnessed his crucifixion and resurrection.

Due to the Virgin Mary this name has been very popular in the Christian world, though at certain times in some cultures it has been considered too holy for everyday use. In England it has been used since the 12th century, and it has been among the most common feminine names since the 16th century. In the United States in 1880 it was given more than twice as often as the next most popular name for girls (Anna). It remained in the top rank in America until 1946 when it was bumped to second (by Linda). Although it regained the top spot for a few more years in the 1950s it was already falling in usage, and has since dropped out of the top 100 names.

This name has been borne by two queens of England, as well as a queen of Scotland, Mary Queen of Scots. Another notable bearer was Mary Shelley (1797-1851), the author of Frankenstein. A famous fictional character by this name is Mary Poppins from the children's books by P. L. Travers, first published in 1934.

The Latinized form of this name, Maria, is also used in English as well as in several other languages.

Italian form of Marcellus.

Feminine form of Marcellus.

Feminine form of Manuel.

Short form of Manuel or Emmanuel (and also of Manuela in Germany).

Feminine form of Maël.

Feminine form of Lucius. Saint Lucia was a 4th-century martyr from Syracuse. She was said to have had her eyes gouged out, and thus she is the patron saint of the blind. She was widely revered in the Middle Ages, and her name has been used throughout Christian Europe (in various spellings). It has been used in the England since the 12th century, usually in the spellings Lucy or Luce.

Diminutive of Lucie.

Italian and French variant of Lucia. This also means "light" in Italian.

French and Welsh form of Lucas (see Luke).

From the movie Bird of Paradise (1932), in which it was borne by the main character, a Polynesian girl [1]. The movie was based on a 1912 play of the same name set in Hawaii.

Diminutive of Élisabeth.

Modern French form of Jehan, the Old French form of Iohannes (see John). Since the 12th century it has consistently been the most common male name in France. It finally dropped from the top rank in 1958, unseated by Philippe.

The French theologian Jean Calvin (1509-1564) and the philosophers Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778) and Jean-Paul Sartre (1905-1980) are well-known bearers of this name. It was also borne by the German-French Dadaist artist Jean Arp (1886-1966).

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.

French form of Inés.

Old German form of Hugh. As a surname it has belonged to the French author Victor Hugo (1802-1885), the writer of The Hunchback of Notre-Dame and Les Misérables.

From the Germanic name Heimirich meaning "home ruler", composed of the elements heim "home" and rih "ruler". It was later commonly spelled Heinrich, with the spelling altered due to the influence of other Germanic names like Haganrich, in which the first element is hag "enclosure".

Heinrich was popular among continental royalty, being the name of seven German kings, starting with the 10th-century Henry I the Fowler (the first of the Saxon kings), and four French kings. In France it was usually rendered Henri from the Latin form Henricus.

The Normans introduced the French form to England, and it was subsequently used by eight kings, ending with the infamous Henry VIII in the 16th century. During the later Middle Ages it was fairly popular, and was generally rendered as Harry or Herry in English pronunciation. Notable bearers include arctic naval explorer Henry Hudson (1570-1611), American-British novelist Henry James (1843-1916), American automobile manufacturer Henry Ford (1863-1947), and American actor Henry Fonda (1905-1982).

Latinized form of Greek Ἕκτωρ (Hektor), which was derived from ἕκτωρ (hektor) meaning "holding fast", ultimately from ἔχω (echo) meaning "to hold, to possess". In Greek legend Hector was one of the Trojan champions who fought against the Greeks. After he killed Achilles' friend Patroclus in battle, he was himself brutally slain by Achilles, who proceeded to tie his dead body to a chariot and drag it about. This name also appears in Arthurian legends where it belongs to King Arthur's foster father.

Hector has occasionally been used as a given name since the Middle Ages, probably because of the noble character of the classical hero. It has been historically common in Scotland, where it was used as an Anglicized form of Eachann.

Diminutive of Gianna.

German, Dutch and Scandinavian form of Gerard.

From the medieval name Genovefa, which is of uncertain origin. It could be derived from the Germanic elements *kunją "clan, family, lineage" and *wībą "wife, woman". Alternatively it could be of Gaulish origin, from the related Celtic element *genos "kin, family" combined with a second element of unknown meaning. This name was borne by Saint Geneviève, the patron saint of Paris, who inspired the city to resist the Huns in the 5th century.

Hebrew form of Gabriel.

Short form of Serafina. Saint Fina, also known as Saint Serafina, was a 13th-century girl from the town of San Gimignano in Italy.

Feminine form of Faustus.

French form of Evelina.

Variant of Evelina.

French form of Eulalia.

French form of Stephen.

Italian form of Heinrich (see Henry). Enrico Fermi (1901-1954) was an Italian physicist who did work on the development of the nuclear bomb.

Feminine form of Enrico.

Italian form of Elijah.

Italian form of Hedwig.

Means "brave counsel", derived from the Old German elements kuoni "brave" and rat "counsel, advice". This was the name of a 10th-century saint and bishop of Konstanz, in southern Germany. It was also borne by several medieval German kings and dukes, notably Conrad II, the first of the Holy Roman Emperors from the Salic dynasty. In England it was occasionally used during the Middle Ages, but has only been common since the 19th century when it was reintroduced from Germany.

Italian and Spanish form of Claudius.

French feminine and masculine form of Caelestis.

Italian feminine and masculine form of Caelestis. It is also the Portuguese, Spanish and English feminine form.

French form of Cecilia.

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.

Feminine form of Carlo, Carlos or Carl.

From a medieval French nickname meaning "white, fair-coloured". This word and its cognates in other languages are ultimately derived from the Germanic word *blankaz. An early bearer was the 12th-century Blanca of Navarre, the wife of Sancho III of Castile. Her granddaughter of the same name married Louis VIII of France, with the result that the name became more common in France.

From the Roman name Blasius, which was derived from Latin blaesus meaning "lisping". Saint Blaise was a 4th-century Armenian martyr. A famous bearer was the French mathematician and philosopher Blaise Pascal (1623-1662).

Means "azure, sky blue" in Italian.

Italian and Spanish form of Arthur.

Feminine form of Armel.

French form of Herleva.

Variant of Anthony. This was formerly the usual English spelling of the name, but during the 17th century the h began to be added.

Feminine form of Antonius (see Anthony).

French form of Ambrosius (see Ambrose).

Spanish form of Amadeus, as well as an Italian variant. This was the name of a 19th-century king of Spain (born in Italy).

Medieval French variant of Alice, also sometimes used as a masculine name. This is the name of the hero (a young Gaulish man) of a French comic book series, which debuted in 1948.

Old German form of Ella 1.

Italian, Portuguese and Spanish form of Albanus (see Alban).

Latinized form of the Greek name Ἀγαθή (Agathe), derived from Greek ἀγαθός (agathos) meaning "good". Saint Agatha was a 3rd-century martyr from Sicily who was tortured and killed after spurning the advances of a Roman official. The saint was widely revered in the Middle Ages, and her name has been used throughout Christian Europe (in various spellings). The mystery writer Agatha Christie (1890-1976) was a famous modern bearer of this name.

Form of Agatha in various languages.

French and Italian form of Achilles.