BeccyLeader2's Personal Name List

From Jessenia, the genus name of a variety of palm trees found in South America. As a given name, it was popularized by the writer Yolanda Vargas Dulché in the 1970 Mexican telenovela Yesenia and the 1971 film adaptation [1].

Elaborated form of Yara 1 or Yara 2 (using the same suffix as Maritza).

Possibly a variant of Yaritza.

Elaboration of Yara 2.

Spanish form of Ianeira.

Variant of Yamila.

Variant of Yamila.

Form of Jamila used especially in Latin America.

Meaning unknown, possibly derived from an Arabic name. It has been used in Mexico since at least the 1940s [1], perhaps inspired by the Colombian actress Yadira Jiménez (1928-?), who performed in Mexican films beginning in 1946.

Possibly a Spanish form of Guiomar.

Feminine form of Ximeno. This was the name of the wife of El Cid.

Derived from the Basque place name Etxeberria meaning "the new house". This was the surname of the Jesuit priest Saint Francis Xavier (1506-1552) who was born in a village by this name. He was a missionary to India, Japan, China, and other areas in East Asia, and he is the patron saint of the Orient and missionaries. His surname has since been adopted as a given name in his honour, chiefly among Catholics.

Short form of Meritxell.

Means "solitude" in Spanish. It is taken from the title of the Virgin Mary, María de la Soledad, meaning "Mary of Solitude".

Means "Saint James", derived from Spanish santo "saint" combined with Yago, an old Spanish form of James, the patron saint of Spain. It is the name of the main character in the novella The Old Man and the Sea (1951) by Ernest Hemingway. This also is the name of the capital city of Chile, as well as several other cities in the Spanish-speaking world.

Means "rosary", and is taken from the Spanish title of the Virgin Mary Nuestra Señora del Rosario meaning "Our Lady of the Rosary". This name is feminine in Spanish and masculine in Italian.

Means "dew" in Spanish. It is taken from the title of the Virgin Mary María del Rocío meaning "Mary of the Dew".

Means "river" in Spanish or Portuguese. A city in Brazil bears this name. Its full name is Rio de Janeiro, which means "river of January", so named because the first explorers came to the harbour in January and mistakenly thought it was a river mouth.

Variant of Reina 1.

Means "queen" in Spanish.

Spanish and Portuguese form of Ramirus, earlier Ranimirus, a Latinized form of a Visigothic name derived from the Gothic element rana "wedge" or perhaps ragin "law, decree, assessment, responsibility" combined with mers "famous". Saint Ramirus was a 6th-century prior of the Saint Claudius Monastery in León. He and several others were executed by the Arian Visigoths, who opposed orthodox Christianity. This name was subsequently borne by kings of León, Asturias and Aragon.

Form of Raphael in various languages. A famous bearer is the Spanish tennis player Rafael Nadal (1986-).

Means "pillar" in Spanish. It is taken from the title of the Virgin Mary, María del Pilar, meaning "Mary of the Pillar". According to legend, when Saint James the Greater was in Saragossa in Spain, the Virgin Mary appeared on a pillar.

Means "dove, pigeon" in Spanish.

Form of Naomi 1 in several languages.

Means "snows" in Spanish, derived from the title of the Virgin Mary Nuestra Señora de las Nieves meaning "Our Lady of the Snows".

Means "nativity" in Spanish, commemorating the birth of either Jesus or the Virgin Mary.

From the name of a mountain near Barcelona, the site of a monastery founded in the 10th century. The mountain gets its name from Latin mons serratus meaning "jagged mountain".

Variant of Montserrat.

Variant of Mireia.

Catalan form of Mirèio (see Mireille).

Derived from Old French mirable "wonderful; admirable", ultimately from Latin mirabilis "wonderful, marvellous, astonishing, extraordinary, remarkable, amazing" (compare Mirabelle).

Means "miracles" in Spanish. It is taken from the title of the Virgin Mary, Nuestra Señora de los Milagros, which means "Our Lady of Miracles".

Spanish, Portuguese and Galician form of Michael. A notable bearer of this name was Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra (1547-1616), the Spanish novelist and poet who wrote Don Quixote.

From the name of a village in Andorra where there is a sanctuary dedicated to the Virgin Mary. The name of the village may derive from Latin meridies meaning "midday".

Means "mercies" (that is, the plural of mercy), from the Spanish title of the Virgin Mary, Nuestra Señora de las Mercedes, meaning "Our Lady of Mercies". It is ultimately from the Latin word merces meaning "wages, reward", which in Vulgar Latin acquired the meaning "favour, pity" [1].

Spanish variant of Majella.

Spanish and Portuguese form of Maximilianus (see Maximilian).

Elaboration of Maria used particularly in Latin America. The suffix could be inspired by the name of the Itza people of Central America (as seen in the name of the old Maya city of Chichen Itza, Mexico). It also nearly coincides with the name of the Maritsa River in southeastern Europe.

From the title of the Virgin Mary, Stella Maris, meaning "star of the sea" in Latin. It can also be a combination of Maria and Estela.

Short form of María Soledad. It is sometimes considered a combination of María and Sol 1, or from Spanish mar y sol "sea and sun".

Italian, Spanish and Portuguese form of Marianus. It is sometimes regarded as a masculine form of Maria.

Roman feminine form of Marianus. After the classical era it was sometimes interpreted as a combination of Maria and Ana. In Portuguese it is further used as a form of Mariamne.

Means "Mary of the sea" in Spanish, a devotional title of the Virgin Mary.

Means "Mary of the cross" in Spanish, a devotional title of the Virgin Mary.

Spanish and Portuguese form of Marcellus.

Means "sea" in Spanish and Catalan. It is from a devotional title of the Virgin Mary, Nuestra Señora del Mar "Our Lady of the Sea", the patron saint of the Spanish province of Almería.

Means "light" in Spanish. It is taken from the title of the Virgin Mary, Nuestra Señora de la Luz, meaning "Our Lady of Light".

Means "the moon" in Latin (as well as Italian, Spanish and other Romance languages). Luna was the Roman goddess of the moon, frequently depicted driving a white chariot through the sky.

Spanish form of Louis.

Italian, Spanish and Portuguese form of Lucianus.

Means "light source, bright star, morning star" in Spanish, a derivative of luz "light". It is most common in Mexico and Colombia.

Italian and Spanish form of Laurentius (see Laurence 1). Lorenzo de' Medici (1449-1492), known as the Magnificent, was a ruler of Florence during the Renaissance. He was also a great patron of the arts who employed Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Botticelli and other famous artists.

Spanish diminutive of Dolores. A famous bearer was Lola Montez (1821-1861; birth name Eliza Gilbert), an Irish-born dancer, actress and courtesan.

French diminutive of Léon. It appears in Arthurian legend in the 13th-century Lancelot-Grail Cycle, belonging to a knight who was the brother of Sir Bors. A notable modern bearer is the Argentine soccer star Lionel Messi (1987-).

Latinate form of Lillian.

Italian, Spanish and Portuguese form of Leonard. A notable bearer was Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519), an Italian artist and scientist of the Renaissance. He is known as the inventor of several contraptions, including flying machines, as well as the painter of the Mona Lisa. Another famous bearer was Leonardo Fibonacci, a 13th-century Italian mathematician. A more recent bearer is American actor Leonardo DiCaprio (1974-).

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.

In some cases this name can be a short form of longer names that start with Leo, such as Leonard.

Spanish form of Xavier.

Meaning uncertain, possibly from Classic Maya itz meaning "resin, nectar, dew, liquid, enchanted". Otherwise, it might be a variant of Ixchel.

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 a Spanish title of the Virgin Mary, Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe, meaning "Our Lady of Guadalupe". Guadalupe is a Spanish place name, the site of a famous convent, derived from Arabic وادي (wādī) meaning "valley, river" possibly combined with Latin lupus meaning "wolf". In the 16th century Our Lady of Guadalupe supposedly appeared in a vision to a native Mexican man, and she is now regarded as a patron saint of the Americas.

Probably from the ethno-linguistic term Gael, which refers to speakers of Gaelic languages.

Spanish and Portuguese form of Ezekiel.

Form of Eve used in various languages. This form is used in the Latin translation of the New Testament, while Hava is used in the Latin Old Testament. A notable bearer was the Argentine first lady Eva Perón (1919-1952), the subject of the musical Evita. The name also appears in Harriet Beecher Stowe's novel Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852) belonging to the character Little Eva, whose real name is in fact Evangeline.

This is also an alternate transcription of Russian Ева (see Yeva).

Spanish form of Stella 1, coinciding with the Spanish word meaning "star".

Spanish form of the Late Latin name Sperantia, which was derived from sperare "to hope".

Means "emerald" in Spanish and Portuguese. Victor Hugo used this name in his novel The Hunchback of Notre-Dame (1831), in which Esmeralda is the Romani girl who is loved by Quasimodo. It has occasionally been used in the English-speaking world since that time.

Spanish form of Heinrich (see Henry).

From the Hebrew name עִמָּנוּאֵל (ʿImmanuʾel) meaning "God is with us", from the roots עִם (ʿim) meaning "with" and אֵל (ʾel) meaning "God". This was the foretold name of the Messiah in the Old Testament. It has been used in England since the 16th century in the spellings Emmanuel and Immanuel, though it has not been widespread [1]. The name has been more common in continental Europe, especially in Spain and Portugal (in the spellings Manuel and Manoel).

Italian and Spanish form of Aemilius (see Emil).

Spanish, Italian and Portuguese form of the Roman cognomen Aemilianus, which was itself derived from the family name Aemilius (see Emil). This was the name of a 6th-century Spanish saint.

Feminine form of Emiliano.

Feminine form of Aemilius (see Emily). In Shakespeare's tragedy Othello (1603) this is the name of the wife of Iago.

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

Italian, Spanish and Portuguese form of Éliane.

Dutch variant of names beginning with Eli, such as Elijah or Elisabeth.

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

Means "cross" in Spanish or Portuguese, referring to the cross of the crucifixion.

Means "consolation" in Spanish. It is taken from the title of the Virgin Mary, Nuestra Señora del Consuelo, meaning "Our Lady of Consolation".

Diminutive of Concha.

Diminutive of Concepción. This name can also mean "seashell" in Spanish.

Feminine form of the Late Latin name Clarus, which meant "clear, bright, famous". The name Clarus was borne by a few early saints. The feminine form was popularized by the 13th-century Saint Clare of Assisi (called Chiara in Italian), a friend and follower of Saint Francis, who left her wealthy family to found the order of nuns known as the Poor Clares.

As an English name it has been in use since the Middle Ages, originally in the form Clare, though the Latinate spelling Clara overtook it in the 19th century and became very popular. It declined through most of the 20th century (being eclipsed by the French form Claire in English-speaking countries), though it has since recovered somewhat.

Means "sky, heaven" in Spanish. In Mexico this name was popularized by a character named María del Cielo, called Cielo, on the telenovela Por tu amor (1999).

French, Spanish and Portuguese form of Caesar. A famous bearer was the American labour organizer César Chávez (1927-1993).

Spanish and Portuguese form of Charles.

Spanish and Portuguese form of Camillus.

Spanish and Portuguese form of Camilla.

Italian cognate of Blanche. Shakespeare had characters named Bianca in The Taming of the Shrew (1593) and Othello (1603). The German singer Freddy Breck's 1973 song Bianca boosted the name's popularity elsewhere in Europe.

Spanish, Portuguese and Italian form of Aurelianus.

Variant of Arlette in use in Latin America.

Portuguese form of Ariadne. This name steadily grew in popularity in America in the last few decades of the 20th century. A famous bearer is the American pop singer Ariana Grande (1993-).

Spanish, Catalan, Russian and Polish form of Ariadne.

Means "altar of the sky" from Latin ara "altar" and coeli "sky". This is an epithet of the Virgin Mary in her role as the patron saint of Lucena, Spain.

Means "angels", taken from the Spanish title of the Virgin Mary Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Ángeles, meaning "Our Lady the Queen of the Angels".

Possibly from the Guarani name for the cockspur coral tree (species Erythrina crista-galli). In a Guarani legend this is the name of a young woman burned at the stake by the conquistadors, after which she is transformed into the flowering tree.

Means "protection, shelter, refuge" in Spanish. It is taken from the title of the Virgin Mary, Nuestra Señora del Amparo, meaning "Our Lady of Refuge".

Short form of Adelina, Albina and names that end in alina.

From the name of a mountain range in Valencia, eastern Spain. The Spanish poet Rafael Alberti used it for his daughter in 1941.

Feminine form of Adrian. A famous bearer is the Brazilian model Adriana Lima (1981-).

Spanish and Catalan form of April.