Little Blue Bird's Personal Name List
Zipporah
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Biblical, Hebrew
Other Scripts: צִפּוֹרָה(Hebrew)
Pronounced: zi-PAWR-ə(English) ZIP-ə-rə(English)
Rating: 45% based on 4 votes
Violet
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: VIE-lit, VIE-ə-lit
Rating: 47% based on 7 votes
From the English word violet for the purple flower, ultimately derived from Latin viola. It was common in Scotland from the 16th century, and it came into general use as an English given name during the 19th century.
Viola
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Italian, Swedish, Danish, Finnish, German, Hungarian, Czech, Slovak
Pronounced: vie-O-lə(English) vi-O-lə(English) VIE-ə-lə(English) VYAW-la(Italian) vi-OO-la(Swedish) VEE-o-la(German) vee-O-la(German) VEE-o-law(Hungarian) VI-o-la(Czech) VEE-aw-la(Slovak)
Rating: 34% based on 5 votes
Means
"violet" in Latin. This is the name of the heroine of William Shakespeare's comedy
Twelfth Night (1602). In the play she is the survivor of a shipwreck who disguises herself as a man named Cesario. Working as a messenger for Duke
Orsino, she attempts to convince
Olivia to marry him. Instead Viola falls in love with the duke.
Vera 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Russian, English, German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Dutch, Portuguese, Italian, Spanish, Hungarian, Slovene, Serbian, Croatian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Belarusian, Georgian
Other Scripts: Вера(Russian, Serbian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Belarusian) ვერა(Georgian)
Pronounced: VYEH-rə(Russian) VEE-rə(English) VEHR-ə(English) VEH-ra(German, Dutch) VEH-rah(Swedish) BEH-ra(Spanish) VEH-raw(Hungarian)
Rating: 36% based on 5 votes
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.
Úna
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Irish, Medieval Irish [1]
Pronounced: OO-nə(Irish)
Personal remark: Middle Name
Rating: 38% based on 5 votes
Probably derived from Old Irish úan meaning "lamb". This was a common name in medieval Ireland.
Tuppence
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (British), Literature
Rating: 23% based on 3 votes
Nickname for
Prudence or
Temperance. A main character in Agatha Christie's "Partners in Crime."
Trixie
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: TRIK-see
Rating: 30% based on 4 votes
Trixibelle
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: TRIK-si-bel, TRIK-see-bel, trik-si-BEL, trik-see-BEL
Rating: 14% based on 5 votes
Possibly coined by television presenter Paula Yates and musician Bob Geldof for their daughter Fifi Trixibelle Geldof (1983-), from a combination of
Trixie and
Belle.
Tiggy
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Rating: 45% based on 4 votes
Diminutive of
Antigone also used for many other names.
Thomasina
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: tahm-ə-SEE-nə
Rating: 20% based on 4 votes
Medieval feminine form of
Thomas.
Theophila
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Ancient Greek [1]
Other Scripts: Θεοφίλα(Ancient Greek)
Rating: 43% based on 4 votes
Theodora
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Greek, Ancient Greek [1]
Other Scripts: Θεοδώρα(Greek)
Pronounced: thee-ə-DAWR-ə(English)
Rating: 30% based on 4 votes
Feminine form of
Theodore. This name was common in the Byzantine Empire, being borne by several empresses including the influential wife of Justinian in the 6th century.
Teodora
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Romanian, Polish, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Serbian, Swedish
Other Scripts: Теодора(Bulgarian, Macedonian, Serbian)
Pronounced: teh-o-DAW-ra(Italian) teh-o-DHO-ra(Spanish) teh-o-DO-ra(Romanian) teh-aw-DAW-ra(Polish)
Rating: 27% based on 3 votes
Feminine form of
Theodoros (see
Theodore).
Temperance
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: TEHM-prəns, TEHM-pər-əns
Rating: 53% based on 4 votes
From the English word meaning
"moderation" or
"restraint". This was one of the virtue names adopted by the
Puritans in the 17th century. It experienced a modest revival in the United States during the run of the television series
Bones (2005-2017), in which the main character bears this name.
Tabitha
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Biblical, Biblical Greek [1]
Other Scripts: Ταβιθά(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: TAB-i-thə(English)
Rating: 47% based on 6 votes
Means
"gazelle" in Aramaic. Tabitha in the
New Testament was a woman restored to life by
Saint Peter. Her name is translated into Greek as
Dorcas (see
Acts 9:36). As an English name,
Tabitha became common after the
Protestant Reformation. It was popularized in the 1960s by the television show
Bewitched, in which Tabitha (sometimes spelled Tabatha) is the daughter of the main character.
Tabby
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: TAB-ee
Rating: 13% based on 6 votes
Sybil
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: SIB-əl
Rating: 45% based on 6 votes
Variant of
Sibyl. This spelling variation has existed since the Middle Ages.
Sloane
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: SLON
Rating: 40% based on 4 votes
From an Irish surname, an Anglicized form of
Ó Sluaghadháin, itself derived from the given name
Sluaghadhán.
Sigourney
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: si-GAWR-nee
Rating: 40% based on 4 votes
From an English surname that was derived from the French town of Sigournais, called Segurniacum in medieval Latin, itself of unknown meaning. The American actress Sigourney Weaver (1949-), real name Susan, adopted this name in 1963 after the minor character Sigourney Howard in F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel The Great Gatsby (1925).
Sibyl
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: SIB-əl
Rating: 34% based on 5 votes
From Greek
Σίβυλλα (Sibylla), meaning
"prophetess, sibyl". In Greek and Roman legend the sibyls were female prophets who practiced at different holy sites in the ancient world. In later Christian theology, the sibyls were thought to have divine knowledge and were revered in much the same way as the
Old Testament prophets. Because of this, the name came into general use in the Christian world during the Middle Ages. The
Normans imported it to England, where it was spelled both
Sibyl and
Sybil. It became rare after the
Protestant Reformation, but it was revived in the 19th century, perhaps helped by Benjamin Disraeli's novel
Sybil (1845).
Sheila
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Irish, English
Pronounced: SHEE-lə(English)
Rating: 20% based on 4 votes
Selma 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Icelandic
Pronounced: SEHL-mə(English) ZEHL-ma(German) SEHL-ma(Dutch)
Rating: 30% based on 4 votes
Meaning unknown, possibly a short form of
Anselma. It could also have been inspired by James Macpherson's 18th-century poems, in which it is the name of Ossian's castle.
Sage
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: SAYJ
Rating: 53% based on 8 votes
From the English word sage, which denotes either a type of spice or else a wise person.
Ruby
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: ROO-bee
Rating: 54% based on 7 votes
Simply from the name of the precious stone (which ultimately derives from Latin
ruber "red"), which is the traditional birthstone of July. It came into use as a given name in the 16th century
[1].
Rose
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, French
Pronounced: ROZ
Rating: 70% based on 7 votes
Originally a Norman French form of the Germanic name
Hrodohaidis meaning
"famous type", composed of the elements
hruod "fame" and
heit "kind, sort, type". The
Normans introduced it to England in the forms
Roese and
Rohese. From an early date it was associated with the word for the fragrant flower
rose (derived from Latin
rosa). When the name was revived in the 19th century, it was probably with the flower in mind.
Romilda
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, Germanic (Latinized) [1]
Rating: 36% based on 5 votes
Means
"famous battle" from the Germanic elements
hruom "fame, glory" and
hilt "battle".
Prudence
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English, French
Pronounced: PROO-dəns(English) PRUY-DAHNS(French)
Rating: 40% based on 4 votes
Medieval English form of
Prudentia, the feminine form of
Prudentius. In France it is both the feminine form and a rare masculine form. In England it was used during the Middle Ages and was revived in the 17th century by the
Puritans, in part from the English word
prudence, ultimately of the same source.
Pomelline
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French (Archaic)
Rating: 34% based on 5 votes
Phoebe
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Greek Mythology (Latinized), Biblical, Biblical Latin
Other Scripts: Φοίβη(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: FEE-bee(English)
Rating: 55% based on 8 votes
Latinized form of the Greek name
Φοίβη (Phoibe), which meant
"bright, pure" from Greek
φοῖβος (phoibos). In Greek
mythology Phoibe was a Titan associated with the moon. This was also an epithet of her granddaughter, the moon goddess
Artemis. The name appears in
Paul's epistle to the Romans in the
New Testament, where it belongs to a female minister in the church at Cenchreae.
In England, it began to be used as a given name after the Protestant Reformation. It was moderately common in the 19th century. It began to rise in popularity again in the late 1980s, probably helped along by characters on the American television shows Friends (1994-2004) and Charmed (1998-2006). It is currently much more common in the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand than the United States.
A moon of Saturn bears this name, in honour of the Titan.
Petula
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: pə-TYOO-lə
Rating: 36% based on 5 votes
Meaning unknown, created in the 20th century. The name is borne by the British singer Petula Clark (1932-), whose name was invented by her father.
Penelope
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology, English
Other Scripts: Πηνελόπη(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: PEH-NEH-LO-PEH(Classical Greek) pə-NEHL-ə-pee(English)
Rating: 53% based on 4 votes
Probably derived from Greek
πηνέλοψ (penelops), a type of duck. Alternatively it could be from
πήνη (pene) meaning "threads, weft" and
ὄψ (ops) meaning "face, eye". In
Homer's epic the
Odyssey this is the name of the wife of
Odysseus, forced to fend off suitors while her husband is away fighting at Troy.
It has occasionally been used as an English given name since the 16th century. It was moderately popular in the 1940s, but had a more notable upswing in the early 2000s. This may have been inspired by the Spanish actress Penélope Cruz (1974-), who gained prominence in English-language movies at that time. It was already rapidly rising when celebrities Kourtney Kardashian and Scott Disick gave it to their baby daughter in 2012.
Peggy
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: PEHG-ee
Rating: 25% based on 4 votes
Medieval variant of
Meggy, a
diminutive of
Margaret. The reason for the change in the initial consonant is unknown.
Pearl
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: PURL
Rating: 47% based on 7 votes
From the English word pearl for the concretions formed in the shells of some mollusks, ultimately from Late Latin perla. Like other gemstone names, it has been used as a given name in the English-speaking world since the 19th century. The pearl is the traditional birthstone for June, and it supposedly imparts health and wealth.
Orinthia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Literature
Rating: 43% based on 6 votes
Possibly related to Greek
ὀρίνω (orino) meaning
"to excite, to agitate". George Bernard Shaw used this name in his play
The Apple Cart (1929).
Ophelia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Literature, Ancient Greek [1]
Other Scripts: Ὠφελία(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: o-FEEL-ee-ə(English) o-FEEL-yə(English)
Rating: 53% based on 6 votes
Derived from Greek
ὠφέλεια (opheleia) meaning
"help, advantage". This was a rare ancient Greek name, which was either rediscovered or recreated by the poet Jacopo Sannazaro for a character in his poem
Arcadia (1480). It was borrowed by Shakespeare for his play
Hamlet (1600), in which it belongs to the daughter of
Polonius and the potential love interest of
Hamlet. She eventually goes insane and drowns herself after Hamlet kills her father. In spite of this negative association, the name has been in use since the 19th century.
Olive
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, French
Pronounced: AHL-iv(English) AW-LEEV(French)
Rating: 40% based on 5 votes
From the English and French word for the type of tree, ultimately derived from Latin oliva.
Mossie
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (American, Rare, Archaic)
Rating: 30% based on 5 votes
Possibly coined as a feminine form of
Moss, although it might also be a short form of
Moselle.
Molly
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: MAHL-ee
Rating: 60% based on 7 votes
Medieval
diminutive of
Mary, now often used independently. It developed from
Malle and
Molle, other medieval diminutives. James Joyce used this name in his novel
Ulysses (1922), where it belongs to Molly Bloom, the wife of the main character.
Mollie
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: MAHL-ee
Rating: 43% based on 4 votes
Moggy
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Manx (Archaic)
Rating: 14% based on 5 votes
Miriam
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Hebrew, English, German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Italian, Portuguese, Czech, Slovak, Polish, Biblical
Other Scripts: מִרְיָם(Hebrew)
Pronounced: MIR-ee-əm(English) MI-ryam(German) MI-ri-yam(Czech) MEE-ree-am(Slovak)
Rating: 36% based on 5 votes
Form of
Mary used in the
Old Testament, where it belongs to the elder sister of
Moses and
Aaron. She watched over the infant Moses as the pharaoh's daughter drew him from the Nile. The name has long been popular among Jews, and it has been used as an English Christian name (alongside
Mary) since the
Protestant Reformation.
Mirabelle
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French (Rare), English (Rare)
Rating: 44% based on 5 votes
Derived from Latin mirabilis meaning "wonderful". This name was coined during the Middle Ages, though it eventually died out. It was briefly revived in the 19th century.
Mirabella
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian (Rare)
Rating: 48% based on 5 votes
Millicent
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: MIL-i-sənt
Rating: 43% based on 4 votes
From the Gothic name *
Amalaswinþa, composed of the elements
amals "unceasing, vigorous, brave" and
swinþs "strong". Amalaswintha was a 6th-century queen of the Ostrogoths. The
Normans introduced this name to England in the form
Melisent or
Melisende. Melisende was a 12th-century queen of Jerusalem, the daughter of Baldwin II.
Mildred
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: MIL-drid
Rating: 48% based on 4 votes
From the Old English name
Mildþryð meaning
"gentle strength", derived from the elements
milde "gentle" and
þryþ "strength".
Saint Mildred was a 7th-century abbess, the daughter of the Kentish princess Saint Ermenburga. After the
Norman Conquest this name became rare, but it was revived in the 19th century.
Milda
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Lithuanian, Latvian, Baltic Mythology
Rating: 32% based on 5 votes
Meaning unknown. According to the 19th-century Polish-Lithuanian historian Teodor Narbutt, this was the name of a Lithuanian goddess of love.
Meggy
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Medieval English
Rating: 23% based on 3 votes
Meggie
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Scots, English (Rare)
Pronounced: MEG-ee(English)
Rating: 12% based on 5 votes
Variant of
Meggy.
This is the name of the heroine of the 1977 novel and 1983 television miniseries The Thorn Birds (whose full name is Meghann).
Meg
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: MEHG
Rating: 47% based on 3 votes
May
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: MAY
Rating: 53% based on 6 votes
Derived from the name of the month of May, which derives from
Maia, the name of a Roman goddess. May is also another name of the hawthorn flower. It is also used as a
diminutive of
Mary,
Margaret or
Mabel.
Mavis
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: MAY-vis
Rating: 30% based on 1 vote
From the name of the type of bird, also called the song thrush, derived from Old French mauvis, of uncertain origin. It was first used as a given name by the British author Marie Corelli, who used it for a character in her novel The Sorrows of Satan (1895).
Maven
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English, Irish (Anglicized)
Rating: 23% based on 4 votes
Martha
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Dutch, German, Greek, Biblical, Biblical Greek [1], Biblical Latin, Old Church Slavic
Other Scripts: Μάρθα(Greek) Марѳа(Church Slavic)
Pronounced: MAHR-thə(English) MAHR-ta(Dutch) MAR-ta(German)
Rating: 16% based on 5 votes
From Aramaic
מַרְתָּא (marta) meaning
"the lady, the mistress", feminine form of
מַר (mar) meaning "master". In the
New Testament this is the name of the sister of
Lazarus and
Mary of Bethany (who is sometimes identified with Mary Magdalene). She was a witness to
Jesus restoring her dead brother to life.
The name was not used in England until after the Protestant Reformation. A notable bearer was Martha Washington (1731-1802), the wife of the first American president George Washington. It is also borne by the media personality Martha Stewart (1941-).
Marla
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: MAHR-lə
Rating: 33% based on 4 votes
Margaux
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French
Pronounced: MAR-GO
Rating: 16% based on 5 votes
Variant of
Margot influenced by the name of the wine-producing French town. It was borne by Margaux Hemingway (1954-1996), granddaughter of author Ernest Hemingway, who had it changed from
Margot.
Margaret
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: MAHR-grit, MAHR-gə-rit
Rating: 45% based on 6 votes
Derived from Latin
Margarita, which was from Greek
μαργαρίτης (margarites) meaning
"pearl", a word that was probably ultimately a borrowing from an Indo-Iranian language.
Saint Margaret, the patron of expectant mothers, was martyred at Antioch in the 4th century. Later legends told of her escape from a dragon, with which she was often depicted in medieval art. The saint was popular during the Middle Ages, and her name has been widely used in the Christian world.
As an English name it has been very popular since the Middle Ages. It was the top name for girls in England and Wales in the 1920s, 30s and 40s, but it declined in the latter half of the 20th century.
Other saints by this name include a queen of Scotland and a princess of Hungary. It was also borne by Queen Margaret I of Denmark, who united Denmark, Sweden, and Norway in the 14th century. Famous literary bearers include American writer Margaret Mitchell (1900-1949), the author of Gone with the Wind, and Canadian writer Margaret Atwood (1939-). Others include American anthropologist Margaret Mead (1901-1978) and British prime minister Margaret Thatcher (1925-2013).
Maple
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: MAY-pəl
Rating: 53% based on 3 votes
From the English word for the tree (comprising the genus Acer), derived from Old English mapul. This is the name of a girl in Robert Frost's poem Maple (1923) who wonders about the origin of her unusual name.
Magnolia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: mag-NO-lee-ə
Rating: 40% based on 5 votes
From the English word magnolia for the flower, which was named for the French botanist Pierre Magnol.
Maggie
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: MAG-ee
Rating: 28% based on 4 votes
Magdalena
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Polish, German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Lithuanian, Spanish, Catalan, Occitan, Slovene, Czech, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Croatian, Serbian, Romanian, English
Other Scripts: Магдалена(Bulgarian, Macedonian, Serbian)
Pronounced: mag-da-LEH-na(Polish) mak-da-LEH-na(German) mahgh-da-LEH-na(Dutch) magh-dha-LEH-na(Spanish) məg-də-LEH-nə(Catalan) MAG-da-leh-na(Czech) mag-də-LAY-nə(English)
Rating: 36% based on 5 votes
Mae
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: MAY
Rating: 50% based on 7 votes
Variant of
May. A famous bearer was the American actress Mae West (1893-1980), whose birth name was Mary.
Madeline
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: MAD-ə-lin, MAD-lin, MAD-ə-lien
Rating: 49% based on 7 votes
English form of
Madeleine. This is the name of the heroine in a series of children's books by the Austrian-American author Ludwig Bemelmans, first published 1939.
Madeleine
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French, English, Swedish
Pronounced: MAD-LEHN(French) MAD-ə-lin(English) MAD-ə-lien(English) MAD-lin(English) mahd-eh-LEHN(Swedish)
Rating: 46% based on 5 votes
Mabel
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: MAY-bəl
Rating: 50% based on 5 votes
Medieval feminine form of
Amabilis. This spelling and
Amabel were common during the Middle Ages, though they became rare after the 15th century. It was revived in the 19th century after the publication of C. M. Yonge's 1854 novel
The Heir of Redclyffe [1], which featured a character named Mabel (as well as one named Amabel).
Lyla
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: LIE-lə
Rating: 36% based on 5 votes
Luna
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Roman Mythology, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, English
Pronounced: LOO-na(Latin, Spanish, Italian) LOO-nə(English)
Rating: 52% based on 6 votes
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.
Lumi
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Finnish
Pronounced: LOO-mee
Rating: 46% based on 5 votes
Means "snow" in Finnish.
Lula 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: LOO-lə
Rating: 30% based on 4 votes
Lucy
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: LOO-see
Personal remark: Middle Name
Rating: 66% based on 7 votes
English form of
Lucia, in use since the Middle Ages.
Lorelia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare, Archaic), Low German (Rare), Dutch (Rare), Romanian (Rare), Spanish (Latin American, Rare), Portuguese (Brazilian, Rare)
Rating: 36% based on 5 votes
Lorelei
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Literature, English
Pronounced: LAWR-ə-lie(English)
Rating: 48% based on 5 votes
From German
Loreley, the name of a rock headland on the Rhine River. It is of uncertain meaning, though the second element is probably old German
ley meaning "rock" (of Celtic origin). German romantic poets and songwriters, beginning with Clemens Brentano in 1801, tell that a maiden named the Lorelei lives on the rock and lures boaters to their death with her song.
In the English-speaking world this name has been occasionally given since the early 20th century. It started rising in America after the variant Lorelai was used for the main character (and her daughter, nicknamed Rory) on the television series Gilmore Girls (2000-2007).
Lilou
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French
Pronounced: LEE-LOO
Rating: 30% based on 4 votes
Lettice
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Archaic)
Rating: 48% based on 5 votes
Koala
Gender: Feminine
Usage: American
Rating: 36% based on 5 votes
The word koala comes from the Dharug gula. Although the vowel 'u' was originally written in the English orthography as "oo" (in spellings such as coola or koolah), it was changed to "oa", possibly in error. Because of the koala's supposed resemblance to a bear, it was often miscalled the koala bear, particularly by early settlers. The generic name, Phascolarctos, is derived from the Greek words phaskolos "pouch" and arktos "bear". The specific name, cinereus, is Latin for "ash coloured".
Kitty
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: KIT-ee
Rating: 48% based on 5 votes
Juniper
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: JOON-i-pər
Rating: 64% based on 7 votes
From the English word for the type of tree, derived ultimately from Latin iuniperus.
June
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: JOON
Rating: 53% based on 6 votes
From the name of the month, which was originally derived from the name of the Roman goddess
Juno. It has been used as a given name since the 19th century.
Jessica
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, French, German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Dutch, Italian, Spanish
Pronounced: JEHS-i-kə(English) ZHEH-SEE-KA(French) YEH-see-ka(German, Dutch) JEH-see-ka(German) YEHS-si-ka(Swedish, Norwegian, Danish) GYEH-see-ka(Spanish)
Rating: 30% based on 6 votes
This name was first used in this form by William Shakespeare in his play
The Merchant of Venice (1596), where it belongs to the daughter of
Shylock. Shakespeare probably based it on the biblical name
Iscah, which would have been spelled
Jescha in his time. It was not commonly used as a given name until the middle of the 20th century. It reached its peak of popularity in the United States in 1987, and was the top ranked name for girls between 1985 and 1995, excepting 1991 and 1992 (when it was unseated by
Ashley). Notable bearers include actresses Jessica Tandy (1909-1994) and Jessica Lange (1949-).
Jemima
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Biblical, English
Other Scripts: יְמִימָה(Ancient Hebrew)
Pronounced: jə-MIE-mə(English)
Rating: 40% based on 4 votes
Traditionally said to mean
"dove", it may actually be related to Hebrew
יוֹמָם (yomam) meaning
"daytime" [1]. This was the oldest of the three daughters of
Job in the
Old Testament. As an English name,
Jemima first became common during the
Puritan era.
Ivy
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: IE-vee
Rating: 46% based on 7 votes
From the English word for the climbing plant that has small yellow flowers. It is ultimately derived from Old English ifig.
Imelda
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, Spanish
Pronounced: ee-MEHL-da
Rating: 34% based on 5 votes
Italian and Spanish form of
Irmhild. The Blessed Imelda Lambertini was a young 14th-century nun from Bologna.
Illuminata
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Late Roman
Rating: 43% based on 4 votes
Means
"illuminated, brightened, filled with light" in Latin. This name was borne by a 4th-century
saint from Todi, Italy.
Ida
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Dutch, Italian, French, Polish, Finnish, Hungarian, Slovak, Slovene, Germanic [1]
Pronounced: IE-də(English) EE-da(German, Dutch, Italian, Polish) EE-dah(Swedish, Norwegian, Danish) EE-daw(Hungarian)
Rating: 43% based on 4 votes
Derived from the Germanic element
id possibly meaning
"work, labour" (Proto-Germanic *
idiz). The
Normans brought this name to England, though it eventually died out there in the Middle Ages. It was strongly revived in the 19th century, in part due to the heroine in Alfred Tennyson's poem
The Princess (1847), which was later adapted into the play
Princess Ida (1884) by Gilbert and Sullivan.
Though the etymology is unrelated, this is the name of a mountain on the island of Crete where, according to Greek myth, the god Zeus was born.
Hilda
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Spanish, Hungarian, Anglo-Saxon (Latinized), Germanic [1]
Pronounced: HIL-də(English) HIL-da(German, Dutch) EEL-da(Spanish) HEEL-daw(Hungarian)
Rating: 16% based on 5 votes
Originally a short form of names containing the Old Frankish element
hildi, Old High German
hilt, Old English
hild meaning
"battle" (Proto-Germanic *
hildiz). The short form was used for both Old English and continental Germanic names.
Saint Hilda (or Hild) of Whitby was a 7th-century English saint and abbess. The name became rare in England during the later Middle Ages, but was revived in the 19th century.
Henriette
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French, German, Dutch, Danish, Norwegian
Pronounced: AHN-RYEHT(French) hehn-ree-EH-tə(German, Dutch) hehn-ree-EH-də(Danish) hehn-ree-EHT-teh(Norwegian)
Rating: 33% based on 4 votes
Henrietta
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Hungarian, Finnish, Swedish
Pronounced: hehn-ree-EHT-ə(English) HEHN-ree-eht-taw(Hungarian) HEHN-ree-eht-tah(Finnish)
Rating: 23% based on 4 votes
Latinate form of
Henriette. It was introduced to England by Henriette Marie, the wife of the 17th-century English king Charles I. The name
Henriette was also Anglicized as
Harriet, a form that was initially more popular.
Hazel
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: HAY-zəl
Rating: 53% based on 7 votes
From the English word hazel for the tree or the light brown colour, derived ultimately from Old English hæsel. It was coined as a given name in the 19th century and quickly became popular, reaching the 18th place for girls in the United States by 1897. It fell out of fashion in the second half of the 20th century, but has since recovered.
Harriet
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: HAR-ee-it, HEHR-ee-it
Rating: 50% based on 7 votes
English form of
Henriette, and thus a feminine form of
Harry. It was first used in the 17th century, becoming very common in the English-speaking world by the 18th century. Famous bearers include the Americans Harriet Beecher Stowe (1811-1896), the author of
Uncle Tom's Cabin, and the abolitionist Harriet Tubman (1820-1913).
Florence
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English, French
Pronounced: FLAWR-əns(English) FLAW-RAHNS(French)
Rating: 52% based on 5 votes
From the Latin name
Florentius or the feminine form
Florentia, which were derived from
florens "prosperous, flourishing".
Florentius was borne by many early Christian
saints, and it was occasionally used in their honour through the Middle Ages. In modern times it is mostly feminine.
This name can also be given in reference to the city in Italy, as in the case of Florence Nightingale (1820-1910), who was born there to British parents. She was a nurse in military hospitals during the Crimean War and is usually considered the founder of modern nursing.
Evangeline
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: i-VAN-jə-leen, i-VAN-jə-lien
Rating: 44% based on 5 votes
Means
"good news" from Greek
εὖ (eu) meaning "good" and
ἄγγελμα (angelma) meaning "news, message". It was (first?) used by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow in his 1847 epic poem
Evangeline [1][2]. It also appears in Harriet Beecher Stowe's novel
Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852) as the full name of the character Eva.
Ethel
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: ETH-əl
Rating: 6% based on 5 votes
Short form of names beginning with the Old English element
æðele meaning
"noble". It was coined in the 19th century, when many Old English names were revived. It was popularized by the novels
The Newcomes (1855) by William Makepeace Thackeray and
The Daisy Chain (1856) by C. M. Yonge. A famous bearer was American actress and singer Ethel Merman (1908-1984).
Ermintrude
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Archaic)
Rating: 14% based on 5 votes
English form of
Ermendrud. It was occasionally used until the 19th century.
Enola
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: i-NO-lə
Rating: 45% based on 4 votes
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.
Emmelina
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Medieval Dutch, Dutch (Rare)
Rating: 44% based on 5 votes
Emily
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: EHM-ə-lee
Rating: 52% based on 6 votes
English feminine form of
Aemilius (see
Emil). In the English-speaking world it was not common until after the German House of Hanover came to the British throne in the 18th century; the princess Amelia Sophia (1711-1786) was commonly known as
Emily in English, even though
Amelia is an unrelated name.
This name was moderately popular through most of the 20th century, and became very popular around the turn of the 21st century. It was the highest ranked name for girls in the United States from 1996 to 2007, attaining similar levels in other English-speaking countries around the same time.
Famous bearers include the British author Emily Brontë (1818-1848), known for the novel Wuthering Heights, and the American poet Emily Dickinson (1830-1886).
Elvira
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, German, Dutch, Swedish, Hungarian, Russian
Other Scripts: Эльвира(Russian)
Pronounced: ehl-BEE-ra(Spanish) ehl-VEE-ra(Italian, Dutch)
Rating: 32% based on 5 votes
Spanish form of a Visigothic name, recorded from the 10th century in forms such as
Geloyra or
Giluira. It is of uncertain meaning, possibly composed of the Gothic element
gails "happy" or
gails "spear" combined with
wers "friendly, agreeable, true". The name was borne by members of the royal families of León and Castille. This is also the name of a character in Mozart's opera
Don Giovanni (1787).
Elizabeth
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Biblical
Pronounced: i-LIZ-ə-bəth(English)
Rating: 75% based on 8 votes
From
Ἐλισάβετ (Elisabet), the Greek form of the Hebrew name
אֱלִישֶׁבַע (ʾElishevaʿ) meaning
"my God is an oath", derived from the roots
אֵל (ʾel) referring to the Hebrew God and
שָׁבַע (shavaʿ) meaning "oath". The Hebrew form appears in the
Old Testament where Elisheba is the wife of
Aaron, while the Greek form appears in the
New Testament where Elizabeth is the mother of
John the Baptist.
Among Christians, this name was originally more common in Eastern Europe. It was borne in the 12th century by Saint Elizabeth of Hungary, a daughter of King Andrew II who used her wealth to help the poor. In medieval England it was occasionally used in honour of the saint, though the form Isabel (from Occitan and Spanish) was more common. It has been very popular in England since the reign of Queen Elizabeth I in the 16th century. In American name statistics (as recorded since 1880) it has never ranked lower than 30, making it the most consistently popular name for girls in the United States.
Besides Elizabeth I, this name has been borne (in various spellings) by many other European royals, including a ruling empress of Russia in the 18th century. Famous modern bearers include the British queen Elizabeth II (1926-2022) and actress Elizabeth Taylor (1932-2011).
Eleanora
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: ehl-ə-NAWR-ə
Rating: 50% based on 5 votes
Eleanor
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: EHL-ə-nawr
Rating: 66% based on 8 votes
From the Old French form of the Occitan name
Alienòr. Among the name's earliest bearers was the influential Eleanor of Aquitaine (12th century), who was the queen of Louis VII, the king of France, and later Henry II, the king of England. She was named
Aenor after her mother, and was called by the Occitan phrase
alia Aenor "the other Aenor" in order to distinguish her from her mother. However, there appear to be examples of bearers prior to Eleanor of Aquitaine. It is not clear whether they were in fact Aenors who were retroactively recorded as having the name Eleanor, or whether there is an alternative explanation for the name's origin.
The popularity of the name Eleanor in England during the Middle Ages was due to the fame of Eleanor of Aquitaine, as well as two queens of the following century: Eleanor of Provence, the wife of Henry III, and Eleanor of Castile, the wife of Edward I. More recently, it was borne by first lady Eleanor Roosevelt (1884-1962), the wife of American president Franklin Roosevelt.
Edna
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Hebrew, Biblical
Other Scripts: עֶדְנָה(Hebrew)
Pronounced: EHD-nə(English)
Rating: 43% based on 6 votes
Means
"pleasure" in Hebrew, a derivative of
עָדַן (ʿaḏan) meaning "to delight". This name appears in the
Old Testament Apocrypha, for instance in the Book of Tobit belonging to the wife of
Raguel. It was borne by the American poet Edna Dean Proctor (1829-1923). It did not become popular until the second half of the 19th century, after it was used for the heroine in the successful 1866 novel
St. Elmo by Augusta Jane Evans
[1]. It peaked around the turn of the century and has declined steadily since then, falling off the American top 1000 list in 1992.
Edith
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Dutch
Pronounced: EE-dith(English) EH-dit(German, Swedish)
Rating: 50% based on 6 votes
From the Old English name
Eadgyð, derived from the elements
ead "wealth, fortune" and
guð "battle". It was popular among Anglo-Saxon royalty, being borne for example by
Saint Eadgyeth;, the daughter of King Edgar the Peaceful. It was also borne by the Anglo-Saxon wife of the Holy Roman Emperor Otto I. The name remained common after the
Norman Conquest. It became rare after the 15th century, but was revived in the 19th century.
Dorothy
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: DAWR-ə-thee, DAWR-thee
Rating: 63% based on 8 votes
Usual English form of
Dorothea. It has been in use since the 16th century. The author L. Frank Baum used it for the central character, Dorothy Gale, in his fantasy novel
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900) and several of its sequels.
Dorothea
Gender: Feminine
Usage: German, Dutch, English, Ancient Greek [1]
Other Scripts: Δωροθέα(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: do-ro-TEH-a(German) dawr-ə-THEE-ə(English)
Rating: 40% based on 5 votes
Feminine form of the Greek name
Δωρόθεος (Dorotheos), which meant
"gift of god" from Greek
δῶρον (doron) meaning "gift" and
θεός (theos) meaning "god". The name
Theodore is composed of the same elements in reverse order. Dorothea was the name of two early
saints, notably the 4th-century martyr Dorothea of Caesarea. It was also borne by the 14th-century Saint Dorothea of Montau, who was the patron saint of Prussia.
Dorita
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Spanish
Pronounced: do-REE-ta
Rating: 38% based on 4 votes
Doris
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, German, Swedish, Danish, Croatian, Ancient Greek [1], Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Δωρίς(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: DAWR-is(English) DO-ris(German)
Rating: 12% based on 5 votes
From the Greek name
Δωρίς (Doris), which meant
"Dorian woman". The Dorians were a Greek tribe who occupied the Peloponnese starting in the 12th century BC. In Greek
mythology Doris was a sea nymph, one of the many children of Oceanus and Tethys. It began to be used as an English name in the 19th century. A famous bearer is the American actress Doris Day (1924-2019).
Dorinda
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Galician
Pronounced: də-RIN-də(English)
Rating: 40% based on 4 votes
Combination of
Dora and the name suffix
inda. It was apparently coined by the English writers John Dryden and William D'Avenant for their play
The Enchanted Island (1667). In the play, a loose adaptation of Shakespeare's
The Tempest, Dorinda is the sister of Miranda.
Delphine
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French
Pronounced: DEHL-FEEN
Rating: 48% based on 4 votes
Cynthia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, French, Greek Mythology (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Κυνθία(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: SIN-thee-ə(English) SEEN-TYA(French)
Rating: 36% based on 5 votes
Latinized form of Greek
Κυνθία (Kynthia), which means
"woman from Cynthus". This was an epithet of the Greek moon goddess
Artemis, given because Cynthus was the mountain on Delos on which she and her twin brother
Apollo were born. It was not used as a given name until the Renaissance, and it did not become common in the English-speaking world until the 19th century. It reached a peak of popularity in the United States in 1957 and has declined steadily since then.
Clover
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: KLO-vər
Rating: 48% based on 5 votes
From the English word for the wild flower, ultimately deriving from Old English clafre.
Clémentine
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French
Pronounced: KLEH-MAHN-TEEN
Rating: 48% based on 4 votes
French feminine form of
Clement. This is also the name of a variety of orange (fruit).
Clemency
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: KLEH-mən-see, KLEH-mənt-see
Rating: 43% based on 3 votes
Medieval variant of
Clemence. It can also simply mean "clemency, mercy" from the English word, ultimately from Latin
clemens "merciful".
Clemence
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: KLEHM-əns
Rating: 27% based on 3 votes
Feminine form of
Clementius (see
Clement). It has been in use since the Middle Ages, though it became rare after the 17th century.
Cambria
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Various (Rare)
Pronounced: KAM-bree-ə(English)
Rating: 53% based on 4 votes
Latin form of the Welsh Cymru, the Welsh name for the country of Wales, derived from cymry meaning "the people". It is occasionally used as a given name in modern times.
Bonnie
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: BAHN-ee
Rating: 50% based on 5 votes
Means "pretty" from the Scottish word bonnie, which was itself derived from Middle French bon "good". It has been in use as an American given name since the 19th century, and it became especially popular after the movie Gone with the Wind (1939), in which it was the nickname of Scarlett's daughter.
Belphoebe
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Literature
Rating: 29% based on 7 votes
Combination of Old French
bele "beautiful" and the name
Phoebe. This name was first used by Edmund Spenser in his poem
The Faerie Queene (1590).
Augusta
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, Portuguese, English, German, Ancient Roman
Pronounced: ow-GOOS-ta(Italian) ə-GUS-tə(English) ow-GUWS-ta(German)
Rating: 50% based on 6 votes
Feminine form of
Augustus. It was introduced to Britain when King George III, a member of the German House of Hanover, gave this name to his second daughter in 1768.
Arietta
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Popular Culture (Rare)
Pronounced: ahr-ee-ET-ə, ar-ee-ET-ə
Rating: 48% based on 5 votes
Either a diminutive of
Aria 1, or from the major antagonist and God-General in Tales of the Abyss. Given after the musical term for a small song, from the Italian word "arietta."
Araminta
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Rating: 47% based on 6 votes
Meaning unknown. This name was (first?) used by William Congreve in his comedy The Old Bachelor (1693) and later by John Vanbrugh in his comedy The Confederacy (1705). This was the original given name of abolitionist Harriet Tubman (1820-1913), who was born Araminta Ross.
Arabella
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: ar-ə-BEHL-ə
Rating: 35% based on 6 votes
Medieval Scottish name, probably a variant of
Annabel. It has long been associated with Latin
orabilis meaning "invokable, yielding to prayer", and the name was often recorded in forms resembling this.
Unrelated, this was an older name of the city of Irbid in Jordan, from Greek Ἄρβηλα (Arbela).
Annabelle
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, French
Pronounced: AN-ə-behl(English)
Rating: 47% based on 6 votes
Variant of
Annabel. It can also be interpreted as a combination of
Anna and French
belle "beautiful".
Amelia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Spanish, Italian, Polish, Medieval French
Pronounced: ə-MEE-lee-ə(English) ə-MEEL-yə(English) a-MEH-lya(Spanish, Italian, Polish)
Rating: 53% based on 6 votes
Variant of
Amalia, though it is sometimes confused with
Emilia, which has a different origin. The name became popular in England after the German House of Hanover came to the British throne in the 18th century — it was borne by daughters of both George II and George III. The author Henry Fielding used it for the title character in his novel
Amelia (1751). Another famous bearer was Amelia Earhart (1897-1937), the first woman to make a solo flight over the Atlantic Ocean.
This name experienced a rise in popularity at the end of the 20th century. It was the most popular name for girls in England and Wales from 2011 to 2015.
Adabelle
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (American)
Rating: 26% based on 5 votes
Ada 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Italian, Spanish, German, Dutch, Norwegian, Polish, Finnish, Germanic [1]
Pronounced: AY-də(English) A-dha(Spanish) A-da(Polish) AH-dah(Finnish)
Personal remark: Middle Name
Rating: 34% based on 5 votes
Originally a short form of Germanic names such as
Adelaide or
Adelina that begin with the element
adal meaning "noble".
Saint Ada was a 7th-century Frankish abbess at Le Mans. This name was also borne by Augusta Ada King (1815-1852), the Countess of Lovelace (known as Ada Lovelace), a daughter of Lord Byron. She was an assistant to Charles Babbage, the inventor of an early mechanical computer.
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