NamesAreTreasures's Personal Name List
Zola 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: ZO-lə
Meaning unknown, perhaps an invented name. It has been in occasional use in the English-speaking world since the 19th century. It coincides with an Italian surname, a famous bearer being the French-Italian author Émile Zola (1840-1902).
Zianna
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Medieval Basque
Zea
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (American, Rare), Filipino (Modern, Rare)
Unknown meaning, possibly a variant of
Thea or
Zia.
Zayla
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern), African American (Modern)
Possibly an invented name formed using the phonetic elements
zay and
la, and sharing a sound with other popular names such as
Kayla. In some cases it could be a short form of
Azalea.
Zaniah
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Astronomy, English (Rare)
Pronounced: zə-NIE-ə
Presumably derived from Arabic زاوية (zāwiyah) "corner" (though Alhazen claimed that this word meant "harlot"). This was the medieval name for Eta Virginis, a star in the constellation Virgo.
Zainab
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Arabic, Urdu, Hausa, Malay, Indonesian
Other Scripts: زينب(Arabic) زینب(Urdu)
Pronounced: ZIE-nab(Arabic)
Alternate transcription of Arabic
زينب (see
Zaynab), as well as the usual form in several languages.
Yvonne
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French, English, German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish
Pronounced: EE-VAWN(French) i-VAHN(American English) i-VAWN(British English) ee-VAWN(German) ee-VAW-nə(Dutch)
French feminine form of
Yvon. It has been regularly used in the English-speaking world since the late 19th century.
Yasmin
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Arabic, Hebrew, Urdu, English (Modern), Spanish (Modern), Portuguese (Modern)
Other Scripts: ياسمين(Arabic) יַסְמִין(Hebrew) یاسمین(Urdu)
Pronounced: yas-MEEN(Arabic) YAZ-min(English) gyas-MEEN(Spanish)
Means
"jasmine" in Arabic and Hebrew, derived from Persian
یاسمین (yāsamīn). In modern times it has been used in the western world, as an Arabic-influenced variant of
Jasmine.
Xzavier
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: ZAY-vyər(American English) ig-ZAY-vyər(American English) ZAY-vyə(British English) ig-ZAY-vyə(British English)
Xylina
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare), African American (Rare)
Pronounced: zie-LEE-nə
Modern name coined in the early 20th century either as a variant of
Xylia or directly from Greek ξύλινος
(xylinos) meaning "wooden; of wood" (a derivative of ξύλον
(xylon) "wood", a word used in the New Testament to mean "the Cross"). Also compare
Xyla,
Xyliana,
Xylon,
Xylo.
Xylia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern, Rare)
Pronounced: ZIE-lee-ə
Possibly an elaborated form of
Xyla.
Xyla
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (American, Modern), Filipino
Pronounced: ZIE-lə(English)
Possibly an invented name, perhaps based on Greek ξύλον
(xylon) meaning "wood", a word used in the New Testament to mean "the Cross".
It has gained some popularity probably because it shares the same trendy sounds found in other names such as Isla, Lyla, Myla, Nyla and Kyla.
Xxavier
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (American, Modern, Rare)
Pronounced: ehk-SAY-vyər(American English)
Xolani
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Zulu
Means "peace" in Zulu.
Xola
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Xoie
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Obscure (Modern)
Xoey
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Obscure (Modern)
Xitlali
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Mexican (Modern)
Pronounced: see-TLAH-lee(Spanish)
Xiomara
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Spanish
Pronounced: syo-MA-ra
Possibly a Spanish form of
Guiomar.
Ximena
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Spanish
Pronounced: khee-MEH-na
Feminine form of
Ximeno. This was the name of the wife of El Cid.
Xianna
Gender: Feminine
Usage: American (Modern, Rare)
Xiana
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Galician
Pronounced: shee-A-nu
From
Xuliana, the Galician form of
Juliana.
Xiamara
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Ancient Aramaic
Pronounced: zee-ah-MAH-ra(Aramaic)
Means "joyful deer" in Aramaic.
Xia
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: Chinese
Other Scripts: 夏, 霞, etc.(Chinese)
Pronounced: SHYA
From Chinese
夏 (xià) meaning "summer, great, grand",
霞 (xiá) meaning "rosy clouds", or other characters that are pronounced similarly.
Xhulia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Albanian
Xena
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Popular Culture
Pronounced: ZEE-nə(English)
Probably a variant of
Xenia. This was the name of the main character in the 1990s television series
Xena: Warrior Princess.
Xela
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Galician
Xayla
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (American, Modern, Rare)
Pronounced: ZAY-lə(American English)
Xaviera
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Xavier
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, French, Portuguese, Catalan, Spanish
Pronounced: ZAY-vyər(American English) ig-ZAY-vyər(American English) ZAY-vyə(British English) ig-ZAY-vyə(British English) GZA-VYEH(French) shu-vee-EHR(European Portuguese) sha-vee-EKH(Brazilian Portuguese) shə-bee-EH(Catalan) kha-BYEHR(Spanish) sa-BYEHR(Spanish)
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.
Xavia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Modern feminine form of
Xavier.
Xaria
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern, Rare)
Xanthe
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology, Ancient Greek [1]
Other Scripts: Ξάνθη(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: KSAN-TEH(Classical Greek)
Derived from Greek
ξανθός (xanthos) meaning
"yellow, blond, fair-haired". This was the name of a few minor figures in Greek
mythology.
Xaniyah
Gender: Feminine
Usage: African American (Modern, Rare)
Xandria
Gender: Feminine
Usage: American (Modern, Rare), African American
Pronounced: ZAN-dree-ə
Xana
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Asturian (Modern), Galician (Modern)
Pronounced: sha-na(Asturian) sha-nu(Galician)
From the word
xana, a type of fairy in Asturian mythology who are said to live in pure rivers and fountains. It may derive from the Roman mythological name
Diana.
Witness
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (African), South African
From the English word, witness, "one who has personal knowledge of something".
Winner
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Modern, Rare)
Pronounced: WIN-ner
From the English word "winner".
Wing
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Canadian)
Wilson
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, Spanish (Latin American), Portuguese
Pronounced: WIL-sən(English) WEEL-son(Spanish)
From an English surname meaning
"son of William". The surname was borne by Woodrow Wilson (1856-1924), the American president during World War I.
William
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: WIL-yəm
From the Germanic name
Willehelm meaning
"will helmet", composed of the elements
willo "will, desire" and
helm "helmet, protection". An early
saint by this name was the 8th-century William of Gellone, a cousin of
Charlemagne who became a monk. The name was common among the
Normans, and it became extremely popular in England after William the Conqueror was recognized as the first Norman king of England in the 11th century. From then until the modern era it has been among the most common of English names (with
John,
Thomas and
Robert).
This name was later borne by three other English kings, as well as rulers of Scotland, Sicily (of Norman origin), the Netherlands and Prussia. Other famous bearers include William Wallace, a 13th-century Scottish hero, and William Tell, a legendary 14th-century Swiss hero (called Wilhelm in German, Guillaume in French and Guglielmo in Italian). In the literary world it was borne by dramatist William Shakespeare (1564-1616), poet William Blake (1757-1827), poet William Wordsworth (1770-1850), dramatist William Butler Yeats (1865-1939), author William Faulkner (1897-1962), and author William S. Burroughs (1914-1997).
In the American rankings (since 1880) this name has never been out of the top 20, making it one of the most consistently popular names (although it has never reached the top rank). In modern times its short form, Liam, has periodically been more popular than William itself, in the United Kingdom in the 1990s and the United States in the 2010s.
Willa
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: WIL-ə
Wednesday
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Popular Culture
Pronounced: WENZ-day(English)
From the name of the day of the week, which was derived from Old English
wodnesdæg meaning "
Woden's day". On the
Addams Family television series (1964-1966) this was the name of the daughter, based on an earlier unnamed character in Charles Addams' cartoons. Her name was inspired by the popular nursery rhyme line
Wednesday's child is full of woe.
Wayne
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: WAYN
From an occupational surname meaning "wagon maker", derived from Old English wægn "wagon". Use of it as a given name can be partly attributed to the popularity of the actor John Wayne (1907-1979). Another famous bearer is Canadian hockey player Wayne Gretzky (1961-), generally considered the greatest player in the history of the sport.
Violet
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: VIE-lit, VIE-ə-lit
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.
Victoria
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Spanish, Romanian, German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, French, Late Roman, Roman Mythology
Pronounced: vik-TAWR-ee-ə(English) beek-TO-rya(Spanish) vik-TO-rya(German) VEEK-TAW-RYA(French) week-TO-ree-a(Latin)
Means
"victory" in Latin, being borne by the Roman goddess of victory. It is also a feminine form of
Victorius. This name was borne by a 4th-century
saint and martyr from North Africa.
Though in use elsewhere in Europe, the name was very rare in the English-speaking world until the 19th century, when Queen Victoria began her long rule of Britain. She was named after her mother, who was of German royalty. Many geographic areas are named after the queen, including an Australian state and a Canadian city.
Vicki
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: VIK-ee
Veronique
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Dutch
Vanilla
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: və-NIL-ə
From the English word vanilla referring to "the fruit or bean of the vanilla plant, or the extract made from it, or the distinctive fragrant flavour/flavor characteristic of vanilla extract". The word is derived from Spanish vainilla, literally "little pod", a diminutive form of vaina "pod, scabbard, sheath", from Latin vagina "sheath (of an ear of grain), husk, hull of a plant".
Van
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: VAN
Short form of names containing
van, such as
Vance or
Ivan.
Vada
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Popular Culture
Pronounced: VAY-də(English) VAH-də(English) VA-də(English)
Meaning unknown. Possibly a variant of
Veda or
Valda or short form of
Nevada.
It was used for the heroine of the American film
My Girl (1991).
Unique
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: yoo-NEEK
From the English word unique, ultimately derived from Latin unicus.
Tyrese
Gender: Masculine
Usage: African American (Modern)
Pronounced: tie-REES(English)
Invented name, an elaboration of the initial sound in names such as
Tyrone,
Tyrell and
Tyree. It jumped in popularity after the American singer and actor Tyrese Gibson (1978-) released his debut album in 1998.
Tyreese
Gender: Masculine
Usage: African American (Modern)
Pronounced: tie-REES
Tuesday
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: TYOOZ-day, TOOZ-day, CHOOZ-day
From the English word for the day of the week, which derives from Old English
tiwesdæg meaning "
Tiw's day".
Tree
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (American, Rare)
Pronounced: CHREE(American English)
Tracy
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: TRAY-see
From an English surname that was taken from a Norman French place name meaning
"domain belonging to Thracius". Charles Dickens used it for a male character in his novel
The Pickwick Papers (1837). It was later popularized as a feminine name by the main character Tracy Lord in the movie
The Philadelphia Story (1940). This name is also sometimes used as a
diminutive of
Theresa.
Trace
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: TRAYS
Tonya
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Russian
Other Scripts: Тоня(Russian)
Pronounced: TAHN-yə(American English) TAWN-yə(British English) TO-nyə(Russian)
English
diminutive of
Antonia or a Russian diminutive of
Antonina. In the English-speaking world its use has likely been positively influenced by the name
Tanya.
Tirzah
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Biblical
Other Scripts: תִּרְצָה(Ancient Hebrew)
Pronounced: TIR-zə(American English) TEEY-zə(British English)
From the Hebrew name
תִּרְצָה (Tirtsa) meaning
"favourable". Tirzah is the name of one of the daughters of
Zelophehad in the
Old Testament. It also occurs in the Old Testament as a place name, the early residence of the kings of the northern kingdom.
Time
Gender: Masculine
Usage: West Frisian
Pronounced: TEE-mə
Tiffini
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (American, Modern, Rare)
Thursday
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (African), Afro-American (Slavery-era)
Pronounced: THURZ-day(English)
From the name of the day of the week, which ultimately derives from Old English
þunresdæg meaning literally "
Thor's day". A known bearer of this name was Thursday October Christian (1790-1831), the first son of the HMS
Bounty mutineer Fletcher Christian and his Tahitian wife Mauatua, who was born on a Thursday in October.
Testimony
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: tehs-tim-O-nee(American English) TEHS-tim-ə-nee(British English)
From the English word
Testimony: "A solemn declaration or affirmation made for the purpose of establishing or proving some fact".
From Latin testimōnium (“testimony”), from testis (“a witness”).
Temperance
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: TEHM-prəns, TEHM-pər-əns
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.
Teddy
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: TEHD-ee
Taşdemir
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Turkish (Rare)
Pronounced: tahsh-de-MEEṘ
Most likely a combination of words
taş (from Old Turkic
taş and Proto-Turkic
*tāş) meaning "stone, rock, gem" and
Demir, which is also used as a name, (from Old Turkic
témir and Proto-Turkic
*tämür) meaning "iron."
This name is rarely given to boys, if given at all.
Tanya
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Russian, Bulgarian, English
Other Scripts: Таня(Russian, Bulgarian)
Pronounced: TA-nyə(Russian) TAHN-yə(English) TAN-yə(English)
Russian
diminutive of
Tatiana. It began to be used in the English-speaking world during the 1930s.
Tabitha
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Biblical, Biblical Greek [1]
Other Scripts: Ταβιθά(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: TAB-i-thə(English)
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.
Sydney
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: SID-nee
From a surname that was a variant of the surname
Sidney. This is the name of the largest city in Australia, which was named for Thomas Townshend, 1st Viscount Sydney in 1788. Formerly used by both genders, since the 1980s this spelling of the name has been mostly feminine.
Sybil
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: SIB-əl
Variant of
Sibyl. This spelling variation has existed since the Middle Ages.
Sunset
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English
From the English word "sunset" referring to the setting of the sun at the end of the day.
Sunrise
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
From the English word sunrise, referring to a time in the morning when the sun appears.
Stevie
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: STEE-vee
Steven
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, Dutch
Pronounced: STEE-vən(English) STEH-vən(Dutch)
Medieval English variant of
Stephen, and a Dutch variant of
Stefan. The filmmaker Steven Spielberg (1946-), director of
E.T. and
Indiana Jones, is a famous bearer of this name.
Stephanie
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, German
Pronounced: STEHF-ə-nee(English) SHTEH-fa-nee(German)
Stephani
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: STEHF-ə-nee
Stefan
Gender: Masculine
Usage: German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Dutch, Polish, Bulgarian, Serbian, Macedonian
Other Scripts: Стефан(Bulgarian, Serbian, Macedonian)
Pronounced: SHTEH-fan(German) STEH-fan(Swedish, Polish, Serbian) STEH-fahn(Dutch)
Form of
Stephen used in several languages. Famous bearers include the Serbian rulers Stefan Nemanja, Stefan Nemanjić, and Stefan Lazarević, who are all considered
saints in the Orthodox Church.
Stacy
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: STAY-see
As a feminine name it is commonly considered a
diminutive of
Anastasia, though it was originally used independently of that name, which was rare in America in the 1950s when Stacy began becoming popular. It had earlier been in use as an uncommon masculine name, borrowed from the surname Stacy or Stacey (derived from
Stace, a medieval form of
Eustace).
Spencer
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: SPEHN-sər(American English) SPEHN-sə(British English)
From an English surname that meant "dispenser of provisions", derived from Middle English spense "larder, pantry". A famous bearer was American actor Spencer Tracy (1900-1967). It was also the surname of Princess Diana (1961-1997).
Sparkle
Gender: Feminine
Usage: African American, Trinidadian Creole
Pronounced: SPAHR-kəl(English)
Middle English frequentative (verb) or diminutive (noun) of spark.
Sonja
Gender: Feminine
Usage: German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Icelandic, Finnish, Slovene, Serbian, Croatian, Macedonian
Other Scripts: Соња(Serbian, Macedonian)
Pronounced: ZAWN-ya(German) SAWN-ya(Dutch) SON-yah(Finnish)
Form of
Sonya in various languages.
Slater
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: SLAY-ter
Transferred use of the surname
Slater.
Skylyr
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (Modern, Rare)
Pronounced: SKIE-lər
Skipper
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English
Derived from Middle Dutch schipper "boatman, bargeman", which referred to the master of a small ship or boat (like a fishing boat).
Skip
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: SKIP
Siobhán
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Irish
Pronounced: SHI-wan, SHUW-wan, SHI-van, shə-VAN
Irish form of
Jehanne, a Norman French variant of
Jeanne.
Sincerity
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: American (Rare)
Derived from Latin sinceritas "purity; integrity".
Sincere
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: sin-SIR(American English) sin-SEEY(British English)
From the English word meaning genuine or heartfelt.
Silvestro
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Italian
Pronounced: seel-VEH-stro
Sidney
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: SID-nee
From the English surname
Sidney. It was first used as a given name in honour of executed politician Algernon Sidney (1622-1683). Another notable bearer of the surname was the poet and statesman Philip Sidney (1554-1586).
As a given name, it has traditionally been more masculine than feminine. In America however, after the variant Sydney became popular for girls, Sidney was used more for girls than boys between 1993 and 2019.
Shyla
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: SHIE-lə
Variant of
Sheila, or a combination of the popular phonetic elements
shy and
la.
Sheriff
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Indian
Shepherd
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: SHEHP-ərd(American English) SHEHP-əd(British English)
From an English occupational surname meaning "sheep herder, shepherd".
Shawntaye
Gender: Feminine
Usage: African American (Rare)
Pronounced: shahn-TAY
Shaunte
Gender: Feminine
Usage: African American (Rare)
Pronounced: shahn-TAY(English)
Shannon
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: SHAN-ən
From the name of the River Shannon, the longest river in Ireland, called
an tSionainn in Irish. It is associated with the legendary figure
Sionann and is sometimes said to be named for her. However it is more likely she was named after the river, which may be related to Old Irish
sen "old, ancient"
[1]. As a given name, it first became common in America after the 1940s.
Scarlet
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: SKAHR-lit(American English) SKAH-lit(British English)
Either a variant of
Scarlett or else from the English word for the red colour (both of the same origin, a type of cloth).
Sayer
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Modern, Rare)
Transferred use of the surname
Sayer.
Saturday
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (African), Afro-American (Slavery-era)
Pronounced: SAT-ər-day(English) SA-tə-day(English)
From the English word for the day of the week, which derives from Old English
sæterdæġ, meaning "
Saturn's day".
Sariah
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Mormon
Pronounced: sə-RIE-ə(English)
Possibly from an alternate reading of Hebrew
שׂריה (see
Seraiah). In the Book of Mormon this is the name of
Lehi's wife.
Saoirse
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Irish
Pronounced: SEER-shə
Means "freedom" in Irish Gaelic. It was first used as a given name in the 20th century.
Samson
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Biblical, English, French, Biblical Latin
Other Scripts: שִׁמְשׁוֹן(Ancient Hebrew)
Pronounced: SAM-sən(English) SAHN-SAWN(French)
From the Hebrew name
שִׁמְשׁוֹן (Shimshon), derived from
שֶׁמֶשׁ (shemesh) meaning "sun". Samson was an
Old Testament hero granted exceptional strength by God. His mistress
Delilah betrayed him and cut his hair, stripping him of his power. Thus he was captured by the Philistines, blinded, and brought to their temple. However, in a final act of strength, he pulled down the pillars of the temple upon himself and his captors.
This name was known among the Normans due to the Welsh bishop Saint Samson, who founded monasteries in Brittany and Normandy in the 6th century. In his case, the name may have been a translation of his true Celtic name. As an English name, Samson was common during the Middle Ages, having been introduced by the Normans. It is currently most common in Africa, especially in countries that have an British colonial past.
Sacagawea
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Indigenous American
Pronounced: sak-ə-jə-WEE-ə(English)
Probably from Hidatsa tsakáka wía meaning "bird woman". Alternatively it could originate from the Shoshone language and mean "boat puller". This name was borne by a Native American woman who guided the explorers Lewis and Clark. She was of Shoshone ancestry but had been abducted in her youth and raised by a Hidatsa tribe.
Ryder
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: RIE-dər(American English) RIE-də(British English)
From an English occupational surname derived from Old English
ridere meaning
"mounted warrior" or
"messenger". It has grown in popularity in the 2000s because it starts with the same sound found in other popular names like
Ryan and
Riley.
Ruth 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Estonian, Spanish, Biblical, Biblical Latin
Other Scripts: רוּת(Ancient Hebrew)
Pronounced: ROOTH(English) ROOT(German, Spanish)
From the Hebrew name
רוּת (Ruṯ), probably derived from the word
רְעוּת (reʿuṯ) meaning
"female friend". This is the name of the central character in the Book of Ruth in the
Old Testament. She was a Moabite woman who accompanied her mother-in-law
Naomi back to Bethlehem after Ruth's husband died. There she met and married
Boaz. She was an ancestor of King
David.
As a Christian name, Ruth has been in use since the Protestant Reformation. In England it was associated with the archaic word ruth meaning "pity, compassion" (now only commonly seen in the word ruthless). The name became very popular in America following the birth of "Baby" Ruth Cleveland (1891-1904), the daughter of President Grover Cleveland.
Rosy
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: RO-zee
Rosie
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: RO-zee
Romeo
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Italian, Romanian
Pronounced: ro-MEH-o(Italian) RO-mee-o(English)
Italian form of the Late Latin
Romaeus or Late Greek
Ρωμαῖος (Romaios), which meant
"from Rome" or
"Roman". Romeo is best known as the lover of
Juliet in William Shakespeare's tragedy
Romeo and Juliet (1596). Shakespeare based his play on earlier Italian stories by Luigi Da Porto (1524) and Matteo Bandello (1554), which both featured characters named Giulietta and Romeo.
Rome
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Various
May be used on its own or as a contractive nickname for
Ramone.
Roger
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, French, Catalan, Swedish, Norwegian, German, Dutch
Pronounced: RAHJ-ər(American English) RAWJ-ə(British English) RAW-ZHEH(French) roo-ZHEH(Catalan) RO-gu(German) ro-ZHEH(Dutch)
From the Germanic name
Hrodger meaning
"famous spear", derived from the elements
hruod "fame" and
ger "spear". The
Normans brought this name to England, where it replaced the Old English
cognate Hroðgar (the name of the Danish king in the Anglo-Saxon epic
Beowulf). It was a common name in England during the Middle Ages. By the 18th century it was rare, but it was revived in following years. The name was borne by the Norman lords Roger I, who conquered Sicily in the 11th century, and his son Roger II, who ruled Sicily as a king.
This name was very popular in France in the first half of the 20th century. In the English-speaking world it was popular especially from the 1930s to the 50s. Famous bearers include British actor Roger Moore (1927-2017) and Swiss tennis player Roger Federer (1981-).
Rodney
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: RAHD-nee(American English) RAWD-nee(British English)
From an English surname, originally derived from a place name, which meant "Hroda's island" in Old English (where Hroda is an Old English given name meaning "fame"). It was first used as a given name in honour of the British admiral Lord Rodney (1719-1792).
Rocky
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: RAHK-ee(American English) RAWK-ee(British English)
Diminutive of
Rocco and other names beginning with a similar sound, or else a nickname referring to a tough person. This is the name of the boxer Rocky Balboa (played by Sylvester Stallone) in the movie
Rocky (1976) and its sequels.
Rockwell
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: RAHK-wel
Transferred use of the surnaem
Rockwell. A notable bearer of this name was Rockwell Kent, an American painter, printmaker, illustrator, and writer.
Rochelle
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: raw-SHEHL
From the name of the French city
La Rochelle, meaning
"little rock". It first became commonly used as a given name in America in the 1930s, probably due to the fame of actress Rochelle Hudson (1914-1972) and because of the similarity to the name
Rachel.
Robyn
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: RAHB-in(American English) RAWB-in(British English)
Feminine variant of
Robin.
Robins
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Latvian (Rare)
Roberta
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese
Pronounced: rə-BUR-tə(American English) rə-BU-tə(British English) ro-BEHR-ta(Italian, Spanish)
Rider
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: RIE-dər
From a surname that was a variant of
Ryder. This name was borne by the British novelist Sir Henry Rider Haggard (1856-1925), generally known as H. Rider Haggard or Rider Haggard.
Renée
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French, Dutch
Pronounced: RU-NEH(French) rə-NEH(Dutch) reh-NEH(Dutch)
French feminine form of
René.
Renea
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Renae
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: rə-NAY
English variant of
Renée.
Rebecca
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Italian, Swedish, German, Dutch, Biblical, Biblical Latin
Other Scripts: רִבְקָה(Ancient Hebrew)
Pronounced: rə-BEHK-ə(English) reh-BEHK-ka(Italian) rə-BEH-ka(Dutch)
From the Hebrew name
רִבְקָה (Rivqa), probably from a Semitic root meaning
"join, tie, snare". This is the name of the wife of
Isaac and the mother of
Esau and
Jacob in the
Old Testament. It came into use as an English Christian name after the
Protestant Reformation, and it was popular with the
Puritans in the 17th century. It has been consistently used since then, becoming especially common in the second half of the 20th century.
This name is borne by a Jewish woman in Walter Scott's novel Ivanhoe (1819), as well as the title character (who is deceased and unseen) in Daphne du Maurier's novel Rebecca (1938).
Rashelle
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (American, Rare)
Radiance
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: RAY-dee-ans
From Latin radiare + -ance. From the English word, defined as "the light or heat as emitted or reflected by something" or "great happiness", occasionally used as a given name.
Rachelle
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, French
Pronounced: rə-SHEHL(English) RAY-chəl(English) RA-SHEHL(French)
Variant of
Rachel. In the English-speaking world it has likely been influenced by the spelling of
Rochelle.
Purity
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: PUR-it-ee
Middle English from Old French purete, later assimilated to late Latin puritas, from Latin purus ‘pure’. From the English word purity, which means "freedom from immorality."
Prophet
Gender: Masculine
Usage: African American (Modern), English (African)
From the English word
prophet, ultimately from Greek προφήτης
(prophetes) meaning "one who speaks for a god" (itself from πρό
(pro) "before" and φημί
(phemi) "to speak, to declare").
Peter
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, German, Dutch, Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, Slovene, Slovak, Biblical
Pronounced: PEET-ər(American English) PEE-tə(British English) PEH-tu(German) PEH-tər(Dutch, Danish, Slovene) PEH-tehr(Slovak)
Derived from Greek
Πέτρος (Petros) meaning
"stone". This is a translation used in most versions of the
New Testament of the name
Cephas, meaning "stone" in Aramaic, which was given to the apostle
Simon by
Jesus (compare
Matthew 16:18 and
John 1:42). Simon Peter was the most prominent of the apostles during Jesus' ministry and is often considered the first pope.
Due to the renown of the apostle, this name became common throughout the Christian world (in various spellings). In England the Normans introduced it in the Old French form Piers, which was gradually replaced by the spelling Peter starting in the 15th century [1].
Besides the apostle, other saints by this name include the 11th-century reformer Saint Peter Damian and the 13th-century preacher Saint Peter Martyr. It was also borne by rulers of Aragon, Portugal, and Russia, including the Russian tsar Peter the Great (1672-1725), who defeated Sweden in the Great Northern War. Famous fictional bearers include Peter Rabbit from Beatrix Potter's children's books, Peter Pan, the boy who refused to grow up in J. M. Barrie's 1904 play, and Peter Parker, the real name of the comic book superhero Spider-Man.
Peace
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (African)
Pronounced: PEES
From the English word peace, ultimately derived from Latin pax. This name is most common in Nigeria and other parts of Africa.
Paul
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, French, German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Estonian, Romanian, Biblical
Pronounced: PAWL(English, French) POWL(German, Dutch, Swedish)
From the Roman family name
Paulus, which meant
"small" or
"humble" in Latin. Paul was an important leader of the early Christian church. According to Acts in the
New Testament, he was a Jewish Roman citizen who converted to Christianity after the resurrected
Jesus appeared to him. After this he travelled the eastern Mediterranean as a missionary. His original Hebrew name was
Saul. Many of the epistles in the New Testament were authored by him.
Due to the renown of Saint Paul the name became common among early Christians. It was borne by a number of other early saints and six popes. In England it was relatively rare during the Middle Ages, but became more frequent beginning in the 17th century. In the United States it was in the top 20 names for boys from 1900 to 1968, while in the United Kingdom it was very popular from the 1950s to the 80s. It has also been heavily used in Germany and France and continues to be popular there, though it is currently on the decline in the English-speaking world.
A notable bearer was the American Revolutionary War figure Paul Revere (1735-1818), who warned of the advance of the British army. Famous bearers in the art world include the French impressionists Paul Cézanne (1839-1906) and Paul Gauguin (1848-1903), and the Swiss expressionist Paul Klee (1879-1940). It is borne by actor Paul Newman (1925-2008) and the musicians Paul Simon (1941-) and Paul McCartney (1942-). This is also the name of the legendary American lumberjack Paul Bunyan and the fictional Paul Atreides from Frank Herbert's novel Dune (1965).
Pastel
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
From mid 17th century: via French from Italian pastello, diminutive of pasta ‘paste’.
Orlando
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Carolingian Cycle
Pronounced: or-LAN-do(Italian, Spanish)
Italian form of
Roland, as used in the epic poems
Orlando Innamorato (1483) by Matteo Maria Boiardo and the continuation
Orlando Furioso (1532) by Ludovico Ariosto. In the poems, Orlando is a knight in
Charlemagne's army who battles against the invading Saracens. A character in Shakespeare's play
As You Like It (1599) also bears this name, as does a city in Florida.
Orlanda
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian (Rare)
Pronounced: or-LAN-da
Ophelia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Literature, Ancient Greek [1]
Other Scripts: Ὠφελία(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: o-FEEL-ee-ə(English) o-FEEL-yə(English)
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.
Olivian
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Romanian
Nylah
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: NIE-lə
Nyla
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: NIE-lə
Probably a feminine form of
Niles. It gained popularity in the early 2000s, influenced by similar-sounding names such as
Kyla.
Noelani
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Hawaiian
Pronounced: no-eh-LA-nee
Means "heavenly mist" from Hawaiian noe "mist" and lani "heaven, sky, royal, majesty".
Nina 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Russian, Italian, English, German, French, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Lithuanian, Dutch, Polish, Slovene, Czech, Slovak, Croatian, Serbian, Bulgarian, Ukrainian, Belarusian
Other Scripts: Нина(Russian, Serbian, Bulgarian) Ніна(Ukrainian, Belarusian)
Pronounced: NYEE-nə(Russian) NEE-na(Italian, German, Dutch, Slovak) NEE-nə(English) NEE-NA(French) NEE-nah(Finnish) nyi-NU(Lithuanian) NYEE-na(Polish) NI-na(Czech)
Short form of names that end in
nina, such as
Antonina or
Giannina. It was imported to Western Europe from Russia and Italy in the 19th century. This name also nearly coincides with the Spanish word
niña meaning
"little girl" (the word is pronounced differently than the name).
A famous bearer was the American jazz musician Nina Simone (1933-2003).
Nicola 2
Gender: Feminine
Usage: German, English
Pronounced: NI-ko-la(German) NIK-ə-lə(English)
Feminine form of
Nicholas. In the English-speaking world this name is more common outside of America, where
Nicole is more usual.
Nessie
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Scottish
Originally a diminutive of
Agnes, used independently from at least the 18th century. It is now also used as a diminutive of
Vanessa. Since the 1950s it has been used as a nickname for the legendary Loch Ness Monster.
Nesrin
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Persian
Other Scripts: نسرين(Persian)
Nesrin means "wild rose".
Nellie
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Swedish
Pronounced: NEHL-ee(English) NEH-li(Swedish)
Neal
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: NEEL
Natole
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Walloon, Picard
Walloon and Picard form of
Anatole.
Natalie
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, German, Dutch, Swedish, Danish, Norwegian
Pronounced: NAT-ə-lee(English) NA-ta-lee(German, Dutch)
From the Late Latin name
Natalia, which meant
"Christmas Day" from Latin
natale domini. This was the name of the wife of the 4th-century martyr
Saint Adrian of Nicomedia. She is venerated as a saint in the Orthodox Church, and the name has traditionally been more common among Eastern Christians than those in the West. It was popularized in America by actress Natalie Wood (1938-1981), who was born to Russian immigrants.
Nancy
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: NAN-see
Previously a medieval
diminutive of
Annis, though since the 18th century it has been a diminutive of
Ann. It is now usually regarded as an independent name. During the 20th century it became very popular in the United States. A city in the Lorraine region of France bears this name, though it derives from a different source.
Nadeem
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Arabic, Urdu
Other Scripts: نديم(Arabic) ندیم(Urdu)
Pronounced: na-DEEM(Arabic)
Mychael
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Rare), Irish (Rare, Archaic), Medieval Baltic
Variant of
Michael, as well as a medieval Latvian form.
Muhammad
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Arabic, Urdu, Punjabi, Pashto, Bengali, Tajik, Uzbek, Indonesian, Malay, Avar
Other Scripts: محمّد(Arabic, Urdu, Shahmukhi, Pashto) মুহাম্মদ(Bengali) Муҳаммад(Tajik, Uzbek) МухӀаммад(Avar) Мухаммад(Russian)
Pronounced: moo-HAM-mad(Arabic) muw-HAM-əd(English) muw-HUM-məd(Urdu) MOO-ham-mawd(Bengali) moo-ham-MAD(Tajik Persian)
Means
"praised, commendable" in Arabic, derived from the root
حمد (ḥamida) meaning "to praise". This was the name of the prophet who founded the Islamic religion in the 7th century. According to Islamic belief, at age 40 Muhammad was visited by the angel
Gabriel, who provided him with the first verses of the
Quran. Approximately 20 years later he conquered Mecca, the city of his birth, and his followers controlled most of the Arabian Peninsula at the time of his death in 632.
Since the prophet's time his name has been very popular in the Muslim world. It was borne by several Abbasid caliphs and six sultans of the Ottoman Empire (though their names are usually given in the Turkish spelling Mehmet). Other famous bearers include Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi (9th century), a Persian mathematician and scientist who devised algebra, Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Rushd (1126-1198), an Andalusian scholar also called Averroes, and Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi (1207-1273), a Persian poet. In the modern era there is Muhammad Ali Jinnah (1876-1948), the founder of Pakistan, and the American boxer Muhammad Ali (1942-2016).
Moses
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, Jewish, Biblical, Biblical Latin
Other Scripts: מֹשֶׁה(Hebrew)
Pronounced: MOZ-is(English)
From the Hebrew name
מֹשֶׁה (Moshe), which is most likely derived from Egyptian
mes meaning
"son". The meaning suggested in the
Old Testament of
"drew out" from Hebrew
מָשָׁה (masha) is probably an invented etymology (see
Exodus 2:10).
The biblical Moses was drawn out of the Nile by the pharaoh's daughter and adopted into the royal family, at a time when the Israelites were slaves in Egypt. With his brother Aaron he demanded the pharaoh release the Israelites, which was only done after God sent ten plagues upon Egypt. Moses led the people across the Red Sea and to Mount Sinai, where he received the Ten Commandments from God. After 40 years of wandering in the desert the people reached Canaan, the Promised Land, but Moses died just before entering it.
In England, this name has been commonly used by Christians since the Protestant Reformation, though it had long been popular among Jews.
Monday
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (African)
Pronounced: MUN-day
From the English word for the day of the week, which was derived from Old English mona "moon" and dæg "day". This can be given to children born on Monday, especially in Nigeria.
Molly
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: MAHL-ee(American English) MAWL-ee(British English)
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.
Misty
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: MIS-tee
From the English word misty, ultimately derived from Old English. The jazz song Misty (1954) by Erroll Garner may have helped popularize the name.
Misti
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: MIS-tee
Miraculous
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: American (Modern, Rare)
From the English word.
Miles
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: MIELZ
From the Germanic name
Milo, introduced by the
Normans to England in the form
Miles. The meaning is not known for certain. It is possibly connected to the Slavic name element
milŭ meaning
"gracious, dear". From an early date it was associated with Latin
miles meaning
"soldier".
A notable bearer was the American musician Miles Davis (1926-1991). In Scotland this name was historically used to Anglicize Maoilios.
Michael
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, German, Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, Dutch, Czech, Hebrew, Biblical, Biblical Latin, Biblical Greek
Other Scripts: מִיכָאֵל(Hebrew) Μιχαήλ(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: MIE-kəl(English) MI-kha-ehl(German, Czech) MEE-kal(Danish) MEE-ka-ehl(Swedish) MEE-kah-ehl(Norwegian) mee-KA-ehl(Latin)
From the Hebrew name
מִיכָאֵל (Miḵaʾel) meaning
"who is like God?", derived from the interrogative pronoun
מִי (mi) combined with
ךְּ (ke) meaning "like" and
אֵל (ʾel) meaning "God". This is a rhetorical question, implying no person is like God. Michael is one of the archangels in Hebrew tradition and the only one identified as an archangel in the Bible. In the Book of Daniel in the
Old Testament he is named as a protector of Israel (see
Daniel 12:1). In the Book of Revelation in the
New Testament he is portrayed as the leader of heaven's armies in the war against Satan, and is thus considered the patron
saint of soldiers in Christianity.
The popularity of the saint led to the name being used by nine Byzantine emperors, including Michael VIII Palaeologus who restored the empire in the 13th century. It has been common in Western Europe since the Middle Ages, and in England since the 12th century. It has been borne (in various spellings) by rulers of Russia (spelled Михаил), Romania (Mihai), Poland (Michał), and Portugal (Miguel).
In the United States, this name rapidly gained popularity beginning in the 1930s, eventually becoming the most popular male name from 1954 to 1998. However, it was not as overwhelmingly common in the United Kingdom, where it never reached the top spot.
Famous bearers of this name include the British chemist/physicist Michael Faraday (1791-1867), musician Michael Jackson (1958-2009), and basketball player Michael Jordan (1963-).
Mercia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Latinate form of
Mercy. This was also the name of an old Anglo-Saxon kingdom, though it has a different origin.
Mercedes
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Spanish
Pronounced: mehr-THEH-dhehs(European Spanish) mehr-SEH-dhehs(Latin American Spanish) mər-SAY-deez(American English) mə-SAY-deez(British English)
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].
Marvel
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: MAHR-vəl
From the English word meaning "a miracle, a wonder", derived from Old French merveille, from Latin mirabilis meaning "wonderful".
Mario
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Italian, Spanish, German, Croatian
Pronounced: MA-ryo(Italian, Spanish, German)
Italian and Spanish form of
Marius. Famous bearers include American racecar driver Mario Andretti (1940-) and Canadian hockey player Mario Lemieux (1965-). It is also borne by a Nintendo video game character, a moustached Italian plumber, who debuted as the playable hero of
Donkey Kong in 1981. Spelled
マリオ (Mario) in Japanese Katakana, he was reportedly named after Mario Segale (1934-2018), an American businessman who rented a warehouse to Nintendo.
Maribel
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Spanish
Pronounced: ma-ree-BEHL
Mariana
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Portuguese, Spanish, Romanian, Czech, Bulgarian, Ancient Roman
Other Scripts: Мариана, Марияна(Bulgarian)
Pronounced: mu-RYU-nu(European Portuguese) ma-RYU-nu(Brazilian Portuguese) ma-RYA-na(Spanish)
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.
Margarita
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Spanish, Russian, Bulgarian, Lithuanian, Latvian, Greek, Albanian, Late Roman
Other Scripts: Маргарита(Russian, Bulgarian) Μαργαρίτα(Greek)
Pronounced: mar-gha-REE-ta(Spanish) mər-gu-RYEE-tə(Russian) mahr-gə-REE-tə(American English) mah-gə-REE-tə(British English)
Latinate form of
Margaret. This is also the Spanish word for the daisy flower (species Bellis perennis, Leucanthemum vulgare and others).
Marceline
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French
Pronounced: MAR-SU-LEEN
Maralina
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Portuguese (Brazilian), South American
Variant of Mara with diminutive -lina.
Mandi
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: MAN-dee
Magdalene
Gender: Feminine
Usage: German, English, Biblical, Biblical Latin, Biblical Greek [1]
Other Scripts: Μαγδαληνή(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: mak-da-LEH-nə(German) MAG-də-lin(English)
From a title meaning
"of Magdala".
Mary Magdalene, a character in the
New Testament, was named thus because she was from Magdala — a village on the Sea of Galilee whose name meant "tower" in Hebrew. She was cleaned of evil spirits by
Jesus and then remained with him during his ministry, witnessing the crucifixion and the resurrection. She was a popular
saint in the Middle Ages, and the name became common then. In England it is traditionally rendered
Madeline, while
Magdalene or
Magdalen is the learned form.
Lysandra
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Ancient Greek [1]
Other Scripts: Λυσάνδρα(Ancient Greek)
Feminine form of
Lysandros (see
Lysander).
Lynnette
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: li-NEHT
Lynette
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Arthurian Cycle
Pronounced: li-NEHT(English)
Form of
Lynet used by Alfred Tennyson in his 1872 poem
Gareth and Lynette [1]. According to Tennyson, Gareth and Lynette were eventually married. In modern times it is also regarded as a
diminutive of
Lynn.
Lydia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, German, Dutch, Biblical, Biblical Latin, Biblical Greek [1]
Other Scripts: Λυδία(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: LID-ee-ə(English) LUY-dya(German) LEE-dee-a(Dutch)
Means
"from Lydia" in Greek. Lydia was a region on the west coast of Asia Minor, said to be named for the legendary king
Lydos. In the
New Testament this is the name of a woman converted to Christianity by
Saint Paul. In the modern era the name has been in use since the
Protestant Reformation.
Lucy
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: LOO-see
English form of
Lucia, in use since the Middle Ages.
Lucky
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English, Hindi
Other Scripts: लकी(Hindi)
Pronounced: LUK-ee(English)
From a nickname given to a lucky person. It is also sometimes used as a
diminutive of
Luke. A famous bearer was the Italian-American gangster "Lucky" Luciano (1897-1962).
Lucille
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French, English
Pronounced: LUY-SEEL(French) loo-SEEL(English)
French form of
Lucilla. A famous bearer was American comedienne Lucille Ball (1911-1989).
Love 2
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: LUV
Simply from the English word love, derived from Old English lufu.
Loren
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: LAWR-ən
Either a short form of
Laurence 1 (masculine) or a variant of
Lauren (feminine).
Lizzie
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: LIZ-ee
Lizabella
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (American, Modern, Rare)
Lively
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Meaning, "Full of life, energy." Referring to spiritual manifestations.
Lisabelle
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (American, Modern, Rare)
Lisabella
Gender: Feminine
Usage: American (Modern)
Lily-Rose
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Lexus
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: LEHK-səs
Short form of
Alexus. Its use has been influenced by the Lexus brand name (a line of luxury automobiles made by Toyota).
Lemuel
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Biblical, Mormon, Biblical Hebrew [1]
Other Scripts: לְמוּאֵל(Ancient Hebrew)
Pronounced: LEHM-yoo-əl(English)
Means
"for God" in Hebrew, from the proposition
לְמוֹ (lemo) combined with
אֵל (ʾel) meaning "God". This was the name of a king briefly mentioned in Proverbs in the
Old Testament. In the Book of Mormon it is the name of a rebellious son of
Lehi and
Sariah. It is also borne by the hero of Jonathan Swift's novel
Gulliver's Travels (1726).
Leighton
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: LAY-tən
Variant of
Layton. It jumped in popularity as a feminine name after 2007, when actress Leighton Meester (1986-) began appearing on the television series
Gossip Girl.
Leia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Biblical Greek, Portuguese, Popular Culture
Other Scripts: Λεία(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: LAY-ə(English)
Form of
Leah used in the Greek
Old Testament, as well as a Portuguese form. This is the name of a princess in the
Star Wars movies by George Lucas, who probably based it on
Leah.
Lazarus
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Biblical, Biblical Latin, English (African)
Other Scripts: Λάζαρος(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: LAZ-ə-rəs(English)
Latinized form of
Λάζαρος (Lazaros), a Greek form of
Eleazar used in the
New Testament. Lazarus was a man from Bethany, the brother of
Mary and
Martha, who was restored to life by
Jesus.
At present this name is most commonly used in English-speaking Africa.
Lauren
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: LAWR-ən
Variant or feminine form of
Laurence 1. Originally a masculine name, it was first popularized as a feminine name by actress Betty Jean Perske (1924-2014), who used Lauren Bacall as her
stage name.
Lance
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: LANS
From the Germanic name
Lanzo, originally a short form of names that began with the Old Frankish or Old Saxon element
land, Old High German
lant meaning
"land" (Proto-Germanic *
landą). During the Middle Ages it became associated with Old French
lance meaning "spear, lance". A famous bearer is American cyclist Lance Armstrong (1971-).
Kynsleigh
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern, Rare)
Kymberlyrenée
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Kymberly
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: KIM-bər-lee
Kourtlyn
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern, Rare)
Pronounced: KORT-lin
Koah
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (American, Rare), English (Canadian, Rare)
Meaning and origin uncertain. It might possibly be derived from Hebrew כוח (koah) meaning "strength, power" or from Hebrew כֹּחַ (koach) meaning "ability".
Koa
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Hawaiian
Pronounced: KO-a
Means "warrior, koa tree" in Hawaiian.
Knowledge
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan), Literature, English (African)
From Middle English (originally as a verb in the sense ‘acknowledge, recognize’, later as a noun) from an Old English compound based on
cnāwan meaning "know."
Knowledge Musona is a Zimbabwean football player.
Kimberlynn
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: KIM-bər-lin
Kimberlyn
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: KIM-bər-lin(American English) KIM-bə-lin(British English)
Elaboration of
Kimberly using the popular name suffix
lyn.
Kimberleigh
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: KIM-bər-lee(American English) KIM-bə-lee(British English)
Kimberlee
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: KIM-bər-lee(American English) KIM-bə-lee(British English)
Keely
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: KEE-lee
From an Irish surname, an Anglicized form of Ó Caolaidhe, itself derived from the given name Caoladhe, from Irish caol "slender".
Keeleigh
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: KEE-lee
Kayleah
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: KAY-lee
Kaylah
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (American, Rare)
Pronounced: KAY-lə(American English)
Kaye
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: KAY
Kay 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: KAY
Short form of
Katherine and other names beginning with
K.
Karl
Gender: Masculine
Usage: German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Icelandic, English, Finnish, Estonian, Germanic, Old Norse [1]
Pronounced: KARL(German) KAHL(Swedish, Danish, British English) KAHRL(American English, Finnish)
German and Scandinavian form of
Charles. This was the name of seven rulers of the Franks and the Holy Roman Empire. It was also borne by a beatified emperor of Austria (1887-1922), as well as ten kings of Sweden. Other famous bearers include the German philosophers Karl Marx (1818-1883), one of the developers of communism, and Karl Jaspers (1883-1969), an existentialist and psychiatrist.
Julissa
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Spanish (Latin American)
Pronounced: gyoo-LEE-sa
Jovani
Gender: Masculine
Usage: American (Hispanic), Portuguese (Brazilian), Spanish (Latin American)
Pronounced: gyo-BA-nee(Latin American Spanish)
Joseph
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, French, German, Biblical
Other Scripts: יוֹסֵף(Ancient Hebrew) ജോസഫ്(Malayalam)
Pronounced: JO-sif(American English) JO-zif(British English) ZHO-ZEHF(French) YO-zehf(German)
From
Ioseph, the Latin form of Greek
Ἰωσήφ (Ioseph), which was from the Hebrew name
יוֹסֵף (Yosef) meaning
"he will add", from the root
יָסַף (yasaf) meaning "to add, to increase". In the
Old Testament Joseph is the eleventh son of
Jacob and the first with his wife
Rachel. Because he was the favourite of his father, his older brothers sent him to Egypt and told their father that he had died. In Egypt, Joseph became an advisor to the pharaoh, and was eventually reconciled with his brothers when they came to Egypt during a famine. This name also occurs in the
New Testament, belonging to
Saint Joseph the husband of
Mary, and to Joseph of Arimathea.
In the Middle Ages, Joseph was a common Jewish name, being less frequent among Christians. In the late Middle Ages Saint Joseph became more highly revered, and the name became popular in Spain and Italy. In England it became common after the Protestant Reformation. In the United States it has stayed within the top 25 names for boys since 1880, making it one of the most enduringly popular names of this era.
This name was borne by rulers of the Holy Roman Empire and Portugal. Other notable bearers include Austrian composer Joseph Haydn (1732-1809), the founder of Mormonism Joseph Smith (1805-1844), Polish-British author Joseph Conrad (1857-1924) and Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin (1878-1953).
Joan 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: JON
Medieval English form of
Johanne, an Old French form of
Iohanna (see
Joanna). This was the usual English feminine form of
John in the Middle Ages, but it was surpassed in popularity by
Jane in the 17th century. It again became quite popular in the first half of the 20th century, entering the top ten names for both the United States and the United Kingdom, though it has since faded.
This name (in various spellings) has been common among European royalty, being borne by ruling queens of Naples, Navarre and Castile. Another famous bearer was Joan of Arc, a patron saint of France (where she is known as Jeanne d'Arc). She was a 15th-century peasant girl who, after claiming she heard messages from God, was given leadership of the French army. She defeated the English in the battle of Orléans but was eventually captured and burned at the stake.
Other notable bearers include the actress Joan Crawford (1904-1977) and the comedian Joan Rivers (1933-2014), both Americans.
Jewel
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: JOO-əl, JOOL
In part from the English word
jewel, a precious stone, derived from Old French
jouel, which was possibly related to
jeu "game". It is also in part from the surname
Jewel or
Jewell (a derivative of the Breton name
Judicaël), which was sometimes used in honour of the 16th-century bishop of Salisbury John Jewel. It has been in use as a given name since the 19th century.
Jett
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: JEHT
From the English word jet, which denotes either a jet aircraft or an intense black colour (the words derive from different sources).
Jessalyn
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: JEHS-ə-lin
Combination of
Jessie 1 and the popular name suffix
lyn.
Jeremy
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, Biblical
Pronounced: JEHR-ə-mee(English) JEHR-mee(American English)
English form of
Jeremiah, originally a medieval vernacular form. This is the spelling used in some English versions of the
New Testament.
Jenny
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Swedish, Norwegian, Finnish, German, Dutch, French, Spanish
Pronounced: JEHN-ee(English) YEH-nuy(Swedish) YEH-nee(German, Dutch) JEH-nee(German, Dutch) GYEH-nee(Spanish)
Originally a medieval English
diminutive of
Jane. Since the middle of the 20th century it has been primarily considered a diminutive of
Jennifer.
Jeanette
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French, English, Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, Dutch
Pronounced: ZHA-NEHT(French) jə-NEHT(English) shah-NEHT(Swedish)
Jayna
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: JAY-nə
Jayden
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: JAY-dən
Variant of
Jaden. This spelling continued to rapidly rise in popularity in the United States past 2003, unlike
Jaden, which stalled. It peaked at the fourth rank for boys in 2010, showing tremendous growth over only two decades. It has since declined.
Jaycob
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: JAY-kəb
Javier
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Spanish
Pronounced: kha-BYEHR
Japheth
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Biblical
Other Scripts: יֶפֶת(Ancient Hebrew)
Pronounced: JAY-fith(English)
From the Hebrew name
יֶפֶת (Yefeṯ) meaning
"enlarged". In the
Old Testament he is one of the three sons of
Noah, along with
Shem and
Ham. He was the ancestor of the peoples of Europe and northern Asia.
Janessa
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: jə-NEHS-ə
Jana 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Czech, Slovak, Dutch, German, Slovene, Catalan, Estonian, Latvian
Pronounced: YA-na(Czech, Slovak, Dutch, German) ZHA-nə(Catalan)
Jakob
Gender: Masculine
Usage: German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Icelandic, Dutch, Slovene
Pronounced: YA-kawp(German, Icelandic, Dutch) YAH-kawp(Swedish, Norwegian) YAH-kob(Danish)
Form of
Jacob (or
James) used in several languages.
Jake
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: JAYK
Medieval variant of
Jack. It is also sometimes used as a short form of
Jacob.
Jacoba
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Dutch
Pronounced: ya-KO-ba
Jacob
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Jewish, Biblical
Other Scripts: יַעֲקֹב(Hebrew)
Pronounced: JAY-kəb(English) YA-kawp(Dutch) YAH-kawp(Swedish, Norwegian) YAH-kob(Danish)
From the Latin
Iacob, which was from the Greek
Ἰακώβ (Iakob), which was from the Hebrew name
יַעֲקֹב (Yaʿaqov). In the
Old Testament Jacob (later called
Israel) is the son of
Isaac and
Rebecca and the father of the twelve founders of the twelve tribes of Israel. He was born holding his twin brother
Esau's heel, and his name is explained as meaning
"holder of the heel" or
"supplanter", because he twice deprived his brother of his rights as the firstborn son (see
Genesis 27:36). Other theories claim that it is in fact derived from a hypothetical name like
יַעֲקֹבְאֵל (Yaʿaqovʾel) meaning
"may God protect".
The English names Jacob and James derive from the same source, with James coming from Latin Iacomus, a later variant of the Latin New Testament form Iacobus. Unlike English, many languages do not have separate spellings for the two names.
In England, Jacob was mainly regarded as a Jewish name during the Middle Ages [1], though the variant James was used among Christians. Jacob came into general use as a Christian name after the Protestant Reformation. In America, although already moderately common, it steadily grew in popularity from the early 1970s to the end of the 1990s, becoming the top ranked name from 1999 to 2012.
A famous bearer was Jacob Grimm (1785-1863), the German linguist and writer who was, with his brother Wilhelm, the author of Grimm's Fairy Tales.
Issachar
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Biblical, Biblical Latin, Biblical Greek [1]
Other Scripts: יִשָּׂשׁכָר(Ancient Hebrew) Ἰσσαχάρ(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: IS-ə-kahr(American English) IS-ə-kah(British English)
Possibly means
"man of hire" or
"there is reward", from Hebrew
שָׁכַר (shaḵar) meaning "hire, wage, reward"
[2]. In the
Old Testament this is the name of one of the twelve sons of
Jacob (by
Leah) and the founder of one of the twelve tribes of Israel. A justification for the name's meaning is given in
Genesis 30:18.
Isra
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Arabic
Other Scripts: إسراء(Arabic)
Pronounced: ees-RA
Means
"nocturnal journey" in Arabic, derived from
سرى (sarā) meaning "to travel by night". According to Islamic tradition, the
Isra was a miraculous journey undertaken by the Prophet
Muhammad.
Isaias
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Biblical
Late Latin form of
Isaiah used in some versions of the Bible.
Isabel
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Spanish, Portuguese, English, French, German, Dutch
Pronounced: ee-sa-BEHL(Spanish) ee-zu-BEHL(European Portuguese) ee-za-BEW(Brazilian Portuguese) IZ-ə-behl(English) EE-ZA-BEHL(French) ee-za-BEHL(German, Dutch)
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.
Ike
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: IEK
Diminutive of
Isaac. This was the nickname of the American president Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890-1969), based on the initial sound of his surname.
Ia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Georgian
Other Scripts: ია(Georgian)
Pronounced: EE-AH
Derived from the Georgian noun ია
(ia) meaning "violet", as in the spring flower (also see
Violet). In turn, it is thought to be derived from the Georgian noun იასამანი
(iasamani) meaning "lilac", which might possibly be of Persian origin. However, ია
(ia) could also be derived from ancient Greek ἴα
(ia), which is the plural form of ἴον
(ion) meaning "violet".
Known bearers of this name include the Georgian actresses Ia Parulava (b. 1967) and Iamze "Ia" Sukhitashvili (b. 1980).
Huckleberry
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Literature
Pronounced: HUK-əl-behr-ee(English)
From the name of the variety of shrubs (genus Vaccinium) or the berries that grow on them. It was used by author Mark Twain for the character of Huckleberry (Huck) Finn in his novels The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876) and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884).
Honey
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: HUN-ee
Simply from the English word honey, ultimately from Old English hunig. This was originally a nickname for a sweet person.
Hermosa
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Spanish
Hermosa is a spanish name meaning 'beautiful'
Helen
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Estonian, Greek Mythology (Anglicized)
Other Scripts: Ἑλένη(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: HEHL-ən(English)
English form of the Greek
Ἑλένη (Helene), probably from Greek
ἑλένη (helene) meaning
"torch" or
"corposant", or possibly related to
σελήνη (selene) meaning
"moon". In Greek
mythology Helen was the daughter of
Zeus and
Leda, whose kidnapping by
Paris was the cause of the Trojan War. The name was also borne by the 4th-century
Saint Helena, mother of the Roman emperor
Constantine, who supposedly found the True Cross during a trip to Jerusalem.
The name was originally used among early Christians in honour of the saint, as opposed to the classical character. In England it was commonly spelled Ellen during the Middle Ages, and the spelling Helen was not regularly used until after the Renaissance. A famous bearer was Helen Keller (1880-1968), an American author and lecturer who was both blind and deaf.
Hawaii
Gender: Feminine
Usage: American (Modern, Rare)
From the name of the US state, of uncertain origin.
Theories from Proto-Polynesian hawaiki which possibly means place of the gods" or from Proto-Polynesian sawaiki "homeland", or possibly named for Hawaiʻiloa, legendary discoverer of the Hawaiian islands.
Harley
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: HAHR-lee(American English) HAH-lee(British English)
From an English surname that was derived from a place name, itself from Old English
hara "hare" or
hær "rock, heap of stones" and
leah "woodland, clearing". An American name for boys since the 19th century, it began to be used for girls after a character with the name began appearing on the soap opera
Guiding Light in 1987.
Happy
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: HAP-ee
From the English word happy, derived from Middle English hap "chance, luck", of Old Norse origin.
Happiness
Gender: Feminine
Usage: American (Modern, Rare), English (African)
From the English word happiness.
Giulianna
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Romansh
Giuliana
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian
Pronounced: joo-LYA-na
Giovanni
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Italian
Pronounced: jo-VAN-nee
Italian form of
Iohannes (see
John). This name has been very common in Italy since the late Middle Ages, as with other equivalents of
John in Europe. The Renaissance writer Giovanni Boccaccio (1313-1375), the painter Giovanni Bellini (1430-1516) and the painter and sculptor Giovanni Lorenzo Bernini (1598-1680) were famous bearers of the name.
Giancarlo
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Italian
Pronounced: jang-KAR-lo
Georgiana
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Romanian
Pronounced: jawr-JAY-nə(American English) jawr-jee-AN-ə(American English) jaw-JAY-nə(British English) jaw-jee-AN-ə(British English)
Feminine form of
George. This form of the name has been in use in the English-speaking world since the 18th century.
Gemma
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, Catalan, English (British), Dutch
Pronounced: JEHM-ma(Italian) ZHEHM-mə(Catalan) JEHM-ə(British English) GHEH-ma(Dutch)
Medieval Italian nickname meaning "gem, precious stone". It was borne by the wife of the 13th-century Italian poet Dante Alighieri.
Gavin
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, Scottish
Pronounced: GAV-in(English)
Medieval form of
Gawain. Though it died out in England, it was reintroduced from Scotland in the 20th century.
Galilee
Gender: Feminine
Usage: American (Modern, Rare)
Pronounced: GAL-i-lee
From the name of the region in Palestine (see
Galilee).
Gabriellen
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: gab-ree-EL-en
Friday
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (African)
Pronounced: FRIE-day
From the English word for the day of the week, which was derived from Old English
frigedæg meaning "
Frig's day". Daniel Defoe used it for a character in his novel
Robinson Crusoe (1719). As a given name, it is most often found in parts of Africa, such as Nigeria and Zambia.
Freedom
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan), English (African)
Pronounced: FREE-dəm(English)
From Old English frēodōm, used in reference to the Biblical verse 2 Corinthians 3:17, "Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom." The name found a resurgence in usage during the American centennial of 1876 and bicentennial of 1976. At present this name is most commonly used in English-speaking Africa.
Forest
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: FAWR-ist(American English, British English)
Variant of
Forrest, or else directly from the English word
forest.
Florencia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Spanish
Pronounced: flo-REHN-thya(European Spanish) flo-REHN-sya(Latin American Spanish)
Spanish feminine form of
Florentius (see
Florence).
Fisher
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: FISH-ər(American English) FISH-ə(British English)
From an English surname meaning "fisherman".
Fiona
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Scottish, English
Pronounced: fee-O-nə(English)
Feminine form of
Fionn. This name was (first?) used by the Scottish poet James Macpherson in his poem
Fingal (1761), in which it is spelled as
Fióna.
Field
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Modern, Rare)
Transferred use of the surname
Field.
Fancy
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: FAN-see
From the English word
fancy, which means either
"like, love, inclination" or
"ornamental". It is derived from Middle English
fantasie, which comes (via Norman French and Latin) from Greek
φαίνω (phaino) meaning "to show, to appear".
Ezra
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, Hebrew, Biblical
Other Scripts: עֶזְרָא(Hebrew)
Pronounced: EHZ-rə(English)
Means
"help" in Hebrew. Ezra is a prophet of the
Old Testament and the author of the Book of Ezra. It has been used as a given name in the English-speaking world since the
Protestant Reformation. The American poet Ezra Pound (1885-1972) was a famous bearer.
Eve
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Estonian, Biblical
Other Scripts: חַוָּה(Ancient Hebrew)
Pronounced: EEV(English)
From the Hebrew name
חַוָּה (Ḥawwa), which was derived from the Hebrew word
חָוָה (ḥawa) meaning
"to breathe" or the related word
חָיָה (ḥaya) meaning
"to live". According to the
Old Testament Book of Genesis, Eve and
Adam were the first humans. God created her from one of Adam's ribs to be his companion. At the urging of a serpent she ate the forbidden fruit and shared some with Adam, causing their expulsion from the Garden of
Eden.
Despite this potentially negative association, the name was occasionally used by Christians during the Middle Ages. In the English-speaking world both Eve and the Latin form Eva were revived in the 19th century, with the latter being more common.
Evangelina
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Spanish, English
Pronounced: eh-ban-kheh-LEE-na(Spanish) i-van-jə-LEE-nə(English)
Evangelia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek
Other Scripts: Ευαγγελία(Greek)
Eureka
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (American, Rare)
Pronounced: yuw-REE-kə(American English)
From the Ancient Greek word εὕρηκα (
heúrēka), meaning "I have found (it)". In modern English,
eureka is an interjection used to celebrate a discovery or invention, and it is originally atributed to Ancient Greek mathematician
Archimedes.
Enoch
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Biblical, Biblical Latin, Biblical Greek
Other Scripts: חֲנוֹך(Ancient Hebrew) Ἐνώχ, Ἑνώχ(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: EE-nək(English)
From the Hebrew name
חֲנוֹך (Ḥanoḵ) meaning
"dedicated". In Genesis in the
Old Testament this is the name of the son of
Cain. It is also the name of a son of
Jared and the father of
Methuselah, who was the supposed author of the apocryphal Books of Enoch.
Emmy
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, French, Swedish, Dutch, German
Pronounced: EHM-ee(English) EH-mee(Dutch)
Emmie
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: EHM-ee
Emmanuel
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Biblical, French, English
Other Scripts: עִמָּנוּאֵל(Ancient Hebrew)
Pronounced: EH-MA-NWEHL(French) i-MAN-yoo-ehl(English)
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).
Emmalynn
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Emmalyn
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: EHM-ə-lin
Variant of
Emmeline, or else a combination of
Emma and the fashionable name suffix
lyn.
Emmabelle
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Emiliano
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Spanish, Italian, Portuguese
Pronounced: eh-mee-LYA-no(Spanish, Italian)
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.
Emiliana
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, Spanish, Portuguese
Pronounced: eh-mee-LYA-na(Italian, Spanish)
Emilia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, Spanish, Romanian, Finnish, Polish, German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, English, Greek, Bulgarian
Other Scripts: Αιμιλία(Greek) Емилия(Bulgarian)
Pronounced: eh-MEE-lya(Italian, Spanish, Polish) EH-mee-lee-ah(Finnish) eh-MEE-lee-ah(Swedish) i-MEE-lee-ə(English) eh-mee-LEE-a(Greek)
Feminine form of
Aemilius (see
Emily). In Shakespeare's tragedy
Othello (1603) this is the name of the wife of
Iago.
Emica
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Croatian, Serbian, Slovene
Croatian, Serbian and Slovenian diminutive form of
Ema 1 and
Emilija, used in its own right.
Emberlynn
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: EHM-bər-lin
Emberlyn
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: EHM-bər-lin
Emberly
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: EHM-bər-lee(American English) EHM-bə-lee(British English)
Emberley
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern, Rare)
Ema 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Spanish, Portuguese, Slovene, Croatian, Bosnian, Macedonian, Czech, Slovak, Lithuanian
Other Scripts: Ема(Macedonian)
Pronounced: EH-ma(Spanish, Czech, Slovak)
Form of
Emma used in various languages.
Elton
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, Portuguese (Brazilian), Albanian, Swedish (Modern)
Pronounced: EHL-tən(English)
From an English surname that was originally from a place name meaning
"Ella's town". A famous bearer of this name is British musician Elton John (1947-), born Reginald Dwight, who adopted his
stage name in honour of his former bandmate Elton Dean (1945-2006).
Elizabeth
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Biblical
Pronounced: i-LIZ-ə-bəth(English)
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).
Eduardo
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Spanish, Portuguese
Pronounced: eh-DHWAR-dho(Spanish)
Spanish and Portuguese form of
Edward.
Echo
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Ἠχώ(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: EH-ko(English)
From the Greek word
ἠχώ (echo) meaning
"echo, reflected sound", related to
ἠχή (eche) meaning "sound". In Greek
mythology Echo was a nymph given a speech impediment by
Hera, so that she could only repeat what others said. She fell in love with
Narcissus, but her love was not returned, and she pined away until nothing remained of her except her voice.
Eagle
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: EE-gul, EE-gəl
From the English word
eagle, ultimately from Latin
aquila. Also from the surname
Eagle, originally a nickname for a lordly or sharp-eyed man.
Dylanne
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Dylana
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Dutch
Pronounced: DI-lən-ə(English) di-LAN-ə(English)
Dylan
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Welsh, English, Welsh Mythology
Pronounced: DUL-an(Welsh) DIL-ən(English)
From the Welsh prefix
dy meaning "to, toward" and
llanw meaning "tide, flow". According to the Fourth Branch of the
Mabinogi [1], Dylan was a son of
Arianrhod and the twin brother of
Lleu Llaw Gyffes. Immediately after he was baptized he took to the sea, where he could swim as well as a fish. He was slain accidentally by his uncle
Gofannon. According to some theories the character might be rooted in an earlier and otherwise unattested Celtic god of the sea.
Famous bearers include the Welsh poet Dylan Thomas (1914-1953) and the American musician Bob Dylan (1941-), real name Robert Zimmerman, who took his stage surname from the poet's given name. Due to those two bearers, use of the name has spread outside of Wales in the last half of the 20th century. It received a further boost in popularity in the 1990s due to a character on the television series Beverly Hills 90210.
Drew
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: DROO
Dorian
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, French, Romanian, Polish
Pronounced: DAWR-ee-ən(English) DAW-RYAHN(French)
The name was first used by Oscar Wilde in his novel The Picture of Dorian Gray (1891), which tells the story of a man whose portrait ages while he stays young. Wilde may have taken it from the name of the ancient Greek tribe the Dorians.
Doll
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Medieval English (Rare)
Doctor
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (British, Archaic)
Middle English (in the senses ‘learned person’ and ‘Doctor of the Church’) via Old French from Latin doctor ‘teacher’ (from docere ‘teach’).
Destyni
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Destinee
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: DEHS-ti-nee
Desta
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: Amharic
Other Scripts: ደስታ(Amharic)
Means "joy" in Amharic.
Désirée
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French, Dutch, German
Pronounced: DEH-ZEE-REH(French)
French form of
Desiderata. In part it is directly from the French word meaning "desired, wished".
Deshauna
Gender: Feminine
Usage: African American (Modern, Rare)
Pronounced: də-SHAWN-ə
Deshaun
Gender: Masculine
Usage: African American
Pronounced: də-SHAWN(English)
Denver
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: DEHN-vər(American English) DEHN-və(British English)
From an English surname that was from a place name meaning "Dane ford" in Old English. This is the name of the capital city of Colorado, which was named for the politician James W. Denver (1817-1892).
Delta
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: DEHL-tə
From the name of the fourth letter in the Greek alphabet,
Δ. It is also the name for an island formed at the mouth of a river.
Dawn
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: DAWN
From the English word dawn, ultimately derived from Old English dagung.
Darling
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English, Spanish (Latin American), Filipino
Transferred use of the surname
Darling, or else derived directly from the word.
Danika
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Daniella
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Hungarian
Pronounced: dan-YEHL-ə(English) DAW-nee-ehl-law(Hungarian)
Daniela
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, German, Polish, Czech, Slovak, Romanian, Portuguese, Spanish, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Hebrew, English
Other Scripts: Даниела(Bulgarian, Macedonian) דניאלה(Hebrew)
Pronounced: da-NYEH-la(Italian, Spanish) da-nee-EH-la(German, Romanian) da-NYEH-la(Polish) DA-ni-yeh-la(Czech) DA-nee-eh-la(Slovak) dan-YEHL-ə(English)
Danica
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Serbian, Croatian, Slovene, Slovak, Macedonian, English
Other Scripts: Даница(Serbian, Macedonian)
Pronounced: DA-nee-tsa(Serbian, Croatian) DA-nyee-tsa(Slovak) DAN-i-kə(English)
From a Slavic word meaning "morning star, Venus". This name occurs in Slavic folklore as a personification of the morning star. It has sometimes been used in the English-speaking world since the 1970s.
Damaris
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Biblical, Biblical Latin, Biblical Greek [1]
Other Scripts: Δάμαρις(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: DAM-ə-ris(English)
Probably means
"calf, heifer, girl" from Greek
δάμαλις (damalis). In the
New Testament this is the name of a woman converted to Christianity by
Saint Paul.
Dallas
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: DAL-əs
From a surname that could either be of Old English origin meaning "valley house" or of Scottish Gaelic origin meaning "meadow dwelling". A city in Texas bears this name, probably in honour of American Vice President George M. Dallas (1792-1864).
Dakota
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: də-KO-tə
From the name of the Native American people of the northern Mississippi Valley, or from the two American states that were named for them: North and South Dakota (until 1889 unified as the Dakota Territory). The tribal name means
"allies, friends" in the Dakota language.
It was rare as an American given name before 1975. In the mid-1980s it began growing in popularity for boys after a character by this name began appearing on the soap opera Ryan's Hope. It is now more common as a feminine name, probably due to the fame of the actress Dakota Fanning (1994-).
Daisy
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: DAY-zee
Simply from the English word for the white flower, ultimately derived from Old English
dægeseage meaning "day eye". It was first used as a given name in the 19th century, at the same time many other plant and flower names were coined.
This name was fairly popular at the end of the 19th century and beginning of the 20th. The American author F. Scott Fitzgerald used it for the character of Daisy Buchanan in The Great Gatsby (1925). The Walt Disney cartoon character Daisy Duck was created in 1940 as the girlfriend of Donald Duck. It was at a low in popularity in the United States in the 1970s when it got a small boost from a character on the television series The Dukes of Hazzard in 1979.
Crew
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Modern)
Either from a surname that was derived from the English town of Crewe (from Old Welsh criu meaning "weir"), or from the English vocabulary word for a group of people.
Courtney
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: KAWRT-nee(American English) KAWT-nee(British English)
From an aristocratic English surname that was derived either from the French place name
Courtenay (originally a derivative of the personal name
Curtenus, itself derived from Latin
curtus "short") or else from a Norman nickname meaning "short nose".
Originally more common as a name for boys in America, it became more popular for girls in the 1960s. It began rapidly increasing after 1973, possibly due to a character (played by Natalie Wood) in the television movie The Affair. It reached an apex in the United States ranked 17th in 1990, though it has quickly fallen away since then.
Corey
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: KAWR-ee
From an English surname that was derived from the Old Norse given name
Kóri, of unknown meaning. This name became popular in the 1960s due to the character Corey Baker on the television series
Julia [1].
Continent
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan)
From the English adjective meaning "exercising self-restraint".
Colton
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: KOL-tən
From an English surname that was originally derived from a place name meaning
"Cola's town". It started being used as a given name in the 1980s. Likely in some cases it was viewed as an elaborated or full form of
Cole or
Colt.
Clay
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: KLAY
From an English surname that originally referred to a person who lived near or worked with clay. This name can also be a short form of
Clayton.
Claudia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, German, Dutch, Swedish, Italian, Spanish, Romanian, Biblical, Biblical Latin, Ancient Roman
Pronounced: KLAW-dee-ə(English) KLOW-dya(German, Italian, Romanian) KLOW-dee-a(Dutch, Latin) KLOW-dhya(Spanish)
Feminine form of
Claudius. It is mentioned briefly in the
New Testament. As a Christian name it was very rare until the 16th century.
Claudette
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French
Pronounced: KLO-DEHT
Clarity
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: KLAR-i-tee, KLEHR-i-tee
Simply means "clarity, lucidity" from the English word, ultimately from Latin clarus "clear".
Citlali
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Nahuatl
Cicely
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: SIS-ə-lee
Christopher
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: KRIS-tə-fər(American English) KRIS-tə-fə(British English)
From the Late Greek name
Χριστόφορος (Christophoros) meaning
"bearing Christ", derived from
Χριστός (Christos) combined with
φέρω (phero) meaning "to bear, to carry". Early Christians used it as a metaphorical name, expressing that they carried Christ in their hearts. In the Middle Ages, literal interpretations of the name's etymology led to legends about a
Saint Christopher who carried the young
Jesus across a river. He has come to be regarded as the patron saint of travellers.
As an English given name, Christopher has been in general use since the 15th century. It became very popular in the second half of the 20th century, reaching the top of the charts for England and Wales in the 1980s, and nearing it in the United States.
In Denmark this name was borne by three kings (their names are usually spelled Christoffer), including the 15th-century Christopher of Bavaria who also ruled Norway and Sweden. Other famous bearers include Italian explorer Christopher Columbus (1451-1506), English playwright Christopher Marlowe (1564-1593), English architect Christopher Wren (1632-1723) and the fictional character Christopher Robin from A. A. Milne's Winnie-the-Pooh books.
Christie
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: KRIS-tee
Christi
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: KRIS-tee
Chevy
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English
A literary place name. There is a famous old poem called "The Ballad of Chevy Chase". A chase is a parcel of hunting land, and Chevy refers to the
Cheviot Hills on the Scottish border.
Comedian Chevy Chase took his name from this poem, which is mentioned in Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights.
Chevrolet
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Literature
Transferred use of the surname
Chevrolet. This is the name of Ramona Quimby's doll in the 'Ramona Quimby' book series.
Chelseigh
Gender: Feminine
Usage: American
Pronounced: CHEL-see
Chelsea
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: CHEHL-see
From the name of a district in London, originally derived from Old English and meaning "landing place for chalk or limestone". It has been in general use as an English given name since the 1970s.
Chaunté
Gender: Feminine
Usage: African American
Pronounced: SHAWN-tee
Charlotte
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French, English, German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Dutch
Pronounced: SHAR-LAWT(French) SHAHR-lət(American English) SHAH-lət(British English) shar-LAW-tə(German) sha-LOT(Swedish) shahr-LAW-tə(Dutch)
French feminine
diminutive of
Charles. It was introduced to Britain in the 17th century. It was the name of a German-born 18th-century queen consort of Great Britain and Ireland. Another notable bearer was Charlotte Brontë (1816-1855), the eldest of the three Brontë sisters and the author of
Jane Eyre and
Villette. A famous fictional bearer is the spider in the children's novel
Charlotte's Web (1952) by E. B. White.
This name was fairly common in France, England and the United States in the early 20th century. It became quite popular in France and England at the end of the 20th century, just when it was at a low point in the United States. It quickly climbed the American charts and entered the top ten in 2014.
Chanté
Gender: Feminine
Usage: African American (Modern)
Pronounced: shahn-TAY(English)
From French chanter meaning "sing". This spelling corresponds with the past participle, meaning "sung".
Celia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Spanish
Pronounced: SEEL-yə(English) SEE-lee-ə(English) THEHL-ya(European Spanish) SEHL-ya(Latin American Spanish)
Feminine form of the Roman family name
Caelius. Shakespeare used it in his play
As You Like It (1599), which introduced the name to the English-speaking public at large. It is sometimes used as a short form of
Cecilia.
Catalina
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Spanish, Corsican
Pronounced: ka-ta-LEE-na(Spanish)
Cataleya
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Various (Rare)
Variant of cattleya, a genus of orchids native to Central and South America, which were named for the British horticulturist William Cattley. This name was popularized by the main character from the movie Colombiana (2011).
Casper
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish
Pronounced: KAHS-pər(Dutch) KAHS-pehr(Swedish) KAS-bu(Danish)
Dutch and Scandinavian form of
Jasper. This is the name of a friendly ghost in an American series of cartoons and comic books (beginning 1945).
Carver
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: KAHR-vər(American English) KAH-və(British English)
From an English surname that meant "wood carver".
Carmen
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Spanish, English, Italian, Portuguese, French, Romanian, German
Pronounced: KAR-mehn(Spanish, Italian) KAHR-mən(American English) KAH-mən(British English)
Medieval Spanish form of
Carmel, appearing in the devotional title of the Virgin
Mary Nuestra Señora del Carmen meaning "Our Lady of Mount Carmel". The spelling has been altered through association with the Latin word
carmen meaning
"song". This was the name of the main character in George Bizet's opera
Carmen (1875).
Carmella
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: kahr-MEHL-ə(American English) kah-MEHL-ə(British English)
Carmela
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, Spanish, Galician
Pronounced: kar-MEH-la(Italian, Spanish) kahr-MEH-lu(Galician)
Italian, Spanish and Galician form of
Carmel.
Carlton
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: KAHRL-tən(American English) KAHL-tən(British English)
Carl
Gender: Masculine
Usage: German, Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, English
Pronounced: KARL(German) KAHL(Swedish, Danish, British English) KAHRL(American English)
German and Scandinavian variant of
Karl (see
Charles). Noteworthy bearers of the name include the Swedish biologist Carl Linnaeus (1707-1778), who founded modern taxonomy, the German mathematician Carl Gauss (1777-1855), who made contributions to number theory and algebra as well as physics and astronomy, and the Swiss psychologist Carl Jung (1875-1961), who founded analytical psychology. It was imported to America in the 19th century by German immigrants.
Caramella
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian (Rare)
Feminine name derived from the word "caramel". Possibly also from the Italian surname
Caramella.
Candice
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: KAN-dis
Candace
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Biblical, Biblical Latin
Other Scripts: Κανδάκη(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: KAN-dis(English) KAN-də-see(English)
From the hereditary title of the queens of Ethiopia, as mentioned in Acts in the
New Testament. It is apparently derived from Cushitic
kdke meaning
"queen mother". In some versions of the Bible it is spelled
Kandake, reflecting the Greek spelling
Κανδάκη. It was used as a given name by the
Puritans after the
Protestant Reformation. It was popularized in the 20th century by a character in the 1942 movie
Meet the Stewarts [1].
Camry
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (Modern, Rare)
Pronounced: KAM-ree
From the name of a car model, made by Toyota, which derives from Japanese
kanmuri meaning "crown" and may be an anagram of the English phrase
my car. It could also be used as a diminutive of
Camryn.
Camreigh
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern, Rare)
Pronounced: KAM-ree
Calvin
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: KAL-vin
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).
Button
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
The name of Button Gwinnett, one of the signatories (first signature on the left) on the United States Declaration of Independence.
Butterfly
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Used to invoke the brilliantly-colored winged insect, which is widely seen as a symbol of metamorphosis, renewal, and rebirth, as well as one of youth and beauty. This is the birth name of a noted Australian folk singer, Butterfly Boucher, among others.
Brytneigh
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (American, Modern, Rare)
Pronounced: BRIT-nee(American English)
Briella
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: bree-EHL-ə
Bridgette
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: BRIJ-it
Bridget
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Irish, English
Pronounced: BRIJ-it(English)
Anglicized form of the Irish name
Brighid, Old Irish
Brigit, from old Celtic *
Brigantī meaning
"the exalted one". In Irish
mythology this was the name of the goddess of fire, poetry and wisdom, the daughter of the god
Dagda. In the 5th century it was borne by
Saint Brigid, the founder of a monastery at Kildare and a patron saint of Ireland. Because of the saint, the name was considered sacred in Ireland, and it did not come into general use there until the 17th century. In the form
Birgitta this name has been common in Scandinavia, made popular by the 14th-century Saint Birgitta of Sweden, patron saint of Europe.
Brett
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: BREHT
From a Middle English surname meaning
"a Breton", referring to an inhabitant of
Brittany. A famous bearer is the American football quarterback Brett Favre (1969-).
Branch
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (American, Rare)
Transferred use of the surname
Branch or from Middle English from Old French
branche, from late Latin
branca ‘paw’.
Bonnie
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: BAHN-ee(American English) BAWN-ee(British English)
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.
Bonita
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: bə-NEE-tə
Means "pretty" in Spanish, ultimately from Latin bonus "good". It has been used as a name in the English-speaking world since the beginning of the 20th century.
Blue
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: BLOO
From the English word for the colour, derived via Norman French from a Frankish word (replacing the native Old English
cognate blaw). Despite the fact that this name was used by the American musicians Beyoncé and Jay-Z in 2012 for their first daughter, it has not come into general use in the United States.
Blaire
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: BLEHR(American English) BLEH(British English)
Blair
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: Scottish, English
Pronounced: BLEHR(American English) BLEH(British English)
From a Scottish surname that was derived from Gaelic
blàr meaning
"plain, field, battlefield". In Scotland this name is typically masculine.
In the United States it became more common for girls in the early 1980s, shortly after the debut of the television sitcom The Facts of Life (1979-1988), which featured a character named Blair Warner. The name left the American top 1000 rankings two decades later, but was resurrected by another television character, this time Blair Waldorf from the series Gossip Girl (2007-2012).
Björn
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Swedish, Icelandic, German
Pronounced: BYUUN(Swedish) PYUURTN(Icelandic) BYUURN(German)
From an Old Norse byname derived from
bjǫrn meaning
"bear".
Bjorn
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Various
Variant of
Björn or
Bjørn used outside of Scandinavia and Germany.
Billiejean
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: BIL-ee JEEN
Combination of
Billie and
Jean 2. This is also popularized by the title of the song by
Michael Jackson named "Billie Jean" released on January 22nd 1983.
Benaiah
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Biblical
Other Scripts: בְּנָיָה(Ancient Hebrew)
Pronounced: bə-NIE-ə(English)
Bellamy
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (Modern)
From an English surname derived from Old French bel ami meaning "beautiful friend".
Belén
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Spanish
Pronounced: beh-LEHN
Spanish form of
Bethlehem, the name of the town in Judah where King
David and
Jesus were born. The town's name is from Hebrew
בֵּית־לֶחֶם (Beṯ-leḥem) meaning "house of bread".
Beauty
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Popular Culture, South African
Pronounced: BYOO-tee(English)
From the English word "
beauty", ultimately derived from Latin
bellus, "beautiful". See also
Belle and
Bella.
Beautiful
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (American, Modern, Rare)
Pronounced: BYOO-ti-fəl(American English)
Simply from the English word beautiful.
Beatrix
Gender: Feminine
Usage: German, Hungarian, Dutch, English, Late Roman
Pronounced: beh-A-triks(German) BEH-a-triks(German, Dutch) BEH-aw-treeks(Hungarian) BEE-ə-triks(English) BEE-triks(English)
Probably from
Viatrix, a feminine form of the Late Latin name
Viator meaning
"voyager, traveller". It was a common name amongst early Christians, and the spelling was altered by association with Latin
beatus "blessed, happy". Viatrix or Beatrix was a 4th-century
saint who was strangled to death during the persecutions of Diocletian.
In England the name became rare after the Middle Ages, but it was revived in the 19th century, more commonly in the spelling Beatrice. Famous bearers include the British author and illustrator Beatrix Potter (1866-1943), the creator of Peter Rabbit, and Beatrix of the Netherlands (1938-), the former queen.
Beatrice
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, English, Swedish, Romanian
Pronounced: beh-a-TREE-cheh(Italian) BEE-ə-tris(English) BEET-ris(English) BEH-ah-trees(Swedish) beh-ah-TREES(Swedish)
Italian form of
Beatrix. Beatrice Portinari (1266-1290) was the woman who was loved by the Italian poet Dante Alighieri. She serves as Dante's guide through paradise in his epic poem the
Divine Comedy (1321). This is also the name of a character in Shakespeare's comedy
Much Ado About Nothing (1599), in which Beatrice and
Benedick are fooled into confessing their love for one another.
Baylin
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (Modern, Rare)
Bathsheba
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Biblical
Other Scripts: בַּת־שֶׁבַע(Ancient Hebrew)
Pronounced: bath-SHEE-bə(English)
Means
"daughter of the oath" in Hebrew, derived from
בַּת (baṯ) meaning "daughter" and
שָׁבַע (shavaʿ) meaning "oath". According to the
Old Testament, this was the name of a woman married to
Uriah the Hittite. She became pregnant by King
David, so he arranged to have her husband killed in battle and then married her. She was the mother of
Solomon.
Baker
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: BAY-kər(American English) BAY-kə(British English)
From an English occupational surname derived from Old English bakere meaning "baker".
Babe
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: BAYB
From a nickname meaning
"baby", also a slang term meaning
"attractive person". As a feminine name, in some cases it is a
diminutive of
Barbara.
Azure
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: AZH-ər(American English) AZH-ə(British English)
From the English word that means "sky blue". It is ultimately (via Old French, Latin and Arabic) from Persian
لاجورد (lājvard) meaning "azure, lapis lazuli".
Azura
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: ə-ZHUWR-ə, AZH-rə
Azul
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: Spanish, Filipino (Rare), History
Pronounced: a-THOOL(European Spanish) a-SOOL(Latin American Spanish)
From Spanish
azul meaning "blue". This name was borne by the ninth and last wife of the Apache leader
Geronimo. A known bearer is Azul Guaita (2001-), a Mexican television actress.
Ayda
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Arabic, Persian, Turkish
Other Scripts: عائدة(Arabic) آیدا(Persian)
Pronounced: ‘A-ee-da(Arabic)
Means "returning, visitor" in Arabic. In Turkey this is also associated with ay meaning "moon".
Avereigh
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: AY-və-ree, AYV-ree
Feminine varation of the unisex name
Avery.
Avayah
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Possibly an elaboration of
Ava 1 influenced by
Nevaeh. This name was used by American vlogger Ronnie Banks for his daughter born 2019.
Audio
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Obscure
From the Latin audiō 'hear, listen'.
Aubrielle
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Combination of
Aubrey and the popular name suffix
elle.
Astrid
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, German, French, English
Pronounced: AS-strid(Swedish) AHS-tri(Norwegian) AS-trit(German) AS-TREED(French) AS-trid(English)
Modern Scandinavian form of
Ástríðr. This name was borne by the Swedish writer Astrid Lindgren (1907-2002), the author of
Pippi Longstocking. It was also borne by a Swedish princess (1905-1935) who became the queen of Belgium as the wife of Leopold III.
Ashelle
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern, Rare)
Artemis
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology, Greek
Other Scripts: Ἄρτεμις(Ancient Greek) Άρτεμις(Greek)
Pronounced: AR-TEH-MEES(Classical Greek) AHR-tə-mis(American English) AH-tə-mis(British English)
Meaning unknown, possibly related either to Greek
ἀρτεμής (artemes) meaning
"safe" or
ἄρταμος (artamos) meaning
"a butcher". Artemis was the Greek goddess of the moon and hunting, the twin of
Apollo and the daughter of
Zeus and
Leto. She was known as
Diana to the Romans.
Arabia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: History
Other Scripts: Ἀραβία
Arabia (fl. 565) was the only recorded daughter of Byzantine Emperor Justin II (r. 565–578) and Empress Sophia. While mentioned in several primary sources, her name is only recorded in the Patria of Constantinople. The name is generally accepted as genuine. It appears to be a unique personal name, and Arabia seems to have been named by her great aunt, Empress Theodora, as a show of gratitude to Arab phylarch Arethas.
Arabellah
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Obscure
Apple
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: AP-əl
From the English word for the fruit, derived from Middle English appel, Old English æppel. The American actress Gwenyth Paltrow and British musician Chris Martin gave this name to their daughter in 2004.
Anthem
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: AN-THEM, An-THEM
From the English word anthem, "a rousing or uplifting song", ultimately from the Greek ἀντίφωνα (antíphōna), a call and response style of singing.
Annemarie
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Dutch, German, Danish
Pronounced: ah-nə-ma-REE(Dutch) A-nə-ma-ree(German)
Annabelle
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, French
Pronounced: AN-ə-behl(English)
Variant of
Annabel. It can also be interpreted as a combination of
Anna and French
belle "beautiful".
Annabella
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, English (Modern)
Pronounced: an-na-BEHL-la(Italian) an-ə-BEHL-ə(English)
Latinate form of
Annabel. It can also be interpreted as a combination of
Anna and Latin/Italian
bella "beautiful".
Anna
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Italian, German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Estonian, Latvian, Greek, Hungarian, Polish, Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian, Czech, Slovak, Bulgarian, Armenian, Icelandic, Faroese, Catalan, Occitan, Breton, Scottish Gaelic, Biblical, Biblical Greek [1], Biblical Latin, Old Church Slavic
Other Scripts: Άννα(Greek) Анна(Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian, Bulgarian, Church Slavic) Աննա(Armenian) Ἄννα(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: AN-ə(English) AN-na(Italian, Polish, Icelandic) A-na(German, Swedish, Danish, Greek, Czech) AH-na(Dutch) AHN-nah(Norwegian, Finnish, Armenian) AWN-naw(Hungarian) AN-nə(Russian, Catalan) ahn-NAH(Armenian)
Form of
Hannah used in the Greek and Latin
Old Testament. Many later Old Testament translations, including the English, use the
Hannah spelling instead of
Anna. The name appears briefly in the
New Testament belonging to a prophetess who recognized
Jesus as the Messiah. It was a popular name in the Byzantine Empire from an early date, and in the Middle Ages it became common among Western Christians due to veneration of
Saint Anna (usually known as Saint Anne in English), the name traditionally assigned to the mother of the Virgin
Mary.
In England, this Latin form has been used alongside the vernacular forms Ann and Anne since the late Middle Ages. Anna is currently the most common of these spellings in all English-speaking countries (since the 1970s), however the biblical form Hannah is presently more popular than all three.
The name was borne by several Russian royals, including an 18th-century empress of Russia. It is also the name of the main character in Leo Tolstoy's novel Anna Karenina (1877), about a married aristocrat who begins an ultimately tragic relationship with Count Vronsky.
Angélique
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French
Pronounced: AHN-ZHEH-LEEK
Angelique
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Dutch
Pronounced: ahn-zhə-LEEK
Angelic
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Australian)
Andriana
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek, Bulgarian
Other Scripts: Ανδριάνα(Greek) Андриана(Bulgarian)
Andreanna
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: AND-rihanna
Andreana
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Bulgarian, Sardinian
Other Scripts: Андреана(Bulgarian)
Andrea 2
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, German, Spanish, Czech, Slovak, Hungarian, Romanian, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Icelandic, Dutch, Croatian, Serbian
Other Scripts: Андреа(Serbian)
Pronounced: AN-dree-ə(English) an-DREH-a(German, Spanish) AN-dreh-a(Czech, Slovak) AWN-dreh-aw(Hungarian)
Feminine form of
Andrew. As an English name, it has been used since the 17th century, though it was not common until the 20th century.
Andi
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: AN-dee
Anderson
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: AN-dər-sən(American English) AN-də-sən(British English)
From a surname meaning
"son of Andrew".
Anders
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Swedish, Norwegian, Danish
Pronounced: AN-desh(Swedish) AHN-nəsh(Norwegian) AHN-us(Danish)
Scandinavian form of
Andreas (see
Andrew). A famous bearer was the Swedish physicist Anders Jonas Ångström (1814-1874).
Amy
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: AY-mee
English form of the Old French name Amée meaning "beloved" (modern French aimée), a vernacular form of the Latin Amata. As an English name, it was in use in the Middle Ages (though not common) and was revived in the 19th century.
Amiracle
Gender: Feminine
Usage: African American (Modern)
Pronounced: ə-MIR-ə-kəl, ə-MEER-ə-kəl
From the English phrase
a miracle, which is a combination of the indefinite article
a with
Miracle. It might also be influenced by
Amira.
Amira 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Arabic, Bosnian, Malay
Other Scripts: أميرة(Arabic)
Pronounced: a-MEE-ra(Arabic)
Amberlynn
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: AM-bər-lin(American English) AM-bə-lin(British English)
Elaboration of
Amber using the popular name suffix
lyn.
Amberlyn
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern, Rare)
Amberley
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern, Rare)
Amber
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Dutch
Pronounced: AM-bər(American English) AM-bə(British English) AHM-bər(Dutch)
From the English word
amber that denotes either the gemstone, which is formed from fossil resin, or the orange-yellow colour. The word ultimately derives from Arabic
عنبر (ʿanbar) meaning "ambergris". It began to be used as a given name in the late 19th century, but it only became popular after the release of Kathleen Winsor's novel
Forever Amber (1944).
Amaryllis
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Literature
Pronounced: am-ə-RIL-is(English)
Derived from Greek
ἀμαρύσσω (amarysso) meaning
"to sparkle". This is the name of a character appearing in
Virgil's pastoral poems
Eclogues [1]. The amaryllis flower is named for her.
Amarilla
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Hungarian (Rare), English (American, Archaic)
Pronounced: AW-maw-reel-law(Hungarian)
English and Hungarian Latinate form of
Amaryllis, in the case of the Hungarian name, derived from Hungarian
amarillisz "amaryllis". This name was also used throughout the United States in the 1800s.
Aloha
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: Hawaiian (Rare), American
Pronounced: a-LO-ha(Hawaiian)
Short form of
Kealoha and other Hawaiian names containing
aloha meaning "love" or otherwise derived directly from the word.
Allie
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: AL-ee
Diminutive of
Alison 1,
Alexandra and other names beginning with the same sound. After a 34-year absence from the American top 1000 chart this name began growing in popularity after the premiere of the sitcom
Kate and Allie in 1984.
Alexus
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: ə-LEHK-sis
Alexia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek, French, Spanish, English (Modern)
Other Scripts: Αλεξία(Greek)
Pronounced: A-LEHK-SEE-A(French) a-LEHK-sya(Spanish) ə-LEHK-see-ə(English)
Alexandra
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, German, Dutch, French, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Icelandic, Greek, Portuguese, Romanian, Czech, Slovak, Hungarian, Catalan, Russian, Ukrainian, Ancient Greek [1], Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Αλεξάνδρα(Greek) Александра(Russian, Ukrainian) Ἀλεξάνδρα(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: al-ig-ZAN-drə(American English) al-ig-ZAHN-drə(British English) a-leh-KSAN-dra(German, Romanian) a-lehk-SAHN-dra(Dutch) A-LEHK-ZAHN-DRA(French) a-leh-KSAN-dhra(Greek) u-li-SHUN-dru(European Portuguese) a-leh-SHUN-dru(Brazilian Portuguese) A-lehk-san-dra(Czech, Slovak) AW-lehk-sawn-draw(Hungarian) A-LEH-KSAN-DRA(Classical Greek)
Feminine form of
Alexander. In Greek
mythology this was a Mycenaean epithet of the goddess
Hera, and an alternate name of
Cassandra. It was borne by several early Christian
saints, and also by the wife of Nicholas II, the last tsar of Russia. She was from Germany and had the birth name
Alix, but was renamed
Александра (Aleksandra) upon joining the Russian Church.
Alayda
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Medieval Occitan, Spanish (Latin American)
Alaska
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
From Aleut alaxsxaq "object to which the action of the sea is directed" or "mainland". It is the name of a US state.
Aimée
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French
Pronounced: EH-MEH
Ahna
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Adrasteia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Ἀδράστεια(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: A-DRAS-TEH-A(Classical Greek)
Feminine form of
Adrastos. In Greek
mythology this name was borne by a nymph who fostered the infant
Zeus. This was also another name of the goddess
Nemesis.
Adore
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Late Middle English via Old French from Latin adorare ‘to worship’, from ad- ‘to’ + orare ‘speak, pray’.
Adelaide
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Italian, Portuguese
Pronounced: A-də-layd(English) a-deh-LIE-deh(Italian) a-di-LIE-di(European Portuguese) a-di-LIED(European Portuguese) a-deh-LIE-jee(Brazilian Portuguese)
Means
"nobleness, nobility", from the French form of the Germanic name
Adalheidis, which was composed of
adal "noble" and the suffix
heit "kind, sort, type". It was borne in the 10th century by
Saint Adelaide, the wife of the Holy Roman emperor Otto the Great.
In Britain the parallel form Alice, derived via Old French, has historically been more common than Adelaide, though this form did gain some currency in the 19th century due to the popularity of the German-born wife of King William IV, for whom the city of Adelaide in Australia was named in 1836.
Adedayo
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: Yoruba
Means "the crown becomes joy" in Yoruba.
Addison
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: AD-i-sən
From an English surname meaning
"son of Adam". Its recent popularity as a feminine name stems from its similarity in sound to
Madison.
Adams
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Transferred use of the surname
Adams.
Adamina
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: ad-ə-MEEN-ə
Ada 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Italian, Spanish, German, Dutch, Norwegian, Polish, Finnish, Germanic [1]
Pronounced: AY-də(English) A-dha(Spanish) A-da(Dutch, Polish) AH-dah(Finnish)
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.
Abrielle
Gender: Feminine
Usage: American
Abraham
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, Hebrew, Spanish, French, Dutch, Biblical, Biblical German, Biblical Swedish, Biblical Norwegian, Biblical Danish, Biblical Latin
Other Scripts: אַבְרָהָם(Hebrew)
Pronounced: AY-brə-ham(English) a-bra-AM(Spanish) A-BRA-AM(French) A-bra-hahm(Dutch) A-bra-ham(German) AH-bra-ham(Swedish)
From the Hebrew name
אַבְרָהָם (ʾAvraham), which may be viewed either as meaning
"father of many" or else as a contraction of
Abram 1 and
הָמוֹן (hamon) meaning "many, multitude". The biblical patriarch Abraham was originally named Abram but God changed his name (see
Genesis 17:5). With his father
Terah, he led his wife
Sarah, his nephew
Lot and their other followers from Ur into Canaan. He is regarded by Jews as being the founder of the Hebrews through his son
Isaac and by Muslims as being the founder of the Arabs through his son
Ishmael.
As an English Christian name, Abraham became common after the Protestant Reformation. A famous bearer was the American president Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865), who pushed to abolish slavery and led the country through the Civil War.
Abigayle
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: AB-i-gayl
Abigaila
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Abiel
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Biblical
Other Scripts: אֲבִיאֵל(Ancient Hebrew)
Pronounced: AY-bee-əl(English)
Means
"God is my father" in Hebrew, from
אָב (ʾav) meaning "father" and
אֵל (ʾel) meaning "God". This was the name of the grandfather of
Saul according to the
Old Testament.
Abella
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (African, Rare), English (American, Rare)
Abdiel
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Biblical, Biblical Greek
Other Scripts: עֲבְדִיאֵל(Ancient Hebrew) Ἀβδιήλ(Ancient Greek)
Means
"servant of God" in Hebrew, from
עֶבֶד (ʿeveḏ) meaning "servant, slave" and
אֵל (ʾel) meaning "God". In the
Old Testament, this is the name of a member of the tribe of Gad. In John Milton's
Paradise Lost (1667), this is the name of a seraph who withstands Satan when he urges the angels to revolt.
Aaron
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, French, German, Finnish, Jewish, Biblical, Biblical Latin, Biblical Greek [1]
Other Scripts: אַהֲרֹן(Hebrew) Ἀαρών(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: EHR-ən(English) AR-ən(English) A-RAWN(French) A-rawn(German) AH-ron(Finnish)
From the Hebrew name
אַהֲרֹן (ʾAharon), which is most likely of unknown Egyptian origin. Other theories claim a Hebrew derivation, and suggest meanings such as
"high mountain" or
"exalted". In the
Old Testament this name is borne by the older brother of
Moses. He acted as a spokesman for his brother when they appealed to the pharaoh to release the Israelites from slavery. Aaron's rod produced miracles and plagues to intimidate the pharaoh. After the departure from Egypt and arrival at Mount Sinai, God installed Aaron as the first high priest of the Israelites and promised that his descendants would become the priesthood.
As an English name, Aaron has been in use since the Protestant Reformation. This name was borne by the American politician Aaron Burr (1756-1836), notable for killing Alexander Hamilton in a duel.
Aajaajaq
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greenlandic
Greenlandic younger form of
Âjâjaĸ.
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