SugarPlumFairy's Personal Name List

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.

Form of Alexander in several languages. This name was borne by the French author Alexandre Dumas (1802-1870), who wrote The Three Musketeers.

From the Old French name Aalis, a short form of Adelais, itself a short form of the Germanic name Adalheidis (see Adelaide). This name became popular in France and England in the 12th century. It was among the most common names in England until the 16th century, when it began to decline. It was revived in the 19th century.

This name was borne by the heroine of Lewis Carroll's novels Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865) and Through the Looking Glass (1871).

Spanish form of Alvarus, the Latinized form of a Visigothic name, possibly derived from the elements alls "all" and wars "aware, cautious" or wards "guard". Álvar Fáñez was an 11th-century military commander and duke of Toledo, who appears as a general of El Cid in the epic poem El Cantar de mio Cid. Verdi also used the name in his opera The Force of Destiny (1862).

Portuguese and French form of Amelia.

Spanish, Italian and Portuguese form of Augustus. This name was borne by the Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet (1915-2006).

Means "dawn" in Latin. Aurora was the Roman goddess of the morning. It has occasionally been used as a given name since the Renaissance.

Portuguese feminine form of Benedict.

Portuguese and Galician form of Blanche.

Portuguese and Spanish form of Bridget.

Latinate feminine form of Carolus. This is the name of two American states: North and South Carolina. They were named for Charles I, king of England.

Portuguese, Catalan, Slovak and Hungarian form of Cecilia.

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

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

Feminine form of Clement.

Portuguese form of Constantia.

Portuguese and Spanish form of Cosmas.

Form of Emma used in various languages.

Feminine form of Emiliano.

French, Spanish, Portuguese and Hungarian form of Felix.

Feminine form of Frederico or Frederick.

Portuguese form of Frederick.

Spanish, Portuguese and Catalan form of Geneviève.

Portuguese and Catalan form of Joachim.

Feminine form of Iulianus (see Julian). This was the name of a 4th-century saint and martyr from Nicomedia, and also of the Blessed Juliana of Norwich, also called Julian, a 14th-century mystic and author. The name was also borne by a 20th-century queen of the Netherlands. In England, this form has been in use since the 18th century, alongside the older form Gillian.

Italian, Spanish and Portuguese form of Leopold.

Portuguese form of Laurentius (see Laurence 1).

Portuguese and German form of Lucia.

Portuguese form of Magdalena.

Originally a medieval Portuguese form of Matilda. This name was borne by the wife of Afonso, the first king of Portugal. In modern times it was the name of the titular character in a popular Argentine comic strip (published from 1964 to 1973) by Quino.

Portuguese, Galician, Catalan and Occitan form of Margaret. Also in these languages, this is the common word for the daisy flower (species Bellis perennis, Leucanthemum vulgare and others).

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.

Finnish and Portuguese form of Matthias.

Spanish and Portuguese form of Maximilianus (see Maximilian).

Portuguese, Galician and Catalan form of Nicholas.

Portuguese, Slovak and Hungarian form of Olivia.

Spanish and Portuguese form of Rocco.

French, Spanish and Portuguese form of Salome.

Feminine form of Theodoros (see Theodore).

Spanish and Portuguese form of Theophilus.

Spanish, Portuguese and Irish form of Thomas.

Portuguese form of Tristan.

Portuguese, Hungarian and Slovak form of Valeria.

Portuguese form of Victoria.

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.

French and Hungarian form of Zoe.