HailCthulhu's Personal Name List
Abeni
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Yoruba
Pronounced: A-BEH-NEEN
Rating: 33% based on 4 votes
Means "we prayed and we received" in Yoruba.
Afërdita
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Albanian
Pronounced: ah-fər-DEET-ah
Rating: 35% based on 4 votes
Means
"daybreak, morning" in Albanian, from
afër "nearby, close" and
ditë "day". It is also used as an Albanian form of
Aphrodite.
Akane
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 茜, etc.(Japanese Kanji) あかね(Japanese Hiragana)
Pronounced: A-KA-NEH
Rating: 18% based on 4 votes
From Japanese
茜 (akane) meaning "deep red, dye from the rubia plant". Other kanji or combinations of kanji can form this name as well.
Akira
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 昭, 明, 亮, 晶, etc.(Japanese Kanji) あきら(Japanese Hiragana)
Pronounced: A-KYEE-RA
Rating: 50% based on 5 votes
From Japanese
昭 (akira) meaning "bright",
明 (akira) meaning "bright" or
亮 (akira) meaning "clear". Other kanji with the same pronunciation can also form this name. A famous bearer was the Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa (1910-1998), given name written
明.
Alcyone
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Ἀλκυόνη(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: al-SIE-ə-nee(English)
Rating: 28% based on 5 votes
Latinized form of Greek
Ἀλκυόνη (Alkyone), derived from the word
ἀλκυών (alkyon) meaning
"kingfisher". In Greek
myth this name belonged to a daughter of Aeolus and the wife of Ceyx. After her husband was killed in a shipwreck she threw herself into the water, but the gods saved her and turned them both into kingfishers. This is also the name of the brightest of the Pleiades, a group of stars in the constellation Taurus, supposedly the daughters of
Atlas and
Pleione.
Altaluna
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Medieval Italian
Rating: 43% based on 4 votes
Derived from Italian
alta, the feminine form of the adjective
alto, meaning "high; deep; big; towering; elevated" and, when used in a poetic context, "grand; sublime; noble" and
luna "moon".
A known bearer of this name was Altaluna della Scala, daughter of Mastino II della Scala, a 14th-cenutry lord of Verona, sister of Viridis and wife of Louis V, Duke of Bavaria.
Whether Altalune, the name Uma Thurman gave her daughter born in 2012, is a medieval variant of this name, is still debated.
Amaia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Basque
Rating: 51% based on 9 votes
Means "the end" in Basque. This is the name of a character in the historical novel Amaya, or the Basques in the 8th century (1879) by Francisco Navarro-Villoslada (Amaya in the Spanish original; Amaia in the Basque translation).
Amaya
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Basque, Spanish, English (Modern)
Pronounced: a-MA-ya(Spanish) ə-MIE-ə(English)
Rating: 58% based on 4 votes
Variant of
Amaia.
In America, this name was popularized in 1999 by a contestant on the reality television series The Real World [1].
Amraphel
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Biblical, Hebrew
Pronounced: AM-rə-fel(Biblical English, Hebrew)
Rating: 10% based on 3 votes
Means "one that speaks of dark things" or "he whose words are dark" in Hebrew, derived from Hebrew amár "to say" and aphél "dark, obscure". In the bible, this was the name of a king of Shinar.
Anara
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Kazakh, Kyrgyz
Other Scripts: Анара(Kazakh, Kyrgyz)
Pronounced: ah-nah-RAH(Kazakh)
Rating: 13% based on 3 votes
From Kazakh and Kyrgyz
анар (anar) meaning
"pomegranate", a word ultimately derived from Persian.
Anargul
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Kazakh
Other Scripts: Анаргүл(Kazakh)
Pronounced: ah-nahr-GUYL
Rating: 13% based on 3 votes
Means "blooming pomegranate tree" in Kazakh.
Anatole
Gender: Masculine
Usage: French
Pronounced: A-NA-TAWL
Rating: 28% based on 4 votes
Angharad
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Welsh, Old Welsh (Modernized) [1], Welsh Mythology
Rating: 30% based on 2 votes
From an Old Welsh name recorded in various forms such as
Acgarat and
Ancarat. It means
"much loved", from the intensive prefix
an- combined with a mutated form of
caru "to love". In the medieval Welsh romance
Peredur son of Efrawg, Angharad Golden-Hand is the lover of the knight
Peredur.
Anselm
Gender: Masculine
Usage: German, English (Rare), Germanic [1]
Pronounced: AN-zelm(German) AN-selm(English)
Rating: 33% based on 3 votes
Derived from the Old German elements
ansi "god" and
helm "helmet, protection". This name was brought to England in the late 11th century by
Saint Anselm, who was born in northern Italy. He was archbishop of Canterbury and a Doctor of the Church.
Araceli
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Spanish
Pronounced: a-ra-THEH-lee(European Spanish) a-ra-SEH-lee(Latin American Spanish)
Rating: 53% based on 6 votes
Means
"altar of the sky" from Latin
ara "altar" and
coeli "sky". This is an epithet of the Virgin
Mary in her role as the patron
saint of Lucena, Spain.
Ariadna
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Spanish, Catalan, Russian, Polish
Other Scripts: Ариадна(Russian)
Pronounced: a-RYADH-na(Spanish) ə-RYADH-nə(Catalan) a-RYAD-na(Polish)
Rating: 40% based on 4 votes
Spanish, Catalan, Russian and Polish form of
Ariadne.
Asherah
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Semitic Mythology
Pronounced: ə-SHEER-ə(English)
Rating: 47% based on 3 votes
Perhaps derived from Semitic roots meaning "she who walks in the sea". This was the name of a Semitic mother goddess. She was worshipped by the Israelites before the advent of monotheism.
Ashira
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Hebrew
Other Scripts: אָשִׁירָה, עֲשִׁירָה(Hebrew)
Pronounced: ah-shee-rah
Rating: 53% based on 3 votes
Means "I will sing", directly from the Hebrew word in the Old Testament.
-------------------------------------
Means "rich" in Hebrew.
Asteria
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Ἀστερία(Ancient Greek)
Rating: 54% based on 5 votes
Astraea
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Ἀστραία(Ancient Greek)
Rating: 30% based on 2 votes
Latinized form of the Greek
Ἀστραία (Astraia), derived from Greek
ἀστήρ (aster) meaning
"star". Astraea was a Greek goddess of justice and innocence. After wickedness took root in the world she left the earth and became the constellation Virgo.
Audra 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Lithuanian
Pronounced: OW-dru
Rating: 40% based on 3 votes
Means "storm" in Lithuanian.
Ayala
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Hebrew
Other Scripts: אַיָּלָה(Hebrew)
Pronounced: ie-ah-LAH
Rating: 25% based on 6 votes
Means "doe, female deer" in Hebrew.
Bertram
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, German, Germanic [1]
Pronounced: BUR-trəm(American English) BU-trəm(British English) BEHR-tram(German)
Rating: 20% based on 3 votes
Means
"bright raven", derived from the Old German element
beraht "bright" combined with
hram "raven". This name has long been conflated with
Bertrand. The
Normans introduced it to England, and Shakespeare used it in his play
All's Well That Ends Well (1603).
Calliope
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Καλλιόπη(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: kə-LIE-ə-pee(English)
Rating: 69% based on 8 votes
Cassim
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Arabic
Rating: 30% based on 2 votes
Catriona
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Irish, Scottish
Pronounced: kə-TREE-nə(English)
Rating: 58% based on 10 votes
Chandini
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Indian, Kannada, Telugu, Tamil
Other Scripts: ಚಾಂದನಿ(Kannada) చాందిని(Telugu) சாந்தினி(Tamil)
Rating: 25% based on 2 votes
Derived from Hindi चाँदनी (cā̃dnī) meaning "moonlight".
Chandresh
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Indian
Rating: 30% based on 2 votes
Circe
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Κίρκη(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: SUR-see(American English) SU-see(British English)
Rating: 46% based on 5 votes
Latinized form of Greek
Κίρκη (Kirke), possibly from
κίρκος (kirkos) meaning
"hawk". In Greek
mythology Circe was a sorceress who changed
Odysseus's crew into hogs, as told in Homer's
Odyssey. Odysseus forced her to change them back, then stayed with her for a year before continuing his voyage.
Corazón
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Spanish (Rare)
Pronounced: ko-ra-SON(Latin American Spanish) ko-ra-THON(European Spanish)
Rating: 40% based on 2 votes
Means "heart" in Spanish. It is taken from the title of the Virgin Mary Inmaculado Corazón de María meaning "Immaculate Heart of Mary".
Corinthia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Ancient Greek (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Κορινθία(Ancient Greek)
Rating: 34% based on 5 votes
Latinized form of Greek
Κορινθία (Korinthia) meaning
"woman from Corinth", an ancient Greek city-state. This is the real name of Corrie in William Faulkner's novel
The Reivers (1962).
Cyprien
Gender: Masculine
Usage: French
Pronounced: SEE-PREE-YEHN
Rating: 35% based on 2 votes
French form of
Cyprianus (see
Cyprian).
Delima
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Indonesian
Pronounced: də-LEE-ma
Rating: 30% based on 2 votes
Means "pomegranate" or "ruby" in Indonesian.
Deliverance
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Pronounced: də-LIV-ər-əns, də-LIV-rəns
Rating: 77% based on 3 votes
From the English word deliverance meaning "action of setting free" in physical or spiritual senses. An especially common name given in regard to the perils of child birth.
Desideria
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian (Rare), Spanish (Rare), Late Roman
Pronounced: deh-zee-DEH-rya(Italian) deh-see-DHEH-rya(Spanish)
Rating: 47% based on 3 votes
Feminine form of
Desiderio. This was the Latin name of a 19th-century queen of Sweden, the wife of Karl XIV. She was born in France with the name
Désirée.
Edurne
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Basque
Pronounced: eh-DHOOR-neh
Rating: 15% based on 2 votes
Means
"snow" in Basque, from
edur, a variant of
elur "snow". It is an equivalent of
Nieves, proposed by the writer Sabino Arana in his 1910 list of Basque
saints names.
Eleazar
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Biblical, Biblical Latin, Biblical Greek [1]
Other Scripts: אֶלְעָזָר(Ancient Hebrew) Ἐλεάζαρ(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: ehl-ee-AY-zər(American English) ehl-ee-AY-zə(British English)
Rating: 35% based on 2 votes
From the Hebrew name
אֶלְעָזָר (ʾElʿazar) meaning
"God has helped", derived from
אֵל (ʾel) meaning "God" and
עָזַר (ʿazar) meaning "to help". In the
Old Testament this is the name of one of the sons of
Aaron. The name also appears in the
New Testament belonging to one of the ancestors of
Jesus in the genealogy in the Gospel of Matthew.
Eliezer
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Biblical, Hebrew, Biblical Latin, Biblical Greek [1]
Other Scripts: אֱלִיעֶזֶר(Hebrew) Ἐλιέζερ(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: ehl-ee-EHZ-ər(American English) ehl-ee-EE-zər(American English) ehl-ee-EHZ-ə(British English) ehl-ee-EE-zə(British English)
Rating: 37% based on 3 votes
From the Hebrew name
אֱלִיעֶזֶר (ʾEliʿezer) meaning
"my God is help", derived from
אֵל (ʾel) meaning "God" and
עֵזֶר (ʿezer) meaning "help". This is the name of several characters in the
Old Testament, including a servant of
Abraham and one of the sons of
Moses (see
Exodus 18:4 for an explanation of the significance of the name). It also appears in the
New Testament belonging to an ancestor of
Jesus in the genealogy in the Gospel of Luke.
Ember
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: EHM-bər(American English) EHM-bə(British English)
Rating: 43% based on 3 votes
From the English word ember, ultimately from Old English æmerge.
Embla
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Norse Mythology, Icelandic, Swedish, Norwegian
Pronounced: EHM-blah(Icelandic, Swedish, Norwegian)
Rating: 63% based on 4 votes
Meaning uncertain, perhaps related to Old Norse
almr "elm". In Norse
mythology Embla and her husband
Ask were the first humans. They were created by three of the gods from two trees.
Emperatriz
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Spanish
Pronounced: ehm-peh-ra-TREETH(European Spanish) ehm-peh-ra-TREES(Latin American Spanish)
Rating: 45% based on 2 votes
Means "empress" in Spanish.
Epifania
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Spanish (Rare), Galician (Rare), Italian (Rare), Corsican, Polish (Rare)
Pronounced: ee-pee-FA-nya(Spanish, Italian) eh-pee-FA-nya(Polish)
Rating: 73% based on 4 votes
Spanish, Galician, Italian, Corsican and Polish feminine form of
Epiphanius. A fictional bearer is Epifania Fitzfassenden, a central character in George Bernard Shaw's play 'The Millionairess' (1936).
Esperanza
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Spanish
Pronounced: ehs-peh-RAN-tha(European Spanish) ehs-peh-RAN-sa(Latin American Spanish)
Rating: 85% based on 4 votes
Spanish form of the Late Latin name Sperantia, which was derived from sperare "to hope".
Etheldred
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Medieval English
Rating: 26% based on 5 votes
Frey
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Norse Mythology
Pronounced: FRAY(English)
Rating: 47% based on 3 votes
Freyda
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Yiddish
Rating: 57% based on 3 votes
Freyde
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Yiddish (Rare)
Other Scripts: פֿריידע(Yiddish)
Rating: 23% based on 3 votes
From Yiddish
פֿרייד (freid) meaning
"joy".
Gael
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Breton, English (Modern), Spanish (Modern)
Pronounced: GAYL(English) ga-EHL(Spanish)
Rating: 55% based on 4 votes
Probably from the ethno-linguistic term Gael, which refers to speakers of Gaelic languages.
Galadriel
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Literature
Pronounced: gə-LAD-ree-əl(English)
Rating: 40% based on 5 votes
Means "maiden crowned with a radiant garland" in the fictional language Sindarin. Galadriel was a Noldorin elf princess renowned for her beauty and wisdom in J. R. R. Tolkien's novels. The elements are galad "radiant" and riel "garlanded maiden". Alatáriel is the Quenya form of her name.
Gwydion
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Welsh, Welsh Mythology
Rating: 34% based on 5 votes
Probably means
"born of trees" from Old Welsh
guid "trees" and the suffix
gen "born of". In the Fourth Branch of the
Mabinogi [1], Gwydion is the nephew of King
Math of Gwynedd, and like him a powerful magician. In an elaborate plot to give his brother a chance to rape his uncle's footbearer, he arranged a war between Gwynedd and the neighbouring kingdom of Dyfed. Gwydion himself killed King
Pryderi of Dyfed at the end of the war. In punishment for the rape, Math transformed Gwydion and his brother into different animals over the course of three years. Gwydion was the uncle of
Lleu Llaw Gyffes, whom he fostered. Math and Gwydion fashioned Lleu a wife,
Blodeuwedd, out of flowers and they later aided him after her betrayal. Gwydion also appears in older Welsh poetry such as the
Book of Taliesin.
Gwyn
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Welsh, Welsh Mythology
Pronounced: GWIN(Welsh)
Rating: 20% based on 3 votes
Means
"white, blessed" in Welsh. In Welsh legend Gwyn was a king of the Otherworld and the leader of the Wild Hunt. He appears in the Welsh tale
Culhwch and Olwen, where he is one of the many who help
Culhwch hunt the monstrous boar Trwyth. The story also tells of his rivalry with
Gwythyr for the beautiful
Creiddylad.
Gwyneira
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Welsh
Pronounced: gwi-NAY-ra
Rating: 30% based on 2 votes
Means
"white snow" from the Welsh element
gwyn meaning "white, blessed" combined with
eira meaning "snow". This is a recently created Welsh name.
Haizea
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Basque
Pronounced: ie-SEH-a
Rating: 40% based on 2 votes
Means "wind" in Basque.
Harbor
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: HAR-BOR
Rating: 47% based on 3 votes
From the English word
harbor, a body of water for anchoring ships, ultimately from the Old English
herebeorg "shelter, refuge". It may also be the transferred use of the surname
Harbor.
Hera
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Ἥρα(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: HEH-RA(Classical Greek) HEHR-ə(English) HIR-ə(English)
Rating: 60% based on 2 votes
Uncertain meaning, possibly from Greek
ἥρως (heros) meaning
"hero, warrior";
ὥρα (hora) meaning
"period of time"; or
αἱρέω (haireo) meaning
"to be chosen". In Greek
mythology Hera was the queen of the gods, the sister and wife of
Zeus. She presided over marriage and childbirth.
Hippolyta
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Ἱππολύτη(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: hi-PAHL-i-tə(American English) hi-PAWL-i-tə(British English)
Rating: 50% based on 2 votes
Latinized form of
Hippolyte 1. In Shakespeare's comedy
A Midsummer Night's Dream (1595) she is the queen of the Amazons, due to marry
Theseus the Duke of Athens.
Hotaru
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 蛍(Japanese Kanji) ほたる(Japanese Hiragana)
Pronounced: HO-TA-ROO
Rating: 35% based on 2 votes
From Japanese
蛍 (hotaru) meaning "firefly".
Idris 2
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Welsh
Rating: 57% based on 3 votes
Means
"ardent lord" from Old Welsh
iudd "lord" combined with
ris "ardent, enthusiastic". This name was borne by Idris the Giant, a 7th-century king of Meirionnydd.
Iluntze
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Basque
Rating: 20% based on 2 votes
Derived from Basque iluntze "nightfall; dusk".
Inanna
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Sumerian Mythology
Other Scripts: 𒀭𒈹(Sumerian Cuneiform)
Pronounced: i-NAH-nə(English)
Rating: 35% based on 6 votes
Possibly derived from Sumerian
nin-an-a(k) meaning
"lady of the heavens", from
𒎏 (nin) meaning "lady" and the genitive form of
𒀭 (an) meaning "heaven, sky". Inanna was the Sumerian goddess of love, fertility and war. She descended into the underworld where the ruler of that place, her sister
Ereshkigal, had her killed. The god
Enki interceded, and Inanna was allowed to leave the underworld as long as her husband
Dumuzi took her place.
Inanna was later conflated with the Semitic (Akkadian, Assyrian and Babylonian) deity Ishtar.
Ione
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology, English
Other Scripts: Ἰόνη(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: ie-O-nee(English)
Rating: 40% based on 2 votes
From Ancient Greek
ἴον (ion) meaning
"violet flower". This was the name of a sea nymph in Greek
mythology. It has been used as a given name in the English-speaking world since the 19th century, though perhaps based on the Greek place name
Ionia, a region on the west coast of Asia Minor.
Iskra
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Bulgarian, Macedonian, Croatian
Other Scripts: Искра(Bulgarian, Macedonian)
Pronounced: EES-kru(Bulgarian) EES-kra(Macedonian, Croatian)
Rating: 40% based on 2 votes
Means "spark" in South Slavic.
January
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: JAN-yoo-ehr-ee
Rating: 90% based on 4 votes
From the name of the month, which was named for the Roman god
Janus. This name briefly charted on the American top 1000 list for girls after it was borne by the protagonist of Jacqueline Susann's novel
Once Is Not Enough (1973).
Jehona
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Albanian
Pronounced: yeh-HAWN-ah
Rating: 35% based on 2 votes
Derived from Albanian jehonë meaning "echo".
Juniper
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: JOON-i-pər(American English) JOON-i-pə(British English)
Rating: 83% based on 7 votes
From the English word for the type of tree, derived ultimately from Latin iuniperus.
Juno
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Roman Mythology
Pronounced: YOO-no(Latin) JOO-no(English)
Rating: 100% based on 4 votes
Meaning unknown, possibly related to an Indo-European root meaning
"young", or possibly of Etruscan origin. In Roman
mythology Juno was the wife of
Jupiter and the queen of the heavens. She was the protectress of marriage and women, and was also the goddess of finance.
Kaja 3
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Estonian
Pronounced: KAH-yah
Rating: 40% based on 2 votes
Means "echo" in Estonian.
Kali 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Hinduism, Bengali, Tamil
Other Scripts: काली(Sanskrit) কালী(Bengali) காளி(Tamil)
Pronounced: KAH-lee(Sanskrit, English) KA-li(Tamil)
Rating: 53% based on 4 votes
Means
"the black one", derived from Sanskrit
काल (kāla) meaning "black". The Hindu goddess Kali is the fierce destructive form of the wife of
Shiva. According to stories in the
Puranas, she springs from the forehead of
Durga in order to defeat various demons. She is typically depicted with black skin and four arms, holding a severed head and brandishing a sword. As a personal name, it is generally masculine in India.
Kore
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Κόρη(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: KO-REH(Classical Greek)
Rating: 40% based on 2 votes
Means "maiden" in Greek. This was another name for the Greek goddess Persephone.
Llyr
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Welsh Mythology
Rating: 60% based on 2 votes
Unaccented variant of
Llŷr.
Lucien
Gender: Masculine
Usage: French
Pronounced: LUY-SYEHN
Rating: 52% based on 5 votes
Lucienne
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French
Pronounced: LUY-SYEHN
Rating: 45% based on 2 votes
Lumi
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Finnish
Pronounced: LOO-mee
Rating: 53% based on 3 votes
Means "snow" in Finnish.
Luminița
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Romanian
Pronounced: loo-mee-NEE-tsa
Rating: 58% based on 4 votes
Means
"little light", derived from Romanian
lumina "light" combined with a
diminutive suffix.
Lusine
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Armenian
Other Scripts: Լուսինե(Armenian)
Pronounced: loo-see-NEH
Rating: 43% based on 3 votes
From Armenian
լուսին (lusin) meaning
"moon".
Maïssa
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Arabic (Maghrebi)
Other Scripts: ميساء(Maghrebi Arabic)
Pronounced: ma-ee-sa(Maghrebi Arabic)
Rating: 30% based on 2 votes
Derived from Arabic mâysan meaning "sparkling star".
Makeda
Gender: Feminine
Usage: History
Rating: 43% based on 6 votes
Possibly means
"greatness" in Ethiopic. This was the name of an Ethiopian queen of the 10th-century BC. She is probably the same person as the Queen of Sheba, who visited Solomon in the
Old Testament.
Miglė
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Lithuanian
Rating: 40% based on 2 votes
Derived from Lithuanian migla meaning "mist".
Mihrimah
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Persian, Persian Mythology, Ottoman Turkish, Turkish, Urdu
Rating: 35% based on 2 votes
Means "sun and moon" in Farsi from the word مهر (
mehr) meaning "sun" and ماه (
mah) meaning "moon".
A famous bearer is the daughter of the Ottoman Empire's Sultan Suleiman I The Magnificent.
Both names Mehr and Mah are also tied with Ancient Persian deities.
Miyako
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 美夜子, etc.(Japanese Kanji) みやこ(Japanese Hiragana)
Pronounced: MEE-YA-KO
Rating: 60% based on 3 votes
From Japanese
美 (mi) meaning "beautiful",
夜 (ya) meaning "night" and
子 (ko) meaning "child". This name can be formed from other combinations of kanji as well.
Na'ima
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Arabic
Other Scripts: نعيمة(Arabic)
Pronounced: na-‘EE-ma
Rating: 87% based on 3 votes
Alternate transcription of Arabic
نعيمة (see
Naima).
Nausicaa
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Ναυσικάα(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: naw-SIK-ee-ə(English)
Rating: 56% based on 7 votes
Latinized form of Greek
Ναυσικάα (Nausikaa) meaning
"burner of ships". In
Homer's epic the
Odyssey this is the name of a daughter of Alcinous who helps
Odysseus on his journey home.
Oisín
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Irish, Irish Mythology
Pronounced: aw-SHEEN(Irish) o-SHEEN(English)
Rating: 54% based on 5 votes
Means
"little deer", derived from Old Irish
oss "deer, stag" combined with a
diminutive suffix. In Irish legend Oisín was a warrior hero and a poet, the son of
Fionn mac Cumhaill and the narrator in many of his tales.
Orpheus
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Ὀρφεύς(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: OR-PEWS(Classical Greek) AWR-fee-əs(American English) AW-fee-əs(British English)
Rating: 50% based on 2 votes
Perhaps related to Greek
ὄρφνη (orphne) meaning
"the darkness of night". In Greek
mythology Orpheus was a poet and musician who went to the underworld to retrieve his dead wife Eurydice. He succeeded in charming Hades with his lyre, and he was allowed to lead his wife out of the underworld on the condition that he not look back at her until they reached the surface. Unfortunately, just before they arrived his love for her overcame his will and he glanced back at her, causing her to be drawn back to Hades.
Oswin
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: AHZ-win(American English) AWZ-win(British English)
Rating: 83% based on 3 votes
From the Old English elements
os "god" and
wine "friend".
Saint Oswin was a 7th-century king of Northumbria. After the
Norman Conquest this name was used less, and it died out after the 14th century. It was briefly revived in the 19th century.
Ourania
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Οὐρανία(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: O-RA-NEE-A(Classical Greek)
Rating: 10% based on 2 votes
Derived from Greek
οὐράνιος (ouranios) meaning
"heavenly". In Greek
mythology she was the goddess of astronomy and astrology, one of the nine Muses.
Persephone
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Περσεφόνη(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: PEHR-SEH-PO-NEH(Classical Greek) pər-SEHF-ə-nee(American English) pə-SEHF-ə-nee(British English)
Rating: 80% based on 7 votes
Meaning unknown, probably of Pre-Greek origin, but perhaps related to Greek
πέρθω (pertho) meaning "to destroy" and
φόνος (phonos) meaning "murder". In Greek
myth she was the daughter of
Demeter and
Zeus. She was abducted to the underworld by
Hades, but was eventually allowed to return to the surface for part of the year. The result of her comings and goings is the changing of the seasons. With her mother she was worshipped in the Eleusinian Mysteries, which were secret rites practiced at the city of Eleusis near Athens.
Petrichor
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Obscure
Rating: 40% based on 2 votes
From the English word
petrichor that denotes the earthy scent produced when rain falls on dry soil, which was coined by Australian mineralogist and biochemist Richard Grenfell Thomas in 1964 from Greek πέτρα
(petra) meaning "rock" or πέτρος
(petros) "stone" and ἰχώρ
(ichor) "the juice, not blood, that flows in the veins of gods in Greek mythology".
It was used as a given name for a girl in the Canadian province Alberta in 2016.
Phoenix
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: FEE-niks
Rating: 73% based on 6 votes
From the name of a beautiful immortal bird that appears in Egyptian and Greek
mythology. After living for several centuries in the Arabian Desert, it would be consumed by fire and rise from its own ashes, with this cycle repeating every 500 years. The name of the bird was derived from Greek
φοῖνιξ (phoinix) meaning "dark red".
Qamariyya
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Arabic
Other Scripts: قَمَرِيَّة(Arabic)
Rating: 60% based on 2 votes
From masculine
قَمَرِيّ (
qamariyy) or feminine
قَمَرِيَّة (
qamariyya), both meaning "lunar, related to the moon" in Arabic. It may therefore be seen as a strictly feminine variant of
Qamar.
Rani 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Telugu, Hindi, Marathi, Bengali, Malayalam, Urdu, Indonesian
Other Scripts: రాణీ(Telugu) रानी(Hindi) राणी(Marathi) রাণী(Bengali) റാണി(Malayalam) رانی(Urdu)
Pronounced: RAH-nee(Hindi)
Rating: 55% based on 2 votes
From Sanskrit
राणी (rāṇī) meaning
"queen".
Ríoghnach
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Irish Mythology
Rating: 44% based on 5 votes
Derived from Old Irish
rígain meaning
"queen". According to some sources, this was the name of a wife of the semi-legendary Irish king
Niall of the Nine Hostages.
Roshanak
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Persian
Other Scripts: روشنک(Persian)
Rating: 10% based on 2 votes
Feminine form of
Roshan, used in Persian to refer to
Roxana the wife of Alexander the Great.
Roshanara
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Persian (Archaic)
Other Scripts: روشنآرا(Persian)
Rating: 25% based on 2 votes
From Persian
روشن (rōshan) meaning "light" and
آرا (ārā) meaning "decorate, adorn". This was the name of the second daughter of the 17th-century Mughal emperor Shah Jahan.
Ruaidhrí
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Irish
Pronounced: RWU-ryee
Rating: 55% based on 6 votes
From Old Irish
Ruaidrí meaning
"red king", from
rúad "red" combined with
rí "king". This was the name of the last high king of Ireland, reigning in the 12th century.
Sandhya
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Hinduism, Hindi, Marathi, Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam
Other Scripts: संध्या(Sanskrit, Hindi, Marathi) సంధ్యా(Telugu) சந்தியா(Tamil) ಸಂಧ್ಯಾ(Kannada) സന്ധ്യ(Malayalam)
Rating: 53% based on 3 votes
Means
"twilight" in Sanskrit. This is the name of a Hindu goddess of twilight, a daughter of
Brahma.
Scheherazade
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Literature
Pronounced: shə-HEHR-ə-zahd(English) shə-hehr-ə-ZAHD(English)
Rating: 85% based on 4 votes
Setareh
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Persian
Other Scripts: ستاره(Persian)
Pronounced: seh-taw-REH
Rating: 40% based on 2 votes
Means "star" in Persian.
Siobhán
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Irish
Pronounced: SHI-wan, SHUW-wan, SHI-van, shə-VAN
Rating: 61% based on 7 votes
Irish form of
Jehanne, a Norman French variant of
Jeanne.
Solstice
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (Modern, Rare)
Pronounced: SAWL-stis
Rating: 58% based on 5 votes
Derived from Latin
solsticium and thus ultimately from
sol "sun" and
stito "to stand still". The English word
solstice refers to two times of the year when the sun's apparent position in the sky reaches its northernmost or southernmost extremes.
Lionel Shriver (born Margaret Shriver), used Solstice for a character in her novel 'Big Brother' (2013).
Stellaluna
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Literature
Pronounced: stel-ə-LOO-nə
Rating: 15% based on 2 votes
From Latin
stella "star" and
luna "moon" (compare
Stella 1,
Luna), used for the title character - a fruit bat - in the popular children's picture book 'Stellaluna' (1993). American television actress Ellen Pompeo gave her daughter the variant
Stella Luna in 2009.
Surya
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Hinduism, Telugu, Kannada, Tamil, Malayalam, Hindi, Marathi, Nepali, Indonesian
Other Scripts: सूर्य(Sanskrit, Hindi, Marathi, Nepali) సూర్య(Telugu) ಸೂರ್ಯ(Kannada) சூர்யா(Tamil) സൂര്യ(Malayalam)
Pronounced: SOOR-yu(Sanskrit) SOOR-ya(Indonesian)
Rating: 35% based on 2 votes
Means
"sun" in Sanskrit. This is the name of the
Vedic Hindu god of the sun who rides a chariot across the sky.
Taliesin
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Welsh, Welsh Mythology
Pronounced: tal-YEH-sin(Welsh) tal-ee-EHS-in(English)
Rating: 37% based on 3 votes
Means
"shining brow", derived from Welsh
tal "brow, head" and
iesin "shining, radiant". This was the name of a semi-legendary 6th-century Welsh poet and bard, supposedly the author of the collection of poems the
Book of Taliesin. He appears briefly in the Welsh legend
Culhwch and Olwen and the Second Branch of the
Mabinogi. He is the central character in the
Tale of Taliesin, a medieval legend recorded in the 16th century, which tells how
Ceridwen's servant Gwion Bach was reborn to her as Taliesin; how he becomes the bard for Elffin; and how Taliesin defends Elffin from the machinations of the king
Maelgwn Gwynedd.
Thalassa
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Θάλασσα(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: TA-LAS-SA(Classical Greek)
Rating: 10% based on 2 votes
Means
"sea" in Greek. In Greek
mythology she was the personification of the sea. A small moon of Neptune is named for her.
Theia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Θεία(Ancient Greek)
Rating: 30% based on 2 votes
Possibly derived from Greek
θεά (thea) meaning
"goddess". In Greek
myth this was the name of a Titan goddess of light, glittering and glory. She was the wife of
Hyperion and the mother of the sun god
Helios, the moon goddess
Selene, and the dawn goddess
Eos.
Thorsten
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Swedish, Danish, German
Pronounced: TAWRS-tən(German)
Rating: 43% based on 4 votes
Titania
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Literature
Pronounced: tie-TAY-nee-ə(American English) ti-TAH-nee-ə(British English)
Rating: 70% based on 7 votes
Perhaps based on Latin
Titanius meaning
"of the Titans". This name was (first?) used by William Shakespeare in his comedy
A Midsummer Night's Dream (1595) where it belongs to the queen of the fairies, the wife of
Oberon. This is also a moon of Uranus, named after the Shakespearean character.
Urania
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Οὐρανία(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: yuw-RAY-nee-ə(English)
Rating: 40% based on 4 votes
Valeria
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, Spanish, Romanian, German, Russian, Ukrainian, Ancient Roman
Other Scripts: Валерия(Russian) Валерія(Ukrainian)
Pronounced: va-LEH-rya(Italian) ba-LEH-rya(Spanish) vu-LYEH-ryi-yə(Russian) wa-LEH-ree-a(Latin) və-LEHR-ee-ə(English) və-LIR-ee-ə(English)
Rating: 58% based on 4 votes
Feminine form of
Valerius. This was the name of a 2nd-century Roman
saint and martyr.
Vasilisa
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Russian
Other Scripts: Василиса(Russian)
Pronounced: və-syi-LYEE-sə
Rating: 50% based on 6 votes
Vendela
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Swedish
Pronounced: VEHN-deh-la
Rating: 80% based on 4 votes
Swedish feminine form of
Wendel.
Vesta
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Roman Mythology
Pronounced: WEHS-ta(Latin) VEHS-tə(English)
Rating: 76% based on 5 votes
Probably a Roman
cognate of
Hestia. Vesta was the Roman goddess of the hearth. A continuous fire, tended by the Vestal Virgins, was burned in the Temple of Vesta in Rome.
Yaara
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Hebrew
Other Scripts: יַעֲרָה(Hebrew)
Rating: 15% based on 2 votes
Means "honeycomb" and "honeysuckle" in Hebrew.
Yllka
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Albanian
Rating: 30% based on 2 votes
Zephyr
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Greek Mythology (Anglicized)
Other Scripts: Ζέφυρος(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: ZEHF-ər(American English) ZEHF-ə(British English)
Rating: 57% based on 3 votes
From the Greek
Ζέφυρος (Zephyros) meaning
"west wind". Zephyros was the Greek god of the west wind.
Zorya
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Slavic Mythology, Soviet, Russian
Other Scripts: Зоря(Church Slavic, Russian)
Rating: 40% based on 3 votes
The name given to the goddess (sometimes two or three) of the dawn or the morning and evening stars. The most common depiction was that of a warrior woman. Also compare the related names
Zarya,
Zvezda and
Danica.
Zorya began to be used as a first name during the Soviet era, because a lot of Communist parents were eager to reject traditional names.
behindthename.com · Copyright © 1996-2024