jocatchi's Personal Name List
Able
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (American, Rare)
Pronounced: AY-bəl(American English)
Either a variant of
Abel, or from the English word
able, "having the power, skill, means, or opportunity to do something", ultimately from Latin
habere "to hold".
Abstinence
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan, Rare)
From the English word abstinence, referring to the act of abstaining from sin. This name was used by the Puritans.
Abundance
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan, Rare)
From the English word, ultimately from Latin abundantia "fullness, plenty". This name was used in the 17th century by Puritans, referring to the abundance of God's blessings.
Accepted
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Pronounced: ak-SEHP-tid
Referring to being accepted into the Kingdom of God.
Adore
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Late Middle English via Old French from Latin adorare ‘to worship’, from ad- ‘to’ + orare ‘speak, pray’.
Aether
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Greek Mythology (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Αἰθήρ(Ancient Greek)
Latinized form of Greek
Αἰθήρ (Aither) meaning
"ether, heaven", derived from
αἴθω (aitho) meaning "to burn, to ignite". In Greek
mythology this was the name of the god of light and the upper sky.
Affinity
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
From the English word Affinity.
Agape
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Ancient Greek [1]
Other Scripts: Ἀγάπη(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: A-GA-PEH
Derived from Greek
ἀγάπη (agape) meaning
"love". This name was borne by at least two early
saints.
Agony
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Pronounced: A-gə-nee
One of the rarer virtue names introduced by the Puritans, referring to Jesus' agony in the garden of
Gethsemane.
Aid
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Bosnian (Rare)
From Arabic عِيد (ʿīd) meaning "festival, holiday, feast".
Alchemy
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (Modern, Rare)
Pronounced: AL-kə-mee
From the English noun
alchemy referring to "the causing of any sort of mysterious sudden transmutation" or "the ancient search for a universal panacea, and of the philosopher's stone, that eventually developed into chemistry", which ultimately comes from Greek χυμεία
(chymeia) "art of alloying metals, alchemy" via Arabic
al-kimiya (the source also of Persian
Kimiya).
Alert
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Low German, Dutch (Rare)
Allure
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern, Rare)
Pronounced: ə-LOOR
From the name of a 1996 Chanel perfume, derived from the English word allure (which also has French roots) meaning "fascination, charm, appeal".
Amabilis
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Late Roman
Late Latin name meaning
"lovable".
Saint Amabilis was a 5th-century priest in Riom, central France.
Ameliora
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
From the word ameliorate, which means "to make something better."
Amity
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: A-mi-tee
From the English word meaning "friendship", ultimately deriving from Latin amicitia.
Amnesty
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
from the word amnesty.
Anathema
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Literature
Pronounced: Ann-ath-emma
Name of the fictional character Ananthema Device from the show Good Omens inspired by Terry Pratchett Neil Gaiman's book. The name is derived from the word meaning "someone who is disliked" or "a curse by a pope or minister of the church", which makes sense as the character is an occultist.
Anger
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
From the English word anger meaning "a strong feeling of annoyance, displeasure, or hostility", given in reference to the wrath of God.
Anguish
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Arthurian Cycle, American (South, Archaic)
The name of a king of Ireland and father to
Iseult in Arthurian legend, namely in the Prose
Tristan and in Thomas Malory's 15th-century compilation
Le Morte d'Arthur. It has been suggested that it is a form of Irish
Aengus.
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.
Approved
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Archaic meaning is, "to prove; show."
Arcana
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Sanskrit
Possibly a variant of
Archana or from the English word "arcana" meaning "specialized knowledge that is mysterious to the uninitiated; mysteries or deep sercrets; elixirs". From the Latin
arcanum 'secret'.
Armistice
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: Popular Culture, American (Rare)
From the English word armistice meaning "truce, ceasefire", ultimately derived from Latin arma "arms" and -stitium "stoppage". This is the name of a character on the HBO series 'Westworld'.
Arson
Gender: Masculine
Usage: American (Modern, Rare)
Probably a spelling variant of
Arsen. It coincides with the English word
arson meaning "the criminal act of deliberately setting fire to property".
Art
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: AHRT
Atheist
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Literature
Late 16th century from French athéisme, from Greek atheos, from a- ‘without’ + theos ‘god’.
August
Gender: Masculine
Usage: German, Polish, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Catalan, English
Pronounced: OW-guwst(German) OW-goost(Polish, Norwegian) OW-guyst(Swedish) AW-gəst(English)
German, Polish, Scandinavian and Catalan form of
Augustus. This was the name of three Polish kings.
As an English name it can also derive from the month of August, which was named for the Roman emperor Augustus.
Bandit
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (American, Rare), Popular Culture (Rare)
From the English word, ultimately from the late Latin
bannire "to proclaim". Used by My Chemical Romance vocalist Gerard Way and Mindless Self Indulgence bassist Lyn-Z for their daughter.
The name of the character in the Australian Cartoon "Bluey".
Bandit is a secondary character and the mate/husband of
Chilli,
Bluey and
Bingo’s father, Uncle Stripe’s older brother and Socks and Muffin‘s uncle.
Bane
Gender: Masculine
Usage: East Frisian (Archaic)
Pronounced: BAH-nə
Short form of names that contain the element bann meaning "ban" or else a short form of names containing the element barn / bern "bear".
This name was in use mainly during the 1500s and 1600s.
Barb
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: BAHRB
Battle
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Literature
Beautiful
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (American, Modern, Rare)
Pronounced: BYOO-ti-fəl(American English)
Simply from the English word beautiful.
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.
Belief
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Meaning, "trust, faith, or confidence in someone or something."
Believe
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: American (Rare), English (Puritan)
Late Old English belȳfan, belēfan, alteration of gelēfan, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch geloven and German glauben, also to lief.
Benevolence
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (African)
Pronounced: bəˈnevələnce(African English)
From the English word, ultimately from Latin bene volent "well wishing".
Bless
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English, Filipino
From the English word bless meaning "to consecrate or confer divine favor upon".
Blessing
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (African)
Pronounced: BLEHS-ing
From the English word blessing, of Old English origin. This name is most common in Nigeria, Zimbabwe and other parts of Africa.
Blight
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Literature
Used by author Suzanne Collins in her novel 'Catching Fire' for District Seven's male Quarter Quell tribute, likely given in reference to the English word for plant disease. It may ultimately come from Old English blæce/blæcðu, a skin condition, or from Old Norse blikna, meaning "to become pale".
Bliss
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: BLIS
Transferred use of the surname
Bliss or simply from the English word "bliss".
Bravery
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: BREY-vuh-ree, BREYV-ree
From the English word "bravery" meaning "being
Brave, a brave act".
Brazen
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: BRAYZ-ən
From the English word meaning "bold, shameless, obvious" or "made of brass, of brass colour".
Breeze
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: BREEZ
From the English word "breeze" referring to "a light, gentle wind". From the Dutch bries 'breeze', from the Eastern Frisian brîse 'breeze', from brisen 'to blow fresh and strong'.
Brighten
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (American)
Variant of
Brighton, or from the English word
brighten meaning "to become or make bright or brighter, to become more cheerful".
Brilliant
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (African, Rare), African American (Modern, Rare)
Possibly from the English word brilliant meaning "(of light or color) very bright and radiant".
Buddy
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: BUD-ee
From the English word meaning "friend". It probably originated as a nursery form of the word brother.
Busy
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Obscure
Pronounced: BIZ-ee
Diminutive of
Elizabeth influenced by the spelling of the English word
busy. A known bearer is American actress Busy Phillips (1975-).
Cadence
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: KAY-dəns
From an English word meaning "rhythm, flow". It has been in use only since the 20th century.
Calamity
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (American, Rare)
Pronounced: kə-LA-mi-tee(American English)
From the English word calamity.
Called
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Meaning, "to summon." Referring to the calling to the work of God.
Capability
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
From the English word, ultimately from Latin capabilis "able to take, able to understand".
Caprice
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: kə-PREES
From the English word meaning "impulse", ultimately (via French) from Italian capriccio.
Caress
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (American, Rare), African American (Rare)
Pronounced: kə-REHS(English)
Directly from the English word
caress meaning "an act or expression of kindness or affection", ultimately from Latin
carus "beloved". A fictional bearer was
Cassandra 'Caress' Morell, a prominent character on the American soap opera
Dynasty, who appeared on the show in 1986. That year 69 girls born in the United States were named Caress.
Cascade
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: kas-KAYD
Derived from the English word for a waterfall, ultimately from Latin cadere "to fall".
Champ
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: American
Pronounced: CHAMP
From the English word champion, meaning "winner".
Champion
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (African)
Pronounced: CHAM-pee-ən(American English)
From the English word champion.
Chance
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: CHANS
Originally a
diminutive of
Chauncey. It is now usually given in reference to the English word
chance meaning "luck, fortune" (ultimately derived from Latin
cadens "falling").
Changed
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan, Rare)
Used in reference to a "change of heart."
Chaos
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology (Latinized), English (Rare)
Pronounced: KAY-os(Greek Mythology) KAY-ahs(English)
From the English word meaning "gaping void," ultimately from the Greek khaos "abyss, that which gapes wide open, is vast and empty." In Hesiod's 'Theogeny,' Chaos is the primeval emptiness of the Universe, who gave birth to Gaea (Mother Earth), Tartarus (embodiment of the underworld), Eros (god of love), Erebus (embodiment of silence), and Nyx (embodiment of night).
Charisma
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: kə-RIZ-mə
From the English word meaning
"personal magnetism", ultimately derived from Greek
χάρις (charis) meaning "grace, kindness".
Charity
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: CHEHR-ə-tee, CHAR-ə-tee
From the English word
charity, ultimately derived from Late Latin
caritas "generous love", from Latin
carus "dear, beloved".
Caritas was in use as a Roman Christian name. The English name
Charity came into use among the
Puritans after the
Protestant Reformation. It is currently most common in parts of English-influenced Africa.
Charm
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: CHAHRM
From the English word charm meaning "the power or quality of giving delight or arousing admiration". This name was used by Australian Olympic swimmer and YouTuber Justin Norris for his daughter born 2019.
Chastity
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: CHAS-ti-tee
From the English word chastity, which is ultimately from Latin castus "pure". It was borne by the child of Sonny Bono and Cher, which probably led to the name's increase in popularity during the 1970s.
Cheer
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: cheer, chir
From the English word cheer, referring to a feeling of happiness, or a shout of joy or encouragement. Ultimately derived via Old French chiere from Late Latin cara "head".
Cheerful
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (Rare)
From the English word cheerful meaning "feeling or showing happiness".
Cherish
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: CHEHR-ish
From the English word meaning "to treasure".
Chipper
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Rare)
Either from
Chip or from the English word
chipper.
Choice
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: CHois
From the English word, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ǵews- "to choose".
Chrysalis
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Rare), Filipino (Rare)
Pronounced: KRIS-ə-lis(English)
From the word referring to the pupa of a butterfly or moth or the cocoon where the pupa is enclosed inside, derived via Latin from Ancient Greek χρυσαλλίς
(khrusallís), from χρυσός
(khrusós) meaning "gold."
A My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic villain bears this name.
Clarity
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: KLAR-i-tee
Simply means "clarity, lucidity" from the English word, ultimately from Latin clarus "clear".
Clemency
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: KLEH-mən-see, KLEH-mənt-see
Medieval variant of
Clemence. It can also simply mean "clemency, mercy" from the English word, ultimately from Latin
clemens "merciful".
Clever
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (African), Spanish (Latin American)
From the English word clever.
Comfort
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (African)
Pronounced: KUM-fərt
From the English word
comfort, ultimately from Latin
confortare "to strengthen greatly", a derivative of
fortis "strong". It was used as a given name after the
Protestant Reformation. It is now most common in parts of English-influenced Africa.
Confidence
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan), South African
Meaning, "the feeling or belief that one can rely on someone or something; firm trust." From late Middle English, from Latin confidentia, from confidere ‘have full trust.' Referring to the confidence one may have in God.
Consider
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Late Middle English from Old French considerer, from Latin considerare "examine", perhaps based on sidus, sider- "star". Possibly referring to Hebrews 10:24, "And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works" or Matthew 6:28, "And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin."
Constant
Gender: Masculine
Usage: French, Dutch (Rare), English (Rare)
Pronounced: KAWN-STAHN(French) KAWN-stahnt(Dutch) KAHN-stənt(English)
From the Late Latin name
Constans. It was also used by the
Puritans as a vocabulary name, from the English word
constant.
Content
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan)
From the English word, meaning "in a state of peaceful happiness", ultimately from Latin contentus meaning "satisfied".
Courage
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: KUR-ij, KOR-ij
Borrowing from Old French corage (French courage), from Vulgar Latin coraticum, from Latin cor (“heart”). Distantly related to cardiac (“of the heart”), which is from Greek, but from the same Proto-Indo-European root.
Crave
Gender: Masculine
Usage: French (Archaic)
Archaic name from the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region.
Creature
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: Medieval English (Rare, Archaic)
From the English word meaning "living being", ultimately deriving from Late Latin creatura. In the parish registers of 16th-century England this was used to refer to infants, both male and female, who survived birth only just long enough to be baptized. (In the case of one Creature Cheseman, she survived infancy and bore the name for the rest of her life.)
Creed
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: kreed
From the English word "creed" meaning "that which is believed, a set of beliefs, particularly religious, or any set of principals adhered to; a manifesto of religious or spiritual beliefs; or the fact of believing, as in belief, faith". From the Old English credo, creda, from the Latin credo 'I believe', from credere 'to believe'.
Damned
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Danger
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English
From the English word "danger" meaning "liability to exposure to harm or risk; an instance or cause of liable harm; or ability to harm; someone's dominion or power to harm". From the Middle English
daunger 'power, dominion, peril', ultimately derived from the Latin
dominus 'lord, master'.
Its usage may be due to the popular saying 'danger is my middle name'.
Darling
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English, Spanish (Latin American), Filipino
Transferred use of the surname
Darling, or else derived directly from the word.
Defiance
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Romani (Archaic)
Pronounced: di-FIE-əns
Derived from the English word denoting a disposition to resist.
Delight
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: də-LIET
Means simply "delight, happiness" from the English word.
Deliverance
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Pronounced: də-LIV-ər-əns, də-LIV-rəns
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.
Democracy
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: di-MAWK-rə-see
From the English word democracy, from French démocratie, via late Latin from Greek dēmokratia, from dēmos ‘the people’ + -kratia ‘power, rule’.
Dependance
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Referring to one's dependance on God.
Desire
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Derived from Latin
desidero "to long for; to wish for; to desire" (via Old French
desir). This name was first used in the 16th century by the Puritans, probably with the intended meaning of "desire the Lord". It is also a diminutive or variant of
Desiderata or
Desiderius, etc.
Destiny
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: DEHS-ti-nee
Means simply "destiny, fate" from the English word, ultimately from Latin destinare "to determine", a derivative of stare "to stand". It has been used as a given name in the English-speaking world only since the last half of the 20th century.
Dice
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: Die-c
From the English word "dice", the plural of die, referring to "a polyhedron, usually a cube, with numbers or symbols on each side and used in games of chance, typically in gambling".
Diligence
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Meaning, "careful and persistent work or effort."
Discipline
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Middle English (in the sense ‘mortification by scourging oneself’) via Old French from Latin disciplina ‘instruction, knowledge’, from discipulus. Referring to Hebrews 12:11.
Discretion
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan), Literature
Used in reference to Proverbs 2:11, "Discretion shall preserve thee, understanding shall keep thee."
Divine
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (Rare), Filipino
Pronounced: di-VIEN(English)
This name is derived from the word of the name meaning "eternal, heavenly, holy, godlike" (from Old French devin, which, in turn, derives from Latin divinus meaning "of a God").
Dodger
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Rare), Literature, Popular Culture
Pronounced: DAH-jər
From the English word dodger meaning "one who dodges; one who avoids, evades, or sidesteps". Traditionally a nickname, it is occasionally used as a given name. Fictional bearers include Jack Dawkins, better known as the Artful Dodger, a character from Charles Dickens' novel Oliver Twist (1838) who befriends Oliver and entreats him to join Fagin's team of young pickpockets, as well as the title character in Terry Pratchett's 2012 novel Dodger (loosely based on Dickens' Dodger) and Mark 'Dodger' Savage, a character from the British soap opera Hollyoaks (introduced 2011). Use of the name in the United States may also be due to the popular Major League Baseball team, the Los Angeles Dodgers (formerly the Brooklyn Dodgers), particularly after World Series wins.
Dream
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: DREEM
From the English word dream referring to imaginary events seen in the mind while sleeping or a hope or wish.
Dreamer
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: DREE-mər
From the English word dreamer meaning "one who dreams; idler, daydreamer".
Dulcet
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Literature
A character in 'The Underland Chronicles' by Suzanne Collins. This is a word in English, meaning "sweet and soothing", usually referring to sound.
Dust
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Simply from the English word, apparently used as an English translation of Hebrew
Aphrah (see
Aphra) from the biblical passage: 'Declare ye it not at Gath, weep ye not at all: in the house of Aphrah roll thyself in the dust' (Micah 1:10). According to the antiquarian William Camden, the given names
Dust and
Ashes were in use in the days of Queen Elizabeth I and King James VI and I. It was likely given in reference to the body returning to the earth, as in the phrase
ashes to ashes, dust to dust.
Earnest
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: UR-nist
Variant of
Ernest influenced by the spelling of the English word
earnest.
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.
Ecstasy
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Obscure
Pronounced: EKS-tə-see(English)
Taken directly from the drug ecstasy.
Elegy
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Rare)
Transferred use of the surname
Elegy or from the word
elegy, early 16th century from French
élégie, or via Latin, from Greek
elegeia, from
elegos ‘mournful poem’.
Enchantra
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (American, Rare)
Pronounced: in-CHANT-rə(American English) ehn-CHANT-rə(American English)
Coined name based on the English word enchant.
Endeavour
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Popular Culture
English word meaning, "to try (to do something," or, "an effort to do or attain something." The name of an inspector featured in a series of detective novels by Colin Dexter as well as two British television shows, Inspector Morse and Endeavour.
Endurance
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (African)
From the English word endurance, which is ultimately of Old French origin. Known bearers of this name include the Nigerian sprinter Endurance Abinuwa (b. 1987), the Nigerian soccer player Endurance Idahor (1984-2010) and the Nigerian cricketer Endurance Ofem (b. 1982).
Endure
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Menaing, "to suffer patiently." Referring to enduring the trials and tribulations of life.
Energy
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Obscure
Pronounced: EHN-ər-jee(English)
From the English word energy, from French énergie, or via late Latin from Greek energeia, from en- ‘in, within’ + ergon ‘work’.
Envy
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (American, Modern, Rare), Literature
Pronounced: EHN-vee(American English)
From the English word envy, itself ultimately from Latin invidia, of the same meaning.
Ephemera
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Any transitory written or printed matter not meant to be retained or preserved. The word derives from the Greek, meaning things lasting no more than a day.
Epic
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: ep-ik
From epic (adj.) 1580s, "pertaining to or constituting a lengthy heroic poem," via French épique or directly from Latin epicus, from Greek epikos, from epos "a word; a tale, story; promise, prophecy, proverb; poetry in heroic verse" (from PIE root *wekw- "to speak"). Extended sense of "grand, heroic" first recorded in English 1731.
Epicure
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Theatre
Form of
Epicurus used by Ben Jonson for a character in his play 'The Alchemist' (first performed 1610), perhaps taken directly from the English word
epicure meaning "one who gives himself up to sensual pleasure" (literally "follower of Epicurus").
Epiphany
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: i-PIF-ə-nee
From the name of the Christian festival (January 6) that commemorates the visit of the Magi to the infant
Jesus. It is also an English word meaning "sudden appearance" or "sudden perception", ultimately deriving from Greek
ἐπιφάνεια (epiphaneia) meaning "manifestation".
Esperance
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (Archaic)
Pronounced: ES-pər-ənts
From an English word (now obsolete) for "hope." The battle cry of Harry Hotspur was "
Esperance en Dieu," or "hope in God," which was the motto for House Percy. The French form,
Espérance, is typically found in religious texts (the word
espoir is far more common).
Essence
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: EHS-əns
From the English word essence, which means either "odour, scent" or else "fundamental quality". Ultimately it derives from Latin esse "to be".
Eternity
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern, Rare)
From the English word eternity meaning "existence without end; infinite time", ultimately from Latin aeternitas. Use of the name has been influenced by the brand of perfume called Eternity, which was introduced by Calvin Klein in 1988.
Ethereal
Gender: Feminine
Usage: American (Rare, Archaic)
From the English word ethereal, meaning "celestial, heavenly".
Euphoria
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (American, Modern, Rare), Obscure
Pronounced: yoo-FAWR-ee-ə(English)
From the English word meaning "feeling of intense happiness, state of joy", originally a medical Latin term meaning "condition of feeling healthy and comfortable (especially when sick)". It comes from Greek εὐφορία
(euphoria) "power of enduring easily", from εὔφορος
(euphoros) "bearing well, able to endure, patient", ultimately from εὖ
(eu) "good, well" and φέρω
(phero) "to bear".
This name debuted in the United States baby name data in 2007, when it was given to 6 girls born in the US. Use of the name has probably been influenced by the brand of perfume called Euphoria, which was introduced by Calvin Klein in 2005, and more recently by the American television show Euphoria which premiered in 2019 (19 girls born in the United States in 2021 were named Euphoria, and 16 in 2022).
Even
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Norwegian
Evidence
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: EV-i-dəns
This name comes from a word which can mean "a fact/observation presented in support of an assertion" or "an appearance from which inferences may be drawn." The word is derived from Old French evidence, which originates from Late Latin evidentia meaning "proof" (for Classical Latin, "distinction, vivid presentation, clearness,") stemming from Latin evidens meaning "obvious, apparent."
Exercise
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Simply from the English word exercise, occasionally used as a given name in early New England. The only biblical text upon which it can be based is I Timothy 4:7, "Exercise thyself rather unto godliness."
Experience
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan, Rare), Literature
Pronounced: ex-PEER-ee-ens(English (Puritan))
From the English word "experience", from the Latin experientia, from experīrī meaning "to try, test". A name occasionally used by Puritans.
Fable
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: FAY-bel
Derived from the word for a succinct story, in prose or verse, that features animals, plants, inanimate objects, or forces of nature which are given human qualities, and that illustrates a moral lesson.
The word "fable" comes from the Latin fabula (a "story"), itself derived from fari ("to speak") with the -ula suffix that signifies "little".
Faith
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: FAYTH
Simply from the English word
faith, ultimately from Latin
fidere "to trust". This was one of the virtue names adopted by the
Puritans in the 17th century.
Famous
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (African), English (Archaic), English (Puritan)
Pronounced: FAY-məs(English, English (Puritan))
Simply from the English word famous, meaning "well-known".
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".
Fate
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English, English (American), English (African)
Pronounced: FAYT(English)
Either a direct derivation of the English word
fate or a diminutive of
Lafayette. The latter is what led the name to being used as a majority masculine name in the 19th and 20th centuries in the United States.
Favour
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (African)
Pronounced: FAY-vər
From the English word favour, ultimately from Latin faveo "to favour". This name is most common in Nigeria and other parts of Africa.
Fear
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Referring to reverance toward God. A notable bearer was Fear Brewster (1606-1634), who was one of the passengers aboard the Mayflower.
Fearing
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Referring to reverencing God.
Felicity
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: fə-LIS-i-tee
From the English word
felicity meaning
"happiness", which ultimately derives from Latin
felicitas "good luck". This was one of the virtue names adopted by the
Puritans around the 17th century. It can sometimes be used as an English form of the Latin name
Felicitas. This name jumped in popularity in the United States after the premiere of the television series
Felicity in 1998. It is more common in the United Kingdom.
Fell
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Literature, Romani
This name was used in the novel "The Sight" for the black wolf.
Felony
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: FEH-lə-nee
Unknown. Possibly from the English word felony.
Fester
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Popular Culture
From the English word fester meaning "rot, rankle". This is the name of the uncle on the Addams Family television series (1964-1966) and subsequent adaptations. The character was created by the cartoonist Charles Addams in the 1930s, though he was not named.
Fidelity
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Pronounced: fi-DEHL-i-tee
From the English word fidelity, ultimately from the Latin word fidelis, a derivative of fidere "to trust". This is one of the virtue names coined by the Puritans in the 17th century.
Fiery
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Rare, ?), Indonesian (Rare)
Pronounced: FIE-ə-ree(English)
From the English word fiery, which is derived from Middle English fyr meaning "fire".
Flurry
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: FLUR-EE
Derived from the English word “flurry”, which is used to describe a light and gentle snowfall.
Flute
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Theatre
Transferred use of the surname
Flute.
Foggy
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Rare), Popular Culture
Pronounced: FAH-gee, FAW-gee
From the English word
foggy.
In the case of the Marvel character Franklin P. "Foggy" Nelson, it is supposedly a reference to his loud snoring being like a foghorn.
Forever
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (Modern, Rare)
From the English word forever.
Forsaken
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Meaning, "abandoned; deserted." Name given to 'bastard' children.
Fortitude
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: Literature
From the English word, meaning "courage in pain or adversity". The name of a member of Mrs Ape's choir in the Evelyn Waugh novel 'Vile Bodies'.
Fortunate
Gender: Feminine
Usage: African (Rare)
From the English word Fortunate, "favoured by or involving good luck; lucky."
Fortune
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: French, English (Rare)
Pronounced: FAWR-TUYN(French) FAWR-chən(English)
Simply from the word fortune, ultimately from Latin fortuna, a derivative of fors "luck".
Frank
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, German, Dutch, Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, French
Pronounced: FRANGK(English, German) FRAHNGK(Dutch) FRAHNK(French)
From an Old German name that referred to a member of the Germanic tribe, the Franks. The Franks settled in the regions now called France, Belgium and the Netherlands in the 3rd and 4th century. They possibly derived their tribal name from a type of spear that they used, from Proto-Germanic *
frankô. From medieval times, the various forms of this name have been commonly conflated with the various forms of
Francis. In modern times it is sometimes used as a short form of
Francis or
Franklin.
The name was brought to England by the Normans. Notable bearers include author L. Frank Baum (1856-1919), architect Frank Lloyd Wright (1867-1959), and singer Frank Sinatra (1915-1998).
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.
Friend
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (American, Rare)
From the English word friend meaning "a person whom one knows and with whom one has a bond of mutual affection".
Furious
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (American, Modern, Rare)
From the English word furious.
Fury
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (American, Rare)
Possibly taken from the English word fury.
Future
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Rare), Western African, Southern African
Pronounced: FYOO-chər(English)
This name is from the English word derived from Old French
futur meaning "future, to come," which is then derived from Latin
futurus meaning "going to be, yet to be, the future (as a noun)." The Latin word is an irregular suppletive future participle of
esse meaning "to be," which comes from the Proto-Indo-European root
*bheue- meaning "to be, exist, grow, come into being."
This name is also used in most countries of Western and Southern Africa where English is one of the official languages.
Gall
Gender: Masculine
Usage: History (Ecclesiastical)
Gay
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: GAY
From the English word gay meaning "gay, happy". By the mid-20th century the word had acquired the additional meaning of "homosexual", and the name has subsequently dropped out of use.
Generous
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (African)
Pronounced: JEHN-ə-rəs(African English)
From the English word generous. It is most common in Uganda.
Genesis
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: JEHN-ə-sis
Means
"birth, origin" in Greek. This is the name of the first book of the
Old Testament in the Bible. It tells of the creation of the world, the expulsion of
Adam and
Eve,
Noah and the great flood, and the three patriarchs.
Gentle
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English
Possibly from the word "Gentle", used in the beginning of the nouns gentleman meaning "well-born man, man of good family or birth" or from gentlewoman meaning "woman of good family or breeding". It could also come from the English word gentle meaning "(of a person) mild in temperament or behavior; kind or tender", "moderate in action, effect, or degree; not harsh or severe".
Gift
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (African)
Pronounced: GIFT
From the English word gift, of Old Norse origin. This name is most common in parts of English-influenced Africa.
Given
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan), African
From the English word
given, meaning "A condition that is assumed to be true without further evaluation.".
From Middle English given, from Old Norse gefa (“to give”), from Proto-Germanic *gebaną (“to give”). Displaced or merged with native Middle English yiven, ȝeven, from Old English ġiefan, from the same Proto-Germanic source (compare the obsolete inherited English doublet yive).
Cognate with Scots gie (“to give”), Danish give (“to give”), Swedish giva, ge (“to give”), Icelandic gefa (“to give”), North Frisian jiw, jiiw, jeewe (“to give”), West Frisian jaan (“to give”), Low German geven (“to give”), Dutch geven (“to give”), German geben (“to give”).
Given Singuluma is a soccer player for the TP Mazembe, National Assembly F.C., Bay United F.C., Zanaco F.C., and Zambia national football team. Given was born on July 19th, 1986 in Lusaka Province.
Glimmer
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Literature
Pronounced: GLIM-ər
From the English word meaning "to shine". This name was used in Suzanne Collins' popular book, 'The Hunger Games'.
Gloom
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: Glewm
A word that means "gloaming, twilight, darkness" from Middle English gloom, glom, from Old English glōm.
Gloriant
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Literature
Probably derived from Old French
gloriant meaning "boasting, glorying", or otherwise related to the Latin noun
gloria meaning "glory".
In literature, Gloriant is the name of the titular character of the Middle Dutch play Gloriant (c. 1350), the author of which remains unknown.
Glory
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: GLAWR-ee
Simply from the English word glory, ultimately from Latin gloria.
Godly
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Referring to being in a state of grace, i.e. "godly."
Golden
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English, Romani (Archaic)
Pronounced: GOL-dən(British English, American English)
Either from the English word
golden (from Old English
gyldan "made of gold") or the surname
Golden, originally given as a nickname to someone with blond hair. According to Dunkling & Gosling (1986): 'A use of the word as feminine first name. Several examples have been noted from late 19th-century records, and one occurrence in 1915. Modern form of the name, very rarely used, appears to be
Goldie 1.
Golda also found in the 1960s and 70s, presumably with reference to the former Israeli Premier, Mrs Golda Meir.'
Gore
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: GAWR
From an English surname meaning "triangular" (from Old English gara), originally referring to someone who lived on a triangular piece of land. A famous bearer was American writer Gore Vidal (1925-2012).
Gossamer
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Theatre
Pronounced: GAHS-ə-mər
From the English word, which means "spider threads spun in fields of stubble in late fall" (apparently derived from Old English gos "goose" and sumer "summer"). A fictional bearer is Gossamer Beynon in Dylan Thomas' 1954 play 'Under Milk Wood' (Butcher Beynon's schoolteacher daughter).
Grace
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: GRAYS
From the English word
grace, which ultimately derives from Latin
gratia. This was one of the virtue names created in the 17th century by the
Puritans. The actress Grace Kelly (1929-1982) was a famous bearer.
This name was very popular in the English-speaking world at the end of the 19th century. Though it declined in use over the next 100 years, it staged a successful comeback at the end of the 20th century. The American sitcom Will and Grace (1998-2006) may have helped, though the name was already strongly rising when it premiered. It was the top name for girls in England and Wales in 2006.
Gravity
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (American, Modern, Rare)
Pronounced: GRAV-i-tee(American English)
From the English word gravity, ultimately deriving from Latin gravitatem (nominative gravitas) "weight, heaviness, pressure". This name was used by American models Lucky Blue Smith and Stormi Bree Henley for their daughter born 2017.
Halcyon
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Various (Rare)
Pronounced: HAL-see-ən(English)
From the name of a genus of kingfisher birds, derived from Greek
ἀλκυών (from the same source as
Alcyone).
Happiness
Gender: Feminine
Usage: American (Modern, Rare), English (African)
From the English word happiness.
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.
Harbinger
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Rare, Archaic)
Pronounced: HAR-bin-jər
From the English word meaning "messenger", "herald" or "omen".
Harbor
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: HAR-BOR
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.
Hardy 1
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: HAHR-dee
From a surname that was derived from Middle English hardi "bold, hardy".
Harm
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Dutch
Pronounced: HAHRM
Harmony
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: HAHR-mə-nee
From the English word
harmony, ultimately deriving from Greek
ἁρμονία (harmonia).
Hate-evil
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Referring to Psalm 97:10, "Ye that love the LORD, hate evil: he preserveth the souls of his saints; he delivereth them out of the hand of the wicked."
Havoc
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Modern, Rare)
From the English word havoc.
Haze
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: HAYZ
Variant of
Hayes, sometimes used as a short form of
Hazel.
Hearsay
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Meaning, "information received from other people that one cannot adequately substantiate; rumor." Referring to the sin of gossip.
Heavenly
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: HEHV-ən-lee
From the English word meaning "of the heavens, celestial, divine".
Hell
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Estonian
Help
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Literature
From the English word help, which is both a noun meaning "succour, assistance" and a verb meaning "to support, to do good to"; in Middle English help also meant "assistant, helper". This is the name of a man in the First Part of The Pilgrim's Progress (1678) by John Bunyan.
Herald
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Estonian
Hero 2
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Ancient Greek (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Ἥρων(Ancient Greek)
Homily
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Literature
Pronounced: HAHM-ə-lee
The name of a character from the children's novel 'The Borrowers' (1952) by Mary Norton. A homily is a Catholic sermon, but the name was probably a borrower corruption of
Emily (their names were all mispronounced forms of traditional names).
Honest
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan), African
From the English word meaning "honorable, virtuous". This was one of the virtue names adopted by the Puritans around the 17th century.
Honesty
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Pronounced: AH-nes-tee
From the English word "honesty" referring to "fairness and truthfulness". Also the name of a plant with purple flowers, Lunaria annua, also known as 'money plant'. Ultimately from Latin honōrāre 'honor, repute'.
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.
Honour
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: AHN-ər
From the English word
honour, which is of Latin origin. This was one of the virtue names adopted by the
Puritans in the 17th century. It can also be viewed as a form of
Honoria or
Honorata, which are ultimately derived from the same source.
Hope
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: HOP
From the English word
hope, ultimately from Old English
hopian. This name was first used by the
Puritans in the 17th century.
Hopeful
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan), Literature
Meaning, "feeling or inspiring optimism about a future event." Referring to the hope in Christ for eternal life.
Humble
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Rare), English (Puritan)
Pronounced: HUM-bəl(English)
From an English surname
Humble or from the word
humble, from Middle English
(h)umble,
humel meaning "humble, meek".
In puritan use, it may refer to James 4:10, "humble yourselves before the Lord and He will lift you up."
Humiliation
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan, Rare)
From the English word
humiliation, ultimately from the Latin verb
humiliare meaning "to humble". This was a rare Puritan virtue name, given in reference to the humility one must have before God. Also compare
Humility.
Humility
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan), History (Ecclesiastical, Anglicized)
Pronounced: hyoo-MIL-i-tee(English)
English form of
Humilitas, or directly from the English word
humility, which is ultimately from Latin
humilitas "lowness" (in Church Latin "humbleness; meekness").
Hymn
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Pronounced: HIM
From the English word hymn meaning a song of praise or worship, ultimately derived from Ancient Greek ὕμνος (hymnos) "song, hymn, ode (in praise of heroes or gods)".
Hypocrisy
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Literature
Middle English from Old French ypocrisie, via ecclesiastical Latin, from Greek hupokrisis ‘acting of a theatrical part’, from hupokrinesthai ‘play a part, pretend’, from hupo ‘under’ + krinein ‘decide, judge.’
Imagination
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan), Medieval English
Referring to the puritan fear of the imagination and its ability to have free reign beyond scripture.
Immaculate
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (African), Filipino (Rare), Indian (Christian, Rare)
Pronounced: i-MAK-yəl-it(African English)
English form of
Inmaculada. It is mainly used in African countries where English is one of the official languages.
Independence
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Means "freedom from control or influence," partly on the pattern of French indépendance. Used much more commonly during the times of the pilgrims (Puritans) who settled in New England in America. The name was used to commemorate independence from British rule and laws then, and perhaps after the American Revolution in 1776 as well.
Infinity
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (American, Modern, Rare)
Pronounced: in-fin-it-ee(American English)
Directly taken from the English word, ultimately from Latin infinitas "endlessness; boundlessness".
Innocent
Gender: Masculine
Usage: History (Ecclesiastical), English (African)
Pronounced: IN-ə-sənt(English, African English)
From the Late Latin name
Innocentius, which was derived from
innocens "innocent". This was the name of several early
saints. It was also borne by 13 popes including Innocent III, a politically powerful ruler and organizer of the Fourth Crusade.
As an English-language name in the modern era, it is most common in Africa.
Integrity
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (American, Modern, Rare)
Pronounced: in-TEHG-rə-tee(American English) in-TEHG-ri-tee(American English)
From the English word integrity, which is derived via Middle French from Latin integritās meaning "soundness, integrity".
Invicta
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (American, Rare)
From the Latin word meaning “unconquered”.
Jeopardy
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
From the English word jeopardy "risk, gamble, danger".
Jolly
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (American, Rare)
Transferred use of the surname.
Journey
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: JUR-nee
From the English word, derived via Old French from Latin diurnus "of the day".
Joy
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: JOI
Simply from the English word joy, ultimately derived from Norman French joie, Latin gaudium. It has been regularly used as a given name since the late 19th century.
Judge
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: JUJ
This name is derived from the word of the same name. The word originates from Old French jugier meaning "to judge, pronounce judgment," which, in turn, comes from Latin iudicare meaning "to judge, to examine officially, form an opinion upon" (derived from iudicem meaning "a judge," which is a combination of ius meaning "right, law" and the root of dicere meaning "to say").
Just
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Catalan (Rare), Dutch (Rare), Polish (Archaic), Sorbian, Lengadocian, Provençal, Gascon
Catalan, Dutch, Polish, Sorbian and Occitan form of
Justus. This name coincides with Catalan
just meaning "just, fair, honorable, upright; correct, true".
Justice
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: JUS-tis
From an occupational surname meaning "judge, officer of justice" in Old French. This name can also be given in direct reference to the English word justice.
Jynx
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: JINGKS
Latinized form of
Iynx, or directly from the English word meaning “wryneck” (a bird used in witchcraft and divination).
Karma
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: Bhutanese
Other Scripts: ཀརྨ(Tibetan)
From the Sanskrit word
कर्म (karma) meaning
"action, deed, fate".
Kill-sin
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Referring to Leviticus 14:13, "And he shall slay the lamb in the place where he shall kill the sin offering and the burnt offering, in the holy place: for as the sin offering is the priest's, so is the trespass offering: it is most holy:"
Kin
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 金, 琴, 錦, 近, 均(Japanese Kanji) きん(Japanese Hiragana) キン(Japanese Katakana)
Pronounced: KYEEN
This name can be used as 金 (
kin, kon, gon, kana-, kane) meaning "gold," 欣 (
kin, gon, kon, yoroko.bu) meaning "delight, pleasure," 琴 (
kin, koto), referring to the qin, a 7-stringed Chinese zither, 錦 (
kin, nishiki) meaning "brocade," 近 (
kin, kon, chika.i) meaning "near, close" or 均 (
kin, nara.su) meaning "average, level."
It was a popular name for girls in the second half of the Edo Period (1603-1868) - female names were typically written phonetically - and its popularity lasted until the first half of the 20th century, when 2-morae names, like Kin, were fallen out in favour of names ending in -ko. Since around the Meiji Period (1868-1912), it began to be used on males as well, though not by much. Nowadays, it's very rarely given to both genders.
Kindred
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English
From the English word "kindred" meaning "family".
Kısmet
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Turkish
Pronounced: kus-MEHT
Means "fate" in Turkish, ultimately from Arabic.
Knowful
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan)
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.
Lament
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Meaning, "a passionate expression of grief or sorrow." Referring to being sorry for sin. Name given to 'bastard' children.
Law
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Medieval English
Lechery
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Meaning, "excessive or offensive sexual desire; lustfulness." A puritanical name used as a warning.
Legacy
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: LEHG-ə-see
From the English word, meaning "something inherited from a predecessor, heritage". It is derived from Old French legacie, itself from Latin legatum "bequest, legacy".
Legend
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: LEHJ-ənd
From the English word, referring to a story about the past (or by extension, a heroic character in such a story), ultimately from Latin legere "to read".
Legion
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (American, Rare)
Via Old French from Latin legio(n- ), from legere ‘choose, levy’. The adjective dates from the late 17th century.
Lenity
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
From the English word lenity, ultimately derived from Latin lenitas meaning "softness, gentleness, mildness", from lenis "soft, mild". In English it is also used to mean "mercifulness". This name was first recorded in the 18th century.
Liberty
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: LIB-ər-tee
Simply from the English word
liberty, derived from Latin
libertas, a derivative of
liber "free". Interestingly, since 1880 this name has charted on the American popularity lists in three different periods: in 1918 (at the end of World War I), in 1976 (the American bicentennial), and after 2001 (during the War on Terrorism)
[1].
Lies
Gender: Feminine
Usage: German, Dutch
Pronounced: LEES
Life
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan, Rare)
Directly taken from the English word
life.
From Middle English lif, lyf, from Old English līf (“life, existence; life-time”), from Proto-Germanic *lībą (“life, body”), from *lībaną (“to remain, stay, be left”), from Proto-Indo-European *leyp-, *lip- (“to stick, glue”).
Lightness
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (African)
Pronounced: LIET-nəs(African English)
From the English word lightness meaning "the amount of lights". This name is mainly found in Tanzania.
Living
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (African)
Either from the English word
living or a short form of
Livingstone.
Love 2
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: LUV
Simply from the English word love, derived from Old English lufu.
Lovely
Gender: Feminine
Usage: African American, English
Pronounced: luv-lee(African American)
From the English word "lovely" meaning "beautiful; charming; very pleasing in form, looks, tone, or manner; very nice, wonderful". From the Middle English
lovely,
lufli, from Old English
luflīc 'amiable, loving, lovable', equivalent to
love + -
ly.
A noted bearer is Lovely A. Warren (b.1977), the current (as of 2014) mayor of Rochester, New York; the first woman to be mayor of Rochester.
Loyal
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English, English (Puritan)
Pronounced: LOI-əl(English)
From the English word meaning "firm in allegiance, faithful, to a person, cause, or institution", ultimately from Latin lēgalis meaning "legal, law".
Loyalty
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: LOI-əl-tee
From the English word, which was originally borrowed from Old French loiauté, a derivative of loial "loyal", itself derived from Latin legalis "legal".
Luck
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Kashubian
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).
Lucra
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Coptic
Known from letters a letter in the Greek Language. The name could be Greek in origin, or possibly a hellenized form of an Egyptian name or word. The submittee claims she saw this name in the book "Egypt in Late Antiquity" by Roger S. Bagnall, on page 196.
(Also a Latin word meaning "profits; advantages; riches." (nominative plural of lucrum). From which is derived the English word "lucrative.")
Lyric
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: LIR-ik
Means simply
"lyric, songlike" from the English word, ultimately derived from Greek
λυρικός (lyrikos).
Magnify
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Meaning, "to extol; glorify." Referring to the magnification of the name of God.
Magpie
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: MAG-pie
Diminutive of
Maggie and
Margaret, from the English word for the common European bird, known for its chattering, before c.1600 known simply as
pie. The first element is from
Mag, short for Margaret, long used in proverbial and slang English for qualities associated generally with women, especially in this case "idle chattering" (see
Magge tales "tall tales, nonsense," early 15c.; also French
margot "magpie," from
Margot, pet form of
Marguerite). Second element,
pie, is the earlier name of the bird, from Old French
pie, from Latin
pica "magpie," feminine of
picus "woodpecker," possibly from Proto-Indo-European base
*pi-, denoting pointedness, of the beak, perhaps, but the magpie also has a long, pointed tail. The birds are proverbial for pilfering and hoarding, can be taught to speak, and have been regarded since the Middle Ages as a bird of ill omen.
Majesty
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (American, Modern)
Pronounced: MAJ-ə-stee(American English) MAJ-i-stee(American English)
From the English word, ultimately deriving from Latin maiestas meaning "greatness".
Major
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: MAY-jər
From an English surname that was originally derived from the given name Mauger, a Norman French form of the Germanic name Malger meaning "council spear". The name can also be given in reference to the English word major.
Maleficent
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Popular Culture
Pronounced: mə-LEHF-i-sənt(English)
From an English word meaning "harmful, evil", derived from Latin maleficens. This is the name of the villain in the animated Disney film Sleeping Beauty (1959).
Malucia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: MA-LOO-SHA
A possible play on words for the English word ‘malicious’. This name was used in the movie “Barbie and the Secret Door” as the name of the antagonist of the plot, Princess Malucia, a spoiled young girl who is the first of her bloodline to be born without any magic.
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".
Maudlin
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Medieval English, English (Rare)
Pronounced: MAWD-lin(Middle English, English) Maw-da-linn(Middle English, English)
Medieval English vernacular form of
Magdalene via the French
Madeleine.
The English word maudlin in its meaning "sentimental; emotional; weeping" is actually derived from this name as Mary Magdalene was often portrayed as weeping.
Maverick
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: MAV-ə-rik
Derived from the English word maverick meaning "independent". The word itself is derived from the surname of a 19th-century Texas rancher who did not brand his calves.
Medley
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: American (Modern, Rare)
Pronounced: MEHD-lee
Transferred use of the surname
Medley.
The currently used English word medley refers to "a mixture, especially of heterogeneous elements; a hodgepodge; a jumble".
Meek
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Meaning, "quiet, gentle, and easily imposed on; submissive." Referring to Matthew 5:5.
Melody
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: MEHL-ə-dee
From the English word
melody, which is derived (via Old French and Late Latin) from Greek
μέλος (melos) meaning "song" combined with
ἀείδω (aeido) meaning "to sing".
Memory
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (American, Rare), English (African), Southern African
From the English word memory, ultimately from the Latin memor "mindful, remembering".
Merciful
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan), Literature
Meaning, "showing or exercising mercy."
Mercury
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Roman Mythology (Anglicized)
Pronounced: MURK-yə-ree(English)
From the Latin
Mercurius, probably derived from Latin
mercari "to trade" or
merces "wages". This was the name of the Roman god of trade, merchants, and travellers, later equated with the Greek god
Hermes. This is also the name of the first planet in the solar system and a metallic chemical element, both named for the god.
Mercy
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: MUR-see
From the English word
mercy, ultimately from Latin
merces "wages, reward", a derivative of
merx "goods, wares". This was one of the virtue names adopted by the
Puritans in the 17th century.
Merit 1
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: MEHR-it
Either a variant of
Merritt or else simply from the English word
merit, ultimately from Latin
meritus "deserving".
Meronym
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Literature, Popular Culture
This is the name of a character from the book "Cloud Atlas" written by David Mitchell, which was adapted to film (with the same title) in 2012. The author of the book probably derived the name from the English word meronym, which is a linguistic term used to refer to a part of the whole. The word is ultimately derived from Greek μέρος (meros) meaning "part" combined with Greek ὄνομα (onoma) meaning "name".
Merry 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: MEHR-ee
From the English word
merry, ultimately from Old English
myrige. This name appears in Charles Dickens' novel
Martin Chuzzlewit (1844), where it is a
diminutive of
Mercy.
Miracle
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: MIR-ə-kəl
From the English word miracle for an extraordinary event, ultimately deriving from Latin miraculum "wonder, marvel".
Misery
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Literature
Pronounced: MIZ-ə-ree
From the English word, which derives from Latin miseria "wretchedness". It was used as a given name in the book 'Misery' (1987) by Stephen King, about the author of a popular series of romance novels set in Victorian times, the heroine of which is named Misery Chastain.
Mistakes
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan, Archaic, ?)
Pronounced: MIS-tayks
From Middle English mistaken, from Old Norse mistaka (“to take in error, to miscarry”); equivalent to mis- + take. This name was believed to free the Puritans of sins against actions.
Modest
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Russian (Archaic)
Other Scripts: Модест(Russian)
Modesty
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: MAHD-ə-stee
From the English word modesty, ultimately from Latin modestus "moderate", a derivative of modus "measure".
Morning
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: MOR-ning
From the English word "morning", ultimately from proto-Germanic murginaz "to flicker, twinkle, darken".
Mourning
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare, Archaic), Afro-American (Slavery-era)
From the English word
mourning meaning "grief". This was also used as a variant of
Morning.
The American frontiersman John Floyd (1750-1783) named his daughter Mourning because the girl's mother died in childbirth.
Moxie
Gender: Feminine
Usage: American (Modern)
Pronounced: MAWK-see
Meaning "nerve, courage, pep, daring, spirit". A relatively modern American slang term that came around c. 1925-30 after 'Moxie', a brand of soft drink. The term fell into common usage following an aggressive marketing campaign associating the brand name Moxie with the traits that now define the term. It began gaining popularity as a given name after magician Penn Jillette used it for his daughter in 2005.
Myop
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Literature
Pronounced: MIE-ahp, MIE-op
This name is used in the book The Flowers, by Alice Walker. This name could have been a shortened form of the words myopic or myopathy, in which both are derived from Latin myopia meaning "near-sightedness." The Latin word is ultimately derived from myops meaning "near-sighted" (from myein meaning "to shut" combined with ops meaning "eye.")
Nag
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Literature
An antagonist from Rudyard Kipling's book, Rikki-Tikki-Tavi. Coincides with the English word "nag" meaning "to irritate".
Nature
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: American (Rare, Archaic)
The phenomena of the physical world collectively, including plants, animals, the landscape, and other features and products of the earth, as opposed to humans or human creations.
Nice
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology (Rare), Ancient Greek (Latinized), Italian
Pronounced: NEE-cheh(Italian)
Ancient Greek variant as well as Latinized and Italian form of
Nike. In Italy it's also used as diminutive of names with the element
nice (derived from
nike) such as
Berenice and
Eunice.
In Greek mythology, Nice (transcribed this and not with the usual Nike) was a Thespian princess as one of the 50 daughters of King Thespius and Megamede, daughter of Arneus (or by one of his many wives). She bore Nicodromus to the hero Heracles.
Nightmare
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: Popular Culture
From the English word nightmare referring to a bad dream seen in the mind while sleeping. This is the name of a character in Marvel Comics.
Noble
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: NO-bəl
From an English surname meaning "noble, high-born". The name can also be given in direct reference to the English word noble.
Nobody
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Literature
The name of the main character in The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman. The novel is about a little boy, named Nobody Owens, who is raised in a graveyard by ghosts.
Normal
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (American, Rare)
Personal remark: twin to Novel
Novel
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: NAH-vəl, NAW-vəl
Personal remark: twin to Normal
From the English word
novel, a type of literature.
From Borrowing from Old French novel (“new, fresh, recent, recently made or done, strange, rare”) (modern nouvel), from Latin novellus (“new, fresh, young, modern”), diminutive of novus (“new”).
Obedience
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan), Romani (Archaic)
Pronounced: ə-BEE-dee-əns, o-BEE-dee-əns
From the English word obedience, the act of obeying.
Obey
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Meaning, "behave in accordance with (a general principle, natural law, etc.)." Referring to fearing and obeying God.
Obstinate
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Literature
A character in the novel, "The Pilgrim's Progress."
Odd
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Norwegian
Derived from Old Norse
oddr meaning
"point of a sword".
Oracle
Gender: Feminine
Usage: American (Modern, Rare)
Pronounced: AWR-i-kəl
Form the English word oracle meaning "prophecy".
Paradise
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: PEHR-ə-dies, PAR-ə-dies
From the English word meaning "heaven, the garden of Eden", ultimately from Avestan
pairidaēza "enclosure, park" (compare the cognate
Firdaus).
Passion
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
First recorded as a given name in the 16th century, the name Passion was originally used by Christian parents in reference to the "Passion of Christ", a term denoting the suffering of Jesus. The word itself is derived from Latin passio "suffering", ultimately from Latin patior "to suffer; to endure" and was originally used to describe any suffering or pain concerning the body. Its meaning of sexual desire dates to the 17th century. The name had gone extinct and was revived in the 20th century, no doubt for its current English meaning.
Patch
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (American)
Pronounced: pach(American English)
Short form of
Patrick, coming from how the sequence ⟨tr⟩ is pronounced like ⟨ch⟩ in many dialects of American English.
A notable bearer is content creator Patrick "Patch" Lacey, better known as TierZoo.
Patience
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: PAY-shəns
From the English word
patience, ultimately from Latin
patientia, a derivative of
pati "to suffer". This was one of the virtue names coined by the
Puritans in the 17th century. It is now most commonly used in African countries where English is widely understood, such as Nigeria and Ghana.
Patient
Gender: Masculine
Usage: French (African), History (Ecclesiastical, Gallicized), English (Puritan)
From the Late Latin name
Patiens. It was also used by the Puritans as a vocabulary name, from the English word
patient.
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.
Peerless
Gender: Masculine
Usage: African American (Rare)
Pronounced: PEER-lis
Transferred use of the surname
Peerless. It coincides with an English word meaning "having no equal, matchless". A known bearer is American football player Peerless Price (1976-).
Pentecost
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan, Archaic)
From the name of the Christian festival which commemorates the descent of the Holy Ghost upon the apostles, celebrated on the fiftieth day after Easter, ultimately deriving from Greek pentekoste (hemera) "fiftieth (day)". This name was traditionally given to children born at Whitsuntide. It can also be from a nickname given to a person with some connection to that time of year, such as owing a feudal obligation then.
Perfect
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (Rare)
Perfection
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Rare), English (African, Rare), African American (Rare), Filipino (Rare)
Pronounced: pər-FEHK-shən(American English)
From the word perfection, referring to the quality or state of being perfect or complete.
Persecution
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Meaning, "hostility and ill-treatment, especially because of race or political or religious beliefs."
Philander
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Archaic), Greek Mythology (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Φίλανδρος(Ancient Greek)
From the Greek name
Φίλανδρος (Philandros) meaning
"friend of man" from Greek
φίλος (philos) meaning "friend" and
ἀνήρ (aner) meaning "man" (genitive
ἀνδρός). It was the name of a son of
Apollo with the nymph Acalle. In the 18th century this was coined as a word meaning "to womanize", and the name subsequently dropped out of use.
Philosophos
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Late Greek
Other Scripts: Φιλόσοφος(Ancient Greek)
Derived from Greek φιλόσοφος (philosophos) meaning "lover of wisdom", which consists of Greek φίλος (philos) meaning "friend, lover" combined with Greek σοφία (sophia) meaning "wisdom, cleverness". Also compare the related Greek word σοφός (sophos) meaning "skilled, clever". All in all, this given name is etymologically related to the English word philosopher.
Phthisis
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Obscure
Pronounced: FTHIE-sis(English) THIE-sis(English) TIE-sis(English)
Simply from the English word meaning "wasting, consumption", ultimately from Greek φθίσις (phthisis). A Phthisis Smith was born in England in 1915.
Piety
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: PIE-ə-tee
From the English word meaning
"piety, devoutness". This was a rare virtue name used by the
Puritans in the 17th century.
Placid
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: PLAS-id
English form of
Placidus (see
Placido).
Pleasance
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Archaic)
Pronounced: PLEHZ-əns
From the medieval name Plaisance, which meant "pleasant" in Old French.
Pleasant
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan, Rare), Romani (Archaic)
Derived from the English word, which is derived from Anglo-Norman plaisant "delightful" and ultimately from Latin placens "pleasing; agreeable".
As a given name, Pleasant has been in occasional use in the English-speaking world from the 16th century onwards. It was generally used as a masculine name among the English Romani community.
Plentiness
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Romani (Archaic)
Poet
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (American, Modern, Rare)
From the English word meaning "someone who writes poems". From the Old French poete, from Latin poēta 'poet, author', from Ancient Greek poiētēs (ποιητής) 'creator, maker, author, poet', from poieō (poieō) 'I make, compose'.
Pomp
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: History
Pronounced: PAWMP
This was what explorer, Captain William Clark, of Lewis and Clark fame, nicknamed the son of
Sacagawea. The child's real name was Jean Baptiste Charbonneau. Many sources say that Pomp was a Shoshone name given to him by Sacagawea, meaning anything from 'first born', 'first son', 'leader', 'unborn', and 'little son', yet none of the Shoshone words for those meanings match anything like Pomp. It's likely the name was given by Clark and not Sacagawea and that it is not a Shoshone name. The origin of the nickname, whether it's derived from the English word "pomp", or is a diminutive of a name containing the element -
pomp-, is unknown.
Pompeys Pillar on the Yellowstone River in Montana and the community of Charbonneau, Oregon are named after him.
Power
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Modern, Rare)
From the English word
power meaning "a source or means of supplying energy" or transferred use of the surname
Power 1 or
Power 2.
Praise
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (African)
Pronounced: PRAYZ
From the English word praise, which is ultimately derived (via Old French) from Late Latin preciare, a derivative of Latin pretium "price, worth". This name is most common in English-speaking Africa.
Precious
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (African), African American (Modern)
Pronounced: PRESH-əs(African English, English)
From the English word precious, ultimately derived from Latin pretiosus, a derivative of Latin pretium "price, worth".
Pretty
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Indian, Indonesian
Variant transcription of
Priti.
Pride
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan, Modern)
Pronounced: PRIED
From late Old English prȳde ‘excessive self-esteem’, variant of prȳtu, prȳte, from prūd. Referring to "pride cometh before the fall."
Prim
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Literature
Pronounced: Prim
Pristine
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern, Rare)
May be used after the word ‘pristine’, Latin
pristinus. May also be used as a combination of
Prissy and
Christine.
Promise
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (African)
Pronounced: PRAHM-is
From the English word promise, from Latin promissum. It is currently most common in parts of English-influenced Africa.
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").
Prose
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (African, Rare)
Transferred use of the surname
Prose.
Prosper
Gender: Masculine
Usage: French, English
Pronounced: PRAWS-PEHR(French) PRAHS-pər(English)
From the Latin name
Prosperus, which meant
"fortunate, successful". This was the name of a 5th-century
saint, a supporter of Saint
Augustine. It has never been common as an English name, though the
Puritans used it, partly because it is identical to the English word
prosper.
Prosperity
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (African, Rare), Filipino (Rare)
Pronounced: prahs-PEHR-i-tee(American English) pros-PEH-ree-tee(Filipino)
Providence
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan), English (African), Romani (Archaic)
Derived from the English word denoting "a manifestation of divine care or direction; an instance of divine intervention".
Prudence
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English, French
Pronounced: PROO-dəns(English) PRUY-DAHNS(French)
Medieval English form of
Prudentia, the feminine form of
Prudentius. In France it is both the feminine form and a rare masculine form. In England it was used during the Middle Ages and was revived in the 17th century by the
Puritans, in part from the English word
prudence, ultimately of the same source.
Pseudonymous
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Literature
From the English word pseudonymous, meaning “writing or written under a false name”. It is used as a pseudonym by American author Pseudonymous Bosch.
Psyche
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Ψυχή(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: PSUY-KEH(Classical Greek) SIE-kee(English)
Means
"the soul", derived from Greek
ψύχω (psycho) meaning "to breathe". The Greeks thought that the breath was the soul. In Greek
mythology Psyche was a beautiful maiden who was beloved by Eros (or Cupid in Roman mythology). She is the subject of Keats's poem
Ode to Psyche (1819).
Purify
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan), Romani (Archaic)
Used in reference to purification from sin.
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."
Quest
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: KWEST
From the English word for a search, ultimately from from Medieval Latin questa "search, inquiry".
Quill
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English
Diminutive of
Aquilla.
From the English word "quill" referring to a "pen made from a feather". From the Middle English quil 'fragment of reed' or 'shaft of feather'.
Quintessence
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: kwin-TES-əns
This name comes from the word that can mean "a thing that is the most perfect example of its type" or, in its literal sense, "fifth essence." The word is derived from Middle French quinte essence, which is, ultimately originated from Medieval Latin quinta essentia, a combination of Latin quinta, the feminine equivalent of quintus meaning "five," and essentia meaning "essence."
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.
Random
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English, Literature
From the English word "random".
Random was the name of a male character in The Chronicles of Amber series by Roger Zelazny. In 'Mostly Harmless', the fifth book in the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series by Douglas Adams, Random is Arthur Dent's and Trillian's daughter.
Rarity
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (Rare), Popular Culture
Pronounced: RER-i-tee(English)
From the English word, rarity, "a thing that is rare, especially one having particular value as a result". A My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic character bears this name.
Raze
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: RAYZ
Possibly came from the word Razor, meaning is unknown. Variant of
Rayze.
Reality
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern, Rare)
From the English word reality.
Reason
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Puritanical name.
Rebel
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: REB-uhl
From the Old French rebelle, from the Latin rebellis 'waging war again; insurgent', from rebellō 'I wage war again, fight back', from re- 'again, back' and bellō 'I wage war'.
Redeemed
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan, Anglicized)
Meaning, "compensate for the faults or bad aspects of (something)." Referring to being redeemed from sin. See also
Redemptus, the Latinized variation used by Puritans prior to evolving to the use of the Anglicized variation.
Refrain
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Archaic), English (Puritan)
Pronounced: rə-FRAYN
From the English word
refrain meaning "restrain, repress", which ultimately derives from Latin
refrenare "bridle, hold in with a bit". This was one of the rarer virtue names adopted by the Puritans, akin to the more popular
Temperance.
Reign
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: RAYN
From the English word reign, derived from Latin regnum "royal power".
Rejoice
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan), English (African)
From the English word rejoice meaning "feel or show great joy or delight".
Reliance
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Meaning, "dependence on or trust in someone or something." Referring to one's reliance on God.
Relic
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
From the English word "relic" referring to "something old kept for sentimental reasons; part of the body of a saint, or an ancient religious object, kept for veneration; ancient treasure". From the Latin reliquiae 'remains, relics', from relinquō 'I leave behind, abandon, relinquish', from re- + linquō 'I leave, quit, forsake, depart from'.
Relief
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Referring to the relief of Christ.
Remarkable
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Meaning, "worthy of attention; striking."
Remedy
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (American, Rare)
From the English word, perhaps intended to be an English equivalent of
Remedios.
Remember
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (African), English (Puritan)
Pronounced: ri-MEHM-bə(English)
From the English word remember, ultimately from the Latin rememorārī, "to remember again", containing the root memor, "mindful".
Renewed
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan, Anglicized)
Referring to being "born again." See also
Renata, the Latinized form originally used by Puritans before switching to the Anglicized variant.
Repent
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Meaning, "feel or express sincere regret or remorse about one's wrongdoing or sin." Name given to 'bastard' children.
Resolute
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
From the English word resolute meaning "determined, unwavering".
Resolve
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Restraint
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Meaning, "unemotional, dispassionate, or moderate behavior; self-control."
Return
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan, Rare, Archaic)
Pronounced: ree-TURN
From the English word meaning "to come back" (itself from Old French re- "back" and torner "to turn"), which was given to a boy born in 1708 in Guilford, Connecticut, supposedly in memory of an incident from his parents' courtship; it is popularly claimed that his mother, Hannah Willard (1674-1749) - after repeatedly rejecting his father, Janna Meigs (1672-1739) - finally relented, crying to him as he rode away "Return, Janna, return!" The name has since been borne by more than a dozen of Return Meigs' descendants, including his son, Return Jonathan Meigs (1740-1823), and grandson, Return Jonathan Meigs, Jr. (1764-1825; the fourth Governor of Ohio and fifth U.S. Postmaster General).
Revelation
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English
From the English word revelation, ultimately from Latin revēlātiō "disclosure".
Reverence
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: Obscure
From the English word reverence meaning "deep respect".
Reverie
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: REHV-ə-ree
From the English word meaning "daydream, fanciful musing", derived from Old French resverie, itself from resver meaning "to dream, to rave".
Revolt
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Derived from the English noun revolt, which is a term used to refer to an act of rebellion. This word was used as a given name by Puritans who had arrived in what is nowadays the United States of America.
Rhyme
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (American)
Pronounced: Rye-m(American English)
Comes from the word rhyme which means “words that sound similar”
Rhythm
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Modern, Rare)
Pronounced: RI-dhəm
From the word referring to metrical movement, derived via Latin from Ancient Greek ῥυθμός (rhythmós) meaning "measured flow/movement, symmetry, arrangement, order, form."
Riot
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Modern, Rare)
Pronounced: RIE-ət
From the English word
riot which refers to an uproar, tumult or unrestrained behaviour. The word derives from Old French
riote meaning "dispute, quarrel, chattering, argument". This name was used by Barbadian singer
Rihanna for her son born 2023.
Rizen
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Pronounced: Risen
My husband has a forefather whose first name was Rizen. As I didn't see this in your list of virtue names, I'm adding it.
Romance
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Rare)
From the English word “romance” this was given to 9 baby boys in the USA in 2014.
Rue
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: ROO
From the name of the bitter medicinal herb, ultimately deriving from Greek
ῥυτή (rhyte). This is also sometimes used as a short form of
Ruth 1.
Rule
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Spanish
Safe-on-high
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan)
A name given to children when expected that they would die, in reference to being safe with God in heaven.
Sage
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: SAYJ
From the English word sage, which denotes either a type of spice or else a wise person.
Salvation
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (African), Filipino (Rare)
Sass
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Estonian
Sassy
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: SAS-ee(British English, American English)
Possibly a diminutive of
Sasha,
Sarah or
Saskia. It coincides with the English word
sassy.
Savior
Gender: Masculine
Usage: African American (Rare)
From the English word savior, ultimately from the Late Latin salvare "to save".
Savvy
Gender: Feminine
Usage: American (Modern), African American
Pronounced: SAV-ee(American) sah-vii(American)
Means "shrewd, well-informed", from Tok Pisin (an English-based Creole)
save or Nigerian Pidgin
sabi, both meaning "to know". In some cases, it is a diminutive of
Savannah.
Secret
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: SEE-krit
From the English word secret, which is ultimately from Latin secretus "set apart, hidden, private".
Serendipity
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern, Rare)
Pronounced: sɛ.rɛn.ˈdɪp.ə.ti
From the English word serendipity.
Serene
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
From the English word serene, which itself is derived from Latin serenus, which means "clear, calm, tranquil, quiet."
Serenity
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: sə-REHN-ə-tee
From the English word meaning "serenity, tranquility", ultimately from Latin serenus meaning "clear, calm".
Shade
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English
From the English word
shade or transferred use of the surname
Shade, which may be a topographic name for someone who lived near a boundary (from the Old English
scead "boundary") or a nickname for a thin man, (from the Middle English
schade, "shadow", "wraith") or an Americanized spelling of the German and Dutch surname
Schade.
Shimmer
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: SHIM-UR
Derived from the English-speaking word ‘shimmer’, which is used to describe a bright or sparkling light or colour.
Shine
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (Modern, Rare)
Either from the English word
shine or transferred use of the surname
Shine 1.
Shun 2
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 駿, 俊, etc.(Japanese Kanji) しゅん(Japanese Hiragana)
Pronounced: SHOON
From Japanese
駿 (shun) meaning "fast",
俊 (shun) meaning "talented", or other kanji that are pronounced the same way.
Silence
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (African), English (Puritan), Romani (Archaic)
Pronounced: SIE-ləns(English)
Simply from the English word
silence, from Middle English from Old French, from Latin
silentium, from
silere "be silent". A popular virtue name amongst the Puritans in the 17th century, it was usually given to girls (very occasionally to boys), ultimately taken from the admonition of Saint Paul: "Let the women learn in silence, with all subjection." Translated into Latin it became
Tace, which "in its turn developed into
Tacey". It was used by Pamela Belle for a Puritan character in her novels
Wintercombe,
Herald of Joy and
Treason's Gift.
Sincere
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: sin-SEER
From the English word meaning genuine or heartfelt.
Sincerely
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern, Rare)
Pronounced: sin-SEE-lee(British English) sin-SIR-lee(American English)
From the English word sincerely meaning "in a sincere manner".
Slumber
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (African)
Pronounced: slum-bə(British English) SLUM-bər(American English)
From the vocabulary word "slumber".
Sly
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: SLIE
Short form of
Sylvester. The actor Sylvester Stallone (1946-) is a well-known bearer of this nickname.
Sojourner
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: so-JUR-nər, SO-jər-nər
From the English word meaning "one who stays temporarily (sojourns)", which is ultimately derived from the Latin elements sub "under, until" and diurnus "of a day" (from diurnum "day"), via the vulgar Latin subdiurnare "to spend the day". It was borne by the American abolitionist Sojourner Truth (born Isabella Baumfree, 1797-1883), who took the name in 1843, believing this to be the instructions of the Holy Spirit, and became a traveling preacher (the combined meaning of her new name).
Solace
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (American, Rare), English (African, Rare)
Pronounced: SAWL-is(American English)
From the English word, solace.
Solstice
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (Modern, Rare)
Pronounced: SAWL-stis
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).
Spark
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Originally a transferred use of the surname
Spark. It is now used as an adoption of the English word (which is derived from Old English
spearca via Middle English
sparke "spark").
Special
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (African)
Simply taken from the English word special.
Spirit
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: SPIR-it
From the English word spirit, ultimately from Latin spiritus "breath, energy", a derivative of spirare "to blow".
Spontaneous
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (American, Rare)
Pronounced: spahn-TAY-nee-is(American English)
Taken directly from the English word spontaneous.
Standfast
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Transferred use of the English surname
Standfast, or simply means "to stand firm, to stand one's ground"; compare the English word
steadfast meaning "firm or unwavering in purpose, resolution or faith" and the name
Stand-fast-on-high.
Stargazer
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (Rare)
From the English word stargazer "one who stargazes" or "a daydreamer".
Steadfast
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Meaning, "resolutely or dutifully firm and unwavering." Used in reference to God's steadfastness or in reference to one's steadfastness to faith.
Stoic
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (American, Modern, Rare)
Likely from the English word stoic.
Subtle
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Literature
A character in "The Alchemist."
Success
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
From the English word "success" referring to the "achievement of one's aim or goal, or getting or achieving wealth, respect, or fame".
Sunshine
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: SUN-shien
From the English word, ultimately from Old English sunne "sun" and scinan "shine".
Sweetheart
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: Filipino (Rare), English
Pronounced: SWEET-hart(Filipino)
From the English word sweetheart, an affectionate term for a beloved person, or a person who is always kind.
Swift
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
From Old English swift "swift, quick", derived from the Germanic base of Old English swīfan "to move in a course, sweep, intervene". As a name, it is used in reference to the Biblical verse in James 1:19, "Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath."
Symphony
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: SIM-fə-nee
Simply from the English word, ultimately deriving from Greek
σύμφωνος (symphonos) meaning "concordant in sound".
Temerity
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern, Rare)
Pronounced: tə-MER-i-dee
From the English word meaning "audacity, recklessness, foolhardy disregard of danger", which is ultimately from Latin temeritatem "blind chance, accident, rashness" (nominative temeritas), from temere "by chance, blindly, casually, rashly", related to tenebrae "darkness" (from the Indo-European root *temes- meaning "dark").
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.
Tempest
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: TEHM-pist
From the English word meaning "storm". It appears in the title of William Shakespeare's play The Tempest (1611).
Temple
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: TEHM-pəl
From an English surname that originally belonged to a person who was associated with the Knights Templar, a medieval religious military order.
Tenacious
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
English Puritan name meaning 'firm' and 'fast'.
Tenebrus
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Literature
Pronounced: TEN-E-brus
Latin meaning "dark,blind"
Was used in Harry Potter.
Tequila
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (American, Modern, Rare)
Pronounced: tə-KEE-lə(American English)
From the English word tequila for the alcoholic drink. It is ultimately from Spanish, the name of a town in Mexico where the drink was made.
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”).
Thankful
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Archaic)
Pronounced: THANGK-fəl
From the English word
thankful. This was one of the many virtue names used by the
Puritans in the 17th century.
Threnody
Gender: Feminine
Usage: American (Rare)
Other Scripts: θρῆνοςᾠδή(Greek)
Pronounced: THREN-ə-dee
From the English word meaning "song of lamentation", which is ultimately derived from the Greek elements θρῆνος (threnos) "lament, wail, dirge" (probably from a Proto-Indo-European imitative base meaning "to murmur, hum") and ᾠδή (oide) "ode".
Toxeus
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Τοξεύς(Ancient Greek)
Derived from Greek τοξεύς (toxeus) meaning "bowman, archer", which is ultimately derived from Greek τόξον (toxon) meaning "bow". Also compare Greek τοξεύω (toxeuo) "to shoot with the bow" and Greek τοξεία (toxeia) "archery". All of these words are related to the modern English word toxic, as the English word is ultimately derived from Greek τοξικόν (toxikon) meaning "arrow poison". Toxeus is the name of three characters in Greek mythology.
Traverse
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: TRUH-vers
Virtue name after the vocabulary word
traverse, to suggest a journey (through life) or transferred use of the surname
Traverse.
Treasure
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: TREZH-ər
From the English word, ultimately from Greek
θησαυρός (thesauros) meaning "treasure, collection".
Trial
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Meaning, "to test (something, especially a new product) to assess its suitability or performance." Referring to the trials and tribulations that may come with faith in God.
Tribulation
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan), Literature
Middle English via Old French from ecclesiastical Latin tribulatio(n-), from Latin tribulare ‘press, oppress’, from tribulum ‘threshing board (constructed of sharp points)’, based on terere ‘rub’. Meaning, "a cause of great trouble or suffering." Sometimes given to 'bastard' children. In literature, this was the name of the character Tribulation Wholesome in, "The Alchemist."
Triumph
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: TRIE-əmf
From the English word
triumph "a great victory or achievement", ultimately from Greek
thriambos "hymn to
Bacchus".
True
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (American, Modern)
Pronounced: TROO(American English)
From the English word true, itself from Old English trīewe meaning "trusty, faithful".
Truth
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan), English (Modern, Rare)
From the English word "truth" from Old English trīewth, trēowth meaning ‘faithfulness.'
Unique
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: yoo-NEEK
From the English word unique, ultimately derived from Latin unicus.
Unity
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: YOO-ni-tee
From the English word unity, which is ultimately derived from Latin unitas.
Valiant
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Literature, Popular Culture, Dutch (Rare), Danish (Rare), Swedish (Rare), Norwegian (Rare)
Pronounced: VAH-lee-ahnt(Dutch)
From the English word valiant, which denotes a person who has and shows courage. The word is derived from Anglo-French vaillant "brave, strong, worthy", which itself is ultimately derived from Latin valens meaning "strong, vigorous, powerful". In literature, this is the name of the main character in the comic strip "Prince Valiant in the Days of King Arthur", created by Hal Foster (1892-1982). It was later adapted into an animated television series called "The Legend of Prince Valiant", which ran from 1991 to 1993. The comic and the animated series have inspired people in some countries to name their son Valiant. The Netherlands is one of those countries, as in 2010, there was a total of 26 bearers (of all ages) in the entire country. Also, in popular culture, Valiant is the name of a wood pigeon in the 2005 computer-animated film of the same name.
Valor
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
From the English word valor meaning "bravery, courage". From the Latin valor "value".
Vanity
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (American)
Pronounced: VAN-ə-tee(American English)
From the English word vanity. This name surged in 1983 coinciding with the revival of the magazine 'Vanity Fair'.
Vendetta
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (American)
Pronounced: ven-det-aa(American English)
Transferred use of the surname
Vendetta or from the word
vendetta, from Italian
vendetta "a feud, blood feud," from Latin
vindicta "vengeance, revenge."
Verity
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: VEHR-i-tee
From the English word meaning
"verity, truth", from Latin
verus "true, real". This was one of the virtue names adopted by the
Puritans in the 17th century.
Victor
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, French, Portuguese, Romanian, Dutch, Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, Late Roman
Pronounced: VIK-tər(English) VEEK-TAWR(French) VEEK-tor(Romanian) VIK-tawr(Dutch)
Roman name meaning
"victor, conqueror" in Latin. It was common among early Christians, and was borne by several early
saints and three popes. It was rare as an English name during the Middle Ages, but it was revived in the 19th century. A famous bearer was the French writer Victor Hugo (1802-1885), who authored
The Hunchback of Notre-Dame and
Les Misérables.
Victory
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (African), English (Puritan)
Pronounced: VIK-tər-ee(English)
Simply from the English word, which is ultimately from Latin
victoria (itself from the past participle stem of
vincere "to conquer", making it a (distant) relative of
Vincent). For Puritans, the name was given in reference to 1 Corinthians 15:55, "O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?"
A male bearer was Victory Birdseye (1782-1853), a U.S. Representative from New York.
Virgin
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Pronounced: VIR-jin
Simply from the English word virgin, meaning "pure".
Virtue
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan)
This name was very occasionally used by Puritan parents in 17th century England. It ltimately derived from Latin virtus "manliness; valor; worth".
Vision
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: American, Literature
Pronounced: VIZH-ən(American)
Middle English (denoting a supernatural apparition) via Old French from Latin visio(n- ), from videre ‘to see.'
Vital
Gender: Masculine
Usage: French, Portuguese, Belarusian
Other Scripts: Віталь(Belarusian)
Pronounced: VEE-TAL(French)
French, Portuguese and Belarusian form of
Vitalis (see
Vitale).
Wanton
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (American, Archaic)
Transferred use of the surname
Wanton. This was used by John Bunyan for a female character in his allegorical novel
The Pilgrim's Progress (1678).
Ward 1
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: WAWRD
From an occupational surname for a watchman, derived from Old English
weard "guard".
Watchful
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan), Literature
Meaning, "watching or observing someone or something closely; alert and vigilant." Referring to watching and waiting for the end-times.
Wealth
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan), English (African, Rare)
From Middle English
welth,
welthe,
weolthe (“happiness, prosperity”), from Old English
*welþ,
*weleþu, from Proto-Germanic
*waliþō (“wealth”).
Alternatively, possibly an alteration (due to similar words in -th: compare helth (“health”), derth (“dearth”)) of wele (“wealth, well-being, weal”), from Old English wela (“wealth, prosperity”), from Proto-Germanic *walô (“well-being, prosperity”), from Proto-Indo-European *wel- (“good, best”); equivalent to weal + -th.
Welcome
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English, English (Puritan)
Pronounced: welkəm(English)
The origin of Welcome is the English language. Derived literally from the common word 'welcome'. It represents the transferred use of the vocabulary word as a given name.
Whim
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: American (Rare, Archaic)
Variant of
Wim, coinciding with an English word meaning "a whimsical idea".
Whisper
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
From the English word whisper, meaning "speaking softly without vibration of the vocal cords", itself from Proto-Germanic *hwisprōną (“to hiss, whistle, whisper”).
Whit
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: WIT, WHIT
Possibly from the English word "white" or a diminutive of
Whitney or other names beginning with
Whit.
Wild
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Transferred use of the surname
Wild.
Will
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: WIL
Short form of
William and other names beginning with
Will. A famous bearer is American actor Will Smith (1968-), whose full name is Willard.
Winner
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Modern, Rare)
Pronounced: WIN-ner
From the English word "winner".
Winsome
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Jamaican Patois
Pronounced: WIN-səm(English)
From the English word meaning "charming, engaging", derived from the Old English roots
wynn "joy" and
sum.
Wintry
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: American (Rare, Archaic)
Pronounced: WIN-tree
From the English word wintry, "suggestive or characteristic of winter; cold, stormy".
Wisdom
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: WIZ-dəm
Simply from the English word, a derivative of Old English wis "wise".
Wit
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Polish
Pronounced: VEET
Witness
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (African), South African
From the English word, witness, "one who has personal knowledge of something".
Wonder
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (American)
From the English word, "Wonder."
Wrath
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
From English wrath meaning "extreme anger", referring to the wrath of God.
Wrestling
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Old English, frequentative of wrǣstan ‘wrest’. Meaning, "The sport or activity of grappling with an opponent and trying to throw or hold them down on the ground, typically according to a code of rules." Referring to Genesis 32:22-32 in which Jacob wrestles with God. May also referring to wrestling with sin.
Zeal
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English
Found in occasional use as a given name from 17th century onwards, Zeal is part virtue name and part a transfer of the English surname.
While the surname is derived from a number of places in England (and thus ultimately from Old English sealh "sallow-tree"), the English word zeal is derived from Greek zêlos, used in the Bible to mean "ardent feeling; fervor" referring to any kind of strong emotion.
Zealous
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (African, Rare)
Pronounced: ZEHL-əs(African English)
From the English word
zealous meaning "full of zeal, ardent", perhaps intended to be an English form of
Zelotes. This was the name of a Union general in the American Civil War: Zealous Bates Tower (1819-1900).
Zen
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: ZEN
This name is derived from either the word that is the Japanese on'yomi/reading of the Chinese word
chán (禅), which is derived from the Sanskrit word
dhyāna, meaning 'absorption, meditative state' or, in the case of U.S. soccer/football defender Zen Luzniak, a shortened form of
Zenon.
Zen is a school of Buddhism which originated in China during the 7th century, and spread to Vietnam, Korea, and Japan. It emphasises rigorous meditation practices, and favours direct personal understanding rather than knowledge of doctrine.
Zen meditation became known in the West at the end of the 19th century, and at this time it became used as an English name, albeit sporadically. Interest in the practice and philosophy of Zen grew during the 1950s and '60s, though the name's usage remained sporadic and it wasn't until the late 1990s and 2000s that this name began to be used more frequently.
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