Izaris's Personal Name List
Aelita
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Literature, Russian, Latvian
Other Scripts: Аэлита(Russian)
Pronounced: ui-LYEE-tə(Russian)
Created by Russian author Aleksey Tolstoy for his science fiction novel Aelita (1923), where it belongs to a Martian princess. In the book, the name is said to mean "starlight seen for the last time" in the Martian language.
Aeneas
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Roman Mythology
Pronounced: ie-NEH-as(Latin) i-NEE-əs(English)
Latin form of the Greek name
Αἰνείας (Aineias), derived from Greek
αἴνη (aine) meaning
"praise". In Greek legend he was a son of
Aphrodite and was one of the chief heroes who defended Troy from the Greeks. The Roman poet
Virgil continued his story in the
Aeneid, in which Aeneas travels to Italy and founds the Roman state.
Aglaia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology, Greek
Other Scripts: Ἀγλαΐα(Ancient Greek) Αγλαΐα(Greek)
Pronounced: ə-GLIE-ə(English)
Means
"splendour, beauty" in Greek. In Greek
mythology she was one of the three Graces or
Χάριτες (Charites). This name was also borne by a 4th-century
saint from Rome.
Aisha
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Arabic, Urdu, Hausa, Swahili, Kazakh, African American
Other Scripts: عائشة(Arabic) عائشہ(Urdu) Айша(Kazakh)
Pronounced: ‘A-ee-shah(Arabic) ie-EE-shə(English)
Means
"living, alive" in Arabic. This was the name of
Muhammad's third wife, the daughter of
Abu Bakr. Some time after Muhammad's death she went to war against
Ali, the fourth caliph, but was defeated. Her name is used more by Sunni Muslims and less by Shias.
This name began to be used in America in the 1970s, possibly inspired by Princess Aisha of Jordan (1968-), the daughter of King Hussein and his British-born wife. It received a boost in popularity after Stevie Wonder used it for his first daughter in 1975.
Alanteus
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Medieval
An elongation of Proto-Germanic *allaz 'all; every; whole' + Old High German deo 'servant'.
Aliza
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Hebrew
Other Scripts: עַלִיזָה(Hebrew)
Pronounced: ah-LEE-zah
Means "joyful" in Hebrew.
Almira 2
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Bosnian
Alphonse
Gender: Masculine
Usage: French
Pronounced: AL-FAWNS
Alžbeta
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Slovak
Pronounced: ALZH-beh-ta
Alzira
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Portuguese (Rare), Portuguese (Brazilian), Theatre
Latinate form of
Alzire. This name was used in Verdi's opera
Alzira (1845). It coincides with the name of a Spanish town.
Amarantha
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Various (Rare)
From the name of the amaranth flower, which is derived from Greek
ἀμάραντος (amarantos) meaning "unfading".
Ἀμάραντος (Amarantos) was also an Ancient Greek given name.
Amir 1
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Arabic, Persian, Urdu, Kazakh, Tatar, Bashkir, Malay, Indonesian, Bosnian
Other Scripts: أمير(Arabic) امیر(Persian, Urdu) Әмір(Kazakh) Әмир(Tatar, Bashkir) Амир(Russian)
Pronounced: a-MEER(Arabic)
Means "commander, prince" in Arabic. This was originally a title, which has come into English as the Arabic loanword emir.
Anna
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Italian, German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Estonian, Latvian, Greek, Hungarian, Polish, Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian, Czech, Slovak, Bulgarian, Armenian, Icelandic, Faroese, Catalan, Occitan, Breton, Scottish Gaelic, Biblical, Biblical Greek, Biblical Latin, Old Church Slavic
Other Scripts: Άννα(Greek) Анна(Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian, Bulgarian, Church Slavic) Աննա(Armenian) Ἄννα(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: AN-ə(English) AN-na(Italian, Polish, Icelandic) A-na(German, Swedish, Danish, Greek, Czech) AH-na(Dutch) AHN-nah(Norwegian, Finnish) AWN-naw(Hungarian) AN-nə(Russian, Catalan)
Form of
Channah (see
Hannah) used in the Greek and Latin
Old Testament. Many later Old Testament translations, including the English, use the
Hannah spelling instead of
Anna. The name appears briefly in the
New Testament belonging to a prophetess who recognized
Jesus as the Messiah. It was a popular name in the Byzantine Empire from an early date, and in the Middle Ages it became common among Western Christians due to veneration of
Saint Anna (usually known as Saint Anne in English), the name traditionally assigned to the mother of the Virgin
Mary.
In England, this Latin form has been used alongside the vernacular forms Ann and Anne since the late Middle Ages. Anna is currently the most common of these spellings in all English-speaking countries (since the 1970s), however the biblical form Hannah is presently more popular than all three.
The name was borne by several Russian royals, including an 18th-century empress of Russia. It is also the name of the main character in Leo Tolstoy's novel Anna Karenina (1877), about a married aristocrat who begins an ultimately tragic relationship with Count Vronsky.
Apollonia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Ancient Greek, Italian
Other Scripts: Ἀπολλωνία(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: A-POL-LAW-NEE-A(Classical Greek)
Feminine form of
Apollonios. This was the name of a 3rd-century
saint and martyr from Alexandria.
Armand
Gender: Masculine
Usage: French, Catalan
Pronounced: AR-MAHN(French) ər-MAN(Catalan)
French and Catalan form of
Herman.
Arwa
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Arabic
Other Scripts: أروى(Arabic)
Pronounced: AR-wa
Means
"female ibex, mountain goat" in Arabic. This name was borne by some relatives of the Prophet
Muhammad. It was also the name of a 12th-century queen of Yemen.
Arya 1
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: Persian, Hindi, Malayalam
Other Scripts: آریا(Persian) आर्य, आर्या(Hindi) ആര്യ, ആര്യാ(Malayalam)
Pronounced: aw-ree-YAW(Persian)
From an old Indo-Iranian root meaning "Aryan, noble". In India, this is a transcription of both the masculine form
आर्य and the feminine form
आर्या. In Iran it is only a masculine name.
Asa
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Biblical, Hebrew, Biblical Hebrew
Other Scripts: אָסָא(Hebrew)
Pronounced: AY-sə(English)
Possibly means
"healer" in Hebrew. This name was borne by the third king of Judah, as told in the
Old Testament.
Asal
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Persian
Other Scripts: عسل(Persian)
Means "honey" in Persian (of Arabic origin).
Asen
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Bulgarian
Other Scripts: Асен(Bulgarian)
Meaning unknown, probably of Turkic origin. This was the name of a 12th-century Bulgarian emperor (Ivan Asen I) and several of his successors.
Asena
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Turkish
Possibly of Scythian origin meaning
"blue". In Turkic
mythology Asena was a grey wolf who gave birth to the ancestor of the Ashina tribe of Turks.
Asher
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Hebrew, English, Biblical, Biblical Hebrew
Other Scripts: אָשֵׁר(Hebrew)
Pronounced: ASH-ər(English)
Means
"happy, blessed" in Hebrew. Asher in the
Old Testament is a son of
Jacob by
Leah's handmaid
Zilpah, and the ancestor of one of the twelve tribes of Israel. The meaning of his name is explained in
Genesis 30:13.
Ashur
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Semitic Mythology
Other Scripts: 𒀭𒀸𒋩(Akkadian Cuneiform)
From the name of the city of
Ashur, the capital of the Assyrian Empire, which is of unknown meaning. Ashur was the patron deity of the city and the chief god of Assyria.
Asiya
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Arabic
Other Scripts: آسيا, آسية(Arabic)
Pronounced: A-see-ya, A-see-yah
Possibly from Arabic
أسي (asy) meaning
"distressed, grieved". According to Islamic tradition this was the name of the wife of the pharaoh at the time of
Moses. She took care of the infant Moses and later accepted monotheism.
Aspasia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Ancient Greek, Greek
Other Scripts: Ἀσπασία(Ancient Greek) Ασπασία(Greek)
Pronounced: A-SPA-SEE-A(Classical Greek)
Derived from Greek
ἀσπάσιος (aspasios) meaning
"welcome, embrace". This was the name of the lover of Pericles (5th century BC).
Asra
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Arabic
Other Scripts: أسرى(Arabic)
Pronounced: AS-ra
Means
"travel at night" in Arabic. It is related to
Isra.
Astraea
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Ἀστραία(Ancient Greek)
Latinized form of the Greek
Ἀστραία (Astraia), derived from Greek
ἀστήρ (aster) meaning
"star". Astraea was a Greek goddess of justice and innocence. After wickedness took root in the world she left the earth and became the constellation Virgo.
Atarah
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Biblical, Hebrew, Biblical Hebrew
Other Scripts: עֲטָרָה(Hebrew)
Pronounced: AT-ə-rə(English)
Means
"crown" in Hebrew. In the
Old Testament Atarah is a minor character, the wife of Jerahmeel.
Atropos
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Ἄτροπος(Ancient Greek)
Means
"inevitable, inflexible" in Greek, derived from the negative prefix
ἀ (a) combined with
τρόπος (tropos) meaning "direction, manner, fashion". Atropos was one of the three Fates or
Μοῖραι (Moirai) in Greek
mythology. When her sister Lachesis decided that a person's life was at an end, Atropos would choose the manner of death and cut the person's life thread.
Augustus
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Ancient Roman, Dutch (Rare)
Pronounced: ow-GOOS-toos(Latin) aw-GUS-təs(English) ow-GHUYS-tuys(Dutch)
Means
"exalted, venerable", derived from Latin
augere meaning "to increase". Augustus was the title given to
Octavian, the first Roman emperor. He was the adopted son of Julius Caesar who rose to power through a combination of military skill and political prowess. In 26 BC the senate officially gave him the name
Augustus, and after his death it was used as a title for subsequent emperors. This was also the name of three kings of Poland (
August in Polish).
Aviv
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: Hebrew
Other Scripts: אֲבִיב(Hebrew)
Pronounced: a-VEEV
Means "spring" in Hebrew.
Ayda
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Arabic, Persian, Turkish
Other Scripts: عائدة(Arabic) آیدا(Persian)
Pronounced: ‘A-ee-dah(Arabic)
Means "returning, visitor" in Arabic. In Turkey this is also associated with ay meaning "moon".
Aylaana
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Yakut
Other Scripts: Айлаана(Yakut)
Aylan
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: Kurdish, Turkish
Pronounced: IE-lan
Means "openness, space, square" in Kurdish.
Ayşe
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Turkish
Balthazar
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Judeo-Christian-Islamic Legend
Pronounced: BAL-thə-zahr(English)
Variant of
Belshazzar. Balthazar is the name traditionally assigned to one of the wise men (also known as the Magi, or three kings) who visited the newborn
Jesus. He was said to have come from Arabia. This name was utilized by Shakespeare for minor characters in
The Comedy of Errors (1594) and
The Merchant of Venice (1596).
Barnabas
Gender: Masculine
Usage: German (Rare), English (Rare), Biblical, Biblical Latin, Biblical Greek
Other Scripts: Βαρναβᾶς(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: BAR-na-bas(German) BAHR-nə-bəs(English)
Greek form of an Aramaic name. In Acts in the
New Testament the byname Barnabas was given to a man named
Joseph, a Jew from Cyprus who was a companion of
Paul on his missionary journeys. The original Aramaic form is unattested, but it may be from
בּר נביא (bar naviya') meaning
"son of the prophet", though in
Acts 4:36 it is claimed that the name means
"son of encouragement".
As an English name, Barnabas came into occasional use after the 12th century. It is now rare, though the variant Barnaby is still moderately common in Britain.
Bartholomew
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, Biblical
Pronounced: bahr-THAHL-ə-myoo(English)
English form of
Βαρθολομαῖος (Bartholomaios), which was the Greek form of an Aramaic name meaning
"son of Talmai". In the
New Testament Bartholomew is the byname of an apostle, possibly the same person as the apostle
Nathanael. According to tradition he was a missionary to India before returning westward to Armenia, where he was martyred by flaying. Due to the popularity of this
saint the name became common in England during the Middle Ages.
Beatrix
Gender: Feminine
Usage: German, Hungarian, Dutch, English, Late Roman
Pronounced: beh-A-triks(German) BEH-a-triks(German) BEH-aw-treeks(Hungarian) BEH-ya-triks(Dutch) BEE-ə-triks(English) BEE-triks(English)
Probably from
Viatrix, a feminine form of the Late Latin name
Viator meaning
"voyager, traveller". It was a common name amongst early Christians, and the spelling was altered by association with Latin
beatus "blessed, happy". Viatrix or Beatrix was a 4th-century
saint who was strangled to death during the persecutions of Diocletian.
In England the name became rare after the Middle Ages, but it was revived in the 19th century, more commonly in the spelling Beatrice. Famous bearers include the British author and illustrator Beatrix Potter (1866-1943), the creator of Peter Rabbit, and Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands (1938-).
Begoña
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Spanish, Basque
Pronounced: beh-GHO-nya(Spanish)
From a title of the Virgin
Mary,
Nuestra Señora de Begoña, meaning "Our Lady of Begoña", the patron
saint of Biscay, Spain. Begoña is a district and basilica in the city of Bilbao.
Belén
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Spanish
Pronounced: beh-LEHN
Spanish form of
Bethlehem, the name of the town in Judah where King
David and
Jesus were born. The town's name is from Hebrew
בֵּית־לֶחֶם (Beit-lechem) meaning "house of bread".
Bérangère
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French, French (Belgian)
Berengaria
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Germanic (Latinized)
Latinized feminine form of
Berengar. This name was borne by a 13th-century queen of Castile.
Bohdan
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Czech, Slovak, Ukrainian, Polish
Other Scripts: Богдан(Ukrainian)
Pronounced: BOH-dan(Czech) BAWH-dan(Slovak) bogh-DAHN(Ukrainian)
Czech, Slovak and Ukrainian form of
Bogdan, as well as a Polish variant.
Borjan
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Serbian, Croatian, Macedonian
Other Scripts: Борјан(Serbian, Macedonian)
Derived from the Slavic element bor "battle". Notable bearer is Macedonian conductor Borjan Canev (born 1973).
Boyan
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Bulgarian
Other Scripts: Боян(Bulgarian)
Cadwalader
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Welsh (Rare)
Carmen
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Spanish, English, Italian, French, Romanian, German
Pronounced: KAR-mehn(Spanish, Italian) KAHR-mən(English)
Medieval Spanish form of
Carmel, appearing in the devotional title of the Virgin
Mary Nuestra Señora del Carmen meaning "Our Lady of Mount Carmel". The spelling has been altered through association with the Latin word
carmen meaning
"song". This was the name of the main character in George Bizet's opera
Carmen (1875).
Catalina
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Spanish, Corsican
Pronounced: ka-ta-LEE-na(Spanish)
Chrysippus
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Ancient Greek (Latinized), Greek Mythology (Latinized)
Latinized form of
Chrysippos. In history, this name was most notably borne by Chrysippus of Soli, a Stoic philosopher from the 3rd century BC. In Greek mythology, this was the name of a divine hero with a very tragic story.
Cleopatra
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Ancient Greek (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Κλεοπάτρα(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: klee-o-PAT-rə(English)
From the Greek name
Κλεοπάτρα (Kleopatra) meaning
"glory of the father", derived from
κλέος (kleos) meaning "glory" combined with
πατήρ (pater) meaning "father" (genitive
πατρός). This was the name of queens of Egypt from the Ptolemaic royal family, including Cleopatra VII, the mistress of both Julius Caesar and Mark Antony. After being defeated by Augustus she committed suicide (according to popular belief, by allowing herself to be bitten by a venomous asp). Shakespeare's tragedy
Antony and Cleopatra (1606) tells the story of her life.
Darya 2
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Persian
Other Scripts: دریا(Persian)
Pronounced: dar-YAW
Means "sea, ocean" in Persian.
Diocletian
Gender: Masculine
Usage: History
Pronounced: die-ə-KLEE-shən(English)
From the Roman
cognomen Diocletianus, a derivative of
Diokles. This was the name of a Roman emperor of the 3rd and 4th centuries (Gaius Aurelius Valerius Diocletianus). He is remembered for persecuting Christians, but he also reformed and stabilized the crumbling Empire.
Domenico
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Italian
Pronounced: do-MEH-nee-ko
Italian form of
Dominicus (see
Dominic). Domenico Veneziano was a Renaissance painter who lived in Florence.
Donatien
Gender: Masculine
Usage: French
Pronounced: DAW-NA-SYEHN
Dragomir
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Serbian, Croatian, Bulgarian, Slovene, Romanian
Other Scripts: Драгомир(Serbian, Bulgarian)
Derived from the Slavic element
dorgŭ (South Slavic
drag) meaning "precious" combined with
mirŭ meaning "peace, world".
Ealasaid
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Scottish Gaelic [1]
Pronounced: EHL-ə-sət
Eglė
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Lithuanian
Means "spruce tree" in Lithuanian. In a Lithuanian folktale Eglė is a young woman who marries a grass snake. At the end of the tale she turns herself into a spruce.
Eirlys
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Welsh
Pronounced: AYR-lis
Means
"snowdrop (flower)" in Welsh, a compound of
eira "snow" and
llys "plant".
Eka 1
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: Indonesian
Pronounced: EH-ka
Means
"one, first" in Indonesian, ultimately from Sanskrit
एक (eka).
Ekaterina
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Bulgarian, Macedonian, Russian
Other Scripts: Екатерина(Bulgarian, Macedonian, Russian)
Pronounced: yi-kə-tyi-RYEE-nə(Russian) i-kə-tyi-RYEE-nə(Russian)
Ela 2
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Turkish
Pronounced: eh-LA
Means "hazel (colour)" in Turkish.
Elaheh
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Persian
Other Scripts: الهه(Persian)
Means "goddess" in Persian.
Elena
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, Spanish, Romanian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Slovak, Czech, Lithuanian, Estonian, Finnish, Russian, Greek, German, English
Other Scripts: Елена(Bulgarian, Macedonian, Russian) Έλενα(Greek)
Pronounced: EH-leh-na(Italian, Czech, German) eh-LEH-na(Spanish) eh-lyeh-NU(Lithuanian) yi-LYEH-nə(Russian) i-LYEH-nə(Russian) EHL-ə-nə(English) ə-LAY-nə(English)
Form of
Helen used in various languages, as well as an alternate transcription of Russian
Елена (see
Yelena).
Elene
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Georgian, Sardinian, Basque
Other Scripts: ელენე(Georgian)
Georgian, Sardinian and Basque form of
Helen.
Eli 1
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, Hebrew, Biblical, Biblical Greek, Biblical Hebrew
Other Scripts: עֵלִי(Hebrew) Ἠλί(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: EE-lie(English)
Means
"ascension" in Hebrew. In the Books of Samuel in the
Old Testament he is a high priest of the Israelites. He took the young
Samuel into his service and gave him guidance when God spoke to him. Because of the misdeeds of his sons, Eli and his descendants were cursed to die before reaching old age.
Eli has been used as an English Christian given name since the Protestant Reformation. A notable bearer was the American inventor of the cotton gin Eli Whitney (1765-1825).
Eliezer
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Biblical, Hebrew, Biblical Latin, Biblical Greek
Other Scripts: אֱלִיעֶזֶר(Hebrew) Ἐλιέζερ(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: ehl-ee-EHZ-ər(English) ehl-ee-EE-zər(English)
From Hebrew
אֱלִיעֶזֶר ('Eli'ezer) meaning
"my God is help". This is the name of several characters in the
Old Testament, including a servant of
Abraham and one of the sons of
Moses (see
Exodus 18:4 for an explanation of the significance of the name).
Elif
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Turkish
Pronounced: eh-LEEF
Turkish form of
Alif, the name of the first letter of the Arabic alphabet,
ا. It also means
"slender", from the Turkish phrase
elif gibi, literally "shaped like elif".
Elisheba
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Biblical
Other Scripts: אֱלִישֶׁבַע(Ancient Hebrew)
Pronounced: ə-LISH-i-bə(English)
Elissa 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Roman Mythology
Meaning unknown, possibly Phoenician in origin. This is another name of
Dido, the legendary queen of Carthage.
Elitsa
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Bulgarian
Other Scripts: Елица(Bulgarian)
Derived from Bulgarian елица, itself a diminutive form of Bulgarian ела "fir tree; spruce".
Elmira 2
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Tatar, Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Azerbaijani
Other Scripts: Эльмира(Tatar, Kazakh) Элмира(Kyrgyz)
Possibly from Turkic
el meaning "country, society" combined with Arabic
أمير (amir) meaning "commander".
Elvar
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Icelandic
Elyzabel
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Arthurian Cycle
Possibly a form of
Elizabeth. In Arthurian legend this name was borne by a cousin of
Guinevere who was imprisoned by
Claudas for suspected espionage. His refusal to her release led to war with
Arthur.
Émérentienne
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French, French (African)
Enheduanna
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Sumerian
Other Scripts: 𒂗𒃶𒌌𒀭𒈾(Sumerian Cuneiform)
From Sumerian
En-hedu-anna, derived from
𒂗 (en) meaning "lady, high priestess" combined with
𒃶𒌌 (hedu) meaning "ornament" and the god's name
An 2. This was the Sumerian title of a 23rd-century BC priestess and poet, identified as a daughter of
Sargon of Akkad. Presumably she had an Akkadian birth name, but it is unrecorded. She is regarded as one of the earliest known poets.
Eoforhild
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Anglo-Saxon
Derived from the Old English elements
eofor "boar" and
hild "battle". This name was rarely used after the
Norman Conquest.
Éowyn
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Literature
Pronounced: AY-ə-win(English)
Means "horse joy" in Old English. This name was invented by J. R. R. Tolkien who used Old English to represent the Rohirric language. In his novel The Lord of the Rings (1954) Eowyn is the niece of King Theoden of Rohan. She slays the Lord of the Nazgul in the Battle of the Pelennor Fields.
Ephraim
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Biblical, Hebrew, Biblical Latin, Biblical Greek
Other Scripts: אֶפְרָיִם(Hebrew) Ἐφραίμ(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: EEF-ree-əm(English) EEF-rəm(English)
From the Hebrew name
אֶפְרָיִם ('Efrayim) meaning
"fruitful". In the
Old Testament Ephraim is a son of
Joseph and
Asenath and the founder of one of the twelve tribes of Israel. This name was also borne by two early
saints: Ephraim or Ephrem the Syrian, a 4th-century theologian, and Ephraim of Antioch, a 6th-century patriarch of Antioch.
Eran
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Biblical
Other Scripts: עֵירָן(Ancient Hebrew)
Means
"watchful, vigilant" in Hebrew. In the
Old Testament he is a grandson of Ephraim.
Erasmus
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Late Greek (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Ἔρασμος(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: i-RAZ-məs(English)
Derived from Greek
ἐράσμιος (erasmios) meaning
"beloved, desired".
Saint Erasmus, also known as Saint
Elmo, was a 4th-century martyr who is the patron saint of sailors. Erasmus was also the name of a Dutch scholar of the Renaissance period.
Ercole
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Italian
Pronounced: EHR-ko-leh
Erlendr
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Old Norse [1]
Eržika
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Czech (Rare), Slovak (Rare), Croatian (Rare)
Erzsébet
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Hungarian
Pronounced: EHR-zheh-beht
Hungarian form of
Elizabeth. This is the native name of
Saint Elizabeth of Hungary. It was also borne by the infamous Erzsébet Báthory (1560-1614), a countess and alleged murderer.
Esfandiar
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Persian, Persian Mythology, Literature
Other Scripts: اسفندیار(Persian)
Pronounced: ehs-fan-dee-YAWR(Persian)
Modern Persian form of
Sepandiar, which was the early New Persian form of the Middle Persian name
Spandadat. The latter name ultimately comes from the Avestan name
Spentodata, which means "given by (the) holy". It is derived from Avestan
spenta meaning "holy" combined with Avestan
data meaning "given".
Esfandiar was the name of a prince from Persian legend, who was killed by the warrior hero Rostam. The 11th-century Persian poet Ferdowsi recorded his tale in the epic poem "Shahnameh".
A known real-life bearer of the name is the Iranian politician Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei (b. 1960).
Esfir
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Russian
Other Scripts: Эсфирь(Russian)
Pronounced: is-FYEER
Esha
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Hindi
Other Scripts: एषा(Hindi)
Means "desire, wish" in Sanskrit.
Eslem
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: Turkish (Modern)
Possibly from Arabic
أسْلَمَ (aslama) meaning
"to submit".
Esmeray
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Turkish
Derived from Turkish esmer "dark" and ay "moon".
Ester
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Spanish, Catalan, Portuguese, Italian, Czech, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Icelandic, Finnish, Estonian, Hebrew
Other Scripts: אֶסְתֵר(Hebrew)
Pronounced: ehs-TEHR(Spanish) əs-TEHR(Catalan) EHS-tehr(Czech, Finnish)
Form of
Esther used in several languages.
Estera
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Polish, Slovak, Romanian, Lithuanian
Pronounced: eh-STEH-ra(Polish)
Polish, Slovak, Romanian and Lithuanian form of
Esther.
Ethel
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: ETH-əl
Short form of names beginning with the Old English element
æðele meaning
"noble". It was coined in the 19th century, when many Old English names were revived. It was popularized by the novels
The Newcomes (1855) by William Makepeace Thackeray and
The Daisy Chain (1856) by C. M. Yonge. A famous bearer was American actress and singer Ethel Merman (1908-1984).
Ethelinda
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Archaic)
English form of the Germanic name
Adallinda. The name was very rare in medieval times, but it was revived in the early 19th century.
Eugenia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, Spanish, Romanian, Polish, English, Ancient Greek (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Εὐγένεια(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: ew-JEH-nya(Italian) ew-KHEH-nya(Spanish) eh-oo-JEH-nee-a(Romanian) ew-GEH-nya(Polish) yoo-JEE-nee-ə(English) yoo-JEEN-yə(English)
Feminine form of
Eugenius (see
Eugene). It was borne by a semi-legendary 3rd-century
saint who escaped persecution by disguising herself as a man. The name was occasionally found in England during the Middle Ages, but it was not regularly used until the 19th century.
Exuperantia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Late Roman
Variant of
Exsuperantia, which is derived from the Latin noun
exsuperantia "preeminence, superiority, superfluity". The noun itself is ultimately derived from
exsuperans "surpassing (greatly), exceeding (greatly), surmounting (greatly)", which belongs to the verb
exsupero (see
Exuperius for more). This was the name of a virgin saint from the 4th century AD.
Fabian
Gender: Masculine
Usage: German, Dutch, Polish, Romanian, English
Pronounced: FA-bee-an(German) FA-bee-ahn(Dutch) FA-byan(Polish) FAY-bee-ən(English)
From the Roman
cognomen Fabianus, which was derived from
Fabius.
Saint Fabian was a 3rd-century pope.
Fabius
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Ancient Roman
Roman family name that was derived from Latin
faba meaning
"bean". Quintus Fabius Maximus was the Roman general who used delaying tactics to halt the invasion of
Hannibal in the 3rd century BC.
Fahd
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Arabic
Other Scripts: فهد(Arabic)
Pronounced: FAHD
Means "panther" in Arabic.
Faisal
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Arabic, Urdu, Bengali, Malay, Indonesian
Other Scripts: فيصل(Arabic) فیصل(Urdu) ফয়সাল(Bengali)
Pronounced: FIE-sal(Arabic)
Alternate transcription of Arabic
فيصل (see
Faysal), as well as the usual Urdu, Bengali, Malay and Indonesian form.
Fira
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Russian (Archaic, ?)
Other Scripts: Фира(Russian)
Pronounced: fee-RAH
Francisca
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Spanish, Portuguese, Late Roman
Pronounced: fran-THEES-ka(European Spanish) fran-SEES-ka(Latin American Spanish) frun-SEESH-ku(Portuguese) frun-SEES-ku(Portuguese)
Spanish and Portuguese feminine form of
Franciscus (see
Francis).
Gonzalo
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Spanish
Pronounced: gon-THA-lo(European Spanish) gon-SA-lo(Latin American Spanish)
From the medieval name
Gundisalvus, which was the Latin form of a Germanic (possibly Visigothic or Suebi) name composed of
gunda "war" and maybe
salba "salve, ointment",
salo "dark, dusky" or
sal "house, hall" (with the spelling perhaps influenced by Latin
salvus "safe").
Saint Gonzalo was an 11th-century bishop of Mondoñedo in Galicia, Spain.
Goryan
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Bulgarian
Other Scripts: Горян(Bulgarian)
From Bulgarian горя (gorya) meaning "to burn".
Grozdan
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Bulgarian, Macedonian
Other Scripts: Гроздан(Bulgarian, Macedonian)
Derived from Bulgarian
грозде (grozde) or Macedonian
грозје (grozje) meaning
"grapes".
Hadassah
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Biblical, Hebrew, Biblical Hebrew
Other Scripts: הֲדַסָּה(Hebrew)
Hafiz
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Arabic
Other Scripts: حفيظ(Arabic)
Pronounced: ha-FEEDH
Means
"custodian, guardian" in Arabic. In Islamic tradition
الحفيظ (al-Hafiz) is one of the 99 names of Allah.
Hayfa
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Arabic
Other Scripts: هيفاء(Arabic)
Pronounced: hie-FA
Means "slender" in Arabic.
Helka
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Finnish
Pronounced: HEHL-kah
Finnish variant of
Helga.
Hestia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Ἑστία(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: HEHS-TEE-A(Classical Greek) HEHS-tee-ə(English)
Derived from Greek
ἑστία (hestia) meaning
"hearth, fireside". In Greek
mythology Hestia was the goddess of the hearth and domestic activity.
Hilal
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: Arabic, Turkish
Other Scripts: هلال(Arabic)
Pronounced: hee-LAL(Arabic)
Means "crescent moon" in Arabic, also referring to the new moon on the Islamic calendar. As a given name it is typically masculine in Arabic and feminine in Turkish.
Hippolytos
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Greek Mythology, Ancient Greek
Other Scripts: Ἱππόλυτος(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: HEEP-PO-LUY-TOS(Classical Greek)
Means
"freer of horses" from Greek
ἵππος (hippos) meaning "horse" and
λύω (luo) meaning "to loosen". In Greek legend he was the son of
Theseus who was tragically loved by his stepmother
Phaedra. This was also the name of a 3rd-century theologian,
saint and martyr.
Hypatia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Ancient Greek
Other Scripts: Ὑπατία(Ancient Greek)
Derived from Greek
ὕπατος (hypatos) meaning
"highest, supreme". Hypatia of Alexandria was a 5th-century philosopher and mathematician, daughter of the mathematician Theon.
Ibrahim
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Arabic, Malay, Indonesian, Pashto, Urdu, Kazakh, Tatar, Bashkir, Avar, Bosnian, Dhivehi, Albanian, Hausa, Swahili
Other Scripts: إبراهيم(Arabic) ابراهيم(Pashto) ابراہیم(Urdu) Ибраһим(Kazakh, Tatar, Bashkir) Ибрагьим(Avar) އިބްރާހީމް(Dhivehi)
Pronounced: eeb-ra-HEEM(Arabic)
Arabic form of
Abraham, also used in several other languages.
Idris 1
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Arabic, Malay, Indonesian
Other Scripts: إدريس(Arabic)
Pronounced: eed-REES(Arabic)
Possibly means
"interpreter" in Arabic. According to the Quran this was the name of an ancient prophet. He is traditionally equated with the Hebrew prophet
Enoch.
Ilan
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Hebrew
Other Scripts: אִילָן(Hebrew)
Means "tree" in Hebrew.
Ilmatar
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Finnish Mythology
Pronounced: EEL-mah-tahr(Finnish)
Iman
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: Arabic, Persian, Indonesian
Other Scripts: إيمان(Arabic) ایمان(Persian)
Pronounced: ee-MAN(Arabic)
Means
"faith", derived from Arabic
أمن (amuna) meaning "to be faithful". It is typically feminine in Arabic and typically masculine in Persian.
Inessa
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Russian, Ukrainian
Other Scripts: Инесса(Russian) Інесса(Ukrainian)
Pronounced: i-NEHS-sə(Russian)
Russian and Ukrainian form of
Inés.
Innokenty
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Russian
Other Scripts: Иннокентий(Russian)
Pronounced: i-nu-KYEHN-tyee
Iqra
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Urdu
Other Scripts: اقرا(Urdu)
From Arabic
إقرا (iqra) meaning
"read, recite, confess". This is another name of the 96th chapter of the Quran.
Ira 1
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Biblical, English, Hebrew
Other Scripts: עִירָא(Hebrew)
Pronounced: IE-rə(English)
Means
"watchful" in Hebrew. In the
Old Testament this is the name of King
David's priest. As an English Christian given name,
Ira began to be used after the
Protestant Reformation. In the 17th century the
Puritans brought it to America, where remained moderately common into the 20th century.
Iracema
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Tupi
Means
"honey lips" in Tupi, from
yra "honey" and
tembe "lips". This is the name of an 1865 novel by José de Alencar, about the relationship between a Tupi woman and a Portuguese man during the early colonial period. Alencar may have constructed the name so that it would be an anagram of
America.
Isa 1
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Arabic, Persian, Albanian, Bosnian
Other Scripts: عيسى(Arabic) عیسی(Persian)
Pronounced: ‘EE-sa(Arabic)
Arabic form of
Jesus. This form is found in the Quran and is used as a given name by Muslims. Arabic-speaking Christians instead use
يسوع (Yasu') to refer to Jesus Christ.
Isabel
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Spanish, Portuguese, English, French, German, Dutch
Pronounced: ee-sa-BEHL(Spanish) ee-zu-BEHL(European Portuguese) ee-za-BEW(Brazilian Portuguese) IZ-ə-behl(English) EE-ZA-BEHL(French) ee-za-BEHL(German, Dutch)
Medieval Occitan form of
Elizabeth. It spread throughout Spain, Portugal and France, becoming common among the royalty by the 12th century. It grew popular in England in the 13th century after Isabella of Angoulême married the English king John, and it was subsequently bolstered when Isabella of France married Edward II the following century.
This is the usual form of the name Elizabeth in Spain and Portugal, though elsewhere it is considered a parallel name, such as in France where it is used alongside Élisabeth. The name was borne by two Spanish ruling queens, including Isabel of Castile, who sponsored the explorations of Christopher Columbus.
Iscah
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Biblical
Other Scripts: יִסְכָּה(Ancient Hebrew)
From the Hebrew name
יִסְכָּה (Yiskah) meaning
"to behold". In the
Old Testament this is the name of
Abraham's niece, mentioned only briefly. This is the basis of the English name
Jessica.
Isha
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: Hindi, Marathi, Hinduism
Other Scripts: ईशा(Hindi, Marathi) ईश(Sanskrit)
Means
"master, lord" in Sanskrit. This is a transcription of both the feminine form
ईशा and the masculine form
ईश (an epithet of the Hindu god
Shiva). It is also the name of one of the Upanishads, which are parts of Hindu scripture.
Ishbel
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Scottish
Ishmael
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Biblical
Other Scripts: יִשְׁמָעֵאל(Ancient Hebrew)
Pronounced: ISH-may-əl(English)
From the Hebrew name
יִשְׁמָעֵאל (Yishma'el) meaning
"God will hear", from the roots
שָׁמַע (shama') meaning "to hear" and
אֵל ('el) meaning "God". In the
Old Testament this is the name of a son of
Abraham. He is the traditional ancestor of the Arab people. Also in the Old Testament, it is borne by a man who assassinates
Gedaliah the governor of Judah. The author Herman Melville later used this name for the narrator in his novel
Moby-Dick (1851).
Ishtar
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Semitic Mythology
Other Scripts: 𒀭𒈹, 𒌋𒁯(Akkadian Cuneiform)
Pronounced: ISH-tahr(English)
From the Semitic root
'ṯtr, which possibly relates to the Evening Star. Ishtar was an Akkadian, Assyrian and Babylonian goddess who presided over love, war and fertility. She was
cognate with the Canaanite and Phoenician
Ashtoreth, and she was also identified with the Sumerian goddess
Inanna. Her name in Akkadian cuneiform
𒀭𒈹 was the same as the Sumerian cuneiform for Inanna.
Isibéal
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Irish
Isma'il
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Arabic
Other Scripts: إسماعيل(Arabic)
Pronounced: ees-ma-‘EEL
Isra
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Arabic
Other Scripts: إسراء(Arabic)
Pronounced: ees-RA
Means
"nocturnal journey", derived from Arabic
سرى (sara) meaning "to travel at night".
Issachar
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Biblical, Biblical Latin, Biblical Greek
Other Scripts: יִשָּׂשׁכָר(Ancient Hebrew) Ἰσσαχάρ(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: IS-ə-kahr(English)
Possibly means
"man of hire" or
"there is reward", from Hebrew
שָׁכַר (shakhar) meaning "hire, wage, reward". In the
Old Testament this is the name of one of the twelve sons of
Jacob (by
Leah) and the founder of one of the twelve tribes of Israel. A justification for the name's meaning is given in
Genesis 30:18.
Istarta
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Mordvin
Other Scripts: Истарта(Mordvin)
Means "skillfully embroidering, skillfully decorating" in Erzyan.
Jael
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Biblical, Biblical Portuguese
Other Scripts: יָעֵל(Ancient Hebrew)
Pronounced: JAY-əl(English) JAYL(English)
From the Hebrew name
יָעֵל (Ya'el) meaning
"ibex, mountain goat". This name appears in the
Old Testament belonging to the wife of
Heber the Kenite. After Sisera, the captain of the Canaanite army, was defeated in battle by
Deborah and
Barak he took refuge in Heber's tent. When he fell asleep Jael killed him by hammering a tent peg into his head.
Jefimija
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Serbian
Other Scripts: Јефимија(Serbian)
Serbian form of
Euphemia. This name was adopted by a 14th-century Serbian poet (born Jelena Mrnjavčević).
Kajsa
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Swedish
Pronounced: KIE-sa
Kamen
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Bulgarian
Other Scripts: Камен(Bulgarian)
Means
"stone" in Bulgarian. This is a translation of the Greek name
Πέτρος (Petros).
Kasimir
Gender: Masculine
Usage: German (Rare)
Pronounced: KA-zee-meew
Katarina
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, German, Croatian, Serbian, Slovene, Sorbian
Other Scripts: Катарина(Serbian)
Pronounced: ka-ta-REE-na(Swedish, German)
Keturah
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Biblical, Biblical Hebrew
Other Scripts: קְטוּרָה(Ancient Hebrew)
Pronounced: kə-TOO-rə(English)
Khafra
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Ancient Egyptian
From Egyptian
ḫꜥf-rꜥ meaning
"he appears as Ra". This was the name of the 4th-dynasty Egyptian pharaoh who built the second largest of the pyramids at Giza (26th century BC). He is also known as
Chephren, from the Greek form of his name.
Lachesis
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Λάχεσις(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: LAK-i-sis(English)
Means
"apportioner" in Greek. She was one of the three Fates or
Μοῖραι (Moirai) in Greek
mythology. She was responsible for deciding how long each person had to live.
Ladislava
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Czech, Slovak
Pronounced: LA-gyi-sla-va(Czech) LA-gyee-sla-va(Slovak)
Laetitia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Late Roman, French
Pronounced: LEH-TEE-SYA(French)
Original Latin form of
Letitia, as well as a French variant. This name began rising in popularity in France around the same time that Serge Gainsbourg released his 1963 song
Elaeudanla Téïtéïa (this title is a phonetic rendering of the letters in the name
Lætitia). It peaked in 1982 as the fourth most common name for girls.
Lamech
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Biblical, Biblical Latin, Biblical Greek
Other Scripts: לֶמֶכְ, לָמֶכְ(Ancient Hebrew) Λάμεχ(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: LAY-mik(English)
Possibly means
"to make low" in Hebrew. This is the name of two characters in Genesis in the
Old Testament, the first being a descendant of
Cain, and the second being a descendant of
Seth and the father of
Noah.
Lampus
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Λάμπος(Ancient Greek)
Ancient Greek masculine name meaning "to glitter, to shine".
Landric
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Germanic [1]
Germanic name derived from the elements
lant "land" and
rih "ruler, king".
László
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Hungarian
Pronounced: LAS-lo
Hungarian form of
Vladislav.
Saint László was an 11th-century king of Hungary, looked upon as the embodiment of Christian virtue and bravery.
Lautilde
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Medieval French
Either derived from Gothic lauths "grand" or Gothic laudi "figure, size" and Old High German hiltja "battle".
Lefa
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Swedish, Finnish
Pronounced: LEH-fah(Finnish)
Leipephilene
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Λειπεφιλήνη(Ancient Greek)
Leocadia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Spanish, Late Roman
Pronounced: leh-o-KA-dhya(Spanish)
Late Latin name that might be derived from the name of the Greek island of
Leucadia or from Greek
λευκός (leukos) meaning
"bright, clear, white" (which is also the root of the island's name).
Saint Leocadia was a 3rd-century martyr from Spain.
Leontia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Ancient Greek [1]
Other Scripts: Λεοντία(Ancient Greek)
Feminine form of
Leontios. This name was used among Byzantine royalty.
Leontina
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Late Roman, Portuguese, Romanian
Levi
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Hebrew, English, Dutch, German, Biblical, Biblical Latin
Other Scripts: לֵוִי(Hebrew)
Pronounced: LEE-vie(English) LEH-vee(Dutch)
Possibly means
"joined, attached" in Hebrew. As told in the
Old Testament, Levi was the third son of
Jacob and
Leah, and the ancestor of one of the twelve tribes of the Israelites, known as the Levites. This was the tribe that formed the priestly class of the Israelites. The brothers
Moses and
Aaron were members. This name also occurs in the
New Testament, where it is another name for the apostle
Matthew.
As an English Christian name, Levi came into use after the Protestant Reformation.
Liese
Gender: Feminine
Usage: German, Dutch
Pronounced: LEE-zə(German) LEE-sə(Dutch)
Liraz
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: Hebrew
Other Scripts: לִירָז(Hebrew)
Means
"my secret" in Hebrew, from
לִי (li) "for me" and
רָז (raz) "secret".
Livia 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, Romanian, German, Dutch, Swedish, Finnish, Ancient Roman
Pronounced: LEE-vya(Italian)
Feminine form of
Livius. This was the name of the wife of the Roman emperor Augustus, Livia Drusilla.
Lucretia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Ancient Roman, Roman Mythology
Pronounced: loo-KREH-tee-a(Latin) loo-KREE-shə(English)
Feminine form of the Roman family name
Lucretius, possibly from Latin
lucrum meaning
"profit, wealth". According Roman legend Lucretia was a maiden who was raped by the son of the king of Rome. This caused a great uproar among the Roman citizens, and the monarchy was overthrown. This name was also borne by a 4th-century
saint and martyr from Mérida, Spain.
Magdala
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Haitian Creole, Portuguese (Brazilian), African American, Spanish (Caribbean)
Pronounced: mugh-DHA-lu(Brazilian Portuguese) magh-DHA-la(Caribbean Spanish)
Either a short form of
Magdalena or from the biblical village that Mary
Magdalene was from, which means "tower" in Hebrew.
It is the name of a central character in the Agatha Christie mystery novel Peril at End House (1932), which features detective Hercule Poirot.
Malachi
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Hebrew, English, Biblical, Biblical Latin
Other Scripts: מַלְאָכִי(Hebrew)
Pronounced: MAL-ə-kie(English)
From the Hebrew name
מַלְאָכִי (Mal'akhi) meaning
"my messenger" or
"my angel". This is one of the twelve minor prophets of the
Old Testament, the author of the Book of Malachi, which some claim foretells the coming of Christ. In England the name came into use after the
Protestant Reformation.
Marduk
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Semitic Mythology
Other Scripts: 𒀭𒀫𒌓(Akkadian Cuneiform)
Pronounced: MAHR-duwk(English)
Probably from Sumerian
amar-Utuk meaning
"calf of Utu", derived from
amar "calf" combined with the name of the sun god
Utu. This was the name of the chief Babylonian god, presiding over heaven, light, sky, battle, and fertility. After killing the dragon
Tiamat, who was an old enemy of the gods, he created the world and sky from the pieces of her body.
Margarita
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Spanish, Russian, Bulgarian, Lithuanian, Latvian, Greek, Albanian, Late Roman
Other Scripts: Маргарита(Russian, Bulgarian) Μαργαρίτα(Greek)
Pronounced: mar-gha-REE-ta(Spanish) mər-gu-RYEE-tə(Russian) mahr-gə-REE-tə(English)
Latinate form of
Margaret. This is also the Spanish word for the daisy flower (species Bellis perennis, Leucanthemum vulgare and others).
Marguerite
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French
Pronounced: MAR-GU-REET
French form of
Margaret. This is also the French word for the daisy flower (species Leucanthemum vulgare).
Maria
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: Italian, Portuguese, Catalan, Occitan, German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Faroese, Dutch, Frisian, Greek, Polish, Romanian, English, Finnish, Estonian, Corsican, Sardinian, Basque, Armenian, Russian, Bulgarian, Ukrainian, Biblical Greek, Biblical Latin, Old Church Slavic
Other Scripts: Μαρία(Greek) Մարիա(Armenian) Мария(Russian, Bulgarian) Марія(Ukrainian) Маріа(Church Slavic)
Pronounced: ma-REE-a(Italian, German, Swedish, Dutch, Greek, Romanian, Basque) mu-REE-u(European Portuguese) ma-REE-u(Brazilian Portuguese) mə-REE-ə(Catalan, English) mah-REE-ah(Norwegian, Danish) MAR-ya(Polish) MAH-ree-ah(Finnish) mu-RYEE-yə(Russian) mu-RYEE-yu(Ukrainian)
Latin form of Greek
Μαρία, from Hebrew
מִרְיָם (see
Mary).
Maria is the usual form of the name in many European languages, as well as a secondary form in other languages such as English (where the common spelling is
Mary). In some countries, for example Germany, Poland and Italy,
Maria is occasionally used as a masculine middle name.
This was the name of two ruling queens of Portugal. It was also borne by the Habsburg queen Maria Theresa (1717-1780), whose inheritance of the domains of her father, the Holy Roman emperor Charles VI, began the War of the Austrian Succession.
Marjan
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Persian, Kazakh
Other Scripts: مرجان(Persian) Маржан(Kazakh) مارجان(Kazakh Arabic)
Pronounced: mar-JAWN(Persian) mahr-ZHAHN(Kazakh)
Means "coral" in Persian, of Arabic origin. This can also be a Kazakh alternate transcription of
Marzhan.
Maximilian
Gender: Masculine
Usage: German, English, Swedish, Norwegian (Rare), Danish (Rare)
Pronounced: mak-see-MEE-lee-an(German) mak-sə-MIL-yən(English)
From the Roman name
Maximilianus, which was derived from
Maximus. It was borne by a 3rd-century
saint and martyr. In the 15th century the Holy Roman emperor Frederick III gave this name to his son and eventual heir. In this case it was a blend of the names of the Roman generals Fabius Maximus and Cornelius Scipio Aemilianus (see
Emiliano), whom Frederick admired. It was subsequently borne by a second Holy Roman emperor, two kings of Bavaria, and a short-lived Habsburg emperor of Mexico.
Meshech
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Biblical
Genesis 10:23
Mikhail
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Russian, Belarusian, Bulgarian
Other Scripts: Михаил(Russian, Bulgarian) Міхаіл(Belarusian)
Pronounced: myi-khu-EEL(Russian)
Russian and Belarusian form of
Michael, and an alternate transcription of Bulgarian
Михаил (see
Mihail). This was the name of two Russian tsars. Other notable bearers include the Russian poet Mikhail Lermontov (1814-1841), the Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev (1931-2022), and the Latvian-Russian-American dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov (1948-).
Mirza
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Persian, Arabic, Urdu, Bosnian
Other Scripts: میرزا(Persian) ميرزا(Arabic) مرزا(Urdu)
Pronounced: MEER-za(Arabic)
Means
"prince" from Persian
میرزا (mirza), earlier
امیرزاده (amirzadeh), which is ultimately from Arabic
أمير (amir) meaning "commander" combined with Persian
زاده (zadeh) meaning "offspring".
Mordecai
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Biblical, Hebrew
Other Scripts: מָרְדֳּכַי, מָרְדְּכַי(Hebrew)
Pronounced: MAWR-də-kie(English)
Means
"servant of Marduk" in Persian. In the
Old Testament Mordecai is the cousin and foster father of
Esther. He thwarted a plot to kill the Persian king, though he made an enemy of the king's chief advisor
Haman.
Morvarid
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Persian
Other Scripts: مروارید(Persian)
Pronounced: mor-vaw-REED
Means "pearl" in Persian.
Moshe
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Hebrew, Biblical Hebrew
Other Scripts: מֹשֶׁה(Hebrew)
Pronounced: mo-SHEH(Hebrew)
Mustafa
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Arabic, Turkish, Bosnian, Urdu
Other Scripts: مصطفى(Arabic) مصطفی(Urdu)
Pronounced: MOOS-ta-fa(Arabic) moo-sta-FA(Turkish)
Means
"the chosen one" in Arabic, an epithet of
Muhammad. This was the name of four Ottoman sultans. Another famous bearer was Mustafa Kemal (1881-1938), also known as Atatürk, the founder of modern Turkey.
Nadezhda
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Russian, Bulgarian
Other Scripts: Надежда(Russian, Bulgarian)
Pronounced: nu-DYEZH-də(Russian)
Means "hope" in Russian and Bulgarian.
Ognyan
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Bulgarian
Other Scripts: Огнян(Bulgarian)
Derived from Bulgarian
огнен (ognen) meaning
"fiery".
Olga
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Russian, Ukrainian, Polish, German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Icelandic, Finnish, Estonian, Latvian, Hungarian, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Romanian, Czech, Slovene, Serbian, Bulgarian, Greek
Other Scripts: Ольга(Russian, Ukrainian) Олга(Serbian, Bulgarian) Όλγα(Greek)
Pronounced: OL-gə(Russian) AWL-ga(Polish, German) AWL-ka(Icelandic) OL-gaw(Hungarian) OL-gha(Spanish) OL-ga(Czech)
Russian form of the Old Norse name
Helga. The 10th-century
Saint Olga was the wife of
Igor I, the ruler of Kievan Rus (a state based around the city of Kyiv). Like her husband she was probably a Varangian, who were Norse people who settled in Eastern Europe beginning in the 9th century. Following Igor's death she ruled as regent for her son
Svyatoslav for 18 years. After she was baptized in Constantinople she attempted to convert her subjects to Christianity, though this goal was only achieved by her grandson
Vladimir.
Orseis
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Ορσηίς(Ancient Greek)
Ozias
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Biblical Latin, Biblical Greek
Other Scripts: Ὀζίας(Ancient Greek)
Paraskeve
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Late Greek
Other Scripts: Παρασκευή(Ancient Greek)
Derived from Greek
παρασκευή (paraskeue) meaning
"preparation" or
"Friday" (being the day of preparation). This was the name of a 2nd-century
saint who was martyred in Rome.
Perdita
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Literature
Derived from Latin
perditus meaning
"lost". Shakespeare created this name for the daughter of
Hermione and
Leontes in his play
The Winter's Tale (1610). Abandoned as an infant by her father the king, she grows up to be a shepherdess and falls in love with with
Florizel.
Philomena
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, German, Ancient Greek (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Φιλουμένη(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: fil-ə-MEE-nə(English)
From Greek
Φιλουμένη (Philoumene) meaning
"to be loved", an inflection of
φιλέω (phileo) meaning "to love". This was the name of an obscure early
saint and martyr. The name came to public attention in 1802 after a tomb seemingly marked with the name
Filumena was found in Rome, supposedly belonging to another martyr named Philomena. This may have in fact been a representation of the Greek word
φιλουμένη, not a name.
Phineas
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Biblical
Other Scripts: פִּינְחָס(Ancient Hebrew)
Pronounced: FIN-ee-əs(English)
Plamen
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Bulgarian, Serbian
Other Scripts: Пламен(Bulgarian, Serbian)
Means "flame, fire" in South Slavic.
Prasad
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Telugu, Marathi, Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam, Tamil, Odia, Bengali, Nepali
Other Scripts: ప్రసాద్(Telugu) प्रसाद(Marathi, Hindi, Nepali) ಪ್ರಸಾದ್(Kannada) പ്രസാദ്(Malayalam) பிரசாத்(Tamil) ପ୍ରସାଦ(Odia) প্রসাদ(Bengali)
Means "brightness, clearness, graciousness, offering" in Sanskrit. This is a word referring to an offering of food made to a deity.
Prospero
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Italian
Pronounced: PRAW-speh-ro
Italian form of
Prosper. This is the name of the main character, a shipwrecked magician, in
The Tempest (1611) by William Shakespeare.
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).
Quirina
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Late Roman
Rada
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Serbian, Bulgarian
Other Scripts: Рада(Serbian, Bulgarian)
Derived from the Slavic element
radŭ meaning
"happy, willing", originally a short form of names beginning with that element.
Rahab
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Biblical
Other Scripts: רָחָב(Ancient Hebrew)
Pronounced: RAY-hab(English)
Means
"spacious" in Hebrew. In the
Old Testament this is the name of a woman of Jericho who helped the Israelites capture the city.
Raisa 2
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Yiddish
Other Scripts: רייזאַ(Yiddish)
From Yiddish
רויז (roiz) meaning
"rose".
Randa
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Arabic
Other Scripts: رندة(Arabic)
Pronounced: RAN-dah
Means "scented tree" in Arabic.
Rashid
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Arabic
Other Scripts: رشيد, راشد(Arabic)
Pronounced: ra-SHEED, RA-sheed
Means
"rightly guided" in Arabic. In Islamic tradition
الرشيد (al-Rashid) is one of the 99 names of Allah.
This transcription represents two different ways of spelling the name in Arabic: رشيد, in which the second vowel is long, and راشد, in which the first vowel is long.
Rasmus
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, Finnish, Estonian
Pronounced: RAHS-moos(Danish, Norwegian, Finnish) RAS-smuys(Swedish)
Scandinavian, Finnish and Estonian form of
Erasmus.
Razaaq
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Arabic
Means "all provider" in Arabic. One of the names of
Allah in the Qur'an.
Remigia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, Polish
Remigius
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Late Roman
Ren
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: REHN
Rens
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Dutch
Pronounced: REHNS
Reza
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Persian
Other Scripts: رضا(Persian)
Pronounced: reh-ZAW
Rosa 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Catalan, Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, Finnish, Dutch, German, English
Pronounced: RO-sa(Spanish, Dutch) RAW-za(Italian) RAW-zu(European Portuguese) HAW-zu(Brazilian Portuguese) RAW-zə(Catalan) RO-za(German) RO-zə(English)
Generally this can be considered to be from Latin
rosa meaning
"rose", though originally it may have come from the unrelated Germanic name
Roza 2. This was the name of a 13th-century
saint from Viterbo in Italy. In the English-speaking world it was first used in the 19th century. Famous bearers include the Polish-German revolutionary Rosa Luxemburg (1871-1919) and the American civil rights activist Rosa Parks (1913-2005).
Rumen
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Bulgarian, Macedonian
Other Scripts: Румен(Bulgarian, Macedonian)
Pronounced: ROO-mehn
Means "ruddy, rosy" in Bulgarian and Macedonian.
Sabela
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Galician
Pronounced: sa-BEHL-a
Sabira
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Indian (Muslim), Urdu, Kazakh, Kyrgyz
Other Scripts: Сәбира(Kazakh) ٴسابىيرا(Kazakh Arabic) Сабира(Kyrgyz)
Derived from Arabic صَابِر (ṣābir) meaning "patient, steadfast".
Sacagawea
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Indigenous American
Pronounced: sak-ə-jə-WEE-ə(English)
Probably from Hidatsa tsakáka wía meaning "bird woman". Alternatively it could originate from the Shoshone language and mean "boat puller". This name was borne by a Native American woman who guided the explorers Lewis and Clark. She was of Shoshone ancestry but had been abducted in her youth and raised by a Hidatsa tribe.
Safa
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: Persian, Turkish, Arabic
Other Scripts: صفا(Persian) صفا, صفاء(Arabic)
Pronounced: sa-FA(Arabic) SA-fa(Arabic)
Persian and Turkish form of
Safaa or
Safaa', as well as an alternate Arabic transcription of either of those names.
Saga
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Norse Mythology, Swedish, Icelandic
Pronounced: SAH-gah(Swedish) SA-gha(Icelandic)
From Old Norse
Sága, possibly meaning
"seeing one", derived from
sjá "to see". This is the name of a Norse goddess, possibly connected to
Frigg. As a Swedish and Icelandic name, it is also derived from the unrelated word
saga "story, fairy tale, saga".
Sahar
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Arabic, Persian
Other Scripts: سحر(Arabic, Persian)
Pronounced: SA-har(Arabic)
Means "dawn" in Arabic.
Sa'id
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Arabic
Other Scripts: سعيد(Arabic)
Pronounced: sa-‘EED
Means
"happy, lucky" in Arabic. This was the name of a companion of the Prophet
Muhammad.
Sakina
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Arabic, Urdu
Other Scripts: سكينة(Arabic) سکینہ(Urdu)
Pronounced: sa-KEE-nah(Arabic)
Means "calmness, peace" in Arabic.
Saladin
Gender: Masculine
Usage: History
Pronounced: SAL-ə-din(English)
Samar 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Arabic
Other Scripts: سمر(Arabic)
Pronounced: SA-mar
Means
"evening conversation" in Arabic, from the root
سمر (samara) meaning "to talk in the evening".
Sarangerel
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Mongolian
Other Scripts: Сарангэрэл(Mongolian Cyrillic)
Pronounced: sah-RAHN-geh-rehl
Means
"moonlight" in Mongolian, from
саран (saran) meaning "moon" and
гэрэл (gerel) meaning "light".
Sava
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Serbian, Bulgarian
Other Scripts: Сава(Serbian, Bulgarian)
Serbian and Bulgarian form of
Sabas.
Scolace
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Medieval English
English vernacular form of
Scholastica. In England it was used as a Christian name from the late 12th century until the Protestant Reformation.
Selah
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Biblical
Other Scripts: סֶלַה(Ancient Hebrew)
Pronounced: SEE-lə(English)
From a Hebrew musical term that occurs many times in the
Old Testament Psalms. It was probably meant to indicate a musical pause.
Sergey
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Russian, Bulgarian
Other Scripts: Сергей(Russian, Bulgarian)
Pronounced: syir-GYAY(Russian)
Russian and Bulgarian form of
Sergius.
Severina
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, Portuguese, Ancient Roman
Pronounced: seh-veh-REE-na(Italian)
Shachar
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: Hebrew
Other Scripts: שַׁחַר(Hebrew)
Means "dawn" in Hebrew.
Shahrazad
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Persian (Rare), Arabic
Other Scripts: شهرزاد(Persian, Arabic)
Pronounced: shah-ra-ZAD(Arabic)
Possibly means
"noble lineage" from Persian
چهر (chehr) meaning "lineage, origin" and
آزاد (azad) meaning "free, noble"
[1]. Alternatively, it might mean
"child of the city" from
شهر (shahr) meaning "city, land" combined with the suffix
زاد (zad) meaning "child of". This is the name of the fictional storyteller in
The 1001 Nights. She tells a story to her husband the king every night for 1001 nights in order to delay her execution.
Sharif
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Arabic, Urdu, Pashto, Persian, Tajik, Uzbek, Malay
Other Scripts: شريف(Arabic) شریف(Urdu) شریف(Pashto, Persian) Шариф(Tajik, Uzbek)
Pronounced: sha-REEF(Arabic) shə-REEF(Urdu)
Means
"eminent, virtuous" in Arabic. This was a title used by the descendants of
Muhammad.
Shiphrah
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Biblical
Other Scripts: שִׁפְרָה(Ancient Hebrew)
Means
"beautiful" in Hebrew. In the
Old Testament this is the name of one of the midwives (the other being
Puah) who disobeys the Pharaoh's order to kill any Hebrew boys they deliver.
Shulamith
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Hebrew
Other Scripts: שׁוּלַמִּית(Hebrew)
Sigalit
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Hebrew
Other Scripts: סִיגָלִית(Hebrew)
Snezhana
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Russian, Bulgarian, Macedonian
Other Scripts: Снежана(Russian, Bulgarian, Macedonian)
Russian and Bulgarian form of
Snježana, as well as an alternate transcription of Macedonian
Снежана (see
Snežana).
Sóley
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Icelandic
Pronounced: SO-lay
Means
"buttercup (flower)" in Icelandic (genus Ranunculus), derived from
sól "sun" and
ey "island".
Sophia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Greek, German, Ancient Greek
Other Scripts: Σοφία(Greek)
Pronounced: so-FEE-ə(English) sə-FIE-ə(British English) so-FEE-a(Greek) zo-FEE-a(German)
Means
"wisdom" in Greek. This was the name of an early, probably mythical,
saint who died of grief after her three daughters were martyred during the reign of the emperor Hadrian. Legends about her probably arose as a result of a medieval misunderstanding of the phrase
Hagia Sophia "Holy Wisdom", which is the name of a large basilica in Constantinople.
This name was common among continental European royalty during the Middle Ages, and it was popularized in Britain by the German House of Hanover when they inherited the British throne in the 18th century. It was the name of characters in the novels Tom Jones (1749) by Henry Fielding and The Vicar of Wakefield (1766) by Oliver Goldsmith.
In the United States this name was only moderately common until the 1990s when it began rising in popularity, eventually becoming the most popular for girls from 2011 to 2013. A famous bearer is the Italian actress Sophia Loren (1934-).
Soraya
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Persian, Spanish, French, Portuguese (Brazilian)
Other Scripts: ثریا(Persian)
Pronounced: so-ray-YAW(Persian) so-RA-ya(Spanish)
Persian form of
Thurayya. It became popular in some parts of Europe because of the fame of Princess Soraya (1932-2001), wife of the last Shah of Iran, who became a European socialite.
Sorcha
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Irish, Scottish Gaelic [1]
Pronounced: SAWR-ə-khə(Irish) SUR-kə(English) SAWR-aw-khə(Scottish Gaelic)
Means
"radiant, bright" in Irish. It has been in use since late medieval times
[2]. It is sometimes Anglicized as
Sarah (in Ireland) and
Clara (in Scotland).
Sostrate
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Ancient Greek [1]
Other Scripts: Σωστράτη(Ancient Greek)
Means
"safe army" from Greek
σῶς (sos) meaning "safe, whole, unwounded" and
στρατός (stratos) meaning "army".
Sperantia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Late Roman
Stoyan
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Bulgarian
Other Scripts: Стоян(Bulgarian)
Derived from Bulgarian
стоя (stoya) meaning
"to stand, to stay".
Sufyan
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Arabic, Indonesian, Urdu
Other Scripts: سفيان(Arabic) سفیان(Urdu)
Pronounced: soof-YAN(Arabic) SOOF-yan(Indonesian)
Meaning uncertain. It could be derived from Arabic صوف (suf) meaning "wool", صفا (safa) meaning "pure, clean" or صعف (sa'f) meaning "slim, thin". Sufyan al-Thawri was an 8th-century Islamic scholar.
Suhayl
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Arabic
Other Scripts: سهيل(Arabic)
Pronounced: soo-HIEL
Alternate transcription of Arabic
سهيل (see
Suhail).
Svätopluk
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Slovak
Pronounced: SVA-taw-plook, SVEH-taw-plook
Svatoslava
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Czech
Svetlana
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Russian, Slovak, Bulgarian, Serbian, Macedonian, Estonian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Armenian, Georgian
Other Scripts: Светлана(Russian, Bulgarian, Serbian, Macedonian) Սվետլանա(Armenian) სვეტლანა(Georgian)
Pronounced: svyit-LA-nə(Russian) svyeht-lu-NU(Lithuanian)
Derived from Russian
свет (svet) meaning
"light, world". It was popularized by the poem
Svetlana (1813) by the poet Vasily Zhukovsky. It is sometimes used as a translation of
Photine.
Tamar
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Hebrew, Georgian, Biblical, Biblical Hebrew
Other Scripts: תָּמָר(Hebrew) თამარ(Georgian)
Pronounced: TAHM-ahr(English) TAY-mahr(English)
Means
"date palm" in Hebrew. According to the
Old Testament Tamar was the daughter-in-law of
Judah and later his wife. This was also the name of a daughter of King
David. She was raped by her half-brother
Amnon, leading to his murder by her brother
Absalom. The name was borne by a 12th-century ruling queen of Georgia who presided over the kingdom at the peak of its power.
Teimuraz
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Georgian
Other Scripts: თეიმურაზ(Georgian)
Georgian form of
Tahmuras. This was the name of several kings who ruled over kingdoms located in what is now modern Georgia.
Tihomir
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Bulgarian, Croatian, Serbian, Macedonian, Slovene
Other Scripts: Тихомир(Bulgarian, Serbian, Macedonian)
Pronounced: TEE-kho-meer(Croatian, Serbian) TEE-khaw-meer(Macedonian)
Derived from the Slavic elements
tixŭ "quiet" and
mirŭ "peace, world".
Tjaša
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Slovene
Tristan
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, French, Arthurian Cycle
Pronounced: TRIS-tən(English) TREES-TAHN(French)
Probably from the Celtic name
Drustan, a
diminutive of
Drust, which occurs as
Drystan in a few Welsh sources. As
Tristan, it first appears in 12th-century French tales, probably altered by association with Old French
triste "sad". According to the tales Tristan was sent to Ireland by his uncle King Mark of Cornwall in order to fetch
Iseult, who was to be the king's bride. On the way back, Tristan and Iseult accidentally drink a potion that makes them fall in love. Later versions of the tale make Tristan one of King
Arthur's knights. His tragic story was very popular in the Middle Ages, and the name has occasionally been used since then.
Urania
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Οὐρανία(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: yoo-RAY-nee-ə(English)
Valeriy
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian
Other Scripts: Валерий(Russian) Валерій(Ukrainian) Валерый(Belarusian)
Pronounced: vu-LYEH-ryee(Russian)
Russian, Ukrainian and Belarusian form of
Valerius.
Vasil
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Bulgarian, Belarusian, Macedonian, Georgian, Albanian
Other Scripts: Васил(Bulgarian, Macedonian) Васіль(Belarusian) ვასილ(Georgian)
Pronounced: vu-SEEL(Bulgarian) va-SEEL(Albanian)
Form of
Basil 1 in several languages.
Velimir
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Croatian, Serbian
Other Scripts: Велимир(Serbian)
Derived from the Slavic elements
velĭ "great" and
mirŭ "peace, world".
Veniamin
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Russian, Greek
Other Scripts: Вениамин(Russian) Βενιαμίν(Greek)
Pronounced: vyi-nyi-u-MYEEN(Russian)
Vespasian
Gender: Masculine
Usage: History
Pronounced: vehs-PAY-zhee-ən(English) vehs-PAY-zhən(English)
From the Roman
cognomen Vespasianus, derived either from Latin
vesper meaning
"west" or
"evening" or
vespa meaning
"wasp". This was the name of a 1st-century Roman emperor, Titus Flavius Vespasianus, the founder of the Flavian dynasty.
Vígdís
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Old Norse [1]
Derived from the Old Norse elements
víg "war" and
dís "goddess".
Visvaldis
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Latvian
From Latvian
viss "all" and
valdīt "to rule". It is thus a
cognate of the Slavic name
Vsevolod.
Vlada
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: Russian, Ukrainian, Serbian, Croatian
Other Scripts: Влада(Russian, Ukrainian, Serbian)
Pronounced: vla-DAH(Russian)
Vsevolod
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Russian, Ukrainian
Other Scripts: Всеволод(Russian, Ukrainian)
Pronounced: FSYEH-və-lət(Russian)
Derived from the Slavic elements
vĭśĭ "all" and
volděti "to rule". This was the name of an 11th-century grand prince of Kyiv.
Xenia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek, Spanish, Ancient Greek
Other Scripts: Ξένια(Greek) Ξενία(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: SEH-nya(Spanish)
Means
"hospitality" in Greek, a derivative of
ξένος (xenos) meaning "foreigner, guest". This was the name of a 5th-century
saint who is venerated in the Eastern Church.
Xenie
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Czech
Yasmin
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Arabic, Hebrew, Urdu, English (Modern), Spanish (Modern), Portuguese (Modern)
Other Scripts: ياسمين(Arabic) יַסְמִין(Hebrew) یاسمین(Urdu)
Pronounced: yas-MEEN(Arabic) YAZ-min(English)
Means
"jasmine" in Arabic and Hebrew, derived from Persian
یاسمین (yasamin). In modern times it has been used in the western world, as an Arabic-influenced variant of
Jasmine.
Yelena
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Russian
Other Scripts: Елена(Russian)
Pronounced: yi-LYEH-nə, i-LYEH-nə
Yelisafya
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Russian (Archaic)
Other Scripts: Елисафья(Russian)
Yeruslan
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Folklore
Other Scripts: Еруслан(Russian) Єруслан(Ukrainian)
From Tatar
Уруслан (Uruslan), which was possibly from Turkic
arslan meaning
"lion". Yeruslan Lazarevich is the name of a hero in Russian and Tatar folktales. These tales were based on (or at least influenced by) Persian tales of their hero
Rostam.
Yvain
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Arthurian Cycle
Form of
Owain used by the 12th-century French poet Chrétien de Troyes for his Arthurian romance
Yvain, the Knight of the Lion.
Zaffarana
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Arabic
Means "saffron" in Sicilian Arabic, from Arabic زعفران (za'farān), "saffron".
Zahra
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Arabic, Persian
Other Scripts: زهراء, زهرة(Arabic) زهرا(Persian)
Pronounced: zah-RA(Arabic) ZAH-rah(Arabic)
From Arabic
زهراء (zahra), the feminine form of
أزهر (azhar) meaning
"shining, brilliant, bright". This is an epithet of the Prophet
Muhammad's daughter
Fatimah.
It can also be an alternate transcription of Arabic زهرة (see Zahrah), a name derived from a related root.
Zoran
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Croatian, Serbian, Slovene, Macedonian
Other Scripts: Зоран(Serbian, Macedonian)
Zsóka
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Hungarian
Pronounced: ZHO-kaw
behindthename.com · Copyright © 1996-2024