Dianatiger's Personal Name List
Abelia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Spanish (Rare), Catalan (Rare)
Rating: 47% based on 20 votes
Feminine form of
Abel. Abelia is also a type of flowering shrub in the honeysuckle family, named after British surgeon and naturalist Clarke Abel (1780-1826).
Alder
Usage: English
Personal remark: M
Rating: 52% based on 20 votes
Aletris
Gender: Feminine
Usage: American (Modern, Rare)
Pronounced: Ah-leh-tris
Rating: 38% based on 9 votes
From the genus name of a bell-shaped flower also known as colic root, blazing star, unicorn root, or stargrass. Its roots have medicinal properties and are used to aid digestive and muscle problems. Its name derives from Greek ἀλετρίς (aletris) meaning "corn grinder, female slave who grinds corn" (a derivative of ἀλέω (aleo) "to grind, to pound") because of the mealy texture of the flowers.
Alfredia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: American
Pronounced: al-FREE-da
Rating: 25% based on 8 votes
variant of Alfreda, a genus of flowering plants in the daisy family
Alyssum
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: AL-IS-UM
Rating: 70% based on 1 vote
From the flowering plant native to the Mediterranean. The name alyssum actually comes from the Greek word 'lyssa', meaning “rage” or “madness” and the 'a', meaning “against” giving it its meaning today, “without madness”, since it was believed to cure madness.
Amarantha
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Various (Rare)
Rating: 53% based on 12 votes
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.
Amaryllis
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Literature
Pronounced: am-ə-RIL-is(English)
Rating: 66% based on 26 votes
Derived from Greek
ἀμαρύσσω (amarysso) meaning
"to sparkle". This is the name of a character appearing in
Virgil's pastoral poems
Eclogues [1]. The amaryllis flower is named for her.
Ambrosia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Ancient Greek [1]
Other Scripts: Ἀμβροσία(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: AM-BRO-SEE-A
Rating: 60% based on 21 votes
Feminine form of
Ambrosios (see
Ambrose).
Anemone
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: ə-NEHM-ə-nee
Rating: 45% based on 22 votes
From the name of the anemone flower, which is derived from Greek
ἄνεμος (anemos) meaning "wind".
Ash
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: ASH
Rating: 53% based on 22 votes
Short form of
Ashley. It can also come directly from the English word denoting either the tree or the residue of fire.
Aster
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: AS-tər
Rating: 54% based on 24 votes
From the name of the flower, which is derived via Latin from Greek
ἀστήρ (aster) meaning "star".
Autumn
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: AW-təm
Rating: 79% based on 29 votes
From the name of the season, ultimately from Latin autumnus. This name has been in general use since the 1960s.
Azalea
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: ə-ZAY-lee-ə
Rating: 67% based on 26 votes
From the name of the flower (shrubs of the genus Rhododendron), ultimately derived from Greek
ἀζαλέος (azaleos) meaning "dry".
Barley
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (British, Rare, Archaic)
Rating: 24% based on 12 votes
Transferred use of the surname
Barley.
Barrow
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: BA-ro
Rating: 38% based on 18 votes
Transferred use of the surname
Barrow.
Basil 1
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: BAZ-əl
Rating: 60% based on 23 votes
From the Greek name
Βασίλειος (Basileios), which was derived from
βασιλεύς (basileus) meaning
"king".
Saint Basil the Great was a 4th-century bishop of Caesarea and one of the fathers of the early Christian church. Due to him, the name (in various spellings) has come into general use in the Christian world, being especially popular among Eastern Christians. It was also borne by two Byzantine emperors.
Bay
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Medieval Russian
Other Scripts: Бай(Russian)
Rating: 46% based on 20 votes
Derived from the archaic Russian verb баять (bayat) meaning "to speak, to tell", which is ultimately derived from Church Slavonic bajati meaning "to speak, to talk, to tell, to narrate".
Begonia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare), Spanish (Rare), Romani (Archaic)
Rating: 40% based on 21 votes
From the name of a flowering plant, which was named for the French botanist Michel
Bégon. In some cases it may be a variant of the Spanish
Begoña.
Belladonna
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Various
Pronounced: behl-ə-DAHN-ə(English)
Rating: 63% based on 4 votes
From the name of a toxic plant, also called deadly nightshade (species Atropa belladonna). The plant's name is of Italian origin, probably derived from Latin bladona "mullein plant" and altered through association with the Italian words bella "beautiful, fair" and donna "lady".
Bellatrix
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Astronomy
Pronounced: bə-LAY-triks(English) BEHL-ə-triks(English)
Rating: 62% based on 26 votes
Means "female warrior" in Latin. This is the name of the star that marks the left shoulder of the constellation Orion.
Blossom
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: BLAH-səm
Rating: 74% based on 10 votes
From the English word blossom, ultimately from Old English blóstm. It came into use as a rare given name in the 19th century.
Bluebell
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Popular Culture
Pronounced: BLOO-bel(English)
Rating: 56% based on 23 votes
From the name of the flower, used to some extent as a first name when flower names were in vogue at the end of the 19th century.
Bramble
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: BRAM-bool
Rating: 55% based on 20 votes
Transferred use of the surname
Bramble.
Briar
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: BRIE-ər
Personal remark: Briar Rose
Rating: 66% based on 31 votes
From the English word for the thorny plant.
Brindle
Usage: English
Rating: 38% based on 23 votes
From the name of a town in Lancashire, England, derived from Old English
burna "stream, spring, brook" and
hyll "hill".
Bryony
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: BRIE-ə-nee
Rating: 59% based on 13 votes
From the name of a type of Eurasian vine, formerly used as medicine. It ultimately derives from Greek
βρύω (bryo) meaning "to swell".
Buttercup
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Literature
Pronounced: BUT-ər-kup(English)
Rating: 46% based on 21 votes
From the English word for the yellow flower (genus Ranunculus). Author William Goldman used it for Princess Buttercup in his book The Princess Bride (1973) and the subsequent film adaptation (1987).
Butterfly
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Rating: 28% based on 19 votes
Used to invoke the brilliantly-colored winged insect, which is widely seen as a symbol of metamorphosis, renewal, and rebirth, as well as one of youth and beauty. This is the birth name of a noted Australian folk singer, Butterfly Boucher, among others.
Calanthe
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: kə-LAN-thee
Rating: 49% based on 11 votes
From the name of a type of orchid, ultimately meaning "beautiful flower", derived from Greek
καλός (kalos) meaning "beautiful" and
ἄνθος (anthos) meaning "flower".
Calendula
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Rating: 33% based on 9 votes
The scientific name for a genus of flowers, comprised of several kinds of marigolds. From the Latin diminutive of calendae, meaning "little calendar", "little clock" or possibly "little weather-glass".
Caliandra
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Portuguese
Pronounced: kah-lee-aun-drah
Rating: 33% based on 9 votes
Caliandra is the name of a flower, whose scientific name is Calliandra harrisii, and its denomination derives from the combination of the Greek elements Kallio (beautiful) and Andros (man), probably meaning "beautiful and masculine" or "beautiful and manlike".
Calla
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: KAL-ə
Rating: 71% based on 12 votes
From the name of two types of plants, the true calla (species Calla palustris) and the calla lily (species Calla aethiopica), both having white flowers and growing in marshy areas. Use of the name may also be inspired by Greek
κάλλος (kallos) meaning
"beauty".
Calluna
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare), Dutch (Rare)
Rating: 47% based on 21 votes
From the genus name of common heather, a flowering shrub. It comes from the Greek verb καλλύνω
(kalluno) meaning "to beautify, sweep clean", ultimately from καλός
(kalos) "beautiful".
Camellia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: kə-MEE-lee-ə, kə-MEHL-ee-ə
Rating: 64% based on 22 votes
From the name of the flowering shrub, which was named for the botanist and missionary Georg Josef Kamel.
Canna
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Rating: 33% based on 18 votes
Rare name of uncertain origin and meaning that first appeared in the 19th century.
One theory derives Canna from the tropical flower of the same name, placing Canna among the many Victorian flower names. If that is true - and in some cases it certainly is -, then the roots of this name lie with Greek kanna "reed".
Another theory, however, considers Canna a borrowing of the name of the Scottish island Canna (Canaigh in Gaelic). The meaning of Canaigh is unclear; some scholars argue that it might be related to an Irish Gaelic word for "wolf-pup", while another group of academics derive the name from a Scottish Gaelic word for "porpoise" and yet another theory believes that, thanks to the island's shape, Canaigh might be related to an Old Norse word for "knee".
Carnation
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare), Romani (Archaic)
Pronounced: kah-NAY-shən(British English) kahr-NAY-shən(American English)
Rating: 42% based on 19 votes
Derived from the flower of the same name; its etymology is uncertain. It has been suggested that it may ultimately come from English coronation (which in turn ultimately comes from Anglo-French coroner "to crown"). An other suggested possibility is Latin carn(e) or caro "flesh", because the original colour of the flower was said to be as red as flesh. Alternatively, it may be derived from Middle French carnation "person's color or complexion".
Cassia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Ancient Roman
Pronounced: KAS-see-a(Latin) KA-shə(English) KAS-ee-ə(English)
Rating: 72% based on 13 votes
Cassinia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Obscure
Rating: 40% based on 10 votes
The name of a family of daisy flowers.
Cedar
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: SEE-dər
Rating: 62% based on 17 votes
From the English word for the coniferous tree, derived (via Old French and Latin) from Greek
κέδρος (kedros). Besides the true cedars from the genus Cedrus, it is also used to refer to some tree species in the cypress family.
Celosia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (American, Rare, Archaic)
Rating: 65% based on 11 votes
Taken from the name of the flower, whose name is derived from Greek κηλος (kelos) "burned".
Cerintha
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Rating: 36% based on 9 votes
From the name of a flower, literally "wax-flower" from Greek κηρος (keros) "beeswax" combined with ανθος (anthos) "flower".
Chrysanta
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: kri-SAN-tə
Rating: 72% based on 5 votes
Shortened form of the word chrysanthemum, the name of a flowering plant, which means "golden flower" in Greek.
Chrysanthemum
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: kris-AN-the-mum
Rating: 46% based on 13 votes
Taken directly from the name of the flower, which is derived from Greek khrusos "gold" and anthemon "flower".
This name has been in occasional use from the 19th century onwards, making it one of the many Victorian flower names.
Chrysanthia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare), Greek (Cypriot, Rare)
Rating: 43% based on 10 votes
Cinder
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (American)
Pronounced: SIN-der(American English)
Rating: 42% based on 17 votes
Representing the residue of combustion; ashes.
Clementine
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: KLEHM-ən-teen, KLEHM-ən-tien
Rating: 78% based on 22 votes
Cléoma
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French (Cajun, Rare)
Rating: 30% based on 8 votes
Derived from French cléome "cleome, spider flowers, bee plants". Cléoma Breaux Falcon (1906-1941) was a Cajun musician from Louisiana.
Cloud
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Popular Culture
Pronounced: KLOWD
Rating: 41% based on 19 votes
Derived from the English word cloud. In Popular Culture, this is the name of the main protagonist (Cloud Strife) in "Final Fantasy VII", who also makes an appearance in "Dissidia: Final Fantasy".
Clove
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Literature, English (Modern)
Pronounced: KLOV(Literature)
Rating: 48% based on 17 votes
From the English word meaning either a slice of garlic or the dried flower bud of a tropical tree, used as a spice. This name was recently used in Suzanne Collins' popular book, The Hunger Games.
Clover
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: KLO-vər
Rating: 66% based on 10 votes
From the English word for the wild flower, ultimately deriving from Old English clafre.
Columbine
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: KAHL-əm-bien
Rating: 42% based on 18 votes
From the name of a variety of flower. It is also an English form of
Colombina, the pantomime character.
Coral
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Spanish
Pronounced: KAWR-əl(English) ko-RAL(Spanish)
Rating: 60% based on 23 votes
From the English and Spanish word
coral for the underwater skeletal deposits that can form reefs. It is ultimately derived (via Old French and Latin) from Greek
κοράλλιον (korallion).
Coriander
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: KAWR-ee-an-dər, kawr-ee-AN-dər
Rating: 64% based on 5 votes
From the name of the spice, also called cilantro, which may ultimately be of Phoenician origin (via Latin and Greek).
Corisanda
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Spanish (Latin American, Rare)
Rating: 65% based on 4 votes
Corisande
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Literature, Theatre, French (Rare), Dutch (Rare)
Rating: 78% based on 4 votes
Meaning uncertain, from the name of a character in medieval legend, possibly first recorded by Spanish writer Garci Rodríguez de Montalvo. Perhaps it was derived from an older form of Spanish
corazón "heart" (e.g., Old Spanish
coraçon; ultimately from Latin
cor "heart", with the hypothetic Vulgar Latin root
*coratione,
*coraceone) or the Greek name
Chrysanthe. As a nickname it was used by a mistress of King Henry IV of France: Diane d'Andoins (1554-1620),
la Belle Corisande. Some usage may be generated by Jean-Baptiste Lully's opera
Amadis (1684; based on Garci Rodríguez de Montalvo), in which it belongs to the lover of the prince Florestan. The name was also used by Benjamin Disraeli for a character in his play
Lothair (1870).
Cosmo
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Italian, English
Pronounced: KAWZ-mo(Italian) KAHZ-mo(English)
Rating: 56% based on 27 votes
Italian variant of
Cosimo. It was introduced to Britain in the 18th century by the second Scottish Duke of Gordon, who named his son and successor after his friend Cosimo III de' Medici. On the American sitcom
Seinfeld (1989-1998) this was the seldom-used first name of Jerry's neighbour Kramer.
Cricket
Gender: Masculine
Usage: American (South)
Rating: 29% based on 18 votes
Crimson
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (Modern, Rare)
Rating: 53% based on 4 votes
From the English word for the purplish-red color. It originally meant the color of the kermes dye produced from a scale insect, Kermes vermilio, but the name is now sometimes also used as a generic term for slightly bluish-red colors that are between red and rose.
The word came from Late Middle English cremesyn, which came from obsolete French cramoisin or Old Spanish cremesin, which by itself came from Arabic قِرْمِز (qirmiz), ultimately from Persian کرمست (kirmist), which came from Middle Persian; related to Proto-Indo-Iranian *kŕ̥miš. Cognate with Sanskrit कृमिज (kṛmija).
According to the USA Social Security Administration, 70 girls and 44 boys were named Crimson in 2016. Also in 2012, 59 girls and 32 boys in the USA were named Crimsion.
Cypress
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: American (Rare)
Pronounced: SIE-pris
Rating: 48% based on 10 votes
From the English word cypress, a group of coniferous trees. Ultimately from Greek kuparissos.
Daffodil
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: DAF-ə-dil
Rating: 46% based on 20 votes
From the name of the flower, ultimately derived from Dutch de affodil meaning "the asphodel".
Dahlia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: DAL-yə, DAHL-yə, DAYL-yə
Rating: 73% based on 24 votes
From the name of the flower, which was named for the Swedish botanist Anders Dahl.
Daisy
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: DAY-zee
Rating: 71% based on 17 votes
Simply from the English word for the white flower, ultimately derived from Old English
dægeseage meaning "day eye". It was first used as a given name in the 19th century, at the same time many other plant and flower names were coined.
This name was fairly popular at the end of the 19th century and beginning of the 20th. The American author F. Scott Fitzgerald used it for the character of Daisy Buchanan in The Great Gatsby (1925). The Walt Disney cartoon character Daisy Duck was created in 1940 as the girlfriend of Donald Duck. It was at a low in popularity in the United States in the 1970s when it got a small boost from a character on the television series The Dukes of Hazzard in 1979.
Daphne
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology, English, Dutch
Other Scripts: Δάφνη(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: DA-PNEH(Classical Greek) DAF-nee(English) DAHF-nə(Dutch)
Rating: 76% based on 23 votes
Means
"laurel" in Greek. In Greek
mythology she was a nymph turned into a laurel tree by her father in order that she might escape the pursuit of
Apollo. It has been used as a given name in the English-speaking world since the end of the 19th century.
Delphinium
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Literature (Rare)
Pronounced: del FIN ee um
Rating: 39% based on 17 votes
A genus of flowering plant and the name of the teacher character in the children's book "Chrysanthemum" by Kevin Henkes.
Diantha
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Dutch (Rare), English (Rare)
Pronounced: die-AN-thə(English)
Rating: 56% based on 20 votes
From dianthus, the name of a type of flower (ultimately from Greek meaning "heavenly flower").
Dove
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: DUV
Rating: 58% based on 20 votes
From the English word for the variety of bird, seen as a symbol of peace.
Eagle
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: EE-gul, EE-gəl
Rating: 31% based on 17 votes
From the English word
eagle, ultimately from Latin
aquila. Also from the surname
Eagle, originally a nickname for a lordly or sharp-eyed man.
Echo
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Ἠχώ(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: EH-ko(English)
Rating: 60% based on 20 votes
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.
Eclipse
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: i-KLIPS, ee-KLIPS
Rating: 62% based on 5 votes
From the English word eclipse (derived from Latin eclipsis, ultimately from the Greek verb ἐκλείπω (ekleipô) meaning "to fail", i.e. fail to appear); a solar eclipse is when the sun and moon are aligned exactly so that the moon casts a great shadow over the Earth; a lunar eclipse is when the moon is right in front of the sun, showing only a bright slither of light. It is rarely used as a given name, but is indeed used, as familysearch.org can verify. Kit Berry used it for a (male) character in her Stonewylde series of fantasy novels.
Edelweiss
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Various
Pronounced: AY-dəl-vies(English) EH-DEHL-VIES(French) EH-DEHL-VEHS(French) eh-dehl-VIES(Italian) EH-dehl-vies(Italian)
Rating: 56% based on 22 votes
From the name of the edelweiss flower (species Leontopodium alpinum). It is derived from the German elements edel "noble" and weiß "white." The name of the flower is spelled Edelweiß in German; Edelweiss is an Anglicized spelling.
Elm
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Catalan, English
Rating: 43% based on 16 votes
Catalan form of
Elmo, as well as a short form of
Elmer. The name may also be taken directly from the English word
elm, a type of tree.
Ember
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: EHM-bər
Rating: 60% based on 21 votes
From the English word ember, ultimately from Old English æmerge.
Evanthe
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Εὐάνθη(Ancient Greek)
Rating: 33% based on 3 votes
Falcon
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Rating: 35% based on 17 votes
From the bird "Falcon" Falco
Fauna
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Roman Mythology
Pronounced: FOW-na(Latin) FAW-nə(English)
Rating: 41% based on 18 votes
Feminine form of
Faunus. Fauna was a Roman goddess of fertility, women and healing, a daughter and companion of Faunus.
Fawn
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: FAWN
Rating: 60% based on 20 votes
From the English word fawn for a young deer.
Fern
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: FURN
Rating: 75% based on 21 votes
From the English word for the plant, ultimately from Old English fearn. It has been used as a given name since the late 19th century.
Field
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Modern, Rare)
Rating: 33% based on 17 votes
Transferred use of the surname
Field.
Finch
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Rare), Literature
Pronounced: FINCH(English)
Rating: 54% based on 18 votes
Transferred use of the surname
Finch.
Fiora
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian (Rare), Corsican, Albanian (Rare)
Rating: 55% based on 10 votes
Derived from Italian and Corsican fiore "flower".
Fleur
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French, Dutch, English (British)
Pronounced: FLUUR(French, Dutch) FLU(British English) FLUR(American English)
Rating: 65% based on 22 votes
Means
"flower" in French.
Saint Fleur of Issendolus (
Flor in Gascon) was a 14th-century nun from Maurs, France. This was also the name of a character in John Galsworthy's novels
The Forsyte Saga (1922).
Flint
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: FLINT
Personal remark: Flint Hawkins
Rating: 50% based on 21 votes
From the English vocabulary word, from Old English flint.
Flora
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, German, Dutch, French, Greek, Albanian, Roman Mythology
Other Scripts: Φλώρα(Greek)
Pronounced: FLAWR-ə(English) FLAW-ra(Italian) FLO-ra(Spanish, German, Dutch, Latin) FLAW-ru(Portuguese) FLAW-RA(French)
Rating: 76% based on 23 votes
Derived from Latin
flos meaning
"flower" (genitive case
floris). Flora was the Roman goddess of flowers and spring, the wife of Zephyr the west wind. It has been used as a given name since the Renaissance, starting in France. In Scotland it was sometimes used as an Anglicized form of
Fionnghuala.
Florence
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English, French
Pronounced: FLAWR-əns(English) FLAW-RAHNS(French)
Rating: 100% based on 1 vote
From the Latin name
Florentius or the feminine form
Florentia, which were derived from
florens "prosperous, flourishing".
Florentius was borne by many early Christian
saints, and it was occasionally used in their honour through the Middle Ages. In modern times it is mostly feminine.
This name can also be given in reference to the city in Italy, as in the case of Florence Nightingale (1820-1910), who was born there to British parents. She was a nurse in military hospitals during the Crimean War and is usually considered the founder of modern nursing.
Florice
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Medieval English, Medieval French
Pronounced: FLAW-ris(Middle English) flaw-REES(Old French)
Rating: 37% based on 9 votes
Medieval English and French variant of
Floris, from the name of a male character in the medieval romance
Floris (or Florice) and
Blancheflour, apparently derived from
floris, Latin meaning "of flowers" or "belonging to flowers".
Forrest
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: FAWR-ist
Rating: 63% based on 21 votes
From an English surname meaning "forest", originally belonging to a person who lived near a forest. In America it has sometimes been used in honour of the Confederate Civil War general Nathan Bedford Forrest (1821-1877). This name was borne by the title character in the movie Forrest Gump (1994) about a loveable simpleton. Use of the name increased when the movie was released, but has since faded away.
Fox
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: FAHKS
Rating: 44% based on 20 votes
Either from the English word fox or the surname Fox, which originally given as a nickname. The surname was borne by George Fox (1624-1691), the founder of the Quakers.
Foxglove
Usage: Literature
Rating: 48% based on 5 votes
Used in Jill Murphy's books, The Worst Witch, as well as the television adaptations for the surname of Felicity Foxglove. It is a combination of "fox" and "glove".
Frost
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Rating: 44% based on 19 votes
Transferred use of the surname
Frost or from the English word.
Fuchsia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (British, Rare), Literature
Pronounced: FYOO-shə(English)
Rating: 37% based on 17 votes
From
Fuchsia, a genus of flowering plants, itself named after the German botanist Leonhart
Fuchs (1501-1566), whose surname means "fox" in German.
It was most famously used by British author Mervyn Peake for the character Fuchsia Groan in his Gormenghast books (1946-1959).
Gale 1
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: GAYL
Rating: 57% based on 20 votes
Variant of
Gail. It also coincides with the English word
gale meaning
"storm".
Gardenia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: gahr-DEEN-ee-ə
Rating: 39% based on 17 votes
From the name of the tropical flower, which was named for the Scottish naturalist Alexander Garden (1730-1791).
Geranium
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Romani (Archaic)
Rating: 30% based on 17 votes
Ginger
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: JIN-jər
Rating: 59% based on 20 votes
From the English word
ginger for the spice or the reddish-brown colour. It can also be a
diminutive of
Virginia, as in the case of actress and dancer Ginger Rogers (1911-1995), by whom the name was popularized.
Gossamer
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Theatre
Pronounced: GAHS-ə-mər
Rating: 43% based on 4 votes
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).
Harbor
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: HAR-BOR
Rating: 39% based on 18 votes
From the English word
harbor, a body of water for anchoring ships, ultimately from the Old English
herebeorg "shelter, refuge". It may also be the transferred use of the surname
Harbor.
Harvest
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Rating: 41% based on 16 votes
Transferred use of the surname
Harvester.
This name has been in occasional use since the 1800s.
Hawke
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Rating: 52% based on 19 votes
Hawkeye
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, Popular Culture
Rating: 42% based on 27 votes
From the English words "
Hawk", referring to the type of predatory bird, and "eye". Having a 'hawkeye' means being "particularly observant, especially to small details, or having excellent vision in general".
Hawkeye is the superhero name of Marvel comics character and Avenger, Clint Barton, whose hero name is due to him being an expert marksman with a bow and arrow. This is also the superhero name of his protege, Kate Bishop, who is also highly skilled with a bow. Hawkeye Pierce is the main protagonist of the 'M*A*S*H' novels, film, and television series. The character was played by Donald Sutherland in the film and by Alan Alda on television. Hawkeye is also a character in the novel, film, and television series 'Last of the Mohicans'.
Hawthorn
Usage: English
Pronounced: HAW-thawrn
Rating: 46% based on 5 votes
Hawthorne
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Rating: 57% based on 19 votes
Hazel
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: HAY-zəl
Rating: 95% based on 13 votes
From the English word hazel for the tree or the light brown colour, derived ultimately from Old English hæsel. It was coined as a given name in the 19th century and quickly became popular, reaching the 18th place for girls in the United States by 1897. It fell out of fashion in the second half of the 20th century, but has since recovered.
Heath
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: HEETH
Rating: 61% based on 21 votes
From an English surname that denoted one who lived on a heath. It was popularized as a given name by the character Heath Barkley from the 1960s television series
The Big Valley [1].
Heather
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: HEDH-ər
Rating: 84% based on 8 votes
From the English word heather for the variety of small shrubs with pink or white flowers, which commonly grow in rocky areas. It is derived from Middle English hather. It was first used as a given name in the late 19th century, though it did not become popular until the last half of the 20th century.
Heron
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Ancient Greek [1]
Other Scripts: Ἥρων(Ancient Greek)
Rating: 38% based on 16 votes
Derived from Greek
ἥρως (heros) meaning
"hero". This was the name of a 1st-century Greek inventor (also known as
Hero) from Alexandria.
Hollis
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: HAHL-is
Rating: 51% based on 18 votes
From an English surname that was derived from Middle English holis "holly trees". It was originally given to a person who lived near a group of those trees.
Holly
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: HAHL-ee
Rating: 89% based on 14 votes
From the English word for the holly tree, ultimately derived from Old English holen. Holly Golightly is the main character in the novella Breakfast at Tiffany's (1958) by Truman Capote.
Hyacinth 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology (Anglicized)
Other Scripts: Ὑάκινθος(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: HIE-ə-sinth(English)
Rating: 65% based on 17 votes
Ianthe
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Ἰάνθη(Ancient Greek)
Rating: 50% based on 21 votes
Means
"violet flower", derived from Greek
ἴον (ion) meaning "violet" and
ἄνθος (anthos) meaning "flower". This was the name of an ocean nymph in Greek
mythology.
Indigo
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: IN-di-go
Rating: 58% based on 25 votes
From the English word
indigo for the purplish-blue dye or the colour. It is ultimately derived from Greek
Ἰνδικόν (Indikon) meaning "Indic, from India".
Iolanthe
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Various (Rare)
Pronounced: ie-o-LAN-thee(English)
Rating: 36% based on 14 votes
Probably a variant of
Yolanda influenced by the Greek words
ἰόλη (iole) meaning "violet" and
ἄνθος (anthos) meaning "flower". This name was (first?) used by Gilbert and Sullivan in their comic opera
Iolanthe (1882).
Ione
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology, English
Other Scripts: Ἰόνη(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: ie-O-nee(English)
Rating: 52% based on 10 votes
From Ancient Greek
ἴον (ion) meaning
"violet flower". This was the name of a sea nymph in Greek
mythology. It has been used as a given name in the English-speaking world since the 19th century, though perhaps based on the Greek place name
Ionia, a region on the west coast of Asia Minor.
Iris
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology, English, German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, French, Spanish, Catalan, Italian, Slovene, Croatian, Greek
Other Scripts: Ἶρις(Ancient Greek) Ίρις(Greek)
Pronounced: IE-ris(English) EE-ris(German, Dutch) EE-rees(Finnish, Spanish, Catalan, Italian) EE-REES(French)
Rating: 87% based on 16 votes
Means "rainbow" in Greek. Iris was the name of the Greek goddess of the rainbow, also serving as a messenger to the gods. This name can also be given in reference to the word (which derives from the same Greek source) for the iris flower or the coloured part of the eye.
Ivy
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: IE-vee
Personal remark: Ivy Emmeline
Rating: 80% based on 59 votes
From the English word for the climbing plant that has small yellow flowers. It is ultimately derived from Old English ifig.
Jacinta
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Spanish, Portuguese
Pronounced: kha-THEEN-ta(European Spanish) kha-SEEN-ta(Latin American Spanish)
Rating: 52% based on 20 votes
Spanish and Portuguese feminine form of
Hyacinthus.
Jasmine
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, French
Pronounced: JAZ-min(English) ZHAS-MEEN(French)
Rating: 72% based on 14 votes
From the English word for the climbing plant with fragrant flowers that is used for making perfumes. It is derived via Arabic from Persian
یاسمین (yāsamīn), which is also a Persian name. In the United States this name steadily grew in popularity from the 1970s, especially among African Americans
[1]. It reached a peak in the early 1990s shortly after the release of the animated Disney movie
Aladdin (1992), which featured a princess by this name.
Jessamine
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: JEHS-ə-min
Rating: 60% based on 22 votes
From a variant spelling of the English word
jasmine (see
Jasmine), used also to refer to flowering plants in the cestrum family.
Jonquil
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: JAHNG-kwəl
Rating: 36% based on 19 votes
From the English word for the type of flower, derived ultimately from Latin iuncus "reed".
Juniper
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: JOON-i-pər
Rating: 79% based on 23 votes
From the English word for the type of tree, derived ultimately from Latin iuniperus.
Jupiter
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Roman Mythology (Anglicized)
Pronounced: JOO-pi-tər(English)
Rating: 51% based on 17 votes
From Latin
Iuppiter, which was ultimately derived from the vocative form of Indo-European *
Dyēws-pətēr, composed of the elements
Dyēws (see
Zeus) and
pətēr "father". Jupiter was the supreme god in Roman
mythology. He presided over the heavens and light, and was responsible for the protection and laws of the Roman state. This is also the name of the fifth and largest planet in the solar system.
Katniss
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Literature
Pronounced: KAT-nis(English)
Rating: 62% based on 13 votes
From the English word katniss, the name of a variety of edible aquatic flowering plants (genus Sagittaria). Katniss Everdeen is the protagonist of The Hunger Games series of novels by Suzanne Collins, released 2008 to 2010, about a young woman forced to participate in a violent televised battle.
Laelia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Ancient Roman
Pronounced: LIE-lee-a
Rating: 55% based on 11 votes
Feminine form of Laelius, a Roman family name of unknown meaning. This is also the name of a type of flower, an orchid found in Mexico and Central America.
Lark
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: LAHRK
Rating: 51% based on 20 votes
From the English word for the type of songbird.
Larkspur
Gender: Feminine
Usage: American (Modern, Rare)
Pronounced: LAHRK-spər
Rating: 46% based on 20 votes
From the English word for the flowering plant with many purplish-blue flowers, which is so called (1578) from its resemblance to the lark's large hind claws. Other names for it are lark's heel (Shakespeare), lark's claw and knight's spur. See
Lark.
Laurelle
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: LAWR-əl
Rating: 56% based on 20 votes
Lavender
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: LAV-ən-dər
Rating: 67% based on 33 votes
From the English word for the aromatic flower or the pale purple colour.
Lelia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian
Pronounced: LEH-lya
Rating: 56% based on 21 votes
Liatris
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: lie-A-tris
Rating: 41% based on 8 votes
Variant of
Leatrice. In some cases it may also be an adoption of the name of genus of flowering plants commonly known as
gayfeather.
Lilac
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: LIE-lək
Rating: 55% based on 35 votes
From the English word for the shrub with purple or white flowers (genus Syringa). It is derived via Arabic from Persian.
Lily
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: LIL-ee
Rating: 74% based on 28 votes
From the name of the flower, a symbol of purity. The word is ultimately derived from Latin lilium. This is the name of the main character, Lily Bart, in the novel The House of Mirth (1905) by Edith Wharton. A famous bearer is the American actress Lily Tomlin (1939-).
Lobelia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Literature
Pronounced: lo-BEEL-yə
Rating: 46% based on 18 votes
From the name of the flowering herb, which was named for the Belgian botanist Matthias de Lobel (1538-1616). It was used by the author J. R. R. Tolkien in his novel 'The Lord of the Rings' (1954), in which it belongs to the hobbit Lobelia Sackville-Baggins.
Lotus
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: LO-təs
Rating: 48% based on 17 votes
From the name of the lotus flower (species Nelumbo nucifera) or the mythological lotus tree. They are ultimately derived from Greek
λωτός (lotos). In Greek and Roman
mythology the lotus tree was said to produce a fruit causing sleepiness and forgetfulness.
Luna
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Roman Mythology, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, English
Pronounced: LOO-na(Latin, Spanish, Italian) LOO-nə(English)
Rating: 70% based on 32 votes
Means "the moon" in Latin (as well as Italian, Spanish and other Romance languages). Luna was the Roman goddess of the moon, frequently depicted driving a white chariot through the sky.
Lunaria
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare), Brazilian (Rare), Filipino (Rare), Spanish (Latin American, Rare), Spanish (Mexican, Rare)
Rating: 60% based on 21 votes
Means "moon-like" in Latin. Lunaria is a genus of flowering plants.
Lynx
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Astronomy
Rating: 44% based on 19 votes
Lynx is a constellation in the northern sky, introduced in the 17th century by Johannes Hevelius. It is named after the lynx, a genus of cats.
Magnolia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: mag-NO-lee-ə
Rating: 78% based on 12 votes
From the English word magnolia for the flower, which was named for the French botanist Pierre Magnol.
Magpie
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: MAG-pie
Rating: 39% based on 16 votes
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.
Mahogany
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: mah-HAW-go-nee
Rating: 31% based on 19 votes
From the English word mahogany, a tropical tree of the genus Swietenia, valued for their hard, reddish-brown wood; or after the color of the wood. Ultimately from Spanish mahogani, perhaps of Mayan origin.
Mallow
Usage: English
Rating: 46% based on 18 votes
Maple
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: MAY-pəl
Rating: 58% based on 20 votes
From the English word for the tree (comprising the genus Acer), derived from Old English mapul. This is the name of a girl in Robert Frost's poem Maple (1923) who wonders about the origin of her unusual name.
Marigold
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: MAR-i-gold, MEHR-i-gold
Rating: 63% based on 26 votes
From the name of the flower, which comes from a combination of
Mary and the English word
gold.
Mars
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Roman Mythology
Pronounced: MARS(Latin) MAHRZ(English)
Rating: 33% based on 12 votes
Possibly related to Latin
mas meaning
"male" (genitive
maris). In Roman
mythology Mars was the god of war, often equated with the Greek god
Ares. This is also the name of the fourth planet in the solar system.
Meadow
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: MEHD-o
Personal remark: Meadow Dove
Rating: 62% based on 23 votes
From the English word meadow, ultimately from Old English mædwe. Previously very rare, it rose in popularity after it was used as the name of Tony Soprano's daughter on the television series The Sopranos (1999-2007).
Merle
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English, Estonian
Pronounced: MURL(English)
Rating: 70% based on 3 votes
From the English word
merle or the French surname
Merle, which both mean
"blackbird" (from Latin
merula). It was borne by the devious character Madame Merle (in fact her surname) in Henry James' novel
The Portrait of a Lady (1880).
This name is also common for girls in Estonia, though a connection to the English-language name is uncertain.
Moon 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Korean
Other Scripts: 문(Korean Hangul) 文, etc.(Korean Hanja)
Pronounced: MOON
Rating: 48% based on 21 votes
Alternate transcription of Korean Hangul
문 (see
Mun).
Myrtle
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: MUR-təl
Rating: 80% based on 9 votes
Simply from the English word
myrtle for the evergreen shrub, ultimately from Greek
μύρτος (myrtos). It was first used as a given name in the 19th century, at the same time many other plant and flower names were coined.
Nandina
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: nan-DEE-nə
Rating: 31% based on 16 votes
From the species of flowering plant, also known as heavenly bamboo or sacred bamboo.
Narcissa
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Late Roman
Pronounced: nahr-SIS-ə(English)
Rating: 64% based on 21 votes
Neptune
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Roman Mythology (Anglicized)
Pronounced: NEHP-toon(English) NEHP-tyoon(English)
Rating: 32% based on 12 votes
From the Latin
Neptunus, which is of unknown meaning, possibly related to the Indo-European root *
nebh- "wet, damp, clouds". Neptune was the god of the sea in Roman
mythology, approximately equivalent to the Greek god
Poseidon. This is also the name of the eighth planet in the solar system.
Nova
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Swedish (Modern), Dutch (Modern)
Pronounced: NO-və(English) NO-va(Swedish, Dutch)
Rating: 69% based on 33 votes
Derived from Latin novus meaning "new". It was first used as a name in the 19th century.
Oceana
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare), Brazilian (Rare, ?), German (Rare, ?)
Pronounced: o-shee-AWN-ə(English) o-shee-AN-ə(English) o-say-AH-nah(Brazilian)
Rating: 61% based on 20 votes
Feminine form of
Oceanus. As an English name, this was coined in the early 19th century.
Océane
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French
Pronounced: AW-SEH-AN
Rating: 52% based on 17 votes
Derived from French océan meaning "ocean".
Oleander
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Greek (Rare), English (Rare)
Pronounced: AW-lee-an-der(Greek)
Rating: 56% based on 17 votes
The name Oleander originated as an Greek name. In Greek, the name Oleander means "an evergreen tree."
The origin of the name was said to have come from a young man whose ardour to his Lady Love ended in a tragedy. The young man was named Leander, and his precious lady longing for his love shouting with such forlorn “O Leander!”, “O Leander!” in the banks, until finally he was found. And clasped in his hands were sweet flowers, who have become a symbol of everlasting love, known as oleanders.
Possibly taken from the plant family, Nerium oleander (flowering shrub known as oleanders), Cascabela thevetia (yellow oleander), Acacia neriifolia (oleander wattle); or a species of moth, Daphnis nerii (oleander hawk-moth).
In the complex language of love practiced during the time of Queen Victoria, the Oleander flower means caution.
A diminutive use of Oleander could be Ollie, Lee, Lee-Ann, or Anders.
Orchard
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Rating: 50% based on 16 votes
Transferred use of the surname
Orchard.
Orchid
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: AW-kid(British English) AWR-kid(American English)
Rating: 48% based on 17 votes
From the eponymous flowering plant. The plant's name derives from Latin orchis, borrowed from Ancient Greek ὄρχις (orkhis), meaning "testicle" (the name was given to the plant because of the testicle-shaped subterranean parts of some European orchids).
Otter
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Modern, Rare)
Rating: 37% based on 20 votes
From the English word otter, a semi-aquatic mammal. The word otter is derived from Old English otor or oter, ultimately from the Proto-Indo-European *wódr̥ "water".
Padma
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Hinduism, Hindi, Tamil, Kannada, Telugu
Other Scripts: पद्म, पद्मा(Sanskrit, Hindi) பத்மா(Tamil) ಪದ್ಮಾ(Kannada) పద్మా(Telugu)
Pronounced: pəd-MA(Hindi)
Rating: 49% based on 17 votes
Means
"lotus" in Sanskrit. This is a transcription of both the feminine form
पद्मा and the masculine form
पद्म.
According to some Hindu traditions a lotus holding the god Brahma arose from the navel of the god Vishnu. The name Padma is used in Hindu texts to refer to several characters, including the goddess Lakshmi and the hero Rama.
Paloma
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Spanish
Pronounced: pa-LO-ma
Rating: 63% based on 9 votes
Means "dove, pigeon" in Spanish.
Petal
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: PEHT-əl
Rating: 33% based on 18 votes
From the English word for the flower part, derived from Greek
πέταλον (petalon) meaning "leaf".
Petunia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: pə-TOON-yə
Rating: 39% based on 10 votes
From the name of the flower, derived ultimately from a Tupi (South American) word.
Phlox
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Rating: 23% based on 18 votes
Taken from the name of the flower, whose name is derived from Greek phlox "flame". As a given name, it has been in occasional use in the English-speaking world from the late 19th century onwards.
Phoenix
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: FEE-niks
Rating: 58% based on 31 votes
From the name of a beautiful immortal bird that appears in Egyptian and Greek
mythology. After living for several centuries in the Arabian Desert, it would be consumed by fire and rise from its own ashes, with this cycle repeating every 500 years. The name of the bird was derived from Greek
φοῖνιξ (phoinix) meaning "dark red".
Plumeria
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Rating: 44% based on 20 votes
From the name of the flowering plant that is also known as frangipani.
Primrose
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: PRIM-roz
Rating: 70% based on 8 votes
From the English word for the flower, ultimately deriving from Latin prima rosa "first rose".
Primula
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare), Italian (Rare)
Pronounced: PRIM-yuw-lə(English) PREE-moo-la(Italian)
Rating: 39% based on 9 votes
From the name of a genus of several species of flowers, including the primrose. It is derived from the Latin word primulus meaning "very first".
Raine
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: RAYN
Rating: 60% based on 19 votes
From a surname derived from the Old French nickname
reine meaning
"queen". A famous bearer was the British socialite Raine Spencer (1929-2016), the stepmother of Princess Diana. In modern times it is also considered a variant of
Rain 1.
Rapunzel
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Literature
Pronounced: rə-PUN-zəl(English)
Rating: 53% based on 18 votes
From the name of an edible plant. It is borne by a long-haired young woman locked in a tower in an 1812 German fairy tale recorded by the Brothers Grimm. An evil sorceress gave her the name after she was taken as a baby from her parents, who had stolen the rapunzel plant from the sorceress's garden. The Grimms adapted the story from earlier tales (which used various names for the heroine).
Raven
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: RAY-vən
Personal remark: Raven Athena
Rating: 60% based on 22 votes
From the name of the bird, ultimately from Old English
hræfn. The raven is revered by several Native American groups of the west coast. It is also associated with the Norse god
Odin.
Reed
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: REED
Rating: 53% based on 20 votes
From an English surname that was derived from Old English read meaning "red", originally a nickname given to a person with red hair or a ruddy complexion. Unconnected, this is also the English word for tall grass-like plants that grow in marshes.
River
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: RIV-ər
Rating: 79% based on 22 votes
From the English word that denotes a flowing body of water. The word is ultimately derived (via Old French) from Latin ripa "riverbank".
Roan
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Frisian
Rating: 46% based on 17 votes
Originally a short form of names beginning with the Old German element
hraban meaning
"raven".
Robin
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, French, Dutch, Swedish, Czech
Pronounced: RAHB-in(American English) RAWB-in(British English) RAW-BEHN(French) RAW-bin(Dutch) RO-bin(Czech)
Rating: 80% based on 21 votes
Medieval English
diminutive of
Robert, now usually regarded as an independent name. Robin Hood was a legendary hero and archer of medieval England who stole from the rich to give to the poor. In modern times it has also been used as a feminine name, and it may sometimes be given in reference to the red-breasted bird.
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)
Rating: 76% based on 23 votes
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).
Rose
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, French
Pronounced: ROZ
Rating: 85% based on 26 votes
Originally a Norman French form of the Germanic name
Hrodohaidis meaning
"famous type", composed of the elements
hruod "fame" and
heit "kind, sort, type". The
Normans introduced it to England in the forms
Roese and
Rohese. From an early date it was associated with the word for the fragrant flower
rose (derived from Latin
rosa). When the name was revived in the 19th century, it was probably with the flower in mind.
Rosegold
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Modern, Rare)
Pronounced: ROZ-gold
Rating: 35% based on 8 votes
Derived from English
rose gold, the name of a gold-copper alloy which is sometimes also used to describe a colour that is golden yet somewhat reddish.
This name is the middle name of the British-Vincentian singer Marlon Roudette (b. 1983).
Rosemary
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: ROZ-mə-ree, ROZ-mehr-ee
Rating: 85% based on 25 votes
Combination of
Rose and
Mary. This name can also be given in reference to the herb, which gets its name from Latin
ros marinus meaning "dew of the sea". It came into use as a given name in the 19th century.
Rosepetal
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Rating: 37% based on 18 votes
Referring to the Petals of a rose.
Rue
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: ROO
Rating: 67% based on 21 votes
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.
Saffron
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: SAF-rən
Rating: 73% based on 10 votes
From the English word that refers either to a spice, the crocus flower from which it is harvested, or the yellow-orange colour of the spice. It is derived via Old French from Arabic
زعفران (zaʿfarān), itself probably from Persian meaning "gold leaves".
Sage
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: SAYJ
Rating: 70% based on 25 votes
From the English word sage, which denotes either a type of spice or else a wise person.
Sakura
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 桜, 咲良, etc.(Japanese Kanji) さくら(Japanese Hiragana)
Pronounced: SA-KOO-RA
Rating: 64% based on 21 votes
From Japanese
桜 (sakura) meaning "cherry blossom", though it is often written using the hiragana writing system. It can also come from
咲 (saku) meaning "blossom" and
良 (ra) meaning "good, virtuous, respectable" as well as other kanji combinations.
Seawillow
Gender: Feminine
Usage: American (South, Rare)
Rating: 59% based on 9 votes
Seawillow Margaret Ann Wells was named Seawillow after the unusual circumstances of her birth. The community Seawillow in Texas is named after her.
Shasta
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern, Rare), Literature
Pronounced: SHAS-tə(English)
Rating: 41% based on 19 votes
20th-century adoption of the name of Mount Shasta in Northern California (or the Shasta daisy, named after the mountain), which comes from the name of a Native American tribe that lived in the area; its origin and meaning is lost to time.
While the main character Shasta in the 1954 C. S. Lewis novel The Horse and His Boy was male, this is now generally considered a feminine name in the English-speaking world.
Shire
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Somali
Other Scripts: شيري(Arabic)
Rating: 28% based on 19 votes
Skye
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: SKIE
Rating: 65% based on 24 votes
From the name of the Isle of Skye off the west coast of Scotland. It is sometimes considered a variant of
Sky.
Skylark
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern, Rare)
Pronounced: SKIE-lahrk
Rating: 50% based on 23 votes
From the English word for the type of songbird, i.e., the common European lark (Alauda arvensis; which is "famed for its melodious song"). Use of the name is probably inspired by the similar name
Skylar; it could also be viewed as a combination of
Sky and
Lark.
This name has been in occasional use since the late 20th century.
Snow
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: SNO
Rating: 48% based on 20 votes
From the English word, derived from Old English snāw.
Snowdrop
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: SNO-drahp
Rating: 46% based on 21 votes
The name of the flower used as a first name, mainly between the 1890s and 1920s, but never one of the more popular names of this kind.
Sorrel
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: SAWR-əl
Rating: 59% based on 20 votes
From the name of the sour tasting plant, derived from Old French sur "sour", a word of Frankish origin.
Sparrow
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: SPAR-o, SPEHR-o
Rating: 54% based on 21 votes
From the name of the bird, ultimately from Old English spearwa.
Starla
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: STAHR-lə
Rating: 52% based on 23 votes
Starlight
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Rating: 35% based on 20 votes
Combination of
Star, from Middle English
sterre, from Old English
steorra and light, from Middle English
light, liht, leoht, from Old English
lēoht (“light, daylight; power of vision; luminary; world”).
Starshine
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Popular Culture
Rating: 37% based on 20 votes
Popularized by the song "Good Morning, Starshine" from the 1967 anti-war, counter-culture, rock musical Hair.
Summer
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: SUM-ər
Rating: 73% based on 25 votes
From the name of the season, ultimately from Old English sumor. It has been in use as a given name since the 1970s.
Summerfield
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Rating: 40% based on 8 votes
Sunflower
Gender: Feminine
Usage: American (Rare)
Pronounced: SUN-flow-er
Rating: 44% based on 21 votes
From the English word, sunflower.
Sunshine
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: SUN-shien
Rating: 46% based on 19 votes
From the English word, ultimately from Old English sunne "sun" and scinan "shine".
Talon
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: TAL-ən
Rating: 31% based on 19 votes
From the English word meaning "talon, claw", ultimately derived (via Norman French) from Latin talus "anklebone".
Tansy
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: TAN-zee
Rating: 39% based on 20 votes
From the name of the flower, which is derived via Old French from Late Latin tanacita.
Tawny
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: TAW-nee
Rating: 39% based on 19 votes
From the English word, ultimately deriving from Old French tané, which means "light brown".
Tempest
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: TEHM-pist
Rating: 43% based on 12 votes
From the English word meaning "storm". It appears in the title of William Shakespeare's play The Tempest (1611).
Tern
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Rating: 22% based on 11 votes
Thistle
Usage: English
Rating: 49% based on 20 votes
Derived from Middle English thistel "thistle", this was either a nickname or a topographic name for someone who lived near a place overgrown with thistles.
Thyme
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (Rare)
Rating: 33% based on 18 votes
From Old French thym, from Latin thymum, from Ancient Greek θύμον (thúmon).
Tigerlily
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: TIE-gər-lil-ee
Rating: 57% based on 20 votes
From tiger lily, a name that has been applied to several orange varieties of lily (such as the species Lilium lancifolium). Tiger Lily is also the name of the Native American princess in J. M. Barrie's play Peter Pan (1904).
Tigress
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (American, Rare)
Pronounced: TIE-grəs(American English)
Personal remark: 4 a cat
Rating: 43% based on 19 votes
This name comes from the word referring to a female tiger (from tiger and feminine suffix -ess.)
Tulip
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: TOO-lip, TYOO-lip
Rating: 43% based on 21 votes
From the name of the flower. Ultimately from Persian
dulband, "turban", from the shape of the opened flower.
As a given name, it has been occasionally used from the 19th century onwards.
Tulipa
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Portuguese
Pronounced: Too-LEE-pa
Rating: 35% based on 18 votes
From Portuguese tulipa "tulip".
Tundra
Usage: Romanian
Rating: 49% based on 22 votes
Twilight
Gender: Feminine
Usage: American (Modern, Rare)
Pronounced: TWIE-liet
Rating: 32% based on 18 votes
From the English word referring to the time of day when the sun is just below the horizon. Ultimately from Old English
twi- "half" +
līht "light".
As a given name, it has been in rare use from the early 20th century onwards.
Twyla
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: TWIE-lə
Rating: 67% based on 22 votes
Ursa
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Late Roman
Rating: 59% based on 16 votes
Feminine form of
Ursus. This is the name of two constellations in the northern sky: Ursa Major and Ursa Minor.
Vega 2
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Astronomy
Rating: 52% based on 15 votes
The name of a star in the constellation Lyra. Its name is from Arabic
الواقع (al-Wāqiʿ) meaning "the swooping (eagle)".
Velvet
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: VEHL-vət
Rating: 77% based on 3 votes
From the English word for the soft fabric. It became used as a given name after the main character in Enid Bagnold's book National Velvet (1935) and the movie (1944) and television (1960) adaptations.
Venus
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Roman Mythology
Pronounced: WEH-noos(Latin) VEE-nəs(English)
Rating: 57% based on 16 votes
Means
"love, sexual desire" in Latin. This was the name of the Roman goddess of love and sex. Her character was assimilated with that of the Greek goddess
Aphrodite. As the mother of
Aeneas she was considered an ancestor of the Roman people. The second planet from the sun is named after her.
Verbena
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Various (Rare)
Pronounced: vər-BEEN-ə(English)
Rating: 65% based on 21 votes
From the name of the verbena plant, which is derived from Latin verbena meaning "leaves, twigs".
Viola
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Italian, Swedish, Danish, Finnish, German, Hungarian, Czech, Slovak
Pronounced: vie-O-lə(English) vi-O-lə(English) VIE-ə-lə(English) VYAW-la(Italian) vi-OO-la(Swedish) VEE-o-la(German) vee-O-la(German) VEE-o-law(Hungarian) VI-o-la(Czech) VEE-aw-la(Slovak)
Rating: 68% based on 28 votes
Means
"violet" in Latin. This is the name of the heroine of William Shakespeare's comedy
Twelfth Night (1602). In the play she is the survivor of a shipwreck who disguises herself as a man named Cesario. Working as a messenger for Duke
Orsino, she attempts to convince
Olivia to marry him. Instead Viola falls in love with the duke.
Violet
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: VIE-lit, VIE-ə-lit
Rating: 77% based on 29 votes
From the English word violet for the purple flower, ultimately derived from Latin viola. It was common in Scotland from the 16th century, and it came into general use as an English given name during the 19th century.
Vixey
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Popular Culture
Pronounced: vicks-E
Rating: 46% based on 20 votes
Diminutive of Vixen, referring to a female fox. This name was used on a character in Disney's 1981 animated film 'The Fox and the Hound'.
Willow
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: WIL-o
Rating: 85% based on 12 votes
From the name of the tree, which is ultimately derived from Old English welig.
Windy
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Rating: 35% based on 19 votes
Winika
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Maori
Rating: 52% based on 22 votes
From the Maori name of Christmas orchids (Dendrobium cunninghamii), a type of orchid that is endemic to the New Zealand. This name could also be written as Te Winika, which means "the Christmas orchid".
Winter
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: WIN-tər
Personal remark: Winter Ophelia/Kiara
Rating: 69% based on 17 votes
From the English word for the season, derived from Old English winter.
Wisteria
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: wis-TEHR-ee-ə, wis-TEER-ee-ə
Rating: 55% based on 24 votes
From the name of the flowering plant, which was named for the American anatomist Caspar Wistar.
Wren
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: REHN
Rating: 69% based on 23 votes
From the English word for the small songbird. It is ultimately derived from Old English wrenna.
Yarrow
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Rare), Afro-American (Slavery-era)
Pronounced: YAR-o(English)
Rating: 41% based on 21 votes
Transferred use of the surname
Yarrow, and/or from the word for the flowering plant (Achillea millefolium).
Zinnia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: ZIN-ee-ə
Rating: 64% based on 25 votes
From the name of the flower, which was itself named for the German botanist Johann Zinn.
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