ViviLC's Personal Name List

From the Hebrew name אַבְנֵר (ʾAvner) meaning "my father is a light", derived from אָב (ʾav) meaning "father" and נֵר (ner) meaning "lamp, light". In the Old Testament, Abner was a cousin of Saul and the commander of his army. After he killed Asahel he was himself slain by Asahel's brother Joab.

A famous bearer was the 14th-century Jewish philosopher Abner of Burgos, called Alfonso of Valladolid after he converted to Christianity. It has been used as an English Christian given name since the Protestant Reformation. It was popular with the Puritans, who brought it to America in the 17th century.

Variant of Hanaé.

French form of Anselm.

French form of Herleva.

French form of Arsenios.

Means "raising of the mind", from Greek ἄρσις (arsis) "raising" and νόος (noos) "mind, thought". This name was borne by Egyptian queens from the Ptolemaic dynasty.

French form of Artemisia.

French form of Athanasius.

French form of Athenais.

French feminine form of Columba.

French form of Cybele.

French cognate of Esperanza, currently most common in Francophone Africa.

Means "good gift" in Greek, from the elements εὖ (eu) meaning "good" and δῶρον (doron) meaning "gift". This was the name of a nymph, one of the Hyades, in Greek mythology.

Means "birth, origin" in Greek. This is the name of the first book of the Old Testament in the Bible. It tells of the creation of the world, the expulsion of Adam and Eve, Noah and the great flood, and the three patriarchs.

Medieval French form of Geoffrey.

French form of Geoffrey.

Means "bright pledge", derived from the Old German elements gisal "pledge, hostage" and beraht "bright". The Normans introduced this name to England, where it was common during the Middle Ages. It was borne by a 12th-century English saint, the founder of the religious order known as the Gilbertines.

French form of Gustav. This name was borne by the French artist Gustave Doré (1832-1883).

French form of Iphigenia.

German short form of names beginning with the Old German element irmin meaning "whole, great" (Proto-Germanic *ermunaz). It is thus related to Emma. It began to be regularly used in the English-speaking world in the 19th century.

Medieval French variant of Isabel. A famous bearer of this name was Isabeau of Bavaria (1385-1422), wife of the French king Charles VI.

French form of both Lucretia and its masculine form Lucretius.

Scottish Gaelic form of Marcella, now also associated with Marjorie.

French form of Melusine.

Ukrainian form of Xenia.

Derived from the Old English elements os "god" and weald "powerful, mighty". Saint Oswald was a king of Northumbria who introduced Christianity to northeastern England in the 7th century before being killed in battle. There was also an Old Norse cognate Ásvaldr in use in England, being borne by the 10th-century Saint Oswald of Worcester, who was of Danish ancestry. Though the name had died out by the end of the Middle Ages, it was revived in the 19th century.

Form of Uzziah used in the Greek, Latin and French Bibles. This spelling is also found in some English translations of the New Testament, in the genealogy of Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew.

From the Greek Φαίδρα (Phaidra), derived from φαιδρός (phaidros) meaning "bright". Phaedra was the daughter of Minos and the wife of Theseus in Greek mythology. Aphrodite caused her to fall in love with her stepson Hippolytos, and after she was rejected by him she killed herself.

From the Old Norse name Sigríðr, which was derived from the elements sigr "victory" and fríðr "beautiful, beloved".

From the Hebrew name שְׁלֹמֹה (Shelomo), which was derived from שָׁלוֹם (shalom) meaning "peace". As told in the Old Testament, Solomon was a king of Israel, the son of David and Bathsheba. He was renowned for his wisdom and wealth. Towards the end of his reign he angered God by turning to idolatry. Supposedly, he was the author of the Book of Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and the Song of Solomon.

This name has never been overly common in the Christian world, and it is considered typically Jewish. It was however borne by an 11th-century Hungarian king.

From the Gothic name *Þiudareiks meaning "ruler of the people", derived from the elements þiuda "people" and reiks "ruler, king". It was notably borne by Theodoric the Great, a 6th-century king of the Ostrogoths who eventually became the ruler of Italy. By Theodoric's time the Ostrogoths were partially Romanized and his name was regularly recorded as Theodoricus. This was also the name of two earlier (5th century) Visigothic kings.

French form of Theodulus.

French form of Theophilus.

Hebrew form of Zipporah.