protobo998's Personal Name List

Contracted form of Adalhard.

Niçard form of Abélard.

Niçard diminutive of Abel.

Niçard form of Acarius.

Variant of Acharius. Saint Acarius (died 14 March 642) was bishop of Doornik and Noyon, which today are located on either side of the Franco-Belgian border. He was especially attentive to the poor and afflicted, whose needs he enjoyed relieving and calming their suffering.

From the Greek Ἀχιλλεύς (Achilleus), which is of unknown meaning, perhaps derived from Greek ἄχος (achos) meaning "pain" or else from the name of the Achelous River. This was the name of a warrior in Greek legend, one of the central characters in Homer's Iliad. The bravest of the Greek heroes in the war against the Trojans, he was eventually killed by an arrow to his heel, the only vulnerable part of his body.

This name was sometimes used as a personal name, and was borne by a few early saints, including a Roman soldier martyred with Nereus in the 1st century.

Niçard form of Achilles.

Niçard form of Adalhard.

Derived from the Old German elements adal "noble" and hart "hard, firm, brave, hardy". Saint Adalhard or Adalard was a cousin of Charlemagne who became an abbot of Corbie.

From Phoenician 𐤀𐤃𐤍 (ʾadon) meaning "lord, master". In Greek myth Adonis was a handsome young shepherd killed while hunting a wild boar. The anemone flower is said to have sprung from his blood. Because he was loved by Aphrodite, Zeus allowed him to be restored to life for part of each year. The Greeks borrowed this character from Semitic traditions, originally Sumerian (see Dumuzi).

Original Latin form of Giles.

Diminutive of names beginning with Aer, coinciding with the English word aerie, "a bird of prey's nest".

Old German name derived from the elements agil meaning "edge, blade" and wolf meaning "wolf". This name was borne by a 6th-century king of the Lombards and by an 8th-century saint (a bishop of Cologne).

This name combines 愛 (ai, ito.shii, o.shimu, kana.shii, mana, me.deru) meaning "affection, love" or 藍 (ran, ai) meaning "indigo" with 華 or 花 (ka, ke, hana) which both mean "flower," 香 (kyou, kou, ka, kao.ri, kao.ru) meaning "incense, perfume, smell", 加 (ka, kuwa.eru, kuwa.waru) meaning "add, include, join", 歌 (ka, uta, uta.u) meaning "sing, song, poem" or 嘉 (ka, yoi, yomi.suru) meaning "applaud, esteem, praise."

Old French form of Aimeric.

Medieval Walloon, Languedocian and Provençal form of Haimo.

Variant of Enara.

From the Greek name Αἴας (Aias), perhaps deriving from Greek αἰαστής (aiastes) meaning "mourner" or αἶα (aia) meaning "earth, land". In Greek mythology this was the name of two of the heroes who fought for the Greeks in the Trojan War: the son of Telamon and the son of Oileus. When the armour of the slain hero Achilles was not given to Ajax Telamonian, he became mad with jealousy and killed himself.

Possibly of Turkic origin meaning "white falcon". This was the name of a medieval Hungarian clan.

Variant of Axel.

Finnish form of Axel.

Provençal form of Hilarius.

From the Gothic name *Alareiks meaning "ruler of all", derived from the element alls "all" combined with reiks "ruler, king". This was the name of a king of the Visigoths who sacked Rome in the 5th century.

Anglicized form of Alasdair.

Ancient Germanic variant of Aldric and Niçard form of Aldéric.

Originally a short form of Germanic names beginning with the element alt meaning "old" (Proto-Germanic *aldaz), and sometimes also with adal meaning "noble" (Proto-Germanic *aþalaz).

From a Germanic name, derived from the elements alt "old" and rih "ruler, king". Saint Aldric was a 9th-century bishop of Le Mans.

Short form of Aleksey, Aleksandr or Aleksandra.

Niçard form of Alexis.

Diminutive of Aleksandr, Albert and other names beginning with the same sound.

Possibly a Romanian masculine form of Alina. Alternatively it may derive from Romanian alina "to soothe".

Derived from Arabic الفرد (al-fard) "the solitary one". Alphard is the brightest star in the constellation Hydra, with no other bright stars near it.

French form of Alfonso.

The name Dracula spelled backwards. Though regularly featured in (animated) films, notably 'Son of Dracula' (1943), it is perhaps best known in more recent times from Kouta Hirano's 'Hellsing' manga and the 'Castlevania' video games.

Means "love of God", derived from Latin amare "to love" and Deus "God". A famous bearer was the Austrian composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791), who was actually born Wolfgang Theophilus Mozart but preferred the Latin translation of his Greek middle name. This name was also assumed as a middle name by the German novelist E. T. A. Hoffmann (1776-1822), who took it in honour of Mozart.

Provençal form of Amadeus.

Means "shining over heaven", from Japanese 天 (ama) meaning "heaven, sky" and 照 (terasu) meaning "shine". This was the name of the Japanese sun goddess, the ruler of the heavens. She was born when Izanagi washed his left eye after returning from the underworld. At one time the Japanese royal family claimed descent from her.

Polish form of Ambrosius (see Ambrose).

Meaning unknown. It is attested from the 12th century in the Latin form Amphelisia and the vernacular form Anflis.

Languedocian, Provençal and Niçard form of Anastasius.

Meaning unknown, possibly from the Spanish surname Anaya (itself from the name of a Spanish town), used because of its similarity to Amaya [1].

From the Old Norse name Arnþórr, derived from the element ǫrn "eagle" combined with the name of the Norse god Þórr (see Thor).

Modern form of Aneirin.

Latin form of Angel.

French form of Anicetus.

Combination of Anna and Liisa.

German diminutive of Anna or short form of Anneliese.

Derived from the Old German elements ansi "god" and helm "helmet, protection". This name was brought to England in the late 11th century by Saint Anselm, who was born in northern Italy. He was archbishop of Canterbury and a Doctor of the Church.

Short form of Germanic names beginning with the element ansi meaning "god" (Proto-Germanic *ansuz).

Finnish form of Andrew.

Polish and Catalan form of Antonius (see Anthony). A notable bearer was the Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí (1852-1926).

From the Old Irish name Áedán meaning "little fire", a diminutive of Áed (see Aodh). This name was borne by a 6th-century king of Dál Riata. It was also the name of a few early Irish saints, including a 6th-century bishop of Ferns and a 7th-century bishop of Lindisfarne.

Means "eagle" in Lithuanian (a poetic word).

Latinized form of Archandros.

Possibly a variant of Harald or Arnold.

Variant of Armen.

French and Catalan form of Herman.

Old Norse and Icelandic form of Arne 1.

Means "virile" in Greek. Saint Arsenius was a 5th-century deacon who was tutor to the two sons of the Roman emperor Theodosius. The two sons, Arcadius and Honorius, divided the empire into eastern and western halves upon their father's death.

Derived from the Old Norse elements áss "god" and dís "goddess".

Younger form of Áslákr, derived from Old Norse áss "god" and leikr "game, play".

Old Norse variant of Áslakr.

Original Latin form of Attilio.

Created by German author Michael Ende for the hero of his fantasy novel 'Die unendliche Geschichte' (1979; English: 'The Neverending Story'). The character is a boy warrior whose name is explained as meaning "son of all" in his fictional native language, given to him because he was raised by all of the members of his village after being orphaned as a newborn.

Italian form of the Roman family name Atilius, which is of unknown Etruscan origin. Marcus Atilius Regulus was a Roman consul and hero of the First Punic War.

From an English surname that could be derived from various sources, including from Middle English bec meaning "beak" or bekke meaning "stream, brook".

Short form of Burkhard. This is the name of a character in Astrid Lindgren's book Ronia the Robber's Daughter (1981).

From Welsh blaidd "wolf" combined with a diminutive suffix. This was the name of an 11th-century king of Gwynedd and Powys.

Variant of Brancaci.

Patronymic derived from Βρισεύς (Briseus), a Greek name of unknown meaning. In Greek mythology Briseis (real name Hippodameia) was the daughter of Briseus. She was captured during the Trojan War by Achilles. After Agamemnon took her away from him, Achilles refused to fight in the war.

Seemingly derived from Welsh bron "breast" and gwen "white, blessed", though it has sometimes occurred as a variant spelling of the legendary name Branwen [1]. It has been used as a given name in Wales since the 19th century. It is borne by a character in Richard Llewellyn's 1939 novel How Green Was My Valley, as well as the 1941 movie adaptation.

Icelandic form of Brynhildr.

Means "armour" in Old Norse.

Late Latin name meaning "of the sky, heavenly", a derivative of Latin caelum "heaven, sky".

Roman family name that was derived from the praenomen Caeso.

Derived from Provençal calendau "(of) Christmas", ultimately derived from Latin calendalis. Calendau is the name of the hero of Mistral’s poem Calendau (1867).

From the English word calico referring to something having a pattern of red and contrasting areas, specially the tri-coloured cat, resembling the color of calico cloth, a kind of rough cloth often printed with a bright pattern. Derived from Calicut, an Anglicized form of Kozhikode (from Malayalam കോഴിക്കോട് (kōḻikkōṭ), koyil "palace" combined with kota "fort, fortified palace"), the name of a city in southwestern India from where the cloth was originally exported.

A noted bearer is John Rackham (1682 – 1720), commonly known as Calico Jack, an English pirate captain operating in the Bahamas and in Cuba during the early 18th century, his nickname derived from the calico clothing he wore.

From an Irish surname, the Anglicized form of Ó Ceallacháin, itself from the given name Cellachán.

Italian form of Camillus.

Short form of Cassandra, Cassidy and other names beginning with Cass.

From the Greek name Κάστωρ (Kastor), possibly related to κέκασμαι (kekasmai) meaning "to excel, to shine" (pluperfect κέκαστο). Alternatively it could be derived from the Greek word κάστωρ (kastor) meaning "beaver", though the legends about Castor do not mention beavers, which were foreign animals to the Greeks. In Greek myth Castor was a son of Zeus and the twin brother of Pollux. The constellation Gemini, which represents the two brothers, contains a star by this name.

Spanish and Italian form of Caecilius.

Italian and Spanish form of Caelius.

Roman family name meaning "tall" in Latin. This was the name of a 2nd-century philosopher who wrote against Christianity. It was also borne by an early saint martyred with Nazarius in Milan.

Norman form of Céneri.

Latinized form of the Greek Κηφεύς (Kepheus), which is of unknown meaning. In Greek legend he was a king of Ethiopia, the husband of Cassiopeia. After he died he was made into a constellation and placed in the sky.

Variant of Charisse.

From a surname that was originally from a place name meaning "camp meadow" in Old English.

From Japanese 千 (chi) meaning "thousand" and 鶴 (tsuru) meaning "crane (bird)". A Japanese legend says that a person who folds a thousand origami cranes within one year will be granted a wish.

Feminine form of Chrysanthos.

Modern Greek feminine form of Chrysanthos.

Means "golden flower" from Greek χρύσεος (chryseos) meaning "golden" combined with ἄνθος (anthos) meaning "flower". This name was borne by a semi-legendary 3rd-century Egyptian saint.

Means "sky" in French. It is not used as a given name in France itself.

Italian, Spanish and Portuguese form of Cyprianus (see Cyprian).

Dutch form of Constantinus (see Constantine).

Spanish and Italian form of Cornelius.

Crestian variant of Cristian.

Transferred use of the surname Crowley 1 or Crowley 2.

Derived from Old English cyne "royal" and ric "ruler, king".

French form of Cyprianus (see Cyprian).

Dutch (Flemish) form of Cyril.

Latinized form of the Greek Δαίδαλος (Daidalos), which was derived from δαιδάλλω (daidallo) meaning "to work cunningly". In Greek myth Daedalus was an Athenian inventor who was banished to Crete. There he designed the Labyrinth for King Minos, but he and his son Icarus were eventually imprisoned inside it because he had aided Theseus in his quest against the Minotaur. Daedalus and Icarus escaped using wings fashioned from wax, but Icarus fell from the sky to his death.

From Japanese 大 (dai) meaning "big, great" combined with 輝 (ki) meaning "brightness", 樹 (ki) meaning "tree" or 貴 (ki) meaning "valuable". Other combinations of kanji can also form this name.

Provençal variant of Danièl.

Gascon and Provençal form of Denis.

Transferred use of the surname Decker. This was used for a character on the American soap opera General Hospital: Decker Moss, a character that debuted on the show in 1989.

Possibly a variant of Denzil. This spelling of the name was popularized by American actor Denzel Washington (1954-), who was named after his father.

Anglicized form of Diarmaid.

Rare name from english word “dew”.

Possibly from Dewydd, an Old Welsh form of David. Saint Dewi, the patron saint of Wales, was a 6th-century bishop of Mynyw. A later Welsh form of David was Dafydd, which was more common in the medieval period. Dewi was revived in the 19th century.

Short form of Dexter.

Means "candle" in Indonesian.

Short form of names beginning with the Old High German element diota (Old Frankish þeoda) meaning "people".

Italian form of Deodatus.

Latin form of Dionysios. Dionysius the Areopagite, who is mentioned in the New Testament, was a judge converted to Christianity by Saint Paul. This was also the name of many other early saints, including a 3rd-century pope.

The name of Romani-French musician Django Reinhardt (1910-1953), whose real name was Jean. It is possibly from a Romani word meaning "I awake", though it might in fact be derived from the name Jean 1. This is the name of the title character in the Italian western movie Django (1966), as well as numerous subsequent films.

Original Latin form of Dominic. This is also the official Dutch form, used on birth certificates but not typically in daily life.

From the Late Latin name Donatus meaning "given". Several early saints had this name. The name was also borne by two Renaissance masters: the sculptor Donato di Niccolo di Bette Bardi (also known as Donatello), and the architect Donato Bramante.

Derived from the Slavic element dorgŭ (South Slavic drag) meaning "precious".

Finnish and Estonian form of Eric. A famous bearer was the architect Eero Saarinen (1910-1961).

Variant of Eldon or Alden.

Dutch variant of names beginning with Eli, such as Elijah or Elisabeth.

This given name is predominantly used in South America. In the Spanish-speaking countries of that continent, it is probably a combination of a name starting with Eli- (such as Elisa) with a name ending in -ander (such as Alexander). After all, it is fairly common in especially Latin-American countries for parents to give their child a name that is a combination of their own names. Also compare Elián and Eliandro.

As for Brazil: Eliander is usually a short form of Elianderson there, though of course the explanation described above is possible in Brazil as well.

Scandinavian and Welsh form of Helen.

Romanian and Polish form of Aemilianus (see Emiliano).

Welsh form of Ambrose. Emrys Wledig (or Ambrosius Aurelianus) was a Romano-British military leader who fought against the invading Anglo-Saxons in the 5th century. Tales of his life were used by the 12th-century chronicler Geoffrey of Monmouth to help shape the early character of Merlin, whom he called Merlinus Ambrosius in Latin.

Italian form of the Roman family name Ennius, which is of unknown meaning. Quintus Ennius was an early Roman poet.

Means "dawn" in Greek. This was the name of the Greek goddess of the dawn.

Latin form of Efisio.

From the Hebrew name אֶפְרָיִם (ʾEfrayim) 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.

Means "lovely" in Greek. In Greek mythology she was one of the nine Muses, the muse of lyric poetry.

Derived from the Greek verb ἐρύκω (eruko) or (eryko) meaning "to keep in, to curb, to hold back, to restrain". This is the name of several characters in Greek mythology, one of them being a king of the Elymian people from Sicily. A mountain and city in Sicily were named after him, but are now called Erice.

Modern Danish form of Esger.

Eske Willerslev (born 1971) is a Danish evolutionary geneticist.

Amharic form of Alexander.

Spanish form of the Late Latin name Sperantia, which was derived from sperare "to hope".

Alternate transcription of Russian Евгений (see Yevgeniy).

Italian form of Aetius.

French form of the Roman family name Fabricius, which was derived from Latin faber meaning "craftsman". Gaius Fabricius Luscinus was a 3rd-century BC Roman general and statesman.

Old Irish form of Faolán.

Derived from the Germanic element falco meaning "falcon" (see Falk). It is thought to have been borrowed into Latin by the Romans, who used it as a cognomen at least as early as the 1st century AD. Through Latin, the word eventually made its way into Italian, where it means both "falcon" and "hawk". Also see Falcone.

Notable bearers of this name include the early 6th-century saint Falco of Maastricht (located in the south of what is now the Netherlands) and the Austrian singer and musician Falco (1957-1998).

Transferred use of the surname Fargo.

Short form of the Old Norse Fenrisúlfr (literally "Fenrir-wolf"). The form Fenris Ulf was used for a talking wolf (originally named Maugrim) in the now defunct American edition of C. S. Lewis' 'The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe'.

Hungarian form of Francis. This is the Hungarian name of the composer Franz Liszt (1811-1886).

Roman cognomen which was derived from the Latin adjective ferox meaning "wild, bold, ferocious." In his work De re rustica, the 1st-century Roman writer Lucius Junius Moderatus Columella recommends this as a good name for dogs.

Means "proud" in Esperanto.

Anglicized form of Faolán.

Means "flower" in Italian. It can also be considered an Italian form of the Latin names Flora and Florus.

Diminutive of Fiore.

Old Norse form of Flemming.

Feminine form of Flavius.

Dutch form of Florentius (see Florence).

Italian, Spanish and Portuguese form of Florus.

From Yiddish פֿרייד (freid) meaning "joy".

Variant of Frida 1.

Roman praenomen, or given name, of uncertain meaning. It is possibly derived from Latin gaudere "to rejoice", though it may be of unknown Etruscan origin. This was a very common Roman praenomen, the most famous bearers being Gaius Julius Caesar, the great leader of the Roman Republic, and his adopted son Gaius Octavius (later known as Augustus), the first Roman emperor. This name also appears in the New Testament belonging to a bishop of Ephesus who is regarded as a saint.

Variant of Gail. It also coincides with the English word gale meaning "storm".

From Greek γένεσις (genesis) meaning "birth, origin". This was the name of various early Christian saints, notably Genesius of Rome, the patron saint of actors.

From the Roman name Gratianus, which was derived from Latin gratus meaning "grateful". Saint Gratian was the first bishop of Tours (4th century). This was also the name of a Roman emperor.

Variant of Grayson.

Old Norse form of Gudrun, as well as the modern Icelandic form.

Variant of Gawain. Gwaine is a character on the BBC television series 'Merlin', meant to represent the Gawain of Arthurian legend.

Feminine form of Helge.

Old Norse and Icelandic form of Helge.

French form of Hildegard.

Means "maple" in Icelandic.

Transferred use of the surname Hogan.

Nickname given to bluegrass singer and guitarist Frank "Hylo" Brown, Jr. (1922-2003) due to his broad vocal range.

Derived from Greek ὕπατος (hypatos) meaning "highest, supreme". Hypatia of Alexandria was a 5th-century philosopher and mathematician, daughter of the mathematician Theon.

Welsh and Galician form of Iacobus (see James). This was the name of two early Welsh kings of Gwynedd. It is also the name of the villain in Shakespeare's tragedy Othello (1603).

Basque form of Ignatius.

Icelandic form of Eindride.

Strictly feminine form of Inge.

From the Old Norse name Yngvarr, which was derived from the name of the Germanic god Yngvi combined with herr meaning "army, warrior".

From the Semitic root ʿṯtr, 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.

Spanish variant of Isidore.

Perhaps derived from an old Bulgar name meaning "wolf". This was the name of a 13th-century emperor of Bulgaria. It is possible that this spelling was the result of a 15th-century misreading of his real name Vulo from historical documents.

Finnish form of Jacob (or James).

Hungarian form of John.

German and Finnish form of Jasmine, as well as an English variant.

Variant of Jackson.

Variant of Jalen (masculine) or Jaylynn (feminine).

Combination of Jen and the popular name suffix essa.

German, Portuguese and Finnish form of Jeremiah. It is also the form used in some English translations of the New Testament.

From the Hebrew name יִתְרוֹ (Yiṯro), which was derived from the Hebrew word יֶתֶר (yeṯer) meaning "abundance" [1]. According to the Old Testament, Jethro was a Midianite priest who sheltered Moses when he fled Egypt. He was the father of Zipporah, who became Moses's wife. A famous bearer of the name was Jethro Tull (1674-1741), an English inventor and agriculturist.

Originally a Frisian short form of names beginning with the Old German element geba meaning "gift". This is the name of a boy in the Dutch children's book series Jip and Janneke, first published 1952.

Scandinavian, Macedonian and Serbian form of Joachim.

Provençal form of Julian.

Finnish form of John.

From Latin Iovianus, a Roman cognomen that was a derivative of Iovis (see Jove). This was the name of a 4th-century Roman emperor.

French form of Jovian.

Breton form of Judicaël.

Breton form of Iudocus (see Joyce).

Finnish short form of Juhani, now used independently.

Medieval Low German form of George.

Variant of Case.

Variant of Kay 1.

Variant of Kaylyn.

Breton form of Corentin.

French form of Carina 1. It can also function as a short form of Catherine, via Swedish Karin.

Dutch and Scandinavian form of Jasper.

From a surname that was a variant of Kerr.

Anglicized form of Ciarán.

From a Scottish surname, an Anglicized form of Mac Fhionnlaigh, itself derived from the given name Fionnlagh.

From an English surname that was originally from a place name meaning "church settlement" in Old Norse. This name briefly spiked in popularity for American girls in 1982 after the character Kirby Anders Colby was introduced to the soap opera Dynasty.

Variant of Kolbeinn.

German variant of Cora.

Old Norse name of unknown meaning.

Scandinavian form of Christopher.

Invented name based on the sounds found in other names such as Kyle and Rylan.

French variant of Killian.

Old German name derived from the elements lant meaning "land" and wolf meaning "wolf". This name was borne by several Lombard nobles.

Diminutive of Larry.

Italian form of Laelius (see Laelia).

Russian and Ukrainian form of Leonidas.

Either a diminutive of French names containing the sound lee or a combination of Lili and Louise.

From the name of a flower, also known as the twinflower. The Swedish botanist Carolus Linnaeus named it after himself, it being his favourite flower.

Variant of Leo.

Variant of Leonç.

Niçard short form of Alessandrou.

Variant of Llewelyn.

Roman cognomen derived from Latin longus "long". According to Christian legend Saint Longinus was the name of the Roman soldier who pierced Jesus' side with a spear, then converted to Christianity and was martyred. The name was also borne by the 3rd-century Greek philosopher Cassius Longinus.

French form of Louisiana.

French form of Lucianus.

Variant of Lucius.

French form of both Lucretia and its masculine form Lucretius.

Latinized form of Hludwig (see Ludwig). This form is also used as a baptismal name by Dutch and Flemish speakers, though it is commonly rendered Lodewijk in daily life.

Esperanto form of Ludwig. This is the Esperanto name of the philologist Ludwig Zamenhof (1859-1917), the creator of the Esperanto language.

Czech form of Ludwig.

Russian and Ukrainian form of Lucianus.

Original Latin form of Loup.

Catalan, Provençal and Gascon form of Macarius (see Macario).

Welsh form of Maximus. Magnus Maximus (known as Macsen Wledig in Welsh) was a 4th-century co-ruler of the Western Roman Empire. In Wales he was regarded as the founder of several royal lineages. He appears in the medieval Welsh tale The Dream of Macsen.

Breton form of Maël.

From the Old Norse elements magn "power, strength" and herr "army, warrior". This name was coined in the 19th century [1].

Derived from the Old Norse element magn meaning "power, strength". In Norse mythology this name is borne by a son of Thor and the giant Járnsaxa.

Provençal form of Maximinus.

Meaning unknown. It has been in use in Provence since at least the late nineteenth century.

Poitevin and Provençal form of Maxence.

Makai is an adverb in the Hawaiian language combining the directional particle ma with Hawaiian kai meaning "ocean". It literally means "toward or by the sea, seaward". It is sometimes used as a given name, particularly within the Hawaiian Islands but is also found within the continental United States.

Short form of Maksim, Maksym or Maksimilijan.

Russian, Belarusian and Macedonian form of Maximus, as well as an alternate transcription of Ukrainian Максим (see Maksym).

Means "wave, sea" in Greenlandic [1].

Means "bright pledge", derived from Old Breton mach "pledge, hostage" and lou "bright, brilliant". This was the name of a 6th-century Welsh saint, supposedly a companion of Saint Brendan on his trans-Atlantic journey. He later went to Brittany, where he founded the monastic settlement of Saint-Malo.

Anglicized form of Mainchín.

Originally a short form of Mārtiņš, now used independently.

Estonian, Finnish, Welsh and Breton form of Maria, as well as a Hungarian diminutive of Mária. It is also a Scandinavian, Georgian and Armenian form of the French name Marie.

Combination of Marie and Ève.

Diminutive of Maria.

From a Dutch surname, derived from the name of a village in Savoy, France. It is given in honour of the Flemish and Dutch statesman Philips of Marnix (1540-1598), also a notable writer.

Dutch form of Martin.

Italian form of Marcius.

From Japanese 正 (masa) meaning "right, proper" and 樹 (ki) meaning "tree", as well as other combinations of kanji having the same reading.

Russian form of Matthew.

Diminutive of Mattin.

Hungarian form of Matthias. This was the name of two Hungarian kings.

Anglicized form of Macsen.

Variant of Maybelline, used by Chuck Berry in his 1955 song by this name.

Usage of this still relatively new French given name first started with Mazarine Pingeot (b. 1974), the illegitimate daughter of former French president François Mitterrand (1916-1996) and his mistress Anne Pingeot (b. 1943), whose existence was only brought to light in 1994 or 1995. Her parents' love of books is said to have inspired them to name their daughter after the Bibliothèque Mazarine, the oldest public library in France. The library itself was named after the 17th-century cardinal Jules Raymond Mazarin, who had been born in Italy as Giulio Raimondo Mazzarino. He came from a family that was originally from Sicily and had taken their surname from their ancestral town, Mazzarino.

The town's name is said to have been derived from Mazzara, which either originates from Arabic mazari or mazar meaning "shrine", or is a corruption of Mactorium, the name of a town that had existed in the area in ancient times. That town had been founded by ancient Greek colonists, who had called it Μακτώριον (Maktorion). It is uncertain what the town's name meant in Greek, but it is possibly related to the Greek noun μακτήριον (makterion) meaning "food". Also compare Μαιμακτηριών (Maimakterion), which is the name of one of the lunar months of the Hellenic calendar used in ancient Attica. Alternatively, an etymological relation with the Greek adjective μακτός (maktos) meaning "kneaded" is also possible. This word is ultimately derived from the Greek verb μάσσω (masso) meaning "to knead, to press into a mould".

With that said, the given name Mazarine is quite rare in France today. It was virtually unknown in the country, until the existence of Mitterrand's illegitimate daughter was revealed in 1994 or 1995. The name gained quite a bit of exposure after that, which made it possible for prospective parents to take a liking to the name and bestow it upon their daughters. This clearly shows in the available statistics for the name Mazarine: it suddenly appeared on the radar in the mid-1990s and has remained on it ever since, whereas in previous decades, the name was not used on a noteworthy scale at all (as was to be expected, since this name was more or less "invented" as a given name).

Variant of Mephistopheles.

Meaning uncertain. It might be based on Hebrew מֵפִיץ (mefits) "scatterer, disperser" and טָפַל (ṭafal) "liar", or on Greek μή (me) "not", φῶς (phos) "light" and φίλος (philos) "friend, lover". Many other etymologies have been proposed. In a German legend, notably retold by Goethe, this is the name of a demon who makes a deal with Faust to exchange his soul for magical powers.

Variant of Merete.

From the English word, which is directly from Latin meridianus meaning "of midday, of noon, southerly, to the south". It was used by Alice Walker for the heroine of her novel 'Meridian' (1976).

Although the exact origin and meaning of this name are unknown, many modern-day academics believe this name to be the (possibly Anglicized) Cornish form of Morien.

Its variant Merryn was the name of a Cornish saint.

In the English-speaking world, all forms have been occasionally used from the 19th century onwards.

Meaning unknown. This was the name of an early Cornish (male) saint.

Provençal cognate of Nicolau.

From Japanese 美 (mi) meaning "beautiful" combined with 香 (ka) meaning "fragrance" or 加 (ka) meaning "increase". Other kanji combinations are also possible.

Scandinavian, Finnish and Breton form of Michael.

Modern Esperanto form of Michael.

Hungarian form of Nicholas.

From Japanese 美 (mi) meaning "beautiful" combined with 空 (ku) meaning "sky" or 久 (ku) meaning "long time". It can also come from a nanori reading of 未来 (mirai) meaning "future". Other kanji combinations are possible as well.

Means "seal oil" in Greenlandic [1]. A notable bearer was the Inughuit boy Minik (1890-1918), who was among a group brought by the explorer Robert Peary from Greenland to New York in 1897.

Russian diminutive of Mikhail.

Russian diminutive of Mikhail.

This meaning of this name is Chocolate-coffee flavored because the coffee flavor "Mocha" originated in Yemen. There's also a town in Yemen called Mocha.

Derived from Irish moch meaning "early" combined with a diminutive suffix.

From an aristocratic English surname meaning "sharp mountain", from Old French mont agu. In Shakespeare's tragedy Romeo and Juliet (1596) this is the surname of Romeo and his family.

From Greek μύρτος (myrtos) meaning "myrtle". This was the name of a few characters from Greek mythology, including one of the Maenads.

Derived from Greek νηρός (neros) meaning "water". In Greek myth this was the name of a god of the sea, the father of the Nereids. It is mentioned briefly in the New Testament, belonging to a Christian in Rome. This was also the name of a Roman saint of the 1st century, a member of the army, who was martyred with his companion Achilleus because they refused to execute Christians.

Short form of Nicholas, or sometimes Dominic.

From the Greek name Νικόδημος (Nikodemos) meaning "victory of the people", derived from Greek νίκη (nike) meaning "victory" and δῆμος (demos) meaning "the people". This is the name of a character in the New Testament who helps Joseph of Arimathea entomb Jesus.

Portuguese, Galician and Catalan form of Nicholas.

Finnish form of Nicholas.

Russian and Ukrainian form of Nikandros.

Polish form of Nicodemus.

Russian form of Nicodemus.

Possibly derived as a diminutive of Noah 1 or Noe.

Variant of Oaklyn.

Used by Eugene O'Neill in Mourning Becomes Electra as a deliberate link, it has been suggested, with Greek Orestes.

More often spelt Orrin when used in modern times. Oren also occurs, and there may be confusion with Oran. George Bernard Shaw invented the feminine name Orinthia in The Apple Cart, two years before O'Neill's play. In the 17th century the poet Cowley made use of another feminine name which appears to belong to the same group, Orinda (though this may have been a shortening of Dorinda). (Source: Dunkling & Gosling, 1983)

Transferred use of the surname Orrick.

Transferred use of the surname Orris.

Italian form of Ursus (see Urs).

Old Norse form of Orvar.

Derived from Old English os "god" and ric "power, rule". This name was borne by several Anglo-Saxon kings, one of the earliest being Osric of Deira (7th century AD).

In literature, Osric is the name of a courtier in William Shakespeare's play Hamlet.

From the Old English elements os "god" and wine "friend". Saint Oswin was a 7th-century king of Northumbria. After the Norman Conquest this name was used less, and it died out after the 14th century. It was briefly revived in the 19th century.

Italian form of Othello. This was the name of an 1887 opera by Giuseppe Verdi, based on Shakespeare's play.

Old Norse and Icelandic form of Odin.

From the Roman family name Ovidius, which was possibly derived from Latin ovis "a sheep". Alternatively, it could have a Sabellic origin. Publius Ovidius Naso, better known as Ovid, was a 1st-century BC Roman poet who is best known as the author of the Metamorphoses. He was sent into exile on the coast of the Black Sea by Emperor Augustus for no apparent reason.

English and Provençal form of Pacianus.

French feminine form of Perrin, a diminutive of Pierre.

From a Latin name, a diminutive of Petronia, the feminine form of Petronius. This was the name of an obscure 1st-century Roman saint, later believed to be a daughter of Saint Peter.

Breton diminutive of Pierre.

Old German form of Pepin. The 1972 musical Pippin is loosely based on the life of Charlemagne's eldest son Pepin the Hunchback.

Italian and Spanish form of Plinius (see Pliny).

Roman form of Greek Πολυδεύκης (Polydeukes) meaning "very sweet", from Greek πολύς (polys) meaning "much" and δευκής (deukes) meaning "sweet". In mythology he was the twin brother of Castor and a son of Zeus. The constellation Gemini, which represents the two brothers, contains a star by this name.

Russian form of Peter. A famous bearer was the Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893).

Derived from Pythios, a name of Apollo, combined with Greek ἀγορά (agora) meaning "assembly, marketplace". This was the name of a 6th-century BC Greek philosopher and mathematician from Samos. He was the founder of a school of philosophy whose members believed that numbers described the universe.

Italian form of Quintus.

Transferred use of the surname Radley.

Short form of Old Norse names beginning with the element regin "advice, counsel".

Medieval Irish form of Ragnvaldr.

Meaning uncertain. It is possibly a diminutive of Raimond or it could be related to the Old Estonian word raivo meaning "fury, rage".

Medieval diminutive of Randolf and other names beginning with the Germanic element rant meaning "rim (of a shield)".

From the Germanic name Raginheri, composed of the elements regin "advice, counsel, decision" and heri "army". Saint Rainerius was a 12th-century hermit from Pisa. The Normans brought this name to England where it came into general use, though it was rare by the end of the Middle Ages.

From an Irish surname, an Anglicized form of Ó Raghailligh, derived from the given name Raghailleach, meaning unknown.

Russian form of Renatus. In some cases communist parents may have bestowed it as an acronym of революция наука техника (revolyutsiya nauka tekhnika) meaning "revolution, science, technics" or революция наука труд (revolyutsiya nauka trud) meaning "revolution, science, labour".

English form of René or Renée.

From the English word meaning "daydream, fanciful musing", derived from Old French resverie, itself from resver meaning "to dream, to rave".

Variant of Rhea.

Dutch, Danish and Limburgish short form of Maria and Marie.

Finnish short form of Richard.

Transferred use of the surname Ringo. A famous bearer of this name was Beatles drummer Richard Starkey (1940), who was nicknamed Ringo due to the many rings he would wear. He ultimately adopted this nickname into a stagename, Ringo Starr, with Starr being an abbreviated form of his surname.

This name can also be Japanese for "apple" or "peace be with you".

Short form of names ending in rino.

Medieval form of Rhiwallon used in the early German versions of the Tristan legend, where it belongs to Tristan's father, the king of Parmenie.

Possibly a blend of River with the popular name suffix en. It coincides with an English adjective meaning "split, torn apart", related to Old Norse rífa "to scratch, to rive".

Swedish diminutive of Rolf.

Latinized form of the medieval name Rohese (see Rose).

Diminutive of Roland.

From Roma, the Latin name of the city of Rome, combined with a diminutive suffix. In Roman legend Romulus and Remus were the twin sons of Rhea Silvia and the god Mars. Romulus killed his brother when they argued about where to found Rome. According to the tale he gave the city its name, though in reality it was likely the other way around.

Old Norse, Icelandic and Faroese feminine form of Rune.

Russian form of the Old Norse name Hrǿríkr. This was the name of a 9th-century Varangian ruler of Novgorod.

Russian and Ukrainian form of Reuben.

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".

Languedocian and Provençal form of Symphorianus.

Meaning uncertain. This was the name of a 7th-century ruler of the Slavs, who established a kingdom including parts of modern Slovenia, Austria, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic. He was possibly of Frankish origin.

Latin form of Sancho.

Dutch, Estonian, Danish and Norwegian short form of Alexander.

Finnish diminutive of Susanna.

Finnish short form of Alexander.

Diminutive of Santo.

Means "saint" in Italian, ultimately from Latin sanctus.

Provençal form of Saturninus.

Italian variant form of Sabinus (see Sabina).

Norman form of Sibyl.

Meaning unknown, possibly related to Senne.

Italian form of Septimus.

Either from Hebrew שַׁי (shai) meaning "gift" or else a Hebrew diminutive of Isaiah.

From Greek Σίβυλλα (Sibylla), meaning "prophetess, sibyl". In Greek and Roman legend the sibyls were female prophets who practiced at different holy sites in the ancient world. In later Christian theology, the sibyls were thought to have divine knowledge and were revered in much the same way as the Old Testament prophets. Because of this, the name came into general use in the Christian world during the Middle Ages. The Normans imported it to England, where it was spelled both Sibyl and Sybil. It became rare after the Protestant Reformation, but it was revived in the 19th century, perhaps helped by Benjamin Disraeli's novel Sybil (1845).

Languedocian, Provençal and Gascon form of Sidonius.

Estonian form of Simon 1, originally a short form but now used independently.

Derived from Silvanus. Used as a literary name in the 17th and 18th centuries; one example is the character of Silvander in Thomas Killigrew's play "Claricilla" (c 1641).

Feminine form of Silvius. Rhea Silvia was the mother of Romulus and Remus, the founders of Rome. This was also the name of a 6th-century saint, the mother of the pope Gregory the Great. It has been a common name in Italy since the Middle Ages. It was introduced to England by Shakespeare, who used it for a character in his play The Two Gentlemen of Verona (1594). It is now more commonly spelled Sylvia in the English-speaking world.

Finnish and Serbian form of Simon 1.

Scottish Gaelic form of Jeanne or Jane.

Welsh form of John.

The name of a bright star in the constellation Canis Major, derived via Latin from Greek σείριος (seirios) meaning "burning".

Simply from the English word sky, which was ultimately derived from Old Norse ský "cloud".

Elaboration of Sky using the popular name suffix lyn.

From an Old Norse name, which was derived from the elements sól "sun" and veig "strength". This is the name of the heroine in Henrik Ibsen's play Peer Gynt (1876).

From Old Norse sǫlr meaning "yellow, pale, sallow".

Originally a transferred use of the surname Spark. It is now used as an adoption of the English word (which is derived from Old English spearca via Middle English sparke "spark").

Form of Spartacus in several languages.

Anglicized form of Spyros.

Anglicized form of Spyros.

Derived from the Old Norse elements steinn "stone" and unnr "wave".

Means "charm, grace" in Finnish.

Directly taken from the English word sun which is ultimately derived from Middle English sunne. From Old English sunne (“sun; the Sun”), from Proto-Germanic *sunnǭ, from the heteroclitic inanimate Proto-Indo-European *sh̥₂uén (“sun; the Sun”), oblique form of *sóh₂wl̥.

In the USA, 14 boys and 5 girls were named SUN in 2018.

From Old Norse sunr meaning "son".

Short form of Svanhildur.

Old Norse form of Svanhild.

Old Norse and Icelandic form of Sven.

Spanish form of Thaddeus.

Old Danish form of Tage.

Breton form of Tanguy.

Finnish form of Stephen.

Finnish form of Daria.

Finnish form of Nicodemus.

Medieval diminutive of Denis.

Italian form of Tertius.

From Japanese 哲 (tetsu) meaning "philosophy" combined with 也 (ya) meaning "to be". Other combinations of kanji with the same reading can form this name as well.

Either a feminine form of Þórr (see Thor) or else a short form of the various Old Norse names beginning with the element Þór. In Norse myth Thora was the wife of the Danish king Ragnar Lodbrok.

From the English word thunder meaning "a loud rumbling or crashing noise heard after a lightning flash due to the expansion of rapidly heated air’ from Old English thunor.

Old Norse form of Tyra.

Roman praenomen, or given name, meaning "of the Tiber" in Latin. The Tiber is the river that runs through Rome. Tiberius was the second Roman emperor, the stepson of Emperor Augustus. He was born Tiberius Claudius Nero, but was renamed Tiberius Julius Caesar after he was designated as the heir of Augustus.

Earlier form of Till.

Slovene form of Aegidius (see Giles).

Lithuanian form of Titus.

Italian, Spanish and Portuguese form of Titus.

Short form of Þórfreðr or Þórfastr.

Old Norse form of Tyge.

From the Old Norse name Þórleikr, which meant "Thor's play" from the name of the Norse god Þórr (see Thor) combined with leikr "play, game (involving weapons)".

Finnish short form of Tobias.

Derived from Latin trivium meaning "a place where three roads meet, a crossroads". In Roman mythology this was the name of a goddess of the night and crossroads, usually associated with witchcraft and sorcery as well as ghosts and childbirth. She was the Roman equivalent of the Greek goddess Hecate (who was called in Greek Ἑκάτη Τριοδῖτις (Hekate Trioditis) "Hecate of the crossroads", from τρίοδος (triodos) "a meeting of three roads").

Italian form of the Roman family name Tullius, derived from the praenomen Tullus, which is of unknown meaning. A famous bearer was Marcus Tullius Cicero, a Roman orator and author.

Variant of Twila.

Derived from Latin Tyrianus "of Tyre", an ancient city which is located in modern-day Lebanon. The name of the city itself is said to be derived from a Semitic word meaning "rock".

In ancient times, the city was famous for the purple-red dye named Tyrian purple (also known as "royal purple", "imperial purple" or "imperial dye").

Polish form of Titus.

Variant of Ulf.

Icelandic form of Ulf.

Middle English form of the Old English name Wulfric. When it is used in modern times, it is usually as a variant of Ulrich.

Scottish Gaelic form of Úna.

Probably from Old Norse una meaning "to enjoy".

Flemish, Norman and Picard form of Vedastus.

Derived from Bulgarian вълк (valk) meaning "wolf".

Finnish form of Walter.

Diminutive of Václav.

Russian form of Basil 1.

Possibly a Latinized form of a Germanic or Celtic name, possibly Germanic Widogast. This was the name of a 6th-century saint who helped to convert the Frankish king Clovis to Christianity. He is called Gaston in French and Vaast in Flemish.

From a colloquial form of the Finnish word veli meaning "brother".

Truncated form of Buenaventura.

English and Provençal form of Victorianus. This name was borne by two obscure saints, from the 5th and 6th centuries AD.

French form of Victorinus.

Gascon and Provençal form of Vitalis.

Russian form of Vincent.

Hungarian form of William.

From the name of the blue-green pigment, which is derived from Latin viridis, meaning "green".

Russian form and Modern Greek transcription of Bessarion.

Means "volcano" in Turkish.

Means "wolf" in Serbian.

Derived from Serbian vuk meaning "wolf". This was the name of a 14th-century Serbian ruler.

Transferred use of the surname Webb.

From a surname that was derived from a place name meaning "enclosure belonging to Wine" in Old English.

Elaboration of Wren using the popular name suffix ley.

Middle English form of the Old English name Wigmund, composed of the elements wig "battle" and mund "protection".

Derived from Greek ξενος (xenos) meaning "stranger, foreigner".

From Chinese 欣 (xīn) meaning "happy, joyous, delighted" or 心 (xīn) meaning "heart, mind, soul" combined with 怡 (yí) meaning "joy, harmony". This name can also be formed from other character combinations.

Russian and Bulgarian form of Jacob (or James), and an alternate transcription of Hebrew יַעֲקֹב (see Yaakov).

Breton form of John.

Diminutive of Yann or Yanna 2.

Russian diminutive of Yakov.

From Chinese 怡 (yí) meaning "joy, harmony" combined with 君 (jūn) meaning "king, ruler". This name can also be formed from other character combinations.

Means "she-wolf", a derivative of Old Norse úlfr "wolf".

From Japanese 祐 (yū) meaning "divine intervention, protection", 雄 (yū) meaning "hero, manly", or 裕 (yū) meaning "abundant" combined with 二 (ji) meaning "two" or 司 (ji) meaning "officer, boss". This name can also be formed from other combinations of kanji characters.

Rhyming variant of Jaxon.

Means "Yahweh has given" in Hebrew, derived from זָבַד (zavaḏ) meaning "to give" and יָהּ (yah) referring to the Hebrew God. This is the name of several Old Testament characters.

Possibly from the Old Slavic root zętĭ meaning "son-in-law".

Alternate transcription of Arabic ضياء (see Ziya), as well as the usual Urdu and Bengali transcription.

From the name of the flower, which was itself named for the German botanist Johann Zinn.

Greek form of Zoilus.

Perhaps means "enchanting" or "dawn" in Arabic. This was the name of a minor 12th-century Spanish saint, a convert from Islam. The name was used by Cervantes for a character in his novel Don Quixote (1606), in which Zoraida is a beautiful Moorish woman of Algiers who converts to Christianity and elopes with a Spanish officer.