knitastick's Personal Name List
Adelaide
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Italian, Portuguese
Pronounced: A-də-layd(English) a-deh-LIE-deh(Italian) a-di-LIE-di(European Portuguese) a-di-LIED(European Portuguese) a-deh-LIE-jee(Brazilian Portuguese)
Rating: 66% based on 11 votes
Means
"nobleness, nobility", from the French form of the Germanic name
Adalheidis, which was composed of
adal "noble" and the suffix
heit "kind, sort, type". It was borne in the 10th century by
Saint Adelaide, the wife of the Holy Roman emperor Otto the Great.
In Britain the parallel form Alice, derived via Old French, has historically been more common than Adelaide, though this form did gain some currency in the 19th century due to the popularity of the German-born wife of King William IV, for whom the city of Adelaide in Australia was named in 1836.
Alasdair
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Scottish Gaelic [1]
Alice
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, French, Portuguese, Italian, German, Czech, Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, Dutch
Pronounced: AL-is(English) A-LEES(French) u-LEE-si(European Portuguese) a-LEE-see(Brazilian Portuguese) a-LEE-cheh(Italian) a-LEES(German) A-li-tseh(Czech)
Rating: 76% based on 5 votes
From the Old French name
Aalis, a short form of
Adelais, itself a short form of the Germanic name
Adalheidis (see
Adelaide). This name became popular in France and England in the 12th century. It was among the most common names in England until the 16th century, when it began to decline. It was revived in the 19th century.
This name was borne by the heroine of Lewis Carroll's novels Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865) and Through the Looking Glass (1871).
Amethyst
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: AM-ə-thist
Rating: 20% based on 2 votes
From the name of the purple semi-precious stone, which is derived from the Greek negative prefix
ἀ (a) and
μέθυστος (methystos) meaning "intoxicated, drunk", as it was believed to be a remedy against drunkenness. It is the traditional birthstone of February.
Amy
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: AY-mee
English form of the Old French name Amée meaning "beloved" (modern French aimée), a vernacular form of the Latin Amata. As an English name, it was in use in the Middle Ages (though not common) and was revived in the 19th century.
Arden
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: AHR-dən(American English) AH-dən(British English)
Rating: 46% based on 7 votes
From an English surname, originally taken from various place names, which were derived from a Celtic word meaning "high".
Arthur
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, French, German, Dutch, Norwegian, Danish, Swedish, Welsh Mythology, Arthurian Cycle
Pronounced: AHR-thər(American English) AH-thə(British English) AR-TUYR(French) AR-tuwr(German) AHR-tuyr(Dutch)
Rating: 35% based on 4 votes
The meaning of this name is unknown. It could be derived from the Celtic elements *
artos "bear" (Old Welsh
arth) combined with *
wiros "man" (Old Welsh
gur) or *
rīxs "king" (Old Welsh
ri). Alternatively it could be related to an obscure Roman family name
Artorius.
Arthur is the name of the central character in Arthurian legend, a 6th-century king of the Britons who resisted Saxon invaders. He may or may not have been based on a real person. He first appears in Welsh poems and chronicles (perhaps briefly in the 7th-century poem Y Gododdin and more definitively and extensively in the 9th-century History of the Britons [1]). However, his character was not developed until the chronicles of the 12th-century Geoffrey of Monmouth [2]. His tales were later taken up and expanded by French and English writers.
The name came into general use in England in the Middle Ages due to the prevalence of Arthurian romances, and it enjoyed a surge of popularity in the 19th century. Famous bearers include German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860), mystery author and Sherlock Holmes creator Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930), and science-fiction author Arthur C. Clarke (1917-2008).
Astrid
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, German, French, English
Pronounced: AS-strid(Swedish) AHS-tri(Norwegian) AS-trit(German) AS-TREED(French) AS-trid(English)
Rating: 71% based on 8 votes
Modern Scandinavian form of
Ástríðr. This name was borne by the Swedish writer Astrid Lindgren (1907-2002), the author of
Pippi Longstocking. It was also borne by a Swedish princess (1905-1935) who became the queen of Belgium as the wife of Leopold III.
Atticus
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Literature, Ancient Greek (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Ἀττικός(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: AT-i-kəs(English)
Rating: 73% based on 7 votes
Latinized form of Greek
Ἀττικός (Attikos) meaning
"from Attica", referring to the region surrounding Athens in Greece. This name was borne by a few notable Greeks from the Roman period (or Romans of Greek background). The author Harper Lee used the name in her novel
To Kill a Mockingbird (1960) for an Alabama lawyer who defends a black man accused of raping a white woman.
August
Gender: Masculine
Usage: German, Polish, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Catalan, English
Pronounced: OW-guwst(German) OW-goost(Polish, Norwegian) OW-guyst(Swedish) AW-gəst(English)
Rating: 54% based on 12 votes
German, Polish, Scandinavian and Catalan form of
Augustus. This was the name of three Polish kings.
As an English name it can also derive from the month of August, which was named for the Roman emperor Augustus.
Augusta
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, Portuguese, English, German, Ancient Roman
Pronounced: ow-GOOS-ta(Italian) ə-GUS-tə(English) ow-GUWS-ta(German)
Rating: 47% based on 7 votes
Feminine form of
Augustus. It was introduced to Britain when King George III, a member of the German House of Hanover, gave this name to his second daughter in 1768.
Aurelia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Ancient Roman, Romanian, Italian, Spanish, Polish
Pronounced: ow-REH-lee-a(Latin) ow-REH-lya(Italian, Spanish, Polish)
Aurora
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, English, Romanian, Finnish, Norwegian, Swedish, Roman Mythology
Pronounced: ow-RAW-ra(Italian) ow-RO-ra(Spanish, Latin) ə-RAWR-ə(English) OW-ro-rah(Finnish)
Rating: 62% based on 9 votes
Means "dawn" in Latin. Aurora was the Roman goddess of the morning. It has occasionally been used as a given name since the Renaissance.
Avonlea
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Rating: 25% based on 2 votes
Created by L. M. Montgomery as the setting for her novel
Anne of Green Gables (1908). She may have based the name on the Arthurian island of
Avalon, though it also resembles the river name
Avon and
leah "woodland, clearing".
Bedivere
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Welsh Mythology, Arthurian Cycle
Rating: 17% based on 3 votes
From the Welsh name
Bedwyr, possibly from
bedwen "birch" and
gwr "man". In Arthurian legends Bedivere was one of the original companions of King
Arthur. He first appears in early Welsh tales, and his story was later expanded by Geoffrey of Monmouth in the 12th century. He is the one who throws the sword Excalibur into the lake at the request of the dying Arthur.
Belle
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: BEHL
Rating: 47% based on 6 votes
Short form of
Isabella or names ending in
belle. It is also associated with the French word
belle meaning "beautiful". A famous bearer was Belle Starr (1848-1889), an outlaw of the American west, whose real given name was Maybelle.
Beryl
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: BEHR-əl
From the English word for the clear or pale green precious stone, ultimately deriving from Sanskrit. As a given name, it first came into use in the 19th century.
Bría
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Icelandic (Modern, Rare)
Rating: 40% based on 3 votes
Icelandic adoption of
Bria.
Brynmor
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Welsh
Rating: 39% based on 7 votes
From the Welsh place name Brynmawr meaning "great hill".
Bryony
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: BRIE-ə-nee
Rating: 41% based on 9 votes
From the name of a type of Eurasian vine, formerly used as medicine. It ultimately derives from Greek
βρύω (bryo) meaning "to swell".
Caledonia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: kal-i-DO-ni-ə
Rating: 20% based on 2 votes
From the Latin name of Scotland, itself derived from Caledones, the Latin name of a tribe that inhabited the region during the Roman era, which is of unknown origin, though it may possibly come from Proto-Celtic *kaletos meaning "hard" and *ɸēdo- meaning "foot", alluding to standfastness or endurance.
Carys
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Welsh
Pronounced: KA-ris
Rating: 28% based on 5 votes
Derived from Welsh caru meaning "love". This is a relatively modern Welsh name, in common use only since the middle of the 20th century.
Celandine
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: SEHL-ən-deen, SEHL-ən-dien
Rating: 34% based on 5 votes
From the name of the flower, which is derived from Greek
χελιδών (chelidon) meaning "swallow (bird)".
Ceridwen
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Welsh
Pronounced: keh-RID-wehn
Rating: 36% based on 7 votes
Possibly from
cyrrid "bent, crooked" (a derivative of Old Welsh
cwrr "corner") combined with
ben "woman" or
gwen "white, blessed". According to the medieval Welsh legend the
Tale of Taliesin (recorded by Elis Gruffyd in the 16th century) this was the name of a sorceress who created a potion that would grant wisdom to her son Morfan. The potion was instead consumed by her servant Gwion Bach, who was subsequently reborn as the renowned bard
Taliesin.
This name appears briefly in a poem in the Black Book of Carmarthen in the form Kyrridven [1] and in a poem in the Book of Taliesin in the form Kerrituen [2]. Some theories connect her to an otherwise unattested Celtic goddess of inspiration, and suppose her name is related to Welsh cerdd "poetry".
Charlotte
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French, English, German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Dutch
Pronounced: SHAR-LAWT(French) SHAHR-lət(American English) SHAH-lət(British English) shar-LAW-tə(German) sha-LOT(Swedish) shahr-LAW-tə(Dutch)
Rating: 80% based on 13 votes
French feminine
diminutive of
Charles. It was introduced to Britain in the 17th century. It was the name of a German-born 18th-century queen consort of Great Britain and Ireland. Another notable bearer was Charlotte Brontë (1816-1855), the eldest of the three Brontë sisters and the author of
Jane Eyre and
Villette. A famous fictional bearer is the spider in the children's novel
Charlotte's Web (1952) by E. B. White.
This name was fairly common in France, England and the United States in the early 20th century. It became quite popular in France and England at the end of the 20th century, just when it was at a low point in the United States. It quickly climbed the American charts and entered the top ten in 2014.
Cillian
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Irish
Rating: 44% based on 7 votes
Probably from Old Irish
cell meaning
"church" combined with a
diminutive suffix. This was the name of a 7th-century Irish
saint who evangelized in Franconia. He was martyred in Würzburg.
Claire
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French, English
Pronounced: KLEHR(French, American English) KLEH(British English)
Rating: 60% based on 4 votes
French form of
Clara. This was a common name in France throughout the 20th century, though it has since been eclipsed there by
Clara. It was also very popular in the United Kingdom, especially in the 1970s.
Cormac
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Irish Mythology, Irish
Rating: 35% based on 6 votes
From Old Irish
Cormacc or
Corbmac, of uncertain meaning, possibly from
corb "chariot, wagon" or
corbbad "defilement, corruption" combined with
macc "son". This is the name of several characters from Irish legend, including the semi-legendary high king Cormac mac Airt who supposedly ruled in the 3rd century, during the adventures of the hero
Fionn mac Cumhaill. This name was also borne by a few early
saints.
Cressida
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Literature
Pronounced: KREHS-i-də(English)
Rating: 55% based on 6 votes
Form of
Criseida used by Shakespeare in his play
Troilus and Cressida (1602).
Darcy
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: DAHR-see(American English) DAH-see(British English)
Rating: 71% based on 7 votes
From an English surname that was derived from Norman French d'Arcy, originally denoting one who came from the town of Arcy in La Manche, France. This is the surname of a character, Fitzwilliam Darcy, in Jane Austen's novel Pride and Prejudice (1813).
December
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: dis-EM-bər, DEE-səm-bər
Rating: 53% based on 3 votes
Derived from the Latin word decem, meaning "ten". December is the twelfth month on the Gregorian calendar. This name is used regularly in America, mostly on females.
Delilah
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Biblical, English
Other Scripts: דְּלִילָה(Ancient Hebrew)
Pronounced: di-LIE-lə(English)
Rating: 69% based on 11 votes
Means
"delicate, weak, languishing" in Hebrew. In the
Old Testament she is the lover of
Samson, whom she betrays to the Philistines by cutting his hair, which is the source of his power. Despite her character flaws, the name began to be used by the
Puritans in the 17th century. It has been used occasionally in the English-speaking world since that time.
Denver
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: DEHN-vər(American English) DEHN-və(British English)
Rating: 20% based on 3 votes
From an English surname that was from a place name meaning "Dane ford" in Old English. This is the name of the capital city of Colorado, which was named for the politician James W. Denver (1817-1892).
Diana
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, Catalan, German, Dutch, Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, Russian, Ukrainian, Bulgarian, Estonian, Lithuanian, Polish, Czech, Slovak, Armenian, Georgian, Roman Mythology
Other Scripts: Диана(Russian, Bulgarian) Діана(Ukrainian) Դիանա(Armenian) დიანა(Georgian)
Pronounced: die-AN-ə(English) DYA-na(Spanish, Italian, Polish) dee-U-nu(European Portuguese) jee-U-nu(Brazilian Portuguese) dee-A-na(Romanian, German, Dutch, Latin) dee-A-nə(Catalan) dyee-A-nu(Ukrainian) DI-ya-na(Czech) DEE-a-na(Slovak)
Rating: 80% based on 5 votes
Means
"divine, goddesslike", a derivative of Latin
dia or
diva meaning
"goddess". It is ultimately related to the same Indo-European root *
dyew- found in
Zeus. Diana was a Roman goddess of the moon, hunting, forests and childbirth, often identified with the Greek goddess
Artemis.
As a given name, Diana has been regularly used since the Renaissance. It became more common in the English-speaking world following Walter Scott's novel Rob Roy (1817), which featured a character named Diana Vernon. It also appeared in George Meredith's novel Diana of the Crossways (1885). A notable bearer was the British royal Diana Spencer (1961-1997), the Princess of Wales.
Easton
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: EES-tən
Rating: 33% based on 4 votes
From an English surname that was derived from place names meaning "east town" in Old English.
Eden
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: Hebrew, English (Modern), French (Modern)
Other Scripts: עֵדֶן(Hebrew)
Pronounced: EE-dən(English)
Rating: 59% based on 9 votes
From the biblical place name, itself possibly from Hebrew
עֵדֶן (ʿeḏen) meaning "pleasure, delight"
[1], or perhaps derived from Sumerian
𒂔 (edin) meaning "plain". According to the
Old Testament the Garden of Eden was the place where the first people,
Adam and
Eve, lived before they were expelled.
Edison
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, Portuguese (Brazilian), Spanish (Latin American), Albanian
Pronounced: EHD-i-sən(English) EH-dhee-son(Spanish)
Rating: 37% based on 3 votes
From an English surname that meant either
"son of Eda 2" or
"son of Adam". A famous bearer of the surname was the American inventor Thomas Edison (1847-1931).
Edmund
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, German, Polish
Pronounced: EHD-mənd(English) EHT-muwnt(German) EHD-moont(Polish)
Rating: 40% based on 3 votes
Means
"rich protection", from the Old English elements
ead "wealth, fortune" and
mund "protection". This was the name of two Anglo-Saxon kings of England. It was also borne by two
saints, including a 9th-century king of East Anglia who, according to tradition, was shot to death with arrows after refusing to divide his Christian kingdom with an invading pagan Danish leader. This Old English name remained in use after the
Norman Conquest (even being used by King Henry III for one of his sons), though it became less common after the 15th century.
Famous bearers of the name include the English poet Edmund Spenser (1552-1599), the German-Czech philosopher Edmund Husserl (1859-1938) and New Zealand mountaineer Edmund Hillary (1919-2008), the first person to climb Mount Everest.
Eirlys
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Welsh
Pronounced: AYR-lis
Rating: 46% based on 5 votes
Means
"snowdrop (flower)" in Welsh, a compound of
eira "snow" and
llys "plant".
Eleazar
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Biblical, Biblical Latin, Biblical Greek [1]
Other Scripts: אֶלְעָזָר(Ancient Hebrew) Ἐλεάζαρ(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: ehl-ee-AY-zər(American English) ehl-ee-AY-zə(British English)
From the Hebrew name
אֶלְעָזָר (ʾElʿazar) meaning
"God has helped", derived from
אֵל (ʾel) meaning "God" and
עָזַר (ʿazar) meaning "to help". In the
Old Testament this is the name of one of the sons of
Aaron. The name also appears in the
New Testament belonging to one of the ancestors of
Jesus in the genealogy in the Gospel of Matthew.
Elias
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Portuguese, German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, English, Dutch, Greek, Amharic, Biblical, Biblical Latin, Biblical Greek [1]
Other Scripts: Ηλίας(Greek) ኤልያስ(Amharic) Ἠλίας(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: i-LEE-ush(European Portuguese) eh-LEE-us(Brazilian Portuguese) eh-LEE-as(German) EH-lee-ahs(Finnish, Dutch) i-LIE-əs(English) ee-LIE-əs(English)
Form of
Elijah used in several languages. This is also the form used in the Greek
New Testament, as well as some English translations.
Elinor
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: EHL-ə-nawr(American English) EHL-ə-naw(British English)
Rating: 74% based on 8 votes
Elisedd
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Old Welsh
Rating: 27% based on 3 votes
Derived from Welsh elus meaning "kind, benevolent". This was the name of two kings of Powys in Wales.
Elisenda
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Catalan, Medieval Catalan
Pronounced: ə-lee-ZEN-də(Catalan)
Catalan form of the Visigothic name
Alasind composed of the Germanic elements
alah "temple" and
sinþs "path".
It was borne by the medieval Catalan noblewoman Elisenda de Montcada, the fourth and last wife of King James II of Aragon.
Elizabeth
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Biblical
Pronounced: i-LIZ-ə-bəth(English)
Rating: 88% based on 12 votes
From
Ἐλισάβετ (Elisabet), the Greek form of the Hebrew name
אֱלִישֶׁבַע (ʾElishevaʿ) meaning
"my God is an oath", derived from the roots
אֵל (ʾel) referring to the Hebrew God and
שָׁבַע (shavaʿ) meaning "oath". The Hebrew form appears in the
Old Testament where Elisheba is the wife of
Aaron, while the Greek form appears in the
New Testament where Elizabeth is the mother of
John the Baptist.
Among Christians, this name was originally more common in Eastern Europe. It was borne in the 12th century by Saint Elizabeth of Hungary, a daughter of King Andrew II who used her wealth to help the poor. In medieval England it was occasionally used in honour of the saint, though the form Isabel (from Occitan and Spanish) was more common. It has been very popular in England since the reign of Queen Elizabeth I in the 16th century. In American name statistics (as recorded since 1880) it has never ranked lower than 30, making it the most consistently popular name for girls in the United States.
Besides Elizabeth I, this name has been borne (in various spellings) by many other European royals, including a ruling empress of Russia in the 18th century. Famous modern bearers include the British queen Elizabeth II (1926-2022) and actress Elizabeth Taylor (1932-2011).
Élodie
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French
Pronounced: EH-LAW-DEE
Rating: 67% based on 3 votes
Elowen
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Cornish
Rating: 49% based on 8 votes
Means "elm tree" in Cornish. This is a recently coined Cornish name.
Elphias
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Literature
Used by author J. K. Rowling for a minor character in her 'Harry Potter' series. It may have been intended as a variant of
Éliphas, the pen name of French occultist Eliphas Levi. His real name was Alphonse Louis Constant, and he chose the pseudonym in an attempt to transliterate his given name “Alphonse Louis” into a
Hebrew-sounding name, despite not being Jewish (see also
Eliphaz).
Elwyn
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: EHL-win
Éowyn
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Literature
Pronounced: AY-ə-win(English)
Rating: 59% based on 8 votes
Means "horse joy" in Old English. This name was invented by J. R. R. Tolkien who used Old English to represent the Rohirric language. In his novel The Lord of the Rings (1954) Eowyn is the niece of King Theoden of Rohan. She slays the Lord of the Nazgul in the Battle of the Pelennor Fields.
Eva
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, English, Czech, Slovak, German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Estonian, Danish, Icelandic, Faroese, Romanian, Greek, Slovene, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Croatian, Russian, Georgian, Armenian, Biblical Latin, Old Church Slavic
Other Scripts: Εύα(Greek) Ева(Bulgarian, Macedonian, Russian, Church Slavic) ევა(Georgian) Էվա(Armenian)
Pronounced: EH-ba(Spanish) EH-va(Italian, Czech, Slovak, Dutch, Swedish, Icelandic, Greek) EE-və(English) EH-fa(German) EH-vah(Danish) YEH-və(Russian) EH-VAH(Georgian) EH-wa(Latin)
Rating: 64% based on 5 votes
Form of
Eve used in various languages. This form is used in the Latin translation of the
New Testament, while
Hava is used in the Latin
Old Testament. A notable bearer was the Argentine first lady Eva Perón (1919-1952), the subject of the musical
Evita. The name also appears in Harriet Beecher Stowe's novel
Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852) belonging to the character Little Eva, whose real name is in fact Evangeline.
This is also an alternate transcription of Russian Ева (see Yeva).
Evadne
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Εὐάδνη(Ancient Greek)
From Greek
Εὐάδνη (Euadne), from
εὖ (eu) meaning "good" possibly combined with Cretan Greek
ἀδνός (adnos) meaning "holy". This name was borne by several characters in Greek legend, including the wife of Capaneus. After Capaneus was killed by a lightning bolt sent from
Zeus she committed suicide by throwing herself onto his burning body.
Evangeline
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: i-VAN-jə-leen, i-VAN-jə-lien
Rating: 68% based on 10 votes
Means
"good news" from Greek
εὖ (eu) meaning "good" and
ἄγγελμα (angelma) meaning "news, message". It was (first?) used by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow in his 1847 epic poem
Evangeline [1][2]. It also appears in Harriet Beecher Stowe's novel
Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852) as the full name of the character Eva.
Evaristo
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Spanish, Italian, Portuguese
Pronounced: eh-ba-REES-to(Spanish) eh-va-REE-sto(Italian) i-vu-REESH-too(European Portuguese) eh-va-REES-too(Brazilian Portuguese)
Rating: 48% based on 5 votes
Spanish, Italian and Portuguese form of
Evaristus.
Everett
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: EHV-ə-rit, EHV-rit
Rating: 60% based on 4 votes
From an English surname that was derived from the given name
Everard.
Felicity
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: fə-LIS-i-tee
Rating: 75% based on 4 votes
From the English word
felicity meaning
"happiness", which ultimately derives from Latin
felicitas "good luck". This was one of the virtue names adopted by the
Puritans around the 17th century. It can sometimes be used as an English form of the Latin name
Felicitas. This name jumped in popularity in the United States after the premiere of the television series
Felicity in 1998. It is more common in the United Kingdom.
Finley
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: FIN-lee
Rating: 30% based on 8 votes
Variant of
Finlay. This is by far the preferred spelling in the United States, where it has lately been more common as a feminine name.
Fíona
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Irish
Rating: 63% based on 7 votes
Derived from Irish fíon meaning "wine".
Fletcher
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: FLECH-ər(American English) FLECH-ə(British English)
Rating: 30% based on 5 votes
From a surname meaning "maker of arrows" in Middle English, ultimately from Old French flechier.
Freia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Norse Mythology, German
Pronounced: FRAY-a(German)
Gabriel
Gender: Masculine
Usage: French, Spanish, Portuguese, German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Catalan, English, Romanian, Polish, Czech, Slovak, Georgian, Biblical, Biblical Latin, Biblical Greek [1]
Other Scripts: გაბრიელ(Georgian) גַּבְרִיאֵל(Ancient Hebrew) Γαβριήλ(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: GA-BREE-YEHL(French) ga-BRYEHL(Spanish) ga-bree-EHL(European Portuguese, Romanian) ga-bree-EW(Brazilian Portuguese) GA-bree-ehl(German, Slovak, Latin) GAH-bri-ehl(Swedish) GAH-bree-ehl(Finnish) gə-bree-EHL(Catalan) GAY-bree-əl(English) GAB-ryehl(Polish) GA-bri-yehl(Czech)
Rating: 62% based on 9 votes
From the Hebrew name
גַבְרִיאֵל (Ḡavriʾel) meaning
"God is my strong man", derived from
גֶּבֶר (gever) meaning "strong man, hero" and
אֵל (ʾel) meaning "God". Gabriel is an archangel in Hebrew tradition, often appearing as a messenger of God. In the
Old Testament he is sent to interpret the visions of the prophet
Daniel, while in the
New Testament he serves as the announcer of the births of
John to
Zechariah and
Jesus to
Mary. According to Islamic tradition he was the angel who dictated the
Quran to
Muhammad.
This name has been used occasionally in England since the 12th century. It was not common in the English-speaking world until the end of the 20th century.
Galadriel
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Literature
Pronounced: gə-LAD-ree-əl(English)
Rating: 57% based on 7 votes
Means "maiden crowned with a radiant garland" in the fictional language Sindarin. Galadriel was a Noldorin elf princess renowned for her beauty and wisdom in J. R. R. Tolkien's novels. The elements are galad "radiant" and riel "garlanded maiden". Alatáriel is the Quenya form of her name.
Galahad
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Arthurian Cycle
Pronounced: GAL-ə-had(English)
Rating: 40% based on 6 votes
From earlier
Galaad, likely derived from the Old French form of the biblical place name
Gilead. In Arthurian legend Sir Galahad was the son of
Lancelot and
Elaine. He was the most pure of the Knights of the Round Table, and he was the only one to succeed in finding the Holy Grail. He first appears in the 13th-century French
Lancelot-Grail Cycle.
Galen
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: GAY-lən
Rating: 28% based on 8 votes
Modern form of the Greek name
Γαληνός (Galenos), which meant
"calm" from Greek
γαλήνη (galene). It was borne by a 2nd-century BC Greco-Roman physician who contributed to anatomy and medicine. In modern times the name is occasionally given in his honour.
Genevieve
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: JEHN-ə-veev
Rating: 33% based on 3 votes
Georgia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Greek
Other Scripts: Γεωργία(Greek)
Pronounced: JAWR-jə(American English) JAW-jə(British English) yeh-or-YEE-a(Greek)
Rating: 56% based on 8 votes
Latinate feminine form of
George. This is the name of an American state, which was named after the British king George II. The country of Georgia has an unrelated etymology. A famous bearer was the American painter Georgia O'Keeffe (1887-1986).
Gideon
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Biblical, Hebrew, English, Dutch
Other Scripts: גִּדְעוֹן(Hebrew)
Pronounced: GID-ee-ən(English) GHEE-deh-awn(Dutch)
Rating: 52% based on 6 votes
From the Hebrew name
גִּדְעוֹן (Giḏʿon) meaning
"feller, hewer", derived from
גָּדַע (gaḏaʿ) meaning "to cut, to hew"
[1]. Gideon is a hero and judge of the
Old Testament. He led the vastly outnumbered Israelites against the Midianites, defeated them, and killed their two kings. In the English-speaking world,
Gideon has been used as a given name since the
Protestant Reformation, and it was popular among the
Puritans.
Glenda
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: GLEHN-də
Rating: 53% based on 7 votes
Probably a feminine form of
Glenn using the suffix
da (from names such as
Linda and
Wanda). This name was not regularly used until the 20th century.
Glory
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: GLAWR-ee
Rating: 43% based on 4 votes
Simply from the English word glory, ultimately from Latin gloria.
Grey
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: GRAY
Rating: 53% based on 9 votes
Guinevere
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Arthurian Cycle
Pronounced: GWIN-ə-vir(American English) GWIN-ə-veey(British English)
Rating: 52% based on 5 votes
From the Norman French form of the Welsh name
Gwenhwyfar meaning
"white phantom", ultimately from the old Celtic roots *
windos meaning "white" (modern Welsh
gwen) and *
sēbros meaning "phantom, magical being"
[1]. In Arthurian legend she was the beautiful wife of King
Arthur. According to the 12th-century chronicler Geoffrey of Monmouth, she was seduced by
Mordred before the battle of Camlann, which led to the deaths of both Mordred and Arthur. According to the 12th-century French poet Chrétien de Troyes, she engaged in an adulterous affair with Sir
Lancelot.
The Cornish form of this name, Jennifer, has become popular in the English-speaking world.
Gwenda
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Welsh, English
Pronounced: GWEHN-də(English)
Rating: 39% based on 7 votes
Derived from the Welsh elements
gwen meaning "white, blessed" and
da meaning "good". This name was created in the 19th century.
Gwillym
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Welsh
Rating: 22% based on 5 votes
Hadley
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: HAD-lee
Rating: 26% based on 7 votes
From an English surname that was derived from a place name meaning "heather field" in Old English.
Harrison
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: HAR-i-sən, HEHR-i-sən
Rating: 38% based on 5 votes
From an English surname that meant
"son of Harry". This was the surname of two American presidents, William Henry Harrison (1773-1841) and his grandson Benjamin Harrison (1833-1901). As a given name it reached a low point in America in 1977 before it was revived by the career of actor Harrison Ford (1942-), who starred in such movies as
Star Wars in 1977 and
Indiana Jones in 1984.
Honey
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: HUN-ee
Simply from the English word honey, ultimately from Old English hunig. This was originally a nickname for a sweet person.
Honora
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Irish, English
Variant of
Honoria. It was brought to England and Ireland by the
Normans.
Iona 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Scottish
Pronounced: ie-O-nə(English)
From the name of the island off Scotland where
Saint Columba founded a monastery. The name of the island is Old Norse in origin, and apparently derives simply from
ey meaning "island".
Ireland
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: IER-lənd(American English) IE-ə-lənd(British English)
Rating: 67% based on 6 votes
From the name of the European island country, derived from Irish Gaelic Éire, which may mean something like "abundant land" in Old Irish.
Jasmine
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, French
Pronounced: JAZ-min(English) ZHAS-MEEN(French)
Rating: 46% based on 9 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.
Joel
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, Spanish, Portuguese, Swedish, Finnish, Estonian, Biblical
Other Scripts: יוֹאֵל(Ancient Hebrew)
Pronounced: JO-əl(English) JOL(English) kho-EHL(Spanish) ZHWEHL(European Portuguese) zho-EW(Brazilian Portuguese) YO-ehl(Swedish, Finnish)
Rating: 46% based on 9 votes
From the Hebrew name
יוֹאֵל (Yoʾel) meaning
"Yahweh is God", from the elements
יוֹ (yo) and
אֵל (ʾel), both referring to the Hebrew God. Joel is one of the twelve minor prophets of the
Old Testament, the author of the Book of Joel, which describes a plague of locusts. In England, it was first used as a Christian name after the
Protestant Reformation.
Jonah
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, Biblical
Other Scripts: יוֹנָה(Ancient Hebrew)
Pronounced: JO-nə(English)
Rating: 45% based on 6 votes
From the Hebrew name
יוֹנָה (Yona) meaning
"dove". This was the name of a prophet swallowed by a fish, as told in the
Old Testament Book of Jonah. Jonah was commanded by God to preach in Nineveh, but instead fled by boat. After being caught in a storm, the other sailors threw Jonah overboard, at which point he was swallowed. He emerged from the fish alive and repentant three days later.
Jonah's story was popular in the Middle Ages, and the Hellenized form Jonas was occasionally used in England. The form Jonah did not become common until after the Protestant Reformation.
Jordan
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, French, Macedonian, Serbian
Other Scripts: Јордан(Macedonian, Serbian) יַרְדֵן(Ancient Hebrew)
Pronounced: JAWR-dən(American English) JAW-dən(British English) ZHAWR-DAHN(French)
Rating: 47% based on 11 votes
From the name of the river that flows between the countries of Jordan and Israel. The river's name in Hebrew is
יַרְדֵן (Yarḏen), and it is derived from
יָרַד (yaraḏ) meaning
"descend, flow down". In the
New Testament John the Baptist baptizes
Jesus Christ in its waters, and it was adopted as a personal name in Europe after crusaders brought water back from the river to baptize their children. There may have been some influence from the Latin name
Jordanes, notably borne by a 6th-century Gothic historian.
This name died out after the Middle Ages, but was revived in the 19th century. In America and other countries it became fairly popular in the second half of the 20th century. A famous bearer of the surname is former basketball star Michael Jordan (1963-).
Josephine
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, German, Dutch
Pronounced: JO-sə-feen(English) yo-zeh-FEE-nə(German)
Rating: 65% based on 2 votes
Jovita
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Spanish, Portuguese
Pronounced: kho-BEE-ta(Spanish)
Spanish and Portuguese feminine form of the Roman name
Iovita (masculine), which was derived from the name of the god
Jove. This was the name of an early
saint and martyr, the brother of Faustinus.
Joy
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: JOI
Rating: 60% based on 3 votes
Simply from the English word joy, ultimately derived from Norman French joie, Latin gaudium. It has been regularly used as a given name since the late 19th century.
Juliette
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French
Pronounced: ZHUY-LYEHT
Rating: 85% based on 2 votes
Juniper
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: JOON-i-pər(American English) JOON-i-pə(British English)
From the English word for the type of tree, derived ultimately from Latin iuniperus.
Kalyna
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Ukrainian (Rare)
Other Scripts: Калина(Ukrainian)
Pronounced: ku-LI-nu
From the Ukrainian word for a type of shrub, also called the guelder rose (species Viburnum opulus).
Kenya
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, African American
Pronounced: KEHN-yə(English)
Rating: 58% based on 6 votes
From the name of the African country. The country is named for Mount Kenya, which in the Kikuyu language is called Kĩrĩnyaga meaning "the one having stripes". It has been used as a given name in the English-speaking world since the 1960s.
Killian
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Irish, French
Rating: 40% based on 8 votes
Anglicized form of
Cillian, also used in France.
Kinborough
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Medieval English
Rating: 22% based on 5 votes
Kirk
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: KURK(American English) KUK(British English)
Rating: 38% based on 5 votes
From an English and Scottish surname meaning
"church" from Old Norse
kirkja, ultimately from Greek
κυριακόν (kyriakon). A famous bearer was American actor Kirk Douglas (1916-2020), whose birth name was Issur Danielovitch.
Lark
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: LAHRK(American English) LAHK(British English)
Rating: 24% based on 5 votes
From the English word for the type of songbird.
Laura
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, Catalan, French, Finnish, Estonian, Hungarian, Polish, Slovene, Croatian, Czech, Slovak, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, German, Dutch, Lithuanian, Latvian, Late Roman
Pronounced: LAWR-ə(English) LOW-ra(Spanish, Italian, Romanian, Polish, Czech, Slovak, German, Dutch) LOW-ru(Portuguese) LOW-rə(Catalan) LAW-RA(French) LOW-rah(Finnish, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish) LAW-oo-raw(Hungarian)
Personal remark: Pronounced La-rah
Rating: 68% based on 9 votes
Feminine form of the Late Latin name
Laurus, which meant
"laurel". This meaning was favourable, since in ancient Rome the leaves of laurel trees were used to create victors' garlands. The name was borne by the 9th-century Spanish martyr
Saint Laura, who was a nun thrown into a vat of molten lead by the Moors. It was also the name of the subject of poems by the 14th-century Italian poet Petrarch.
As an English name, Laura has been used since the 13th century. Famous bearers include Laura Secord (1775-1868), a Canadian heroine during the War of 1812, and Laura Ingalls Wilder (1867-1957), an American author who wrote the Little House on the Prairie series of novels.
Lavender
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: LAV-ən-dər(American English) LAV-ən-də(British English)
Rating: 56% based on 5 votes
From the English word for the aromatic flower or the pale purple colour.
Leilani
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: Hawaiian
Pronounced: lay-LA-nee
Rating: 44% based on 5 votes
Means "heavenly flowers" or "royal child" from Hawaiian lei "flowers, lei, child" and lani "heaven, sky, royal, majesty".
Levi
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Hebrew, English, Dutch, German, Biblical, Biblical Latin
Other Scripts: לֵוִי(Hebrew)
Pronounced: LEE-vie(English) LEH-vee(Dutch)
Rating: 62% based on 6 votes
Possibly means
"joined, attached" in Hebrew. As told in the
Old Testament, Levi was the third son of
Jacob and
Leah, and the ancestor of one of the twelve tribes of the Israelites, known as the Levites. This was the tribe that formed the priestly class of the Israelites. The brothers
Moses and
Aaron were members. This name also occurs in the
New Testament, where it is borne by a son of
Alphaeus. He might be the same person as the apostle
Matthew.
As an English Christian name, Levi came into use after the Protestant Reformation.
Líadan
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Irish (Rare)
Pronounced: LYEEY-dən
Personal remark: Pronounced Lee-uh-din
Rating: 40% based on 7 votes
Possibly from Old Irish
líath meaning
"grey". According to an Irish tale this was the name of a poet who became a nun, but then missed her lover Cuirithir so much that she died of grief. The name was also borne by a 5th-century
saint, the mother of Saint Ciarán the Elder.
Lilaine
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Portuguese (Brazilian, Rare)
Rating: 48% based on 4 votes
Lily
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: LIL-ee
Rating: 72% based on 5 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-).
Linnéa
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Swedish
Pronounced: lin-NEH-a
Rating: 70% based on 2 votes
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.
Lionel
Gender: Masculine
Usage: French, English, Arthurian Cycle
Pronounced: LYAW-NEHL(French) LIE-ə-nəl(English) LIE-nəl(English)
French
diminutive of
Léon. It appears in Arthurian legend in the 13th-century
Lancelot-Grail Cycle, belonging to a knight who was the brother of Sir
Bors. A notable modern bearer is the Argentine soccer star Lionel Messi (1987-).
Liselotte
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Danish, Swedish, Dutch, German
Pronounced: LEE-zeh-law-tə(German)
Rating: 20% based on 2 votes
Lisette
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French, English
Pronounced: LEE-ZEHT(French)
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
Llewellyn
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Welsh
Pronounced: loo-EHL-in(English)
Rating: 24% based on 7 votes
Lowri
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Welsh
Pronounced: LOW-ri
Personal remark: Pronouced Low-ree
Rating: 43% based on 7 votes
Lucy
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: LOO-see
Rating: 59% based on 7 votes
English form of
Lucia, in use since the Middle Ages.
Madrigal
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: American (Hispanic, Rare)
Pronounced: MAD-ri-gal(Hispanic American)
Transferred from the Spanish surname
MadrigalA madrigal is also a form of Renaissance music that is still popular today.
Maiara
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Tupi
From Tupi maya arya meaning "great-grandmother".
Mairéad
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Irish
Pronounced: MA-ryehd, ma-RYEHD
Rating: 36% based on 7 votes
Malachi
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Hebrew, English, Biblical, Biblical Latin
Other Scripts: מַלְאָכִי(Hebrew)
Pronounced: MAL-ə-kie(English)
Rating: 68% based on 6 votes
From the Hebrew name
מַלְאָכִי (Malʾaḵi) meaning
"my messenger" or
"my angel", derived from a possessive form of
מַלְאָךְ (malʾaḵ) meaning "messenger, angel". This is one of the twelve minor prophets of the
Old Testament, the author of the Book of Malachi, which some claim foretells the coming of Christ. In England the name came into use after the
Protestant Reformation.
Margaux
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French
Pronounced: MAR-GO
Rating: 35% based on 4 votes
Variant of
Margot influenced by the name of the wine-producing French town. It was borne by Margaux Hemingway (1954-1996), granddaughter of author Ernest Hemingway, who had it changed from
Margot.
Marietta
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, Greek, Hungarian, German, Polish
Other Scripts: Μαριέττα(Greek)
Pronounced: MAW-ree-eht-taw(Hungarian)
Rating: 35% based on 4 votes
Meadow
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: MEHD-o
Rating: 53% based on 6 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).
Meave
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Irish
Rating: 53% based on 7 votes
Meliora
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Various (Rare)
Derived from Latin melior meaning "better".
Meridian
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: Literature
Pronounced: mə-RID-ee-ən
Rating: 5% based on 2 votes
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).
Mireia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Catalan, Spanish
Pronounced: mee-REH-yə(Catalan) mee-REH-ya(Spanish)
Mireille
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French, Dutch
Pronounced: MEE-RAY(French)
Rating: 54% based on 5 votes
From the Occitan name Mirèio, which was first used by the poet Frédéric Mistral for the main character in his poem Mirèio (1859). He probably derived it from the Occitan word mirar meaning "to admire". It is spelled Mirèlha in classical Occitan orthography. A notable bearer is the French singer Mireille Mathieu (1946-).
Moira
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Irish, Scottish, English
Pronounced: MOI-rə(English)
Rating: 47% based on 3 votes
Anglicized form of
Máire. It also coincides with Greek
Μοῖρα (Moira) meaning "fate, destiny", the singular of
Μοῖραι, the Greek name for the Fates. They were the three female personifications of destiny in Greek
mythology.
Montgomery
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: mənt-GUM-ə-ree, mənt-GUM-ree
Rating: 46% based on 5 votes
From an English surname meaning
"Gumarich's mountain" in Norman French. A notable bearer of this surname was Bernard Montgomery (1887-1976), a British army commander during World War II.
Moxie
Gender: Feminine
Usage: American (Modern)
Pronounced: MAWK-see
Meaning "nerve, courage, pep, daring, spirit". A relatively modern American slang term that came around c. 1925-30 after 'Moxie', a brand of soft drink. The term fell into common usage following an aggressive marketing campaign associating the brand name Moxie with the traits that now define the term. It began gaining popularity as a given name after magician Penn Jillette used it for his daughter in 2005.
Neva
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Rating: 41% based on 7 votes
Short form of
Geneva. This is also the name of a river in Russia.
Nicolette
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French
Pronounced: NEE-KAW-LEHT
Nigel
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: NIE-jəl
Rating: 40% based on 7 votes
From
Nigellus, a medieval Latinized form of
Neil. It was commonly associated with Latin
niger "black". It was revived in the 19th century, perhaps in part due to Walter Scott's novel
The Fortunes of Nigel (1822).
Odessa
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Various
Rating: 25% based on 2 votes
From the name of a Ukrainian city that sits on the north coast of the Black Sea, which was named after the ancient Greek city of
Ὀδησσός (Odessos), of uncertain meaning. This name can also be used as a feminine form of
Odysseus.
Oliver
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Estonian, Catalan, Serbian, Croatian, Macedonian, Czech, Slovak, Carolingian Cycle
Other Scripts: Оливер(Serbian, Macedonian)
Pronounced: AHL-i-vər(American English) AWL-i-və(British English) O-lee-vu(German) O-lee-vehr(Finnish) oo-lee-BEH(Catalan) O-li-vehr(Czech) AW-lee-vehr(Slovak)
Rating: 88% based on 4 votes
From Old French
Olivier, which was possibly derived from Latin
oliva "olive tree" [1]. Alternatively there could be an underlying Germanic name, such as Old Norse
Áleifr (see
Olaf) or Frankish
Alawar (see
Álvaro), with the spelling altered by association with the Latin word. In the Middle Ages the name became well-known in Western Europe because of the French epic
La Chanson de Roland, in which Olivier is a friend and advisor to the hero
Roland.
In England Oliver was a common medieval name, however it became rare after the 17th century because of the military commander Oliver Cromwell, who ruled the country following the civil war. The name was revived in the 19th century, perhaps due in part to the title character in Charles Dickens' novel Oliver Twist (1838), about a poor orphan living on the streets of London. It became very popular at the beginning of the 21st century, reaching the top rank for boys in England and Wales in 2009 and entering the top ten in the United States in 2017.
Ophelia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Literature, Ancient Greek [1]
Other Scripts: Ὠφελία(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: o-FEEL-ee-ə(English) o-FEEL-yə(English)
Rating: 71% based on 7 votes
Derived from Greek
ὠφέλεια (opheleia) meaning
"help, advantage". This was a rare ancient Greek name, which was either rediscovered or recreated by the poet Jacopo Sannazaro for a character in his poem
Arcadia (1480). It was borrowed by Shakespeare for his play
Hamlet (1600), in which it belongs to the daughter of
Polonius and the potential love interest of
Hamlet. She eventually goes insane and drowns herself after Hamlet kills her father. In spite of this negative association, the name has been in use since the 19th century.
Percival
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Arthurian Cycle, English
Pronounced: PUR-si-vəl(American English) PU-si-vəl(British English)
Rating: 25% based on 2 votes
Created by the 12th-century French poet Chrétien de Troyes for his poem
Perceval, the Story of the Grail. Chrétien may have derived the name from Old French
perce val "pierce the valley", or he may have based it loosely on the Welsh name
Peredur [1]. In the poem Perceval is a boy from Wales who hopes to become a knight under King
Arthur. Setting out to prove himself, he eventually comes to the castle of the Fisher King and is given a glimpse of the Grail.
Perrine
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French
Pronounced: PEH-REEN
Rating: 47% based on 7 votes
Peter
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, German, Dutch, Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, Slovene, Slovak, Biblical
Pronounced: PEET-ər(American English) PEE-tə(British English) PEH-tu(German) PEH-tər(Dutch, Danish, Slovene) PEH-tehr(Slovak)
Rating: 47% based on 3 votes
Derived from Greek
Πέτρος (Petros) meaning
"stone". This is a translation used in most versions of the
New Testament of the name
Cephas, meaning "stone" in Aramaic, which was given to the apostle
Simon by
Jesus (compare
Matthew 16:18 and
John 1:42). Simon Peter was the most prominent of the apostles during Jesus' ministry and is often considered the first pope.
Due to the renown of the apostle, this name became common throughout the Christian world (in various spellings). In England the Normans introduced it in the Old French form Piers, which was gradually replaced by the spelling Peter starting in the 15th century [1].
Besides the apostle, other saints by this name include the 11th-century reformer Saint Peter Damian and the 13th-century preacher Saint Peter Martyr. It was also borne by rulers of Aragon, Portugal, and Russia, including the Russian tsar Peter the Great (1672-1725), who defeated Sweden in the Great Northern War. Famous fictional bearers include Peter Rabbit from Beatrix Potter's children's books, Peter Pan, the boy who refused to grow up in J. M. Barrie's 1904 play, and Peter Parker, the real name of the comic book superhero Spider-Man.
Poppy
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: PAHP-ee(American English) PAWP-ee(British English)
Rating: 67% based on 3 votes
From the word for the red flower, derived from Old English popæg.
Priya
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Hinduism, Hindi, Marathi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, Bengali
Other Scripts: प्रिया(Sanskrit, Hindi, Marathi) பிரியா(Tamil) ప్రియ(Telugu) പ്രിയാ(Malayalam) ಪ್ರಿಯಾ(Kannada) প্রিয়া(Bengali)
Rating: 44% based on 5 votes
Means
"beloved" in Sanskrit. It appears briefly in the
Puranas belonging to a daughter of King
Daksha.
Rashida
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Arabic, Urdu
Other Scripts: رشيدة, راشدة(Arabic) رشیدہ, راشدہ(Urdu)
Pronounced: ra-SHEE-da(Arabic) RA-shee-da(Arabic)
Ravenna
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: rə-VEHN-ə
Rating: 15% based on 2 votes
Either an elaboration of
Raven, or else from the name of the city of Ravenna in Italy.
Remigio
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Italian, Spanish
Pronounced: reh-MEE-jo(Italian) reh-MEE-khyo(Spanish)
Rating: 42% based on 5 votes
Italian and Spanish form of
Remigius (see
Rémy).
Rhett
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: REHT
Rating: 41% based on 8 votes
From a surname, an Anglicized form of the Dutch de Raedt, derived from raet "advice, counsel". Margaret Mitchell used this name for the character Rhett Butler in her novel Gone with the Wind (1936).
Rhiannon
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Welsh, English, Welsh Mythology
Pronounced: ri-AN-awn(Welsh) ree-AN-ən(English)
Rating: 53% based on 7 votes
Probably derived from an unattested Celtic name *
Rīgantonā meaning
"great queen" (Celtic *
rīganī "queen" and the divine or augmentative suffix
-on). It is speculated that Rigantona was an old Celtic goddess, perhaps associated with fertility and horses like the Gaulish
Epona. As
Rhiannon, she appears in Welsh legend in the
Mabinogi [1] as a beautiful magical woman who rides a white horse. She was betrothed against her will to
Gwawl, but cunningly broke off that engagement and married
Pwyll instead. Their son was
Pryderi.
As an English name, it became popular due to the Fleetwood Mac song Rhiannon (1976), especially in the United Kingdom and Australia.
Rhodri
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Welsh
Pronounced: RAW-dri
Rating: 30% based on 5 votes
From the Old Welsh name
Rotri, derived from
rod "wheel" and
ri "king". This name was borne by several medieval Welsh rulers, including Rhodri the Great, a 9th-century king of Gwynedd.
Rhys
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Welsh, English
Pronounced: REES
Rating: 43% based on 7 votes
From Old Welsh
Ris, probably meaning
"ardour, enthusiasm". Several Welsh rulers have borne this name, including the 12th-century Rhys ap Gruffydd who fought against the invading
Normans.
Riley
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: RIE-lee
Rating: 58% based on 8 votes
From a surname that comes from two distinct sources. As an Irish surname it is a variant of
Reilly. As an English surname it is derived from a place name meaning
"rye clearing" in Old English.
Before 1980, this was an uncommon masculine name in America. During the 1980s and 90s this name steadily increased in popularity for both boys and girls, and from 2003 onwards it has been more common for girls in the United States. Elsewhere in the English-speaking world, such as the United Kingdom and Australia, it has remained largely masculine.
River
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: RIV-ər(American English) RIV-ə(British English)
Rating: 79% based on 7 votes
From the English word that denotes a flowing body of water. The word is ultimately derived (via Old French) from Latin ripa "riverbank".
Rosalind
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: RAHZ-ə-lind(American English) RAWZ-ə-lind(British English)
Rating: 51% based on 9 votes
Derived from the Old German elements
hros meaning "horse" and
lind meaning "soft, flexible, tender". The
Normans introduced this name to England, though it was not common. During the Middle Ages its spelling was influenced by the Latin phrase
rosa linda "beautiful rose". The name was popularized by Edmund Spencer, who used it in his poetry, and by William Shakespeare, who used it for the heroine in his comedy
As You Like It (1599).
Rose
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, French
Pronounced: ROZ
Rating: 77% based on 10 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.
Ross
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Scottish, English
Pronounced: RAWS(English)
Rating: 20% based on 2 votes
From a Scottish and English surname that originally indicated a person from a place called Ross (such as the region of Ross in northern Scotland), derived from Gaelic ros meaning "promontory, headland". A famous bearer of the surname was James Clark Ross (1800-1862), an Antarctic explorer.
Ruairi
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Scottish Gaelic
Pronounced: RWU-ryi
Rating: 24% based on 5 votes
Ruby
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: ROO-bee
Rating: 68% based on 5 votes
Simply from the name of the precious stone (which ultimately derives from Latin
ruber "red"), which is the traditional birthstone of July. It came into use as a given name in the 16th century
[1].
Saber
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Arabic, Persian
Other Scripts: صابر(Arabic, Persian)
Pronounced: SA-beer(Arabic) saw-BEHR(Persian)
Rating: 10% based on 2 votes
Alternate transcription of Arabic صابر (see
Sabir) as well as the Persian form.
Sacheverell
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: sa-SHEHV-ə-rəl
Rating: 28% based on 5 votes
From a now extinct English surname that was derived from a Norman place name. It was occasionally given in honour of the English preacher Henry Sacheverell (1674-1724), especially by the Sitwell noble family.
Santiago
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Spanish, Portuguese
Pronounced: san-TYA-gho(Spanish) sun-tee-A-goo(European Portuguese) sun-chee-A-goo(Brazilian Portuguese) sahn-tee-AH-go(English) san-tee-AH-go(English)
Personal remark: nn- Tiago
Rating: 40% based on 5 votes
Means
"Saint James", derived from Spanish
santo "saint" combined with
Yago, an old Spanish form of
James, the patron saint of Spain. It is the name of the main character in the novella
The Old Man and the Sea (1951) by Ernest Hemingway. This also is the name of the capital city of Chile, as well as several other cities in the Spanish-speaking world.
Sapphire
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: SAF-ie-ər(American English) SAF-ie-ə(British English)
Rating: 59% based on 9 votes
From the name of the gemstone, typically blue, which is the traditional birthstone of September. It is derived from Greek
σάπφειρος (sappheiros), ultimately from the Hebrew word
סַפִּיר (sappir).
Scarlett
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: SKAHR-lit(American English) SKAH-lit(British English)
Rating: 78% based on 6 votes
From an English surname that denoted a person who sold or made clothes made of scarlet (a kind of cloth, possibly derived from Persian
سقرلاط (saqrelāṭ)). Margaret Mitchell used it for the main character, Scarlett O'Hara, in her novel
Gone with the Wind (1936). Her name is explained as having come from her grandmother. Despite the fact that the book was adapted into a popular movie in 1939, the name was not common until the 21st century. It started rising around 2003, about the time that the career of American actress Scarlett Johansson (1984-) started taking off.
Scheherazade
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Literature
Pronounced: shə-HEHR-ə-zahd(English) shə-hehr-ə-ZAHD(English)
Rating: 23% based on 3 votes
Sebastian
Gender: Masculine
Usage: German, English, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Polish, Finnish, Romanian, Czech
Pronounced: zeh-BAS-tee-an(German) sə-BAS-chən(American English) sə-BAS-tee-ən(British English) seh-BAS-dyan(Danish) seh-BAS-tyan(Polish) SEH-bahs-tee-ahn(Finnish) seh-bas-tee-AN(Romanian) SEH-bas-ti-yan(Czech)
Rating: 34% based on 5 votes
From the Latin name
Sebastianus, which meant
"from Sebaste". Sebaste was the name a town in Asia Minor, its name deriving from Greek
σεβαστός (sebastos) meaning "venerable" (a translation of Latin
Augustus, the title of the Roman emperors). According to Christian tradition,
Saint Sebastian was a 3rd-century Roman soldier martyred during the persecutions of the emperor Diocletian. After he was discovered to be a Christian, he was tied to a stake and shot with arrows. This however did not kill him. Saint Irene of Rome healed him and he returned to personally admonish Diocletian, whereupon the emperor had him beaten to death.
Due to the saint's popularity, the name came into general use in medieval Europe, especially in Spain and France. It was also borne by a 16th-century king of Portugal who died in a crusade against Morocco.
Shaili
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Hebrew
Other Scripts: שי-לי(Hebrew)
Rating: 40% based on 3 votes
Combination of
Shai and
Li 2; means "gift for me" from Hebrew שַׁי
(shai) meaning "gift" and לִי
(li) meaning "to me, for me".
Somerled
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Old Norse (Anglicized)
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
Anglicized form of the Old Norse name Sumarliði meaning "summer traveller". This was the name of a 12th-century Norse-Gaelic king of Mann and the Scottish Isles.
Soraia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Portuguese
Susanna
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, Catalan, Swedish, Finnish, Russian, Ukrainian, Dutch, English, Armenian, Biblical, Biblical Latin, Old Church Slavic
Other Scripts: Сусанна(Russian, Ukrainian) Սուսաննա(Armenian) שׁוֹשַׁנָּה(Ancient Hebrew) Сꙋсанна(Church Slavic)
Pronounced: soo-ZAN-na(Italian) soo-ZAN-nə(Catalan) suy-SAN-na(Swedish) SOO-sahn-nah(Finnish) suw-SAN-nə(Russian) suw-SAN-nu(Ukrainian) suy-SAH-na(Dutch) soo-ZAN-ə(English)
Rating: 63% based on 9 votes
From
Σουσάννα (Sousanna), the Greek form of the Hebrew name
שׁוֹשַׁנָּה (Shoshanna). This was derived from the Hebrew word
שׁוֹשָׁן (shoshan) meaning
"lily" (in modern Hebrew this also means
"rose"), perhaps ultimately from Egyptian
sšn "lotus". In the
Old Testament Apocrypha this is the name of a woman falsely accused of adultery. The prophet
Daniel clears her name by tricking her accusers, who end up being condemned themselves. It also occurs in the
New Testament belonging to a woman who ministers to
Jesus.
As an English name, it was occasionally used during the Middle Ages in honour of the Old Testament heroine. It did not become common until after the Protestant Reformation, at which time it was often spelled Susan.
Symphony
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: SIM-fə-nee
Rating: 36% based on 7 votes
Simply from the English word, ultimately deriving from Greek
σύμφωνος (symphonos) meaning "concordant in sound".
Talfryn
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Welsh
Rating: 46% based on 5 votes
From a Welsh place name meaning
"front hill", derived from Welsh
tal "front, extremity" and
bryn "hill".
Taliesin
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Welsh, Welsh Mythology
Pronounced: tal-YEH-sin(Welsh) tal-ee-EHS-in(English)
Rating: 42% based on 5 votes
Means
"shining brow", derived from Welsh
tal "brow, head" and
iesin "shining, radiant". This was the name of a semi-legendary 6th-century Welsh poet and bard, supposedly the author of the collection of poems the
Book of Taliesin. He appears briefly in the Welsh legend
Culhwch and Olwen and the Second Branch of the
Mabinogi. He is the central character in the
Tale of Taliesin, a medieval legend recorded in the 16th century, which tells how
Ceridwen's servant Gwion Bach was reborn to her as Taliesin; how he becomes the bard for Elffin; and how Taliesin defends Elffin from the machinations of the king
Maelgwn Gwynedd.
Tallulah
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: tə-LOO-lə
Rating: 43% based on 7 votes
This is the name of waterfalls in Georgia. Popularly claimed to mean "leaping waters" in the Choctaw language, it may actually mean "town" in the Creek language. It was borne by American actress Tallulah Bankhead (1902-1968), who was named after her grandmother, who may have been named after the waterfalls.
Tamsyn
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (British)
Pronounced: TAM-zin
Tansy
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: TAN-zee
From the name of the flower, which is derived via Old French from Late Latin tanacita.
Tarquin
Gender: Masculine
Usage: History
Pronounced: TAHR-kwin(American English) TAH-kwin(British English)
Rating: 30% based on 3 votes
From Tarquinius, a Roman name of unknown meaning, possibly Etruscan in origin. This was the name of two early kings of Rome.
Tessa
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Dutch
Pronounced: TEHS-ə(English) TEH-sa(Dutch)
Theodore
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: THEE-ə-dawr(American English) THEE-ə-daw(British English)
Rating: 57% based on 3 votes
From the Greek name
Θεόδωρος (Theodoros), which meant
"gift of god" from Greek
θεός (theos) meaning "god" and
δῶρον (doron) meaning "gift". The name
Dorothea is derived from the same roots in reverse order. This was the name of several
saints, including Theodore of Amasea, a 4th-century Greek soldier; Theodore of Tarsus, a 7th-century archbishop of Canterbury; and Theodore the Studite, a 9th-century Byzantine monk. It was also borne by two popes.
This was a common name in classical Greece, and, due to both the saints who carried it and the favourable meaning, it came into general use in the Christian world, being especially popular among Eastern Christians. It was however rare in Britain before the 19th century. Famous bearers include three tsars of Russia (in the Russian form Fyodor) and American president Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919).
Thornton
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: THAWRN-tən(American English) THAWN-tən(British English)
Rating: 40% based on 3 votes
From a surname that was derived from a place name meaning "thorn town" in Old English.
Tolliver
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: TAHL-i-vur, TAHL-ə-vur
Rating: 10% based on 2 votes
Tova 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Hebrew
Other Scripts: טוֹבָה(Hebrew)
Means "good" in Hebrew.
Túathal
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Old Irish [1]
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
Means
"ruler of the people", from Old Irish
túath "people, country" and
fal "rule". This was the name of a few Irish kings, including the legendary Túathal Techtmar.
Vercingetorix
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Gaulish
Pronounced: wehr-king-GEH-taw-riks(Latin) vər-sin-JEHT-ə-riks(American English) və-sin-JEHT-ə-riks(British English)
Personal remark: Pronounced Ver-sin-jet-or-rix
Rating: 36% based on 7 votes
Means "king over warriors" from Gaulish wer "on, over" combined with kingeto "marching men, warriors" and rix "king". This name was borne by a 1st-century BC chieftain of the Gaulish tribe the Arverni. He led the resistance against Julius Caesar's attempts to conquer Gaul, but he was eventually defeated, brought to Rome, and executed.
Violetta
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, Russian, Hungarian
Other Scripts: Виолетта(Russian)
Pronounced: vyo-LEHT-ta(Italian) vyi-u-LYEHT-tə(Russian) VEE-o-leht-taw(Hungarian)
Rating: 55% based on 4 votes
Italian, Russian and Hungarian form of
Violet.
Vivienne
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French
Pronounced: VEE-VYEHN
Rating: 80% based on 7 votes
Volodymyr
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Ukrainian
Other Scripts: Володимир(Ukrainian)
Pronounced: waw-law-DI-mehr
William
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: WIL-yəm
Rating: 61% based on 9 votes
From the Germanic name
Willehelm meaning
"will helmet", composed of the elements
willo "will, desire" and
helm "helmet, protection". An early
saint by this name was the 8th-century William of Gellone, a cousin of
Charlemagne who became a monk. The name was common among the
Normans, and it became extremely popular in England after William the Conqueror was recognized as the first Norman king of England in the 11th century. From then until the modern era it has been among the most common of English names (with
John,
Thomas and
Robert).
This name was later borne by three other English kings, as well as rulers of Scotland, Sicily (of Norman origin), the Netherlands and Prussia. Other famous bearers include William Wallace, a 13th-century Scottish hero, and William Tell, a legendary 14th-century Swiss hero (called Wilhelm in German, Guillaume in French and Guglielmo in Italian). In the literary world it was borne by dramatist William Shakespeare (1564-1616), poet William Blake (1757-1827), poet William Wordsworth (1770-1850), dramatist William Butler Yeats (1865-1939), author William Faulkner (1897-1962), and author William S. Burroughs (1914-1997).
In the American rankings (since 1880) this name has never been out of the top 20, making it one of the most consistently popular names (although it has never reached the top rank). In modern times its short form, Liam, has periodically been more popular than William itself, in the United Kingdom in the 1990s and the United States in the 2010s.
Willow
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: WIL-o
Rating: 66% based on 9 votes
From the name of the tree, which is ultimately derived from Old English welig.
Xiomara
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Spanish
Pronounced: syo-MA-ra
Possibly a Spanish form of
Guiomar.
Zaire
Gender: Masculine
Usage: African American (Modern)
Pronounced: zah-IR(American English) zah-EEY(British English)
Rating: 43% based on 4 votes
From the name of a country in Africa from 1971 to 1997, now called the Democratic Republic of Congo. It is said to be derived from Kikongo nzadi o nzere meaning "river swallowing rivers", referring to the Congo River.
Zanda
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Latvian
Rating: 48% based on 4 votes
Of uncertain origin and meaning, although it is generally considered a variant of
Sanda 1.
Zéphyrine
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French (Rare)
French feminine form of
Zephyrinus (see
Zeferino).
Zoraida
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Spanish
Pronounced: tho-RIE-dha(European Spanish) so-RIE-dha(Latin American Spanish)
Rating: 32% based on 9 votes
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.
Zuleika
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Literature
Pronounced: zoo-LAY-kə(English)
Rating: 23% based on 4 votes
Meaning uncertain, possibly of Arabic origin. According to medieval tradition, notably related by the 15th-century Persian poet Jami, this was the name of the biblical Potiphar's wife. She has been a frequent subject of poems and tales.
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