New_Chloe's Personal Name List

Abbey
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: AB-ee
Diminutive of Abigail.
Agatha
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, German, Dutch, Ancient Greek (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Ἀγαθή(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: AG-ə-thə(English) a-GHA-ta(Dutch)
Personal remark: #2 favourite
Latinized form of the Greek name Ἀγαθή (Agathe), derived from Greek ἀγαθός (agathos) meaning "good". Saint Agatha was a 3rd-century martyr from Sicily who was tortured and killed after spurning the advances of a Roman official. The saint was widely revered in the Middle Ages, and her name has been used throughout Christian Europe (in various spellings). The mystery writer Agatha Christie (1890-1976) was a famous modern bearer of this name.
Agnes
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Icelandic, Estonian, Late Greek (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Ἅγνη(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: AG-nis(English) AK-nəs(German) AHKH-nehs(Dutch) ANG-nehs(Swedish) OW-nes(Danish)
Personal remark: Agnes Sampson, ghost
Latinized form of the Greek name Ἅγνη (Hagne), derived from Greek ἁγνός (hagnos) meaning "chaste". Saint Agnes was a virgin martyred during the persecutions of the Roman emperor Diocletian. The name became associated with Latin agnus "lamb", resulting in the saint's frequent depiction with a lamb by her side. Due to her renown, the name became common in Christian Europe.

As an English name it was highly popular from the Middle Ages until the 17th century. It was revived in the 19th century and was common into the 20th, but it fell into decline after the 1930s. It last appeared on the American top 1000 rankings in 1972.

Ambrose
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: AM-broz
From the Late Latin name Ambrosius, which was derived from the Greek name Ἀμβρόσιος (Ambrosios) meaning "immortal". Saint Ambrose was a 4th-century theologian and bishop of Milan, who is considered a Doctor of the Church. Due to the saint, the name came into general use in Christian Europe, though it was never particularly common in England.
Béla
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Hungarian
Pronounced: BEH-law
The meaning of this name is not known for certain. It could be derived from Hungarian bél meaning "guts, bowel" or Old Slavic bělŭ meaning "white". This was the name of four Hungarian kings. It was also borne by the Hungarian composer Béla Bartók (1881-1945).
Buffy
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: BUF-ee
Diminutive of Elizabeth, from a child's pronunciation of the final syllable. It is now associated with the main character from the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997-2003).
Carrie
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: KAR-ee, KEHR-ee
Diminutive of Caroline. This name declined in use shortly after the 1976 release of the horror movie Carrie, which was based on a 1974 novel by Stephen King.
Casper
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish
Pronounced: KAHS-pər(Dutch) KAHS-pehr(Swedish) KAS-bu(Danish)
Dutch and Scandinavian form of Jasper. This is the name of a friendly ghost in an American series of cartoons and comic books (beginning 1945).
Celeste
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, English
Pronounced: cheh-LEH-steh(Italian) theh-LEHS-teh(European Spanish) seh-LEHS-teh(Latin American Spanish) sə-LEST(English)
Personal remark: Mary Celeste
Italian feminine and masculine form of Caelestis. It is also the Portuguese, Spanish and English feminine form.
Chalice
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: CHAL-is
Means simply "chalice, goblet" from the English word, derived from Latin calix.
Christine
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French, English, German, Norwegian, Danish, Swedish, Dutch
Pronounced: KREES-TEEN(French) kris-TEEN(English) kris-TEE-nə(German, Dutch)
Personal remark: killer car
French form of Christina, as well as a variant in other languages. It was used by the French author Gaston Leroux for the heroine, Christine Daaé, in his novel The Phantom of the Opera (1910).

This was a popular name in the 20th century (especially the middle decades) in French, German, and English-speaking countries. In the United States Christina has been more common since 1973, though both forms are currently floundering on the charts.

Cyane
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Κυανη(Ancient Greek)
Personal remark: Cyanide
Latinized form of Greek Κυανη (Kyane) which was derived from κυανος (kyanos) "cyan, azure-blue" (compare Cyan). In Greek myth she was the Naiad nymph of a spring in the Sicilian town of Syracuse, who dissolved away into the spring from grief after witnessing Hades' abduction of her playmate Persephone.
Dana 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Romanian, Czech, Slovak, German, Hebrew
Other Scripts: דָּנָה(Hebrew)
Pronounced: DA-na(Czech, Slovak, German)
Personal remark: Scully
Feminine form of Daniel or Dan 1.
Dougal
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Scottish
Personal remark: "dark stranger"
Anglicized form of the Scottish Gaelic name Dubhghall meaning "dark stranger", from Old Irish dub "dark" and gall "stranger". This name was borne by a few medieval Scottish chiefs.
Eden
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: Hebrew, English (Modern), French (Modern)
Other Scripts: עֵדֶן(Hebrew)
Pronounced: EE-dən(English)
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.
Edgar
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, French, Portuguese, German
Pronounced: EHD-gər(American English) EHD-gə(British English) EHD-GAR(French)
Personal remark: Poe
Derived from the Old English elements ead "wealth, fortune" and gar "spear". This was the name of a 10th-century English king, Edgar the Peaceful. The name did not survive long after the Norman Conquest, but it was revived in the 18th century, in part due to a character by this name in Walter Scott's novel The Bride of Lammermoor (1819), which tells of the tragic love between Edgar Ravenswood and Lucy Ashton [1]. Famous bearers include author and poet Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849), French impressionist painter Edgar Degas (1834-1917), and author Edgar Rice Burroughs (1875-1950).
Erwin
Gender: Masculine
Usage: German, Dutch, Polish, Germanic [1]
Pronounced: EHR-veen(German, Polish) EHR-vin(Dutch)
Derived from the Old German name Hariwini, composed of the elements heri "army" and wini "friend". It may have merged somewhat with the name Eberwin. A notable bearer was Erwin Schrödinger (1887-1961), an Austrian physicist who made contributions to quantum theory.
Esther
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, French, Spanish, Dutch, German, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, Jewish, Biblical, Biblical Latin, Biblical Greek
Other Scripts: אֶסְתֵר(Hebrew) Ἐσθήρ(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: EHS-tər(American English, Dutch) EHS-tə(British English) EHS-TEHR(French) ehs-TEHR(Spanish) EHS-tu(German)
Personal remark: ghost and Orphan
From the Hebrew name אֶסְתֵר (ʾEsṯer), which possibly means "star" in Persian. Alternatively it could be a derivative of the name of the Near Eastern goddess Ishtar. The Book of Esther in the Old Testament tells the story of Queen Esther, the Jewish wife of the king of Persia. The king's advisor Haman persuaded the king to exterminate all the Jews in the realm. Warned of this plot by her cousin Mordecai, Esther revealed her Jewish ancestry and convinced the king to execute Haman instead. Her original Hebrew name was Hadassah.

This name has been used in the English-speaking world since the Protestant Reformation. In America it received a boost in popularity after the birth of Esther Cleveland (1893-1980), the daughter of President Grover Cleveland [1].

Fox
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: FAHKS(American English) FAWKS(British English)
Personal remark: Mulder
Either from the English word fox or the surname Fox, which originally given as a nickname. The surname was borne by George Fox (1624-1691), the founder of the Quakers.
Frank
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, German, Dutch, Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, French
Pronounced: FRANGK(English, German) FRAHNGK(Dutch) FRAHNK(French)
Personal remark: -enstein
From an Old German name that referred to a member of the Germanic tribe, the Franks. The Franks settled in the regions now called France, Belgium and the Netherlands in the 3rd and 4th century. They possibly derived their tribal name from a type of spear that they used, from Proto-Germanic *frankô. From medieval times, the various forms of this name have been commonly conflated with the various forms of Francis. In modern times it is sometimes used as a short form of Francis or Franklin.

The name was brought to England by the Normans. Notable bearers include author L. Frank Baum (1856-1919), architect Frank Lloyd Wright (1867-1959), and singer Frank Sinatra (1915-1998).

Freddy
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, French, Dutch
Pronounced: FREHD-ee(English) FREH-dee(Dutch)
Personal remark: Kruger
Diminutive of Frederick and other names containing the same element. A notable fictional bearer is the horror villain Freddy Krueger from the A Nightmare on Elm Street series of movies, beginning 1984.
Helen
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Estonian, Greek Mythology (Anglicized)
Other Scripts: Ἑλένη(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: HEHL-ən(English)
Personal remark: "Hel"
English form of the Greek Ἑλένη (Helene), probably from Greek ἑλένη (helene) meaning "torch" or "corposant", or possibly related to σελήνη (selene) meaning "moon". In Greek mythology Helen was the daughter of Zeus and Leda, whose kidnapping by Paris was the cause of the Trojan War. The name was also borne by the 4th-century Saint Helena, mother of the Roman emperor Constantine, who supposedly found the True Cross during a trip to Jerusalem.

The name was originally used among early Christians in honour of the saint, as opposed to the classical character. In England it was commonly spelled Ellen during the Middle Ages, and the spelling Helen was not regularly used until after the Renaissance. A famous bearer was Helen Keller (1880-1968), an American author and lecturer who was both blind and deaf.

Howard
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: HOW-ərd(American English) HOW-əd(British English)
Personal remark: Lovecraft
From an English surname that can derive from several different sources: the Anglo-Norman given name Huard, which was from the Germanic name Hughard; the Anglo-Scandinavian given name Haward, from the Old Norse name Hávarðr; or the Middle English term ewehirde meaning "ewe herder". This is the surname of a British noble family, members of which have held the title Duke of Norfolk from the 15th century to the present. A famous bearer of the given name was the American industrialist Howard Hughes (1905-1976).
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".
Irwin
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: UR-win(American English) U-win(British English)
From an English surname that was derived from the Old English given name Eoforwine.
Ivy
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: IE-vee
From the English word for the climbing plant that has small yellow flowers. It is ultimately derived from Old English ifig.
Jack
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: JAK
Derived from Jackin (earlier Jankin), a medieval diminutive of John [1]. There could be some early influence from the unrelated French name Jacques [2]. It is often regarded as an independent name. During the Middle Ages it was very common, and it became a slang word meaning "man", as seen in the terms jack-o'-lantern, jack-in-the-box, lumberjack and so on. It was frequently used in fairy tales and nursery rhymes, such as Jack and the Beanstalk, Jack and Jill, Little Jack Horner, and Jack Sprat.

American writers Jack London (1876-1916) and Jack Kerouac (1922-1969) were two famous bearers of this name. It is also borne by the actor Jack Nicholson (1937-) and the golfer Jack Nicklaus (1940-). Apart from Nicklaus, none of these famous bearers were given the name Jack at birth.

In the United Kingdom this form has been bestowed more frequently than John since the 1990s, being the most popular name for boys from 1996 to 2008.

Lilith
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Semitic Mythology, Judeo-Christian-Islamic Legend
Other Scripts: לילית(Ancient Hebrew)
Pronounced: LIL-ith(English)
Personal remark: "Lili"
Derived from Akkadian lilitu meaning "of the night". This was the name of a demon in ancient Assyrian myths. In Jewish tradition she was Adam's first wife, sent out of Eden and replaced by Eve because she would not submit to him. The offspring of Adam (or Samael) and Lilith were the evil spirits of the world.
Lucy
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: LOO-see
Personal remark: Westenra, Dracula
English form of Lucia, in use since the Middle Ages.
Mallory
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: MAL-ə-ree
Personal remark: *love* means Unlucky
From an English surname was derived from Old French maleüré meaning "unfortunate" [1]. It first became common in the 1980s due to the American sitcom Family Ties (1982-1989), which featured a character by this name.
Melanie
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, German, Dutch
Pronounced: MEHL-ə-nee(English) MEH-la-nee(German) meh-la-NEE(German)
Personal remark: "Dark"
From Mélanie, the French form of the Latin name Melania, derived from Greek μέλαινα (melaina) meaning "black, dark". This was the name of a Roman saint who gave all her wealth to charity in the 5th century. Her grandmother was also a saint with the same name.

The name was common in France during the Middle Ages, and was introduced from there to England, though it eventually became rare. Interest in it was revived by the character Melanie Wilkes from the novel Gone with the Wind (1936) and the subsequent movie adaptation (1939).

Mina 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Dutch
Pronounced: MEE-nə(English) MEE-na(Dutch)
Personal remark: Harker
Short form of Wilhelmina and other names ending in mina. This was the name of a character in the novel Dracula (1897) by Bram Stoker.
Minnie
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: MIN-ee
Personal remark: Castevet
Diminutive of Wilhelmina. This name was used by Walt Disney for the cartoon character Minnie Mouse, introduced 1928.
Opal
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: O-pəl
Personal remark: cursed gems
From the English word opal for the iridescent gemstone, the birthstone of October. The word ultimately derives from Sanskrit उपल (upala) meaning "jewel".
Orchid
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: AW-kid(British English) AWR-kid(American English)
From the eponymous flowering plant. The plant's name derives from Latin orchis, borrowed from Ancient Greek ὄρχις (orkhis), meaning "testicle" (the name was given to the plant because of the testicle-shaped subterranean parts of some European orchids).
Pearl
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: PURL(American English) PUL(British English)
From the English word pearl for the concretions formed in the shells of some mollusks, ultimately from Late Latin perla. Like other gemstone names, it has been used as a given name in the English-speaking world since the 19th century. The pearl is the traditional birthstone for June, and it supposedly imparts health and wealth.
Rhonwen
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Welsh
Welsh form of Rowena, appearing in medieval Welsh poems and stories as a personification of the English people.
Rosemary
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: ROZ-mə-ree, ROZ-mehr-ee
Combination of Rose and Mary. This name can also be given in reference to the herb, which gets its name from Latin ros marinus meaning "dew of the sea". It came into use as a given name in the 19th century.
Samara
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern), Portuguese (Brazilian)
Personal remark: "Sammie"
Possibly derived from the name of the city of Samarra (in Iraq) or Samara (in Russia). The former appears in the title of the novel Appointment in Samarra (1934) by John O'Hara, which refers to an ancient Babylonian legend about a man trying to evade death. Alternatively, this name could be derived from the word for the winged seeds that grow on trees such as maples and elms.

The name received a boost in popularity after it was borne by the antagonist in the horror movie The Ring (2002).

Shelley
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: SHEHL-ee
Personal remark: for Mary
From an English surname that was originally derived from a place name meaning "clearing on a bank" in Old English. Two famous bearers of the surname were Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822), a romantic poet whose works include Adonais and Ozymandias, and Mary Shelley (1797-1851), his wife, the author of the horror story Frankenstein. As a feminine given name, it came into general use after the 1940s.
Shirley
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: SHUR-lee(American English) SHU-lee(British English)
Personal remark: for Jackson
From an English surname that was originally derived from a place name meaning "bright clearing" in Old English. This is the name of a main character in Charlotte Brontë's semi-autobiographical novel Shirley (1849). Though the name was already popular in the United States, the child actress Shirley Temple (1928-2014) gave it a further boost. By 1935 it was the second most common name for girls.
Sophie
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French, English, German, Dutch
Pronounced: SAW-FEE(French) SO-fee(English) zo-FEE(German) so-FEE(Dutch)
Personal remark: I don't know why
French form of Sophia.
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.
Ursula
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Swedish, Danish, German, Dutch, Finnish, Late Roman
Pronounced: UR-sə-lə(American English) U-syuw-lə(British English) U-sə-lə(British English) UWR-zoo-la(German) OOR-soo-lah(Finnish)
Means "little bear", derived from a diminutive form of the Latin word ursa "she-bear". Saint Ursula was a legendary virgin princess of the 4th century who was martyred by the Huns while returning from a pilgrimage. In England the saint was popular during the Middle Ages, and the name came into general use at that time.
Verona
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Various
From the name of the city in Italy, which is itself of unknown meaning.
Viola
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Italian, Swedish, Danish, Finnish, German, Hungarian, Czech, Slovak
Pronounced: vie-O-lə(English) vi-O-lə(English) VIE-ə-lə(English) VYAW-la(Italian) vi-OO-la(Swedish) VEE-o-la(German) vee-O-la(German) VEE-o-law(Hungarian) VI-o-la(Czech) VEE-aw-la(Slovak)
Means "violet" in Latin. This is the name of the heroine of William Shakespeare's comedy Twelfth Night (1602). In the play she is the survivor of a shipwreck who disguises herself as a man named Cesario. Working as a messenger for Duke Orsino, she attempts to convince Olivia to marry him. Instead Viola falls in love with the duke.
Willard
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: WIL-ərd(American English) WIL-əd(British English)
Personal remark: movie
From an English surname that was derived from the Old German given name Willihard (or the Old English cognate Wilheard).
Yolanda
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Spanish, English
Pronounced: gyo-LAN-da(Spanish) yo-LAHN-də(American English) yo-LAWN-də(British English)
From the medieval French name Yolande, which was probably a form of the name Violante, which was itself a derivative of Latin viola "violet". Alternatively it could be of Germanic origin.

This name was borne by a 12th-century empress of the Latin Empire in Constantinople, who was originally from Flanders. It was also used by her descendants in the royal families of Hungary (spelled Jolánta) and Spain (sometimes spelled Violante). The Blessed Yolanda of Poland was a daughter of Béla IV of Hungary who married a Polish duke. It was also borne by Yolanda of Vianden, a 13th-century countess from Luxembourg who joined a convent against her parents' wishes, later becoming the subject of medieval legend. Another notable bearer was a 15th-century duchess of Lorraine, the subject of the opera Iolanta (1892) by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.

behindthename.com   ·   Copyright © 1996-2024