hopuspokus's Personal Name List
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.
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)
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.
Azure
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: AZH-ər
From the English word that means "sky blue". It is ultimately (via Old French, Latin and Arabic) from Persian
لاجورد (lājvard) meaning "azure, lapis lazuli".
Barnaby
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (British)
Pronounced: BAH-nə-bee(British English) BAHR-nə-bee(American English)
English form of
Barnabas, originally a medieval vernacular form.
Calypso
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Καλυψώ(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: kə-LIP-so(English)
From Greek
Καλυψώ (Kalypso), which probably meant
"she that conceals", derived from
καλύπτω (kalypto) meaning "to cover, to conceal". In Greek
myth this was the name of the nymph who fell in love with
Odysseus after he was shipwrecked on her island of Ogygia. When he refused to stay with her she detained him for seven years until
Zeus ordered her to release him.
Ginger
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: JIN-jər
From the English word
ginger for the spice or the reddish-brown colour. It can also be a
diminutive of
Virginia, as in the case of actress and dancer Ginger Rogers (1911-1995), by whom the name was popularized.
Gretchen
Gender: Feminine
Usage: German, English
Pronounced: GREHT-khən(German) GRECH-ən(English)
Hazel
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: HAY-zəl
From the English word hazel for the tree or the light brown colour, derived ultimately from Old English hæsel. It was coined as a given name in the 19th century and quickly became popular, reaching the 18th place for girls in the United States by 1897. It fell out of fashion in the second half of the 20th century, but has since recovered.
Hope
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: HOP
From the English word
hope, ultimately from Old English
hopian. This name was first used by the
Puritans in the 17th century.
Ione
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology, English
Other Scripts: Ἰόνη(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: ie-O-nee(English)
From Ancient Greek
ἴον (ion) meaning
"violet flower". This was the name of a sea nymph in Greek
mythology. It has been used as a given name in the English-speaking world since the 19th century, though perhaps based on the Greek place name
Ionia, a region on the west coast of Asia Minor.
Lars
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Dutch, German
Pronounced: LAHSH(Swedish, Norwegian) LAHS(Danish) LAHRS(Finnish, Dutch) LARS(German)
Lenore
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: lə-NAWR
Short form of
Eleanor. This is the name of the departed love of the narrator in Edgar Allan Poe's poem
The Raven (1845).
Linus
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Greek Mythology (Latinized), Ancient Greek (Latinized), Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, German
Other Scripts: Λίνος(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: LIE-nəs(English) LEE-nuys(Swedish) LEE-nuws(German)
From the Greek name
Λίνος (Linos) meaning
"flax". In Greek legend he was the son of the god
Apollo, who accidentally killed him in a contest. Another son of Apollo by this name was the music teacher of
Herakles. The name was also borne by the second pope, serving after
Saint Peter in the 1st century. In modern times this was the name of a character in Charles Schulz's comic strip
Peanuts.
Lucian
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Romanian, English
Pronounced: LOO-chyan(Romanian) LOO-shən(English)
Romanian and English form of
Lucianus. Lucian is the usual name of Lucianus of Samosata in English.
Malachi
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Hebrew, English, Biblical, Biblical Latin
Other Scripts: מַלְאָכִי(Hebrew)
Pronounced: MAL-ə-kie(English)
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.
Oonagh
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Irish
Pronounced: OO-nə(English)
Pacey
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: PAY-see
From an English surname that was derived from the French place name Pacy, itself derived from Gaulish given name of unknown meaning.
Patience
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: PAY-shəns
From the English word
patience, ultimately from Latin
patientia, a derivative of
pati "to suffer". This was one of the virtue names coined by the
Puritans in the 17th century. It is now most commonly used in African countries where English is widely understood, such as Nigeria and Ghana.
Phaedra
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Φαίδρα(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: FEED-rə(English) FEHD-rə(English)
From the Greek
Φαίδρα (Phaidra), derived from
φαιδρός (phaidros) meaning
"bright". Phaedra was the daughter of Minos and the wife of
Theseus in Greek
mythology.
Aphrodite caused her to fall in love with her stepson
Hippolytos, and after she was rejected by him she killed herself.
Phinehas
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Biblical
Other Scripts: פִּיןְחָס(Ancient Hebrew)
Pronounced: FIN-ee-əs(English)
Probably means
"Nubian" from the Egyptian name
Panhsj, though some believe it means
"serpent's mouth" in Hebrew. In the
Old Testament Phinehas is a grandson of
Aaron who kills an Israelite because he is intimate with a Midianite woman, thus stopping a plague sent by God. Also in the Bible this is the son of
Eli, killed in battle with the Philistines.
Pippa
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: PIP-ə
River
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: RIV-ər
From the English word that denotes a flowing body of water. The word is ultimately derived (via Old French) from Latin ripa "riverbank".
Saturn
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Roman Mythology (Anglicized)
Pronounced: SAT-ərn(English)
From the Latin
Saturnus, which is of unknown meaning. In Roman
mythology he was the father of
Jupiter,
Juno and others, and was also the god of agriculture. This is also the name of the ringed sixth planet in the solar system.
Sawyer
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: SOI-ər, SAW-yər
From an English surname meaning
"sawer of wood". Mark Twain used it for the hero in his novel
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876).
Very rare as an American given name before 1980, it increased in popularity in the 1980s and 90s. It got a boost in 2004 after the debut of the television series Lost, which featured a character by this name.
Selby
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: SEHL-bee
From an English surname that was from a place name meaning "willow farm" in Old Norse.
Shannon
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: SHAN-ən
From the name of the River Shannon, the longest river in Ireland, called
an tSionainn in Irish. It is associated with the legendary figure
Sionann and is sometimes said to be named for her. However it is more likely she was named after the river, which may be related to Old Irish
sen "old, ancient"
[1]. As a given name, it first became common in America after the 1940s.
Sterling
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: STUR-ling
From a Scots surname that was derived from city of Stirling, which is itself of unknown meaning. The name can also be given in reference to the English word sterling meaning "excellent". In this case, the word derives from sterling silver, which was so named because of the emblem that some Norman coins bore, from Old English meaning "little star".
Storm
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Modern), Dutch (Modern), Danish (Modern), Norwegian (Modern)
Pronounced: STAWRM(English, Dutch)
From the vocabulary word, ultimately from Old English or Old Dutch storm, or in the case of the Scandinavian name, from Old Norse stormr. It is unisex as an English name, but typically masculine elsewhere.
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.
Tawny
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: TAW-nee
From the English word, ultimately deriving from Old French tané, which means "light brown".
Temperance
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: TEHM-prəns, TEHM-pər-əns
From the English word meaning
"moderation" or
"restraint". This was one of the virtue names adopted by the
Puritans in the 17th century. It experienced a modest revival in the United States during the run of the television series
Bones (2005-2017), in which the main character bears this name.
Thora
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Norwegian, Danish
Tierney
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Irish
Torsten
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Swedish, Danish, German
Pronounced: TOSH-tehn(Swedish) TAWRS-tən(German)
From the Old Norse name
Þórsteinn, which meant
"Thor's stone" from the name of the Norse god
Þórr (see
Thor) combined with
steinn "stone".
Wendel
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: Dutch (Rare), German (Rare), Portuguese (Brazilian)
Pronounced: VEHN-dəl(Dutch, German)
Old short form of Germanic names beginning with the element
wentil meaning
"a Vandal". The Vandals were a Germanic tribe who invaded Spain and North Africa in the 5th century. Their tribal name, which may mean "wanderer", has often been confused with that of the Wends, a Slavic people living between the Elbe and the Oder.
This is another name for Saint Wendelin.
Winnifred
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Welsh
Pronounced: WIN-ə-frid(English)
Zephyr
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Greek Mythology (Anglicized)
Other Scripts: Ζέφυρος(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: ZEHF-ər(English)
From the Greek
Ζέφυρος (Zephyros) meaning
"west wind". Zephyros was the Greek god of the west wind.
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