bisclavret's Personal Name List

Name	M/F	Remark
Adélaïs	f	ad-əl-ICE; French form of Adelais, derived from Adalheidis, meaning "noble sort"
Aida	f	ah-EE-də; variant of Arabic Ayda, an Ethiopian princess in Verdi's eponymous opera
Aino	f	IE-no; Finnish meaning "only one," from the Finnish epic Kalevala
Allegra	f	ə-LEG-rə; from the Italian meaning "cheerful, lively"
Aludra	f	aw-LOO-drə; a star, derived from the Arabic al-adhra, meaning "the maiden"
Amaranthe	f	a-mur-AHN-thə?; variant of Amarantha, from amaranth flower, m. "unfading" in Greek
Amaryllis	f
Aminata	f	ah-mee-NAH-tə; popular among Wolof people of Senegal, possibly from Arabic Aminah
Ankaret	f	ahn-KAH-ret; medieval English form of Angharad, meaning "more love" in Welsh
Araminta	f	a-rah-MEEN-tə; m. unknown, possibly elaborated from Greek Amynta, meaning 'defender'
Arantxa	f	ah-RAHN-zhah; Basque, diminutive of Arantzazu, Virgin Mary amongst the thorns
Aurelia	f	ah-RAY-lee-ah; derived from the Latin aureus, meaning "golden"
Aurembiaix	f	aw-rem-BEE-ay?; GP name, medieval Catalan, borne by 13th century Countess of Urgell
Aveline	f	AV-ə-leen; Norman French diminutive of Avila, possibly meaning "desired"
Aviva	f	ah-VEEV-ah; derived from the Hebrew Aviv, meaning "spring"
Ayame	f	ah-yaw-MAY; means "iris" in Japanese
Bathsheba	f	bath-SHEE-bə; ultimate GP name & the heroine from Far from the Madding Crowd
Behati	f	bay-HAH-tee; variant of Bahati, meaning "look, good fortune" in Swahili
Bélisaire	m	bel-ee-ZHAIRH; French derived from Belisarius, a Byzantine general and war hero
Beroe	f	be-RO-EE; a nymph of Beirut, famed for her beauty & beloved by Poseidon
Callisto 2	f	kə-LIS-to; derived from the Greek kallistos meaning "most beautiful"
Camilla	f	kah-MIL-lah; feminine form of Roman Camillus, & legendary warrior maiden in the Aeneid
Celandine	f	SEL-ən-deen or CHEL-ən-deen; derived from the Greek meaning "swallow (bird)"
Circe	f	SUR-see; latinized from Greek p. meaning "hawk/falcon", sorceress from The Odyssey
Clarimond	f	kler-i-MUND; derived from Medieval French, possibly meaning "light of the world"
Clio	f	Too short by itself; I like it as a n.n. for Cleodora, Cleofa, Cleome, or Cléophée
Cordelia	f	kor-DEEL-ee-a; the youngest and most virtuous daughter of King Lear
Corisande	f	co-ri-ZHAWN; perhaps derived from the Spanish corazón, meaning "heart"
Cressida	f	KRES-i-də; medieval form of Chryseis, derived from Greek chryseos, meaning "golden"
Delphine	f	del-FEEN; French derived from the Latin Delphinus, meaning "of Delphi"
Eleanor	f	EL-ə-nawr; derived from Occitan Aliénor, borne by Eleanors Aquitaine and Roosevelt
Eliora	f	eel-ee-O-rah; feminine form of Elior, meaning "my God is my light" in Hebrew
Emer	f	ə-mer; from the Gaelic for "swift"; I'd use it as a n.n. for Emerenzia or Émeraude
Emmanuelle	f	ee-mahn-YOO-el, nn. Emmy or Manu; derived from Hebrew meaning "God is with us"
Eréndira	f	eh-REHN-deer-a; Tarascan, a legendary princess of pre-Columbian Mexico
Esther	f	ES-tər; possibly "star" in Persian, or derived from goddess Ishtar, borne by a biblical queen
Eudora	f	yoo-DAWR-ə; derived from the Greek meaning "good gift"
Fabienne	f	fah-BYEN; French feminine form of Fabianus, meaning "bean grower"
Fairuza	f	fair-OO-zuh; alternate transcription of Firuzeh, means "turquoise" in Persian
Faustina	f	faw-STEEN-ə; fem. form of Faustinus, derived from Latin Faustus meaning 'auspicious, lucky'
Ferelith	f	FEHR-el-ith; anglicized form of Forbflaith, Gaelic name meaning "true sovereignty"
Filomena	f	Italian form of Philomena, from Greek, possibly meaning "loved", or "daughter of light"
Fionnuala	f	FIN-yoo-lah, n.n. Nuala; Irish meaning "white-shouldered," a woman turned into a swan
Frederica	f	fred-ə-REE-kə; feminine form of Frederick meaning "peaceful ruler"
Ghislaine	f	zheez-LEN; derived from the French gisil, meaning "pledge"
Helena	f	he-LAY-nah; Latinate form of Helen
Hephzibah	f
Ianthe	f	eye-AHN-thee?; from Greek meaning "violet flower", also an oceanid in Greek mythology
Ihintza	f	ee-HEEN-zhah; Basque, meaning "dew", related to a title of the Virgin Mary
Ilaria	f	il-LAH-ree-ah; my favorite "I" name, derived from Latin hilaris, meaning "cheerful"
Iseul	f & m
Ismeria	f	iz-MAIR-ee-ə; from St. Ismeria, a Moorish princess who converted to Christianity
Leonora	f	lee-ah-NOR-ah; Italian short form of Eleanor
Leta	f	LEE-tuh; possibly derived from the Latin laetus, meaning "glad"
Ligeia	f	lie-JEE-ə; a siren from Greek mythology & character in a short story by Edgar Allan Poe
Liriope	f	li-RIE-o-pee; the name of a Greek nymph, derived from leirion meaning "daffodil"
Lorelei	f	lor-e-LIE; a siren from German mythology, from a Germanic name meaning "luring rock"
Lucasta	f	LOO-cah-stah; invented by poet Richard Lovelace (1649), from lux casta, "pure light"
Lumikki	f	LOO-meek-kee, n.n. Lumi; the equivalent of Snow White in Finnish mythology
Lupine	m & f	loo-PIEN; one of my favorite flowers
Magali	f	may-gah-LEE; Occitan form of Magdalene
Maru	f	mah-ROO; possibly from Maria-Eugenia, one of my favorite diminutives
Mehitabel	f	mi-HEET-ə-bel; variant of Mehetabel, from Hebrew meaning "God makes happy"
Mélisande	f	MEL-ee-sawnd; French form of Millicent, d. Germanic Amalasuintha, m. "work" & "strong"
Melora	f	mə-LAWR-a; prob. variant of Meliora, appears in The Adventures of Melora & Orlando
Melusine	f	mel-oo-seen; a water spirit from Breton mythology
Minerva	f	mi-NUR-və; the Roman goddess of wisdom & war, the Roman equivalent of Athena
Miriam	f
Monserrat	f	moon-sə-RAHT, n.n. Montse; from the name of a mountain near Barcelona
Nadine	f	na-DEEN; French elaborative form of Nadia
Nalini	f
Natsumi	f	nah-TSOO-mee; Japanese, from 'natsu', meaning summer + 'mi', meaning beautiful
Neftali	m & f	nef-tə-LEE; Spanish form of the Hebrew Naphtali & one of the names of Pablo Neruda
Nereida	f	nah-RAY-dhah; from the Greek nereides meaning "nymphs, sea sprites"
Nikita 1	m & f	ni-KEE-tah; Russian derived from the Greek meaning "victor," also Sanskrit for "house"
Niloufar	f	nee-LOO-fahr, n.n. Nilou; meaning "water lily" in Persian
Nimue	f	NIM-oo-ay, n.n. Nym; the Lady of the Lake from Arthurian legend
Noor 1	m & f	NOR; a variant of the Arabic Nur, meaning "light"
Odessa	f
Ophelia	f	o-FEE-lee-yə; derived from Greek ophelos, meaning 'help', Hamlet's ill-fated lover
Ophira	f	o-FEER-ah; feminine form of Hebrew Ofir, meaning "gold"
Oreithyia	f	or-EETH-yee-a; a beautiful Athenian princess carried off by the North wind Boreas
Ottavia	f	o-TAW-vee-ah, n.n. Taavi; Italian form of Octavia, meaning "eighth"
Perdita	f	I would use the Italian p. PAIR-dee-tah; lost princess from Shakespeare's 'The Winter's Tale'
Petra	f	PET-rə; feminine form of Peter, also the site of an ancient city in Jordan
Phaedra	f	FAY-drah; from the Greek phaidros, meaning "bright"
Radhika	f	raw-dee-kah?; variant of Radha, meaning "success" in Sanskrit
Remedios	f	reh-MEH-dyohs; Spanish, taken from a title of the Virgin Mary, "Our Lady of Remedies"
Rhiannon	f	ree-AN-ən; from the old Celtic name Rigantona, meaning "great queen"
Rosamund	f	ROZ-ə-mund; I prefer to think of it as meaning "pure rose" or "rose of the world"
Sabine	f	sa-BEEN; French & German form of Sabina
Salome	f	SAH-lə-may; derived from shalom, the Hebrew word for "peace"
Sanceline	f	SAHN-sel-een; French derivative of Sancia, meaning "saintly, holy"
Savina	f	sah-VEE-nah; an Italian form of Sabina, IMO more removed from the rape associations
Scheherazade	f	sheh-hair-rah-ZAHD; the clever fictional storyteller from '1001 Nights'
Sébastienne	f	se-baws-CHEE-yen; French feminine form of Sebastian, from Greek meaning "venerable"
Semiramide	f	se-mee-RAH-meed, n.n. Mira; Italian form of Semiramis, legendary queen of Assyria
Shoshana	f
Sibylla	f	si-BEL-ə; Greek & Latinate form of Sibyl
Simone 1	f
Síofra	f	SHEEF-rə; means "elf, sprite" in Irish Gaelic
Sirocco	m	si-RO-ko; the name of a wind that blows across Africa; from the Arabic sarq meaning "east"
Soheila	f	so-HAY-lah; Persian feminine form of Suhail, also Arabic name for the 2nd brightest star
Solène	f	so-LEN; variant of Solange, derived from the Latin sollemnis, meaning "religious"
Sunniva	f	I prefer it pronounced soon-EE-fah; Scandinavian form of the Old English meaning "sun gift"
Taavi	m	TAH-vee; the Finnish form of David, but I love this on a girl
Taisiya	f	tah-EE-see-yah; possibly Russian form of Thaïs
Tamar	f	TAH-mahr; means "palm tree" in Hebrew
Telesto	f	te-LES-to; an Oceanid from Greek mythology who personified divine blessing
Thalia	f	THAY-lee-ah; from the Greek meaning "to blossom," the muse of comedy and poetry
Thandiwe	f	tahn-DEE-way?; n.n. Thandie, means "loved one" in the Xhosa language
Theodosia	f	thee-ah-DO-shah, n.n. Theda; latinized form of the Greek meaning "giving to God"
Thomasina	f	tom-ə-SEE-nə; medieval feminine form of Thomas
Thula	f	THOO-lah; from Zulu meaning "peace"
Ursulina	f	ur-soo-LEE-nə; diminutive of Ursula, also a 14th century saint
Vera 1	f	VEER-ə; means "faith" in Russian, also associated with Latin verus, meaning "true"
Vesper	m & f	VES-pur; Roman equivalent of Hesperos, from the Greek meaning "evening"
Vivian	m & f
Vivienne	f	vi-vee-EN; French form of Viviana, derived from Latin vivus, meaning "alive"
Wilhelmina	f	wi-lehl-MEE-nah, n.n. Willa or Mina; Dutch & German feminine form of Wilhelm
Wisteria	f	WIS-tee-ree-ah; a beautiful flower name, would use only as a middle
Yaëlle	f	YIE-el; French variant of Yael
Ysoria	f	ee-so-ree-ah?; Medieval English, exact etymology unknown, perhaps variant of Isaura
Zénaïde	f	ze-na-EED; derived from Zeus, also the name of a 1st century saint & doctor
Zoraida	f	zo-RIE-dah; possibly meaning "enchanting,"12th century saint & Don Quijote character
Zuleika	f	zoo-LAY-kə; "brilliant beauty" in Persian; looks kr8tiv, but has biblical & literary history