Katie Darling's Personal Name List

Derived from the Old German elements wolf meaning "wolf" and gang meaning "path, way". Saint Wolfgang was a 10th-century bishop of Regensburg. Two other famous bearers of this name were Austrian composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) and German novelist and poet Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832).

Form of Victor used in various languages.

Means "chooser of the slain", derived from Old Norse valr "the slain" and kyrja "chooser". In Norse myth the Valkyries were maidens who led heroes killed in battle to Valhalla.

Variant of Torsten.

German male name representing the Germanic god Thor.

Used by JRR Tolkien as the name of a dwarf, Thorin Oakensheild, who is the main dwarf in 'The Hobbit'. Tolkien took the name from the Dvergatal "Catalogue of Dwarves" in the Völuspá, a part of the Poetic Edda.

From the Old Norse Þórr meaning "thunder", ultimately from Proto-Germanic *Þunraz. In Norse mythology Thor is a god of storms, thunder, war and strength, a son of Odin. He is portrayed as red-bearded, short-tempered, armed with a powerful hammer called Mjölnir, and wearing an enchanted belt called Megingjörð that doubles his strength. During Ragnarök, the final battle at the end of the world, it is foretold that Thor will slay the monstrous sea serpent Jörmungandr but be fatally poisoned by its venom.

Persian form of Thurayya. It became popular in some parts of Europe because of the fame of Princess Soraya (1932-2001), wife of the last Shah of Iran, who became a European socialite.

Meaning uncertain. According to the 12th-century chronicler Geoffrey of Monmouth, this was the name of a daughter of the Saxon chief Hengist. It is possible (but unsupported) that Geoffrey based it on the Old English elements hroð "fame" and wynn "joy", or alternatively on the Old Welsh elements ron "spear" and gwen "white". It was popularized by Walter Scott, who used it for a character in his novel Ivanhoe (1819).

From an English surname that was derived from the given name Piers. In America this name slowly started to grow in popularity in 1982 when actor Pierce Brosnan (1953-) began starring on the television series Remington Steele.

Latinized form of the Greek name Φοῖβος (Phoibos), which meant "bright, pure". This was an epithet of the Greek god Apollo.

Possibly derived from Latin mens meaning "intellect", but more likely of Etruscan origin. Minerva was the Roman goddess of wisdom and war, approximately equivalent to the Greek goddess Athena. It has been used as a given name in the English-speaking world since after the Renaissance.

Possibly from Lycian lada meaning "wife". Other theories connect it to Greek λήθω (letho) meaning "hidden, forgotten". In Greek mythology she was the mother of Apollo and Artemis by Zeus.

Means "green leaves" in the fictional language Sindarin, from laeg "green" combined with go-lass "collection of leaves". In The Lord of the Rings (1954) by J. R. R. Tolkien, Legolas is the son of the elf lord Thranduil and a member of the Fellowship of the Ring.

Latinized form of the Greek name Λέανδρος (Leandros), derived from λέων (leon) meaning "lion" and ἀνήρ (aner) meaning "man" (genitive ἀνδρός). In Greek legend Leander was the lover of Hero. Every night he swam across the Hellespont to meet her, but on one occasion he was drowned when a storm arose. When Hero saw his dead body she threw herself into the waters and perished.

Polish form of Januarius.

From the name of the European island country, derived from Irish Gaelic Éire, which may mean something like "abundant land" in Old Irish.

Derived from the name of the Greek messenger god Hermes. In Greek myth Hermione was the daughter of Menelaus and Helen. This is also the name of the wife of Leontes in Shakespeare's play The Winter's Tale (1610). It is now closely associated with the character Hermione Granger from the Harry Potter series of books, first released in 1997.

Latin form of Herakles.

From an English surname derived from a place name, itself derived from Old English hær "rock, heap of stones" or here "army", combined with hlaw "hill". As a name for girls, it received some attention in 2008 when the American celebrity Nicole Richie used it for her daughter.

Italian form of Guinevere. This is also the Italian name for the city of Geneva, Switzerland. It is also sometimes associated with the Italian word ginepro meaning "juniper".

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).

Short form of Eugene.

Old Irish form of Fionn, as well as the usual Anglicized spelling (with the Irish hero's name Anglicized as Finn McCool). As a surname it is borne by Huckleberry Finn, a character in Mark Twain's novels.

Means "foxglove" in Welsh (species Digitalis purpurea). This is a recently created Welsh name.

Means "help" in Hebrew. Ezra is a prophet of the Old Testament and the author of the Book of Ezra. It has been used as a given name in the English-speaking world since the Protestant Reformation. The American poet Ezra Pound (1885-1972) was a famous bearer.

Means "laurel" in Greek. In Greek mythology she was a nymph turned into a laurel tree by her father in order that she might escape the pursuit of Apollo. It has been used as a given name in the English-speaking world since the end of the 19th century.

Used by author C. S. Lewis for a character in his Chronicles of Narnia series, first appearing in 1950. Prince Caspian first appears in the fourth book, where he is the rightful king of Narnia driven into exile by his evil uncle Miraz. Lewis probably based the name on the Caspian Sea, which was named for the city of Qazvin, which was itself named for the ancient Cas tribe.

Means "exalted, venerable", derived from Latin augere meaning "to increase". Augustus was the title given to Octavian, the first Roman emperor. He was an adopted son of Julius Caesar who rose to power through a combination of military skill and political prowess. In 26 BC the senate officially gave him the name Augustus, and after his death it was used as a title for subsequent emperors. This was also the name of three kings of Poland (called August in Polish).

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.

From Greek Ἀπόλλων (Apollon), which is of unknown meaning, though perhaps related to the Indo-European root *apelo- meaning "strength". Another theory states that Apollo can be equated with Appaliunas, an Anatolian god whose name possibly means "father lion" or "father light". The Greeks later associated Apollo's name with the Greek verb ἀπόλλυμι (apollymi) meaning "to destroy". In Greek mythology Apollo was the son of Zeus and Leto and the twin of Artemis. He was the god of prophecy, medicine, music, art, law, beauty, and wisdom. Later he also became the god of the sun and light.

Italian form of Andreas (see Andrew). A notable bearer of this name was Andrea Verrocchio, a Renaissance sculptor who taught Leonardo da Vinci and Perugino.

Feminine form of Anastasius. This was the name of a 4th-century Dalmatian saint who was martyred during the persecutions of the Roman emperor Diocletian. Due to her, the name has been common in Eastern Orthodox Christianity (in various spellings). As an English name it has been in use since the Middle Ages. A famous bearer was the youngest daughter of the last Russian tsar Nicholas II, who was rumoured to have escaped the execution of her family in 1918.

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.

Alternate transcription of Russian Алексей (see Aleksey).