rosegoldwriter's Personal Name List

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.

Italian, Russian and Hungarian form of Violet.

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.

From the name of the capital city of Austria, Vienna.

Means "valuable" in Esperanto.

Feminine form of Valentinus (see Valentine 1). A famous bearer is the Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova (1937-), who in 1963 became the first woman to visit space.

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).

Feminine form of Theodoros (see Theodore).

Feminine form of the Late Latin name Seraphinus, derived from the biblical word seraphim, which was Hebrew in origin and meant "fiery ones". The seraphim were an order of angels, described by Isaiah in the Bible as having six wings each.

This was the name of a 13th-century Italian saint who made clothes for the poor. As an English name, it has never been common.

Italian, Spanish and Portuguese form of Seraphina.

Diminutive of Rudolf.

From the Germanic name Hrodulf, which was derived from the elements hruod meaning "fame" and wolf meaning "wolf". It was borne by three kings of Burgundy and a king of West Francia, as well as several Habsburg rulers of the Holy Roman Empire and Austria. Anthony Hope used this name for the hero in his popular novel The Prisoner of Zenda (1894).

Anglicized form of the Irish name Ruadhán. As an English name, it can also be derived from the surname Rowan, itself derived from the Irish given name. It could also be given in reference to the rowan tree, a word of Old Norse origin (coincidentally sharing the same Indo-European root meaning "red" with the Irish name).

Latinate form of Rosaline.

Modern Hebrew form of Noah 2, the daughter of Zelophehad in the Bible. It is also the form used in several other languages, as well as the spelling used in some English versions of the Old Testament.

Short form of Maximilian or Maxim. In English it can also be short for Maxwell, and it coincides with the informal word max, short for maximum.

Famous bearers include the German intellectual Max Weber (1864-1920) and the German physicist Max Planck (1858-1947). This name is also borne by the title character in the Mad Max series of movies, starting 1979.

Feminine form of Marinus. This name was borne by a few early saints. This is also the name by which Saint Margaret of Antioch is known in the Eastern Orthodox Church.

Italian diminutive of Maria.

Italian form of Magdalene.

Used by the French author George Sand for a character in her novel Mattea (1833) and later by the Italian author Luciano Zuccoli in his novel L'amore de Loredana (1908). It was possibly based on the Venetian surname Loredan, which was derived from the place name Loreo.

Spanish diminutive of Dolores. A famous bearer was Lola Montez (1821-1861; birth name Eliza Gilbert), an Irish-born dancer, actress and courtesan.

From an English surname that was originally from the name of an English city, called Lindum Colonia by the Romans, derived from Brythonic lindo "lake, pool" and Latin colonia "colony". This name is usually given in honour of Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865), president of the United States during the American Civil War.

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.

Derived from Latin leo meaning "lion", a cognate of Leon. It was popular among early Christians and was the name of 13 popes, including Saint Leo the Great who asserted the dominance of the Roman bishops (the popes) over all others in the 5th century. It was also borne by six Byzantine emperors and five Armenian kings. Another famous bearer was the Russian novelist Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910), name spelled Лев in Russian, whose works include War and Peace and Anna Karenina. Leo is also a constellation and the fifth sign of the zodiac.

In some cases this name can be a short form of longer names that start with Leo, such as Leonard.

Derived from Proto-Celtic *liro- "sea; ocean".

Variant of Kirsten.

Anglicized form of Ciara 1.

Elaborated form of Karin.

Variant of Judas. It is used in many English versions of the New Testament to denote the second apostle named Judas, in order to distinguish him from Judas Iscariot. He was supposedly the author of the Epistle of Jude. In the English-speaking world, Jude has occasionally been used as a given name since the time of the Protestant Reformation.

From the Hebrew name יְהוֹשֻׁעַ (Yehoshuaʿ) meaning "Yahweh is salvation", from the roots יְהוֹ (yeho) referring to the Hebrew God and יָשַׁע (yashaʿ) meaning "to save". As told in the Old Testament, Joshua was a companion of Moses. He went up Mount Sinai with Moses when he received the Ten Commandments from God, and later he was one of the twelve spies sent into Canaan. After Moses died Joshua succeeded him as leader of the Israelites and he led the conquest of Canaan. His original name was Hoshea.

The name Jesus comes from a Greek transcription of the Aramaic short form יֵשׁוּעַ (Yeshuaʿ), which was the real name of Jesus. As an English name, Joshua has been in use since the Protestant Reformation.

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.

Diminutive of John. A famous bearer is American actor Johnny Depp (1963-).

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.

Feminine form of Isidore. This was the name of a 4th-century Egyptian saint and hermitess.

Variant of Isidora. A famous bearer was the American dancer Isadora Duncan (1877-1927).

From the English word for the holly tree, ultimately derived from Old English holen. Holly Golightly is the main character in the novella Breakfast at Tiffany's (1958) by Truman Capote.

From the Germanic name Heimirich meaning "home ruler", composed of the elements heim "home" and rih "ruler". It was later commonly spelled Heinrich, with the spelling altered due to the influence of other Germanic names like Haganrich, in which the first element is hag "enclosure".

Heinrich was popular among continental royalty, being the name of seven German kings, starting with the 10th-century Henry I the Fowler (the first of the Saxon kings), and four French kings. In France it was usually rendered Henri from the Latin form Henricus.

The Normans introduced the French form to England, and it was subsequently used by eight kings, ending with the infamous Henry VIII in the 16th century. During the later Middle Ages it was fairly popular, and was generally rendered as Harry or Herry in English pronunciation. Notable bearers include arctic naval explorer Henry Hudson (1570-1611), American-British novelist Henry James (1843-1916), American automobile manufacturer Henry Ford (1863-1947), and American actor Henry Fonda (1905-1982).

Possibly means "white ring", derived from Welsh gwen meaning "white, blessed" and dolen meaning "ring, loop". This name appears in Geoffrey of Monmouth's 12th-century chronicles, written in the Latin form Guendoloena, where it belongs to an ancient queen of the Britons who defeats her ex-husband in battle [1]. Geoffrey later used it in Vita Merlini for the wife of the prophet Merlin [2]. An alternate theory claims that the name arose from a misreading of the masculine name Guendoleu by Geoffrey [3].

This name was not regularly given to people until the 19th century [4][3]. It was used by George Eliot for a character in her novel Daniel Deronda (1876).

Italian form of Giselle.

Italian form of Iohannes (see John). This name has been very common in Italy since the late Middle Ages, as with other equivalents of John in Europe. The Renaissance writer Giovanni Boccaccio (1313-1375), the painter Giovanni Bellini (1430-1516) and the painter and sculptor Giovanni Lorenzo Bernini (1598-1680) were famous bearers of the name.

Italian short form of Giovanni.

English form of Geneviève.

Italian form of the Roman name Frigidianus, which was derived from Latin frigidus "cold". This was the name of a 6th-century Irish bishop who made a pilgrimage to Rome and settled as a hermit on Mount Pisano.

Diminutive of Frederick or Freda. A noteworthy bearer was the musician Freddie Mercury (1946-1991), born Farrokh Bulsara, the lead vocalist of the British rock band Queen.

From Italian fiore "flower" combined with a diminutive suffix.

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.

From a Roman cognomen meaning "lucky, successful" in Latin. It was acquired as an agnomen, or nickname, by the 1st-century BC Roman general Sulla. It also appears in the New Testament belonging to the governor of Judea who imprisoned Saint Paul.

Due to its favourable meaning, this name was popular among early Christians, being borne by many early saints and four popes. It has been used in England since the Middle Ages, though it has been more popular in continental Europe. A notable bearer was the German composer Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847).

Spanish and Italian form of Frederick. Spanish poet Federico García Lorca (1898-1936) and Italian filmmaker Federico Fellini (1920-1993) are famous bearers of this name.

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.

Of uncertain origin and meaning. It might be a variant of Elora or an adoption of the name of the Ellora Caves of India, an ancient network of caverns containing hieroglyphic writings archeologists still have not deciphered the meaning of.

Norman name, originally a short form of Germanic names containing the element alles meaning "other" (Proto-Germanic *aljaz). It was introduced to England by the Normans and used until the 14th century, and it was later revived in the 19th century. A famous bearer was the American singer Ella Fitzgerald (1917-1996).

Short form of Elizabeth. It was borne by the character Eliza Doolittle in George Bernard Shaw's play Pygmalion (1913) and the subsequent musical adaptation My Fair Lady (1956).

Feminine form of Elior.

Anglicized variant of Eliora.

Feminine form of the Greek name Δωρόθεος (Dorotheos), which meant "gift of god" from Greek δῶρον (doron) meaning "gift" and θεός (theos) meaning "god". The name Theodore is composed of the same elements in reverse order. Dorothea was the name of two early saints, notably the 4th-century martyr Dorothea of Caesarea. It was also borne by the 14th-century Saint Dorothea of Montau, who was the patron saint of Prussia.

Short form of Dorothy, Theodora or Isidora.

Variant of Dylan based on the spelling of the surname Dillon, which has an unrelated origin.

Altered form of Dolores.

Italian, Spanish and Portuguese form of Delphina.

Either from the occupational surname Deacon or directly from the vocabulary word deacon, which refers to a cleric in the Christian church (ultimately from Greek διάκονος (diakonos) meaning "servant").

From French chosette meaning "little thing". This is the nickname of the illegitimate daughter of Fantine in Victor Hugo's novel Les Misérables (1862). Her real name is Euphrasie, though it is seldom used. In the novel young Cosette is the ward of the cruel Thénardiers until she is retrieved by Jean Valjean.

Anglicized form of Scottish Cailean.

Diminutive of Chiara.

Italian form of Clara. Saint Chiara (commonly called Clare in English) was a follower of Saint Francis of Assisi.

Latinate feminine form of Carolus. This is the name of two American states: North and South Carolina. They were named for Charles I, king of England.

From Welsh ap Owain meaning "son of Owain".

Means "doe, female deer, gazelle". It is taken from the Hebrew phrase אַיֶלֶת הַשַׁחַר (ʾayeleṯ hashaḥar), literally "gazelle of dawn", which is a name of the morning star.

Meaning unknown. Athena was the Greek goddess of wisdom and warfare and the patron goddess of the city of Athens in Greece. It is likely that her name is derived from that of the city, not vice versa. The earliest mention of her seems to be a 15th-century BC Mycenaean Greek inscription from Knossos on Crete.

The daughter of Zeus, she was said to have sprung from his head fully grown after he impregnated and swallowed her mother Metis. Athena is associated with the olive tree and the owl.

Means "lion of God" in Hebrew, from אֲרִי (ʾari) meaning "lion" and אֵל (ʾel) meaning "God". In the Old Testament it is used as another name for the city of Jerusalem. Shakespeare utilized it for a spirit in his play The Tempest (1611) and Alexander Pope utilized it for a sylph in his poem The Rape of the Lock (1712), and one of the moons of Uranus bears this name in his honour. As an English name, it became more common for females in the 1980s, especially after it was used for the title character in the Disney film The Little Mermaid (1989).

Italian form of Ariadne.

Swedish diminutive of Anna.

Variant of Annika.

Combination of Anna and Lisa.

From the medieval Latin masculine name Angelus, which was derived from the name of the heavenly creature (itself derived from the Greek word ἄγγελος (angelos) meaning "messenger"). It has never been very common in the English-speaking world, where it is sometimes used as a feminine name in modern times.

Croatian and Serbian form of Angela.

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.

Variant of Elora.

Anglicized form of Éadaoin.

Short form of Adoración.