orchid_forest's Personal Name List

Winona
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Sioux
Pronounced: wi-NO-nə(English)
Rating: 47% based on 3 votes
Means "firstborn daughter" in Dakota or Lakota. According to folklore, this was the name of a daughter of a Dakota chief (possibly Wapasha III) who leapt from a cliff to her death rather than marry a man she hated. Numerous places in the United States have been named after her. The actress Winona Ryder (1971-) was named after the city in Minnesota where she was born.
Virginia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Romanian, Greek, Ancient Roman
Other Scripts: Βιργινία(Greek)
Pronounced: vər-JIN-yə(English) veer-JEE-nya(Italian) beer-KHEE-nya(Spanish)
Rating: 65% based on 2 votes
Feminine form of the Roman family name Verginius or Virginius, which is of unknown meaning, but long associated with Latin virgo "maid, virgin". According to a legend, it was the name of a Roman woman killed by her father so as to save her from the clutches of a crooked official.

This was the name of the first English baby born in the New World: Virginia Dare in 1587 on Roanoke Island. Perhaps because of this, the name has generally been more popular in America than elsewhere in the English-speaking world, though in both Britain and America it was not often used until the 19th century. The baby was named after the Colony of Virginia, which was itself named for Elizabeth I, the Virgin Queen. A more recent bearer was the English novelist Virginia Woolf (1882-1941).

Romilly
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (British, Rare)
Rating: 70% based on 2 votes
From an English surname that was derived from the name of various Norman towns, themselves from the given name Romilius.
Raffaella
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian
Pronounced: raf-fa-EHL-la
Rating: 65% based on 2 votes
Italian feminine form of Raphael.
Penelope
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology, English
Other Scripts: Πηνελόπη(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: PEH-NEH-LO-PEH(Classical Greek) pə-NEHL-ə-pee(English)
Rating: 60% based on 4 votes
Probably derived from Greek πηνέλοψ (penelops), a type of duck. Alternatively it could be from πήνη (pene) meaning "threads, weft" and ὄψ (ops) meaning "face, eye". In Homer's epic the Odyssey this is the name of the wife of Odysseus, forced to fend off suitors while her husband is away fighting at Troy.

It has occasionally been used as an English given name since the 16th century. It was moderately popular in the 1940s, but had a more notable upswing in the early 2000s. This may have been inspired by the Spanish actress Penélope Cruz (1974-), who gained prominence in English-language movies at that time. It was already rapidly rising when celebrities Kourtney Kardashian and Scott Disick gave it to their baby daughter in 2012.

Morgana
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: mawr-GAN-ə
Rating: 70% based on 2 votes
Feminine form of Morgan 1.
Merewen
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Medieval English
Rating: 10% based on 2 votes
Variant of Merwenn.
Meredith
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Welsh, English
Pronounced: MEHR-ə-dith(English)
Personal remark: nn. Merry
Rating: 38% based on 4 votes
From the Welsh name Maredudd or Meredydd, from Old Welsh forms such as Margetud, possibly from mawredd "greatness, magnificence" combined with iudd "lord". The Welsh forms of this name were well used through the Middle Ages. Since the mid-1920s it has been used more often for girls than for boys in English-speaking countries, though it is still a masculine name in Wales. A famous bearer of this name as surname was the English novelist and poet George Meredith (1828-1909).
Melusine
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Mythology
Rating: 70% based on 2 votes
Meaning unknown. In European folklore Melusine was a water fairy who turned into a serpent from the waist down every Saturday. She made her husband, Raymond of Poitou, promise that he would never see her on that day, and when he broke his word she left him forever.
Mélisande
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French (Rare)
Rating: 10% based on 2 votes
French form of Millicent used by Maurice Maeterlinck in his play Pelléas et Mélisande (1893). The play was later adapted by Claude Debussy into an opera (1902).
Melicent
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Archaic)
Rating: 27% based on 3 votes
Older form of Millicent.
Martha
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Dutch, German, Greek, Biblical, Biblical Greek [1], Biblical Latin, Old Church Slavic
Other Scripts: Μάρθα(Greek) Марѳа(Church Slavic)
Pronounced: MAHR-thə(English) MAHR-ta(Dutch) MAR-ta(German)
Rating: 70% based on 2 votes
From Aramaic מַרְתָּא (marta) meaning "the lady, the mistress", feminine form of מַר (mar) meaning "master". In the New Testament this is the name of the sister of Lazarus and Mary of Bethany (who is sometimes identified with Mary Magdalene). She was a witness to Jesus restoring her dead brother to life.

The name was not used in England until after the Protestant Reformation. A notable bearer was Martha Washington (1731-1802), the wife of the first American president George Washington. It is also borne by the media personality Martha Stewart (1941-).

Madelief
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Dutch
Pronounced: ma-də-LEEF
Rating: 67% based on 3 votes
Derived from Dutch madeliefje meaning "daisy".
Kerensa
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Cornish
Rating: 55% based on 2 votes
Means "love" in Cornish.
Ingrid
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Estonian, German, Dutch
Pronounced: ING-rid(Swedish) ING-ri(Norwegian) ING-grit(German) ING-greet(German) ING-ghrit(Dutch)
Rating: 68% based on 4 votes
From the Old Norse name Ingríðr meaning "Ing is beautiful", derived from the name of the Germanic god Ing combined with fríðr "beautiful, beloved". A famous bearer was the Swedish actress Ingrid Bergman (1915-1982).
Gwyneira
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Welsh
Pronounced: gwi-NAY-ra
Rating: 27% based on 3 votes
Means "white snow" from the Welsh element gwyn meaning "white, blessed" combined with eira meaning "snow". This is a recently created Welsh name.
Evelia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Spanish
Pronounced: eh-BEH-lya
Rating: 77% based on 3 votes
Elaborated form of Eva.
Evanthe
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Εὐάνθη(Ancient Greek)
Rating: 70% based on 3 votes
Latinized form of Euanthe.
Eulalia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Spanish, Italian, Polish, English, Ancient Greek [1]
Other Scripts: Εὐλαλία(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: ew-LA-lya(Spanish, Italian) yoo-LAY-lee-ə(English)
Rating: 25% based on 4 votes
Derived from Greek εὔλαλος (eulalos) meaning "sweetly-speaking", itself from εὖ (eu) meaning "good" and λαλέω (laleo) meaning "to talk". This was the name of an early 4th-century saint and martyr from Mérida in Spain. Another martyr by this name, living at the same time, is a patron saint of Barcelona. These two saints might be the same person.
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(English, Dutch) EHS-TEHR(French) ehs-TEHR(Spanish) EHS-tu(German)
Rating: 72% based on 6 votes
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].

Demelza
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (British, Rare)
Pronounced: də-MEHL-zə
Rating: 65% based on 2 votes
From a Cornish place name meaning "fort of Maeldaf". It has been used as a given name since the middle of the 20th century. It was popularized in the 1970s by a character from the British television series Poldark, which was set in Cornwall.
Cleopatra
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Ancient Greek (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Κλεοπάτρα(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: klee-o-PAT-rə(English)
Rating: 63% based on 3 votes
From the Greek name Κλεοπάτρα (Kleopatra) meaning "glory of the father", derived from κλέος (kleos) meaning "glory" combined with πατήρ (pater) meaning "father" (genitive πατρός). This was the name of queens of Egypt from the Ptolemaic royal family, including Cleopatra VII, the mistress of both Julius Caesar and Mark Antony. After being defeated by Augustus she committed suicide (according to popular belief, by allowing herself to be bitten by a venomous asp). Shakespeare's tragedy Antony and Cleopatra (1606) tells the story of her life.
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)
Rating: 76% based on 5 votes
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.
Arianthe
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek (Rare, Expatriate)
Other Scripts: Αριάνθη(Greek)
Rating: 10% based on 2 votes
Variant transcription of Arianthi. This is borne by Arianthe Galani (1940-), an Australian actress of Greek descent.
Ariadne
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Ἀριάδνη(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: A-REE-AD-NEH(Classical Greek) ar-ee-AD-nee(English)
Rating: 47% based on 3 votes
Means "most holy", composed of the Greek prefix ἀρι (ari) meaning "most" combined with Cretan Greek ἀδνός (adnos) meaning "holy". In Greek mythology, Ariadne was the daughter of King Minos. She fell in love with Theseus and helped him to escape the Labyrinth and the Minotaur, but was later abandoned by him. Eventually she married the god Dionysus.
Amaryllis
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Literature
Pronounced: am-ə-RIL-is(English)
Rating: 80% based on 3 votes
Derived from Greek ἀμαρύσσω (amarysso) meaning "to sparkle". This is the name of a character appearing in Virgil's pastoral poems Eclogues [1]. The amaryllis flower is named for her.
Amabel
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Rating: 83% based on 4 votes
Medieval feminine form of Amabilis.
Alethea
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: al-ə-THEE-ə, ə-LEE-thee-ə
Rating: 65% based on 4 votes
Derived from Greek ἀλήθεια (aletheia) meaning "truth". This name was coined in the 16th century.
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