blackelectric's Personal Name List

Perhaps means "enchanting" or "dawn" in Arabic. This was the name of a minor 12th-century Spanish saint, a convert from Islam. The name was used by Cervantes for a character in his novel Don Quixote (1606), in which Zoraida is a beautiful Moorish woman of Algiers who converts to Christianity and elopes with a Spanish officer.

Spanish form of Zechariah and Zacharias.

French feminine form of Yves.

Feminine form of Yves (or an elaboration using Élise). It was (first?) borne by the title character in the Italian novel Yvelise (1923) by Guido da Verona. It later appeared in the photonovel Yvelise devant l'amour published in the French magazine Nous Deux in 1950.

Feminine diminutive of Yves.

French form of Iseult.

From Jessenia, the genus name of a variety of palm trees found in South America. As a given name, it was popularized by the writer Yolanda Vargas Dulché in the 1970 Mexican telenovela Yesenia and the 1971 film adaptation [1].

Elaborated form of Yara 1 or Yara 2 (using the same suffix as Maritza).

Meaning unknown, possibly derived from an Arabic name. It has been used in Mexico since at least the 1940s [1], perhaps inspired by the Colombian actress Yadira Jiménez (1928-?), who performed in Mexican films beginning in 1946.

Possibly a Spanish form of Guiomar.

From Xuliana, the Galician form of Juliana.

Catalan form of Xenia.

Catalan diminutive of Xavier.

Variant of Volodya used in the Western world. It was borne by Chilean writer and activist Volodia Teitelboim (1916-2008).

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).

Derived from viorea, the Romanian word for the alpine squill flower (species Scilla bifolia) or the sweet violet flower (species Viola odorata). It is derived from Latin viola "violet".

Italian form of Vincent.

Italian feminine form of Vincent.

French feminine form of Victorinus.

Italian short form of Lodovico.

French feminine form of Valerianus (see Valerian).

Feminine form of Valerianus (see Valerian).

French feminine form of Valentinus (see Valentine 1).

Spanish feminine form of Thomas.

Short form of Antoinette.

Italian, Polish and Greek feminine form of Stephen.

Feminine form of Sorin.

Possibly derived from Romanian soare meaning "sun".

Derived from the surname of Francis Solanus (Santo Francisco Solano in Spanish and São Francisco Solano in Portuguese). Francis Solanus (1549 - 1610) was a Spanish friar and missionary in South America, belonging to the Order of Friars Minor (the Franciscans), and is honored as a saint in the Roman Catholic Church.

French form of the Late Latin name Sollemnia, which was derived from Latin sollemnis "religious". This was the name of a French shepherdess who became a saint after she was killed by her master.

Feminine form of Solano, a Spanish surname which is used as a given name in honour of Saint Francisco Solano (1549-1610).

French form of Seraphina.

Corsican form of Xavier.

Portuguese form of Sapphira. It coincides with the Portuguese word for "sapphire".

Spanish form of the Visigothic name *Hroþisinþs, composed of the Gothic elements hroþs "fame" and sinþs "time". This was the name of a 10th-century Galician saint, also known as Rudesind.

Spanish and European Portuguese form of Romulus.

Italian form of Romulus.

Possibly a variant of Romana.

Diminutive of Romeo.

Feminine form of Romanus (see Roman).

Means "dew" in Spanish. It is taken from the title of the Virgin Mary María del Rocío meaning "Mary of the Dew".

Spanish and Portuguese form of Richard.

Means "remedy" in Catalan, a Catalan equivalent of Remedios.

Italian form of Rayner.

Spanish, Italian and Portuguese form of Oswald.

Italian form of Ursula.

Italian form of Ursa.

Italian form of Homer.

Feminine form of Humbelin, a medieval diminutive of Humbert. The Blessed Humbeline (known as Hombeline or Ombeline in French) was a 12th-century nun, the sister of Saint Bernard of Clairvaux.

French diminutive of Oda or Odilia. This is the name of a princess who has been transformed into a swan in the ballet Swan Lake (1877) by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.

Variant of Odalis.

Feminine variant form of Noël.

Feminine diminutive of Nicola 1.

Spanish feminine form of Nicholas.

Masculine form of Natalia.

Derivative of Anastasio.

French diminutive of Nadia 1.

Diminutive of Nadège.

French form of Nadezhda.

Italian variant of Miriam.

From the Occitan name Mirèio, which was first used by the poet Frédéric Mistral for the main character in his poem Mirèio (1859). He probably derived it from the Occitan word mirar meaning "to admire". It is spelled Mirèlha in classical Occitan orthography. A notable bearer is the French singer Mireille Mathieu (1946-).

Romanian form of Mirče. This name was borne by a 14th-century ruler of Wallachia, called Mircea the Great.

Diminutive of Mina 1 and names containing mine, such as Hermine or Guillaumine. This was also a nickname of Henriette, Duchess of Orléans (daughter of the 17th-century English king Charles I). In French perhaps it can also be taken from a word meaning "(female) kitten" (sometimes used as a term of endearment for a girl). A known bearer is English murder-mystery author Minette Walters (1949-).

Diminutive of Maria de Jesus, Maria João, Maria Júlia and other similar compound names, formed by combining Mi and Ju.

From the name of a village in Andorra where there is a sanctuary dedicated to the Virgin Mary. The name of the village may derive from Latin meridies meaning "midday".

Italian, Spanish, Polish and Romanian form of Melanie.

Usage of this still relatively new French given name first started with Mazarine Pingeot (b. 1974), the illegitimate daughter of former French president François Mitterrand (1916-1996) and his mistress Anne Pingeot (b. 1943), whose existence was only brought to light in 1994 or 1995. Her parents' love of books is said to have inspired them to name their daughter after the Bibliothèque Mazarine, the oldest public library in France. The library itself was named after the 17th-century cardinal Jules Raymond Mazarin, who had been born in Italy as Giulio Raimondo Mazzarino. He came from a family that was originally from Sicily and had taken their surname from their ancestral town, Mazzarino.

The town's name is said to have been derived from Mazzara, which either originates from Arabic mazari or mazar meaning "shrine", or is a corruption of Mactorium, the name of a town that had existed in the area in ancient times. That town had been founded by ancient Greek colonists, who had called it Μακτώριον (Maktorion). It is uncertain what the town's name meant in Greek, but it is possibly related to the Greek noun μακτήριον (makterion) meaning "food". Also compare Μαιμακτηριών (Maimakterion), which is the name of one of the lunar months of the Hellenic calendar used in ancient Attica. Alternatively, an etymological relation with the Greek adjective μακτός (maktos) meaning "kneaded" is also possible. This word is ultimately derived from the Greek verb μάσσω (masso) meaning "to knead, to press into a mould".

With that said, the given name Mazarine is quite rare in France today. It was virtually unknown in the country, until the existence of Mitterrand's illegitimate daughter was revealed in 1994 or 1995. The name gained quite a bit of exposure after that, which made it possible for prospective parents to take a liking to the name and bestow it upon their daughters. This clearly shows in the available statistics for the name Mazarine: it suddenly appeared on the radar in the mid-1990s and has remained on it ever since, whereas in previous decades, the name was not used on a noteworthy scale at all (as was to be expected, since this name was more or less "invented" as a given name).

French form of the Roman name Maxentius, a derivative of Latin maximus "greatest". This was the agnomen of an early 4th-century Roman emperor, Marcus Aurelius Valerius Maxentius, a rival of Constantine. It was also borne by a 6th-century saint from Agde in France.

Feminine form of Mathurin.

Italian form of Marcius.

Italian form of Marcia.

French diminutive of Marie.

French, Dutch and Norwegian form of Martina.

Means "marjoram" in French, from Latin maiorana. Marjoram is a minty herb.

Elaboration of Maria used particularly in Latin America. The suffix could be inspired by the name of the Itza people of Central America (as seen in the name of the old Maya city of Chichen Itza, Mexico). It also nearly coincides with the name of the Maritsa River in southeastern Europe.

Short form of María Soledad. It is sometimes considered a combination of María and Sol 1, or from Spanish mar y sol "sea and sun".

Elaborated form of Marisa.

French diminutive of Marie.

Contraction of Marie and Ève.

French diminutive of Marie.

Contraction of Maria and Antonia.

Diminutive of Mara 1.

French feminine form of Marcellinus.

Combination of Marco and Antonio, referring to the 1st-century BC Roman triumvir Marcus Antonius (Mark Antony).

Combination of Mai 3 and Gwenn.

Occitan form of Magdalene.

Feminine form of Maël, possibly influenced by the spelling of Mailys.

French form of Breton Mael meaning "prince, chieftain, lord". Saint Mael was a 5th-century Breton hermit who lived in Wales.

Elaboration of Lydie.

Italian feminine form of Ludwig.

French form of Ludovicus, the Latinized form of Ludwig. This was the name of an 1833 opera by the French composer Fromental Halévy.

Possibly from a feminine form of Leutwin. It was popularized in the 1970s by a character from the French miniseries Les Gens de Mogador.

Spanish and Romansh form of Lidwina.

Feminine form of Lucien.

Means "light source, bright star, morning star" in Spanish, a derivative of luz "light". Occasionally it is used as a diminutive of the name Luz. It is most common in Mexico and Colombia.

Variant of Locaia.

Diminutive of Louise.

Breton form of Louis.

Galician form of Leocadia.

French form of Leontina.

Feminine form of Joviano.

Combination of Jean 1 and Marie.

Italian form of Iseult.

Italian form of Ishmael.

Spanish and Portuguese form of Ishmael. This is also the form used in the Greek Old Testament.

Spanish diminutive of Isabel and French and Flemish variant of Isalie.

Romanian form of Jasmine.

French form of Honorina, a feminine form of the Roman name Honorinus, a derivative of Honorius. Saint Honorina was a 4th-century martyr from the Normandy region in France.

Derived from Breton gwenn meaning "white, blessed" and tal meaning "brow, forehead".

Means "blessed and generous" from Breton gwenn meaning "white, blessed" and hael meaning "generous". Saint Gwenhael was a 6th-century abbot of Brittany.

Feminine form of Gregorius (see Gregory).

Italian form of Josette.

Diminutive of Fleur.

Means "flower" in French. Saint Fleur of Issendolus (Flor in Gascon) was a 14th-century nun from Maurs, France. This was also the name of a character in John Galsworthy's novels The Forsyte Saga (1922).

Means "flower" in Italian. It can also be considered an Italian form of the Latin names Flora and Florus.

Combination of Italian fiore "flower" (Latin flos) and alba "dawn".

Diminutive of Esmeralda.

Italian feminine form of Herminius.

Variant of Hermine or else a variant of Ermina.

Breton form of Honoria, or directly from Breton enor "honour" (a word of Latin origin). This was the name of a 6th-century saint, the wife of Saint Efflamm.

Derived from French émeraude "emerald".

Either a variant of Amarante or possibly of Emérance.

French form of Eligius.

French form of Elisha. This name is also (uncommonly) used for girls.

French form of Hedwig.

Italian feminine form of Edmund.

French and Albanian form of Edmund. A notable bearer was the English astronomer Edmond Halley (1656-1742), for whom Halley's comet is named.

Short form of Edmond, used independently.

Directly from the Italian word diamante meaning "diamond".

Italian diminutive of Daniela.

Italian feminine form of Damian.

Feminine form of Damase.

Feminine form of Dalmazio.

Spanish form of Christopher.

From the Latin name Constantinus, a derivative of Constans. Constantine the Great (272-337), full name Flavius Valerius Constantinus, was the first Roman emperor to adopt Christianity. He moved the capital of the empire from Rome to Byzantium, which he renamed Constantinople (modern Istanbul).

Truncated form of Nicoletta as well as a variant of Colette.

French diminutive of Claude.

English form of Claudianus. This name was borne by a Roman court poet from the 4th century AD.

French diminutive of Charles.

From a French surname that was derived from a place name meaning "stony". It was originally given in honour of Saint Jeanne-Françoise de Chantal, the founder of the Visitation Order in the 17th century. It has become associated with French chant "song".

Italian form of Caesaria.

Italian form of Caesar.

Means "cherry" in French.

Italian form of Catellus.

Italian form of Castrensis. A known bearer of this name is the Italian former soccer player Castrense Campanella (b. 1962).

Feminine form of Castrense.

Spanish and Catalan cognate of Blanche.

Italian cognate of Blanche. Shakespeare had characters named Bianca in The Taming of the Shrew (1593) and Othello (1603).

French feminine form of Benjamin.

From the surname of the 13th-century Italian saint Philip Benitius (Filippo Benizi in Italian; Felipe Benicio in Spanish). A notable bearer of the given name is the Puerto Rican actor Benicio del Toro (1967-).

Romanian and Polish form of Benjamin, as well as the form used in the Greek and Latin Bibles.

Italian form of Baldwin.

Extremely rare and archaic French form of Azariah.

Medieval Catalan cognate of Aulaire, recorded in 15th-century Valencia.

French variant of Albert.

Feminine form of Astruc. This name was also used as a Judeo-Spanish translation of Mazal.

Derived from Provençal astruc "lucky", ultimately from Greek aster "star" and thus having the extended meaning of "born under a good star".
It was generally given as an amuletic name and sometimes used as a translation of Hebrew Mazel Tov and/or Gad.

Italian and Spanish form of Arthur.

Italian and Spanish form of Artemios.

French form of Apollinaris. It was adopted as a surname by the Polish-French poet Guillaume Apollinaire (1880-1918), who based it on his Polish middle name Apolinary.

Dutch and French diminutive of Anna.

Short form of Alexandra.

Created in the 20th century, probably modelled on Breton names such as Gaëlle and Maëlle.

Coined in the 1960s as a Breton masculine form of Anne 1.

Creole form and Québécois variant of Aloysia.

From French alizé meaning "trade wind".

Romanian form of Alexis and Alexios as well as a Louisiana Creole form of Alexis.

Late medieval Gallicized Breton feminine form of Alan by way of combining it with the French feminine diminutive suffix -ette.

French form of Alan. A notable bearer is the French actor Alain Delon (1935-).