Pie's Personal Name List

Name of a Cornish village derived from the local saint, St Senara. In current use.

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".

Means "rose" in Hebrew, originally a borrowing from an Iranian language.

Probably of Persian origin, possibly a superlative form of 𐎺𐎢 (vahu) meaning "good". According to the Old Testament this was the name of the first wife of King Ahasuerus of Persia before he married Esther.

Means "twinflower" in Finnish.

Derived from Welsh fel Mai meaning "like May". It was invented by best-selling Welsh author Allen Raine for her popular romance novel By Berwen Banks (1899). The first Valmais in the UK birth records appear in the year of the book's publication, and alternate Welsh spellings Falmai and Felmai arose some years later.

Raine sold over two million books in the UK and colonies, which may explain the name's Australian and New Zealander usage. A film was made of the book in 1920 (as By Berwin Banks), directed by Sidney Morgan and starring Eileen Magrath as Valmai.

Means "shining brow", derived from Welsh tal "brow, head" and iesin "shining, radiant". This was the name of a semi-legendary 6th-century Welsh poet and bard, supposedly the author of the collection of poems the Book of Taliesin. He appears briefly in the Welsh legend Culhwch and Olwen and the Second Branch of the Mabinogi. He is the central character in the Tale of Taliesin, a medieval legend recorded in the 16th century, which tells how Ceridwen's servant Gwion Bach was reborn to her as Taliesin; how he becomes the bard for Elffin; and how Taliesin defends Elffin from the machinations of the king Maelgwn Gwynedd.

Derived from Sanskrit शिव (śiva) meaning "benign, kind, auspicious". Shiva is the Hindu god of destruction and restoration, the husband of the mother goddess Parvati. Though he does not appear in the Vedas, Shiva nevertheless incorporates elements of Vedic deities such as the storm god Rudra. He is often depicted with four arms and a third eye, and has both fierce and gentle aspects.

In Shaivism, a Hindu denomination, he is regarded as the supreme god. The other major sect, Vaishnavism, views Vishnu and his avatars as supreme.

Means "rose" in Mongolian.

Old Welsh name, possibly derived from Proto-Celtic *roino- meaning "hill, plain" (the source of Scottish Gaelic raon meaning "plain, field") or Proto-Celtic *rnf which meant "secret" and "magic" (the source of Middle Welsh rin which meant "mystery" and "charm" as well as Modern Welsh rhin meaning "secret"). In Welsh mythology, this was the name of a character in The Tale of Taliesin. It was also borne by historical Welsh princes of the 6th and 12th centuries.

Diminutive of Queen.

Medieval form of Peter. This is the name of the main character in the 14th-century poem Piers Plowman [1] by William Langland.

Means "of the mountains", derived from Sanskrit पर्वत (parvata) meaning "mountain". Parvati is a Hindu goddess of love and power, the benign form of the wife of Shiva. A daughter of the mountain god Himavat, she was a reincarnation of Shiva's first wife Sati. She is the mother of Ganesha and Skanda.

Means "multitude of lotuses", a derivative of Sanskrit पद्म (padma) meaning "lotus".

This particular spelling of the name was popularised through the poem 'Ozymandias' by Percy Bysshe Shelley.

It is a variant of the Ancient Greek name for Pharaoh Ramesses II, Osymandyas (Greek: Ὀσυμανδύας).

The recent revival of the name is probably triggered by a villain named Ozymandias in 'Watchmen' (TV series).

From an Old Welsh name (Ougein, Eugein and other spellings), which was possibly from the Latin name Eugenius. Other theories connect it to the Celtic roots *owi- "sheep", *wesu- "good" or *awi- "desire" combined with the Old Welsh suffix gen "born of". This is the name of several figures from British history, including Owain mab Urien, a 6th-century prince of Rheged who fought against the Angles. The 12th-century French poet Chrétien de Troyes adapted him into Yvain for his Arthurian romance Yvain, the Knight of the Lion. Regarded as one of the Knights of the Round Table, Yvain or Owain has since appeared in many other Arthurian tales, typically being the son of King Urien of Gore, and the errant husband of Laudine, the Lady of the Fountain.

Other notable bearers include Owain the Great, a 12th-century king of Gwynedd, and Owain Glyndwr, a 14th-century leader of the Welsh resistance to English rule.

Medieval form of the Old English name Ósgýð, derived from the elements ós "god" and gyð "war" (perhaps meaning "divine war"). Saint Osyth was a martyr of the 7th century, an Anglian princess who founded a monastery at the village Chich in Essex, which was renamed St Osyth. It is occasionally used as a given name in modern times, especially in the early 20th century.

Welsh form of Oisín.

Means "bright moon" in Turkish, Azerbaijani and Kazakh, ultimately from Arabic نور (nūr) meaning "light" and Turkic ay meaning "moon".

Short form of names that end in nina, such as Antonina or Giannina. It was imported to Western Europe from Russia and Italy in the 19th century. This name also nearly coincides with the Spanish word niña meaning "little girl" (the word is pronounced differently than the name).

A famous bearer was the American jazz musician Nina Simone (1933-2003).

Indian form of Niloufar.

Means "wild rose" in Persian.

Means "distinguished, outstanding" in Arabic, derived from امتاز (imtāza) meaning "to be distinguished". The Taj Mahal was built by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan as tomb for his wife Mumtaz Mahal (1593-1631).

Of uncertain origin and meaning. Current theories include a derivation from Welsh Mai "May (the month)" and Llyr and a Welsh form of Magloire.

Medieval English and French form of Matilda. Though it became rare after the 14th century, it was revived and once more grew popular in the 19th century, perhaps due to Alfred Tennyson's 1855 poem Maud [1].

From the Arabic name of a fragrant plant. Al-Marwa is the name of one of the two sacred hills near Mecca.

Welsh form of Maximus. Magnus Maximus (known as Macsen Wledig in Welsh) was a 4th-century co-ruler of the Western Roman Empire. In Wales he was regarded as the founder of several royal lineages. He appears in the medieval Welsh tale The Dream of Macsen.

Means "flower" in Albanian.

Medieval form of the Old English name Leofdæg, literally "beloved day". According to medieval English custom, a love day or dies amoris was a day for disputants to come together to try to resolve their differences amicably. Mainly a feminine name, with some male usage. Known textual examples date from the 11th century. It seems to have been most common in Cornwall and Devon, according to the British births, deaths and marriages index. Currently very rare.

The novel Coming Home (1995) by Rosamunde Pilcher, set in 1930s Cornwall, has a character called Loveday. Loveday Minette is a fictional character in the children's fantasy novel The Little White Horse (1946) by Elizabeth Goudge (in the novel's film adaptation, she is known as Loveday de Noir). Also, a character in Poldark.

Unaccented variant of Llŷr.

Means "tulip" in Persian.

Derived from Sanskrit कुसुम (kusuma) meaning "flower".

Reconstructed Egyptian form of Isis.

Means "rainbow" in Greek. Iris was the name of the Greek goddess of the rainbow, also serving as a messenger to the gods. This name can also be given in reference to the word (which derives from the same Greek source) for the iris flower or the coloured part of the eye.

Medieval Welsh form of Iohannes (see John), revived in the 19th century.

Variant of Hawise.

Norman form of Haimo. The Normans brought this name to Britain.

Derived from Welsh gwern "alder tree". Gwern is a minor figure in Welsh tradition. He is the son of Matholwch, king of Ireland, and Branwen, sister to the king of Britain. He appears in the tale of Branwen, daughter of Llŷr, in which his murder at the hands of his sadistic uncle Efnysien sparks a mutually destructive battle between Britain and Ireland.

Old French form of Wido. The Normans introduced it to England, where it was common until the time of Guy Fawkes (1570-1606), a revolutionary who attempted to blow up the British parliament. The name was revived in the 19th century, due in part to characters in the novels Guy Mannering (1815) by Walter Scott and The Heir of Redclyffe (1854) by C. M. Yonge.

Anglicized form of Fríða.

French masculine form of Florentius (see Florence).

Derived from Latin flos meaning "flower" (genitive case floris). Flora was the Roman goddess of flowers and spring, the wife of Zephyr the west wind. It has been used as a given name since the Renaissance, starting in France. In Scotland it was sometimes used as an Anglicized form of Fionnghuala.

Manx form of Finlugh.

Welsh form of Igraine.

From the English word for the flower also known as sweetbrier. It is derived via Old French from Vulgar Latin *aquilentum meaning "prickly". It was early used as a given name (in the form Eglentyne) in Geoffrey Chaucer's 14th-century story The Prioress's Tale (one of The Canterbury Tales).

Form of Charmion used by Shakespeare in his play Antony and Cleopatra (1606).

Derived from Welsh budd "profit, advantage". It is a cognate of Boudicca, the name of a 1st-century queen of the Iceni (a Celtic people) who is known as Buddug in Welsh, and is sometimes considered a Welsh equivalent of Victoria.

Medieval variant of Boudicca, possibly arising from a scribal error.

Means "face of flowers" in Welsh. According to the Fourth Branch of the Mabinogi [1], she was created out of flowers by Gwydion to be the wife of his nephew Lleu Llaw Gyffes. Originally she was named Blodeuedd meaning simply "flowers". She was eventually transformed into an owl by Gwydion after she and her lover Gronw attempted to murder Lleu, at which point he renamed her Blodeuwedd.

French form of Berenice.

From Japanese 菖蒲 (ayame) meaning "iris (flower)". Other kanji or combinations of kanji can also form this name.

Means "to weave" in Lithuanian. This was the name of the Lithuanian goddess of bees.

Old Welsh name of unknown meaning.

Meaning unknown, possibly related either to Greek ἀρτεμής (artemes) meaning "safe" or ἄρταμος (artamos) meaning "a butcher". Artemis was the Greek goddess of the moon and hunting, the twin of Apollo and the daughter of Zeus and Leto. She was known as Diana to the Romans.

From the name of an Armenian river, also called the Aras.

Meaning unknown. This was the name of the god of the underworld, called Annwfn, in Welsh mythology.

From the Greek Ἄνθεια (Antheia), derived from ἄνθος (anthos) meaning "flower, blossom". This was an epithet of the Greek goddess Hera.

Welsh form of Agnes.

Old Welsh name, possibly from the Latin name Honorius [1]. This was the name of a 6th-century Brythonic poet, also known as Neirin or Aneurin [2], who is said to be the author of the poem Y Gododdin.

Of uncertain meaning, possibly a corruption of Alethea (compare Alethaire). In the United States, this name was first found in 1768; in the United Kingdom, there were several uses throughout the 1800s (and most likely before that as well). While the background of the American bearers of this name is unknown, almost all British bearers were born to traveling Romani families.

Means "morning" in Finnish.