Sophannagh's Personal Name List
Yves
Gender: Masculine
Usage: French
Pronounced: EEV
Rating: 51% based on 15 votes
Medieval French form of
Ivo 1. This was the name of two French
saints: an 11th-century bishop of Chartres and a 13th-century parish priest and lawyer, also known as Ivo of Kermartin, the patron saint of Brittany.
Yrian
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Medieval Scandinavian
Rating: 40% based on 5 votes
Medieval Scandinavian form of
Jurian.
Winona
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Sioux
Pronounced: wi-NO-nə(English)
Rating: 59% based on 11 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.
Vladimir
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Russian, Serbian, Croatian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Slovene, Albanian
Other Scripts: Владимир(Russian, Serbian, Bulgarian, Macedonian)
Pronounced: vlu-DYEE-myir(Russian) VLA-dee-meer(Serbian, Croatian, Macedonian)
Rating: 51% based on 14 votes
From the Old Slavic name *
Voldiměrŭ, derived from the elements
volděti meaning "to rule" and
měrŭ meaning "great, famous". The second element has also been associated with
mirŭ meaning "peace, world".
This was the name of a 9th-century ruler of Bulgaria. It was also borne by an 11th-century grand prince of Kyiv, Vladimir the Great, who is venerated as a saint because of his efforts to Christianize his realm. Other notable bearers include the revolutionary and first leader of the Soviet state Vladimir Lenin (1870-1924), the Russian author Vladimir Nabokov (1899-1977), and the Russian president and prime minister Vladimir Putin (1952-).
Vivian
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish
Pronounced: VIV-ee-ən(English)
Rating: 59% based on 13 votes
From the Latin name
Vivianus, which was derived from Latin
vivus "alive".
Saint Vivian was a French bishop who provided protection during the Visigoth invasion of the 5th century. It has been occasionally used as an English (masculine) name since the Middle Ages. In modern times it is also used as a feminine name, in which case it is either an Anglicized form of
Bébinn or a variant of
Vivien 2.
Visvaldis
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Latvian
Rating: 53% based on 4 votes
From Latvian
viss "all" and
valdīt "to rule". It is thus a
cognate of the Slavic name
Vsevolod.
Virginie
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French
Pronounced: VEER-ZHEE-NEE
Rating: 39% based on 23 votes
Violetta
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, Russian, Hungarian
Other Scripts: Виолетта(Russian)
Pronounced: vyo-LEHT-ta(Italian) vyi-u-LYEHT-tə(Russian) VEE-o-leht-taw(Hungarian)
Rating: 62% based on 17 votes
Italian, Russian and Hungarian form of
Violet.
Violet
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: VIE-lit, VIE-ə-lit
Rating: 69% based on 19 votes
From the English word violet for the purple flower, ultimately derived from Latin viola. It was common in Scotland from the 16th century, and it came into general use as an English given name during the 19th century.
Violante
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Late Roman, Italian
Pronounced: vee-o-LAN-teh(Italian)
Rating: 42% based on 6 votes
Viola
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Italian, Swedish, Danish, Finnish, German, Hungarian, Czech, Slovak
Pronounced: vie-O-lə(English) vi-O-lə(English) VIE-ə-lə(English) VYAW-la(Italian) vi-OO-la(Swedish) VEE-o-la(German) vee-O-la(German) VEE-o-law(Hungarian) VI-o-la(Czech) VEE-aw-la(Slovak)
Rating: 56% based on 14 votes
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.
Vicky
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: VIK-ee
Rating: 23% based on 12 votes
Viatrix
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Late Roman
Rating: 31% based on 12 votes
Verochka
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Russian
Other Scripts: Верочка(Russian)
Rating: 41% based on 7 votes
Verity
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: VEHR-i-tee
Rating: 46% based on 19 votes
From the English word meaning
"verity, truth", from Latin
verus "true, real". This was one of the virtue names adopted by the
Puritans in the 17th century.
Valeriy
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian
Other Scripts: Валерий(Russian) Валерій(Ukrainian) Валерый(Belarusian)
Pronounced: vu-LYEH-ryee(Russian)
Rating: 33% based on 20 votes
Russian, Ukrainian and Belarusian form of
Valerius.
Valerie
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, German, Czech
Pronounced: VAL-ə-ree(English) VA-lə-ree(German)
Rating: 49% based on 23 votes
English and German form of
Valeria, as well as a Czech variant of
Valérie.
Val
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: VAL
Rating: 39% based on 18 votes
Tudor 1
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Welsh
Rating: 33% based on 20 votes
Anglicized form of the medieval Welsh name
Tudur, possibly from a hypothetical Celtic name *
Toutorīxs meaning "ruler of the people" (
cognate with
Theodoric). As a surname it was borne by five monarchs of England beginning with Henry VII in the 15th century. These monarchs were descended from Owain ap Maredudd ap Tudur, a Welsh nobleman.
Toby
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: TO-bee
Rating: 40% based on 17 votes
Medieval form of
Tobias. It was sometimes used as a feminine name in the 1930s and 40s due to the influence of American actress Toby Wing (1915-2001).
Tobias
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Biblical, German, Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, English, Biblical Latin, Biblical Greek
Other Scripts: Τωβίας(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: to-BEE-as(German) tuw-BEE-as(Swedish) tə-BIE-əs(English)
Rating: 53% based on 19 votes
Greek form of
Tobiah. This is the name of the hero of the apocryphal Book of Tobit, which appears in many English versions of the
Old Testament. It relates how
Tobit's son Tobias, with the help of the angel
Raphael, is able to drive away a demon who has plagued Sarah, who subsequently becomes his wife. This story was popular in the Middle Ages, and the name came into occasional use in parts of Europe at that time. In England it became common after the
Protestant Reformation.
Tisiphone
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Τισιφόνη(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: ti-SIF-ə-nee(English)
Rating: 25% based on 11 votes
Means
"avenging murder" in Greek, derived from
τίσις (tisis) meaning "vengeance" and
φόνος (phonos) meaning "murder". This was the name of one of the Furies or
Ἐρινύες (Erinyes) in Greek
mythology. She killed Cithaeron with the bite of one of the snakes on her head.
Timotheus
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Biblical Latin, German (Rare), Dutch (Rare)
Other Scripts: Τιμόθεος(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: tee-mo-TEH-uys(Dutch)
Rating: 52% based on 18 votes
Latinized form of
Timotheos (see
Timothy).
Temperance
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: TEHM-prəns, TEHM-pər-əns
Personal remark: MN only
Rating: 49% based on 20 votes
From the English word meaning
"moderation" or
"restraint". This was one of the virtue names adopted by the
Puritans in the 17th century. It experienced a modest revival in the United States during the run of the television series
Bones (2005-2017), in which the main character bears this name.
Teja
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Slovene
Rating: 38% based on 18 votes
Taranis
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Gaulish Mythology
Rating: 33% based on 7 votes
Derived from the old Celtic root *
toranos meaning
"thunder",
cognate with
Þórr (see
Thor). This was the name of the Gaulish thunder god, who was often identified with the Roman god
Jupiter.
Taffy
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Welsh
Pronounced: TAF-ee(English)
Rating: 23% based on 7 votes
Anglicized form of
Dafydd. It has been used as a slang term for a Welshman.
Sybille
Gender: Feminine
Usage: German, French
Pronounced: zee-BI-lə(German) SEE-BEEL(French)
Rating: 40% based on 9 votes
German and French form of
Sibyl.
Sybilla
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Polish, Late Roman
Pronounced: si-BEEL-la(Polish)
Rating: 42% based on 9 votes
Polish form and Latin variant of
Sibylla.
Susan
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: SOO-zən
Rating: 63% based on 22 votes
English variant of
Susanna. This has been most common spelling since the 18th century. It was especially popular both in the United States and the United Kingdom from the 1940s to the 1960s. A notable bearer was the American feminist Susan B. Anthony (1820-1906).
Sophy
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: SO-fee
Rating: 53% based on 13 votes
Sophus
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Ancient Greek (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Σόφος(Ancient Greek)
Rating: 30% based on 2 votes
From the Greek name
Σόφος (Sophos) meaning
"skilled, clever".
Sidonia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Late Roman, Georgian
Other Scripts: სიდონია(Georgian)
Rating: 34% based on 10 votes
Feminine form of
Sidonius. This is the name of a legendary
saint from Georgia. She and her father Abiathar were supposedly converted by Saint
Nino from Judaism to Christianity.
Sibylla
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Late Roman, German
Other Scripts: Σίβυλλα(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: zee-BI-la(German)
Rating: 44% based on 10 votes
Sibyl
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: SIB-əl
Rating: 48% based on 10 votes
From Greek
Σίβυλλα (Sibylla), meaning
"prophetess, sibyl". In Greek and Roman legend the sibyls were female prophets who practiced at different holy sites in the ancient world. In later Christian theology, the sibyls were thought to have divine knowledge and were revered in much the same way as the
Old Testament prophets. Because of this, the name came into general use in the Christian world during the Middle Ages. The
Normans imported it to England, where it was spelled both
Sibyl and
Sybil. It became rare after the
Protestant Reformation, but it was revived in the 19th century, perhaps helped by Benjamin Disraeli's novel
Sybil (1845).
Shiloh
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: Biblical
Other Scripts: שִׁלוֹ, שִׁילֹה(Ancient Hebrew)
Pronounced: SHIE-lo(English)
Rating: 48% based on 10 votes
From an
Old Testament place name possibly meaning
"tranquil" in Hebrew. It is also used prophetically in the Old Testament to refer to a person, often understood to be the Messiah (see
Genesis 49:10). This may in fact be a mistranslation.
This name was brought to public attention after actors Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt gave it to their daughter in 2006.
Sebastian
Gender: Masculine
Usage: German, English, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Polish, Finnish, Romanian, Czech
Pronounced: zeh-BAS-tee-an(German) sə-BAS-chən(American English) sə-BAS-tee-ən(British English) seh-BAS-dyan(Danish) seh-BAS-tyan(Polish) SEH-bahs-tee-ahn(Finnish) seh-bas-tee-AN(Romanian) SEH-bas-ti-yan(Czech)
Rating: 60% based on 21 votes
From the Latin name
Sebastianus, which meant
"from Sebaste". Sebaste was the name a town in Asia Minor, its name deriving from Greek
σεβαστός (sebastos) meaning "venerable" (a translation of Latin
Augustus, the title of the Roman emperors). According to Christian tradition,
Saint Sebastian was a 3rd-century Roman soldier martyred during the persecutions of the emperor Diocletian. After he was discovered to be a Christian, he was tied to a stake and shot with arrows. This however did not kill him. Saint Irene of Rome healed him and he returned to personally admonish Diocletian, whereupon the emperor had him beaten to death.
Due to the saint's popularity, the name came into general use in medieval Europe, especially in Spain and France. It was also borne by a 16th-century king of Portugal who died in a crusade against Morocco.
Sarah
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, French, German, Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, Dutch, Hebrew, Arabic, Biblical
Other Scripts: שָׂרָה(Hebrew) سارة(Arabic)
Pronounced: SEHR-ə(English) SAR-ə(English) SA-RA(French) ZA-ra(German) SA-ra(Danish, Dutch, Arabic)
Rating: 54% based on 5 votes
From the Hebrew name
שָׂרָה (Sara) meaning
"lady, princess, noblewoman". In the
Old Testament this is the name of
Abraham's wife, considered the matriarch of the Jewish people. She was barren until she unexpectedly became pregnant with
Isaac at the age of 90. Her name was originally
Sarai, but God changed it at the same time Abraham's name was changed (see
Genesis 17:15).
In England, Sarah came into use after the Protestant Reformation. It was consistently popular in the 20th century throughout the English-speaking world, reaching the top of the charts for England and Wales in the 1970s and 80s.
Notable bearers include Sarah Churchill (1660-1744), an influential British duchess and a close friend of Queen Anne, and the French actress Sarah Bernhardt (1844-1923).
Saoirse
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Irish
Pronounced: SEER-shə
Rating: 48% based on 21 votes
Means "freedom" in Irish Gaelic. It was first used as a given name in the 20th century.
Samantha
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Italian, Dutch
Pronounced: sə-MAN-thə(English) sa-MAN-ta(Italian) sa-MAHN-ta(Dutch)
Rating: 47% based on 3 votes
Perhaps intended to be a feminine form of
Samuel, using the name suffix
antha (possibly inspired by Greek
ἄνθος (anthos) meaning "flower"). It originated in America in the 18th century but was fairly uncommon until 1964, when it was popularized by the main character on the television show
Bewitched.
Sadie
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: SAY-dee
Rating: 33% based on 7 votes
Sacheverell
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: sa-SHEHV-ə-rəl
Rating: 25% based on 6 votes
From a now extinct English surname that was derived from a Norman place name. It was occasionally given in honour of the English preacher Henry Sacheverell (1674-1724), especially by the Sitwell noble family.
Sabien
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Dutch (Modern)
Pronounced: sa-BEEN
Rating: 41% based on 17 votes
Růžena
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Czech
Pronounced: ROO-zheh-na
Rating: 43% based on 16 votes
Derived from Czech růže meaning "rose".
Rosabella
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Rating: 60% based on 19 votes
Richard
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, French, German, Czech, Slovak, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Germanic [1]
Pronounced: RICH-ərd(English) REE-SHAR(French) RI-khart(German, Czech) REE-khart(Slovak) REE-shahrt(Dutch)
Rating: 59% based on 8 votes
Means
"brave ruler", derived from the Old German elements
rih "ruler, king" and
hart "hard, firm, brave, hardy". This was the name of three early dukes of Normandy. The
Normans introduced it to England when they invaded in the 11th century, and it has been very common there since that time. It was borne by three kings of England including the 12th-century Richard I the Lionheart, one of the leaders of the Third Crusade.
During the late Middle Ages this name was typically among the five most common for English males (with John, William, Robert and Thomas). It remained fairly popular through to the modern era, peaking in the United States in the 1940s and in the United Kingom a bit later, and steadily declining since that time.
Famous bearers include two German opera composers, Richard Wagner (1813-1883) and Richard Strauss (1864-1949), as well as British explorer Richard Burton (1821-1890), American president Richard Nixon (1913-1994), American physicist Richard Feynman (1918-1988), British actor Richard Burton (1925-1984) and American musician Little Richard (1932-2020).
Rhiannon
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Welsh, English, Welsh Mythology
Pronounced: ri-AN-awn(Welsh) ree-AN-ən(English)
Rating: 56% based on 19 votes
Probably derived from an unattested Celtic name *
Rīgantonā meaning
"great queen" (Celtic *
rīganī "queen" and the divine or augmentative suffix
-on). It is speculated that Rigantona was an old Celtic goddess, perhaps associated with fertility and horses like the Gaulish
Epona. As
Rhiannon, she appears in Welsh legend in the
Mabinogi [1] as a beautiful magical woman who rides a white horse. She was betrothed against her will to
Gwawl, but cunningly broke off that engagement and married
Pwyll instead. Their son was
Pryderi.
As an English name, it became popular due to the Fleetwood Mac song Rhiannon (1976), especially in the United Kingdom and Australia.
Rhian
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Welsh
Pronounced: REE-an
Rating: 30% based on 8 votes
Derived from Welsh rhiain meaning "maiden, young woman".
Rhea
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology, Roman Mythology
Other Scripts: Ῥέα(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: REH-A(Classical Greek) REE-ə(English) REH-a(Latin)
Rating: 54% based on 19 votes
Renaud
Gender: Masculine
Usage: French, Carolingian Cycle
Pronounced: RU-NO(French)
Rating: 40% based on 18 votes
French form of
Reynold. This name was used in medieval French literature for the hero Renaud de Montauban, a young man who flees with his three brothers from the court of
Charlemagne after killing the king's nephew. Charlemagne pardons the brothers on the condition that they enter the Crusades. A loose version of the character also appears in medieval Italian extensions of the tales, in the Italian form
Rinaldo.
Regulus
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Ancient Roman, Astronomy
Pronounced: REH-goo-loos(Latin)
Rating: 42% based on 18 votes
Roman
cognomen meaning
"prince, little king", a
diminutive of Latin
rex "king". This was the cognomen of several 3rd-century BC consuls from the gens Atilia. It was also the name of several early
saints. A star in the constellation Leo bears this name as well.
Prospero
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Italian
Pronounced: PRAW-speh-ro
Rating: 48% based on 19 votes
Italian form of
Prosper. This is the name of the main character, a shipwrecked magician, in
The Tempest (1611) by William Shakespeare.
Pleasance
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Archaic)
Pronounced: PLEHZ-əns
Rating: 26% based on 11 votes
From the medieval name Plaisance, which meant "pleasant" in Old French.
Pius
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Late Roman
Pronounced: PEE-oos(Latin) PIE-əs(English)
Rating: 31% based on 9 votes
Late Latin name meaning "pious, dutiful". This was the name of twelve popes.
Philo
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Ancient Greek (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Φίλων(Ancient Greek)
Rating: 35% based on 10 votes
From the Greek name
Φίλων (Philon), which was derived from
φίλος (philos) meaning
"lover, friend". This was the name of a 1st-century Hellenistic Jewish philosopher and theologian from Alexandria.
Phile
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Ancient Greek [1]
Other Scripts: Φίλη(Ancient Greek)
Rating: 25% based on 11 votes
Feminine form of
Philon (see
Philo).
Philander
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Archaic), Greek Mythology (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Φίλανδρος(Ancient Greek)
Rating: 33% based on 18 votes
From the Greek name
Φίλανδρος (Philandros) meaning
"friend of man" from Greek
φίλος (philos) meaning "friend" and
ἀνήρ (aner) meaning "man" (genitive
ἀνδρός). It was the name of a son of
Apollo with the nymph Acalle. In the 18th century this was coined as a word meaning "to womanize", and the name subsequently dropped out of use.
Philadelphia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: fil-ə-DEHL-fee-ə
Rating: 31% based on 14 votes
From the name of a city in Asia Minor mentioned in Revelation in the
New Testament. The name of the city meant "brotherly love" from Greek
φιλέω (phileo) meaning "to love" and
ἀδελφός (adelphos) meaning "brother". It is also the name of a city in the United States.
Permelia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Archaic)
Rating: 34% based on 17 votes
Meaning unknown, possibly an early American alteration of
Pamela.
Perdita
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Literature
Rating: 27% based on 6 votes
Derived from Latin
perditus meaning
"lost". Shakespeare created this name for the daughter of
Hermione and
Leontes in his play
The Winter's Tale (1610). Abandoned as an infant by her father the king, she grows up to be a shepherdess and falls in love with with
Florizel.
Peggy
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: PEHG-ee
Rating: 42% based on 18 votes
Medieval variant of
Meggy, a
diminutive of
Margaret. The reason for the change in the initial consonant is unknown.
Parthenope
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Παρθενόπη(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: pahr-THEHN-ə-pee(English)
Rating: 46% based on 13 votes
Means
"maiden's voice", derived from Greek
παρθένος (parthenos) meaning "maiden, virgin" and
ὄψ (ops) meaning "voice". In Greek legend this is the name of one of the Sirens who enticed
Odysseus.
Ophelia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Literature, Ancient Greek [1]
Other Scripts: Ὠφελία(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: o-FEEL-ee-ə(English) o-FEEL-yə(English)
Rating: 77% based on 26 votes
Derived from Greek
ὠφέλεια (opheleia) meaning
"help, advantage". This was a rare ancient Greek name, which was either rediscovered or recreated by the poet Jacopo Sannazaro for a character in his poem
Arcadia (1480). It was borrowed by Shakespeare for his play
Hamlet (1600), in which it belongs to the daughter of
Polonius and the potential love interest of
Hamlet. She eventually goes insane and drowns herself after Hamlet kills her father. In spite of this negative association, the name has been in use since the 19th century.
Oonagh
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Irish
Pronounced: OO-nə(English)
Rating: 25% based on 11 votes
Oliver
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Estonian, Catalan, Serbian, Croatian, Macedonian, Czech, Slovak, Carolingian Cycle
Other Scripts: Оливер(Serbian, Macedonian)
Pronounced: AHL-i-vər(English) O-lee-vu(German) O-lee-vehr(Finnish) oo-lee-BEH(Catalan) O-li-vehr(Czech) AW-lee-vehr(Slovak)
Rating: 64% based on 22 votes
From Old French
Olivier, which was possibly derived from Latin
oliva "olive tree" [1]. Alternatively there could be an underlying Germanic name, such as Old Norse
Áleifr (see
Olaf) or Frankish
Alawar (see
Álvaro), with the spelling altered by association with the Latin word. In the Middle Ages the name became well-known in Western Europe because of the French epic
La Chanson de Roland, in which Olivier is a friend and advisor to the hero
Roland.
In England Oliver was a common medieval name, however it became rare after the 17th century because of the military commander Oliver Cromwell, who ruled the country following the civil war. The name was revived in the 19th century, perhaps due in part to the title character in Charles Dickens' novel Oliver Twist (1838), about a poor orphan living on the streets of London. It became very popular at the beginning of the 21st century, reaching the top rank for boys in England and Wales in 2009 and entering the top ten in the United States in 2017.
Odell
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: o-DEHL
Rating: 37% based on 3 votes
From an English surname that was originally from a place name, itself derived from Old English wad "woad" (a plant that produces a blue dye) and hyll "hill".
Octavian
Gender: Masculine
Usage: History, Romanian
Pronounced: ahk-TAY-vee-ən(English)
Rating: 61% based on 20 votes
From the Roman name
Octavianus, which was derived from the name
Octavius. After Gaius Octavius (later the Roman emperor
Augustus) was adopted by Julius Caesar he took the name Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus.
Octavia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Spanish, Romanian, Ancient Roman
Pronounced: ahk-TAY-vee-ə(English) ok-TA-bya(Spanish) ok-TA-wee-a(Latin)
Rating: 64% based on 24 votes
Feminine form of
Octavius. Octavia was the wife of Mark Antony and the sister of the Roman emperor Augustus. In 19th-century England it was sometimes given to the eighth-born child.
Niobe
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Νιόβη(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: NEE-O-BEH(Classical Greek) NIE-o-bee(English)
Rating: 3% based on 4 votes
Meaning unknown. In Greek
mythology Niobe was the daughter of Tantalos, a king of Asia Minor. Because she boasted that she was superior to
Leto, Leto's children
Apollo and
Artemis killed her 14 children with poison arrows. In grief, Niobe was turned to stone by
Zeus.
Nina 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Russian, Italian, English, German, French, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Lithuanian, Dutch, Polish, Slovene, Czech, Slovak, Croatian, Serbian, Bulgarian, Ukrainian, Belarusian
Other Scripts: Нина(Russian, Serbian, Bulgarian) Ніна(Ukrainian, Belarusian)
Pronounced: NYEE-nə(Russian) NEE-na(Italian, German, Slovak) NEE-nə(English) NEE-NA(French) NEE-nah(Finnish) nyi-NU(Lithuanian) NYEE-na(Polish) NI-na(Czech)
Rating: 56% based on 13 votes
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).
Nikolai
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Russian, Bulgarian
Other Scripts: Николай(Russian, Bulgarian)
Pronounced: nyi-ku-LIE(Russian)
Rating: 62% based on 13 votes
Niko
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Finnish, Croatian, Slovene, Georgian, German
Other Scripts: ნიკო(Georgian)
Pronounced: NEE-ko(Finnish)
Rating: 40% based on 11 votes
Finnish form of
Nicholas, as well as a Croatian, Slovene, Georgian and German short form.
Niklaus
Gender: Masculine
Usage: German (Swiss)
Rating: 47% based on 11 votes
Nicolas
Gender: Masculine
Usage: French
Pronounced: NEE-KAW-LA
Rating: 55% based on 13 votes
Nicodemus
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Biblical, Biblical Latin, Ancient Greek (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Νικόδημος(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: nik-ə-DEE-məs(English) nee-ko-DEH-moos(Latin)
Rating: 61% based on 19 votes
From the Greek name
Νικόδημος (Nikodemos) meaning
"victory of the people", derived from Greek
νίκη (nike) meaning "victory" and
δῆμος (demos) meaning "the people". This is the name of a character in the
New Testament who helps
Joseph of Arimathea entomb
Jesus.
Nico
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Italian, Dutch, German, Spanish, Portuguese
Pronounced: NEE-ko(Italian, Dutch, Spanish)
Rating: 56% based on 12 votes
Nicholas
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: NIK-ə-ləs, NIK-ləs
Rating: 64% based on 17 votes
From the Greek name
Νικόλαος (Nikolaos) meaning
"victory of the people", derived from Greek
νίκη (nike) meaning "victory" and
λαός (laos) meaning "people".
Saint Nicholas was a 4th-century bishop from Anatolia who, according to legend, saved the daughters of a poor man from lives of prostitution. He is the patron saint of children, sailors and merchants, as well as Greece and Russia. He formed the basis for the figure known as Santa Claus (created in the 19th century from Dutch
Sinterklaas), the bringer of Christmas presents.
Due to the renown of the saint, this name has been widely used in the Christian world. It has been common in England since the 12th century, though it became a bit less popular after the Protestant Reformation. The name has been borne by five popes and two tsars of Russia.
Nesta
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Welsh
Pronounced: NEHS-ta
Rating: 38% based on 4 votes
Nero 1
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Ancient Roman
Pronounced: NEH-ro(Latin) NIR-o(English)
Rating: 30% based on 3 votes
Roman
cognomen, which was probably of Sabine origin meaning
"strong, vigorous". It was used by a prominent branch of the gens Claudia starting from the 3rd century BC. It was borne most famously by a Roman emperor of the 1st century, remembered as a tyrant. His birth name was Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, but after he was adopted as the heir of
Claudius his name became Nero Claudius Caesar Drusus Germanicus.
Nephthys
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Egyptian Mythology (Hellenized)
Other Scripts: Νέφθυς(Ancient Greek)
Rating: 28% based on 4 votes
Greek form of Egyptian
nbt-ḥwt (reconstructed as
Nebet-Hut) meaning
"lady of the house", derived from
nbt "lady" and
ḥwt "house". This was the name of an Egyptian goddess associated with the air, death and mourning. She was wife of the desert god
Seth.
Nell
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: NEHL
Rating: 27% based on 6 votes
Medieval
diminutive of names beginning with
El, such as
Eleanor,
Ellen 1 or
Helen. It may have arisen from the medieval affectionate phrase
mine El, which was later reinterpreted as
my Nel.
Narcissa
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Late Roman
Pronounced: nahr-SIS-ə(English)
Rating: 47% based on 20 votes
Napoleon
Gender: Masculine
Usage: History, English
Pronounced: nə-PO-lee-ən(English)
Rating: 41% based on 19 votes
From the old Italian name Napoleone, used most notably by the French emperor Napoléon Bonaparte (1769-1821), who was born on Corsica. The etymology is uncertain, but it is possibly derived from Old German Nibelungen meaning "sons of mist", a name used in Germanic legend to refer to the keepers of a hoard of treasure, often identified with the Burgundians. Alternatively, it could be connected to the name of the Italian city of Napoli (Naples).
Nancy
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: NAN-see
Rating: 56% based on 19 votes
Previously a medieval
diminutive of
Annis, though since the 18th century it has been a diminutive of
Ann. It is now usually regarded as an independent name. During the 20th century it became very popular in the United States. A city in the Lorraine region of France bears this name, though it derives from a different source.
Morgane
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French
Pronounced: MAWR-GAN
Rating: 33% based on 10 votes
Montserrat
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Catalan
Pronounced: moon-sə-RAT
Rating: 39% based on 13 votes
From the name of a mountain near Barcelona, the site of a monastery founded in the 10th century. The mountain gets its name from Latin mons serratus meaning "jagged mountain".
Montgomery
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: mənt-GUM-ə-ree, mənt-GUM-ree
Rating: 54% based on 17 votes
From an English surname meaning
"Gumarich's mountain" in Norman French. A notable bearer of this surname was Bernard Montgomery (1887-1976), a British army commander during World War II.
Molly
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: MAHL-ee
Rating: 60% based on 20 votes
Medieval
diminutive of
Mary, now often used independently. It developed from
Malle and
Molle, other medieval diminutives. James Joyce used this name in his novel
Ulysses (1922), where it belongs to Molly Bloom, the wife of the main character.
Moira
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Irish, Scottish, English
Pronounced: MOI-rə(English)
Rating: 44% based on 9 votes
Anglicized form of
Máire. It also coincides with Greek
Μοῖρα (Moira) meaning "fate, destiny", the singular of
Μοῖραι, the Greek name for the Fates. They were the three female personifications of destiny in Greek
mythology.
Modesty
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: MAHD-ə-stee
Personal remark: MN only
Rating: 44% based on 20 votes
From the English word modesty, ultimately from Latin modestus "moderate", a derivative of modus "measure".
Minerva
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Roman Mythology, English, Spanish
Pronounced: mee-NEHR-wa(Latin) mi-NUR-və(English) mee-NEHR-ba(Spanish)
Rating: 67% based on 23 votes
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.
Miervaldis
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Latvian
Rating: 37% based on 3 votes
Means "ruling with peace", from Latvian miers "peace" and valdīt "to rule".
Michelangelo
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Italian
Pronounced: mee-keh-LAN-jeh-lo(Italian) mie-kə-LAN-jə-lo(English)
Rating: 52% based on 19 votes
Combination of
Michael and
Angelo, referring to the archangel Michael. The Renaissance painter and sculptor Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475-1564), from Florence, was the man who created such great works of art as the statue of
David and the mural on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. This name was also borne by the Baroque artist Michelangelo Merisi (1571-1610), better known as Caravaggio.
Metrodora
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Ancient Greek [1]
Other Scripts: Μητροδώρα(Ancient Greek)
Rating: 37% based on 3 votes
Melanie
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, German, Dutch
Pronounced: MEHL-ə-nee(English) MEH-la-nee(German) meh-la-NEE(German)
Rating: 48% based on 18 votes
From
Mélanie, the French form of the Latin name
Melania, derived from Greek
μέλαινα (melaina) meaning
"black, dark". This was the name of a Roman
saint who gave all her wealth to charity in the 5th century. Her grandmother was also a saint with the same name.
The name was common in France during the Middle Ages, and was introduced from there to England, though it eventually became rare. Interest in it was revived by the character Melanie Wilkes from the novel Gone with the Wind (1936) and the subsequent movie adaptation (1939).
Mehetabel
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Biblical
Other Scripts: םְהֵיטַבְאֵל(Ancient Hebrew)
Pronounced: mə-HEHT-ə-behl(English)
Rating: 28% based on 4 votes
From the Hebrew name
םְהֵיטַבְאֵל (Meheṭavʾel) meaning
"God makes happy", derived from the roots
יָטַב (yaṭav) meaning "to be happy" and
אֵל (ʾel) meaning "God". This name is mentioned briefly in the
Old Testament.
Megan
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Welsh, English
Pronounced: MEHG-ən(English)
Rating: 38% based on 17 votes
Welsh
diminutive of
Margaret. In the English-speaking world outside of Wales it has only been regularly used since the middle of the 20th century.
Mavourneen
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Irish (Rare)
Rating: 18% based on 4 votes
Derived from the Irish phrase mo mhúirnín meaning "my darling".
Marilyn
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: MAR-ə-lin, MAR-lin
Rating: 53% based on 8 votes
Combination of
Mary and the common name suffix
lyn. It was very rare before the start of the 20th century. It was popularized in part by the American stage star Marilyn Miller (1898-1936), who was born Mary Ellen Reynolds and took her
stage name from a combination of her birth name and her mother's middle name
Lynn. It became popular in the United States during the 1920s, reaching a high point ranked 13th in 1936. Famous bearers include American actress Marilyn Monroe (1926-1962; real name Norma Jeane Mortenson) and American opera singer Marilyn Horne (1934-).
Marigold
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: MAR-i-gold, MEHR-i-gold
Personal remark: on a male (MN) or a female
Rating: 51% based on 18 votes
From the name of the flower, which comes from a combination of
Mary and the English word
gold.
Magalie
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French
Pronounced: MA-GA-LEE
Rating: 34% based on 11 votes
Maeve
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Irish, English, Irish Mythology
Pronounced: MAYV(English)
Rating: 50% based on 20 votes
Anglicized form of the Irish name
Medb meaning
"intoxicating". In Irish legend this was the name of a warrior queen of Connacht. She and her husband
Ailill fought against the Ulster king
Conchobar and the hero
Cúchulainn, as told in the Irish epic
The Cattle Raid of Cooley.
Lysistrata
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Ancient Greek (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Λυσιστράτη(Ancient Greek)
Rating: 43% based on 10 votes
Lysandra
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Ancient Greek [1]
Other Scripts: Λυσάνδρα(Ancient Greek)
Rating: 61% based on 22 votes
Feminine form of
Lysandros (see
Lysander).
Lysander
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Ancient Greek (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Λύσανδρος(Ancient Greek)
Rating: 66% based on 23 votes
Latinized form of the Greek name
Λύσανδρος (Lysandros), derived from Greek
λύσις (lysis) meaning "a release, loosening" and
ἀνήρ (aner) meaning "man" (genitive
ἀνδρός). This was the name of a notable 5th-century BC Spartan general and naval commander.
Lyric
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: LIR-ik
Rating: 46% based on 19 votes
Means simply
"lyric, songlike" from the English word, ultimately derived from Greek
λυρικός (lyrikos).
Lyra
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Astronomy
Pronounced: LIE-rə(English)
Personal remark: MN only
Rating: 57% based on 22 votes
The name of the constellation in the northern sky containing the star Vega. It is said to be shaped after the lyre of Orpheus. This is the name of the main character in the His Dark Materials series of books by Philip Pullman (beginning 1995).
Lyosha
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Russian
Other Scripts: Лёша(Russian)
Pronounced: LYUY-shə
Rating: 28% based on 17 votes
Lucan
Gender: Masculine
Usage: History
Rating: 49% based on 17 votes
From the Roman
cognomen Lucanus, which was derived from the name of the city of Luca in Tuscany (modern Lucca). Marcus Annaeus Lucanus, commonly called Lucan, was a 1st-century Roman poet.
Louis
Gender: Masculine
Usage: French, English, Dutch
Pronounced: LWEE(French) LOO-is(English) LOO-ee(English) loo-EE(Dutch)
Rating: 53% based on 17 votes
French form of
Ludovicus, the Latinized form of
Ludwig. This was the name of 18 kings of France, starting with Louis I the son of
Charlemagne. Others include Louis IX (
Saint Louis) who led two crusades and Louis XIV (called the Sun King) who was the ruler of France during the height of its power, the builder of the Palace of Versailles, and the longest reigning monarch in the history of Europe. It was also borne by kings of Germany (as
Ludwig), Hungary (as
Lajos), and other places.
Apart from royalty, this name was only moderately popular in France during the Middle Ages. After the French Revolution, when Louis XVI was guillotined, it became less common.
The Normans brought the name to England, where it was usually spelled Lewis, though the spelling Louis has been more common in America. Famous bearers include French scientist Louis Pasteur (1822-1895), French actor Louis de Funès (1914-1983), Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894), who wrote Treasure Island and Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, and American jazz musician Louis Armstrong (1901-1971).
Lolita
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Spanish
Pronounced: lo-LEE-ta
Rating: 38% based on 17 votes
Diminutive of
Lola. This is the name of a 1955 novel by Vladimir Nabokov.
Loki
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Norse Mythology
Pronounced: LO-kee(English)
Rating: 40% based on 21 votes
Meaning unknown, possibly derived from the Germanic root *
luką meaning
"lock". In Norse
mythology Loki was a trickster god associated with magic and shape shifting. Loki's children include the wolf
Fenrir, the sea serpent
Jörmungandr, and the queen of the dead
Hel. After he orchestrated the death of
Balder, the other gods tied him to a rock below a snake that dripped venom onto his face. It is told that he will break free during Ragnarök, the final battle, and slay and be slain by
Heimdall.
Lisa
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Italian
Pronounced: LEE-sə(English) LEE-za(German, Italian) LEE-sa(Dutch)
Rating: 34% based on 20 votes
Short form of
Elizabeth (though often used independently) and its cognates in other languages. This is the name of the subject of one of the world's most famous paintings, the
Mona Lisa, the portrait of Lisa del Giocondo by Leonardo da Vinci.
In the United States this form was more popular than the full form Elizabeth from 1958 to 1978, and was in fact the top ranked American name between 1962 and 1969.
Linda
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, German, Dutch, Italian, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Icelandic, French, Latvian, Finnish, Estonian, Hungarian, Czech, Slovak, Germanic
Pronounced: LIN-də(English) LIN-da(German, Dutch, Czech) LEEN-da(Italian) LEEN-DA(French) LEEN-dah(Finnish) LEEN-daw(Hungarian)
Rating: 42% based on 18 votes
Originally a medieval short form of Germanic names containing the element
lind meaning
"soft, flexible, tender" (Proto-Germanic *
linþaz). It also coincides with the Spanish and Portuguese word
linda meaning
"beautiful". In the English-speaking world this name experienced a spike in popularity beginning in the 1930s, peaking in the late 1940s, and declining shortly after that. It was the most popular name for girls in the United States from 1947 to 1952.
Lilith
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Semitic Mythology, Judeo-Christian-Islamic Legend
Other Scripts: לילית(Ancient Hebrew)
Pronounced: LIL-ith(English)
Rating: 59% based on 14 votes
Derived from Akkadian
lilitu meaning
"of the night". This was the name of a demon in ancient Assyrian myths. In Jewish tradition she was
Adam's first wife, sent out of Eden and replaced by
Eve because she would not submit to him. The offspring of Adam (or
Samael) and Lilith were the evil spirits of the world.
Ligeia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Λιγεία(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: lie-JEE-ə(English)
Rating: 37% based on 13 votes
Derived from Greek
λιγύς (ligys) meaning
"clear-voiced, shrill, whistling". This was the name of one of the Sirens in Greek legend. It was also used by Edgar Allan Poe in his story
Ligeia (1838).
Liam
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Irish, English, French (Modern), Dutch (Modern), German (Modern), Swedish (Modern), Norwegian (Modern)
Pronounced: LYEEM(Irish) LEE-əm(English) LYAM(French) LEE-yahm(Dutch)
Rating: 52% based on 6 votes
Irish short form of
William. It became popular in the United Kingdom in the 1980s, and elsewhere in Europe and the Americas after that. It was the top ranked name for boys in the United States beginning in 2017. Famous bearers include British actor Liam Neeson (1952-), British musician Liam Gallagher (1972-), and Australian actor Liam Hemsworth (1990-).
Lestat
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Literature
Pronounced: lə-STAT(English)
Rating: 31% based on 19 votes
Name used by author Anne Rice for a character in her Vampire Chronicles series of novels, first released in 1976, where it belongs to the French vampire Lestat de Lioncourt. Rice possibly intended the name to appear derived from Old French or Occitan l'estat "state, status", though apparently her husband's name Stan was inspiration.
Laverna
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Roman Mythology
Pronounced: la-WEHR-na(Latin)
Rating: 38% based on 5 votes
Meaning unknown. Laverna was the Roman goddess of thieves and thievery.
Laurena
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Rating: 30% based on 5 votes
Laima
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Lithuanian, Latvian, Baltic Mythology
Pronounced: LIE-ma(Latvian)
Rating: 30% based on 11 votes
From Latvian laime and Lithuanian laima, which mean "luck, fate". This was the name of the Latvian and Lithuanian goddess of fate, luck, pregnancy and childbirth. She was the sister of the goddesses Dēkla and Kārta, who were also associated with fate.
LaDonna
Gender: Feminine
Usage: African American
Pronounced: lə-DAHN-ə(English)
Rating: 19% based on 9 votes
Combination of the popular prefix
la with the name
Donna.
Klaus
Gender: Masculine
Usage: German, Danish, Norwegian, Finnish
Pronounced: KLOWS(German, Finnish)
Rating: 51% based on 13 votes
German short form of
Nicholas, now used independently.
Kit
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: KIT
Rating: 46% based on 21 votes
Kimberley
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: KIM-bər-lee
Rating: 33% based on 18 votes
Kim 1
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English, Dutch, German
Pronounced: KIM
Rating: 22% based on 19 votes
At the present it is usually considered a short form of
Kimberly, but it in fact predates it as a given name. The author Rudyard Kipling used it for the title hero of his novel
Kim (1901), though in this case it was short for
Kimball. In her novel
Show Boat (1926) Edna Ferber used it for a female character who was born on the Mississippi River and was named from the initials of the states Kentucky, Illinois and Mississippi. The name was popularized in America by the actresses Kim Hunter (1922-2002) and Kim Novak (1933-), both of whom assumed it as a
stage name.
Keziah
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Biblical
Other Scripts: קְצִיעָה(Ancient Hebrew)
Pronounced: kə-ZIE-ə(English)
Rating: 41% based on 17 votes
From the Hebrew name
קְצִיעָה (Qetsiʿa) meaning
"cassia, cinnamon", from the name of the spice tree. In the
Old Testament she is a daughter of
Job.
Kerensa
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Cornish
Rating: 3% based on 4 votes
Means "love" in Cornish.
Juliet
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: joo-lee-EHT, JOOL-yət
Rating: 77% based on 11 votes
Anglicized form of
Giulietta or
Juliette. This spelling was used for the ill-fated lover of
Romeo in the play
Romeo and Juliet (1596) by William Shakespeare. Shakespeare based his story on earlier Italian tales such as
Giulietta e Romeo (1524) by Luigi Da Porto.
Jezebel
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Biblical
Other Scripts: אִיזֶבֶל(Ancient Hebrew)
Pronounced: JEHZ-ə-behl(English)
Rating: 41% based on 18 votes
From Hebrew
אִיזֶבֶל (ʾIzevel), probably from a Phoenician name, possibly containing the Semitic root
zbl meaning
"to exalt, to dwell". According to one theory it might be an altered form of the Phoenician name
𐤁𐤏𐤋𐤀𐤆𐤁𐤋 (Baʿlʾizbel) meaning "Ba'al exalts" with the first element removed or replaced
[1].
According to the Old Testament Jezebel was the Phoenician wife of Ahab, a king of Israel. She is portrayed as an evil figure because she encouraged the worship of the god Ba'al. After she was thrown from a window to her death her body was eaten by dogs, fulfilling Elijah's prophecy.
Jenny
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Swedish, Norwegian, Finnish, German, Dutch, French, Spanish
Pronounced: JEHN-ee(English) YEH-nuy(Swedish) YEH-nee(German, Dutch) JEH-nee(German, Dutch) GYEH-nee(Spanish)
Rating: 35% based on 4 votes
Originally a medieval English
diminutive of
Jane. Since the middle of the 20th century it has been primarily considered a diminutive of
Jennifer.
Jemma
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (British)
Pronounced: JEHM-ə
Rating: 51% based on 19 votes
Jane
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: JAYN
Rating: 83% based on 24 votes
Medieval English form of
Jehanne, an Old French feminine form of
Iohannes (see
John). This became the most common feminine form of
John in the 17th century, surpassing
Joan. In the first half of the 20th century
Joan once again overtook
Jane for a few decades in both the United States and the United Kingdom.
Famous bearers include the uncrowned English queen Lady Jane Grey (1536-1554), who ruled for only nine days, British novelist Jane Austen (1775-1817), who wrote Sense and Sensibility and Pride and Prejudice, British primatologist Jane Goodall (1934-), and American actress Jane Fonda (1937-). This is also the name of the central character in Charlotte Brontë's novel Jane Eyre (1847), which tells of Jane's sad childhood and her relationship with Edward Rochester.
Isaura
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Portuguese, Spanish, Late Roman
Pronounced: ee-SOW-ra(Spanish)
Rating: 47% based on 19 votes
Late Latin name meaning "from Isauria". Isauria was the name of a region in Asia Minor.
Innocent
Gender: Masculine
Usage: History (Ecclesiastical), English (African)
Pronounced: IN-ə-sənt(English, African English)
Rating: 35% based on 20 votes
From the Late Latin name
Innocentius, which was derived from
innocens "innocent". This was the name of several early
saints. It was also borne by 13 popes including Innocent III, a politically powerful ruler and organizer of the Fourth Crusade.
As an English-language name in the modern era, it is most common in Africa.
India
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Spanish (Modern)
Pronounced: IN-dee-ə(English) EEN-dya(Spanish)
Rating: 48% based on 18 votes
From the name of the country, which is itself derived from the name of the Indus River. The river's name is ultimately from Sanskrit
सिन्धु (Sindhu) meaning "body of trembling water, river". India Wilkes is a character in the novel
Gone with the Wind (1936) by Margaret Mitchell.
Impi
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Finnish
Pronounced: EEM-pee
Rating: 29% based on 15 votes
Means "maiden, virgin" in Finnish.
Immaculata
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Irish (Rare)
Rating: 35% based on 10 votes
Igraine
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Arthurian Cycle
Rating: 15% based on 6 votes
Meaning unknown, from
Igerna, the Latinized form of Welsh
Eigyr. In Arthurian legend she is the mother of King
Arthur by Uther Pendragon and the mother of
Morgan le Fay by Gorlois. The Welsh form
Eigyr or
Eigr was rendered into Latin as
Igerna by the 12th-century chronicler Geoffrey of Monmouth.
Idris 2
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Welsh
Rating: 28% based on 4 votes
Means
"ardent lord" from Old Welsh
iudd "lord" combined with
ris "ardent, enthusiastic". This name was borne by Idris the Giant, a 7th-century king of Meirionnydd.
Idril
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Literature
Rating: 28% based on 4 votes
Means
"sparkle brilliance" in the fictional language Sindarin. In the
Silmarillion (1977) by J. R. R. Tolkien, Idril was the daughter of Turgon, the king of Gondolin. She escaped the destruction of that place with her husband
Tuor and sailed with him into the west.
Idony
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Archaic)
Rating: 45% based on 11 votes
Medieval English vernacular form of
Idonea.
Idonea
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Archaic)
Rating: 37% based on 10 votes
Medieval English name, probably a Latinized form of
Iðunn. The spelling may have been influenced by Latin
idonea "suitable". It was common in England from the 12th century
[1].
Howard
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: HOW-ərd
Rating: 47% based on 20 votes
From an English surname that can derive from several different sources: the Anglo-Norman given name
Huard, which was from the Germanic name
Hughard; the Anglo-Scandinavian given name
Haward, from the Old Norse name
Hávarðr; or the Middle English term
ewehirde meaning "ewe herder". This is the surname of a British noble family, members of which have held the title Duke of Norfolk from the 15th century to the present. A famous bearer of the given name was the American industrialist Howard Hughes (1905-1976).
Honorata
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Late Roman, Polish
Pronounced: khaw-naw-RA-ta(Polish)
Rating: 44% based on 19 votes
Holden
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: HOL-dən
Rating: 28% based on 4 votes
From a surname that was originally derived from a place name meaning "deep valley" in Old English. This is the name of the main character in J. D. Salinger's novel The Catcher in the Rye (1951), Holden Caulfield.
Hermia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Literature
Pronounced: HUR-mee-ə(English)
Rating: 52% based on 18 votes
Feminine form of
Hermes. Shakespeare used this name in his comedy
A Midsummer Night's Dream (1595).
Hélène
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French
Pronounced: EH-LEHN
Rating: 56% based on 19 votes
Helene
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, German, Ancient Greek [1], Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Ἑλένη(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: heh-LEHN(Swedish, Norwegian, Danish) heh-LEH-nə(German) HEH-LEH-NEH(Classical Greek)
Rating: 60% based on 21 votes
Ancient Greek form of
Helen, as well as the modern Scandinavian and German form.
Heath
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: HEETH
Rating: 49% based on 18 votes
From an English surname that denoted one who lived on a heath. It was popularized as a given name by the character Heath Barkley from the 1960s television series
The Big Valley [1].
Harland
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: HAHR-lənd
Rating: 12% based on 5 votes
From a surname that was a variant of
Harlan.
Hans
Gender: Masculine
Usage: German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish
Pronounced: HANS(German) HAHNS(Dutch)
Rating: 46% based on 9 votes
German short form of
Johannes, now used independently. This name has been very common in German-speaking areas of Europe since the late Middle Ages. From an early period it was transmitted to the Low Countries and Scandinavia. Two famous bearers were Hans Holbein (1497-1543), a German portrait painter, and Hans Christian Andersen (1805-1875), a Danish writer of fairy tales.
Hamlet
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Literature, Armenian
Other Scripts: Համլետ(Armenian)
Pronounced: HAM-lət(English) hahm-LEHT(Eastern Armenian) hahm-LEHD(Western Armenian)
Personal remark: MN only
Rating: 56% based on 20 votes
Anglicized form of the Danish name
Amleth. Shakespeare used this name for the main character in his tragedy
Hamlet (1600), which he based upon earlier Danish tales. In the play, Hamlet is a prince of Denmark seeking to avenge the death of his father (also named Hamlet) at the hands of his uncle
Claudius.
Hadas
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Hebrew
Other Scripts: הֲדַס(Hebrew)
Rating: 26% based on 5 votes
Means "myrtle tree" in Hebrew.
Gwenaëlle
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French, Breton
Pronounced: GWEH-NA-EHL(French)
Rating: 30% based on 5 votes
Gudrun
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Norse Mythology, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, German
Pronounced: GOO-droon(German)
Rating: 26% based on 16 votes
From the Old Norse name
Guðrún meaning
"god's secret lore", derived from the elements
guð "god" and
rún "secret lore, rune". In Norse legend Gudrun was the wife of
Sigurd. After his death she married
Atli, but when he murdered her brothers, she killed her sons by him, fed him their hearts, and then slew him. Her story appears in Norse literature such as the
Eddas and the
Völsungasaga. She is called
Kriemhild in German versions of the tale. This is also an unrelated character in the medieval German epic
Kudrun.
Griffith
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Welsh
Pronounced: GRIF-ith(English)
Rating: 51% based on 17 votes
Greer
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: GRIR
Rating: 30% based on 5 votes
From a Scottish surname that was derived from the given name
Gregor.
Ginevra
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian
Pronounced: jee-NEH-vra
Rating: 60% based on 12 votes
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".
Gemma
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, Catalan, English (British), Dutch
Pronounced: JEHM-ma(Italian) ZHEHM-mə(Catalan) JEHM-ə(British English) GHEH-ma(Dutch)
Rating: 60% based on 19 votes
Medieval Italian nickname meaning "gem, precious stone". It was borne by the wife of the 13th-century Italian poet Dante Alighieri.
Gawain
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Arthurian Cycle
Pronounced: gə-WAYN(English) GAH-win(English)
Rating: 44% based on 18 votes
Meaning uncertain, from the Latin form
Gualguainus used in the 12th-century chronicles of Geoffrey of Monmouth (appearing also as
Walganus,
Gwalguanus and other spellings in different copies of the text), where he is one of the knights who serve his uncle King
Arthur. He can be identified with the earlier Welsh hero Gwalchmai, and it is possible that the name derives from
Gwalchmai or a misreading of it.
Gawain was a popular hero in medieval tales such as those by Chrétien de Troyes, where his name appears in the French form Gauvain or Gauvains. He is the main character of the 14th-century anonymous poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, in which he accepts a potentially fatal challenge from the mysterious Green Knight.
Gaston
Gender: Masculine
Usage: French
Pronounced: GAS-TAWN
Rating: 13% based on 7 votes
Possibly from a Germanic name derived from the element
gast meaning
"guest, stranger". This is the usual French name for
Saint Vedastus, called
Vaast in Flemish. The name was also borne by several counts of Foix-Béarn, beginning in the 13th century.
Frideswide
Gender: Feminine
Usage: History (Ecclesiastical)
Rating: 32% based on 6 votes
Modern form of the Old English name
Friðuswiþ, formed of the elements
friþ "peace" and
swiþ "strong".
Saint Frideswide was an 8th-century English princess who became a nun. She is credited with establishing Christ Church in Oxford.
Frey
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Norse Mythology
Pronounced: FRAY(English)
Rating: 29% based on 7 votes
Franklyn
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: FRANGK-lin
Rating: 33% based on 9 votes
Fortune
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: French, English (Rare)
Pronounced: FAWR-TUYN(French) FAWR-chən(English)
Rating: 34% based on 10 votes
Simply from the word fortune, ultimately from Latin fortuna, a derivative of fors "luck".
Florian
Gender: Masculine
Usage: German, French, Romanian, Polish, History
Pronounced: FLO-ree-an(German) FLAW-RYAHN(French) FLAW-ryan(Polish)
Rating: 49% based on 7 votes
From the Roman
cognomen Florianus, a derivative of
Florus. This was the name of a short-lived Roman emperor of the 3rd century, Marcus Annius Florianus. It was also borne by
Saint Florian, a martyr of the 3rd century, the patron saint of Poland and Upper Austria.
Fletcher
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: FLECH-ər
Rating: 54% based on 19 votes
From a surname meaning "maker of arrows" in Middle English, ultimately from Old French flechier.
Finn 1
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Irish Mythology, Old Irish [1], Irish, English, Dutch, German
Pronounced: FIN(English, Dutch, German)
Rating: 60% based on 22 votes
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.
Fidelia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Spanish (Latin American)
Pronounced: fee-DHEH-lya
Rating: 43% based on 12 votes
Feminine form of
Fidel. It appears in the epic poem
The Faerie Queene (1590) belonging to the sister of
Speranza.
Eveline
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, French, Dutch
Pronounced: EHV-ə-leen(English) EHV-ə-lien(English) EHV-LEEN(French) eh-və-LEE-nə(Dutch) eh-və-LEEN(Dutch)
Rating: 59% based on 20 votes
Euphrosyne
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Εὐφροσύνη(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: yoo-FRAH-si-nee(English)
Rating: 35% based on 4 votes
Means
"mirth, merriment, cheerfulness" in Greek, a derivative of
εὖ (eu) meaning "good" and
φρήν (phren) meaning "mind, heart". She was one of the three Graces or
Χάριτες (Charites) in Greek
mythology.
Euphemia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Ancient Greek [1], English (Archaic)
Other Scripts: Εὐφημία(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: yoo-FEE-mee-ə(English) yoo-FEH-mee-ə(English)
Rating: 28% based on 4 votes
Means
"to use words of good omen" from Greek
εὐφημέω (euphemeo), a derivative of
εὖ (eu) meaning "good" and
φημί (phemi) meaning "to speak, to declare".
Saint Euphemia was an early martyr from Chalcedon.
Esperanza
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Spanish
Pronounced: ehs-peh-RAN-tha(European Spanish) ehs-peh-RAN-sa(Latin American Spanish)
Rating: 47% based on 11 votes
Spanish form of the Late Latin name Sperantia, which was derived from sperare "to hope".
Ernestine
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French, German, English
Pronounced: EHR-NEHS-TEEN(French) ehr-nehs-TEE-nə(German) UR-nis-teen(English)
Rating: 52% based on 6 votes
Erminhilt
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Germanic [1]
Rating: 28% based on 5 votes
Erato
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Ἐρατώ(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: EH-RA-TAW(Classical Greek) EHR-ə-to(English)
Rating: 38% based on 20 votes
Means
"lovely" in Greek. In Greek
mythology she was one of the nine Muses, the muse of lyric poetry.
Emma
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, French, Italian, Spanish, Catalan, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Icelandic, Finnish, Latvian, Dutch, German, Hungarian, Germanic [1]
Pronounced: EHM-ə(English) EH-MA(French) EHM-ma(Spanish) EHM-mah(Finnish) EH-ma(Dutch, German) EHM-maw(Hungarian)
Rating: 60% based on 13 votes
Originally a short form of Germanic names that began with the element
irmin meaning
"whole" or
"great" (Proto-Germanic *
ermunaz). It was introduced to England by Emma of Normandy, who was the wife both of King Ethelred II (and by him the mother of Edward the Confessor) and later of King Canute. It was also borne by an 11th-century Austrian
saint, who is sometimes called
Hemma.
After the Norman Conquest this name became common in England. It was revived in the 18th century, perhaps in part due to Matthew Prior's 1709 poem Henry and Emma [2]. It was also used by Jane Austen for the central character, the matchmaker Emma Woodhouse, in her novel Emma (1816).
In the United States, it was third in rank in 1880 (behind only the ubiquitous Mary and Anna). It declined steadily over the next century, beginning another rise in the 1980s and eventually becoming the most popular name for girls in 2008. At this time it also experienced similar levels of popularity elsewhere, including the United Kingdom (where it began rising a decade earlier), Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Scandinavia and the Netherlands. Famous bearers include the actresses Emma Thompson (1959-), Emma Stone (1988-) and Emma Watson (1990-).
Emilie
Gender: Feminine
Usage: German, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, Czech
Pronounced: eh-MEE-lyə(German) eh-MEE-lee-eh(Norwegian) EHM-i-lee(Swedish)
Rating: 60% based on 21 votes
German, Scandinavian and Czech feminine form of
Aemilius (see
Emily).
Emil
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, German, Romanian, Bulgarian, Czech, Slovak, Polish, Russian, Slovene, Serbian, Croatian, Macedonian, Hungarian, Icelandic, English
Other Scripts: Емил(Bulgarian, Serbian, Macedonian) Эмиль(Russian)
Pronounced: EH-mil(Swedish, Czech) EH-meel(German, Slovak, Polish, Hungarian) eh-MEEL(Romanian) eh-MYEEL(Russian) ə-MEEL(English) EHM-il(English)
Rating: 72% based on 10 votes
From the Roman family name Aemilius, which was derived from Latin aemulus meaning "rival".
Ellery
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: EHL-ə-ree
Rating: 47% based on 20 votes
From an English surname that was originally derived from the medieval masculine name
Hilary.
Eliza
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Polish, Portuguese (Brazilian), Romanian, Hungarian, Georgian
Other Scripts: ელიზა(Georgian)
Pronounced: i-LIE-zə(English) eh-LEE-za(Polish) EH-lee-zaw(Hungarian)
Rating: 71% based on 24 votes
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).
Elisha
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Biblical, Biblical Hebrew [1]
Other Scripts: אֱלִישַׁע(Ancient Hebrew)
Pronounced: i-LIE-shə(English)
Rating: 30% based on 5 votes
From the Hebrew name
אֱלִישַׁע (ʾElishaʿ), a contracted form of
אֱלִישׁוּעַ (ʾElishuaʿ) meaning
"my God is salvation", derived from
אֵל (ʾel) meaning "God" and
יָשַׁע (yashaʿ) meaning "to save, to deliver". According to the
Old Testament, Elisha was a prophet and miracle worker. He was the attendant of
Elijah and succeeded him after his ascension to heaven.
Elaine
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Arthurian Cycle
Pronounced: i-LAYN(English) ee-LAYN(English)
Rating: 47% based on 3 votes
From an Old French form of
Helen. It appears in Arthurian legend; in Thomas Malory's 15th-century compilation
Le Morte d'Arthur Elaine was the daughter of
Pelles, the lover of
Lancelot, and the mother of
Galahad. It was not commonly used as an English given name until after the publication of Alfred Tennyson's Arthurian epic
Idylls of the King (1859).
Eglantine
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: EHG-lən-tien, EHG-lən-teen
Rating: 33% based on 6 votes
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).
Edna
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Hebrew, Biblical
Other Scripts: עֶדְנָה(Hebrew)
Pronounced: EHD-nə(English)
Rating: 45% based on 4 votes
Means
"pleasure" in Hebrew, a derivative of
עָדַן (ʿaḏan) meaning "to delight". This name appears in the
Old Testament Apocrypha, for instance in the Book of Tobit belonging to the wife of
Raguel. It was borne by the American poet Edna Dean Proctor (1829-1923). It did not become popular until the second half of the 19th century, after it was used for the heroine in the successful 1866 novel
St. Elmo by Augusta Jane Evans
[1]. It peaked around the turn of the century and has declined steadily since then, falling off the American top 1000 list in 1992.
Edgar
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, French, Portuguese, German
Pronounced: EHD-gər(English) EHD-GAR(French)
Rating: 53% based on 12 votes
Derived from the Old English elements
ead "wealth, fortune" and
gar "spear". This was the name of a 10th-century English king, Edgar the Peaceful. The name did not survive long after the
Norman Conquest, but it was revived in the 18th century, in part due to a character by this name in Walter Scott's novel
The Bride of Lammermoor (1819), which tells of the tragic love between Edgar Ravenswood and Lucy Ashton
[1]. Famous bearers include author and poet Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849), French impressionist painter Edgar Degas (1834-1917), and author Edgar Rice Burroughs (1875-1950).
Eartha
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: UR-thə
Rating: 30% based on 5 votes
Combination of the English word earth with the feminine name suffix a. It has been used in honour of African-American philanthropist Eartha M. M. White (1876-1974). Another famous bearer was American singer and actress Eartha Kitt (1927-2008).
Earnestine
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: UR-nis-teen
Rating: 35% based on 4 votes
Dulcibella
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Archaic)
Rating: 51% based on 19 votes
From Latin
dulcis "sweet" and
bella "beautiful". The usual medieval spelling of this name was
Dowsabel, and the Latinized form
Dulcibella was revived in the 18th century.
Drew
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: DROO
Rating: 48% based on 5 votes
Dragana
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Serbian, Croatian, Macedonian
Other Scripts: Драгана(Serbian, Macedonian)
Rating: 37% based on 11 votes
Dory
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: DAWR-ee
Rating: 29% based on 8 votes
Dolly
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: DAHL-ee
Rating: 60% based on 23 votes
Diminutive of
Dorothy.
Doll and
Dolly were used from the 16th century, and the common English word
doll (for the plaything) is derived from them. In modern times this name is also sometimes used as a diminutive of
Dolores.
Dionisia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, Spanish
Pronounced: dyo-NEE-zya(Italian) dyo-NEE-sya(Spanish)
Rating: 40% based on 5 votes
Italian and Spanish feminine form of
Dionysius.
Dieudonnée
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French (Rare)
Pronounced: DYUU-DAW-NEH
Rating: 40% based on 4 votes
Dieudonné
Gender: Masculine
Usage: French
Pronounced: DYUU-DAW-NEH
Rating: 36% based on 11 votes
Means
"given by God" in French, used as a French form of
Deusdedit. It is currently much more common in French-speaking Africa than it is in France.
Dick 1
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: DIK
Rating: 20% based on 6 votes
Medieval
diminutive of
Richard. The change in the initial consonant is said to have been caused by the way the trilled Norman
R was pronounced by the English
[1].
Diana
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, Catalan, German, Dutch, Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, Russian, Ukrainian, Bulgarian, Estonian, Lithuanian, Polish, Czech, Slovak, Armenian, Georgian, Roman Mythology
Other Scripts: Диана(Russian, Bulgarian) Діана(Ukrainian) Դիանա(Armenian) დიანა(Georgian)
Pronounced: die-AN-ə(English) DYA-na(Spanish, Italian, Polish) dee-U-nu(European Portuguese) jee-U-nu(Brazilian Portuguese) dee-A-nə(Catalan) dee-A-na(German, Dutch, Latin) dyee-A-nu(Ukrainian) DI-ya-na(Czech) DEE-a-na(Slovak)
Rating: 60% based on 22 votes
Means
"divine, goddesslike", a derivative of Latin
dia or
diva meaning
"goddess". It is ultimately related to the same Indo-European root *
dyew- found in
Zeus. Diana was a Roman goddess of the moon, hunting, forests and childbirth, often identified with the Greek goddess
Artemis.
As a given name, Diana has been regularly used since the Renaissance. It became more common in the English-speaking world following Walter Scott's novel Rob Roy (1817), which featured a character named Diana Vernon. It also appeared in George Meredith's novel Diana of the Crossways (1885). A notable bearer was the British royal Diana Spencer (1961-1997), the Princess of Wales.
Deusdedit
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Late Roman
Rating: 37% based on 3 votes
Latin name meaning
"God has given". This was the name of two popes (who are also known by the related name
Adeodatus). This is a Latin translation of
Theodore.
Demetrius
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Ancient Greek (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Δημήτριος(Ancient Greek)
Rating: 51% based on 22 votes
Latinized form of the Greek name
Δημήτριος (Demetrios), which was derived from the name of the Greek goddess
Demeter 1. Kings of Macedon and the Seleucid kingdom have had this name. This was also the name of several early
saints including Demetrius of Thessalonica, a martyr of the 4th century who is regarded as a warrior.
Dahlia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: DAL-yə, DAHL-yə, DAYL-yə
Rating: 62% based on 23 votes
From the name of the flower, which was named for the Swedish botanist Anders Dahl.
Dacre
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: DAY-kər
Rating: 34% based on 5 votes
From an English surname that was originally derived from a place name in Cumbria, of Brythonic origin meaning "trickling stream".
Cyrano
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Literature
Pronounced: SIR-ə-no(English)
Rating: 41% based on 10 votes
Possibly derived from the name of the ancient Greek city of Cyrene, which was located in North Africa. Edmond Rostand used this name in his play Cyrano de Bergerac (1897). He based his character upon a real person, the French satirist Savinien Cyrano de Bergerac (1619-1655).
Cronus
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Greek Mythology (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Κρόνος(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: KRO-nəs(English)
Rating: 29% based on 8 votes
Latinized form of the Greek
Κρόνος (Kronos), possibly derived from the Indo-European root *
(s)ker- meaning
"to cut". Cronus was the Titan who fathered the Greek gods. As his wife
Rhea gave birth to the gods, Cronus swallowed them fearing the prophecy that he would be overthrown by one of his children. However Rhea hid
Zeus, her last child, who eventually forced his father to disgorge his siblings. Cronus and the rest of the Titans were then defeated by the gods and exiled.
Cosmo
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Italian, English
Pronounced: KAWZ-mo(Italian) KAHZ-mo(English)
Rating: 52% based on 21 votes
Italian variant of
Cosimo. It was introduced to Britain in the 18th century by the second Scottish Duke of Gordon, who named his son and successor after his friend Cosimo III de' Medici. On the American sitcom
Seinfeld (1989-1998) this was the seldom-used first name of Jerry's neighbour Kramer.
Cordula
Gender: Feminine
Usage: German
Rating: 27% based on 6 votes
Late Latin name meaning
"heart" from Latin
cor (genitive
cordis).
Saint Cordula was one of the 4th-century companions of Saint Ursula.
Concepta
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Irish
Rating: 39% based on 10 votes
Latinate form of
Concetta, used especially in Ireland.
Clement
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: KLEHM-ənt
Rating: 38% based on 4 votes
English form of the Late Latin name
Clemens (or sometimes of its derivative
Clementius), which meant
"merciful, gentle". This was the name of 14 popes, including
Saint Clement I, the third pope, one of the Apostolic Fathers. Another saint by this name was Clement of Alexandria, a 3rd-century theologian and church father who attempted to reconcile Christian and Platonic philosophies. It has been in general as a given name in Christian Europe (in various spellings) since early times. In England it became rare after the
Protestant Reformation, though it was revived in the 19th century.
Claire
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French, English
Pronounced: KLEHR
Rating: 71% based on 27 votes
French form of
Clara. This was a common name in France throughout the 20th century, though it has since been eclipsed there by
Clara. It was also very popular in the United Kingdom, especially in the 1970s.
Charlotte
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French, English, German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Dutch
Pronounced: SHAR-LAWT(French) SHAHR-lət(English) shar-LAW-tə(German) sha-LOT(Swedish) shahr-LAW-tə(Dutch)
Rating: 65% based on 11 votes
French feminine
diminutive of
Charles. It was introduced to Britain in the 17th century. It was the name of a German-born 18th-century queen consort of Great Britain and Ireland. Another notable bearer was Charlotte Brontë (1816-1855), the eldest of the three Brontë sisters and the author of
Jane Eyre and
Villette. A famous fictional bearer is the spider in the children's novel
Charlotte's Web (1952) by E. B. White.
This name was fairly common in France, England and the United States in the early 20th century. It became quite popular in France and England at the end of the 20th century, just when it was at a low point in the United States. It quickly climbed the American charts and entered the top ten in 2014.
Chance
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: CHANS
Rating: 17% based on 10 votes
Originally a
diminutive of
Chauncey. It is now usually given in reference to the English word
chance meaning "luck, fortune" (ultimately derived from Latin
cadens "falling").
Cecilia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Italian, Spanish, Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, Dutch, Romanian, Finnish
Pronounced: seh-SEE-lee-ə(English) seh-SEEL-yə(English) cheh-CHEE-lya(Italian) theh-THEE-lya(European Spanish) seh-SEE-lya(Latin American Spanish) seh-SEEL-yah(Danish, Norwegian)
Rating: 61% based on 11 votes
Latinate feminine form of the Roman family name
Caecilius, which was derived from Latin
caecus meaning
"blind".
Saint Cecilia was a semi-legendary 2nd or 3rd-century martyr who was sentenced to die because she refused to worship the Roman gods. After attempts to suffocate her failed, she was beheaded. She was later regarded as the patron saint of music and musicians.
Due to the popularity of the saint, the name became common in the Christian world during the Middle Ages. The Normans brought it to England, where it was commonly spelled Cecily — the Latinate form Cecilia came into use in the 18th century.
Cassiopeia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Κασσιόπεια, Κασσιέπεια(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: kas-ee-ə-PEE-ə(English)
Rating: 62% based on 22 votes
Latinized form of Greek
Κασσιόπεια (Kassiopeia) or
Κασσιέπεια (Kassiepeia), possibly meaning
"cassia juice". In Greek
myth Cassiopeia was the wife of
Cepheus and the mother of
Andromeda. She was changed into a constellation and placed in the northern sky after she died.
Carla
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Catalan, English, German, Dutch
Pronounced: KAR-la(Italian, Spanish, German) KAHR-lə(English) KAHR-la(Dutch)
Rating: 49% based on 10 votes
Camilla
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Italian, Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, Finnish, German, Ancient Roman, Roman Mythology
Pronounced: kə-MIL-ə(English) ka-MEEL-la(Italian) kah-MEEL-lah(Danish) KAH-meel-lah(Finnish) ka-MI-la(German)
Rating: 53% based on 3 votes
Feminine form of
Camillus. This was the name of a legendary warrior maiden of the Volsci, as told by
Virgil in the
Aeneid. It was popularized in the English-speaking world by Fanny Burney's novel
Camilla (1796).
Camellia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: kə-MEE-lee-ə, kə-MEHL-ee-ə
Rating: 45% based on 21 votes
From the name of the flowering shrub, which was named for the botanist and missionary Georg Josef Kamel.
Buddy
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: BUD-ee
Rating: 47% based on 3 votes
From the English word meaning "friend". It probably originated as a nursery form of the word brother.
Brynmor
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Welsh
Rating: 33% based on 3 votes
From the Welsh place name Brynmawr meaning "great hill".
Borya
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Russian
Other Scripts: Боря(Russian)
Rating: 27% based on 22 votes
Blossom
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: BLAH-səm
Rating: 46% based on 24 votes
From the English word blossom, ultimately from Old English blóstm. It came into use as a rare given name in the 19th century.
Birgitte
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Danish, Norwegian
Rating: 44% based on 5 votes
Biddy
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Irish, English
Pronounced: BID-ee(English)
Rating: 36% based on 23 votes
Beulah
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Biblical, English
Other Scripts: בְּעוּלָה(Ancient Hebrew)
Pronounced: BYOO-lə(English)
Rating: 33% based on 7 votes
Betty
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: BEHT-ee
Rating: 44% based on 22 votes
Benigna
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Spanish, Italian (Rare), Portuguese (Rare), Late Roman
Pronounced: beh-NEEGH-na(Spanish) beh-NEEN-nya(Italian)
Rating: 39% based on 22 votes
Bella
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: BEHL-ə
Rating: 45% based on 23 votes
Short form of
Isabella and other names ending in
bella. It is also associated with the Italian word
bella meaning
"beautiful". It was used by the American author Stephenie Meyer for the main character in her popular
Twilight series of novels, first released 2005, later adapted into a series of movies beginning 2008.
Bee
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: BEE
Rating: 38% based on 23 votes
Short form of
Beatrix and other names beginning with
B.
Beauregard
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: BO-rə-gahrd
Rating: 33% based on 4 votes
From a French surname meaning "beautiful outlook".
Beatrice
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, English, Swedish, Romanian
Pronounced: beh-a-TREE-cheh(Italian) BEE-ə-tris(English) BEET-ris(English) BEH-ah-trees(Swedish) beh-ah-TREES(Swedish)
Rating: 57% based on 16 votes
Italian form of
Beatrix. Beatrice Portinari (1266-1290) was the woman who was loved by the Italian poet Dante Alighieri. She serves as Dante's guide through paradise in his epic poem the
Divine Comedy (1321). This is also the name of a character in Shakespeare's comedy
Much Ado About Nothing (1599), in which Beatrice and
Benedick are fooled into confessing their love for one another.
Auberon
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Carolingian Cycle
Pronounced: AW-bər-ahn(English) O-bər-ahn(English)
Rating: 51% based on 24 votes
From a
diminutive form of
Auberi, an Old French form of
Alberich. It is the name of the fairy king in the 13th-century epic
Huon de Bordeaux.
Assumpta
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Irish
Rating: 35% based on 13 votes
Latinate form of
Assunta, used especially in Ireland
[1].
Armand
Gender: Masculine
Usage: French, Catalan
Pronounced: AR-MAHN(French) ər-MAN(Catalan)
Rating: 50% based on 25 votes
French and Catalan form of
Herman.
Aristomache
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Ancient Greek [1]
Other Scripts: Ἀριστομάχη(Ancient Greek)
Rating: 44% based on 26 votes
Ariella
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: ar-ee-EHL-ə, ehr-ee-EHL-ə
Rating: 59% based on 27 votes
Strictly feminine form of
Ariel.
Apphia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Biblical
Other Scripts: Ἀπφία(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: AF-ee-ə(English) AP-fee-ə(English)
Rating: 33% based on 4 votes
Greek form of a Hebrew name that possibly meant
"increasing". This is a name mentioned in
Paul's epistle to
Philemon in the
New Testament.
Anneliese
Gender: Feminine
Usage: German, Dutch
Pronounced: A-nə-lee-zə(German) ah-nə-LEE-sə(Dutch)
Rating: 61% based on 32 votes
Anne 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French, English, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Estonian, German, Dutch, Basque
Pronounced: AN(French, English) A-neh(Swedish) A-nə(Danish, German) AHN-neh(Finnish) AH-nə(Dutch)
Rating: 81% based on 26 votes
French form of
Anna. It was imported to England in the 13th century, but it did not become popular until three centuries later. The spelling variant
Ann was also commonly found from this period, and is still used to this day.
The name was borne by a 17th-century English queen and also by the second wife of Henry VIII, Anne Boleyn (the mother of Queen Elizabeth I), who was eventually beheaded in the Tower of London. Another notable bearer was the German-Jewish diarist Anne (Annelies) Frank, a young victim of the Holocaust in 1945. This is also the name of the heroine in the 1908 novel Anne of Green Gables by Canadian author L. M. Montgomery.
Andy
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: AN-dee
Rating: 43% based on 9 votes
Diminutive of
Andrew or sometimes
Andrea 2. American pop artist and filmmaker Andy Warhol (1928-1987) was a famous bearer of this name.
Andrew
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, Biblical
Pronounced: AN-droo(English)
Rating: 63% based on 11 votes
English form of the Greek name
Ἀνδρέας (Andreas), which was derived from
ἀνδρεῖος (andreios) meaning
"manly, masculine", a derivative of
ἀνήρ (aner) meaning "man". In the
New Testament the apostle Andrew, the first disciple to join
Jesus, is the brother of
Simon Peter. According to tradition, he later preached in the Black Sea region, with some legends saying he was crucified on an X-shaped cross.
Andrew, being a Greek name, was probably only a nickname or a translation of his real Hebrew name, which is not known.
This name has been common (in various spellings) throughout the Christian world, and it became very popular in the Middle Ages. Saint Andrew is regarded as the patron of Scotland, Russia, Greece and Romania. The name has been borne by three kings of Hungary, American president Andrew Jackson (1767-1845), and, more recently, English composer Andrew Lloyd Webber (1948-).
Amordad
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Persian Mythology
Other Scripts: امرداد(Persian)
Rating: 15% based on 6 votes
Alodia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Gothic (Latinized)
Rating: 30% based on 6 votes
Possibly from a Visigothic name, maybe from Gothic elements such as
alls "all" or
aljis "other" combined with
auds "riches, wealth".
Saint Alodia was a 9th-century Spanish martyr with her sister Nunilo.
Alfreda
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Italian, Polish (Rare), German (Rare)
Pronounced: al-FREE-də(English) al-FREH-da(Italian, Polish, German)
Rating: 39% based on 9 votes
Alcyone
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Ἀλκυόνη(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: al-SIE-ə-nee(English)
Rating: 52% based on 29 votes
Latinized form of Greek
Ἀλκυόνη (Alkyone), derived from the word
ἀλκυών (alkyon) meaning
"kingfisher". In Greek
myth this name belonged to a daughter of Aeolus and the wife of Ceyx. After her husband was killed in a shipwreck she threw herself into the water, but the gods saved her and turned them both into kingfishers. This is also the name of the brightest of the Pleiades, a group of stars in the constellation Taurus, supposedly the daughters of
Atlas and
Pleione.
Alby
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Irish
Rating: 32% based on 14 votes
Anglicized masculine form of
Ailbhe.
Ailsa
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Scottish
Pronounced: AYL-sə(English)
Rating: 50% based on 28 votes
From Ailsa Craig, the name of an island off the west coast of Scotland, which is of uncertain derivation.
Agathangelos
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Ancient Greek [1]
Other Scripts: Ἀγαθάγγελος(Ancient Greek)
Rating: 38% based on 16 votes
Means
"bearer of good news", derived from Greek
ἀγαθός (agathos) meaning "good" and
ἄγγελος (angelos) meaning "messenger, angel".
Saint Agathangelus of Rome was a 4th-century deacon who was martyred during the persecutions of the emperor Diocletian.
Agatha
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, German, Dutch, Ancient Greek (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Ἀγαθή(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: AG-ə-thə(English) a-GHA-ta(Dutch)
Rating: 59% based on 34 votes
Latinized form of the Greek name
Ἀγαθή (Agathe), derived from Greek
ἀγαθός (agathos) meaning
"good".
Saint Agatha was a 3rd-century martyr from Sicily who was tortured and killed after spurning the advances of a Roman official. The saint was widely revered in the Middle Ages, and her name has been used throughout Christian Europe (in various spellings). The mystery writer Agatha Christie (1890-1976) was a famous modern bearer of this name.
Aella
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Ἄελλα(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: A-EHL-LA(Classical Greek)
Rating: 38% based on 10 votes
Means
"whirlwind" in Greek. In Greek
myth this was the name of an Amazon warrior killed by
Herakles during his quest for Hippolyta's girdle.
Adonis
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Greek Mythology
Other Scripts: Ἄδωνις(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: A-DAW-NEES(Classical Greek) ə-DAHN-is(English) ə-DO-nis(English)
Rating: 43% based on 16 votes
From Phoenician
𐤀𐤃𐤍 (ʾadon) meaning
"lord, master". In Greek
myth Adonis was a handsome young shepherd killed while hunting a wild boar. The anemone flower is said to have sprung from his blood. Because he was loved by
Aphrodite,
Zeus allowed him to be restored to life for part of each year. The Greeks borrowed this character from Semitic traditions, originally Sumerian (see
Dumuzi).
Adonai
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Theology
Other Scripts: אֲדֹנָי(Ancient Hebrew)
Rating: 32% based on 18 votes
Means
"my lord" in Hebrew. This was the title used to refer to the God of the Israelites,
Yahweh, whose name was forbidden to be spoken.
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