diz's Personal Name List

Usual English form of Zacharias, used in some English versions of the New Testament. This form has been in use since the Middle Ages, though it did not become common until after the Protestant Reformation. It was borne by American military commander and president Zachary Taylor (1784-1850).

Means "of the evening", derived from Esperanto vespero "evening", ultimately from Latin vesper.

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.

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).

From an English surname that originally denoted someone who was a tailor, from Norman French tailleur, ultimately from Latin taliare "to cut".

Its modern use as a feminine name may have been influenced by the British-American author Taylor Caldwell (1900-1985). Since 1990 it has been more popular for girls in the United States. Other England-speaking regions have followed suit, with the exception of England and Wales where it is still slightly more popular for boys. Its popularity peaked in America the mid-1990s for both genders, ranked sixth for girls and 51st for boys. A famous bearer is the American musician Taylor Swift (1989-).

From an English surname that was originally derived from a place name meaning "Tata's homestead" in Old English. It was brought to public attention by the child actress Tatum O'Neal (1963-) in the 1970s, though it did not catch on. It attained a modest level of popularity after 1996, when it was borne by a character in the movie Scream.

From the English word meaning "talon, claw", ultimately derived (via Norman French) from Latin talus "anklebone".

This is the name of waterfalls in Georgia. Popularly claimed to mean "leaping waters" in the Choctaw language, it may actually mean "town" in the Creek language. It was borne by American actress Tallulah Bankhead (1902-1968), who was named after her grandmother, who may have been named after the waterfalls.

From the name of the sour tasting plant, derived from Old French sur "sour", a word of Frankish origin.

Feminine form of Sidonius. This name was in use in the Middle Ages, when it became associated with the word sindon (of Greek origin) meaning "linen", a reference to the Shroud of Turin.

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.

From an English surname that was from a place name meaning "willow farm" in Old Norse.

From the Hebrew name שְׁמוּאֵל (Shemuʾel) meaning "name of God", from the roots שֵׁם (shem) meaning "name" and אֵל (ʾel) meaning "God". Other interpretations have the first root being שָׁמַע (shamaʿ) meaning "to hear" leading to a meaning of "God has heard". As told in the Books of Samuel in the Old Testament, Samuel was the last of the ruling judges. He led the Israelites during a period of domination by the Philistines, who were ultimately defeated in battle at Mizpah. Later he anointed Saul to be the first king of Israel, and even later anointed his successor David.

As a Christian name, Samuel came into common use after the Protestant Reformation. It has been consistently popular in the English-speaking world, ranking yearly in the top 100 names in the United States (as recorded since 1880) and performing similarly well in the United Kingdom.

Famous bearers include English poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834), American inventor Samuel Morse (1791-1872), Irish writer Samuel Beckett (1906-1989), and American actor Samuel L. Jackson (1948-). This was also the real name, Samuel Clemens, of the American author Mark Twain (1835-1910).

From an Aramaic name that was related to the Hebrew word שָׁלוֹם (shalom) meaning "peace". According to the historian Josephus this was the name of the daughter of Herodias (the consort of Herod Antipas, the tetrarch of Galilee). In the New Testament, though a specific name is not given, it was a daughter of Herodias who danced for Herod and was rewarded with the head of John the Baptist, and thus Salome and the dancer have traditionally been equated.

As a Christian given name, Salome has been in occasional use since the Protestant Reformation. This was due to a second person of this name in the New Testament: one of the women who witnessed the crucifixion and later discovered that Jesus' tomb was empty. It is used in Georgia due to the 4th-century Salome of Ujarma, who is considered a saint in the Georgian Church.

From the English word sage, which denotes either a type of spice or else a wise person.

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

Diminutive of Raisa 2.

From an English surname that was derived from a place name meaning "Pœcc's town". Pœcc is an Old English given name of unknown meaning.

From an English surname that was derived from the Middle English word pace meaning "peace".

Short form of Honora or Eleanor. Henrik Ibsen used it for a character in his play A Doll's House (1879).

Variant of Nell.

Catalan form of Mirèio (see Mireille).

From the Slavic element milŭ meaning "gracious, dear", originally a short form of names containing that element.

From the Welsh name Maredudd or Meredydd, from Old Welsh forms such as Margetud, possibly from mawredd "greatness, magnificence" combined with iudd "lord". The Welsh forms of this name were well used through the Middle Ages. Since the mid-1920s it has been used more often for girls than for boys in English-speaking countries, though it is still a masculine name in Wales. A famous bearer of this name as surname was the English novelist and poet George Meredith (1828-1909).

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

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

Diminutive of Matilda or Matthew.

Combination of María and Teresa.

Medieval feminine form of Amabilis. This spelling and Amabel were common during the Middle Ages, though they became rare after the 15th century. It was revived in the 19th century after the publication of C. M. Yonge's 1854 novel The Heir of Redclyffe [1], which featured a character named Mabel (as well as one named Amabel).

Means "from Lydia" in Greek. Lydia was a region on the west coast of Asia Minor, said to be named for the legendary king Lydos. In the New Testament this is the name of a woman converted to Christianity by Saint Paul. In the modern era the name has been in use since the Protestant Reformation.

From a Scottish surname that was derived from the Old Norse given name Liulfr (which was derived in part from úlfr "wolf").

Simply from the English word liberty, derived from Latin libertas, a derivative of liber "free". Interestingly, since 1880 this name has charted on the American popularity lists in three different periods: in 1918 (at the end of World War I), in 1976 (the American bicentennial), and after 2001 (during the War on Terrorism) [1].

Possibly means "joined, attached" in Hebrew. As told in the Old Testament, Levi was the third son of Jacob and Leah, and the ancestor of one of the twelve tribes of the Israelites, known as the Levites. This was the tribe that formed the priestly class of the Israelites. The brothers Moses and Aaron were members. This name also occurs in the New Testament, where it is borne by a son of Alphaeus. He might be the same person as the apostle Matthew.

As an English Christian name, Levi came into use after the Protestant Reformation.

Short form of Elenora.

Means "wave" in Estonian.

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.

From an Irish surname, an Anglicized form of Ó Caolaidhe, itself derived from the given name Caoladhe, from Irish caol "slender".

From the Greek name Αἰκατερίνη (Aikaterine). The etymology is debated: it could derive from an earlier Greek name Ἑκατερινη (Hekaterine), itself from ἑκάτερος (hekateros) meaning "each of the two"; it could derive from the name of the goddess Hecate; it could be related to Greek αἰκία (aikia) meaning "torture"; or it could be from a Coptic name meaning "my consecration of your name". In the early Christian era it became associated with Greek καθαρός (katharos) meaning "pure", and the Latin spelling was changed from Katerina to Katharina to reflect this.

The name was borne by a semi-legendary 4th-century saint and martyr from Alexandria who was tortured on a spiked wheel. The saint was initially venerated in Syria, and returning crusaders introduced the name to Western Europe. It has been common in England since the 12th century in many different spellings, with Katherine and Catherine becoming standard in the later Middle Ages. To this day both spellings are regularly used in the English-speaking world. In the United States the spelling Katherine has been more popular since 1973.

Famous bearers of the name include Catherine of Siena, a 14th-century mystic, and Catherine de' Medici, a 16th-century French queen. It was also borne by three of Henry VIII's wives, including Katherine of Aragon, and by two empresses of Russia, including Catherine the Great.

From Ἰεσσαί (Iessai), the Greek form of the Hebrew name יִשַׁי (Yishai). This could be a derivative of the word שַׁי (shai) meaning "gift" or יֵשׁ (yesh) meaning "existence". In the Old Testament Jesse is the father of King David. It began to be used as an English given name after the Protestant Reformation.

A famous bearer was Jesse James (1847-1882), an American outlaw who held up banks and stagecoaches. He was eventually shot by a fellow gang member for a reward. Another famous bearer was the American athlete Jesse Owens (1913-1980), whose real name was James Cleveland (or J. C.) Owens.

From the Hebrew name יָעֵל (Yaʿel) meaning "ibex, mountain goat". This name appears in the Old Testament belonging to the wife of Heber the Kenite. After Sisera, the captain of the Canaanite army, was defeated in battle by Deborah and Barak he took refuge in Heber's tent. When he fell asleep Jael killed him by hammering a tent peg into his head.

From the name of the precious stone that is often used in carvings. It is derived from Spanish (piedra de la) ijada meaning "(stone of the) flank", relating to the belief that jade could cure renal colic. As a given name, it came into general use during the 1970s. It was initially unisex, though it is now mostly feminine.

From the English word for the climbing plant that has small yellow flowers. It is ultimately derived from Old English ifig.

English form of Inés.

Variant of Honour, using the American spelling.

From an English surname that was derived from Middle English holis "holly trees". It was originally given to a person who lived near a group of those trees.

From an English surname that originally belonged to a person who played or made harps (Old English hearpe). A notable bearer was the American author Harper Lee (1926-2016), who wrote To Kill a Mockingbird. It rapidly gained popularity in the 2000s and 2010s, entering the American top ten for girls in 2015.

From an English surname that was derived from a place name meaning "heather field" in Old English.

From a Scottish surname that was derived from the given name Gregor.

Means "grace" in Italian, making it a cognate of Grace.

From an English surname meaning "grey", originally given to a person who had grey hair or clothing.

Latinate feminine form of George. This is the name of an American state, which was named after the British king George II. The country of Georgia has an unrelated etymology. A famous bearer was the American painter Georgia O'Keeffe (1887-1986).

Medieval form of Gawain. Though it died out in England, it was reintroduced from Scotland in the 20th century.

From the Hebrew name גַבְרִיאֵל (Ḡavriʾel) meaning "God is my strong man", derived from גֶּבֶר (gever) meaning "strong man, hero" and אֵל (ʾel) meaning "God". Gabriel is an archangel in Hebrew tradition, often appearing as a messenger of God. In the Old Testament he is sent to interpret the visions of the prophet Daniel, while in the New Testament he serves as the announcer of the births of John to Zechariah and Jesus to Mary. According to Islamic tradition he was the angel who dictated the Quran to Muhammad.

This name has been used occasionally in England since the 12th century. It was not common in the English-speaking world until the end of the 20th century.

Alternate transcription of Arabic فرح (see Farah).

From an Irish surname that was an Anglicized form of the Irish Gaelic Ó Fallamháin, itself derived from the given name Fallamhán meaning "leader". It was popularized in the 1980s by a character on the soap opera Dynasty.

Spanish form of the Late Latin name Sperantia, which was derived from sperare "to hope".

Variant of Emery.

From an English surname meaning "son of Emery". The surname was borne by Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882), an American writer and philosopher who wrote about transcendentalism.

From the word for the green precious stone, which is the traditional birthstone of May. The emerald supposedly imparts love to the bearer. The word is ultimately from Greek σμάραγδος (smaragdos).

Diminutive of Eleanor, Ellen 1 and other names beginning with El. This name became popular in the United Kingdom in the 1990s, being ranked second for girls in 2003.

Means "my God has answered" in Hebrew.

Means "my God" in Hebrew.

From Latin dulcis meaning "sweet". It was used in the Middle Ages in the spellings Dowse and Duce, and was recoined in the 19th century.

Short form of Andrew.

From a French surname that was derived from corbeau "raven", originally denoting a person who had dark hair. The name was probably popularized in America by actor Corbin Bernsen (1954-) [1].

From an English surname, itself originally derived from either a medieval short form of Nicholas or the byname Cola. A famous bearer was the songwriter Cole Porter (1891-1964), while a bearer of the surname was the musician Nat King Cole (1919-1965).

This name got more popular in the early 1980s, then got a boost in 1990 when it was used by the main character in the movie Days of Thunder.

From an Irish surname, an Anglicized form of Ó Cathasaigh, a patronymic derived from the given name Cathassach. This name can be given in honour of Casey Jones (1863-1900), a train engineer who sacrificed his life to save his passengers. In his case, Casey was a nickname acquired because he was raised in the town of Cayce, Kentucky.

French feminine form of Carolus.

Diminutive of Caroline, or sometimes of names beginning with Cal.

From the name of two types of plants, the true calla (species Calla palustris) and the calla lily (species Calla aethiopica), both having white flowers and growing in marshy areas. Use of the name may also be inspired by Greek κάλλος (kallos) meaning "beauty".

Most likely related to Hebrew כֶּלֶב (kelev) meaning "dog" [1]. An alternate theory connects it to Hebrew כֹּל (kol) meaning "whole, all of" [2] and לֵב (lev) meaning "heart" [3]. In the Old Testament this is the name of one of the twelve spies sent by Moses into Canaan. Of the Israelites who left Egypt with Moses, Caleb and Joshua were the only ones who lived to see the Promised Land.

As an English name, Caleb came into use after the Protestant Reformation. It was common among the Puritans, who introduced it to America in the 17th century.

From an English surname that was originally derived from a nickname meaning "round" in Old English.

From the name of the city in southwestern England that means "the site of the bridge".

From the English word for the thorny plant.

Spanish and Catalan cognate of Blanche.

From an English surname that was derived from Old English blæc "black" or blac "pale". A famous bearer of the surname was the poet and artist William Blake (1757-1827). It was originally a mainly masculine name but in 2007 actress Blake Lively (1987-) began starring in the television series Gossip Girl, after which time it increased in popularity for girls.

From a surname that was from a place name, itself derived from Old English beonet "bent grass" and leah "woodland, clearing". Various towns in England bear this name.

From a German and French surname derived from Occitan astur meaning "hawk". The wealthy and influential Astor family, prominent in British and American society, originated in the Italian Alps.

Norman French diminutive of Aalis (see Alice) [1]. It was common in England, Scotland and France in the Middle Ages, and was later revived in England in the 20th century via Scotland. Unlike most other English names ending in son, it is not derived from a surname.

Short form of Alessandra.

Feminine form of Adrian. A famous bearer is the Brazilian model Adriana Lima (1981-).

Means "nobleness, nobility", from the French form of the Germanic name Adalheidis, which was composed of adal "noble" and the suffix heit "kind, sort, type". It was borne in the 10th century by Saint Adelaide, the wife of the Holy Roman emperor Otto the Great.

In Britain the parallel form Alice, derived via Old French, has historically been more common than Adelaide, though this form did gain some currency in the 19th century due to the popularity of the German-born wife of King William IV, for whom the city of Adelaide in Australia was named in 1836.

From the name of a type of tree, ultimately derived from Greek ἀκή (ake) meaning "thorn, point".