Behind the Name: FocusPocus's Personal Name List

Annora

Gender: Feminine

Usage: English (Rare)

Rating: 67% based on 12 votes

Medieval English variant of Honora.

Cambria

Gender: Feminine

Usage: Various (Rare)

Pronounced: KAM-bree-ə(English)

Rating: 54% based on 9 votes

Latin form of the Welsh Cymru, the Welsh name for the country of Wales, derived from cymry meaning "the people". It is occasionally used as a given name in modern times.

Ceres

Gender: Feminine

Usage: Roman Mythology

Pronounced: KEH-rehs(Latin) SIR-eez(English)

Rating: 43% based on 7 votes

Derived from the Indo-European root *ker- meaning "grow, increase". In Roman mythology Ceres was the goddess of agriculture, equivalent to the Greek goddess Demeter.

Chinyere

Gender: Feminine

Usage: Igbo

Rating: 30% based on 7 votes

Means "God gave" in Igbo, derived from Chi 2, referring to God, and nyè meaning "give".

Daiva

Gender: Feminine

Usage: Lithuanian

Rating: 26% based on 7 votes

Created by the Lithuanian writer Vydūnas, who possibly derived it from a Sanskrit word meaning "destiny".

Derya

Gender: Feminine

Usage: Turkish

Pronounced: dehr-YA

Rating: 25% based on 4 votes

Means "sea, ocean" in Turkish, ultimately from Persian.

Desta

Gender: Feminine

Usage: Amharic

Other Scripts: ደስታ(Amharic)

Rating: 37% based on 6 votes

Means "joy" in Amharic.

Gauri

Gender: Feminine

Usage: Hinduism, Hindi, Marathi

Other Scripts: गौरी(Sanskrit, Hindi, Marathi)

Rating: 25% based on 4 votes

Derived from Sanskrit गौर (gaura) meaning "white, pale, yellow". This is a Hindu goddess, another name of Parvati the wife of Shiva, so named because of her fair complexion.

Gayla

Gender: Feminine

Usage: English

Pronounced: GAY-lə

Rating: 17% based on 3 votes

Elaborated form of Gail.

Genya

Gender: Feminine

Usage: Russian

Other Scripts: Геня(Russian)

Pronounced: GYEH-nyə

Rating: 60% based on 5 votes

Diminutive of Gennadiy, Yevgeniy or Yevgeniya.

Gita 1

Gender: Feminine

Usage: Hindi, Marathi, Bengali, Nepali

Other Scripts: गीता(Hindi, Marathi, Nepali) গীতা(Bengali)

Rating: 23% based on 3 votes

From Sanskrit गीत (gīta) meaning "song". The word appears in the name of the Bhagavad Gita, a sacred text of Hinduism (meaning "divine song").

Gry

Gender: Feminine

Usage: Norwegian, Danish, Swedish

Rating: 25% based on 4 votes

Means "to dawn" in Norwegian, Danish and Swedish.

Honora

Gender: Feminine

Usage: Irish, English

Rating: 63% based on 7 votes

Variant of Honoria. It was brought to England and Ireland by the Normans.

Kerensa

Gender: Feminine

Usage: Cornish

Rating: 56% based on 5 votes

Means "love" in Cornish.

Leatrice

Gender: Feminine

Usage: English

Rating: 43% based on 4 votes

Possibly a combination of Leah and Beatrice. This name was first brought to public attention by the American actress Leatrice Joy (1893-1985).

Maral

Gender: Feminine

Usage: Mongolian, Azerbaijani, Armenian, Turkmen

Other Scripts: Марал(Mongolian Cyrillic) Մարալ(Armenian)

Rating: 56% based on 5 votes

Means "deer" in Mongolian, Azerbaijani, Armenian and Turkmen, referring to the Caspian Red Deer.

Meital

Gender: Feminine

Usage: Hebrew

Other Scripts: מֵיטַל(Hebrew)

Rating: 30% based on 3 votes

Means "dew drop" in Hebrew.

Mica

Gender: Feminine

Usage: English

Rating: 43% based on 4 votes

Short form of Michaela.

Moa

Gender: Feminine

Usage: Swedish

Pronounced: MOO-ah

Rating: 60% based on 5 votes

Possibly derived from Swedish moder meaning "mother". This was the pen name of the Swedish author Moa Martinson (real name Helga Maria Martinson).

Morna

Gender: Feminine

Usage: Scottish

Rating: 60% based on 5 votes

Anglicized form of Muirne used by James Macpherson in his poem Fingal (1761), in which it is borne by the mother of the hero Fingal.

Renata

Gender: Feminine

Usage: Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, German, Polish, Czech, Lithuanian, Croatian, Slovene, Romanian, Late Roman

Pronounced: reh-NA-ta(Italian, Spanish, German, Polish) REH-na-ta(Czech)

Rating: 62% based on 6 votes

Feminine form of Renatus.

Reshmi

Gender: Feminine

Usage: Hindi, Bengali

Other Scripts: रेशमी(Hindi) রেশমি(Bengali)

Rating: 40% based on 6 votes

Means "silky", from Hindi रेशम (resham) meaning "silk", ultimately of Persian origin.

Rin

Gender: Feminine & Masculine

Usage: Japanese

Other Scripts: 凛, etc.(Japanese Kanji) りん(Japanese Hiragana)

Pronounced: REEN

Rating: 58% based on 5 votes

From Japanese 凛 (rin) meaning "dignified, severe, cold" or other kanji that are pronounced the same way.

Rio 2

Gender: Feminine

Usage: Japanese

Other Scripts: 莉央, 莉緒, 里桜, etc.(Japanese Kanji) りお(Japanese Hiragana)

Pronounced: REE-O

Rating: 43% based on 3 votes

From Japanese 莉 (ri) meaning "white jasmine" or 里 (ri) meaning "village" combined with 央 (o) meaning "center", 緒 (o) meaning "thread" or 桜 (o) meaning "cherry blossom". Other kanji combinations are also possible.

Rivka

Gender: Feminine

Usage: Hebrew

Other Scripts: רִבְקָה(Hebrew)

Rating: 64% based on 7 votes

Hebrew form of Rebecca.

Ruiha

Gender: Feminine

Usage: Maori

Rating: 45% based on 4 votes

Maori form of Louisa.

Runa

Gender: Feminine

Usage: Norwegian, Danish, Swedish

Pronounced: ROO-nah(Norwegian) ROO-na(Danish, Swedish)

Rating: 66% based on 5 votes

Feminine form of Rune.

Saga

Gender: Feminine

Usage: Norse Mythology, Swedish, Icelandic

Pronounced: SAH-gah(Swedish) SA-gha(Icelandic)

Rating: 60% based on 6 votes

From Old Norse Sága, possibly meaning "seeing one", derived from sjá "to see". This is the name of a Norse goddess, possibly connected to Frigg. As a Swedish and Icelandic name, it is also derived from the unrelated word saga "story, fairy tale, saga".

Seda

Gender: Feminine

Usage: Turkish

Rating: 17% based on 3 votes

Means "voice, echo" in Turkish.

Sence

Gender: Feminine

Usage: Medieval Spanish

Rating: 17% based on 3 votes

Old variant of Sancha.

Ulyssa

Gender: Feminine

Usage: English (Rare)

Pronounced: yoo-LIS-ə

Rating: 40% based on 4 votes

Feminine form of Ulysses.

Ursel

Gender: Feminine

Usage: German

Rating: 23% based on 3 votes

German diminutive of Ursula.

Verena

Gender: Feminine

Usage: German, Late Roman

Pronounced: veh-REH-na(German)

Rating: 70% based on 5 votes

Possibly related to Latin verus "true". This might also be a Coptic form of the Ptolemaic name Berenice. Saint Verena was a 3rd-century Egyptian-born nurse who went with the Theban Legion to Switzerland. After the legion was massacred she settled near Zurich.

Wayra

Gender: Feminine

Usage: Quechua

Rating: 33% based on 4 votes

Means "wind, air" in Quechua.

Wenda

Gender: Feminine

Usage: English (Rare)

Pronounced: WEHN-də

Rating: 30% based on 4 votes

Variant of Wendy.