megan_donuts's Personal Name List

Addison
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: AD-i-sən
Personal remark: Equal for girl or boy.
Rating: 38% based on 15 votes
From an English surname meaning "son of Adam". Its recent popularity as a feminine name stems from its similarity in sound to Madison.
Ashley
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: ASH-lee
Personal remark: Equal for girl or boy.
Rating: 47% based on 16 votes
From an English surname that was originally derived from place names meaning "ash tree clearing", from a combination of Old English æsc and leah. Until the 1960s it was more commonly given to boys in the United States, but it is now most often used on girls. It reached its height of popularity in America in 1987, but it did not become the highest ranked name until 1991, being overshadowed by the likewise-popular Jessica until then. In the United Kingdom it is still more common as a masculine name.
Bellamy
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (Modern)
Rating: 29% based on 11 votes
From an English surname derived from Old French bel ami meaning "beautiful friend".
Cruz
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: Spanish, Portuguese
Pronounced: KROOTH(European Spanish) KROOS(Latin American Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese) KROOSH(European Portuguese)
Personal remark: Prefer for boy.
Rating: 30% based on 13 votes
Means "cross" in Spanish or Portuguese, referring to the cross of the crucifixion.
Drew
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: DROO
Personal remark: Prefer for girl.
Rating: 34% based on 20 votes
Short form of Andrew.
Ellis
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English, Welsh
Pronounced: EHL-is(English)
Personal remark: Prefer for girl.
Rating: 40% based on 25 votes
From an English surname that was derived from the given name Elis, a medieval vernacular form of Elias. This name has also functioned as an Anglicized form of Welsh Elisedd.
James
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, Biblical
Pronounced: JAYMZ(English)
Rating: 74% based on 10 votes
English form of the Late Latin name Iacomus, a variant of the Biblical Latin form Iacobus, from the Hebrew name Ya'aqov (see Jacob). This was the name of two apostles in the New Testament. The first was Saint James the Greater, the apostle John's brother, who was beheaded under Herod Agrippa in the Book of Acts. The second was James the Lesser, son of Alphaeus. Another James (known as James the Just) is also mentioned in the Bible as being the brother of Jesus.

This name has been used in England since the 13th century, though it became more common in Scotland where it was borne by several kings. In the 17th century the Scottish king James VI inherited the English throne, becoming the first ruler of all Britain, and the name grew much more popular. In American name statistics (recorded since 1880) this name has never been out of the top 20, making it arguably the era's most consistently popular name. It was the top ranked name for boys in the United States from 1940 to 1952.

Famous bearers include the English explorer James Cook (1728-1779), the Scottish inventor James Watt (1736-1819), and the Irish novelist and poet James Joyce (1882-1941). This name has also been borne by six American presidents. A notable fictional bearer is the British spy James Bond, created by author Ian Fleming in 1953.

Madison
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: MAD-i-sən
Personal remark: Prefer for girl.
Rating: 42% based on 25 votes
From an English surname meaning "son of Maud". It was not commonly used as a feminine name until after the movie Splash (1984), in which the main character adopted it as her name after seeing a street sign for Madison Avenue in New York City. It was ranked second for girls in the United States by 2001. This rise from obscurity to prominence in only 18 years represents an unprecedented 550,000 percent increase in usage.

A famous bearer of the surname was James Madison (1751-1836), one of the authors of the American constitution who later served as president (and after whom Madison Avenue was named).

Rémy
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: French
Pronounced: REH-MEE
Personal remark: Prefer for girl.
Rating: 43% based on 25 votes
French form of the Latin name Remigius, which was derived from Latin remigis "oarsman, rower". Saint Rémy was a 5th-century bishop who converted and baptized Clovis, king of the Franks.
Rory
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: Irish, Scottish, English
Pronounced: RAWR-ee(English)
Rating: 59% based on 11 votes
Anglicized form of Ruaidhrí. Typically a masculine name, it gained some popularity for girls in the United States after it was used on the television series Gilmore Girls (2000-2007), in this case as a nickname for Lorelai. Despite this, the name has grown more common for boys in America, especially after 2011, perhaps due to Northern Irish golfer Rory McIlroy (1989-).
Sawyer
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: SOI-ər, SAW-yər
Rating: 65% based on 10 votes
From an English surname meaning "sawer of wood". Mark Twain used it for the hero in his novel The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876).

Very rare as an American given name before 1980, it increased in popularity in the 1980s and 90s. It got a boost in 2004 after the debut of the television series Lost, which featured a character by this name.

Shannon
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: SHAN-ən
Personal remark: Equal for girl or boy.
Rating: 51% based on 28 votes
From the name of the River Shannon, the longest river in Ireland, called an tSionainn in Irish. It is associated with the legendary figure Sionann and is sometimes said to be named for her. However it is more likely she was named after the river, which may be related to Old Irish sen "old, ancient" [1]. As a given name, it first became common in America after the 1940s.
Sidney
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: SID-nee
Personal remark: Prefer for boy.
Rating: 44% based on 14 votes
From the English surname Sidney. It was first used as a given name in honour of executed politician Algernon Sidney (1622-1683). Another notable bearer of the surname was the poet and statesman Philip Sidney (1554-1586).

As a given name, it has traditionally been more masculine than feminine. In America however, after the variant Sydney became popular for girls, Sidney was used more for girls than boys between 1993 and 2019.

Tori
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: TAWR-ee
Personal remark: Prefer for girl.
Rating: 31% based on 12 votes
Diminutive of Victoria.
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