Alex
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, Dutch, German, French, Portuguese, Romanian, Greek, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Icelandic, Hungarian, Czech, Russian
Other Scripts: Άλεξ(Greek) Алекс(Russian)
Pronounced: AL-iks(English) A-lehks(Dutch, German, Romanian, Czech) A-LEHKS(French) A-lekhs(Icelandic) AW-lehks(Hungarian)
Anthony
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: AN-thə-nee(American English) AN-tə-nee(British English)
English form of the Roman family name
Antonius, which is of unknown Etruscan origin. The most notable member of the Roman family was the general Marcus Antonius (called Mark Antony in English), who for a period in the 1st century BC ruled the Roman Empire jointly with Augustus. When their relationship turned sour, he and his mistress Cleopatra were attacked and forced to commit suicide, as related in Shakespeare's tragedy
Antony and Cleopatra (1606).
The name became regularly used in the Christian world due to the fame of Saint Anthony the Great, a 4th-century Egyptian hermit who founded Christian monasticism. Its popularity was reinforced in the Middle Ages by the 13th-century Saint Anthony of Padua, the patron saint of Portugal. It has been commonly (but incorrectly) associated with Greek ἄνθος (anthos) meaning "flower", which resulted in the addition of the h to this spelling in the 17th century.
Antoine
Gender: Masculine
Usage: French, African American
Pronounced: AHN-TWAN(French) an-TWAWN(English)
French form of
Antonius (see
Anthony). A famous bearer was the French writer Antoine de
Saint-Exupéry (1900-1944), the author of
The Little Prince.
Asa
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Biblical, Hebrew, Biblical Hebrew [1]
Other Scripts: אָסָא(Hebrew)
Pronounced: AY-sə(English)
Possibly means
"healer" in Hebrew. This name was borne by the third king of Judah, as told in the
Old Testament.
Benjamin
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, French, German, Dutch, Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, Finnish, Slovene, Croatian, Biblical
Other Scripts: בִּןְיָמִין(Ancient Hebrew)
Pronounced: BEHN-jə-min(English) BEHN-ZHA-MEHN(French) BEHN-ya-meen(German) BEHN-ya-min(Dutch)
From the Hebrew name
בִּןְיָמִין (Binyamin) meaning
"son of the south" or
"son of the right hand", from the roots
בֵּן (ben) meaning "son" and
יָמִין (yamin) meaning "right hand, south". Benjamin in the
Old Testament was the twelfth and youngest son of
Jacob and the founder of one of the southern tribes of the Hebrews. He was originally named
בֶּן־אוֹנִי (Ben-ʾoni) meaning "son of my sorrow" by his mother
Rachel, who died shortly after childbirth, but it was later changed by his father (see
Genesis 35:18).
As an English name, Benjamin came into general use after the Protestant Reformation. A famous bearer was Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790), an American statesman, inventor, scientist and philosopher.
Bronte
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: BRAHN-tee
From a surname, an Anglicized form of Irish
Ó Proinntigh, itself derived from the given name
Proinnteach, probably from Irish
bronntach meaning "generous". The Brontë sisters — Charlotte, Emily, and Anne — were 19th-century English novelists. Their father changed the spelling of the family surname from
Brunty to
Brontë, possibly to make it coincide with Greek
βροντή meaning "thunder".
Caleb
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, Biblical
Other Scripts: כָּלֵב(Ancient Hebrew)
Pronounced: KAY-ləb(English)
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.
David
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, Hebrew, French, Scottish, Welsh, Spanish, Portuguese, Catalan, German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Dutch, Czech, Slovene, Russian, Croatian, Serbian, Macedonian, Romanian, Biblical, Biblical Latin
Other Scripts: דָּוִד(Hebrew) Давид(Russian, Serbian, Macedonian)
Pronounced: DAY-vid(English) da-VEED(Hebrew, Brazilian Portuguese) DA-VEED(French) da-BEEDH(Spanish) du-VEED(European Portuguese) də-BEET(Catalan) DA-vit(German, Dutch, Czech) DAH-vid(Swedish, Norwegian) du-VYEET(Russian)
From the Hebrew name
דָּוִד (Dawiḏ), which was derived from
דּוֹד (doḏ) meaning
"beloved" or
"uncle". David was the second and greatest of the kings of Israel, ruling in the 10th century BC. Several stories about him are told in the
Old Testament, including his defeat of
Goliath, a giant Philistine. According to the
New Testament,
Jesus was descended from him.
This name has been used in Britain since the Middle Ages. It has been especially popular in Wales, where it is used in honour of the 5th-century patron saint of Wales (also called Dewi), as well as in Scotland, where it was borne by two kings. Over the last century it has been one of the English-speaking world's most consistently popular names, never leaving the top 30 names for boys in the United States, and reaching the top rank in England and Wales during the 1950s and 60s. In Spain it was the most popular name for boys during the 1970s and 80s.
Famous bearers include empiricist philosopher David Hume (1711-1776), explorer David Livingstone (1813-1873), musician David Bowie (1947-2016), and soccer player David Beckham (1975-). This is also the name of the hero of Charles Dickens' semi-autobiographical novel David Copperfield (1850).
Ezra
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, Hebrew, Biblical
Other Scripts: עֶזְרָא(Hebrew)
Pronounced: EHZ-rə(English)
Means
"help" in Hebrew. Ezra is a prophet of the
Old Testament and the author of the Book of Ezra. It has been used as a given name in the English-speaking world since the
Protestant Reformation. The American poet Ezra Pound (1885-1972) was a famous bearer.
Hitoshi
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 仁, 均, 一, 等, 斎, 仁志, 仁史, 人志, 仁司, etc.(Japanese Kanji)
Pronounced: KHEE-TO-SHEE
From Japanese 仁
(hitoshi) meaning "compassionate, benevolent", 均
(hitoshi) meaning "level, equal", 一
(hitoshi) meaning "one", 斎
(hitoshi) meaning "cleansing, purification", or 等
(hitoshi) meaning "rank, class". It may also be formed from 仁
(hito) meaning "compassionate" or 人
(hito) meaning "person" and 志
(shi) meaning "will, purpose", 史
(shi) meaning "history, chronicle", or 司
(shi) meaning "officer, boss". Other kanji combinations are possible.
Isaac
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, Spanish, Portuguese, Catalan, French, Jewish, Biblical, Biblical Latin
Other Scripts: יִץְחָק(Hebrew)
Pronounced: IE-zək(English) ee-sa-AK(Spanish) EE-ZAK(French) EE-ZA-AK(French)
From the Hebrew name
יִץְחָק (Yitsḥaq) meaning
"he will laugh, he will rejoice", derived from
צָחַק (tsaḥaq) meaning "to laugh". The
Old Testament explains this meaning, by recounting that
Abraham laughed when God told him that his aged wife
Sarah would become pregnant with Isaac (see
Genesis 17:17), and later Sarah laughed when overhearing the same prophecy (see
Genesis 18:12). When Isaac was a boy, God tested Abraham's faith by ordering him to sacrifice his son, though an angel prevented the act at the last moment. Isaac went on to become the father of
Esau and
Jacob with his wife
Rebecca.
As an English Christian name, Isaac was occasionally used during the Middle Ages, though it was more common among Jews. It became more widespread after the Protestant Reformation. Famous bearers include the physicist and mathematician Isaac Newton (1643-1727) and the science-fiction writer Isaac Asimov (1920-1992).
James
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, Biblical
Pronounced: JAYMZ(English)
English form of the Late Latin name
Iacomus, a variant of the Biblical Latin form
Iacobus, from the Hebrew name
Yaʿaqov (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.
Kai 1
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Frisian, German, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, Finnish, Dutch, English
Pronounced: KIE(German, Swedish, Finnish, Dutch, English)
Meaning uncertain, possibly a Frisian
diminutive of
Gerhard,
Nicolaas,
Cornelis or
Gaius [1]. It is borne by a boy captured by the Snow Queen in an 1844 fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen. Spreading from Germany and Scandinavia, this name became popular in the English-speaking world and other places in Western Europe around the end of the 20th century.
Katsumi
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 克美, 克己, 勝美, 勝巳, etc.(Japanese Kanji) かつみ(Japanese Hiragana)
Pronounced: KA-TSOO-MEE
From Japanese
克 (katsu) meaning "overcome" or
勝 (katsu) meaning "victory" combined with
美 (mi) meaning "beautiful" or
己 (mi) meaning "self". Other kanji combinations having the same pronunciation can also form this name.
Kazuma
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 一真, 一馬, 和真, 和馬, etc.(Japanese Kanji) かずま(Japanese Hiragana) カズマ(Japanese Katakana)
Pronounced: KA-ZOO-MA
From Japanese 一
(kazu) meaning "one" or 和
(kazu) meaning "harmony, peace" combined with 真
(ma) meaning "real, genuine" or 馬
(ma) meaning "horse". Other kanji combinations can form this name as well.
Bearers of this name include voice actor Kazuma Horie (堀江 一眞, born 1976), actor Kazuma Suzuki (鈴木 一真, born 1968) and internet entrepreneur Kazuma Ieiri (家入 一真, born 1978).
Keisuke
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 恵介, 恵助, 恵輔, 恵亮, 慶助, 慶介, 慶輔, 慶亮, 蛍介, 蛍助, 蛍輔, 蛍亮(Japanese Kanji) けいすけ(Japanese Hiragana) ケイスケ(Japanese Katakana)
Pronounced: KE:-SKE
This name combines 恵 (e, kei, megu.mi, megu.mu) meaning "blessing, favour, grace, kindness," 慶 (kei, yoroko.bi) meaning "congratulation, jubilation, felicitation" or 蛍 (kei, hotaru) meaning "firefly, lightning-bug" with 介 (kai, suke) meaning "concern oneself with, jammed in, mediate, help, care," 助 (jo, suke, su.keru, tasu.karu, tasu.keru) meaning "assist, help, save, rescue," 輔 (fu, ho, tasuke.ru, suke) meaning "help" or 亮 (ryou, akiraka, suke) meaning "clear, help."
Leo
Gender: Masculine
Usage: German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Estonian, English, Croatian, Armenian, Late Roman
Other Scripts: Լեո(Armenian)
Pronounced: LEH-o(German, Danish, Finnish) LEH-yo(Dutch) LEE-o(English)
Derived from Latin
leo meaning
"lion", a
cognate of
Leon. It was popular among early Christians and was the name of 13 popes, including
Saint Leo the Great who asserted the dominance of the Roman bishops (the popes) over all others in the 5th century. It was also borne by six Byzantine emperors and five Armenian kings. Another famous bearer was the Russian novelist Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910), name spelled
Лев in Russian, whose works include
War and Peace and
Anna Karenina. Leo is also a constellation and the fifth sign of the zodiac.
Lionel
Gender: Masculine
Usage: French, English, Arthurian Cycle
Pronounced: LYAW-NEHL(French) LIE-ə-nəl(English) LIE-nəl(English)
French
diminutive of
Léon. It appears in Arthurian legend in the 13th-century
Lancelot-Grail Cycle, belonging to a knight who was the brother of Sir
Bors. A notable modern bearer is the Argentine soccer star Lionel Messi (1987-).
Lucas
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, Dutch, French, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, Biblical Latin
Pronounced: LOO-kəs(English) LUY-kahs(Dutch) LUY-KA(French) LOO-kush(European Portuguese) LOO-kus(Brazilian Portuguese) LOO-kas(Spanish, Swedish, Latin)
Latin form of Greek
Λουκᾶς (see
Luke), as well as the form used in several other languages.
This name became very popular in the second half of the 20th century. It reached the top ten names for boys in France (by 1997), Belgium (1998), Denmark (2003), Canada (2008), the Netherlands (2009), New Zealand (2009), Australia (2010), Scotland (2013), Spain (2015) and the United States (2018).
Nathan
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, French, Hebrew, Biblical, Biblical Latin, Biblical Greek [1]
Other Scripts: נָתָן(Hebrew) Ναθάν(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: NAY-thən(English) NA-TAHN(French)
From the Hebrew name
נָתָן (Naṯan) meaning
"he gave". In the
Old Testament this is the name of a prophet during the reign of King
David. He chastised David for his adultery with
Bathsheba and for the death of
Uriah the Hittite. Later he championed
Solomon as David's successor. This was also the name of a son of David and Bathsheba.
It has been used as a Christian given name in the English-speaking world since the Protestant Reformation. A famous bearer was Nathan Hale (1755-1776), an American spy executed by the British during the American Revolution.
Neptune
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Roman Mythology (Anglicized)
Pronounced: NEHP-toon(English) NEHP-tyoon(English)
From the Latin
Neptunus, which is of unknown meaning, possibly related to the Indo-European root *
nebh- "wet, damp, clouds". Neptune was the god of the sea in Roman
mythology, approximately equivalent to the Greek god
Poseidon. This is also the name of the eighth planet in the solar system.
Neymar
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Portuguese (Brazilian, Rare)
Meaning unknown. A famous bearer is the Brazilian soccer player Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior (1992-), who is usually known by just his first name. He was named after his father.
Samuel
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, French, German, Dutch, Spanish, Portuguese, Polish, Czech, Slovak, Romanian, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Jewish, Amharic, Biblical
Other Scripts: שְׁמוּאֵל(Hebrew) ሳሙኤል(Amharic)
Pronounced: SAM-yoo-əl(English) SAM-yəl(English) SA-MWEHL(French) ZA-mwehl(German) SA-muy-ehl(Dutch) sa-MWEHL(Spanish) su-moo-EHL(European Portuguese) sa-moo-EW(Brazilian Portuguese) sa-MOO-ehl(Polish) SA-moo-ehl(Czech, Slovak, Swedish) SAH-moo-ehl(Finnish)
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).
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)
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.
Shunsuke
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 俊輔, 俊介, 駿輔, 駿介, etc.(Japanese Kanji)
Pronounced: SHOON-SKEH, SHOON-SOO-KEH
From Japanese 俊 (shun) meaning "talented" or 駿 (shun) meaning "fast" combined with 輔 (suke) meaning "help" or 介 (suke) meaning "forerunner, herald". Other kanji combinations can also form this name.
Yuji
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 祐二, 雄二, 右二, 有二, 優司, 裕治, 勇治, 雄次, 祐志, 裕士, etc.(Japanese Kanji) ゆうじ(Japanese Hiragana) ユウジ(Japanese Katakana)
Pronounced: YOO-ZHEE
Variant transcription of
Yūji.
Yusuke
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 勇介, 雄介, 雄輔, 友介, etc.(Japanese Kanji) ゆうすけ(Japanese Hiragana)
Pronounced: YOO-SOO-KEH, YOO-SKEH
Alternate transcription of Japanese Kanji 勇介 or 雄介 or 雄輔 or 友介 (see
Yūsuke).
Yuuji
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 祐二, 雄二, 裕司, 祐司, 裕治, 裕二, etc.(Japanese Kanji) ゆうじ(Japanese Hiragana)
Pronounced: YOO-ZHEE
Alternate transcription of Japanese Kanji
祐二 or
雄二 or
裕司 or
祐司 or
裕治 or
裕二 (see
Yūji).
Zebulun
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Biblical
Other Scripts: זְבוּלֻן(Ancient Hebrew)
Pronounced: ZEHB-yə-lən(English)
Derived from Hebrew
זְבוּל (zevul) meaning
"exalted house". In the
Old Testament Zebulun is the tenth son of
Jacob (his sixth son by
Leah) and the ancestor of one of the twelve tribes of Israel.
Genesis 30:20 connects the name to the related verb
זָבַל (zaval), translated as "exalt, honour" or "dwell with" in different versions of the Bible, when Leah says
my husband will exalt/dwell with me.